Home Movie

Rating:
Summary: NO effort put into this doc.
Review: Having watched Chris Smith's AMERICAN MOVIE I was an instant fan of this guys work, The way he really spent time with the Borchardt's and how he caputured the families love and gripes with each other made me really connect and feel for them.

so when this documentry on people who live in weird homes came out on DVD I was more than excited to watch it. I couldn't have been more disapointed in what I saw. The five people he interviewed were really not that far off base, meaning they where somewhat normal, and there houses, though very different than what you or I probably grew up in weren't all that interesting nor were the houses totally out in the bizaro world.

I was also disapointed in the lack of time Chris spent with them. Unless these people wore the same exact thing everyday Chris only spent one day at each house and we the viewer hardly gets to know or connect with them, espicially how this documentry was set up weaving in and out of each story in five minute increments. The documentry was only 65 minutes long and to have 5 different houses to work with, there was a lot of potential for something really special. Chris showed he put very litte effort in this project.

Rating:
Summary: I wish this movie wasn't sooooooo short!
Review: I really loved parts of this movie alot. Especially the Gator Guy, the Cat Freaks, and the Future Guy. However, an hour dedicated to five diffrent homes and their owners is not enough. American Movie is one of my all time favorite films .. this film gave me a very short Chris Smith fix. If this film was an hour or more longer or if it was just focused on my 3 favorite homes/owners I would have bumped up my rating to a 4 and possibly even a 5.

Rating:
Summary: Very good but....
Review: I saw this in the theater when it was released and thought it was great. But to my suprise the real treat came at the end of the movie when after the final credits, rolled a short 30 minute or so documentary style film done outside the parking lot of a Judas Priest concert back in the early -mid 80s! I never laughed so hard in my entire life! It had the whole theater up in roars! I'm a bit dissapointed they didnt include this in the DVD. Hopefully, this will be released in the future. At least as a special feature!

Rating:
Summary: Eccentric American Homeowners
Review: In the spirit of the cable television rage on "extreme" homes, this light-hearted documentary profiles five homeowners with creative ideas on how a home should reflect it's owner's personality. From Ben Skora's high-tech electronic house, and another family's takeover of a former Atlas Missile site to the decidedly lo-tech beauty of a Hawaiian tree house and Louisiana houseboat, there is something for everyone. If this film is playing in your neighborhood go see it for a few laughs and a glimpse of the personalities that exist outside of the Malls, retail outlets, and cookie-cutter housing developments.

Rating:
Summary: Eccentric American Homeowners
Review: In the spirit of the cable television rage on "extreme" homes, this light-hearted documentary profiles five homeowners with creative ideas on how a home should reflect it's owner's personality. From Ben Skora's high-tech electronic house, and another family's takeover of a former Atlas Missile site to the decidedly lo-tech beauty of a Hawaiian tree house and Louisiana houseboat, there is something for everyone. If this film is playing in your neighborhood go see it for a few laughs and a glimpse of the personalities that exist outside of the Malls, retail outlets, and cookie-cutter housing developments.

Rating:
Summary: We LOVED this movie!
Review: My wife and I saw this film by chance in a independent theater in Seattle. The whole theater was laughing, and I must say that it was one of the most charming movies we've ever seen. Now, we're avid fans of Chris Smith, and are awaiting his next film.

Rating:
Summary: ...and about the Judas Priest documentary
Review: The Judas Priest documentary the other reviewer mentioned is Heavy Metal Parking Lot by Jeff Krulik. It's not available on Amazon, or any mass market vendor, unfortunately, but you can read about it, and about his other films, at his website. (Google 'Krulik') I recommend the 'Krulik and Friends' compilation tape, if you can find it. Both Chris Smith films and Krulik's films are documentaries with offbeat humor and a collection of oddball people as subjects, which are treated with love in the final analysis, though you may laugh AT them at first (like Mark and Mike in American Movie). People who enjoy one would likely enjoy the other, I think.