Either you’re indie or you’re OUTIE!

I have a strong affinity for the artsy-fartsy and if I could have it my way, I’d see all my films at the Tara and Midtown Art Cinema…and not just ‘cause they sell beer or Odwallas alongside the popcorn.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw City Island at the Tara…

It’s about a dysfunctional family living on City Island, a suburban island off the coast of the Bronx, who are all keeping secrets much more innocuous than the atrocities they assume each other are hiding.

I liked this movie, despite the fact that I usually can’t stomach this type of “one piece of missing information, otherwise everything would be fine” humor. (Three’s Company and Meet the Parents kind of stuff…gives me massive anxiety.)

However, it was funny and poignant and heart-wrenching all at the same time, there was some really nice acting (particularly by Emily Mortimer), and I LOVED the scrawny teenaged son who has a thing for large ladies. If you haven’t, go see it!   It’s cute!
Then, a few nights ago I saw “Exit Through The Gift Shop” at Midtown Art…a film I THOUGHT was going to be about the British street (graffiti) artist, Banksy.

If you’re unfamiliar with Banksy, I encourage you do to a little research.  He’s far too interesting for a Q+DD explanation. Check his blog out here and his art website out here.  But…..here are some of his more popular pieces:

(I love you, Maura.)

Anyway, as I mentioned, I thought the film was going to be a documentary of his work…which I was really excited about because a) he is notoriously reclusive and b) street art is very hard to document, of course, since it is technically vandalism.

What I found, however, was that this was not really a movie about Banksy, but rather about a man named Thierry Guetta, a Frenchman with a camera and an obsession for the craft.  So it was a film by Banksy about Guetta trying to make a film about Banksy… get it? “Prankumentary” is what they’re calling it.

Guetta films thousands of hours of footage of Banksy and countless other famous (infamous?) street artists including his own cousin, Invader, and Shepard Fairey (you know him. He is responsible for this:
Eventually, Guetta decides he is ALSO a street artist himself. Going by the alias “Mr. Brain Wash,” Guetta starts tagging, and almost immediately stages his own art installation filled with “blatant knockoffs and cut-and-paste pop trash” and Banksy’s message becomes clear.

The film was brilliant; I just wish we had seen more Banksy! He was rarely on camera, and when he was, he was hooded and his voice was disguised.

The Voice Disguiser. A la The Bert Show.

I don’t think that he’ll be making any appearances on Larry King anytime soon, either.  He is quoted as saying, “The film is the end of my public life rather than the beginning.” Bummer.

Obviously, I recommend it. (Bonus: there’s a Foursquare badge associated with the movie:

To get it, simply shout “Banksy” when you check in to Midtown Art,…thanks Mark!)

Gah, I am so artsy! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go unwrap the DVD I just ordered from Amazon: The Sweetest Thing with Cameron Diaz, Christina Applegate, and Selma Blair…a classic piece of American cinematography if you ask me.

xx, L