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Rating: 
Summary: Pick up the pieces and move on...
Review: ...I gotta say, I came into this one with high hopes. Zorn, one of the most relentlessly documented musicians of our time, really deserves a great documentary film: something to explore his methods, collaborations, and underlying philosophies. This ain't it. The film-maker insists on inserting herself and her own ho-hum Euro-art-student self-discovery tale into the mix, which adds nothing. What emerges is exceedingly frustrating: there's tons of great footage, and much insight from Mr. Zorn, yet these great moments are dangled like the proverbial carrot. Just when you think you're getting an extended performance or interview, it cuts to the film-maker deciding how best she should edit, or rattling off another numbingly bland tale of her "friendship" with Zorn. It's a tremendous shame, as she actually has years worth of interesting footage...ever wonder why the great documentarians prefer to manifest themselves in the editting and narrative of a documentary, rather than as a physical presence??? This tipid tome is the answer. I gave it two more stars than it deserves because Zorn is brilliant, and you catch fleeting glimpses of that genius behind the film-maker's amateurish construction...so, to all you folks who think you can make a good Zorn documentary, GO FOR IT. It definitely hasn't been done yet.
Rating: 
Summary: ...
Review: Considering the tiny amount of live footage and interviews that are available of Zorn, this is defiantly worth getting if you're a fanAs far as documentary filmmaking goes this is sub par at best, and is defiantly not worthy of tzadiks reputation
Everyone you expect is here -Patton, Masada, naked city, marc ribot-
But not one interview with anyone! which is pretty disappointing
Instead the filmmaker spends an exuberant amount of time talking about her self and how Zorn's music has changed her life blah blah blah...
Rating:
Summary: A perspective, but an interesting one
Review: Filmmaker Claudia Heuermann's assertions that Zorn's music changed her life are probably true . . . but in this context they come across as a bit amateurish. However, Heuermann gives the entire project a real warmth and enthusiasm that gets the film over this hurdle. Despite what appeared to be a lack of direct interview footage with the musicians, she did have a number of fantastic concert shots. It's a pity that some of those concerts have not been released as their own DVD's. On the positive, what interview/spoken segments do include Zorn show a driven, principled, and profoundly interesting intellect . . . and a real sense of fun and adventure. The rehearsal footage is particularly fun in these small doses. Somehow, by leaving things out, the film still gets at the heart of the Zorn experience.
Rating:
Summary: another movie about the process of making a movie....yawn
Review: I have to agree with the reviewer from texas. How many more of these gimmicky "lets watch the director make the movie at the same time we watch it" movies do we really need? I will never understand why artists continue to think this makes their projects automatically fresh and interesting, 70+ years after modernism. it's more like a conceptual crutch. If the director were Chris Marker or Tarkovsky, maybe I'd be more interested in following her every rumination, but I'm sad to say the result here is just boring. Sorry if this is not "edgy" enough, but I'd really rather just see a bunch of Zorn clips.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting In Spite Of Itself
Review: If you like John Zorn and, like me, are also really into several of his usual cohorts (John Medeski, Marc Ribot, Chris Speed, Arto Lindsay, etc.), this "John Zorn documentary" is interesting enough just to see the momentary clips of rehearsal and performance footage, and Zorn's outlook on music composition, performance, recording, sound, etc. But the documentary is almost as much about the filmmaker as it is Zorn... which is where it falls way short. While the affect Zorn has had on filmmaker's life and work is mildly interesting, it's more than a little distracting that she felt it necessary to include herself in so much of it, especially when the film is ostensibly supposed to be about Zorn. My opinion is she could have done herself a much better turn and had a much better product if she would have concentrated more on Zorn rehearsal/performance footage, and kept herself more in the background. The way it is, the film seems much more amateurish than it could have been. I would really love to see a Zorn (or Ribot... or Medeski) DVD with musician interviews, rehearsal, studio and performance footage only. This "Zorn documentary" just wets the appetite. 3 1/2 stars (would/could have been 5).
Rating:
Summary: Interesting In Spite Of Itself
Review: If you like John Zorn and, like me, are also really into several of his usual cohorts (John Medeski, Marc Ribot, Chris Speed, Arto Lindsay, etc.), this "John Zorn documentary" is interesting enough just to see the momentary clips of rehearsal and performance footage, and Zorn's outlook on music composition, performance, recording, sound, etc. But the documentary is almost as much about the filmmaker as it is Zorn... which is where it falls way short. While the affect Zorn has had on filmmaker's life and work is mildly interesting, it's more than a little distracting that she felt it necessary to include herself in so much of it, especially when the film is ostensibly supposed to be about Zorn. My opinion is she could have done herself a much better turn and had a much better product if she would have concentrated more on Zorn rehearsal/performance footage, and kept herself more in the background. The way it is, the film seems much more amateurish than it could have been. I would really love to see a Zorn (or Ribot... or Medeski) DVD with musician interviews, rehearsal, studio and performance footage only. This "Zorn documentary" just wets the appetite. 3 1/2 stars (would/could have been 5).
Rating: 
Summary: The kind of documentary you rarely see
Review: This documentary is kind of unique. It is as much about its maker than it is about its subject. This approach is a problematic one if you expect as much information about Zorn as you can get. Instead you get '12 short stories about John Zorn,' looked through film-makers personal prism. It is annoying, but at the end you want to start from the beginning (at least I did). Now, what did you expect, this is Zorn we're talking about - can you even imagine a normal documentary about this genius madman?
I bought the video in the first place to see Masada Quartet. I had no idea how did this band looked like in action but I wanted to find out. Now I know, and I'm grateful for that, as the relatively short clips of Masada rehearsing and performing were truly fascinating.
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