Hey folks, Harry here - long time contributor Bungion Boy is back with a look at the BAM Festival up in Brooklyn! I've seen AMERICAN TEEN and GONZO - both of which are fantastic. Here ya go...

Hey Moriarty, Harry, etc. Bungion Boy here. I couldn’t make it to Sundance this year due to work but I’m catching up now at the third annual Sundance at BAM Festival in Brooklyn.

AMERICAN TEEN

Despite the ad campaign, this doesn’t play out like a documentary version of “The Breakfast Club.” It’s a lot better than that, though not without its problems. For their senior year of high school, director Nanette Burstein (co-director of “The Kid Stays in the Picture”) followed 4 students in Warsaw, Indiana. They include: Colin, the star of the basketball team who needs a college scholarship or face enlisting in the army, Megan, the rich, snobby, queen of the school who will sell out her friends to get what she wants or just for fun, Jake, a social outcast in search of an identity and a girlfriend who can see past his acne, and Hannah, an artistic, free spirit, desperate to get out of Indiana.

Anyone who sees this, no matter what your background was, will recognize a lot of the situations here from your own life. The film is overall quite good, usually feeling a lot more like “Hoop Dreams,” or “This American Life,” than say, something like “The Hills.” Michael Penn’s score is really nice, but sometimes it is paired with unnecessary, (though certainly well produced) animation sequences. These were just a bit too much and usually took away from the voiceovers that accompanied them, especially the moments when Jake was re-imagined as a hero in The Legend of Zelda.

All four teens were great subjects and held my interest, though I felt that Megan’s story was handled the worse, as most the time all we ever see of her is doing and saying cruel things to her friends and enemies. You know that there’s a lot more to her, and indeed there is, but we really only get a glimpse of it in one scene when some tragedies from her past are revealed. I wish the film didn’t save these revelations for late in the film to pull them out and shock us after we’ve judged her for so long. I would have rather had the balance of seeing her whole true nature from the beginning. I loved Colin’s story as well, but he seemed to have the least screen time out of any of the teens. Jake undeniably has some of the funniest, most profound, and painfully honest moments in the film, but too often is just treated as comic relief. However, nobody is going to see this film without being sure of one thing, and that is that the star of this film is Hannah Bailey. This free spirit is like an unscripted version of “Juno” so both the lovers and haters of that film should really enjoy her. There isn’t a moment with Hannah that feels inauthentic.

Like many documentaries, there are moments in this film where you find yourself questioning the editing, wondering the true sequence of the events that take place, and notice some possibly reenacted scenes. But you’re also going to see bits of true life and emotions shining through. Though I went back and forth between liking this film and searching for flaws, I ultimately got very emotional by the end, having witnessed these young people’s lives. I can’t help but wonder where they’ll go from here.

MAN ON WIRE

James Marsh’s “Man on Wire” is one of the most thrilling and joyful experiences I’ve ever had in a movie theatre. Big talk, I know, but it’s true. In 1974, tightrope walker Philippe Petit did the unthinkable when he walked between the Twin Towers on a tightrope. The film lets all the participants in the event tell the story in their own words, showing us photographs, incredible archive footage, and comedic reenactments. The film plays out like a heist movie, with incredibly tense moments of suspense, and even nicknames for all the crew like “The Inside Man” and “The Australian.” As thrilling as the film ends up being, it may have been almost just as exciting and entertaining if the entire film had merely been an interview with Philippe Petit, who hops around like a child and acts like a real life version of The Mad Hatter or Willy Wonka. Throughout the whole movie the audience was squealing and giggling. Not because they were laughing at Petit, but because his excitement and joy is infectious. The film is fast paced and makes you feel like you’re part of the team and getting away with something spectacular. The film also serves as a loving tribute and celebration to the World Trade Center, more beautiful and poignant than anything I’ve seen since their fall. However, the words "terrorism" or "9/11" never appear in the film, which chooses to focus on the joy and wonder of the event of the ropewalk. It’s kind of ironic because several of the scenes involving these people sneaking through the towers, hiding from the guards, and eluding the cops, reminds us of the crimes that would later be perpetrated on the buildings, only Petit commits a crime of beauty and miraculous splendor. The final moments of this film are bittersweet and sad, as the people involved reflect about what they’ve done and what it meant to all of them afterwards, as individuals and a group. I couldn’t help but get swept up in the emotional experience with them. This is one of the best films I’ve seen this year and I urge everyone to see it when it is released in August.

