I always thought I was going to do great things. I just didn’t understand why I didn’t.
- Mike Bell
One of my favorite documentaries of the year, Bigger, Stronger, Faster*, was a film that was about more then steroid use in America. It focused and illustrated the oddly strange fascination with performance enhancing drugs that was now seemingly embedded within American culture. Director Chris Bell opened up his own home and examined how steroids directly affected his life, and the lives of both of his brothers as they each dealt with their own reasoning for using or not using steroids. Chris himself chose not to use steroids, while both of his brothers not only used, but championed them.But in perhaps the most fascinating part of the film, it was the story of Chris’ older brother Mike Bell, a former wrestler for the WWE, and his struggles to recapture in-ring glory that really elevated the film from a mere examination of the film to a stunning and thought provoking human interest story. Mike was a man who had a dream of being someone, and was willing to do whatever it took to reach his goals. By the end of Bigger, Stronger, Faster* Mike and his wife have moved out to California, hoping that the change of scenery will help jump start Mike’s wrestling career, as well as brighten his spirits and strengthen their marriage. Both seem happy about the move, even as Mike worries about destroying his marriage, but in a scene that is now chilling Chris and Mike’s father has a very different take on Mike’s life and dreams.
On December 14th, 2008, Sheldon Bell’s worst fears were realized when his first born son Mike Bell died at the age of 37. It is a tragic end to a fascinating, complex and much needed film.
I’m running a bit behind today so I am going to have to keep this relatively short. In semi non-related news I finally broke down and bought an Eee this week, and it should arrive sometime next week. I’ve been eyeing one for sometime so I can actually get some work done while I am on the road visiting family, and it should allow me to not have to sit in my cramped room all the time when I type things up.
As for new releases this week the easy choice for theaters is the new adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’sChoke, starring Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Houston and a slew of other people you will recognize but not know their names. I had the chance to see it several months ago at the Mpls/St Paul International Film Festival and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Hopefully you will too.
But the film I am most excited for this week is getting released on DVD this upcoming Tuesday, and that is Bigger Stronger Faster*. It is a documentary on the steroid culture in the United States and it is outstanding. It is one of a slew of excellent documentaries being released this year, which is looking to be yet another banner year for the genre. Do yourself a favor and watch the movie.
It is weekends like this one that almost make me wish for the simpler time when maybe one good movie was released in theaters. As it so happens, this weekend their is enough interesting movies being released that I won’t possibly be able to watch all of them. Especially if my girlfriend continues her obsession with Jack Black and drags me to some movie about Pandas.
But for those of us who will once again be avoiding the multiplexes? First up is the documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster which focuses on the steroid culture that seems to be pervading our culture here in the US. It is a fascinating film that examines the true side effects of steroids as well as the moral arguments for and against using steroids. I highly recommend it.
Next is the French thriller Roman de Gare, which unfortunately has one of the worst trailers you will ever see, punctuated by the terrible American voice over so that English speaking audiences won’t be scarred off by the thought of actually having to read subtitles during a movie.
Or maybe if you don’t want to watch a documentary or French thriller you can watch Stuart Gordon’s latest masterpiece, Stuck. Word of warning, it is incredibly gory as well as being incredibly good, which shouldn’t come as much of a shock to Re-Animator fans. If you can handle Stephen Rea’s fibula jutting out of his leg for 45 minutes, you must go see this movie.
Finally we get to the movie I am most excited about this weekend, The Foot Fist Way. I have been addicted to the trailer for a good solid three months and now I finally get the chance to see it. It will be awesome. Word of warning the trailer is totally not safe for work.
As for DVD’s there are two that, at the very least, are worth renting. These movies are The Grand and The Signal. The Grand has the distinction of being the first film to be mentioned in Rummaging through the Old Maids as both a feature film release to watch and now as a DVD to watch. So that must mean it is good.
The Signal is an interesting horror film experiment involving three directors who decided to each film one act of the film. It results in some fairly drastic style changes during the course of the movie, but the film still manages to be both unique and interesting even with the occasional hiccups.
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