#jamie meltzer

[haverwood]

Informant, Jamie Meltzer. USA, 2012 ★★★ This guy is so full of it, he even acts as himself in the reenactments!

It'd make an interesting double-feature with The Imposter.

[eyeliketwowatch]

Off the Charts: The Song-Poem Story - Freak Show

Picked this one out at random yesterday afternoon. I've purchased collections of these 'song poems' in the past, and they are a bit of an acquired taste. For the uninitiated, a 'song poem' is the result of someone responding to one of those ads placed in the back or 'writing or songwriting magazines' looking for 'poems or original lyrics' that the ads promise to submit for approval as possible material for professional demo treatment (of course, for a fee, you will eventually find out). Hundreds of thousands of these demos have been cranked out in the past fifty plus years, and while most are merely banal and marginally unlistenable, there are quite a few that are pure wacked out weirdness. This documentary takes an interesting look at all sides of this phenomenon, from the aspiring songwriters to the con artists who run these businesses, to the studio musicians who record the demos, to the rabid collectors who search out these old records that have found their ways into dusty thrift shop bins and estate sales.

My first reaction was to, of course, sit back and laugh at the freaks who actually think that their bizarre songs are going to someday 'be a big hit'. Then I had the feeling that maybe I was in the wrong business, thinking I should put together an ad and solicit song poems and start putting them to music, but then upon further reflection, I started noticing that none of the people profiled look like they are making much money at this, nor are any of them particularly proud of what they are doing (one of the more prominent studio musicians ends up killing himself in despair over his dead end career), and it strikes me that this sort of con job is only a slight step up from selling viagra over the internet via spam emails or sending out those 'Nigeria' letters promising millions of dollars to help some deposed ruler smuggle funds.

An interesting peek at one of the neglected back alleys of our American 'get rich quick' culture.

3 stars out of 5

Released 2003, First Viewing June 2011

[reelaustin]

Informant (2012) Directed by Jamie Meltzer

Presented by the Austin Film Society and The Austin Chronicle. Wednesday, November 6th, 8:00 PM. Followed by a panel discussion from Michael King (The Austin Chronicle), Diana Welch (Transgresssor Magazine), David McKay (Activist), and via Skype Jamie Meltzer (Director).

At The Marchesa Hall & Theatre (6226 Middle Fiskville Road). Purchase tickets.

[upcomingmoviesku-blog]

Informant

Informant (2012)

81 min - Documentary - 13 September 2013 Big Blue Sky Rating : 5.0/10

Director : Jamie Meltzer Writers : Jamie Meltzer Stars : Brandon Darby, Scott Crow, Lisa Fithian, Caroline Heldman

A documentary on radical left-wing activist turned FBI informant, Brandon Darby.

This guy is so full of himself OK, it is clear from the very beginning this guy may just be one of the biggest B.S.er's on the Planet. Brandon Darby is the proto-typical teenage middle class white kid who runs away from home wearing his Che Guevara T-shirt and falls for every "revolutionary", damn the man, cause that comes down the pipe. He is arrogant, aggressive, thinks he knows better than everybody else and then finds himself in a world where he realizes that he know very little. The problem with this guys "stories" (whether some of them are true or untrue) is he is the same figure that makes up most left wing radicals. They just want attention and will seek out every cause on the planet until they find one they can make a name, and hopefully fame and money from. My guess is that most of these crazy activist leftist groups saw this dude for who he was....a B.S. er. and when he couldn't become that star he became an informant. He became an informant because he was just seeking some sort of "exciting" life. He really could care less about anyone else. The kids who got busted for the molotav cocktails deserved to get busted. They say they had no intention of using them, but why then create them at all? One said he didn't know just making them was a crime...Ignorance is no excuse and its an incendiary device, what kind of idiot thinks thats OK? Either way, Brandon, David, and anyone involved are all self absorbed idiots. Which pains me to give it a 7, but just because I don't like the people involved doesn't mean it's not a decent film. All-in-all this just shows the loopy extreme left-wing and how they prey on young, white, middle class people, and many of them just grow out of that stage, but some just become pawns in this fake, "damn the man," fight they always create out of thin air. Teach your kids reality, when you see them wearing Che Guevara shirts, and joining activist groups, teach them some history so that they don't believe the revisionist history that the left tries to teach today.

Watch Informant Trailer :

OR

[sarahsimpsons]

New Post has been published on TheReasonChannel.com - A Life of Reason through Skeptism, Science, Politics & Secularism

New Post has been published on http://TheReasonChannel.com/stanford-filmmaker-documents-texas-detective-agency/

Stanford filmmaker documents Texas detective agency

In his latest documentary film, award-winning documentarian and Stanford professor Jamie Meltzer documents the work of a detective agency run by exonerated men who work to fight wrongful convictions and the criminal justice system.

Visit “Freedom Fighters” at http://www.freedomfightersfilm.com/

[gloamingpix]

Grand Jury Prize winner (Viewfinders Competition) at DOCNYC: INFORMANT, dir. Jamie Meltzer. Meltzer's previous doc credits include WELCOME TO NOLLYWOOD, and OFF THE CHARTS: THE SONG-POEM STORY.