The Brezinski Project

I really did. I couldn't take my eyes off of it for the whole duration, so... great job Brian Vincent, Heather Spore and crew. For fans of Downtown 81, the No Wave (and Punk) scene, Basquiat, Warhol, Slaves of NY, and everything downtown 70's/80's New York, this movie is for you. Of course it was also great to watch it at the Museum of the City of New York showing, where the director, producer, and prominent members of the art scene portrayed in the movie did an informative and super fun Q&A afterward. I found the whole experience inspiring, and the sort of documentary that makes me fall in love with NYC all over again, after all, these are the stories that most of us artists and musicians can relate to... you see, downtown Manhattan may be all fancy and wealthy now, but there are still pockets where such characters exist, maybe somewhere in Brooklyn (or Queens) by now.. OR other cities.. we all have been 20 years old and (some of us at least) crazy.. and had aspirations, big dreams, so yeah.... raise a drink to Edward Brezinski.. Cheers!

I very much enjoyed this film, learning a lot about the artist (who also happens to be from my hometown), as well as the somewhat outlier artist scene of 1980s lower east side NYC. The way Brezinki's supposed friends/fellow artists and others in the art community remember him is at times hilarious. And the lengths that Brezinski himself would go to to receive recognition was surprising. The story held my interest and I didn't expect it, but this film took me through the full range of emotions regarding a topic that I didn't know I was interested in. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and actually hope to see it again.

I saw this film with a Q&A afterwords with the filmmakers. They are both artists, performers, not visual artists or even filmmakers until this many years in the making project took hold of therm.. Their research is spot on and with a mixture of period film and video with backward facing interviews of artists and galleryists they tell a story that transcends their direct subject to evoke a deeply personal and real consideration of all of the immensely talented artists who don't "succeed." I lived in New York then and went to some of the places in this film and certainly must have met some of the people in the film. Make Me Famous does a terrific job of showing that life, its milieu, its standards, its values and the hurlyburly of a striving artist, penniless, pursuing his art in anyway available. It's desperate, sad, and marvelous and brave and tragic all at once and this film captures it all so well..

Terrific interviews from colleagues of a tortured artist, looking for fame. Excellent archival footage, colorful eccentrics, and a sharp sense of humor tell a cautionary tale about the desire to be recognized and the dangers of finding self-worth in an era of decadence and degradation. Vincent explores the East Village art scene through the lens and words of the people that lived it. Egos and oils collide in a wonderful score that paces the story well. If you want to see the hardships of being a starving artist, a desperate artist, a brilliant artist- check out this doc. The ghost of Brezinski thanks you...perhaps.

As an artist, I often wonder why do some artists become successful and others not ??? This movie examines the question Basinski was a really talented artist, and this is a fascinating era, I moved to New York to be a part of this scene, and I found it incredibly difficult to gain entrée, but even if you were part of the scene and talented, it didn't guarantee success, and that's the case with this artist, he was very talented and he should've been famous, but it didn't work out for him... Fascinating documentary about a fascinating era New York's history, beautifully done with excellent cameos and lots of videos...