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.