Exit Through the Gift Shop

I attended a premiere of the Banksy documentary in Williamsburg last night with a certain type of film in mind - I was pretty far off.

I had expected an exploration of the elusive and brilliant street artist, Banksy, including a chronicle of his works, techniques and philosophy. I also hoped for a good dose of my other favorite street artist, Shepard Fairey. Well, I got both, and then a whole lot more.

The film begins with the story of a quirky French immigrant named Thierry Guetta. Thierry is presented as a sort of bumbling fool - the narrator speaks whimsically about his childlike fascination with video cameras and his interviews are (intentionally) edited so that most of his statements devolve into repetitious gibberish. Thierry became obsessed with the street art subculture and began filming the likes of Invader and Shepard Fairey, while the most famous artist of them all, Banksy, remained shrouded in mystery. Through a series of coincidences, Thierry finally meets Banksy and earns his trust. Guetta amasses thousands and thousands of hours of video footage and his subjects reasonably assume that he is planning to create some sort of grand documentary about their work. As it turns out, Guetta is simply insane and has no intention of creating a film, or even using or labeling the footage - it just sits in storage in his garage.

At Banksy's urging, Guetta takes a stab at creating a documentary - the result is an abysmal, unwatchable movie. Banksy tells Guetta not to give up and to continue to pursue a art. Guetta changes his name to Mister Brainwash and embarks on an ambitious program to churn out a career's worth of pop art in just a few short months.

MBW (Mister Brainwash) sells all of his possessions, hires a crew of designers, builders and artists, and directs them in the production of his debut exhibition. He is starting from scratch. Brainwash turns out to be a mad genius of sorts - a master of hype and a savvy businessman, he essentially derives a formula for pop/street art success and executes it with great skill. In just a short time, he has created enough art, and more importantly, buzz, to launch his own highly successful show in LA. MBW blows up, makes a cool million dollars from the sale of his hastily produced art, and earns the ire of Shepard Fairey, Banksy and the rest of the street art scene in the process.

The film begins as a chronicle of the medium, but then flips to a takedown of Mister Brainwash. An interesting twist because the rise of Brainwash calls into question the nature of art, commercialism, pop culture, etc. Is MBW an artist? A savvy businessman? A delusional genius? Or all of the above?

I urge you to check out the film when it comes to your area. The movie is shot with terrific pacing and every interview is useful. Of course, the works on display by Shepard Fairey and Banksy are truly amazing - I have an even deeper admiration for them both.

Also, I waited in line a couple of months ago when Mister Brainwash's ICONS show opened in NYC. I was once the proud owner of two of his signed prints. Now I'm not so sure how I feel about them.

I Knew It Was You Fredo

John Cazale is best remembered for his portrayal of Fredo in the Godfather, but did you know:

...he appeared in only five films, all of which (The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon, The Deer Hunter) were nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.

(via @sportsguy33)

McNamara Retrospective

Errol Morris offers a brief but poignant retrospective of the recently deceased Secretary of Defense. If you've never seen it, The Fog of War, a documentary by Morris, is a fantastic examination of America's Vietnam War policy, of which McNamara was a primary architect.

In a 1966 speech in Montreal (delivered while he was still secretary of defense), he returned to the theme of rationality:

“Who is man? Is he a rational animal? If he is, then the goals can ultimately be achieved. If he is not, then there is little point in making the effort. All the evidence of history suggests that man is indeed a rational animal but with a near infinite capacity for folly. His history seems largely a halting, but persistent, effort to raise his reason above his animality. He draws blueprints for utopia, but never quite gets it built. In the end he plugs away obstinately with the only building material really ever at hand: his own part-comic, part-tragic, part-cussed, but part-glorious nature.”

History certainly hasn't exonerated LBJ and the rest of the folks at the helm of America's incursion in Vietnam, but it's refreshing to see McNamara, a true statesman, offer a thoughtful perspective.

I doubt Rumsfeld, Bush and Cheney will ever get to this point. They probably still think that they're doing God's work. How convenient and intellectually lazy of them.

Senior Discount

Senior Discount is a band from Warren, RI that's comprised of four close friends of mine: Chuck Staton, Christian Staton, Alan Sousa and Tom Wells. They've been together since we were in high school and I think they've managed to produce an incredible amount of consistently creative content over the years in the form of music, film, art, performance, writing, etc.

Anyway, Senior Discount recently released a new EP and it's available as a free download on their website, www.seniordiscountmusic.com. It's a pretty strong album that really shows off their range and creativity. The EP features six original tracks, including a bluegrass version of one of their classic songs, as well as a cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. It's free. It's fun. What are you waiting for? Just check it out.

In addition to the music, they've also managed to create some fantastic short films over the years (and one feature length), which are also freely available on their website. Me and my disturbingly bad acting make a few appearances. Their most recent video, Mexico City Standoff, really shows off Chuck's increasingly sophisticated touch behind the camera and in the editing room. Nicely done.

Also, Chuck does a weekly podcast called "Agreeing to Disagree" with another friend of ours, Brad Rohrer. You can subscribe to it on iTunes or find it on the Senior Discount website. For a real treat, check out episode 15 to hear me discuss topics ranging from time travel to Dane Cook. It's like having a one-sided, hour and forty minute conversation with Aaron Arcello!

Mexico City Stand-Off - watch more funny videos

The Visitor

The Visitor is a terrific film that is driven by the spectacularly understated performance of Richard Jenkins. It'd be tough to give much of a summary without spoiling the plot, but the only thing you really need to know is that the story is a perfect vehicle for Jenkin's character to bare his soul.

I'd say it's definitely worth seeing, but with the following disclosures:

1. I'm somewhat biased because of Richard Jenkins' strong Rhode Island connections.

2. His character reminded me of a guy I used to work for.

Also, as good as Sean Penn was in Milk, I think Jenkins or Mickey Rourke were more deserving of the Best Actor Oscar.

High Tension

In 1974, Frenchman Philippe Petit illegally erected a wire between the World Trade Center towers and proceeded to tight rope walk between the structures.

This feat required incomprehensible levels of luck, determination, imagination and skill, and the story is beautifully told in the 2008 documentary film Man on Wire. Petit is charming and his enthusiasm is infectious; it takes but a few minutes for the viewer to become completely engrossed in his grand scheme.

A few things:

• The footage of the towers doesn't seem sad or eery at all. The event being chronicled here is so lighthearted and beautiful that it overshadows the grim reality of the WTC's demise.
• Petit and his crew amassed a brilliant collection of photographs and video back in 1974 that are used to great effect in this film. There's enough footage (original and reenacted) for plenty of cuts and pans so that the movie moves along at very energetic clip. Really entertaining film making.
  
• How? It's unfathomable that a person could tightrope walk 110 stories above the streets of Manhattan, yet Petit's breezy conviction makes the event seem magically simple. It's just a man on a wire.

Really an excellent film and worthy of the Best Documentary Academy Award it received.

Inglourious Basterds

Tarantino's latest and final (?) film is a World War II epic about American Nazi hunters. From what I can tell, it stars Brad Pitt, Ryan from The Office and Neal Schweiber from Freaks and Geeks.

The fact that it's written and directed by Quentin Tarentino is enough for me. The teaser trailer is here.

An ultra-violent, highly stylized, action packed, war film with a Dirty Dozen flair? Sure!

(via Kottke)