NOTICE THIS FILM!!!!! - American Movie (2000) Discussion

[–] mrfurious-1 22 years ago

jmacinnis-

This film certainly is the best of 1999. It is my favorite documentary ever( and I've seen tons! ). If I lived anywhere near Mark I'd help him make Northwestern, too. He's a testament to the human spirit( Jesus, that's corny...but totally true ).

Did you ever check out American Job, also by director Chris Smith? I haven't been able to find it anywhere to rent( I think you can only buy it directly from their site ).

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[–] jmacinnis 22 years ago

mrfurious-1,

It's just nice to know that someone somewhere saw and loved this movie.

As far as American Job goes, I haven't seen it but would love to. It has that vanishing ability, though. It's as if it never appeared in a video store. Any news on how to get a hold of it would be great.

If you haven't seen the DVD of American Movie yet, get it and watch the commentary. It's great. I'm sure you would have put that together already, though.

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[–] kev20 22 years ago

I just saw this movie yesterday. It was hilarious. Excellent.
Mike was a riot. Funny as hell. As was Uncle Bill.

---Now I know I'm pretty, but I ain't as pretty as a couple of titties.---

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[–] 22 years ago

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[–] mrfurious-1 22 years ago

jmacinnis-

I'm pretty sure you can get American Job directly from the American Movie website.

I do own the DVD, and watching it with the commentary is almost more entertaining than watching the movie stand alone.

Take care.

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[–] angry_vegetarian 22 years ago

I absolutely loved this documentary. I remember about two years ago my friend and I would always walk past this video at the local Blockbuster, and for some reason it always stuck in my mind. Finally I decided to rent it, needless to say I was NOT dissapointed! I love everything about this film, the people, the truth of their lives, the story, the list goes on. I finally bought the DVD a few days ago and have since watched it four times (watching it as I type this). The actual Coven film isn't that bad either. Good to see Mark used Mike in Coven as a bit of comedy relief :)

I HIGHLY recommend this film to EVERYONE!

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[–] Agraham1 22 years ago

Just caught this film on IFC last night and I love it. The film has stuck with me all day, the drive and spirit that Mark has is truly uplighting.
Initially, I came in laughing at Mark, but ended up respecting him immensely for the way he followed his dreams and his heart. What an absolutely wonderful film.

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[–] 22 years ago

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[–] schauweckerpsx 21 years ago

If anyone wants to know how I feel about Mark Borchardt, look up Brittney Baby one more time. My comment is on the front page.

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[–] outsider-2 21 years ago

I'd walked by this one several times over the past years at different video stores. Didn't see it till last nite (netflix) , wow what a great movie. Just an immensely enjoyable film on so many different levels...

"I talk to god but the sky is empty"
SP

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[–] jacknife33 21 years ago

MMMMmmmmm visit yur grave...if I could find it...mmmmmm

"Last night man I was so drunk, I was calling Moracco man, trying to get to the Hotel Hilton at Tangiers in Casablanca. That's pathetic man. Is that what you wanta do with your life man. Suck down Peppermint Schnapps and try to call Morocco at 2 in the morning. That's senseless. But that's what happens."

Notice the scene at the premiere of Coven, Uncle Bill gets out of the car and a flashbulb goes off causing him to lose his balance. Very nice.

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[–] outsider-2 21 years ago

Yeah, I need to watch this one again for sure....

"I talk to god but the sky is empty"
SP

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[–] 21 years ago

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[–] kerkerker 21 years ago

i love this movie. there are so many great lines from it.
"it's alright....it's ok....you've got something to live for......uhhhh"

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[–] thapie 21 years ago

I saw this movie a few times too ...but where do you think ideas come from ...you can't just make them up....

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[–] 21 years ago

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[–] cupring 21 years ago

I was supposed to be finishing up some work that needed to be done for today last night, but accidentally fell asleep at about 8pm. I woke up at about half past midnight and this film was on BBC2. Even though I was in a bit of a panic about getting my work done I couldn't pull myself away from this film until it finished at 2am. I thought it was brilliant, I'm not sure if I actually liked the people in it (except for Mike of course), but I thought they were fascinating characters.

Has anybody seen Coven? Is there any hope for Mark as a filmaker at all? Is it possible to buy it? Are towns in the mid-west of America all like that?!

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[–] Dougalll 21 years ago

I also watched it for the first time on beeb2 last night... I've been to america (admittedly big coastal cities) I can't beleive there are people like this in the world.
Is it realy a documentary?

I did like the characters a lot, but I hope they were playing up to the camera because I felt like I was spending a lot of the film laughing at them and I feel a bit guilty if that is actually what their lives are like...

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[–] watcherDH 21 years ago

This film was on BBC 2 last night and very late at night too. I started watching it with the intention of switching it off halfway and going to bed.
But it kept my attention till 2 am GMT in the morning.

Mark is a very very ambitious guy and it got me thinking maybe he was too ambitious. I mean, I love making films too, but I'm realistic enough too see that I have to go to college to get a decent regular job too. Filmmaking is a hobby, but Mark takes it a bit too seriously I think.
The guy was like 30 in the film, but still hovering floors at a cemetery. The film 'Coven' looked pretty good though, the guy obviously has a lot of talent.

