Can't wait for the sequel created by his son. "My Father's Filthy Browser History".
Add a Review
-
When you see the title, "My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes", you might think this short documentary is about... well, someone's deceased father's pornography tapes. However, that's hardly what this film is about. It *is* about a deceased father, though. Specifically the director's deceased father. I kinda wonder why the title was chosen. To get people's attention? If that's the case, I think it will certainly get people's attention.
The film is narrated by David Wain, who wrote and directed "Role Models" and "Wet Hot American Summer". His narration is pretty calm and nice to listen to. We're shown old home movies, photographs, and animation. We also sometimes hear family members talking with subtitles. I don't think there had to be subtitles, but since we only hear them talking, maybe the subtitles are there to just give us something to read/look at while they talk.
"My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" is definitely a well-made film. Even though the home movie footage doesn't look good, that's OK with me. You may be able to relate if you have old home movies that look similar. The film is interesting and seems to be very personal. We do kinda get to know the director's father, but he seems somewhat mysterious. At least he (apparently) wasn't abusive. I like how the film ends and I like the title, even though it is sorta misleading. Maybe I don't get it? Anyway, the director, Charlie Tyrell, made another good short documentary called "I Thought I Told You to Shut Up!!" (Yes, that's what it's called.) I think both these films are worth watching, although "My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" is probably really personal for the director and I don't know how much the other film is. -
Horst_In_Translation25 December 2018"My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" is a Canadian English-language documentary from 2018, so a very recent release, that is narrated by Emmy winner David Wain and was directed and co-written by Charlie Tyrell who gives us an insight into the world of his late father. The porno tapes reference feels really random I must say after watching this one. There is talk about it and it is referenced early on, but the longer the film goes the less relevant it becomes as we dig deep down into Charlie's father's life back into his own childhood with some serious subjects like cancer and abuse. It gets darker than I expected. The narration is fine, one of the better components of the film, maybe the best. The video site left me unimpressed. It is basically old video recordings, photos and words put on the screen, but I felt something was missing to make this an interesting and insightful watch for the public. I think it is a marvellous work for somebody trying to deal with and find out about his family background and also maybe coming to terms and finding peace with what happened in the past and why his father was the way he was, but I cannot really see why anybody outside the family would really want to watch it to be honest. It is somewhat creative at times, but also not above the level of a relatively new filmmaker that took the easy way out visually most of the time. So I am a bit surprised this got in at the Oscars, or atg least made the short list. i have seen predictions for Documentary Short this year and nobody really includes it in the top5. We will see if it happens. In my opinion the baity title helped the film get some attention, but it's not helping in terms of the quality, on the contrary really. It feels pretty cheap-skate. I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.