“So cooking it at 325° was actually the right thing to do.”

November 24, 2022 5:08 AM

American Movie: Thanksgiving Edition [YouTube]
posted by Fizz (15 comments total)

RIP Mike.

.
posted by Fizz at 5:33 AM on November 24, 2022 [6 favorites]

American Movie is wonderful and sad. Did he ever make Northwestern?
posted by JHarris at 6:05 AM on November 24, 2022

It's alright, it's okay, there's something to live for. Jesus told me so!

rip to mike, a regular at every starbucks in milwaukee.
posted by dis_integration at 6:27 AM on November 24, 2022 [6 favorites]

*takes huge honking bites of turkey leg*
posted by Fizz at 6:36 AM on November 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

aw shit, Mike died?!

.
posted by hollisimo at 10:54 AM on November 24, 2022

fuck cancer...

.
posted by Windopaene at 11:43 AM on November 24, 2022

It's all right, it's okay, there's something to live for- Jesus told me so!
posted by credulous at 12:19 PM on November 24, 2022 [3 favorites]

Fizz is back. Welcome back Fizz!
posted by ActingTheGoat at 1:15 PM on November 24, 2022 [3 favorites]

American Movie has always been an inspiration to me. It's all too easy to mock everyone in the film while you're watching it, but I always come away wishing I had a fraction of the drive and determination that Mark had. It's really as gem of a documentary more people need to see.
posted by kmkrebs at 4:13 PM on November 24, 2022 [5 favorites]

American Movie has always been an inspiration to me. It's all too easy to mock everyone in the film while you're watching it, but I always come away wishing I had a fraction of the drive and determination that Mark had. It's really as gem of a documentary more people need to see.

Mark is indeed a treasure...his willingness to put it all out there, personal flaws and all, is so admirable. It's one of those little things that makes me proud to be a Wisconsinite...
posted by TheFantasticNumberFour at 6:11 PM on November 24, 2022 [1 favorite]

...Could I kindly request a tiny bit more context please?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:51 PM on November 24, 2022 [2 favorites]

I don’t know that this scene will be meaningful to you out of context of the rest of the movie, but it’s a great movie, you should watch it. It’s a documentary about a determined misfit from Wisconsin and his quest to make, let’s call it a highly independent film, in pre-digital days, with few allies except his mom, his buddy Mike (the slightly dazed looking one with the soda in the paper bag) and his curmudgeonly old Uncle Bill (the primary financer of the project).
posted by atoxyl at 9:16 PM on November 24, 2022 [5 favorites]

“I like weird indie film projects, but I somehow missed out on what this was / is / was supposed to be.“

If you haven’t seen the movie, this post just isn’t going to be super coherent or interesting to you. Not every post is going to be for everybody, right?
posted by cakelite at 8:47 AM on November 25, 2022 [1 favorite]

For the record - axotyl's comment above was exactly enough context I needed. And - it may be helpful to add that TO the post itself, to serve as enough of a guide to people who aren't into indie movies that maybe this post isn't for them. If it had been there I wouldn't have asked my question.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:56 AM on November 25, 2022

Oh, no. Mike did indeed pass away of cancer, just a few weeks ago. As for Mark, it looks like he's had a pretty good run as an actor, and he's still working on directing at least two indy films.
posted by zardoz at 12:16 PM on November 25, 2022 [2 favorites]