“American Movie” on At The Movies
1/21/2000
From Roger Ebert’s Review of AMERICAN MOVIE:
“If you’ve ever wanted to make a movie, see “American Movie,” a documentary about someone who wants to make a movie more than you do. Mark Borchardt may want to make a movie more than anyone else in the world. He is a 30-year-old, odd-job man from Menomonee Falls, Wis., who has been making movies since he was a teenager and dreams of an epic about his life, which will be titled “Northwestern,” and be about “rust and decay.” Mark Borchardt is a real person. I have met him. I admire his spirit, and I even admire certain shots in the only Borchardt film I have seen, “Coven.” I saw it at the 1999 Sundance film festival–not because it was invited there, but because after the midnight premiere of “American Movie,” there wasn’t a person in the theater who didn’t want to stay and see Mark’s 35-minute horror film, which we see him making during the course of the documentary.”