I Like Killing Flies

I first saw this memorable documentary late one night while suffering from insomnia. It was available way back in the early days of Netflix's streaming service. The following day at work I couldn't stop talking or thinking about the film. Although extremely entertaining (it definitely was not the cure for my insomnia), I couldn't realize that late night how influential the film would become in my life. It seems like a rather unassuming film but the charismatic Kenny Shopsin delivers matter of fact, no-nonsense wisdom that is refreshingly real and applicable to anything and everything. From his hole in the wall restaurant in New York, the underground chef legend makes his own until a lease dispute brings upon him the existential dilemma that is the film's catalyst. The film is as stripped down as you get but in its simplicity an intimacy with Kenny is built that makes it seem like we are actually inside the Kitchen with him as he does the thing he does the best and loves the most, cooking for others. Shopsin is both vulnerable, arrogant and affable sometimes all within one scene. It becomes easy to relate to his struggles, fears, pains and pleasures as we watch him work and listen to him talk. The film is built upon Kenny's ego but by extension we get a glimpse of his family and his restaurant. We get to meet customers and his children. His world at this time in his life is open for us to peek inside. Nonetheless the drama is derived in little moments with just Kenny and the cheap camera, grappling with decisions over the future of his career, his legacy and the well-being of is family. Its a simple film. Quant even. But it sticks with you in a significant way. When the film finally closes its peep hole on this one time period in the life of this interesting man and his thoughts we wish we still had a portal into his world. Does he still like killing flies? It's a hard movie to forget. Some of the more philosophical nuggets in his ravings bloomed in time. I embodied his wisdom as much as I could in my own work and credited the source when I was aware. 8 years past and I very much desired to own a physical copy of this influential film. Considering its scarcity I had to wait for an affordable copy to become available and when one did I jumped at the chance to own this treasure. I've watched it once since purchasing it, savoring every second like one of Kenny's made from scratch meals. Again I fell completely in love with it. Maybe even more now that I am older. It's rare to have such a simple film have such an impact on someone but this movie achieves that without even really trying. Kenny Shopsin is just a man that makes sense to me and getting to spend some time listening to him is a grand medicine.

I've been a fan of this doc for years and can never find a physical copy for less than around $200. This was an obvious steal, but the disc cannot be read by any of my players. Upon further inspection of the disc, it looks absolutely blank and even reads as such. After reading another review mentioning the quality of their disc being awful, I'm considering this a wash before I even attempt to have anything done about it. Not surprised, but very disappointed. Hopefully, others will see this and they'll have a chance to save their resources. Regardless, I will be travelling up the chain to get my money back. The $80 worth of money. For a DVD. Ridiculous.

This film had the makings of something I could really like. I've been in food service since the day I started working (Dairy Queen to Blimpies to Oren's Daily Roast) so I know this scene even if I have never done the restaurant thing. Plus I like documentaries, I'm a sucker for the pontifications of people who think they are smart, and I like movies made with no budget. And yet I didn't like this one. Director Matt Mahurin follows Kenny Shopsin around his Greenwich Village eatery Shopsins as he fights with his landlord until he eventually gives up and moves down the street. Mostly though Mahurin relies upon Shopsin's need to be a real a-hole and give his opinion on every matter of his life to carry the film past the finish line. However, it turns out that just because Shopsin is bigger than life doesn't mean that his personality is. Not that he isn't amusing at times. Looking like Michael Moore's impression of an aging member of KISS his views on customer service are not in line with mainstream America. . .in fact he has no problem kicking you out for no reason at all. If you are a party of five, or not a regular customer, or just want a cup of coffee he will kick you to the curb and not even pretend to be nice about it. I would also have to agree with him when he calls his philosophy "half-baked." After roaming around his kitchen for a while hunting flies he remarks on how the whole experience is existential. Huh? He'll also go off about the ways in which he runs his kitchen and views the world and none of it really makes any sense. Mercifully at the very end he makes a decent point, saying that outgrowing your expectation that you are a good person is healthy and productive because in reality you aren't. And to try and maintain the mirage that you are a nice person only serves to make your life more difficult. My feelings on Shopsin were fairly mixed by the time the film had ended. On one hand there are my ideas about society, about how New York sells out more and more every year. And how these greedy landlords (like the one in this film) perpetrate that problem by squeezing out little guys like Shopsin. Poor Kenny is stuck working night and day just to stay afloat, meanwhile Outback Steakhouse has millions of excess dollars that they can pour into the Bush campaign. So yes, in that respect he is a good guy fighting the good fight. On the other hand, there is probably no excuse for him treating people the way he does. Yes, I know he knows that he is a bad person, but constantly berating his employees who are clearly working hard for him is a major turn off. I appreciate the straight talk but the way he goes for the jug on the totally unsuspecting is, in my book, out of line. The film itself is a snooze I'm afraid and feels every bit as amateurish as it is. The cinematography is no more advanced than point and click. We also get real tacky visuals such as the cameraman holding up a tiny mic so that Shopsin can blabber his way into Lala Land. Even worse is when we move away from his rants. As it is watching a fat guy shop for vegetables is not cinematic magic. . .it's not even ironic. And the scenes in which we watch them move from one location to the next just reminded me of every endlessly monotonous chore I've ever done and it turned the film into a real downer. I suppose the film could be a hit for those of you who like trashy reality TV where we lavish attention upon someone simply because they are eccentric and/or mean. To me this film was a massive miss. **1/4

This interesting documentary about a very interesting man (and hole-in-the-wall eatery) would have been way more palatable if it wasn't so difficult to watch. It seems to have been shot in 24-P and subsequently lost every third frame of video; the resulting kaleidoscopic journey leaves one sea-sick from the unnatural camera movement. Unfortunate, because this could have been a very intriguing documentary. Alas, it is only worth viewing if you think you can stomach the video "trip".