Horns & Halos [DVD] [2004] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

This film is unlike any documentary I've ever seen before. It combines various cinematic styles-- from Albert Maysles' uncut, "direct cinema" approach, to Michael Moore's "guerilla documentary" approach.

The characters are all nuanced, complex personalities, and the filmmakers do a startingly good job at not passing judgment and allowing us to see the characters for who they really are.

Rather than being a simplistic anti-Bush doc, the film is a meditation on how media, money, and politics combine to reak havoc on the life of an already troubled man.

I highly, highly recommend this film, not only to those who are interested in the intersection of media, money, and politics, but to those who are interested in experiencing great filmmaking.

Excellent film, showing the history of the book Fortunate Son, a biography of George W. Bush, from its withdrawal from publication by St. Martin's Press through two editions with its new publisher, Soft Skull Press. The camera follows the author and the publisher as they encounter the ups and downs of a publishing and media world that is hostile to their enterprise. The movie pulls no punches about the author, who was a felon convicted of procuring an attempted murder, showing varied sides, including loving father. The movie also follows the ins and outs of the developing friendship of the author and his publisher. Overlying this is the political story of an author who picked the right candidate for biography; overcoming efforts to suppress, sidetrack, and censor; making a political statement in an environment ruled by big money; and the U.S. media circus, that follows the juicy personal scandal while ignoring the major political and economic scandals detailed in the book. The movie ends on a somber note, at the suicide of the author; but the book, and this movie, live on. I saw the movie tonight and came straight to Amazon Canada to buy it.

"Horns and Halos" is a fascinating story behind a book that became so controversial, its publisher, St Martin's Press issued a recall a few days after the publication date, and promptly burned all of the copies. The name of the book is "Fortunate Son" a biography of George W. Bush. The book's author, J.H.Hatfield had a few other star biographies under his belt (Ewan McGregor and Patrick Stewart) and also authored an unauthorized guide of X-Files when he pitched the book successfully to St. Martin's Press. "Fortunate Son" was supposed to be one of those glitzy tribute bios, but it turned into something much more, and what happened to the book, and J.H.Hatfield is the meat of this riveting documentary.

Hatfield added an afterword to the book, which he claimed was at St. Martin's insistence. The afterword included a juicy acknowledgment by three unspecified sources about Bush's alleged cocaine addiction. Hatfield insisted that he didn't want to add this info, but did so when the publisher pressed the issue. Immediately after publication, Hatfield's sordid past--which included a murder-for-hire scheme came to light, and the dirt on Hatfield--combined with the segment on Bush's alleged cocaine use led to the books' recall and destruction.

Enter Soft Skull Press, a tiny independent press who then republished the book and tried to distribute it. A great deal of the film follows the trials and tribulations of the rogue founder of Soft Skull Press, the intrepid, idealistic Sander Hicks as he and J.H.Hatfield attempt to re-launch the book. Hicks and Hatfield attended book conventions, and even appeared on 60 Minutes to try and promote the book. The two men form an unlikely sometimes-difficult bond. There's Hatfield with his glum, fatalistic realisation that he's "dead meat", and then there's Hicks, who refuses to give up. Unfortunately, the content of the book faded behind its controversy and the author's past. And even when Hatfield revealed his sources, nothing could salvage the situation.

The film "Horns and Halos" is a two-disc set. One disc is the film, and the other disc is devoted to extras including: protests at Bush's inauguration, band White Collar Crime in performance, 11 deleted scenes, director's commentary, interviews with Hatfield, protest coverage, KCET coverage of the documentary, and an interview with Sander Hicks. If you are interested in reading more of the story (the 60 minutes transcript, for example), Sander Hicks has a website (sanderhicks.com). Hicks no longer works for Soft Skull Press and is now--amongst other things--working on a bio of Karl Rove--displacedhuman