Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Capone forwarded me this round-up of documentary reviews from a spy known as Dugrex. I have seen one of the docs Dugrex didn't get a chance to, GONZO... saw it at Sundance and it was a pretty damn good and thorough look at Hunter S. Thompson's life... and I've heard MAN ON A WIRE is pretty great, too. And I second his opinion on AMERICAN TEEN. If you're attending SXSW, make sure to catch it there. Phenomenal movie. But I haven't seen any of the others Dugrex actually did get to see. Seems to be a strong year for docs, so let's started shall we?
Capone, I know this is a lot, but i had a good time at the festival and I just thought I would put some of my thoughts about it down. just got back from the True/False documentary film festival in Columbia, MO. It was outstanding as always. Two years ago they honored Kirby Dick (This Film is Not Yet Rated). Last year they honored Brett Morgan (Chicago Ten). This year was Alex Gibney's (Gonzo) turn. Living in the Midwest I don't really get the opportunity to interact on a personal level with too many world class filmmakers. True/False is my opportunity to see great films and to hear directly from those filmmakers. Unfortunately I am a moron and I didn't get tickets to the two movies I really wanted to see most, Gonzo and Man on a Wire. This is my third year attending. This year I didn't see anything that blew my mind like last years Manda Bala, King of Kong, Shadows of the Moon, and The Devil Came on Horseback. Never the less I still saw ten movies that I would have had to wait an entire year to hit my Netflix account. Friday Shake the Devil Off - dir. Peter Entell - Was the story of a black parish in New Orleans, and the struggle they are having trying to keep the Catholic Church from folding them into a whiter, richer parish just six months after the hurricane. The real hero of the piece is Father Jerome LeDoux. A vegan priest who practices catholicism in ways that I didn't learn about from Sister Margaret. Which is to say a very good thing. He was there for those people during Katrina, when other church officials were looking for higher ground. The director was given complete access to the parish and he obviously had a slanted point of view but frankly it would be hard not too. The best part of the movie is the activism that members of the parish unleash on the unsuspecting Catholic Diocese. And while the Diocese seems clueless at first, but they have their own tricks to play in the end. I Think We're Alone Now - dir. Sean Donnelly - This is the Tiffany stalker movie. Or as it turns out stalkers. This is the story of a couple of sad people with huge wholes in their lives. And unfortunately for everybody they feel the only person that could fill that whole is 80's pop icon Tiffany. I hated this movie. This movies puts a couple of sad pathetic people on a stage and asks the audience to laugh at them. This was not a fly on the wall look at a freak show, this was an active attempt by the filmmakers to get these two crazies to amp it up to eleven. It is the very definition of exploitive. Saturday Please Vote For Me - dir. Weijun Chen - This was a look at Chinese Democracy, no not the fictional GNR album. This was a third grade class's attempt to elect a Class Monitor, basically a bully in a sash. The kids are clueless. They have no idea what democracy even is which leaves room for the parents to step right in. Thanks to China's one kid rule these are all, only children who are extremely spoiled. For example one of the kids has his father wipe his ass for him. The kids are so much a focus of the parents world that the parents quickly become involved in the election on every level. Which leads to bribery, back biting and all around dirty politics. This movie was hilarious. One of my favorites at the festival. Audience of One - dir. Michael Jacobs - The story of a San Francisco church's attempt to raise 100 million dollars to make the greatest biblical sci-fi epic ever. The movie never really lived up to that great setup. By the end you come to realize that Pastor Richard Gazowsky isn't just a deluded individual. He is full blown crazy. And really not the funny kind. Although the actors in the sci-fi movie really should have their own film devoted to them. American Teen - dir. Nanette Burstein - It starts of with some jackass from Paramount threatening to arrest us if we have so much as have a cell phone in the building during the showing of the film. He has night vision goggles and is willing to use them. I didn't realize documentary film piracy was so out of control. I have to say I am not a fan of the Hills or Laguna Beach, mostly because I just haven't watched. I hear this movie is a lot like those shows. I guess bring on the Hills because. I loved this movie. I think there was little chance that I wasn't going to love it. It is built for everyone to love. It follows The Band Nerd, The Jock, The Mean Girl and Juno around for one school year. Through their growing stress on finding out who they are going to become. The movie uses fantastic animated sequences to show us their dreams and nightmares coming to reality. There are great story developments, in fact a little too great. The movie is almost too slick, but I just couldn't help being manipulated no matter how much I could tell they were manipulating me. This movie could make a billion dollars if it marketed right. Maybe that jackass from Paramount had a point. Carny - dir. Alison Murray - This was a work in progress about carny folk. It was almost the polar opposite of I Think We're Alone Now. It looks at marginalized people and doesn't judge them or celebrate them it just shows us who they are. And believe it or not there are some interesting people at the carnival. It dragged a little, but I did enjoy it. Sunday Song Sung Blue - dir. Greg Kohs - Now this is what I am talking about. This was a great movie from beginning to end. Thunder and Lightning are a Neil Diamond/Patsy Kline impersonating duo who it seemed could not be stopped. Then tragedy struck in the form of 74 year old behind the wheel of a car. This movie has a nice arc and some genuine surprises along the way. Eddie Vedder, believe it or not, plays a prominent role in the ups and downs of Thunder and Lightning. This was a story that I thought was going to be all about the laughs, but ended up showing me why we should all follow our own dreams. Stranded - dir. Gonzalo Arijon - You should never let one event in your life define you. This is a movie about a group of 16 survivors who not only let an event define them they let it define their children and their children's children. I thought I knew this story. I read Alive, I saw the movie, but this film, told with the perspective of 35 years, shows how these people still agonize over the decisions they made. The sacrifice that was made to keep these people alive is considered a sacrament to these survivors, and not only the survivors but the children and families of the people who were eaten. This is a movie about faith. I recommend it highly. If you use this call me Dugrex.
