MrGKB
...after Harlan Ellison was born, simple as that, and the world will be a lesser place once he is gone. Fortunately, though, his writing will survive, and that's good enough for me. In my pantheon of cultural heroes, he remains at or near the top, depending on my situation at the time; he has spoken to me and for me throughout my lifetime of reading more than any other author, almost as though he were a second father, or perhaps an older brother to be worshiped from afar. I will weep at his passing.No one who is at all literate can remain unaware of Ellison's work, and very likely unaware of his reputation. Mercurial, iconoclastic, savage, unrelenting; a thesaurus can barely contain all the descriptives that apply to Ellison and his voluminous output. My sole encounter with him occurred decades ago, when I was lucky enough to attend one of his speaking gigs at a nearby college. I brought several spoken word LPs he had recorded, prizes of my collection, in hopes of an autograph or two, and when I made it to the front of the line and was face to face with the man himself, all I could think to say beyond the obvious sycophantic pleasantries was that I had read everything he'd ever written. He looked at me askance, and said something along the lines of, "Really?" and then signed my LPs. I fled, chastened, grateful that I had been spared further ignominy. My love for the man and his work now knows no bounds."Dreams with Sharp Teeth" is a must-see for all Ellison devotees, and neophytes as well.
Cosmoeticadotcom
Ellison, despite his artistic shortcomings, is an entertaining figure
.for about 20 minutes; not the film's whole 96 minutes. He simply has little of depth to say: he does not like this, he does not like that, he revels in tales of his supposed bravado with fans, studio executives, and other writers, but we have all known people like this, and they are bores, and boors. The only reason no one seems to tell this to Ellison is because, well, he's rich and famous, and pointing this out to someone rich and famous is decidedly un-American.If anything of Ellison is remembered in a few centuries, it may likely only be this film, in some large archive of formerly important subjects for anthropological purposes, for, as a film, and as an exploration of an artist, it fails. Here's hoping director Nelson's next three decades are a bit more rewarding, to him and us.
Mr-Fusion
Rule #1 when making a documentary is to have an engaging subject. And few out there are more interesting than Harlan Ellison. Ellison is one of the most provocative, caustic, and opinionated voices in American history. He is also one of the most prolific writers of science fiction ever published. If you've never read his work, then chances are you've heard one of his vitriolic rants. Ellison is certainly not one to suffer fools gladly. And you certainly don't cross the man. Naturally, much of the humor of the documentary is derived from the cantankerousness of Ellison, himself (and there's plenty of amusement).But there are unexpected moments of poignancy, as well. Ellison shows emotion while regaling the audience with tales of his growing up in Cleveland, Ohio (a frequent target for bullying). And even a bit of longing for his deceased parents. These moments (though brief) shed some humanity on Ellison the Personality.Dreams with Sharp Teeth is a solid documentary, filled with infectious energy and sharp wit. The film pulls no punches in its portrayal of this in-your-face writer, and never fails to entertain.
Allegra Sloman
I had the privilege of watching this with two other people who saw Harlan Ellison with me at a now legendary appearance in the late 80's in Toronto, and we kept looking at each other and snickering. But even if you never saw him live, read any of his work, or had any familiarity with him at all, you can appreciate this documentary as being about a man WORTHY of a documentary. He's just that bloody entertaining.The soundtrack - by Richard Thompson, the legendary Brit folkie - is amazing, by the way.Some of the camera work is really amateurish, but most of the straight interview footage is well shot. The camera work and the parts that got left out of Ellison's bio - probably in deference to his storied litigiousness - are what knocked this down to 8 out of 10.His initial 'interview' with Robin Williams is worth watching even if you can't spend the time on the rest of the movie. Within minutes we were all helplessly laughing.If you're at all interested in SF, either literary or media, movies, have a love affair with the English language or just want to see what it's like to be a legendary, visionary, prolific, brilliant and uncompromising pain in the rear, see this film. I intend to watch it again as some of the dialogue went by so fast I missed it, and it was really, really funny.
AD
