American Movie is a 1999 American documentary film directed by Chris Smith , produced by Smith and Sarah Price , and edited by Jun Diaz and Barry Poltermann .
23-399: Filmed between September 1995 and August 1997, American Movie documents the making of Coven , an independent short horror film directed by Mark Borchardt . Produced for the purpose of raising capital for Northwestern , a feature film Borchardt intends to make, Coven suffers from numerous setbacks, including poor financing, a lack of planning, Borchardt's alcoholism, and the ineptitude of
46-478: A Super Bowl XXXI watch party, he gets drunk and becomes alternately agitated, cheery, and despondent. He wistfully watches footage he had shot for Northwestern in 1990 and contemplates whether or not he is a failure. After an extended post-production process, during which Mark occasionally sleeps in an editing room at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee , Coven is finally finished minutes before its premiere at
69-497: A feature film he has been planning for most of his adult life. Northwestern attracts some interest from the group of amateur actors with whom Mark has produced some radio plays , but by the fourth production meeting almost no one shows up and Mark is forced to acknowledge that he currently lacks the resources to continue the project. In order to attract the attention and financial resources needed to produce Northwestern , Mark decides to complete Coven (which he mispronounces with
92-448: A lack of artistic productivity. To deal with the pressures he feels from within and without, he escalates his abuse of alcohol. One day, when faced with overwhelming deadlines, he takes a large quantity of pills with alcohol, resulting in an overdose and hospitalization. When Steve takes notice of Mike's increasing volatility and isolation, he confronts the defensive writer, showing genuine concern for his friend's self-destructive behavior in
115-466: A long 'o'), a horror short that he began shooting in 1994 but ultimately abandoned. He receives financing from his uncle Bill, an increasingly senile retiree who lives in a dilapidated trailer despite having $ 280,000 in his bank account. Bill hesitantly agrees to invest in Coven with the goal of selling three thousand VHS copies, which Mark says will raise enough capital to finance Northwestern . Although Mark
138-480: A professional filmmaker. Currently, however, he delivers newspapers for a living, is deeply indebted, still lives with his parents, suffers from alcoholism, and is estranged from his ex-girlfriend, who is threatening to move out of state with their three children due in part to his inability to pay child support . He acknowledges his various failures, but aspires to one day make more of his life. Hoping to jump-start his career, Mark restarts production on Northwestern ,
161-421: A standard Blu Ray of the film. Coven (1997 film) Coven (pronounced COE -ven ) is a 1997 American short independent horror film written, directed by and starring Mark Borchardt . The making of the film was chronicled in the 1999 documentary film American Movie . Coven was shot in black-and-white with local talent around Milwaukee , Wisconsin. Mike is a writer struggling with
184-553: A theater in Milwaukee in the summer of 1997. The screening sells out, and Mark's family and friends are happy that the project has finally been completed. Mark visits Uncle Bill and discusses the prospect of future fame and wealth and realizing the American Dream . The closing text reveals that Bill died on September 13, 1997, leaving Mark $ 50,000 towards completing Northwestern . On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes ,
207-459: A woman as the lead reviewer at The New York Times . In a 2005 interview with Aaron Aradillas at Rockcritics.com, Maslin explained she quit reviewing films because she experienced burnout, expressing gratitude it ended when it did. Filmmaker Harmony Korine , whose directorial debut feature Gummo (1997) Maslin famously called "worst film of the year", noted how Maslin stopped working as a movie critic not long after. From 1994 to 2003, Maslin
230-483: Is hard-working and knowledgeable about filmmaking, he is also poor at planning ahead and inarticulate as a director. He builds his production crew out of friends, family, and neighbors, many of whom are incompetent at their assigned tasks. Particular attention is given to his best friend Mike Schank , an amiable recovering alcoholic and drug addict who is one of the most reliable members of the crew. Mark and Mike bonded over their shared love of vodka as adolescents, but Mike
253-410: Is now sober and has joined Alcoholics Anonymous , though he has become a compulsive gambler; he reasons that, while you sometimes win and sometimes lose the lottery, "when you use drugs or alcohol...you always lose." As work on Coven continues, Mark faces the skepticism of his family and his deepening alcoholism, though he does eventually wrap principal photography. At Thanksgiving dinner and later at
