You know I've been feeling a little odd and out of sorts lately, right?  It happens sometimes.  I don't always know why.  In this case I think it's probably garden variety late summer ennui. 

But I have found that sometimes the right movie can work wonders when you're feeling moody.  And I watched two documentaries in the last week or so that I can highly recommend to anyone feeling like they've hit rock bottom:  Capturing the Friedmans, and Confessions of a Superhero. But do not pop these in your DVD player lightly.  They're for EMERGENCIES ONLY!

I mean, I had been putting off watching Capturing the Friedmans since it came out in '03.  It's not exactly an uplifting tale, particularly for  poor Jesse Friedman, who served something like 13 years in federal prison for crimes he simply could not have committed unless he had twelve penises and three strap-ons. 

The tangled web that led to his guilty plea is horrifying in itself, but every aspect of this family's disintegration is gripping.  And if it doesn't make you grateful for your own family, however dysfunctional, you might want to break out those home movies and make your own documentary. 

But for sheer sweaty desperation, Confessions of a Superhero is unsurpassed...


It's the story of four variously deluded characters who panhandle in superhero regalia on Hollywood Boulevard.  It is as riveting as a multi-car pile-up.  Superman steals the show, but it's the scrappy buck-tooth kid who plays the Hulk who I hoped would find his niche in indie film (alas, a quick imdb search shows he's done nothing since the documentary came out aside from a bit part he got while the documentary was shooting). 

Aside from Superman and Hulk, there's Wonder Woman, a chunky former teen queen looking to be the next Norma Jean, and a psychopathic Batman perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown, rounding out the cast.  It's basically a spectrum of mental illness from "desperately seeking" to "living in doorways".  And if you're watching it you're probably better off than anyone in it. 

The scene where — spoiler alert! — Superman loses a Superman competition is priceless.  And when he tries to play it off by proposing to his long-time girlfriend, Queen of the Zooks, in front of the crowd — well, it's super-priceless, I guess you could say.  It definitely gives credence to the adage "there's someone for everyone." I can tell you: seeing the adage in action makes sleeping alone so much sweeter. 

When I finished Confessions I felt better about where I was in life.  I mean, at least it's not on Hollywood Blvd in scorching heat in my Captain Obvious costume shaking down tourists for "tips".

So the clouds had parted, but I didn't hear the Hallelujah Chorus until I opened an email alert from Netflix this morning...


Hold my calls, Miss Willoughby!  I've a feeling I'll be cracked out on Dexter for the next week or two.