Ned Abdul Needs More Retail Space
05-Jul-2013
Another in an unintentional series of 1st person narrated docs. Here we have maybe the most patient and hyper-specific of the bunch, including references to real people we don't know, an interesting technique - to assume the film will be only viewed by friends and family, ones 'in the know' already. And this brings an intimacy to the images, a dark narrated slideshow about one of the world's greatest past times - going to the movies. Or more specifically here, working at the movies. We get the backroom tour, we hear about theater fights and vomit stepped on and tracked through the lobby. There's a sentimental vibe - the narrator who we assume is also the director - describes his days slouching through theater employment, mostly focusing on his co-workers and secret spaces, and his assigned seat in the theater. And we're allowed to drift off, the film is never in a hurry, and we should be thankful for films that aren't. It's a slideshow diary piece of video art, lived-in, earnest. Directed by Dan Schneidkraut.