MTV will show a terrific documentary this weekend. More on the specifics later. First, a story:Every year, I kind of dread my ritual attendance of the San Diego Film Festival because the programmers allow a lot of poorly-done, amateur projects into the competition.
Back in 2007, I settled into my seat on the first day of the festival to watch Inside the Circle (now Inside the Circle: A B-Boy Chronicle), a b-boy break-dancing documentary that premeired at South By Southwest, an unusually seasoned pedigree for an SDFF entry.
What I saw was not only more compelling than expected given my bias towards the SDFF programmers, but the best film I saw that at the festival that year (Opening & Closing Night features included).
Documentarian Marcy Garriott followed two b-boys--once members of the same "crew" but competitors in the movie--for nearly four years to form a complex, involving portrait of an underexposed pasttime. (Back when I saw the film, media attention of b-boys was non-existent and the experience was even more fascinating than it will be now.) The doc also looks at the personal lives of the focal b-boys.
I had some complaints when I first saw the movie--some anti-Bush commentary and a sagging middle were both noticeably lackluster--but these will seem negligible watching it on the small screen on MTV this weekend. Also a perk if you haven't yet converted to HD: the doc was shot in 4:3, meaning its original state will fill the full frame.
The film will play on MTV with Planet B-boy, another acclaimed dancing doc. Planet B-boy played in theatres last year, but I missed it and am excited to play catch up.
Inside the Circle plays on MTV on Sun., Jan. 11 at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.; Mon, Jan. 12 at 1:00 p.m.; Weds., Jan. 14 at 10:00 a.m.; and Thurs., Jan 15 at 8:00 p.m. (All times EST)
If you haven't had your fill of documentary after Inside the Circle, Patrick Creadon's acclaimed "I.O.U.S.A." premeires on CNN this weekend as well. Check your local listings for showtimes.
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