Double Down

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🎙️ EPISODE 377: 11.01.21 Neil Breen is an enigma. Unlike Tommy Wiseau of The Room fame, there's no indication of, or insight into, his self-awareness re how his films — his FIVE feature films — are being interpreted and appreciated (which is to say they are clearly being appreciated in a cloud of irony and/or classic WTF Good Bad Movie™ enjoyment or some combination of the two. Clearly he's on the Mt. Rushmore of "So Bad They're Good" Filmmakers, but Breen himself remains deadpan and almost comically serious. Here is a man who has released a 5+ hour "retrospective" of his career thus far and process (I won't be reviewing that... yet??? Honestly the 10-minute trailer is long enough!). Beginning this saga feels like it's gonna be both a chore and an otherworldly delight. Such is the power of this great man: working — ever mysteriously — on the margins of both insane genius and inept, tuna-spilling failure.

Watching this wasn't like what I expected. I expected something off-kilter and strange and S.B.I.I.G. And while it's all those things, it's also unlike anything I've ever seen. You don't so much as 'watch' this 'movie' but bask in its aura, for it isn't a 'movie' by any definition I've come across before.

I like experimental film, experimental art in general; I like weird shit. But the difference between an experimental film and something like this is intention, 100%. Breen clearly intends for this to dreamlike and moody (I truly wonder what his influences are), but never experimental. It was a true trip watching Double Down: going from literally LoL howling to bewilderment to boredom, all in the space of a few minutes, and then doing it again. It kinda takes a toll on your senses (and sensibilities).

I will be using the podcast during this month of #Neilvember to dissect what is I AM SEEING as I traverse his five (5) feature films. I will be using these blog spaces to collect how I AM FEELING. So, dear reader, I welcome you on this journey. Come along. Right now, I am feeling pretty good :)

#Neilvember [THE NEIL BREEN FILMOGRAPHY WATCH-THRU] chronological
you are here (the beginning) • I Am Here.... Now »

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ EPISODE 376 - (YOU ARE HERE) - EPISODE 378 ⫸

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