Exit Through The Gift Shop

Mr Brainwash Pop Art

I love documentaries for the stories they tell and the messages that real people try to live out in daily life.  “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is the academy award nominated documentary that has found its self in the controversy of: Is it a documentary or mocumentary?  I think that  it is a fascinating documentary that provides a cutting commentary at the art world (street art to be specific).  Famous street artist Banksy puts together a film about a documentarian turned artist named Thierry Guetta who takes the aptly named moniker MBW (Mr. Brain Wash). The documentary shows wonderful insight into the street art scene, the process that goes into it, and some of the major players in the street art game.  It then shows how street art has gone off the streets and into the auction houses.  This is where the contraversy lies.  There are definitely arguments within the movie to be made that Banksy, known for his “jokes on you” attitude, has problems with arts value being measured in dollars and being nothing more than the popular toy for the rich.  Questions come up like what is art and what is just crappy imitation?  Does genius marketing make something good or just valuable?  In a consumer driven world do we question what we are buying into or are we just eating up whatever popular culture is feeding us?  With all of this being said because Banksy is kind of the Andy Kaufman of the art world people question if this documentary is real, and Thierry Guetta is for real or if it was all just one big joke to further press the point that the audience is the joke in the art world.  I still really enjoyed it whether I was watching a true documentary or a meta artistic expression upon the art world.

Banksy Street Art

 This movie has more than just a social commentary on art consumers. As predominately a rule follower I am intrigued by counter culture and the graffiti artist.  I do wonder how some people tag some places or how some people’s work is so big and elaborate yet done in a way that is so fast and under the cover of darkness.  This documentary touches on some of that as well.  I think that there is a very clear story here and the main character is easily watchable.  At times you love him, hate him, pity him, and champion him.  If you are not into street art this movie gives you a peek into that world.  You might view that highway on your way to work that is tagged differently, or when you get stopped and have to have to wait for a train you see it as a moving gallery not an ugly nuisance. This documentary will bring 87 minutes of artistic culture to your life, even if it is counter-culture.

Word Wars

     Nerd Culture fascinates me.  I love looking at small pockets of our society that holds outcast, quirky, and eccentric members that reject social norms and dedicate themselves to their passion.  The documentary that shoved me into this sub-genre was “Spellbound” a 2002 documentary that highlights contestants for the Scripts National Spelling Bee.  I have now watched many different nerd-docs and have seen a formula develop among them.  Highlight the quirkiest, most unconventional ones of the bunch along with ones that have a good shot of being successful, and follow their daily preparation and document their progress toward their goal.  With the popularity of “Words with Friends” the idea behind Word Wars, a documentary that showcases the world’s top Scrabble players, intrigued me.  As I start watching this movie I find myself thinking that this is just “Spellbound” all grown up.  That kind of disappoints me that it starts looking like the same movie but with adults.  All of that changes when Marlon is introduced into the picture.  In my opinion this guy is the greatest reason to watch this movie.  Although I have stated that I love nerd culture and I love your stereotypical nerds, Marlon breaks the mold of the stereotypical Scrabble player.  Marlon is a very aggressive in your face African American gentleman that smokes lots of weed and at one point in the movie picks up a hooker on camera before a tournament.  When you contrast him with “GI Joel” another player that fits every nerdy stereotype you can think of on top of having to constantly spit up stomach juice from his terrible acid reflux and gastrointestinal problems for which he got his nickname, you will find Marlon is the little nugget of gold in this movie.  Marlon separated this movie from any nerd-doc I have ever seen.  On top of all of his antics, he is a phenomenal Scrabble player.  Every other person that gets highlighted in this movie fits a mental image of a typical Scrabble player.  The fact that this guy who has such strong opinions about what he calls “Amerikkka with 3 k’s”   and openly hates the English Language for stripping his ancestors of their Afrikan language is such a student of the English language and submerses himself in a culture of nerdy white guys and old ladies is well worth 80 minutes of your life.  If you are looking for a nerd-doc this movie will deliver that as well.  This is the ultimate in “don’t judge a book by its cover” especially when the dreadlocked book you are playing can drop words like xenogamy(71pts) and lambrequin(73pts) on you after stepping outside for a blunt.  This movie really does have more appeal than just that of Scrabble players.  I was able to learn a little about Scrabble, but a lot about those who dedicate so much time and effort to this game. 

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

Don Merchant puts out a thought provoking documentary titled Lord, Save Us From Your Followers.  He addresses the problem that many others have addressed concerning one of the greatest enemies of Christianity is the actions and attitudes of Christians.  I am fascinated with this topic and think that the premis of this documentary could not be more true.  As far as a documentary goes there are some things that I really like and really don’t like.  I think that his overall message that he conveys is spot on, and does make you think about how you have treated others if you are a Christian, and makes you think about the way you view Christians if you are not.  I personally am not a fan of “man on the street Q and A.”  I think that anytime you engage someone on the street by just walking up to them and sticking a microphone in their face to ask them a question you get a person looking to respond in a guarded or slanted way, or in a way that hopes they are not getting caught up in a “gotcha” moment.  I don’t think that you get honest meaningful responses because quite frankly you are merely looking to put a sound bite on camera that will impact your audience without allowing the person you are talking with be accurately represented as a person within the film.  It also doesn’t help that Merchant is doing these interviews in a stupid suit that is covered in religious and social bumper stickers that is really cheesy and hoakey.    As the documentary progresses it moves much more to a sit down discussion style interview.  When he does his sit down style interviews with people like Rick Warren, Al Frankin, and William P. Young (Author of “The Shack”) he is able to wonderfully engage his message.  I think that there are some really thought provoking things in the documentary such as the gospel of prosperity and how consumerism and Christianity should not be such good friends.  It is very powerful to see him take a page from Blue Like Jazz, the Donald Miller Book that has recently been made into a movie, and set up a Confession booth in the middle of a gay pride festival, where Merchant apologized to homosexuals and confessed the sins of Christians to them asking for forgiveness from the community.  At 142 min this is a long documentary.  I found that the beginning of the movie was a little cheesy but was very pleased with it by the time I got to the end.  No matter what your religious views are I would recommend this movie for everyone if to just give a different perspective. 

