Highly Overrated But Still Good

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The Monster Road documentary by Brett Ingram follows legendary animator Bruce Bickford and his fantastic clay animation, learning about the origins of Bickford's talent and ideas. Bickford's initial inspiration was the adventure hero Peter Pan, enjoying the idea of the "Little Guy" Bickford began making his own stories about the little guy. The use of Bickford's own animations in this documentary helps the audience to get close with the animator and understand how his mind works. The music during the clay building has a kind of building feeling of its own which goes along very well with the visuals. The documentary also delves into the personal life of Bickford and his family. This is a great and interesting documentary and very fun to watch. And in the word of Bruce Bickford, "Animation is the most important thing in the world."

(^ From the viewpoint of the other person in camera for a short rift about small places, I found the film to at long last find me not alone with the Bickford dilemma. Thanks to Brett for allowing me it drag him up to George's in order to give him an angle on Bruce's work that would inspire instead of horrify.Monster Road works as a documentary by giving viewers a breather between animation shots. I personally wince at the overload of graphics myself, even tho I've been overdosed to the point of inoculation by it."WHY , Bruce, WHY?!" seems to somehow finally been resolved, in a way that takes way too long hanging out with Bruce alone for most to bother.I hope this hitting DVD will open up the viewing audience to Alzheimer care givers' discussion groups.

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. This film gives me hope in humanity.Go see it if you can find it. His art is unbelievable, and his attitude is boldly refreshing. Bruce was there when I saw it and it was like being in the presence of a holy creature. We should all aspire to be our own versions of Bruce Bickford.It reminded me a bit of American Movie, but this was much more uplifting. It made me want to go outside and climb a tree.

This is one of the best and most entertaining documentaries I've seen in a long time. An examination of the life and work of legendary clay animator Bruce Bickford. Bickford is an animator and an outsider artist in the truest sense of the word. Like Promethsis, he creates worlds from clay. With an amazing visual style and a light touch, Ingram and Haverkamp bring us into Bruce's onion-like universe. The filmmakers use of stop motion techniques are a perfect compliment to the stop motion used in clay animation. This film deals with questions about creation and creativity, destruction, life, death, the violence of the cold war and it's countercultural aftermath. It is also an examination of the deeply complex relationships that make up family. Winner of the best documentary at Slamdance this year, I hope that it gets some distribution of some kind. Well worth checking out.