Inspired by The Office, Part 2

If I am in fact going to celebrate my birthday in May by going out and doing karaoke, I could use some suggestions on a spot. I know nothing about the scene. I would like it to be smoke-free. (I doubt alcohol-free exists. Even people who don’t drink like knowing that the audience is drunk.) Most of all, it is important that there is a good music selection. When they show it on television, it seems like everything is either country or elevator music. The big exceptions that recur again and again are “Respect” and “I’ve Got You Babe”. Well, I’m pretty sure I can’t pull off Aretha Franklin, and no one sounds good singing “I’ve Got You Babe”, including Sonny and Cher.

Anyway, as long as we are thinking about The Office, Television Without Pity did an interview with BJ Novak (Ryan the temp), and he made a point that it is easier to show than to explain:

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/story.cgi?show=56&story=8897&page=1&sort=&limit=

“I think that really good television is at a higher level than a lot of movies. I think they haven't had that big clearing house that reality TV was, where it was like, "Okay, we don't like this kind of crap that's imitating other crap that's imitating other crap. We're going to show you how people really are for two years. There'll be nothing else on the air but videos showing actual people, and then you can start again, with television imitating real life." Movies haven't had that, I guess, because you see a comedy in the theatres, and they're hitting these familiar beats that have nothing to do with real people's experience or making fun of things that are really in people's lives. And I think, you know, The Office, Earl, South Park, the shows I mentioned are kind of more based in the real rhythms of conversation and stuff. So it's actually a little harder to watch movies, working on TV.”

It really struck me, and I recounted it to a few people (that’s why I know that it is just easier to quote directly). One friend said, “So, just do nothing but documentaries for a few years?”

Well, that might not be a bad idea. This year, before May, we have already had twelve movies sneak into theaters without being screened by critics. Remakes and sequels are not always bad, but there have definitely been better periods in film history. Maybe this is why we are seeing more documentaries with mainstream success.

If nothing else, the making of a good documentary requires passion about a subject. I seem to recall reading about one film for which the makers collected over 800 hours of footage. I believe 200 hours is a little more common, but for the Metallica one it was about 1200 hours. That is a huge commitment, not just for the film time, but then you need to edit it. It doesn’t mean everyone does it well, but you can find some interesting stuff.

Here are some films that I have enjoyed in the past year or so. Oddly, I seem to have seen two films in every category, so I am going to treat them in pairs. Remember, just because I may say one is better is no reason not to see both.

Surfing: Riding Giants and Step Into Liquid

Riding Giants was the first one I saw, focusing on big wave surfing. I’m glad I saw it first because I enjoyed it, and it was great, but Step Into Liquid was so much more engaging. Riding Giants is largely historical, so there is some footage but a lot of it is interview. Step Into Liquid follows people into the surf, now, in places you might not expect. Maybe these surfers have less ego and more sense of fun. Plus, the locations and cinematography are just gorgeous. None of which is to say that Riding Giants is bad; when they ran it on TV recently I settled right back in. Still, Step Into Liquid was more exciting and also more accessible. I would like to try surfing some day; but I know I will not be looking for the big waves.

Middle East: Control Room and Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories

This one is more of a toss-up. I would say the quality of Control Room is higher, but that Inside Iraq may be more important. They are both important and both gripping.

Control Room spends a year with the Arab network Al-Jazeera. They get kind of a bad name over here. The film even shows footage of Donald Rumsfeld discounting the accuracy of some of their reports, and yet you get to see them trying to find balance and accuracy in their reporting, and you know that it is incredibly important to have a source of news over there that is not run by clerics or political leaders. You also see that despite disagreeing with the invasion, many of the staff express a great respect for America and for the Constitution. I think I would have to trust them over Rumsfeld.

Inside Iraq is just a guy, Mike Shiley, wandering around Iraq with a camera, visiting mine sweepers, a children’s hospital, a Christian church, and various markets and gatherings, as well as spending some time with the military. There is sort of a homemade feel to it, which is only natural, and the footage is interspersed with commentary he filmed later. The commentary is a bit repetitive, because it keeps coming back to one message, but that message is a good one: Look at the other side. Stop and think about this. Those points are why I say Control Room was better made, but Inside Iraq hit me harder on a visceral level, especially when he gives updates on some of the people that he spent time with.

