I know I’ve posted about this doc before, but I’m hankerin’ to see it, and it hasn’t shown up on Netflix. I might just buy the digital release and be done with my pining.

I just discovered that Chris Thrash, one of the doc’s main subjects, used one of my all-time favorite songs as his first Rock-afire programming exercise. Check it out:

Hello all,

I’ve been quiet lately, but it’s because I’ve been traveling and haven’t been watching as many movies. With the end of Sundance, though, I’ve got some great new stuff to look forward to.

A doc that premiered at Sundance, Exit Through the Gift Shop, is getting great reviews. It follows — but doesn’t unmask — Banksy. I’ve heard that the less you know about this film going in, the better it is. See the trailer by clicking through the title.

Also from Sundance is Buried, which I don’t think I will see. The entire film takes place in a coffin with buried-alive Ryan Reynolds.

One of my favorite blogs, Four Four, posted about a really intense documentary called I Think We’re Alone Now, which is available on Netflixnow.

The two subjects of the documentary have had severe challenges in life, and it’s hard to watch them talk about their devotion. Rob almost immediately turned away and said that he couldn’t watch the doc. I’m not sure if I have the stomach to, either.

And then, there are documentaries like Last Train Home, which follows the struggle of Chinese migrant workers as they cram their way past millions of others to board a train home for their sole holiday.

The trailer makes the air smell a little sweeter on this side of the world, doesn’t it?

You can’t find a bigger fan of the show RuPaul’s Drag Race than I. Well, maybe Joel McHale of The Soup. Drag Race provided him with some of this year’s most insane clips. Why do I love drag queens? Why not?! Thee glamour, the pageantry, the showmanship, the makeup, are all amazing. They take some of the campiest pleasures of pop culture and bedazzle them. The earnestness of the competitors in the Miss Gay America pageant is startling. The interview are great, as is the pacing. I would recommend this documentary to anyone.

One subject, Carl, makes the distinction early on in his interview that he doesn’t want to become a woman, he simply wants to impersonate a woman. I think there’s something universal about drag; men’s roles in society are typically staid and emotionless, while some women — divas of stage and screen — can be as emotional and extravagant as they want to be and still be loved by society. Imitating these women is liberating for people who have felt the need to hide their true identity. That concealing of your real feelings is the universal bit, but drag is very specific. I think this documentary works for a broad audience, though, because of it plainly shows the joy and happiness that the contestants have found for themselves. I think most people can get into seeing others smile. Live and let live, after all.

There were two films that I saw this fall that I’ve been talking up: World’s Greatest Dad and This Is It.

Minor spoilers ahead for World’s Greatest Dad.
World’s Greatest Dad has totally redeemed in my eyes the credibility Robin Williams lost in the Wild Hogs/Old Dogs debaucle. It’s directed by Bobcat Goldthwait, who I haven’t thought of in about ten years. It’s an extremely dark comedy about human nature and our reaction to death and celebrity. The closest parallel would be to the work of Alexander Payne, who directed and wrote Election. Williams’ son is an asshole who dies in an erotic asphyxiation accident. In an effort to preserve decorum, Williams writes a fake suicide note, which leads to a fake diary, which leads to an Oprah appearance…the lie snowballs in the most hilarious way. All the while portraying so pithily the high school students who idolize the dead son and search in desperation for relics of his life and attach too much meaning to them.

In This Is It, one of the most affecting scenes was toward the beginning of the film. The backup dancers are asked to describe the experience of dancing in MJ’s comeback tour. They all start crying – almost on cue – when trying to speak about the experience. Even before his death, these dancers couldn’t express how much Michael meant to them. The whole documentary was fascinating. For about 10 minutes, his face seems alien-like. Then, I adjusted and marveled at the ease with which he moves. There was nothing overly fawning about the documentary; it simply focused on the tour and the music, not the man.

Lucky me! I got to attend a screening of the documentary Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry at Mission Theater, complete with free drinks. Prior to my screening, I didn’t have much knowledge of tattoo history, so I learned a lot about its origins. Sailor Jerry has a story that seems ripped from a novel: grew up riding the rails, learned how to tattoo from the old timers who travelled with freak shows, purchased a small island in the Pacific where he could retreat in the event of the Federal government becoming too intrusive, general ‘f-you if you don’t like it’ attitude.

