2016 Directed by Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg
Documentary featuring a jaw-dropping, behind-the-scenes look at the attempted comeback of Anthony Weiner in 2013 as he mounts a campaign for New York City mayor in the wake of his sexting scandal. Featuring unfettered access to the candidate and his campaign.
Sex, Lügen und Social Media, Sex, Lügen und Social Media - Der Fall Anthony Weiner
Politics and human rights political, democracy, president, documentary or propaganda political, president, historical, politician or democracy documentary, fascinating, sad, emotional or heartbreaking journey, scientific, documentary, humanity or earth boxing, fighting, champion, sports or fighter Show All…
one day i'll grow up and get over how truly unfortunate a name this dude has but today is not that day
68/100
Clearly, Huma Abedin's choice to remain primarily a background presence here was strategic (vis-à-vis her own career and Clinton's, not her husband's). Kriegman and Steinberg use that constraint deftly, however, and I wish they'd gone even further in positioning her as Weiner's antithesis, as all of the film's best moments involve what are essentially silent screams. Thing is, I find that I now like the guy considerably more than I would ever have guessed from the way these scandals were covered in the media. He's a self-destructive moron when it comes to sex, but so is roughly half the planet (conservative estimate), and I tend not to place a whole lot of public-trust weight on lies that politicians tell…
Hardly just an opportunistic snapshot of a celebrity's public implosion, Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg's inside look at the spectacular failure of Anthony Weiner's 2013 mayoral campaign in New York is one of the best documentaries ever made about a political scandal. A passionate fighter for the middle class who nuked his career by accidentally tweeting a selfie of his bulge, the indefatigable Weiner is nothing less than a true American tragedy — but this hilarious and humbling portrait rightly sees him as so much more. At once a portrait of media sensationalism, a marriage under fire, and of a city that felt betrayed by its best hope, the movie is so unsparing that when they finally ask Weiner why he let them film him, the disgraced ex-congressman can only shrug.
Read more: www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/10-best-movies-we-saw-at-sundance-2016-20160129#ixzz3ylb1dnTr
at first I thought it was going to be funny because of the name but then it got serious
What are the fucking odds that someone named Anthony Weiner would be involved in a sexting scandal (several fucking times)
What a douche this guy is. Huma seems like a good girl tho. She is quiet, very beautiful, and wears pretty dresses. Anyone have her number? Seems like I'm just what she needs.
This reminded me of the Arthur Chu doc in that what transparently seems to have been conceived as a hero's narrative (in this case that of Ulysses's arduous return home after rough travails) completely falls apart in the face of the subject's unremitting narcissism. It feels like a million years ago that Weiner was an internet sensation as just about the only Democrat who stood up and raised hell that his party was pissing away their supermajority. Hell, it even feels like a lifetime ago that his simple inability to stop sending his dick to every woman he encountered on the internet ended up bringing the FBI crawling back to Hillary's emails in the 11th hour. But my god does…
There's something awfully sad but darkly hilarious about seeing this film in context with the events of late. Weiner is like Boogie Nights meets Gone Girl meets Spinal Tap. Probably the saddest subtlety was seeing how gradually detatched Huma became as the film progressed. It's so strange but ultimately fascinating it's amazing to think that this stuff is really real and not a mockumentary political satire. Weiner does a fantastic job and doesn't just do a blank autopsy, and instead explores the triumph and tragedy of this crooked figure. Whether or not you like or dislike him, Weiner is essential viewing. This is without a doubt one of the greatest documentaries of 2016.