You should really see both. When I saw it, Inside Iraq had not gotten wide distribution (in my case, the filmmaker brought the movie to Cinema 21 and hung around for Q & A), but you can order it at http://www.insideiraqthemovie.com/. Control Room should be available through normal channels.

Rock & Roll: End of the Century: The Story of the Ramones and Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Okay, I can’t be completely fair here, because the Ramones are on my personal greatest bands of all time list, and I don’t really like Metallica. I believe they are talented and good at what they do, but it is not my thing. The younger sisters love them, though, so we had to watch.

Oddly, the Ramones are the ones with a song called Psychotherapy, but Metallica is the band who gets psychotherapy, doing group sessions and rehab and working out all of the angst that led to powerful metal music, but does build tension. I am interested in psychology of course, so it was interesting on that level, but also, I really wanted them to be able to work it out. After sharing so much and having been through so much, it would be a shame if they had to split up, and even worse than a shame if you never do work out your emotional garbage. My strongest feeling, however, was deep sympathy for Kirk Hammett, the peacemaker caught in the middle. (Bob Rock too, but he would not be spending as much time with them.) For Kirk’s sake especially, I am glad that they got help. Two final thoughts on it: Megadeath is not number 2 to Metallica’s number 1, and get over it anyway, Dave Mustaine.

End of the Century was just excellent. You really get a feel for the history of the scene, and there are some great interviews. One of my other greatest bands is the Clash, and it really reminded me how much we lost when Joe Strummer died. He was so personable and well-spoken, and he’s in it because the Ramones really inspired the Clash (by saying don’t wait until you acquire more musical skill, just go for it now). Also, I feel more justified in despising the Sex Pistols after seeing it because, and I am simplifying this, they ruined the scene for others, rather than being a cornerstone of what punk should be.

I believe the movie conveys a strong anti-drug message with pretty much all footage of Dee Dee Ramone. It’s not just that he died of an overdose; it’s the decay that preceded it. And all right, I don’t even know how many brain cells he had to lose, and I don’t think he considered himself particularly good-looking before, but still, ouch.

Actually, this is a band that might have been well-advised to hire their own life coach/counselor, but I don’t care. I love them anyway.


Childhood Education: Mad Hot Ballroom and Spellbound

I’ve taken some ballroom dancing and I was my school spelling champion three times (I always got knocked out in district, same kid at least twice), so both spoke to me.

Spellbound has some very touching moments and some sad and scary moments. Most of the scary moments involve the parents. You get a good look at eight different families, and the differences between them are amazing as their children all head to the same place. I’m afraid there was one major irritant for me though, with this one, extreme nerd kid with a Horshack laugh. They may have spent too much time on him, but they main thing that bugged me is that in the after interview he keeps insisting that they pronounced the word he missed (banns) wrong. He thought he heard a “d” on the end. They did not pronounce it wrong. It’s on tape.

To be fair, I have had the exact same thing happen, so I understand. I missed “omnipresent” because I had never heard such a word or had any idea that it existed. I was thinking omnipotent or omniscient, and the sample sentence they used, “Some students feel like their teachers are omnipresent,” did not help at all. The word is too unfamiliar to the brain to compute. I get it. However, the professional announcer repeated the word multiple times, with witnesses and people checking for accuracy, and you just need to accept that it’s not him, it’s you.

The kids in Mad Hot Ballroom do sometimes have these attitudes where they think they know more than they do, as is normal, but instead of focusing on eight individuals, they are focusing on three classes with multiple participants, so there is less of a chance for anyone to dominate. Plus, there’s dancing, which pretty much always wins me over. Some moments I really liked are when teachers cut loose after a meeting and do their own dancing, including the electric slide, and the look of rapture on one mother’s face as she watches her child compete. It’s good stuff.

There are more, but these are the ones that come to mind as the most compelling. Still, I just got Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, so we will see how that goes.