A lot of the old timers who were interviewed were very dismissive and angry at the current generation of tattoo artists, who they call the ‘black shirts.’ In their day, they had to make their own needles and had no sanitation laws to adhere to, or help from anyone. They had a wall of their flash, and a customer sat down, ponied up the cash, and got inked. And if you didn’t like them, well, sod off. I can see how they would be very dismissive of the way the industry has been infused with ‘the customer is always right’ mentality of other service industries.

The movie featured a lot of footage of Don Ed Hardy, Jerry’s protege. He’s gotten a really bad rap lately; his name has been bedazzled, surrounded by skulls eating dragons, and slapped on the backs of Jon Gosselin and his ilk. In the film, Hardy didn’t touch on the use of his designs by Christian Audiger, the man who brought the world the Von Dutch trucker hat. But in GQ a few months ago, there was a really interesting profile of Audiger that touched on the Ed Hardy shirts. In GQ, Audiger is made to seem like a delusional narcissist who stretches the truth provides breast enlargement as a health plan perk to his mostly female employees. Hardy signed over the rights to his intellectual property a few years ago, but didn’t read the contracts carefully enough. Hardy sued Audiger when he didn’t like the way his art was being used, but lost. Hardy seems like an intellectually curious and serious person in this documentary, far different from the flashy shirts that bear his name.

One of the final scenes of the documentary was an interview with an old timer who said that he thinks the explosion in popularity of tattoos will wane very soon. I’ll paraphrase his theory: a child born today sees a rose on his mother’s breast while nursing. When he’s shipped off to pre-school, he sees a butterfly on the teacher’s lower back while she bends to pick up toys. For some children, tattoos will be the mark of the authority figures in their lives, and will be totally undesirable.

If you’re interested in tattoo history, Hawaii during World War II, and old men cursing, I think you’d enjoy this movie.

Whip It! was great. Of course, the plot was predictable, but the whole affair was heart-warming and undeniable fun. And the soundtrack had three Jens Lekman songs, so I was beaming after my viewing.

I think Drew Barrymore surrounded herself with actors that she loves working with, and feeling of love and mutual admiration seeps through the screen. Jimmy Fallon plays a creepy announcer, and I loved their chemistry in Fever Pitch. Hell, I even love Never Been Kissed. Her rom-coms conform to the traditions of the genre, but don’t pander or placate the viewers with odd or fake dialogue; they very much live in the modern world. I think that’s why the stuff that she does is among my favorite in the popcorn movie realm.

The other day, I got schooled in a major way. Shibuya. Cornelius, aka Hideki Iialo. Does any of this ring a bell to you?

Well, Ed dropped some knowledge on me about indie pop in Japan in the early nineties. He started and served as kingpin in the scene that produced Pizzacato Five, a band I would later learn about via borrowed copies of Sassy Magazine.

The scene is the backdrop for a love story about a young man who, surprise, just wants to get the girl. But, he’s living a double life as a crazy, KISS-inspired, metal dude. Hilarity ensues. Will he get the girl? Detroit Metal City looks like it will make its way into my Netflix queue as soon as it’s available.

I know this movie has been universally praised, but I’m going to join the pile-on in this little corner of the internet because I haven’t heard any of my friends talking about this movie.

Armando Iannucci gives us the “Office” treatment to mid-level government workers. And the boss has the most blistering, air-blueing, stomach-doubling, mind-expanding expletives you’ve ever heard. If you’re squeamish, click on the second video; it’s the proper trailer.

I saw Afghan Star this morning, and I was so pleased to take in the trailer for Art & Copy before the film started.

Those who know me are aware of my love for Mad Men, the period drama that follows Madison Avenue executives in the early 1960’s. The show’s protagonist, Don Draper, has vacillating ideas about what it is that he does. He tells neophyte Peggy that she both creates an idealized image for people to aspire to, and that she’s not an artist, she’s just a person in business.

This documentary seems like it would make a great triple hat with an episode of Mad Men, and the letter-form lover’s Helvetica. Mad Men has a complicated relationship with advertising, but in my estimation both Helvetica and Art & Copy praise it.

Chris Rock has a documentary coming out in October about African-American hair, and I cannot wait to see it.