Movie Details
| Title: | Weiner | |
| Director: | Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg | |
| Year: | 2016 | |
| Genre: | Documentary | |
| Times Seen: | 1 | |
| Last Seen: | 11.11.16 |
Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)
| Date Viewed | Venue | Note |
| 11.11.16 | Internet | This Screening is part of event: DVRfest 2016 12 Years ago, I was about 8 month in Austin and had just gone to my first QTFest, followed by the first Fantastic Fest, followed by my first Austin Film Fest. November hit and I was having festival withdrawal. I turned to my DVR, full of stuff I'd recorded off TCM and IFC, and realized that this site had been around a full year. Thus began DVRfest: a weekend of personal cinematic abandon meant to memorialize this journal and sitting in a dark room watching movies alone (which, as bad as it sounds to admit, is probably how I saw the bulk majority of films in my life). Throughout the years, my reliance on clearing out my DVR shifted more toward general catching up on anything and now stands as a throwback to those glorious years 2006 and 2007 when I had no job and just watched movies all day. Especially this year since I went to Peru rather than Fantastic Fest, it will be my only movie-related event of the year. So with all of that in mind, I've made a very aggressive schedule to try and get through this weekend, filled with mainstream stuff, stuff I missed in theaters, and even a few which I will possibly let fate decide. But it all starts with this political documentary about a guy's dick. Let's watch! --- Huh. So... huh. Well right off the bat I'd say this was a fantastic documentary. Toward the end, one of the directors asks Weiner "WHY are you letting us film this?" To which he shrugs without answer. The root cause, perhaps connected to some interview footage a few minutes before where Weiner ponders whether his need for fame forms an inability to connect deeply with anyone or vice versa seems to be the heart of this movie, and you can't help but wonder how many other politicians this doc COULD'VE been about if only they were the ones who got exposed. But it's also about the whole political system and how popularity and scandal intertwine with "issues" and what even matters in that world and the nature of media and how it feeds the whole thing and whether it's good or bad but feels like human nature regardless. And then there's the wife: Huma. A sphinx. Mostly Unreadable. This might be a spectacularly male take on things, but I kept feeling like this is a portrait of a good well-meaning guy who's just guilty of having a cock. I mean, the amount of stupid shit that guys have down throughout history just because they're horny... I can't help but feel for this guy. I'm sure a part of him felt like Mugatu, like Marion Berry gets to be caught smoking crack on camera, Bill Clinton gets to have oval office BJs, George W Bush gets to manufacture a war, but I get killed over a few dick pics!? Donald Trump gets to call me a pervert for THAT!? So yeah, a complicated swirl of thoughts and feelings about this, which again, tell me that this is a great film. I still haven't fully digested this but it's DVRfest so it's time to move on. Next up is another doc... this one I'm pretty sure won't generate such a mix of emotions. |
