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'Superheroes' Slamdance Review: Hilarity and Humanity Abound in this Real Life 'Kick-Ass'

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Jan 22nd 2011 12:00PM
Filed under: Documentaries, Reviews, Comic-Con, Cinematical, Festivals


There are a few John C. Reilly movies in Park City this year, but I'm certain the best is the Slamdance documentary 'Superheroes,' a humorous and well-rounded look at the current national phenomenon of real life superheroes. Technically, Reilly is not actually in the film, but there is a hilarious Orlando-based crime fighter named "Master Legend" who I wouldn't be surprised to learn is actually just the actor doing one of his oddball characters. The guy, a self-proclaimed superhero since the age of 7, is like Steve Brule in an armored costume who seems to spend more time hitting on young ladies and drinking beer out of his van than actually fighting crime.

As you can imagine, many of the real life superheroes (RLSH) are totally ridiculous and potentially insane, but they are all apparently very nice guys and girls -- even those that look like villainous GWAR and ICP fans -- who are trying to do good, positive things, whether thwarting burglaries or bringing food and toiletries to the homeless. And director Michael Barnett treats them with more respect than movies like 'Kick-Ass' and news coverage of recent media sensation Phoenix Jones do.
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'Project Nim' Sundance Review: The First Great Documentary of 2011

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Jan 21st 2011 8:30PM
Filed under: Documentaries, Reviews, Sundance Film Festival, Cinematical, Festivals


An adopted child grows up into a traumatic life; first he's in and out of relationships, then he's off to an inhumane prison for a crime not his fault, where he's subjected to medical testing, and ultimately he finishes out his days as a maladjusted and angry ex-con. Sounds like the perfect Sundance drama, yet it's true, and the story is told in documentary form. Oh, and it's about a chimpanzee.

'Man on Wire' Oscar-winner James Marsh has done it again with 'Project Nim,' another riveting tale of a minor '70s celebrity, this time the precocious primate Nim Chimpsky, famous for being taught sign language (and definitely the inspiration for Virgil in the '80s movie 'Project X') yet less known for being an abandoned research tool and tragic victim of bad science.
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Doc Talk: Sundance Documentaries People Will Be Talking About

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Jan 19th 2011 10:30PM
Filed under: Documentaries, Sundance Film Festival, Columns, Cinematical


Doc Talk is a bi-weekly column devoted to all things documentary. The above image is from 'How to Die in Oregon.'

Last night, almost a year to the date of its sudden, last minute entry onto the Sundance 2010 schedule, Banksy's 'Exit Through the Gift Shop' won the top award at the Cinema Eye Honors, which recognizes the year's best in non-fiction filmmaking.

Although I don't agree it is the best documentary of the year (in my opinion, that would be fellow Sundance '10 alum 'Last Train Home,' which took three of its own Cinema Eye trophies), 'Exit' has been one of the most significant, drawing a lot of attention to non-fiction cinema as it made us all question the very nature of the mode while also raising curiosity and consciousness about street art, the established art world and, most popularly, the existence and identity of Banksy (was he at the Honors last night? Very few attendees can be sure).

As a non-fiction film fan, it is exciting and favorable to see any doc, even one I dislike (and I do in fact like 'Exit'), remain a talking point for so long.
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10 More Slamdance Films We're Excited About

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Jan 19th 2011 8:00PM
Filed under: Documentaries, Cinematical, Festivals


Later this week Cinematical will be landing in Park City, Utah, primarily to cover the Sundance Film Festival. But while there, we hope to check out some of the films screening at Slamdance, as well. Let's not forget that the smaller fest has hosted the debut features of Christopher Nolan ('Following') and Marc Forster ('Loungers') and the popular documentaries 'The King of Kong' and 'Mad Hot Ballroom.' So we're curious to see what or who will be the next big Slamdance discovery.

We've already previewed 'Atrocious,' the Mexican found-footage-style horror flick that sounds like this year's 'Paranormal Activity' (which was shown at Slamdance three years ago). Now we've got ten more Slamdance titles to spotlight, all of which we think sound and look pretty interesting. Where available, we've included trailers.
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'Enter the Void' Returns to Theaters Uncut

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Jan 13th 2011 5:45PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical


The most talked about part of Gaspar Noe's 'Enter the Void,' at least in polite company, is undoubtedly the opening credits sequence. Loud, fast and likely quite dangerous to epileptic moviegoers, the strobing titles are indeed very stunning and probably unlike any you've seen before (though they may remind you a bit of part of the 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' credits).

However, if you sit through the full 161-minute version of the film, which returns uncut to New York and Los Angeles cinemas this month ahead of its January 26th DVD release, the credits aren't likely to stick in your mind throughout. There are just too many other incredible, memorable visuals to occupy and electrify your brain, including a certain infamous cervical POV shot during one of the film's sex scenes.
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New Trailers: 'Soul Surfer,' 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams,' 'HappyThankYouMorePlease'

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Jan 13th 2011 11:05AM
Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Cinematical


Marketing movies can be very tricky, and the three films featured in this post are certainly some tough sells. Even if two of them are already proven hits with audiences and the other is an inspirational true story quite akin to the much-talked-about current release '127 Hours.' Oh, nevermind, people still aren't really flocking to that terrific movie about Aron Ralston's survival story. They're apparently just talking about it and likely worrying that they might pass out if they go see it.

'127 Hours' has some sort of connection to all three of the following upcoming films, which include the latest Werner Herzog documentary, 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams,' relative because its employment of 3-D to accentuate rock formations makes you wish Danny Boyle's movie did the same, and the indie dramedy 'HappyThankYouMorePlease,' which co-stars '127 Hours' actress Kate Mara. It's 'Soul Surfer' that will be most easily compared, though, for a reason you're sure to know if you're familiar with the story of Bethany Hamilton.

Let's look at the trailer for 'Soul Surfer' first, after the jump, and we'll see how its potentially off-putting plot is completely shielded by the marketers in charge of cutting the thing.
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Doc Reviews: 'I'm Dangerous with Love' and 'Plastic Planet' Inform and Scare

By Christopher Campbell (Subscribe to Christopher Campbell's posts), Posted Jan 12th 2011 6:20PM
Filed under: Documentaries, Reviews, Cinematical


In a recent Doc Talk column, I wondered if documentaries can still function as educational media, especially after all the dubious films released in 2010 that made us question truth in non-fiction cinema. Now, only a couple weeks into 2011, I have to admit that I learned a lot from two new documentaries, 'I'm Dangerous with Love,' and 'Plastic Planet,' both of which open theatrically this week.

Neither of these films are amazing, in fact they each suffer from overuse of weak first-person voiceover narration, but they both deal in very compelling and topical subjects. 'Dangerous' looks into the illegal and therefore underground use of the hallucinogen ibogaine in treating heroin addiction, through the focus on junkie punk-turned-spiritual guide Dimitri Mugianis. 'Plastic Planet' searches around the world (the travel budget must have been enormous) for proof that some commonly used plastics are hazardous, if not lethal, to humans and the environment.
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