GOOD DICK

“Good Dick” is one of those sad unlikely romance pictures with very little romance and a story that keeps you at arm’s length. Jason Ritter plays a young man who works in a video store and develops a crush on the strange girl, (played by the writer and director of the film, the very talented Marianna Palka), who comes in and rents 4 adult films every day. Through a lot of lies, Ritter’s character gradually earns her trust enough to start living with her, though she has a strict no touching policy. Ritter recognizes Palka as damaged goods and tries his best to break her out of her shell, while also trying to pursue the relationship he wants with her. Ritter described the characters during the Q & A afterwards as if he were a knight in shining armor and Palka was the damsel in distress AND the dragon. Every time they become closer she finds a way to push him back a little further. The film has some very funny moments but is mostly a somber piece on a serious subject, though it always feels more like an honest relationship story than an issue film. The rhythm and mood felt a lot like Andrew Bujalski’s films “Funny Ha Ha” and “Mutual Appreciation.” The cast is nicely filled out by Martin Starr, Mark Webber, Charles Durning, and Tom Arnold, but Ritter and Palka are the ones that really shine. Palka especially could and should have a great career as an actress, writer, and/or director. This film isn’t for everyone. Some may get bored and not like being strung along by a story that doesn’t really reveal its true nature until the end, but the emotions are real and the resolution is satisfying. This film could use some editing, (and maybe a title change), but I hope it finds a distributor and an audience. At any rate, I look forward to see both these actors in more things very soon.

ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL

For the most part, the audience for this fantastic new documentary was very different from who I saw at the other films I’d seen this weekend. I was sitting right by 5 bearded behemoths in black shirts barely containing their pounds of flesh. The show was sold out but each was trying to keep at least one empty seat next to them for, er… overspill. They weren’t unruly but were occasionally loud, shouting things like “Fuck you, Lars!” However they did not ruin my film going experience. They enhanced it. 30 years ago, Anvil was one of the most innovative heavy metal bands in existence. Bands like Metallica and Anthrax say that they were inspired by them and thought that if they couldn’t be as great as Anvil, then there was no use trying. Now, many of those bands that looked up to Anvil are rich and famous, and Anvil is not.

The film follows the Canadian band led by Lips and Robb Reiner (not brothers) in their efforts to achieve fame, or at the very least, make ends meet long enough to keep rocking. Lips has a philosophy that he always assumes that things can’t get worse than where they are now, so anything he does will be an improvement. Things usually get worse. We see Anvil on their ill fated European tour, where they are occasionally not paid and sometimes perform for an audience of 6 people or so. There are a lot of laughs in the film, (I’m sure this will be called “The Real Spinal Tap” by many people) but there is a poignancy to the story as well. Lips, with his thin, long hair and crooked shit-eating grin is a pleasure to watch. Seeing him fall out with his best friend of over 35 years, only to come apologize 20 minutes later with tears in his eyes is at once sad and sweet. The finale of this film is one of the most uplifting things I’ve seen in a film this year and it had the whole audience cheering. Anvil played a concert after the show, and I’m not much for metal, but after seeing their struggle in the film, all I wanted to do was celebrate with them afterwards. I can’t wait for this film to come out, just so Anvil can have whatever success it can get from the publicity. They deserve it.

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DOCTOR HUNTER S. THOMPSON

Another fine documentary from Alex Gibney, director of “Enron: Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Taxi To The Darkside.” You already know if you want to see this or not. If you’re even a modest fan of Thompson’s you’ll find a lot of fascinating stuff here. I’ve read a lot of his work and read a lot about him, but still learned a lot of things I never knew about before. The sequences about his campaign for sheriff of Aspen and his relationship with George McGovern was handled best. The film is full of great talking heads, fantastic archive footage, and narration and readings from Johnny Depp. Do yourself a favor and see this when it comes out in July.

That’s all for now but I’m seeing some shorts and “Choke” later this week. I’ll write in if there’s anything interesting to report. So long, friends.

-Bungion Boy