THE INSUFFERABLE GROO - Sheffield Doc/Fest 2018

One of the highlights of this year's Sheffield Doc/Fest was The Insufferable Groo, following the exploits of notorious low budget film director Stephen Groo as he tries to raise funding for and then direct a remake of his own elf/human fantasy romance, the Unexpected Race.

Welcome to the world of Stephen Groo, a filmmaker based in Utah who has what can only be described as a DIY aesthetic; writing, directing and starring in his films for a small but dedicated audience of family, friends and subscribers to his YouTube channel. Unlike his most obvious comparison Tommy Wiseau, Stephen Groo is far from a one hit wonder. Firstly, he's yet to have that hit, and secondly, since his graduation from college he has made films constantly. At the most recent count he's at 205 films since the turn of the millennium, not counting his music video tributes to Backstreet Boys and Nickelback.

"I read it to my Mom last night and she felt it was pretty solid". And with that statement you get a fairly good idea of what kind of filmmaker Stephen Groo is. He's a one man Asylum studio, funding unofficial spin offs to Resident Evil and Yu-Gi-Oh, and thinly veiled "homages" to the Twilight and Lord of the Rings series' that would have any copyright lawyer rubbing their hands together with glee. Achieving a certain degree of notoriety and fame through his Kickstarter generated film projects whilst his family lives off his wife's earnings, this doc captures Groo at a turning point in his life; about to embark upon his highest profile film yet, but also in danger of losing the apartment (complete with flooded basement) that he shares with his wife and four boys. Luckily for him he has a fan in Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess (who also produced this documentary), who has spread the work of Stephen Groo to his former cast members, including one Mr Jack Black whose schedule has just opened up.

Using a mixture of animation and behind the scenes filming to tell Groo's story, this film is also intercut with some of Groo's previous work, including his acting masterclass/self-help videos that at first appear to show him as completely delusional, but given time persuade you that this is just a person who has complete faith in his abilities, however misguided that faith might be. In an age when people can be rightly celebrated for the effort they put in and not just the end result, Stephen Groo should be championed. This documentary could quite easily make Groo a figure of fun, and whilst the opportunity to gently mock him is always there, the filmmakers wisely keep their distance and let his work speak for itself. At various times during this film he is shown to be an absolute tyrant on set, unwilling to take on board any of the ideas put forward by his first-time director of photography to the point where she almost walks away from the film, but then also a man who is fully aware of what scenes are vital to complete his vision. Never one to consider applying for permits to shoot on location, when asked to pack up and move on by a park ranger his instincts kick in, mobilising his crew and completing about a dozen set-ups in the space of 15 minutes.

With a slightly bizarre wardrobe that consists of a never ending supply of muscly superhero T-shirts and peroxide blonde hair, reputation as someone who's difficult to work with and a strange and immediately identifiable surname, Groo is a ready made outsider artist/filmmaker in the mould of Tommy Wiseau, just waiting to be discovered and revered by students and stoners across the world.  His life, as well as his films, may be chock full of moments of unexpected comedy and dubious filmmaking standards, but his passion is undeniable and thoroughly endearing.This doc is pre-emptive in that Stephen Groo has yet to have that moment where he tips over into the ranks of classic cult movie directors, but on the evidence of this, it's only a matter of time.

As a study of that special kind of madness that filmmaking stirs up in people, the Insufferable Groo is up there with American Movie, Best Worst Movie and The Disaster Artist. Sure, it's quite probable that Groo's ambition of walking the stage at the Oscars will forever be a pipe dream, that is unless they start to give out awards for perseverance. Then he's a shoo in.

Insufferable? Occasionally. A mad man? Maybe. Admirable? Definitely.

Verdict
4/5

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

There's only one major release this week that won't be to everyone's taste, so why not check out one of the smaller titles or documentaries that have been released this week too?

WORLD WAR Z - It's not just the zombies that are rising from the grave

I would never claim to be a fan of Mockbusters, the often shoddily made knock offs of Hollywood blockbusters that get released on DVD to coincide with the main theatrical release in order to confuse idiots and grandma's out doing their shopping in Tesco. I've never understood how people could get them confused with the genuine article, but as past experience has shown, they are a cottage industry now.

Still, at least the producers of such tat (usually The Asylum) have gone to some effort to actually go out and film something, rather than just change the name of an existing film to make it sound like a bigger, better and much more potentially profitable film. The latest film to suffer this treatment is Brad Pitt's World War Z, based on the book by Max Brooks, with 2006's Zombies of War becoming World War Zombies and 2013's Infected becoming Infection Z.

