Bluemark Films recently reached out to me to ask if I’d review their film, Collapse, which they say is the number two downloaded documentary on iTunes in the US (number one in Canada), and came out on DVD a few weeks ago.  I said I would because in general, I wish documentaries would get more press, and because I’m a HUGE fan of American Movie, one of Collapse director Chis Smith’s earlier documentaries. So… here goes.

Collapse Review: My Dinner with Downer

Collapse tells the story of Michael Ruppert, a former LAPD officer turned “rogue reporter”, and his dire predictions about, basically, the end of modern civilization as we know it.  Smith ran into Ruppert while doing research for a film about drug smuggling in the 80s, and found Ruppert to be such an engaging fountain of scary information about just about everything, he decided to build an entire film around him.  Collapse is essentially an 80-minute conversation with Ruppert, a real-life version of the smoking man from X-Files or Deepthroat, filmed in what looks like an underground bunker and spiced up with stock footage.

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Okay, so this is actually the trailer for Collapse (available on OnDemand November 6th), a film about a guy basically predicting the end of civilization.  Since that sounds sort of depressing, I chose to illustrate it using the gentle alpaca.  See?  Not so bad now.

Chris Smith, director of American Movie [If you haven't seen it, Netflix immediately -Ed.] and Home Movie, has taken a dark turn. His new film Collapse is about the future, and it ain’t looking pretty. In it we hear the thoughts and fears of one Michael Ruppert, a former cop who had evidence that the CIA was involved in drug trafficking and was booted off the force, becoming an independent reporter and predicting the financial crisis in the process. Is he a prophet? A lunatic? Whatever he is, he sure makes for a compelling subject. [CHUD]

This movie would be really scary if we were to take this guy seriously, but… he’s probably a crackpot.  Just some raving loony off the streets.   Then again, one can never be too careful.  (*smears poop on face, dives through window*) RUN FOR YOUR LIVES, CALIFORNIA IS GOING DOWN!  EVERYTHING IS F-CKED, DUDE!  (*slaughters hobo for meat*)