Great ducumentary. A must see for all aspiring filmmakers. An eye-opener.

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[–] tolmorris 21 years ago

yeh, great documentary - just want to know about its availability in britain -i've been searching the net but can only seem to find it on a canadian/usa format. anybody out there who can help?

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[–] ChainsawDaveandMisterShoop 21 years ago

its a great film, really inspiring.

Mark and Mike are obviously complete legends. Marks passion was phenomenal, and his speeches were hilarious (ringing up casablanca when drunk).

and when Mike was trying to hide the fact he'd won 50 dollars, you couldnt write comedy like that.

i dont know who would have ever thought of filming these guys , and how it came about but im sure glad it did.

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[–] digitalblasphemy 21 years ago

the part where they argue over the pronunciation of Coven was pretty darn funny as well.

www.americanmovie.com

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[–] 21 years ago

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[–] akm76 20 years ago

This is by far THE most insighful comment on this movie.
In case anybody is STILL wondering:
YES, there're places and people like the ones depicted in the movie.
YES, it is a documentary.
and NO, it isn't just "funny" as in "haha, what an idiot"-funny.
Actually it's not all that funny at all.
The movie is really about The Dream.
And Harsh Reality. But above all it's about Life.
In case you think you've got it all figured out, you most definitely haven't.

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[–] raftus-1 20 years ago

this is a great film. I have been spreading the word since I first saw it in college.

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[–] jerkface2k 20 years ago

i found a VHS copy of it in the $3.00 bin at Wal Mart and can't stop watching it. everyone that comes to my house also must watch it.

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[–] 20 years ago

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[–] Lance_Lives 19 years ago

I love this film. I too have problems gettin' other people to like it as much as me or even give it a chance. I have seen this movie over and over again since I recorded it from IFC in '03. I need the dvd really bad because my tape is startin' to wear out. Plus the commentary is really good (I rented the dvd from Blockbuster to check out the commentary as well as Coven). I wish he would come out with something else. I have their appearance from the New Tom Green Show recorded and they were promoting a film that wasn't finished yet so I doubt it ever got finished.

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[–] flowersinyourhair 19 years ago

great film
his spirit and determination really inspired amatuer filmakers like myself to really go for it because if you try hard enough youl get there
and any synical idiots who just think this film is a comedy to laugh at the trials and tribulations of these everyday guys are really a bunch of idiots who are heartless
anyone no if there bringing it out in Britian on vhs or dvd because i want it.
or has it already been released in the uk but only on vhs

anyway i was thinking about buying tbhe import dvd and playing it on my pc but the dvd player thing says that if i change the region of the player that after 3 times it will stay on that region and i wont be able to change it back. can anybody tell me if this is true or not.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] SandsofSamarkand 19 years ago

Can't be true. I have had a region free player for at least a year and play region 1 and region 2 DVDs on it constantly. It stopped playing region 1 for a while, but then I discovered that someone had pushed a button on the remote by mistake (bottom right, sorry, can't be more specific than that). Now its back to playing everything. Only £40 at WHSmith too.

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[–] 19 years ago

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[–] cat_wheels 19 years ago

have you got it all figured out?

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[–] Tobiaslarsen 19 years ago

i watched it, now there have gone an hour and i still dont know what i really feel about it. I know it was great i just dont know how much it really affected me, i guess there just is a lot in this doc. you just have to turn around inside your head. But definitly an exelent movie.

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[–] TaxiDriver2007 19 years ago

This is my favorite documentary, and is what I believe to be one of the most entertaining, if not the most entertaining film ever (all the characters were great for so many different reasons, but all had one thing in common, they were hilarious). I thought Uncle Bill's story was interesting and was a great aspect of the film. I haven’t watched the DVD with commentary (didn’t even noticed it had the commentary feature), but am going to slip it in the DVD player first thing tomorrow, since it’s recommended.

If you don't like Hustler magazine, don't read it.
-Larry Flynt

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[–] madscientist2787 19 years ago

"It's alright! It's okay! You have something to live for! Jesus told me so!"

Brilliant film. I'd been meaning to see it for years, after several reccomendations (my French teacher actually threatened to kill me if I did not watch it). I loved it.

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[–] pcqgod 19 years ago

I love this movie. It's equally funny and sad, and one could not have created fictional characters as colorful as the real-life cast. Watching it again last night, I was turned off by how much of an a--hole Mark was being to his parents in the Superbowl scene. Mike still seems like a great guy, though!

"If you've got any sense of humor or no standards at all you'll love 'em."

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[–] Jessexxxy 19 years ago

I saw this movie, what ... 5-8 year ago.

It's a great documentary, right up there with another fav of mine, "Crumb".

I don't know, I think you really want Mark to succed in his movie production & in his life, you really empathize with the guy. Maybe I see myself in Mark, we all have big dreams, but in reality most of us work *beep* jobs, have debt, or/and bad relationships. I think everyone wants a story of triumph, and it's interesting to see how it all ends up for him. As the topic creator said, there is a lot of heart in this film.

Another thing that comes across, is how hard and exspensive it really is to try and make a film. It's not cheap, and not always glamorous.

I wish they'd make a part 2, in a way, I'd like to know how he's doing these days.

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