Featured Film: I Like Killing Flies

Though his version of "No soup for you" would undoubtedly contain a few choice words unfit for prime-time, Kenny Shopsin, proprietor of the legendary New York diner which bears his name (and which imposes a strict set of rules on its diners), does bear more than a few similarities to Seinfeld's classic Soup Nazi character. Then again, it's tough to imagine Larry Thomas' severe television personality confessing that he used to believe that only path to change was through Freudian analysis, or to extend his ongoing battle with the flies in his kitchen to a metaphor for the war in the middle east and, in fact, the entirety of human conflict. Indeed, the central figure in Matt Mahurin's documentary I Like Killing Flies is about as complex and interesting as a subject as a film could hope for.

The loose story arc of the film, which follows the Shopsin family's forced relocation, due to a rent hike, from the corner location that they'd occupied for 30 years, could have easily been milked for all sorts of juicy big-picture documentary moralizing about the sadly changing ways of the world, but the filmmaker is wise enough to know that the real story here is Shopsin himself, whose string of seeming contradictions gradually begin to make a certain odd sense the longer you sit with them. The restaurant itself is certainly unique enough, offering a 10 page, 900 item menu with idiosyncratic menu items such as mac and cheese pancakes (born when a customer who always ordered one of the two titular components one day couldn't decide between the two), post modern pancakes (pancakes, cooked up, torn up, added back to the batter, and cooked again.) and Indomalekian Sunrise Stew (a traditional dish of a country invented by Shopin and one of his sons). But the restaurant, like the film, would be just another in a long line of perfectly palatable variations on a theme without the charismatic character that drives it. With him, however, both are unmissable experiences.

The Interview Project from David Lynch

Filmmaker David Lynch set out on a roadtrip across the country with no real destination in mind; no real parameters or agenda. The only objective was to find people and talk to them: people driving down the road, walking on the sidewalk, mowing their lawns, sitting in bars, you name it. Traveling 20,000 miles over a period of 70 days, the team amassed 121 interviews, which are being released every three days via the Interview Project website. Through the Interview Project, Lynch, in his own unique way, nudges us to meet our neighbors, know our hometowns, to listen and simply let people tell their own story in their own way. From Jess in Needles, California to Arthur in Keene, New Hampshire, prepare to meet a diverse string of characters, and step into their world for a few minutes. Now playing, Episode 062, featuring Cynthia Truesdell from South Kortright, New York.

Featured Film: Rock-afire Explosion

This may be an odd discovery for you guys. Ready for a flashback? Some of us loved Showbiz Pizza, and we know we're not alone. As if the mounds of hot pizza, pitchers of soda, tokens, skee-ball, flashing lights, video games and a dive into the swimming pool full of brightly colored plastic balls weren't enough....enter the animatronic rock band, The Rock-afire Explosion. This was notably the highlight of any Showbiz experience. As kids, watching animal robots come to life was awe-inspiring. The lights dimmed, the stage lit up and a larger-than-life rock band took hold of childhood imaginations. And we had front row seats. This was no joke, they even produced a record. A new documentary, aptly named The Rock-afire Explosion is an exploration of this cult 80's phenomenon that suddenly disappeared without explanation. It's a story of one man's drive to bring this rusty crew back to life, for one small Alabama town and for millions via YouTube. The film is a "look at the importance of nostalgia, ever-changing media culture, and the eternal quest to stay young."

A Fresh Take on How We Eat

FRESH continues a trend in food films and literature, encouraging our culture to rethink how we eat. Quite a feat indeed. Relying less on shocking and depressing its audience and more on revealing a series of positive role models in our quest for redeeming local, biodiverse farms, FRESH is a celebration of community and a call to action. FRESH celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. Among several main characters, FRESH features urban farmer and activist, Will Allen, the recipient of MacArthur’s 2008 Genius Award; sustainable farmer and entrepreneur, Joel Salatin, made famous by Michael Pollan’s book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma; and supermarket owner, David Ball, challenging our Wal-Mart dominated economy. Check out the trailer here. We're looking forward to being inspired! Produced and Directed by: Ana Sofia Joanes. Check here for a screening near you.

Mapping Main Street

The Kitchen Sisters, our favorite storytellers, turned us on to this ongoing documentary website, Mapping Main Street, which is fueled by this idea: "When politicians and the media mention Main Street, they evoke one people and one place. But there are over 10,466 streets named Main in the United States." It provides real stories from real people, and maps the country by those stories, corner by corner, town by town. Its collaborative by nature, and encourages us all to get out, look around & talk to people. What stories map your town?

Perhaps America's Best Idea

By now you surely know that we thrive on adventure and exploration, so it’s no surprise that we’re counting down the days until the debut of The National Parks: American’s Best Idea, a compelling new series from director Ken Burns. At its very core, this documentary celebrates fervent discovery, and a desire to protect what exists in our collective backyard – from the crest of Half Dome and the Grand Canyon, to the Great Smoky Mountains and the Everglades. We’re extremely lucky that a feisty swath of people, from soldiers and scientists to entrepreneurs and idealists had the forethought to fight on behalf of our majestic landscape. From just a sneak peek, we can see that preserving our nation’s hidden gems was a long, arduous battle…and we agree, just may have been America’s best idea. This documentary series, The National Parks: American’s Best Idea, was filmed over the course of more than six years, and is said to feature some of the most extensive, breathtaking images of our national parks ever captured on film. Not only is it a story of preservation, it’s a story of the people who made it happen – across all barriers.

“The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone.” PBS.org

The six-episode series on PBS, directed by Ken Burns and written and co-produced by Dayton Duncan, will kick-start on September 27th, 2009.