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Last week's Movie Quiz winners

Filed under: Imported

Mike Schank and Mark Borchardt, enjoying their time in the sun as the stars of the documentary American Movie.

Last week's quiz wasn't quite as easy as I'd hoped it would be, with only five correct responses, but it wasn't because the movie in question was unknown. Just the opposite-- American Movie, directed by Chris Smith, is probably the most watched documentary of the past few years outside of the films of Michael Moore (whom Smith has worked with). That's as it should be, because in a way, it's truly the Great American Documentary: a film about a filmmaker trying to make a film.

As anyone who's seen it knows, though, the subject of the picture, a 30-year-old Wisconsin paperboy named Mark Borchardt, isn't your average filmmaker. Living at home while he tries to finish one movie to finance another, his relationships with family and friends become the true focus of Smith's picture, and it's as non-judgmental a look at severe dysfunction as you'll ever find. His best friend Mike Schank, whom many consider the real screen prescence in the picture, is a sweet-natured acid casualty who tells harrowing stories about near overdoses with a big grin on his face, and Mark is often shown in states of serious intoxication, but the movie never makes fun of them. Smith has a genuine admiration for Mark and his quixotic dreams of movie-making, and by the end, it takes a heart of stone not to share his affection for these lovable weirdos.

American Movie was one of the first independent films to benefit from the new promotional aspects of the Internet, and there are lots of good websites still out there. There's the official site, which features Mark's on-going online journal. A good interview with Smith and producer Sara Price can be found at the webpage for Filmmaker Journal (along with a great photo of Mark with his uncle Bill, the grouchy actor with the bad memory and false teeth in last week's sound clue). Finally and serendipitously, on the same day the quiz was posted last week, an AP story appeared with a follow-up interview with Mark himself. He hasn't given up, and I was surprised how happy that made me.

So congratulations to the following red-white-and-blue quiz winners: Wayne A. Palmer (who also provided the link to the AP story), Corey Anderson (whose funny new City Pages blog is definitely worth your time), Mike Everleth, E. Yarber, and Lauri Hoff. And just remember: It's all right, it's okay . . . uhh . . .

Posted by Steve Monaco at February 9, 2004 6:40 PM

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