Jack Kerouac King of Beats – Beatnik Documentary

On The Road, Dharma Bums, Visions of Cody, etc Jack Kerouac wrote books that helped to not only define the Beat Generation in the post World War Two 1950’s but he helped establish an entirely new form of spontaneous writing.

Jack Kerouac’s life is intriguing not just for his success as an author but also for his soul searching adventures and the fascinating Beat Generation authors and artists he surrounded himself with.

Knuckle – Bare Fisted Fighting Irish Gypsy Documentary

“Knuckle” is a 2011 documentary about modern-day gypsy clans (aka “Travelers”) feuding in Ireland. Director Ian Palmer spends 12 years filming the Quinn McDonagh clan and their violent feud with the Joyce clan.

The feud is fuelled by a never ending cycle of insults and infrequent gang violence. The real and most common fighting between the clans occurs when each clan delivers one man to fight one on one, bare knuckle style. The fights are refereed and continue until one man is knocked out, quits or if the combatants agree to a draw via a handshake.

Fights are solicited via insulting videos sent between the clans. They contain a lot of yelling, swearing, personal insults and explanations of easily they will beat the other side up. The videos remind me so much of professional wrestling interviews that I had to chuckle at a few. That said, unlike pro wrestling, these threats and ensuing brawls are very real.

My Week With Marilyn – Monroe’s Fling with Clark

“My Week With Marylyn” is based on a true story about a young 23 year old man, Colin Clark, who is tasked with escorting Marilyn Monroe while filming the movie “The Prince and The Show Girl”

The film is based on Colin Clark’s actual memoirs “The Prince, The Showgirl and Me”

Clark has just graduated from Harvard and is looking for a job. He wants to work in film and is desperate to do so. He applies several times to work on a movie set. After being repeated rejections he convinces the director of “The Prince, The Showgirl and Me” , Sir Laurence Olivier , to hire him. He is assigned a no-pay, go-for type menial job attending to Olivier’s petty needs. As Olivier becomes increasingly frustrated with Monroe’s erratic behavior, he assigns Clark to keep tabs on her to ensure she continues to show up for work every day. It is during this time that Colin Clark wins the trust of Monroe.

Magic Trip Bus Ride With Ken Kesey and Neil Cassady

The year is 1964. Ken Kesey, author of 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' decides to take a group of friends he calls "The Merry Pranksters" on a cross country trip to the New York State fair. Buying an old school bus the group paints the vehicle in a wild collage of colors. They name the bus "Furthur", pack it full of illegal substances and proceed to have a drug fueled LSD romp across the United States. All this was shot in 16 mm film (that feels a like a home movie by today’s standards) and produced into a documentary called "Magic Trip"

Neal Cassady, made famous as a character Jack Kerouac's book 'On The Road', fittingly drives the bus most of the time. He is fun, hyperactive, and never seems to really be paying attention to the road. He, along with some others, completely embraces the trip and enjoys each moment. Others are not so thrilled and reluctantly accept the monotony of the drive and the crazy antics that surround them.

Moneyball – Pitt Hill Hoffman Sabremetrics Baseball

The duties of a general manager of a Major League Baseball team negotiates all the player contracts, makes the trades and ensures the best available players are playing for his ball club. What does a big league general manager do when his team cannot afford to hire any quality players?

In “Moneyball”, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is the general manager of the Oakland Athletics. The Athletics or the A’s as they are called, are a good ball team but exist in a small baseball market where there is little money to spend for big money baseball players. To compete with wealthy teams like the New York Yankees, Beane decides to hire ball players that have talents that are undervalued by the rest of major league baseball. He avoids players that have high RBI’s and great base stealing ability which are attributes that can cost a team millions of dollars. Instead, Beane strictly looks at a player’s ability to get on base. On base percentage and walks rule in Beane’s thinking. The more guys that get to first base, the more runs will eventually score. Sounds easy enough but few in his organization agree.

Commune An Alternative Lifestyle Community Documentary

In 1968 the Black Bear Ranch was founded in the remote woods of Northern California. Largely funded by celebrity donations, the 80 acres of land was completely paid for allowing people to live on the land for free. The timing was perfect, this was 1968 when throngs of people (hippies I suppose)wanted to escape societal norms established in the cities and suburbs and create a more utopian society. The Black Bear Ranch provided this through communal living, few rules and lots of free love.

Arcade Video Game Champion Movie – Chasing Ghosts Beyond The Arcade

I was a video arcade game fanatic when I was a little kid. Growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s I begged my parents for their spare change so that I could slug their hard earned quarters into games like Pac Man, Tempest, Defender, Dig Dug, Joust, Asteroids, etc

In the early 80’s a group of teenagers with the help of the earnest, somewhat aloof, charismatic video game referee, Walter Day, were declared video game champions of each of their respective games. For a brief period of time they gained a degree of fame which saw an appearance on the 80’s show “That’s Incredible” and led them to an ill-fated national video gaming tour. They were featured in a Life Magazine photo.


“Chasing Ghosts: Beyond The Arcade” is about their Life Magazine photo reunion in 2005. During the film they discuss their rise to success, what their current life is like and their still-simmering desire to be considered the best.