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#1732858107049276-417: The University of Rochester in 1970 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. Maslin began her career as a rock music critic for The Boston Phoenix and became a film editor and critic for that publication. She also worked as a freelancer for Rolling Stone and worked at Newsweek . Maslin became a film critic for The New York Times in 1977. From December 1, 1994, she replaced Vincent Canby as
299-484: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , Coven has an approval rating of 43% based on seven reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. Coven established Borchardt as an amateur filmmaker. American Movie helped Mark get noticed by a broader audience, which led to appearances (along with co-producer Mike Schank ) in television programs such as Family Guy and Greg the Bunny , in which they parody scenes from
322-461: The chief film critic. Maslin continued to review films for The Times until 1999, when she briefly left the newspaper. Her film criticism career, including her embrace of American independent cinema , is discussed in the documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (2009). In the documentary, Entertainment Weekly critic Lisa Schwarzbaum recalls the excitement of having
345-498: The film an "ambitious, wildly funny chronicle" and a "madcap tribute to a beer-guzzling Midwestern filmmaker". The film was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival . The International Documentary Association named it as one of the top twenty documentaries of all time in 2002. In 2004, it was named by The New York Times as one of the "1,000 Greatest Movies Ever Made". American Movie
368-472: The film has an approval rating of 94% based on 49 reviews, with a weighted average of 8.28/10. The site's consensus reads: "Well worth watching for film buffs and anyone who believes in following your dreams, American Movie is a warm, funny, and engrossing ode to creative passion". Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the film conveys Borchardt's passion "Insightfully and stirringly, not to mention hilariously", and that "for anyone wondering where
391-416: The friends and family he enlists as his production team. The documentary follows Borchardt's filmmaking process, interspersed with footage from both of Borchardt's developing projects. American Movie received positive reviews and won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival . It has since become a cult film. Mark Borchardt of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin , dreams of being
414-598: The movie. Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for The New York Times from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, Maslin helped found the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York . She is president of its board of directors. Maslin graduated from
437-568: The process. It is suggested, by the lack of others at the intervention, that Steve may be the only friend Mike has left. Steve asks Mike to join him at a support group with which he is affiliated and, after gaining some perspective, Mike agrees. Soon, however, Mike comes to realize that the group has a deeper occult agenda and uses extreme, sometimes supernatural, tactics to "help" new members remain clean and sober. Jack Bennett, Mark Nadolski, Scott Berendt, Barbara Zanger, Donna McMaster, Mike Schank , Cindy Snyder, Nancy Williams, and Wayne Bubois play
460-535: The spirit of maverick independent filmmaking has its source, you need look no further". Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four possible stars, calling it "a very funny, sometimes very sad documentary". Amy Goodman of IndieWire called the film "an inspiration for filmmakers everywhere", and Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote that it "is sure to draw lots of laughs". Glenn Lovell of Variety called
483-491: The support group members. Coven was largely funded by Mark's uncle Bill Borchardt's savings with the understanding that Mark had to sell 3,000 copies in order for Bill to make his money back. However, Bill died shortly after the release of Coven . Bill, along with Mark and an assortment of friends and neighbors, star in the film. The movie was sold through the (now defunct) website www.northwestproductions.com. By 2004, Mark had sold 5,100 copies of Coven at $ 14.95 each. On
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#1732858107049506-451: Was a frequent guest on Charlie Rose with 61 appearances on the program. From 2000 she worked as a book reviewer for The New York Times ; from 2015 as a contributor as opposed to being their full-time critic. As of 2023 , Maslin continues to review books for the newspaper, albeit sparsely. In her review for Dennis Lehane 's novel Small Mercies , she speculated it might be the author's last concluding with "As epitaphs go, you could do
529-439: Was released on DVD by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on May 23, 2000, as a "Special Edition" including deleted scenes, Coven itself, and a commentary track by Chris Smith, Sarah Price, Borchardt, and Schank. It was also released on VHS on January 16, 2001. After being out of print for years, it was released on Blu-ray on October 18, 2022. It was released on 4K Ultra HD Blu Ray on October 15, 2024, which also contained
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