In 1987, Eddie and Mitch moved into a low-rent apartment in San Francisco where, through paper-thin walls, they were informally introduced to their middle-aged alcoholic neighbors, Raymond (a raging homophobe) and Peter (a flamboyant gay man). For 18 months, they hung a microphone from their kitchen window to chronicle the bizarre relationship between their borderline-insane neighbors, accidentally creating one of the world’s first “viral” counter-culture sensations on the underground tape market. Revisiting these events through interviews and reenactments with the key players in the phenomenon’s development, director Matthew Bate has concocted a darkly comic exploration into the blurred boundaries between art and exploitation.
Now this is my kind of documentary! Not only am I a big fan of all things old-tech (look at all those cassette tapes!), but I’ve had this burning curiousity about how memes get started, especially memes that were memes before “memes” was a word! This trailer has successfully piqued my interest, and you can bet that I’ll be looking into the original Shut Up, Little Man! tapes long before I get a chance to see this movie.
Shut Up, Little Man! has been touring the festival circuit and recieved a limited US release since early 2011. No word yet as to whether it will get a theatrical release in Canada, or if us Canucks will just have to wait for it on DVD.