AMERICAN MOVIE
PLOT-Documentary about Mark Borchardt, a struggling filmmaker from the northwest. He and his friends have been making crappy low-budget horror movies for years, and are trying desparately to finish their latest effort "Coven" so they can raise enough dough to film their epic.
VIOLENCE- In clips from Mark's movies, you see blood in several places. One, called "I Blow Up", has Mark's face and body spewing blood all over the place. In another, he bashes a guy's head through a wooden cabinet and gets stabbed in the leg.
SEX/NUDITY- Absolute zero. And once you see the actors here, you'll rejoice in that fact.
WHY I LIKED IT- As a fan of low-budget filmmaking, I'm absolutely fascinated by what these people go through to get them done. I even tried it myself for a few years. To succeed, you have to have determination and heart, and Mark Borchardt's got that in truckloads. He's read every book on filmmaking and scriptwriting, and knows a hell of a lot about production and editing. But what makes this movie really interesting is the characters...and man are there a few. Mark is crazy as hell, yelling and cursing and getting drunk throughout the film. Plus, his lifelong buddy Mike is hilarious too. He's a burnt-out metalhead that seems "a few sandwiches short of a picnic", but he's one hell of a guitar player (and provided the impressive score for the documentary). I laughed out loud quite often as Mark & company fought their way through near-impossible odds to do their black & white horror flick "Coven". They're just amusing as hell, it's kind of hard to put into words.
DOWNSIDE- Unfortunately, I think these guys are a bunch of losers. They treat their families like shit most of the time, and they're drunks. I guess "white trash" would be most appropriate. I now realize that the south isn't the only place with redneck hillbillys. It was hard for me to feel sorry for Mark and all his troubles when all he did was get pissed and bitch in front of his family & friends. He was so freaky, at times you'd swear he was mentally handicapped. I'd be afraid to meet him, that's for sure. Somebody give the guy a break before he kills for real!
MEMORABLE SCENES-In one part of his movie, Mark goes nuts and smashes a guy's head through a kitchen cabinet door. Even though they scored the wood, the man's head will not break through. It was so funny watching him slam into the door in repeated takes, not so much as denting it.
NOTES- At the end of the video, you get to see highlighs from the finished version of "Coven", but the DVD contains the entire 30-minute feature.

UPDATE- In March of 2001, I attended a screening of "American Movie" at The University Of Georgia. On hand were producers Sarah Price & MIchael Stipe, director Chris Smith, and good ol' Mark Borchardt himself to talk and answer questions. They were really nice, and the film worked great with a big audience. Mark's hair & beard are longer, but whatever fame he's gotten from being the subject of this film hasn't changed his life at all. He is still no closer to finishing "northwestern" either. He was, however, funny as hell.