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Comment on Track a mobile phone number easily online by Heli0tr0pe

Heli0tr0pe — Fri, 27 May 2011 20:09:03 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Hilarious, Fascinating, Poignant -- As Great As "Anvil!", January 19, 2011

Heli0tr0pe (Hollywood, CA) -

This review is from: Winnebago Man (DVD)

Alright, here we go: this is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen, on any subject. It's not only for members of the Cult of Rebney (in case you live under a g--damn rock, I'm talking about Jack Rebney: the Winnebago Man, the Angriest Man in the World, the original viral video star, and the greatest swearer who ever lived).

The film has comedy: Rebney is one of the great crotchety old men of all time.

It has mystery: who is this monumental man, where does he live, what's the deal with his anger, what the f--k is this thing?

It has commentary: most Americans have "room-temperature IQs," the Ford Fiesta (or is it Festiva?) is a great car, and Bush-Cheney-Rumseld-Rove all deserve hot pokers up their a--es.

It also has flies, towels, windshields, seat belts, yelling, doors slamming, s--t hitting the fan, all types of "accoutrama"...and, last but not least, Tony! (If you have no clue what any of this means, go to YouTube and search "winnebago man.")

See this film ASAP, ya g--damn jackass. Or you can put it up your fern, if you want to.

NO MORE!

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Comment on Track a mobile phone number easily online by K. Swanson

K. Swanson — Fri, 27 May 2011 19:12:43 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Somehow I feel like Jack deserved better, December 4, 2010

K. Swanson (Austin, TX United States) -

This review is from: Winnebago Man (DVD)

3.3 stars

I almost feel bad about giving this only three stars, but the fact is that WM just didn't hold my interest for anywhere near its 90 minutes. I couldn't wait to see it, being a long-time fan of Rebney's hilarious meltdowns, and it was made by a fellow Austinite. Yet time and again during the film opportunities are missed and what could be classic bits turn into pointlessly devolving conversations and confrontations.

Director Ben Steinbauer certainly had good intentions, but one of the problems here for me was it felt like he just needed to make a documentary and Jack seemed like the most potentially commercial subject. Ben teaches film at UT and understands the basics of making a doc (well, most of them), but some of his decisions here seem unwise at best, and the film in fact seems rather amateurish at moments. Such as far too many voiceovers from the director, most of which are extraneous and in fact almost subvert and diminish the images they're dubbed over. This is indeed a film where the director has a (minor) role to play, but Steinbauer puts far too much of himself in the film for its own good, and it detracts from the focus that should be always squarely on its real subject, Rebney. I don't care a a whit about the filmmaker; I'm here for Jack!

Rebney comes off well here to my way of thinking, and I won't say too much more, as the other reviews here seem intent on spoiling the only real surprise in the film. Better that you be surprised, I think. It's kind of funny that Jack is given grief for his unalloyed hatred towards Dick Cheney and his effect on our country's future; history will show how very correct Jack's points here are. The best thing about this movie is that Jack still has the fire he had 20 years ago during the shooting of the Winnebago ads.

But there's something missing from all this, and perhaps it's due to Ben's decision to insert himself into the proceedings so much, taking away from the only really interesting fellow here, Mr. Rebney. Jack is very fascinating; Ben is not. We almost learn more about Ben than Jack here; what about Jack's family? What is his personal history? Where did Meltdown Guy really come from? All of these seemingly essential questions are ignored and we get too much interaction between filmmaker and filmmakee and not nearly enough backstory, which might have made things jump a whole lot more.

The best thing here might be the extra of the full original Winnebago ad that arose out of all the outtakes, wherein we see that Rebney did a rather fine job once all was said and done. There's more insight into the man in those 25 minutes than the entire doc, I thought, and after seeing the outtakes so many times, it's a treat to see how well the original project came out. Rebney was and is a true iconoclast, and despite the film's best efforts, it tells rather than shows that fact more than it needed too, and ends up bogging down because of it.

If you've seen Jack's boobtube clips and laughed, you might love this movie, but all in all it's a long way from a great film. I am amazed to see Michael Moore call it the "one of funniest documentaries ever made"; I wouldn't rate it in the top 50 of funny docs I've seen, but maybe that's my fault and I missed the hilarity here. All in all, I think there's more humor and truth and real pathos in five minutes of the outtakes than in the entire hour and a half of this film. I love Jack's attitude and am glad to see him get the props that this film provides (clearly its real accomplishment), but all told Rebney deserves a better film than Winnebago Man.

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Comment on Track a mobile phone number easily online by Joshua Miller "Josh"

Joshua Miller "Josh" — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:38:03 +0000

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Engaging and Funny, But Nothing Profound, February 15, 2011

Joshua Miller "Josh" (Coeur d'Alene,ID) -

This review is from: Winnebago Man (DVD)

Jack Rebney is famous for a video of outtakes from a Winnebago commercial filmed in 1989. The obscenity-laden video became a youtube sensation and intrigued Ben Steinbauer enough that he decided to make his first documentary about Jack Rebney, the reluctant star of the video. For twenty years, the video was passed around on VHS tapes until youtube allowed it to be uploaded for the entire world to see. Ben sets out to find Jack, first by tracking down the people involved in making the video only to discover that Jack Rebney hasn't been seen or heard since the making of it.

