Alright, I finally did it. Kyle's latest challenge was for me to watch "Air Guitar Nation", a documentary about the world Air Guitar Championships. And I have to say, it couldn't have been more perfect timing for a film like this, as I have been on a documentary kick for the last month or so thanks to my streaming Netflix. I've watched everything from conspiracy theories on 9/11 to searching for Big Foot and an in depth look at the Waco fiasco of the early 90's. So the mood was right for me to see a film like this and have my wits sharpened to the "genre" I suppose. So here goes nothing.
Pros: Told a story from beginning to end in a linear fashion, was shot in real time with the events, zero narration (not always a pro or con, just really worked well with this particular film), fun subject.
Cons: Tried to slip in a political message very subtly, could have went a little deeper into the history of the event.
Now that that is out of the way, lets dig in. I was pretty impressed with this film overall. It took a light-hearted subject, air guitar, and made it real. I became attatched almost immediately to the contestants, particularly C-Diddy, who happens to be one of the two main focuses. He was very charismatic and one hell of an Air Guitarist. The story begins with two men who traveled from New York City to Finland in 2002 to check out the Air Guitar World Championships, only to realize that it was a really large event with zero participation from the United States. They went over there with an initial goal of taking air guitar lessons from the "worlds greatest" and left with the inspiration to spread the hysteria in the US.
They organized a national competition in the US with regional qualifying being held in New York City and Los Angeles. New York City is where we meet C-Diddy, and his soon to be foe Bjorn Turoque (Born to rock, very clever). C-Diddy is an Asian American who sports a cape and Hello Kitty backpack across his chest, while Bjorn was more of the classic rock and roll look. The two couldn't be more different. While C-Diddy had charisma, a certain charm, and great sense of humor, Bjorn seemed very desparate for the spotlight and immediately assumed he was a star. He was a very hard person to like, and had a very large mouth to match his ego that he instantly found when the cameras started rolling. I got my revenge with him when it was revealed later on in the film that Bjorn was an actual guitarist in the past in a series of not-so-good bands, thus the desperation for attention.
This contrast between the main characters couldn't have worked out better for the film. It was almost like I was watching a movie, and as I type now its hard for me to call them "people" instead of "characters". From start to finish I was very interested in what was going to happen next, and at the same time I got a lot of good laughs from the actual performances on stage. Its crazy how serious some of these people take it, with even one person saying that air guitar is the last true art form known to man, in complete seriousness. I know right?
I did have one discrepancy with the film. As the US nationals finished up and the contestants traveled over seas to Finland for the world championships, some of those interviewed talked about how the championships were for more than just air guitar bragging rights, and that it was also a chance for many countries to unite and laugh and have fun together and bring a sense of peace in an otherwise hostile world. Thats true, thats not my problem. My problem was when one of the American contestants said something along the lines of 'the rest of the world kind of thinks we're bad people right now' and they immediately flashed a picture of George W Bush on the screen. Now my political views are irrelevant at this point, so without giving too much away, I'll just say that Air Guitar contests are hardly a platform for political propaganda, and that's one thing I've grown to despise in a lot of modern film. Politics have a place and time through any outlet, whether its film, music, TV, radio, or anywhere else, but knowing when to display it is key. I wanted to watch this film to laugh, and learn about Air Guitar culture, not find out that the film makers are anit-Bush. I'll get off my soap box now.
Overall, I enjoyed the film, despite my last novel, err paragraph. It had great progression, footage, people, and an entertaining subject that allowed me to laugh and at the same time learn a little bit. I'll go ahead and say I liked it, definitely.
Now, my turn to challenge Qile. Since I have been on a documentary kick lately, and I was just challenged to a documentary, let me not stray from that path. My challenge for Kyle is a documentary called "The Journey".
I saw this documentary in college, and I have to say, for me, as far as film is concerned, it was like the first time I heard Bob Dylan sing "The Times They Are A Changin". And anyone who knows me, knows that is saying a lot. Its a very inspiring documentary about one mans journey across the country trying to figure out what he is doing. I won't give too much away, and I hope you enjoy this one Qile. If you have trouble finding it, it is on Netflix and it was made by Eric Saperston. Enjoy.-Nick
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