Change Your Image
boobie_sj
Reviews
Wamego: Making Movies Anywhere (2004)
What was Lost in La Mancha is Found in Wamego!
This is a great documentary for anyone who has ever wanted to make a movie. It shows the good and the bad (though i would have preferred a more "warts and all" approach. It seems a little biased.) "Wamego" is about making a movie without compromising your artistic integrity. And, it's about doing (instead of talking). The Baldersons are doers, not talkers. And you can see them come together as a family and build props (amazing carnival wagons!) and strategies how to make a low-budget movie work.
And now that I've seen "Firecracker" watching this documentary again was wonderful and explained a lot I missed the first time!
Firecracker (2005)
Multilayered masterpiece
One of my new all-time favorite movies, though if had to choose only one film to bring on a desert island, I'd probably go for Moulin Rouge. The main appeal of Firecracker (and its main weakness, according to its detractors) is that the film can be viewed from many different points of view. As an almost traditional classic tragedy; as a straight detective story; as a character study of an imprisoned boy (though everyone in the cast is trapped by something); as a carefully paced thriller; or, as a surreal dream. All of those genres fit here. And they fit perfectly.
People have criticized Balderson's choice of firing Dennis Hopper in favor of Mike Patton as the lead, but I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the part(s): he's a genius, where he had the courage to play a self-destructive, negative character, with bitter realism.
Full of great, innovative ideas that I think will be copied over and over for years to come.
Karen Black and Mike Patton deserve Oscar nominations!