Film Screening 17th May, 2001

Poster for Grass

Grass 

8:00 PM, 17th May, 2001

  • M
  • 78 mins
  • 1999
  • Ron Mann
  • Solomon Vesta
  • Woody Harrelson (Narrator)

Grass is a documentary of sorts((mdash))really more a collection of found footage than a newly minted investigation((mdash))looking at the exciting world of getting stoned. Directed by Ron Mann, the so-called "geek documentarian" who also gave us Comic Book Confidential and Twist, Grass uses Woody Harrelson voiceovers and tons of pot-smoking clips to take a peek at the history of being burnt in America. Focusing almost exclusively on the battle over the legalisation of marijuana, the film extensively recounts the various judicial wars and excessive taxpayer dollars devoted to regulating the friend we call weed. While there is great footage Grass nevertheless reads largely as an infomercial on just how wonderful pot is and just how bad America is for keeping its use illegal. Experiences in the outside world are sadly ignored, to the film's detriment. Grass isn't a bad movie, just a pedantic one.

Lynette Henderson

Poster for Beyond the Mat

Beyond the Mat 

9:28 PM, 17th May, 2001

  • M
  • 102 mins
  • 2000
  • Barry W. Blaustein
  • Barry W. Blaustein
  • Vince McMahon, Darren Drozdov, Mick Foley, Roland Alexander

Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages: ANU Film Group proudly brings to you the movie Vince McMahon doesn't want you to see! The director: Barry Blaustein; the "star", Mick Foley; Beyond The Mat! Anyone who knows that professional wrestling is a fake, give me a "Hell, Yeah!". Anyone who answered with a "Hell, Yeah", you can just shut your mouth, know your role, and sit your candy arse down to watch this movie.

Beyond the Mat addresses the question: just how fake is professional wrestling? It's not actually the fake-punch, over-acting world that most people perceive it to be (well, OK, maybe the over-acting is a correct perception). Wrestlers require extensive training, and only the best athletes who work the hardest make it to the top, and they find it very difficult to stay there. The documentary mainly focuses on Mick Foley (also known as Mankind), Terry Funk, Jake "The Snake" Roberts and the screw-ups they are in real life. The most interesting aspect is the impact Mick Foley's daredevil career (yes! They show his two most famous falls in the Hell in a Cell against the Undertaker) has on his family, especially his young children. So come along and discover the truth about wrestling, 'cause Brad Hoff said so.

Brad Hoff