Must Have This: Film

We are finding this particular Friday afternoon to be a rather cheerless affair, we must confess. Being here in Austin beneath what feels to be a Beckett-ish (we are curious, are any of his works happy in tone? We remain skeptical) grey sky, we are only moderately enthused about the coming weekend, as we have no particular plans of note, with the possible semi-bright spot that hovers around the possibility of brunch on Sunday. So let us all say a collective prayer to our collective gods/energies/laws of nature to bring back the sunshine.

We did, however, perk up at the prospect of today's Must Have This post. And we are elated to announce that we have not one Thing that one Must Have, but a few. Things to make the day seem a little less belligerent. We have found these things useful in rising above the particular woe of this day, which may or may not be against us.

First, as with any good movie-going experience -and if it has not been clear yet what this post contains, we are discussing a film (a documentary, in fact) that has come to our attention as excessively entertaining- there must be a Preview. We find the joining of two classic novels a terribly clever and amusing idea. We confess, it's not entirely new, but it does certainly excite, and should this movie ever happen, we will champion it all the way.

And now, on to our full length feature.



We have nothing but praise to lavish on the fabulous Joan Rivers. She is brash, she is blunt, she loves expensive things, and she is hilarious. If we were to say that we see a bit of ourself in her, it would not be going too far. She has, besides winning a reality TV show and booking quite a calendar (follow the 'Click here to see Joan's full calendar' link), recently released a documentary. And we find it, as we find her, simply fabulous. Joan Rivers- A Piece of Work is indeed just that. As the audience follows Joan through a year or so of her life, we are privy to the highs and lows of life according to Joan- from debuting her play in Edinburgh to somewhere in Wisconsin, from growing old to the relentless need to work, and perhaps most fascinatingly, what it is to be at once a legendary comedienne and still just scrambling for the laughs. We found, however, as we watched, the film to be more than just a plea for laughs- the glimpse we are given of Joan is just enough to affirm her absolutely fascinating, which, in the end, is what she wants in the first place.

Joan Rivers- A Piece of Work is available through Netflix, from Amazon, and can be found through many other online retailers.


Post Script: Two other movies we would truly love to see: a thrillingly educational story and also a definite Oscar contender.