Tarnation

Watched a couple of documentaries recently -- The Boys of Baraka, about some inner-city boys from Baltimore who went to a special school in Kenya; and Tarnation, which is a trippy autobiography (with some artistic license taken) by a guy named Jonathan Caouette who edited it together on his Mac from home video of his mentally ill mother, footage sampled from his favorite TV shows and movies, and tapes of himself as a 12-year old drag queen.

Archive 2007-01-01 KaneCitizen 2007

Watched a couple of documentaries recently -- The Boys of Baraka, about some inner-city boys from Baltimore who went to a special school in Kenya; and Tarnation, which is a trippy autobiography (with some artistic license taken) by a guy named Jonathan Caouette who edited it together on his Mac from home video of his mentally ill mother, footage sampled from his favorite TV shows and movies, and tapes of himself as a 12-year old drag queen.

Flappers, Baraka, Tarnation, Carrie Cake KaneCitizen 2007

Apart from all the literary memoirs that have turned out to be fake, there are documentaries like, "Tarnation," "Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop" and recently, "I'm Still Here," in which you can't completely trust what's onscreen.

'Catfish': A Great Story Of Isolation And Connection 2010

Apart from all the literary memoirs that have turned out to be fake, there are documentaries like, "Tarnation," "Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop" and recently, "I'm Still Here," in which you can't completely trust what's onscreen.

'Catfish': A Great Story Of Isolation And Connection 2010

Apart from all the literary memoirs that have turned out to be fake, there are documentaries like, "Tarnation," "Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop" and recently, "I'm Still Here," in which you can't completely trust what's onscreen.

'Catfish': A Great Story Of Isolation And Connection 2010

(You know, "Tarnation" pretty much describes what has become of the United States, no?)

The black smoker at the sea bottom 2010

Apart from all the literary memoirs that have turned out to be fake, there are documentaries like, "Tarnation," "Banksy's Exit Through the Gift Shop" and recently, "I'm Still Here," in which you can't completely trust what's onscreen.

'Catfish': A Great Story Of Isolation And Connection 2010

When "Tarnation" was released, director Gus Van Sant commented that Caouette's technique had opened up the field to new talent.

Making Their Own Breaks 2008

Indie filmmaker Jonathan Caouette didn't even use Apple's sophisticated Final Cut Pro software to put together his recent film "Tarnation," an account of his abusive childhood, which includes old home-movie footage and audiotapes; run-of-the-mill iMovies, standard on all Macs, proved perfectly adequate.

Making Their Own Breaks 2008

Mind you, Hubert Humphrey used to talk this way, but he had an excuse he was raised in the rural depths of South Dakota when "Tarnation" was still a part of the local lexicon.

The Chimes at Midnight 2007