Errol Morris is one of my favorite creators. He has an unusual take on things - determined, thorough, obsessive. He even invents special machines to get the kinds of intense, intimate video interviews he wants. I loved his series "First Person" that ran on Bravo. Each episode was a twisted revelation - from the (seemingly normal) woman who falls in love with prison inmates, to the scientist consumed by the hunt for the giant squid, to the victim-turned-entrepreneur who designed a crime clean-up business out of neccessity. Incredible interviews combined with clever and quirky old film footage as visual metaphor. I couldn't wait for the second round of the series, which was comissioned by IFC. Well, after waiting years, I finally got my hands on them. And...and...meh. I've watched four of the six (last time there were 11, I think), and what I have noticed is that all the subjects are men, and they are quite fixated. And not as interesting as I would like. There's a guy who had hundreds of cameras all over his house to broadcast his life on the web - pre-reality show. There's a guy who thinks he's a genius but works as a bouncer. There's a guy who thinks he's a genius and works as a bouncer (yup, two of 'em) who repeated high school several times in order to try to get it right and who is obsessed with missing a question on Who Wants to be Millionaire? (okay, his episode was twice as long as the others - I guess he's more complicated). I would have never believed that an Errol Morris product could
"jump the shark," but I just got the feeling this was done more out of contractual obligation than passion. And when you get that feeling, why watch? Well, because it's Errol Morris, and it's still worth it.
99 ways to do a radio story from the Third Coast Festival has 75 entries, so you better hurry up if you want to enter. I've only listened to a couple, but I really liked Jonathan Menjivar's piece "Want Some Sushi?" (Number 54).
Errol Morris is one of my favorite creators. He has an unusual take on things - determined, thorough, obsessive. He even invents special machines to get the kinds of intense, intimate video interviews he wants. I loved his series "First Person" that ran on Bravo. Each episode was a twisted revelation - from the (seemingly normal) woman who falls in love with prison inmates, to the scientist consumed by the hunt for the giant squid, to the victim-turned-entrepreneur who designed a crime clean-up business out of neccessity. Incredible interviews combined with clever and quirky old film footage as visual metaphor. I couldn't wait for the second round of the series, which was comissioned by IFC. Well, after waiting years, I finally got my hands on them. And...and...meh. I've watched four of the six (last time there were 11, I think), and what I have noticed is that all the subjects are men, and they are quite fixated. And not as interesting as I would like. There's a guy who had hundreds of cameras all over his house to broadcast his life on the web - pre-reality show. There's a guy who thinks he's a genius but works as a bouncer. There's a guy who thinks he's a genius and works as a bouncer (yup, two of 'em) who repeated high school several times in order to try to get it right and who is obsessed with missing a question on Who Wants to be Millionaire? (okay, his episode was twice as long as the others - I guess he's more complicated). I would have never believed that an Errol Morris product could "jump the shark," but I just got the feeling this was done more out of contractual obligation than passion. And when you get that feeling, why watch? Well, because it's Errol Morris, and it's still worth it.
