Philippe Petit is my hero.
©2008 Jean-Louis Blondeau / Polaris Images
On August 7, 1974 he stepped out onto a tightrope he and his friends had illegally stretched between the tops of the two twin towers of the World Trade Center, then the highest buildings in the world, and he danced across this wire, wirewalked, for 45 minutes, a quarter of a mile above the ground, without a net, while pedestrians and police watched in awe.
Man On Wire is a documentary of Petit's unthinkable obsession, from the birth of it - the very first inspiration to "conquer" the towers - through the plotting, planning, detailing, practicing, recruiting, cajoling, problem solving, sneaking, daring, dreaming, all the way to the final mad dance of it.
You have to see this film.
Even though you know what the climax of the film will be, director James Marsh does a tremendous job of creating suspense and wonder about everything that leads up to "the coup." He draws out the details to make the unbelievable feat more real, but it's easy to forget you're watching a documentary. Petit and his cohorts had the foresight to film and photograph themselves plotting and planning, so the documentary switches back and forth from present day recollection to real footage of the group's scheming. My brain kept trying to convince me the footage of the young Petit and his cohorts was skillful reenactments by actors, that this whole film was merely a fairy tale. As the footage switched from 70's planning to modern-day interviews, I had to focus in on inimitable details of the players' faces - moles, irises, teeth - to remind myself that they weren't actors, this film wasn't cast and scripted, this really happened. These people, over 30 years ago, really did this.
They broke into the twin towers and strung a wire across the tops of the buildings, so their friend could dance across it.
You have to see this film. It should blow your mind, and hopefully make it really hard to ever again say, I can't do this, impossible, it can't be done.
"It's impossible, that's sure. So let's start working."
(released on DVD in 2003) from Amazon.
DVD. The DVD focuses on the fascinating history of Saddle Creek including the organic growth of the label and the interconnectedness of all the artists. With such a small, tight-knit roster, it's amazing what unique successes each band has had individually. The vision and integrity of the core bands and employees is inspiring, especially since they've been rewarded for doing things on their own terms. (OK, and it's kinda fun to see people that I know on film.)
My friend Craig was in town last night and invited me to see a screening of "The Baxter" because he did the music for it. The movie was HILARIOUS, you should definitely go see it when it comes out (despite what Ebert & Roeper said). 
On Thursday night I saw a press screening of "
If it's not coming to your town, the soundtrack, 
The hijinks continue on the weekly hour-long Jonathan Hair Product ™ Infomercial, a.k.a. "Blow Out." Whoever wrote the scripts for the second season is a marketing genius, because each episode is about 20% run-of-the-mill reality show, and 80% thinly-veiled advertisement for the Jonathan product line. ("Guess what guys, we're in Sephora!" cha-ching! "I've got to go tell my girlfriend I'm going to be on QVC!" cha-ching!) 
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