Crawford

Can I just brag about my roommate Emily for a moment here? She is amazing. Not only does she sing show tunes late at night with me and shamelessly facebook stalk friends and read me bedtime stories of her own creation and take out the trash because she knows I don't like to, but she also co-produced a documentary! There are many, many other wonderful things about Emily, but today I'm going to focus on the film she was part of creating.



So I've watched "Crawford" quite a few times now, and it never gets old. It just showed at the Brooklyn International Film Festival (also premiered at SXSW!) and so a few of us headed down the street to watch it and support Em. It is about what happens to a small town in Texas when the President decides to call it home. Man, I learned so much. It's a documentary shot over a number of years interviewing the residents of Crawford Texas about how they feel about their most famous resident, President George W. Bush. It is really fascinating to watch the characters and the diverging opinions, and how they react to the spotlight on their tiny town, especially as the war grows more unpopular.

There is a lot that I like about this documentary. For one, we get a really pretty intimate look at the lives of these people in Crawford. It could be a political film about George W. pretending to be from this town when he really moved there just a year before his election, or about the protesters who set up shop there when the president is in town. instead, we get to know people, some supporters of President Bush (such as Ricky Smith, a horse trainer and avid follower of Fox News) and one of the few opponents (such as Tom Warlick, a teenager who played in the band for Bush's inaugriation but then marched to the beat of another drum major by wearing a shirt to school on 9/11 pointing out the number of civilian casualties in U.S. wars). Another thing that I like is that this film is really funny. Not a cruel, mocking funny of this small town, but a thoughtful, people-sure-are-different funny.

One of my favorite parts is in this souvenir shop where Norma, the proprietor, showed us all of the George Bush memorabilia she had there. Christmas tree ornaments, mugs, baseball caps, t-shirts, talking bobble head dolls... anything and everything George W. The talking doll though, wow. The town of Crawford was completely revitalized by the moving of the president, but it hasn't ended up as well as they hoped. It makes me wonder-- what would've happened if it had been a popular president?

So, right now Crawford is doign the festival circut-- become friends with it on facebook and you'll find out when it is in a city near you. And if you aren't a film festival buff, I'm sure it'll be only a matte rof time before it makes it to a theater near you. Seriously, it is that good (and honestly, probably better than most things out there). Or, come visit me and we'll have a special screening just for you on my little computer.

Two thumbs up, 5 stars, 100% awesome. That goes for "Crawford" and for Em.

Hanging out before the show, Melinda and Kathleen got to feel jared's enormous rickshaw driving muscles.

After the show, lovely ladies in brooklyn-- Rachel, me, melinda, kathleen.
Merch girl Rachel. No, she didn't get to sleep with the band.

We love Em and Crawford! Kristian, Rachel, me, Em, Melinda Kathleen, Jared.