Lives more ordinary.

Ok, it’s been some time since my last post. Life happens. So I’m picking back up where I Ieft off with a look at two older but still cool films. Born into this is a documentary about Charles Bukowski, the poet everyone in Hollywood wants to say they’re into just to be hip. I have to admit I never read him until after this movie, as I’d always assumed he was just another Elmore Leonard Pulp-type writer. After watching though, it’s clear that even though his hard-drinking rep preceded him, his words never got that email.

Cantankerous, horny and painfully shy, Born the film seems to reflect the man as not just a look at how life’s torments inform your art, but also a look at someone seemingly happy to pursue a life more ordinary while writing poems anyone can relate to.

Like all things hip though, eventually the cult of personality takes over and next thing you know, Sean Penn, Tom Waits and Bono are referencing your work. Speaking of, forget Bono and his current (Red) + Oprah bullshit cause marketing gigs. He’s far more cooler here when he comes to life reading selected Bukowski poems on the DVD's extras section, as is Tom Waits.

His story in ways parallels the life of Harvey Pekar in the brilliant American Splendor, another must-see for creatives into animation, storytelling and illustration. Paul Giamatti has now assumed the Richard Dreyfuss mantle: very talented but ain’t never gonna be the classic leading man. That’s not hatin, just sayin. While both films came out in 2003, American Splendor got more attention from mainstream audiences.

It’s a great look into the mind of a person you never suspected could imagine the things they do, not just because of the acting, but the actual style of the film as well. Having both the real Harvey and Paul appear as themselves on camera, then breaking down the 4th wall, this film merges a pseudo-documentary storytelling format with traditional Hollywood fiction like no other. (Borat did it as well but that film was more a moc/doc/Jackass reality show melting pot than AS is.)

Skip Hostel 12 and Saw 19. Rent these instead.