basil1984

I was 13, living in an affluent New England town, and totally oblivious to Los Angeles in 1992 (beyond my life-long cinema obsession). Looking back, the LA Riots influenced America (the music, the election, film, our language, our style, and our acceptance or rejection of diversity) more than any other event in the 1990's. Even having lived in LA for a few years (only about a decade later), I never really understood the impact of the riots on that city until I saw this. The style of this doc is 'manipulation' but, if you can get pasts some of its tasteless pandering, seeing this footage (chronologically shown in the film), was absolutely eye-opening. I never really experienced racism until I moved to Los Angeles in my 20's and there really was a feeling that I could only liken to the friction that causes earthquakes (coincidentally) within the culture of that city; it's a bloody mess of ambition, failure, inequality, and segregation (racial & financial). The film sets up the social climate with the Watts riots (which, oddly, I feel more informed about) and all but suggests that we're due for another social catastrophe and, by all accounts, I can't say that I disagree.

I adore director Neil Berkeley's previous documentary, 'Beauty is Embarrassing', as much for its subject (artist Wayne White) as for its casual style. It's uncanny that his subject in 'Harmontown', Dan Harmon (creator of TV's 'Community' and writer of Oscar-nominated 'Monster House') is almost, physically and intellectually, Wayne White's Doppelgänger. I'm sorry to say that I largely 'missed the boat' with Harmon's body of work: 'The Sarah Silverman Show' definitely struck me as irreverent and funny but 'Community' always seemed a bit mediocre which, in Harmon's defense, when graded on the network-sitcom curve, I do consider completely watchable and good for a giggle.

It wasn't until Harmon's erratic work ethic got him fired from both of those creations that he found his own form of therapy in podcasting an unconventional stand-up show containing no jokes, no preparation, and the occasional Dungeon & Dragon session. The documentary follows the show's tour across the US with his cohorts, Spencer Crittenden (the awkward 'Dungeon Master' plucked from the original Los Angeles audience), Jeff Bryan Davis (comedian and TV personality), and, his girlfriend, Erin McGathy (well-known podcaster). Despite his narcissism (which is balanced by a heaping side of self-loathing) and notorious tendencies to sociopathically manipulate those around him, there is a sense from his audience that he is the Jesus of well-intentioned nerdom. I won't say that I'm a complete convert but I will absolutely subscribe to his podcast (also called 'Harmontown'); like the film, it's honest, raw, and pretty darn hilarious.