It should come as no surprise that Ben does find Jack Rebney and he now lives atop a mountain in Northern California. Nearly 80 years old, Jack is an articulate, well-spoken man who seems comfortable living the life of a hermit. In their first meeting, Jack appears to be a kind, old man unconcerned and even humored by the existence of the infamous video. After a week, Jack begins calling Ben and confesses that he put on an act due to the humiliation that came from the release of the video. This is where we get to know the real Jack Rebney, or as much as this documentary will allow.

The film's biggest flaw is that Ben found a remarkable subject in Jack Rebney, yet doesn't seem to take full advantage of that. Jack Rebney is a fascinating individual; highly intelligent, with a soothing, austere voice. He's very opinionated, thoughtful, hilarious, and unafraid to be vulgar. He's a difficult man, but a likable one. He makes it clear several times that he despises no one more than Dick Cheney and that he's working on a book about religion, life, sex, and politics. Jack sees Ben's film as a way to really show his true self, but I don't feel he was given the opportunity to do that. I think that Ben may have been surprised by what an intelligent man Rebney turned out to be and decided to carry out his documentary the way he intended to before meeting Rebney. Ben says that he wants to get to know the real Jack Rebney, but I feel like Ben's intrusiveness led to a retrained view of the real Jack Rebney. Yes, there are things I wish Winnebago Man would've done differently but I must critique a film based on what it is, not what it could be.

It's a quick moving doc that I found instantly amusing and engaging. Ben shows us the Winnebago Man video many times, in addition to examples of other viral videos including the rather sad "Star Wars kid" video, before interviewing people who were directly involved with the Winnebago Man video and people who were just very amused by it. Ben is a film teacher and seems to know the mechanics of making a documentary, but this is his first documentary and some of it is admittedly amateurish. One reviewer commented that we learn more about Ben than we do about Jack. I will say that the excessive use of voice-over and Ben's presence throughout the film do lend to the validity of that statement. But despite several flaws, the documentary has some touching and/or hilarious moments.

When we finally encounter Jack Rebney we learn that he has acute glaucoma and his vision is deteriorating rapidly. It's obvious that this ailment is very hard for Jack, a man who lives by himself and enjoys walking in the woods and reading, but he handles it with such dignified acceptance and calm. Jack is still a crotchety, cantankerous old man who appears easily annoyed by those around him (probably because he feels so much smarter than those around him), but he's much more articulate than that video would have you believe. There's one terrific scene where Ben is filming Jack in front of Wal-Mart when a Wal-Mart manager approaches Jack and tells him to leave, threatening to call the police. Jack, taking it in stride, encourages him to "get the Gestapo." We also meet Keith, Jack's friend of over 30 years, who is quite the amusing fellow himself. The banter between Jack and Keith is so wickedly facetious and clever it almost seems written and the two have a very touching chemistry together that will lead many to question the nature of their friendship as neither man seem to have much interest in women. Finally, one of the film's greatest scenes is when Jack is taken to a film festival that plays the Winnebago Man video to a sold-out audience and witnesses firsthand the effect it has on people and how much those people appreciate the video and the man in it. Hearing the audience's reaction, speaking to the audience, being thanked by members of the audience, and finally posing for pictures and speaking personally with them; you can see what looks like real joy and accomplishment on Jack's face. It's a great moment and one that had me smiling the whole time.

The great tragedy that forms the undercurrent of the entire documentary is that Jack Rebney's legacy will remain as that Winnebago video despite being a much more multi-dimensional man than the video suggests. I find it sincerely... Read more

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Comment on Track a mobile phone number easily online by Heli0tr0pe

Heli0tr0pe — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:26:18 +0000

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Hilarious, Fascinating, Poignant -- As Great As "Anvil!", January 19, 2011

Heli0tr0pe (Hollywood, CA) -

This review is from: Winnebago Man (DVD)

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Comment on Track a mobile phone number easily online by K. Swanson

K. Swanson — Fri, 27 May 2011 18:13:21 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

Somehow I feel like Jack deserved better, December 4, 2010

K. Swanson (Austin, TX United States) -

This review is from: Winnebago Man (DVD)

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Comment on Track a mobile phone number easily online by Joshua Miller "Josh"

Joshua Miller "Josh" — Fri, 27 May 2011 17:58:48 +0000

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Engaging and Funny, But Nothing Profound, February 15, 2011

Joshua Miller "Josh" (Coeur d'Alene,ID) -

This review is from: Winnebago Man (DVD)

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Comment on Now locate people in emergency by GPS technology by Alfie333

Alfie333 — Fri, 27 May 2011 11:10:56 +0000

To a very large extent, the Police and FBI do try to track down those individuals who steal identities.

Comment on Now locate people in emergency by GPS technology by BATMAN

BATMAN — Fri, 27 May 2011 10:20:50 +0000

IDENTITY THEFT CRIMES should be punishable by the DEATH SENTENCE.

It’s actually a crime that is used as a TOOL for the terrorists so, that alone makes this crime extremely serious.

Comment on Now locate people in emergency by GPS technology by spunom

spunom — Fri, 27 May 2011 09:37:39 +0000

It is not the Government’s job to involve themselves in identity theft. It is the responsibility of an individual to protect their property, i.e. identity. If a corporation does not offer security measures to protect your information, you should not do business with them.

The sooner people stop trying to get the government to solve their problems and take some personal responsibility to keep themselves and their property safe, the sooner we can exit this “nanny state” mentality that we have fallen into.

Comment on Now locate people in emergency by GPS technology by ☼Solar☼

☼Solar☼ — Fri, 27 May 2011 09:26:25 +0000

It would be better for the government to deal with them, verses their victims.