TV Junkie

Last updated

TV Junkie is a 2006 documentary that chronicles Rick Kirkham's drug addiction.

Contents

Production

Its filmmakers, Michael Cain and Matt Radecki, sifted through the video diary footage to piece together the story of Kirkham's life, focusing on the seven years in which he and his family struggled with his addiction to crack cocaine. It was shown at Sundance in 2006. The film was the subject of a lawsuit by his ex-wife Tammie. [1]

Reception

Variety gave the film a middling review, finding the central figure unpleasant and unsympathetic and the production values inevitably low. [2] Film Threat found it "an unbelievably candid glimpse into the contradictions of cocaine addiction", and praised Kirkham's articulate and authentic self-portrait. [3] OutNow.CH found it had a certain fascination beyond what would be expected. [4]

Accolades

It won a Special Jury Prize in Documentary at that year's Sundance Film Festival. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>TransGeneration</i> US documentary-style reality television series

TransGeneration is a US documentary-style reality television series that affords a view into the lives of four transgender college students during the 2004–2005 academic year. Two of the students are trans women, and two are trans men. Each of them attends a different school in the United States, and they are each at a different stage of their degree programs. The filmmakers document events in the students' academic careers, their social and family lives, and their transitions.

2006 Sundance Film Festival

The 2006 Sundance Film Festival was held in Utah from January 19, to January 29, 2006. It was held in Park City, with screenings in Salt Lake City; Ogden; and the Sundance Resort. It was the 22nd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival, and the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Sundance Institute. The opening night film was Friends with Money; the closing night film was Alpha Dog.

Peter Bergen American journalist

Peter Bergen is an American journalist, author, and producer who serves as CNN's national security analyst and as New America's vice president. He produced the first television interview with Osama bin Laden in 1997, which aired on CNN.

Ondi Timoner American film director

Ondi Doane Timoner is an American filmmaker and the founder and CEO of Interloper Films, a full-service production company located in Pasadena, California. Timoner is a two-time recipient of the Sundance Film Festival's Grand Jury Prize for her documentaries Dig! (2004) and We Live in Public (2009). Both films have been acquired by New York's Museum of Modern Art for their permanent collection.

Lucy Walker (director) English film director

Lucy Walker is an English film director. She has directed the documentaries Devil's Playground (2002), Blindsight (2006), Waste Land (2010), Countdown to Zero (2010), and The Crash Reel (2013). She has also directed the short films The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011) and The Lion's Mouth Opens (2014).

<i>Small Town Gay Bar</i> 2006 American documentary

Small Town Gay Bar is a 2006 documentary film directed by Malcolm Ingram that focuses on two gay bars in the rural deep Southeast United States, one in Shannon, Mississippi, and one in Meridian, Mississippi. The documentary was produced by View Askew Productions with Kevin Smith serving as executive producer.

<i>Be Like Others</i> 2008 film

Be Like Others: The Story of Transgendered Young Men Living in Iran is a 2008 documentary film written and directed by Tanaz Eshaghian about transsexuals in Iran. It explores issues of gender and sexual identity while following the personal stories of some of the patients at a Tehran gender reassignment clinic. The film played at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, winning three awards.

<i>Twist of Faith</i> 2004 film by Kirby Dick

Twist of Faith is a 2004 American documentary film about a man who confronts the Catholic Church about the abuse he suffered as a teenager, directed by Kirby Dick. The film was produced for the cable network HBO and screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature.

<i>Tickled</i> 2016 New Zealand documentary film

Tickled is a 2016 New Zealand documentary about "competitive endurance tickling" and videos featuring it, and the practices of those producing the videos, directed by David Farrier and Dylan Reeve. The film explores possible legal and ethical issues with certain individuals making the videos, and has itself been the subject of legal challenges. A follow-up special, The Tickle King, aired on HBO in February 2017.

rakontur is a Miami-based media studio founded by Billy Corben and Alfred Spellman in 2000.

Billy Corben

William Cohen, better known by the stage name Billy Corben, is an American documentary film director. Along with producing partner Alfred Spellman, he is co-founder of the Miami-based studio Rakontur, which has created films such as Cocaine Cowboys, Dawg Fight, The U, and The U Part 2.

Evan Rosenfeld is a film and television producer born in Miami, Florida.

Richard Allen Kirkham is an American film producer, writer, cinematographer and journalist who is best known for his documentary TV Junkie and appearance in the Netflix documentary Tiger King.

<i>Love Child</i> (2014 film) 2014 documentary film directed by Valerie Veatch

Love Child is a 2014 South Korean-American documentary film directed by Valerie Veatch. Veatch produced the film with David Foox. The film premiered in-competition in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 17, 2014.

<i>Web Junkie</i> 2013 Israeli film

Web Junkie is a 2013 American-Israeli documentary film co-written, directed and produced by Hilla Medalia and Shosh Shlam. The film premiered at the 2013 Jerusalem Film Festival on July 10, 2013.

Sterlin Harjo is an American filmmaker. He has directed three feature films, a feature documentary, and the FX comedy series Reservation Dogs, all of them set in his home state of Oklahoma and concerned primarily with Native American people and content.

Chris Moukarbel is an American director and producer. He is best known for his 2017 film Gaga: Five Foot Two, a critically acclaimed documentary about American singer-songwriter Lady Gaga.

<i>A Futile and Stupid Gesture</i> (film) 2018 American film

A Futile and Stupid Gesture is a 2018 American biographical comedy-drama film, based on Josh Karp's book of the same name, directed by David Wain, and written by Michael Colton and John Aboud. The film stars Will Forte as comedy writer Douglas Kenney, during the rise and fall of National Lampoon. The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, and was released on Netflix on January 26, 2018.

<i>Icarus</i> (2017 film) 2017 documentary film by Bryan Fogel

Icarus is a 2017 American documentary film by Bryan Fogel. It chronicles Fogel's exploration of the option of doping to win an amateur cycling race and happening upon a major international doping scandal when he asks for the help of Grigory Rodchenkov, the head of the Russian anti-doping laboratory. It premiered at Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2017, and was awarded the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award. Netflix acquired the distribution rights and released Icarus globally on August 4, 2017. At the 90th Academy Awards, the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Marina Zenovich is an American filmmaker known for her biographical documentaries. Her films include LANCE, Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind, Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic and Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which won two Emmy awards.

References

  1. Wilonsky, Robert (Mar 16, 2007). "TV Junkie Premieres on HBO Tonight -- And, Now, With a Lawsuit!". Dallas Observer.
  2. Foundas, Scott (Feb 28, 2006). "TV Junkie". Variety.
  3. Foster, Sally (November 2, 2006). "TV JUNKIE". Film Threat.
  4. "TV Junkie (2006)". OutNow.CH. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
  5. 2006 Sundance Film Festival sundance.org