Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010)

Seen on January 6th, 2011

The story of how an eccentric French shop keeper and amateur film maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. [imdb]

Nominated for 1 Oscar:

Best Documentary Feature

I blame Kris Tapley of incontention.com for me seeing this film. I knew nothing about it, then, suddenly, it was his number one film of 2010... and I said: oh, shit, then it must be good. I knew already that it was the cool [eyes rolling] film of 2010, because people kept writing about it. And truth is: it's an interesting experiment, but I'll be damned if this is a real documentary. Plus, not to be ignored: it had the most annoying person/character on screen that anyone could ask for.

Those who've seen it know who Thierry Guetta is; didn't that asshole just annoy you? :) how can you watch a documentary when its center person is such a loser. That's why I never watch Jackass. The good stuff about Exit is that to me it felt more like a film than a documentary, and if you look at it as a film, Banksy's direction is pretty awesome.

My rating for the film: 7.5/10. Yes, I think the second part is quite directed and this is not a documentary about art, it's a directed experiment about how to trick people. That's why it shouldn't win Documentary Feature, in my opinion.