I just hope the irony of these films unwillingly rising from the grave and shuffling back to life isn't lost on the producers.

World War Z is released in cinemas in June. Expect to see Infection Z and World War Zombies gracing the shelves of your local supermarket's DVD aisle around the same time.

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

After a ridiculously long absence from the interwebs, here is the return of my weekly guide to the DVDs and Blu-rays you should be spending your money on, as well as the ones you definitely shouldn't.

AMERICAN WARSHIPS DVD review

Yes, the review you've all been waiting for is finally here. American Warships/Battleships/the latest Asylum mockbuster is now out on DVD. But is it any good and how does it compare to its bigger, stronger cousin, Peter Berg's Battleship?

The Good, the Bad and the Blu-rays

A painfully quiet week for new releases, there's still a selection of new and classic Hammer titles worth taking a look at, and a film where Vinnie Jones does his best to be the strong, silent type.

The Good, The Bad and the Blu-rays

Having now decided that, yes, that's a pretty good title for a DVD release round-up column, welcome to the second edition of The Good, The Bad and the Blu-rays.

BATTLESHIP VS AMERICAN BATTLESHIP: This Means War

The Asylum, long-time purveyors of straight to DVD dross that looks suspiciously like whatever big budget action film is currently in cinemas, have recently found themselves on the receiving end of a lawsuit from Universal Pictures, thanks to their recent film American Battleship. I can see what Universal are saying, but surely THIS time it was purely coincidental? The Asylum couldn't have PLANNED to release such a similar film at the same time? They wouldn't release yet ANOTHER film just to try and piggy back some profit off Hollywood's best efforts again, would they? WOULD THEY?

American Battleship. No, Not The Liam Neeson One.

Destined to be the second best hastily assembled knock-off of the year after John Carter of Mars, those "geniuses" at The Asylum look like they've done it again with this loving homage to Battleship, the big budget Taylor Kitsch/Liam Neeson/Rihanna(?) movie that's supposedly based on the 'once loved but currently in the cupboard upstairs' board game of the same name.

Putting the inspired into the 'inspired by', I think it's pretty clear what's going on here. Taylor Kitsch's agent is clearly leaking storylines to The Asylum so that when they release their cheap, poorly acted, low budget efforts, Kitsch keeps on looking like Marlon f'ing Brando by comparison. Judging from this trailer at about ten seconds in, he's also hidden their spellchecker. The bastard.

n.b. The irony of chastising a production company for basing a film on a film that itself is just a blatant attempt to copy the Transformers formula isn't lost on me.

Not To Be Confused With... #4

The saddest thing about it is, THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THEY'VE DONE THIS!

EYEBORGS DVD review

A concept that turns out to be a lot of cheesy fun, the robo-camera B-movie Eyeborgs is out now on DVD. Check out the trailer and my review, next...

Not Fully Thor-ed Yet

Yeah, I suppose you could go and watch Marvel's latest superhero movie Thor when it gets released this week, or you could just stay in and watch one of these interesting but quite crucially, legally different interpretations of the character instead.

Fancy watching either of those instead of the Marvel spectacular?


Thort not.

UNSTOPPABLE = OUT OF CONTROL!

The new Tony Scott film Unstoppable is out soon. It looks like Tony's got his hands on the script for an Asylum-type knock off of Speed, and is dragging Denzel Washington along for the ride again.

It's a nice poster I suppose, but it doesn't really hammer home the idea of a big ass train that's unable to stop. It's more about Denzel's gaze and Chris Pine's designer stubble. Maybe the German's can do a better job...

Blam!! That's a bit more like it! The train is almost literally coming out of the poster. Now, my GCSE German may be a little bit rusty, but I think 'Kino' means 'cinema' and 'Ausser Kontrolle' probably means 'Out of control'.


Hmmm... Out Of Control. That's got to have been used as the German title for a Hollywood action extravaganza before, surely? Oh it has! Which one, dare I ask?

Oh dear. That can't be a good sign.

MEGA PIRANHA DVD review

Out now on DVD is The Asylum's latest cheapo knock-off.

Watch the trailer and find out more, after the jump...

MEGA!!!

I know what you're thinking. Nothing will ever top the MEGA storytelling and high production values of 2009's Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus.

I mean, Debbie Gibson AND Lorenzo Lamas? You don't get a MEGA cast like that every day. Well those good folks at The Asylum have come up with a MEGA plan that could conceivably change the way we look at films for the rest of our lives.


More after the jump...