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Comments for Cantankerous Titles & Obscure Ephemera, Vol 1 DVD
The main thing that comes across whilst watching Joe Biel's selection of short documentaries is that you can find inspiration pretty much anywhere - grab a camera, go for a wander and chances are you'll come across something worth pointing a camera at. Charming, entertaining and visually interesting, Biel's films have an enjoyably unjaded and inquisitive tone that brings his subjects of choice to life. Worth checking out. Subba-CultchaI have made no secret of my love of the indie movie world, and this DVD sums it up. It does not take the GNP of a small third world nation to make a movie. All you need is a camera and an idea. Often, the solution is to produce what is known as ‘A short’, a movie that may last 5 to 10 minutes. A movie that is just a ‘quick bite’ rather than a 7 course meal that quite frankly just leaves you bloated and yet unsatisfied. Film maker Joe Biel is from the classic indie mold. In some ways he reminds me of Bill Brown, the voice over, or talk-umentary styles are very similar. Cantankerous Titles & Obscure Ephemera, Vol 1 consists of six ’shorts’. And each one is different. From Bike lanes in Oregon, to the problems facing the passenger railroad industry, Joe Biel takes them on. As my wife Jan would say “I ain’t scared!” Last Train Out Of North America explores the word of the passenger train, and a wonderful experience it is. Traveling should be part of the experience, not just the vehicle to the destination. Todays world though is one of ‘high speed, and high anxiety’. The train alas has become a second class citizen. For passengers this mode of transport may already be an extinct animal. Patches, they are not just for fixing rips in your clothes, Joe tells us. They are a way of life. Central Kansas - Canvas Central is a humorous mockumentary about peoples obsession with patches. As one interviewee explains “they are the Coles Notes to a person”. People that just ‘go out and do it’ are my kind of film makers, and that is what you will find if you watch this great DVD. Way to go Joe! Simon Barrett, Blogger NewsThe winners here are Martinis In The Bike Lane, covering unusual bike lanes in Portland, Oregon with strange markings that offer amusing anecdotes, and Last Train Out Of North America is a surprisingly good piece about the U.S. train system and how it is purposely being undermined by the government so superhighways can be built endlessly for polluting gasoline vehicles instead of modernizing the system like so many other countries have to save money, resources and make oil & auto interests rich. Add the use of archival footage and it is good enough alone to justify picking up the whole disc. Fulvue Drive-inThis DVD of short documentaries by Joe Biel was probably the best thing that’s come in the mail for me this month. I mean that; I don’t even get a lot of bills! Maybe, as someone who enjoys interviewing people, I am a bit biased, but I really enjoy the subjects Biel presents, as well as the way personal commentary figures in, yet is not contrived. Among them, Martinis In The Bike Lane is probably the highlight of the collection: a short about the improvisational graphics in Portland’s “bike only” lanes, and the crew who made them. Of Dice and Men explores the competitive world of the board game RISK among anarchists and college students who would normally consider themselves rational, anti-imperialist and non-competitive. The interviews - with women about their interactions with family members and men who seem to change faces when playing the game might be of interest to those exploring. Also noteworthy is the tongue-in-cheek Central Kansas: Canvas Central, about patches as media and the punk relationship with them. It’s really worth checking out, especially for fans of Christy C. Road or Aaron Cometbus. Janine Oski, Feminist Review
