Craptastic!

Not sure why this is getting low star ratings, other than perhaps the subject matter. This was an interesting story of getting caught up in the poop storm that was the media coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's last days.

The filmmakers prove that they are human enough to not profit from her death, rather chronicling her last days. While her story is sad, it actually puts a human face on someone who was troubled by drugs and fame and whose path to fame seemed to be unsavory yet provocative .

The story is much better as a documentary, but the footage they do show of the movie 'Illegal Aliens' is interesting. I am not a fan of movies or B-movies in general but I do like documentaries that show me a side of things I hadn't seen before.

It's also a case of playing with fire, as you see the ups and downs of the roller-coaster of publicity involved in dragging someone so provocative into your film. In some ways her life seems to parallel Marilyn Monroe, certainly an angle I hadn't thought of before.

Overall, the documentary is very entertaining.

Addicted to Fame (2012)

*** (out of 4)

In 2005 director David Giancola began work on a low-budget science fiction spoof that was clearly headed straight-to-DVD without much fan fair but then Anna Nicole Smith happened. This documentary has all sorts of behind-the-scenes stories because the film, ILLEGAL ALIENS, turned out to be a gigantic publicity boost when Smith's true life horror show put it on the map. At first it was all good publicity because of Smith's case over her late husband's will was heading to the Supreme Court but soon it took a darker turn when her son and eventually her were dead. ADDICTED TO FAME isn't a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but I thought it was quite fascinating simply because you really haven't gotten to see a film like it. Yes, there are some good documentaries out there dealing with low-budget filmmaking but none of them featured a media storm like Smith and it's interesting to see what having someone like her in your movie can do. Not only that but the last year of her life was just so strange and bizarre that it brought on all sorts of stories that just put more fuel on the fire. I really thought it was fascinating getting to hear from the director and producer of ILLEGAL ALIENS who were one day benefiting from the news and then the next being destroyed by it. The film also offers up a lot of stuff from the shooting of the movie and it's clear that Smith wasn't very pleasant to work with and caused all sorts of problems. Is ADDICTED TO FAME an exploitation movie? Are they taking advantage of Smith's fame and death? I'd say so but then again so has every other television station, newspaper and magazine. The difference is that those here actually worked with the woman on her final picture.

A wrenchingly honest yet funny Doc about the perils of casting a Trainwreck. Wondering when Hollywood decides to do the fictional remake of this 'cause it makes Tommy Wiseau's story look boring! Kudos to Mr. Giancola for telling it like it was. A must see for indy film fans.