April 10, 2005

"Left of the Dial."

Last night, I watched that new HBO documentary about Air America called "Left of the Dial." That is, I watched a lot of it, fell asleep, and woke up during the closing credits. I don't think I fell asleep solely because it was boring, but it was awfully boring. The various radio characters who were the subject of the film never lost their awareness of the camera, so there were no revealing moments. I got really tired of seeing them rushing through hallways and essentially saying "ooh, I'm so nervous" over and over again. Maybe the end segment that I missed was better, and I'll finish watching the movie very soon and do an update. My favorite movies are documentaries -- check my profile -- but HBO does a lot of documentaries that are slapped together from scant footage, with no attention to artistic technique, as if what the movie is about is all that matters.

UPDATE: I tried to finish watching this, but couldn't. More rushing around. Is this going to work? I'm supposed to care because, what, these people are feisty underdogs? It seems to me that they are very successful comedians, yet they never say anything funny in the movie. People launching a business and hot to succeed are not fun to watch, unless there's something quirkily charming about them. I'd rather watch these guys.

No comments: