Wednesday 13 March 2019

WatchSeeLookView - Documentaries 3

Let’s round off the factual film fun with a couple more examples today. Enough preamble, on with the fun.

Future Shock (2014)
Dir. Paul Goodwin / Dur. 110 min.

I’ve already established that I’m a lifelong 2000AD fan so it’ll come as no surprise that I was completely fascinated by this documentary on the history of the “Galaxy’s Greatest Comic”. It’s refreshingly candid with original editor and creator Pat Mills and former editor David Bishop in particular being unafraid to air their unexpurgated views (particularly on each other) and gives as fascinating insight into the trials and tribulations faced by the British comics industry (which is pretty much now just 2000AD) over the years. I also realised that I had no idea what most of the creators and artists I’d grown up reading looked/sounded like so it was a revelation to see them in person. If you’ve got any interest in comics then this is a documentary for you.

Andre The Giant (2018)
Dir. Jason Hehir / Dur. 85 min

The Brother was a big fan of wrestling back in the days when it was WWF and the World Wildlife Fund hadn’t sued them yet and I ended up watching and enjoying quite a bit of it too. Andre The Giant was no longer a part of the world by the time we were watching but his legacy was still part of that world although I mostly remember him as Fezzig in The Princess Bride (a part that William Goldman wrote with Andre The Giant in mind, according to Rob Reiner). This film served not only as overview of the somewhat tragic life of the 7’4” Andre Rousimoff but also as a chronicle of the early days of the WWE. It paints a portrait of a man who found a life he loved through a medical condition which would ultimately lead to his death. I think that thing that I noticed during the doc was the high mortality rate amongst a number of the early starts of the league (Rowdy Roddy Piper, Macho Man Randy Savage…) - it’s not a lifestyle that goes easy on the heart. 

There you go. That’ll do for some factual stuff for now. I reckon that little lot’ll keep you going. Off into the realms of fiction again next time...







No comments: