Film recomendations are SERIOUS BUSINESS
December 23, 2010 2:31 PM Subscribe
I'd like some good recommendations for films that revolve around something being serious business. The more obscure that something is, and the more the move generates unexpected dramatic interest in it the better.
This is practically its own subgenre of documentaries by now. For example:
Ready, Set, Bag! (grocery bagging)
Spellbound (spelling bee)
Frankie 13 vs. the World (rock paper scissors; this also got a mockumentary treatment in Roshambo, but after seeing how seriously people take the real thing, the mockumentary kind of lacks punch)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:50 PM on December 23, 2010
Ready, Set, Bag! (grocery bagging)
Spellbound (spelling bee)
Frankie 13 vs. the World (rock paper scissors; this also got a mockumentary treatment in Roshambo, but after seeing how seriously people take the real thing, the mockumentary kind of lacks punch)
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 2:50 PM on December 23, 2010
Well, in The Last Starfighter the local area kids are certainly excited about a guy who's pretty good at a video game, forming a crowd from all over town to come watch him play IIRC. Maybe video games were still relatively new in 1984 such that you'd find it a community event to gather and watch someone play, but it still seemed a little exaggerated. And of course, his skill is what drives the main drama of the thing.
posted by Rhomboid at 3:07 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by Rhomboid at 3:07 PM on December 23, 2010
La guerre des tuques, a.k.a. The Dog Who Stopped the War (La guerre, la guerre, c'pas une raison pour se faire mal): building a snow castle.
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 3:12 PM on December 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Monday, stony Monday at 3:12 PM on December 23, 2010 [1 favorite]
Some others I've seen:
Air Guitar Nation
Darkon (which is like Monster Camp)
Murderball
Bigger, Faster, Stronger
Trying to dredge up the names of others turned up this previous thread you might like.
posted by gerryblog at 3:17 PM on December 23, 2010
Air Guitar Nation
Darkon (which is like Monster Camp)
Murderball
Bigger, Faster, Stronger
Trying to dredge up the names of others turned up this previous thread you might like.
posted by gerryblog at 3:17 PM on December 23, 2010
(Oops, that's Bigger, Stronger, Faster, not my way.)
posted by gerryblog at 3:19 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by gerryblog at 3:19 PM on December 23, 2010
Response by poster: Cheers! I'm just as interested, if not more interested, in the dramas centered on some weird subject, so keep those flowing too.
posted by Artw at 3:20 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by Artw at 3:20 PM on December 23, 2010
Anorak of Fire is about trainspotting and takes it to surreal extremes (I think it was originally a stage play)
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:25 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:25 PM on December 23, 2010
Drop Dead Gorgeous is a black comedy, done in a faux-documentary style, about a local beauty pageant.
posted by afx237vi at 3:51 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by afx237vi at 3:51 PM on December 23, 2010
Tampopo (Noodles)
A Taxing Woman (Japanese Taxation)
American Movie (Amateur Horror Films)
posted by benzenedream at 4:16 PM on December 23, 2010
A Taxing Woman (Japanese Taxation)
American Movie (Amateur Horror Films)
posted by benzenedream at 4:16 PM on December 23, 2010
I second "The King of Kong."
Also "Trekkies" was a fun film.
posted by rougy at 4:38 PM on December 23, 2010
Also "Trekkies" was a fun film.
posted by rougy at 4:38 PM on December 23, 2010
Chris Guest's oeuvre is all about the serious business. Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, For Your Consideration.
posted by Zed at 4:39 PM on December 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Zed at 4:39 PM on December 23, 2010 [2 favorites]
The Promotion is an underrated comedy about two men fighting over a grocery store promotion.
Man Push Cart is about the arduous life of a coffee cart person.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:50 PM on December 23, 2010
Man Push Cart is about the arduous life of a coffee cart person.
posted by Sticherbeast at 4:50 PM on December 23, 2010
All of the plotlines in David Byrne's movie True Stories revolve around the Serious Business of a small [fictional] town's Celebration of Specialness.
posted by amyms at 5:01 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by amyms at 5:01 PM on December 23, 2010
Joel and Ethan Coen, "Burn After Reading", "Barton Fink"
posted by effluvia at 6:15 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by effluvia at 6:15 PM on December 23, 2010
Also "Trekkies" was a fun film.
True, but needs to be followed up with "Trekkies 2."
Along the same lines, "Ringers" and "Darkon." (LotR and LARPing.)
Along the fictional end, there's "Fanboys" (SW) "Free Enterprise" (Trek) and "King of Kong" (video games (They claim its a documentary. That's in dispute.))
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:29 PM on December 23, 2010
True, but needs to be followed up with "Trekkies 2."
Along the same lines, "Ringers" and "Darkon." (LotR and LARPing.)
Along the fictional end, there's "Fanboys" (SW) "Free Enterprise" (Trek) and "King of Kong" (video games (They claim its a documentary. That's in dispute.))
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:29 PM on December 23, 2010
All sports movies treat sports as serious business, so you could look for dramas or documentaries about weird sports. Like roller derby (Whip It). Or sports with unlikely players, like high school kids (Go Tigers!) or paraplegics (Murderball).
Air Guitar Nation was really great.
posted by painquale at 10:10 PM on December 23, 2010
Air Guitar Nation was really great.
posted by painquale at 10:10 PM on December 23, 2010
Seconding Spellbound.
posted by SisterHavana at 10:48 PM on December 23, 2010
posted by SisterHavana at 10:48 PM on December 23, 2010
I may be misunderstanding what you're looking for, but would Flash of Genius qualify? It's a movie about the patent war between the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper and the big auto companies who stole his mechanism.
posted by IndigoRain at 1:07 AM on December 24, 2010
posted by IndigoRain at 1:07 AM on December 24, 2010
The Great New Wonderful features a story line about the serious and highly competitive world of wedding cake designers.
posted by Ellemeno at 3:10 AM on December 29, 2010
posted by Ellemeno at 3:10 AM on December 29, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by The ____ of Justice at 2:34 PM on December 23, 2010 [1 favorite]