SEASON 6
Frani and I have had a good fortune of seeing Joe R. Lansdale speak a couple of times. The Texas born, mojo champion genius horror/crime/drama storyteller has been doing it since the late 70s and doing it with edgy style and wicked panache. Hearing him speak just sealed the deal of how special he actually is. A hard-core old-school liberal, who himself is the basis for the character Hap in his long running Hap & Leonard series, he walks the walk. Also a martial arts expert that teaches at a very high level in his hometown of Nacogdoches, Texas; he is to be feared.
That’s all spelled out here in All Hail the Popcorn King, a documentary by Hansi Oppenheimer that is as down-home as the author himself. A lot of footage is garnered from speaking conversationally, and on-the-go with Lansdale himself. Voice interviews from many others, like Bruce Campbell, Joe Hill and more are here. It’s heartwarming to hear his children and other family members speak of the loving personality that is Joe Lansdale as well. They’re not ego stroking, it’s all very earthy and real.
I was a GoFundMe contributor to this film, full disclosure, but really that only added to my enjoyment of it. I felt a little pride at this little engine that could. At 55 minutes, I would’ve liked a little bit more time to spend with it, but overall it’s a heck of a piece of work and deserves to be placed at the top of the the list of docs on American writers.
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