Review of A Fat Wreck (2016) by Matthew S — 13 Apr 2017

WOW! Tbh I wasn't expecting that much; for some reason the whole puppet thing made me pre-judge it a bit. But the puppetry worked perfectly and definitely added a new dimension to the standard talking head thing. The whole film was so kinetic and really captured the energy of the music. Eye-poppingly animated and gloriously colourful album art, NES-style animations of the bands, a constant background hum of all the labels' hits...this doc is ALIVE! I was never a fan of the pop punk thing (more of a metal/hardcore guy growing up) but now I wish I had been... And interestingly enough I've been playing the one compilation I have from fat wreck chords in the car lately and quite liking it. Prbly even less of a Propagandhi fan than I was before though but I loved the anecdote about them insulting fat Mike in their booklet and him releasing the album anyway. For a drunken and drugged up rock star his lack of pretension and ego is astounding. And one of the best drug trip scenes I've seen put to film, period. Especially the audio. I'm willing to bet the guy who put that bit together has had some crazy psychedelic experiences of his own.

My gf and I watched a doc recently about Wu Tang, one of my favourite groups growing up, and it was a huge let-down. I told her this is what it should have been. A movie that captures the feelings the band inspired at the time and is put together with love and respect for their music.