Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary, Weiner is the rollicking, hilarious and insightful documentary on Anthony Weiner's failed bid for mayor of New York City in 2013. Fresh off a sexting scandal that saw him resign from Congress, the documentary crew didn't realize just how huge a story they were along for that summer, when more allegations emerged.
Weiner has received a lot of critical acclaim – including our own – for having a great mix of laughs and intelligence, captured on the fly. It takes no prisoners: both Weiner himself and the media are responsible for this scandal reaching such epic proportions, and so are we, for wanting to know more about our candidates' sex positions than their political positions.
Weiner will have its big unveiling in limited release on May 20th, and will grow even larger on May 26th with a VOD release.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
