Dear Mr. Watterson
Dear Mr. Watterson
NR | 15 November 2013 (USA)
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20 years after Calvin and Hobbes stopped appearing in daily newspapers, filmmaker Joel Allen Schroeder has set out to explore the reasons behind the comic strip's loyal and devoted following.

Reviews
Bereamic

Awesome Movie

Payno

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

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Married Baby

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

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Roxie

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

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Mr-Fusion

There are guys who have been drawing comic strips for twenty, thirty years, and here's Bill Watterson with his decade-run on Calvin and Hobbes, redefining the artform before walking off the stage. It was essentially a mic drop and then a fade into obscurity. You can probably tell how deeply my love runs for his work, and I'll try not to belabor that point. But this movie is only so happy to do just that, pulling artists from all levels of comic strip fame to pay respect to that legacy that the reclusive Watterson left in his wake. It's more than just communal appreciation and rightly points out just what he did to raise the bar and preserve the strip's integrity. And that word is the name of the game; because while Calvin and Hobbes continues to attract and influence, it's also left to stand on its own. This is a quality documentary, and it evokes genuine emotions. It's as much a love letter as it is an artistic statement.7/10

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trainspotting

This new trend in documentaries is very annoying.Here is the formula about the person making the doc. They are not famous, they really liked or geeked out over something and now want to talk to like minded people and gush over the past and how something that was very good like "Calvin and Hobbes" made them feel and you really don't find out anything about the person or people involved in the thing they love. It is about a bunch of nobody fan boys.Also refer to "Done the Impossible" for a another piece of garbage in this genre.Mr. Watterson created a great comic strip years ago and is a very private person from what I have read. I would have liked to know more about him and less about the people who liked his comic strip.

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UKfootball21

I love Calvin & Hobbes as much as anyone. Unfortunately, this documentary is just a narcissistic exercise for the narrator, who wants you to watch him reading Calvin & Hobbes comics. And, in true Hipster fashion, his "favorite C&H comic" is one that "nobody else" talks about - only he can "realize" it's genius. The only interesting parts are the interviews with other popular comic strip writers who respect Bill Watterson and give some insight on his work, which is truly only Berke Breathed. (And curiously absent is Gary Larsen and Garry Trudeau, his only real peers, besides Breathed.) There was no discussion about any attempt to interview Watterson for the documentary or why he declined, and very little exploration into his life. He grew up outside of Cleveland - that's it; that's all you'll get from the film. Much worse, there is no exploration, much less mention of, Watterson's misguided take on the internet given in interviews during its early days that is laughable in today's context, especially when you consider what people do with their old newspapers. It's as if the filmmaker knew very little about Watterson when he complains that newspapers weren't giving due respect to Watterson's work, when newspapers were Watterson's preferred method of publishing.What you will see is half of the film showing the narrator/director with his douchey, fresh-out-of-the-make-up-chair haircut in close-up head- shots pouring over comics like he just discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls. This documentary could have been so much better. I only hope the interviewees will sacrifice their time again when somebody with talent makes a serious effort in documenting what could be a fascinating subject.

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gavin6942

A documentary film about the impact of the newspaper comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson.First and foremost, it is important to stress that Bill Watterson is not in this documentary and the film is really not about Watterson himself. Instead, this is about the impact and life of its own that the strip took on -- Calvin and Hobbes are larger than life characters that transcend Watterson.The cornerstone of this documentary is the trip to the Cleveland suburb of Chagrin Falls. We see the scenery and the mascot being the Tigers is no coincidence. The old drawings and photos in the basement are fascinating, and any die-hard fan of Watterson would have to visit this town.What is most great is the praise from Bill Amend and Stephen Pastis, who made what could be called the only two great post-Calvin comic strips, "Fox Trot" and "Pearls Before Swine".

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