Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by brewthunda (A) on May 13, 2002 at 14:32:44

In Reply to: Mark Borchardt's 'AMERICAN MOVIE' posted by CQ DX on May 12, 2002 at 14:05:34:

Excellent movie, but I really felt like a jerk watching it. A little too voyeuristic. I think the main guy opened up because he thought the audience would like to watch him achieve his dream of directing a blockbuster movie . . but meanwhile we're laughing and crying at his pathetic life.

My favorite part is when his friend is describing the time he went to the hospital due to a drug overdose, and the hospital staff measured his brain as flatline . . and so he decided to eat the last of his acid right there in the hospital. Too funny.

Anyway . . if you liked this, you'll have to rent Hands on a Hard Body - about an annual contest in East Texas where the last contestant to maintain physical contact with a Nissan hardbody truck wins . . . after about 90 hours of lunacy.

Other good ones are any of the Errol Morris documentaries. Morris interviews people through teleprompters - so the interviewee is talking directly at the image of Morris projected on the teleprompter. He also lets them talk for minutes at a time. This results in interviews where the interviewee talks directly at you for minutes on end. The effect is really dramatic and a little spooky - and results in some of the most candid revelations you'll ever see on tv.

And of course if watching odd people in their natural habitat is your thing, you can't beat Zwigoff's Crumb.