-= TomFoolery =-

Wow, I’m really bad at doing this every day. My trove of poor followers must have been in such suspense this past week, just itching to know what I’d say next… (Ahem hem)

For me, the movie which I know inside and out is Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy. In all honesty, I probably quote this movie upwards of 10-15 times a week, whether screaming about being trapped in a glass case of emotion, pooping in the refrigerator, or using the phrase “When in Rome” in completely random and out-of-context situations. I think I have a serious issue, an addiction perhaps. But the fact remains that Will Ferrell actually made a good movie with this one. It’s very original, it’s damn funny, and it’s just immensely quotable from start to finish. On a final note, I love lamp.

The arsonist had oddly shaped feet… The human torch was denied a bank loan…

Unique, New York. Unique, New York.

Yep, definitely an addiction.

Oddly enough, the last movie I watched was The Elephant Man. After I wrote the Day 1 post yesterday, I said to myself, “It’s been too long since I’ve seen that movie.” So I decided to watch it again last night, and it remains on the top of my favorite films of all time list.

However, in order to avoid redundancy, I’ll write about the film that I watched previous to The Elephant Man, which happened to be the masterful documentary, Man on Wire. It was actually the second time that I had seen it, the first being almost exactly a year ago, and it’s safe to say that my appreciation for this film skyrocketed after the second viewing. I can honestly say, without a doubt, that I have never seen such masterful B-Roll in all of my filmmaking and film appreciating life. Having shot interviews and having tried to shoot meaningful B-Roll to complement those interviews, I can’t give high enough praise to the B-Roll in Man on Wire. The stylized reenactments of Philippe’s early days are so perfectly acted and shot that the first time I saw the movie, I honestly thought that someone had been following him around for the entirety of his life with a little 8mm camera. The second time through, I realized how stupid a thought that was. But it just goes to show how a little bit of well thought out B-Roll can greatly enhance the experience of a documentary. I also can’t speak highly enough about the narrative structure of Man on Wire. The way it jumps between Philippe’s past and the 1974 break into the World Trade Center serves to further enhance the suspense of the film. Had this been edited linearly, the film would be dull, flat, lifeless even. But the back and forth structure that was chosen, in conjunction with the masterful B-Roll, makes for one of the most thrilling, suspenseful, and delightful documentaries ever made. Possibly the greatest documentary of our time. A must watch.