V/A – “D.I.Y. or Die” DVD A series of interviews whose purpose is to promote and celebrate that ol’ indie spirit, with naturally some focus on music but also with cartoonists, filmmakers, dancers, photographers, painters, writers, and circus owners (yep, Jim Rose in da house!) as well as musicians getting a look in, with footage of examples of said artists’ work or the artists in action as well. Topics include everything from what drives them to “do art” to dealing with adversity to advice for the aspiring artist, with lots more in-between. Extras include extended bits of interviews that weren’t used in the film (Ian Mckaye, etc.) or folks who don’t appear in the film proper, such as Steve Albini, Maggie Estep, and the late Phil Sudo. For the most part this flick is very watchable indeed, with folks who have valuable insights, good stories, and are able to convince you that, yeah, it’s all worth it after all. DIY Of course that’s not to say the film’s impervious to some nitpicking; while certain folks always have something worthwhile to say (Ian McKaye, Lydia Lunch), others either don’t really have that much to say, aren’t quite what I’d call a paradigm of indie (methinks J. Mascis qualifies on both counts) or despite their being mentioned in the billing barely appear for a minute onscreen; said time could have given over to other folks in the film who had more to say (or even others who don’t appear here but would have been perfect for the film, such as Michael Gira). Overall though I’d say this is definitely worth checking out. David @ www.musicvideodistributors.com |
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