Palladium Boots sent Jackass Johnny Knoxville to do some urban exploring in Detroit to find out if anything good is growing in the cracks of the decaying city.
So I watched all of this docu-commercial and have a couple of thoughts:
1) It was beautifully shot. I’m totally jealous that I couldn’t shoot “It Came From Detroit” in HD. Oh well, it was 2002 and I was lucky to even have a 3-chip camera at the time!
2) For calling out Time Magazine and Dateline for coming to town and shooting “Ruin Porn” this movie is pretty much all Ruin Porn shot by out of towners.
3) Ko, The Dirtbombs, and Wayne Kramer are great interviews/performers. Where have I seen them before? ;)
4) Is the moral of the story that white kids doing art projects and having raves in abandoned buildings will save Detroit? I think that was the point.5) I wish they had talked to more locals instead of driving past them. They didn’t even get out of the car at Heidelberg. Why wasn’t Barry Gordy home?
6) All said, I think this was really well made and had good heart. Anything about the positive movement in Detroit is good and if we need Johnny Knoxville to come to town so people listen- then so be it.
Being from Detroit, I’m naturally cynical of anything shining a light on the town (even with good intentions). I’m also a bit jealous that they obviously had enough budget to afford a Stooges and MC5 song and shoot in HD (Not to mention Johnny Knoxville). I really hope that this commercially produced piece spurs some interest in the creativity coming out of Detroit and maybe those people will be inspired to watch my film, “It Came From Detroit!”
3.5/5 Stars
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