"Thank you so much for shopping with us over the years."
The circle of life as reflected through the prism of a small-town shopping mall an hour from where I grew up. It's all here, but everything must go.
Documentarians truly are the prospectors of the film industry, and these two directors dug up some golden moments, all the while keeping it in service of a bigger picture. An old domino hound eagerly waiting to meet his maker. A little…
[Seen at the 2019 Sidewalk Film Festival]
“Y’all motherfuckers wanna get weird?”
This is the most Alabama film of all time. I’m so goddamn proud of all my friends and acquaintances.
Five stars and five bars.
[Seen at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival]
“I got closer to myself than I got with anyone else.”
Even with a truncated runtime, there’s a lack of focus here as the film struggles to connect the people and the place on display. It might’ve been better as a more traditional talking-heads documentary with a social responsibility angle, and it certainly would’ve been better if it’d truly committed to the vérité approach that another recent Slamdance documentary took (and nailed).
Watching…
[Seen at the 2023 Slamdance Film Festival]
“As a police officer, we hope everyone can be like you.”
The big reveal is pretty easy to telegraph early on, but I was pleasantly surprised by the emotional scale of the third act, which includes a few moments that will break your heart. The docudrama format works well here for that reason—it adds a layer to the redemption story in the end. (“This movie saved him,” as Jerry’s ex-wife tells us.)
Might be one of the most fear-inducing written epilogues I’ve ever seen in a documentary? We need more resources like this for our senior citizens.
[Seen at the 2017 Nashville Film Festival]
"You made them, America. What did you expect?"
I was not familiar with the true story of Brian Deneke, but had we lived in the same town, our paths might've crossed. I was born seven years later, but I grew up going to punk rock shows in Birmingham at Cave 9 and the Boiler Room and the Two-Way and anywhere that would have us. I didn't dress quite like Brian and his crew,…
"That's a little weird, Jeremy. Thank you though."
Adding half a star one week later because I'm just so impressed by how* they pulled it off.
A shooting budget of $30,000. 12 days on set. 2-3 takes per shot. A skeleton crew made up entirely by the director's photography students. A script finished in August that was rolling just after Thanksgiving. Half of the characters played by the director's family, the other half working for back-end points. It's not exactly…
