On a simple impulse, I went out and bought "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" on DVD, having been fascinated by the trailer, his mythical reputation (all I can say I knew about the man or his music--up until now...), and then the admiration of Sufjan Stevens, Conor Oberst, Tom Waits, and of course, Kurt Cobain. My friend Lance also saw the film not so long ago and loved it, going even farther to obtain as much of his music as possible. All I can say is that was me BEFORE this film, and this is me NOW, writing this in an attempt to express how touched, entertained, fascinated, and inspired I am as a result. "Zoolander" is what it is, and I will always love a good, fun movie like that at face value. Sometimes you don't want to think or get anything more out of the experience, you just want to laugh. Then there is another type of film that really challenges you while you are watching it, and affects you, stirring up certain thoughts and emotions that might take a little while to process. Not surprisingly, most of my DVD collection is tied to music in some way ("Scratch," The Flaming Lips' "The Fearless Freaks," The Directors Series of Michel Gondry, Spike Jonez, Chris Cunningham) but this is not just another decent live movie, or rock documentary. Obviously, "Ray" and "Walk the Line" are a different ballpark, or different kind of story, each respectively, but I liked how Johnny Cash's story (though depicted a little too briefly and heavily edited for obvious reasons...) showed what a bastard the man was to the women in his life and his children. The same goes for Ray Charles' life, but the story of Daniel told in the film, and how it was told, to me, is something far more real and personal. Everything from the use of the camera's perspective in the re-creation of an event, interweaving old footage and recordings by Daniel himself, modern interviews with family and friends...all of these things really let you into the mind of a beautifully tortured genius. I look forward to becoming an even bigger fan of his music.