Many documentaries run the risk of taking current public figures and portray them in one way, but time gives them ample opportunity to show you they should be portrayed in another way.  Several times Rick Santorum who at the time(2007) was a senator from Pennsylvania talks about his faith and times when he should show compassion.  Several times we have seen that Rick Santorum has not showed that same kind of love when trying to appeal to the super conservative right wing base of Republicans.  Don’t let the hypocrisy of some keep you from understanding the message that is trying to be portrayed by the director.

The common phrase “The book is better than the movie” is very rarely used when talking about documentaries.  This has been a trendy topic to write about in Christian circles lately.  If the documentary is intriguing to you and you are the type of person that likes to read more.  Or you are the kind of person that likes to click in the box “people who like this have also enjoyed…”  This documentary is also a book and there are a couple of books that I have liked that deal with similar subjects.

BEING ELMO: A Puppeteer's Journey

Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey, is a biopic documentary that highlights the story of Kevin Clash, the man behind the lovable monster of Sesame Street.  Biopic documentaries are hit and miss for some people.  The documentary is carried by the story of one person, and few others can help out in the story telling.  This biopic does not disappoint.  I was a fan of Sesame Street growing up, and I have 2 kids who are huge fans of Sesame Street, one of which is obsessed with ELMO!  I won’t lie, on some level I thought it might help me to relate to my daughter to learn more about her favorite TV character.  I am not sure if she cares that I know his back story, but I appreciate the process that goes into making Sesame Street even more.  When we think of young prodigies we many times think of athletes, musicians, or Doogie Howser style geniuses, but we don’t think of puppeteer phenoms.  It is incredible to see someone who identified their passion so early and dedicated their time and hard work to perfecting their craft at such and early age.  Part of the movie shows what an incredible visionary Jim Hensen was and the impact he had on Kevin’s life.  Elmo was not a character on Sesame Street when I was little, but now that I am watching new episodes with my kids, it is hard to remember what Sesame Street was like with out the little red ball of fur.  It is fun and quite amazing to see how Elmo started out and what Kevin was able to transform the character into.  This documentary is able to bring up the fond memories of my childhood all while helping me understand why my daughter is obsessed with a cute little monster brought about by the talented Kevin Clash.

I chose this week to highlight this documentary because my family went to a Sesame Street live show.  I am not sure how I would react if I were able to see some of my heroes perform live.  Most of my obsessions don’t perform live.  This weekend I was able to see my daughter hardly be able to contain herself when she got to see her TV hero.  She is not yet 2 yrs old but her reaction to seeing Elmo for the first time was reminiscent of seeing teenage girls scream and cry in excitement over the Beatles, Elvis, or NSYNC.   I would not have gone to see Sesame Street Live by my self, but the total excitement and permasmile she had on her face the whole time was worth the cheesy songs and hokey dancing.  It is truly amazing to see how a character on TV can invoke so much emotion, even from a small child.  If it weren’t for Kevin Clash I would not have had that experience this weekend.  

Helvetica



               Helvetica is a documentary that might be like a “deep cut” or “B side” song from an album of a band you really like.  This is not the documentary that I would suggest someone go out and sees if they are going to watch only one documentary.  However, this is a really well made documentary, and to those who appreciate the genera of the documentary an excellent look at the world of graphic arts.  Helvetica is a type face that is known as a sansarif and is the type face that is looked at as the greatest type face of the modern movement.  Just like art, type and graphic arts have followed different movements and times.  During the 60’s and 70’s the modern movement came about and recently it has had resurgence.  The documentary really does an excellent job of going around and talking to different graphic artist and getting their thoughts on Helvetica.  You quickly see there are two camps that form, the Helvetica lovers and the Helvetica haters.   Some think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread.



Sliced Bread that advertises with Helvetica 



 While others would say, “why would you mess up something as nice as sliced bread with something as terrible as Helvetica”.  The core of the argument is really over creativity.  When designing: are you looking for your design to be a classic truth tested design that is clean sharp and accepted by the masses, or are you looking for your type to say something more than the words you are putting on the page?  The artist would say that anyone can design something that looks decent in Helvetica, but it truly takes a creative mind to not have to use Helvetica.  That then poses the question: if everyone can make it look good in Helvetica is Helvetica the perfect typeface?  This movie will make you notice the logos that are placed in the world around you and make you think when you have to design something next time.  If you have to send out an invitation, a flyer, or a memo you will now start to think about your typeface.  If you scrapbook, blog, or have to design anything you will now see that the world of typefaces are almost endless, some good ones and some terrible ones.  The documentary is worth watching and is shot beautifully.  I think this documentary does a wonderful job of making its audience learn something new on an area that most people have probably not thought about and allows them to make their own decision as to what they think about the subject.  

 since most of the world does not think of things like the typeface that they use I though it would be funny to put a couple of collgege humor Youtube clips up that talk about typeface.

The next clip is actually from the film Helvetica.

                (I personally like the clean cut style of Helvetica and my logo at the top of the blog is done in Helvetica and was a small nod to this documentary.)



For proof of how prevelant Helvetica is in our lives I am posting this picture.  I wrote this blog from a hotel room.  I walked into the bathroom and found this set up that is all Helvetica.