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Lil' Wayne's 'The Carter' Doc Heads Straight to DVD

Filed under: Documentary », Music & Musicals », Fandom », Home Entertainment », Trailers and Clips »



Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to catch a screening of Lil' Wayne's The Carter while attending the Sundance Film Festival, and going in I had no idea what to make of it. I wasn't all too aware of (nor did I really care for) Lil' Wayne or his music, and so I was somewhat surprised to find a really heady documentary about a man who on one hand was extremely passionate about his craft, but on the other was extremely addicted to all kinds of drugs. It was almost as if the drugs were fueling his music, so much so that you'd be hard pressed to find one scene in the film where Wayne isn't either smoking a joint or drinking his "syrup", which is some sort of codeine-based liquid that he needs to be drinking while performing in order to maintain a constant buzz.

Yes, I'll admit the film was rather fascinating on a variety of different levels, and I was somewhat disheartened to learn that Wayne was preventing the doc from being released because he wasn't happy with the outcome -- an epiphany he probably had during a rare three-minute sober period. However, a court has since denied Wayne's attempt to block the film's release, and now QD3 Entertainment will send The Carter straight to DVD on November 17th (you can pre-order your copy over here). Regardless of your musical tastes, The Carter is a very entertaining look inside the world of an iconic drug-addicted work-a-holic who lives and breathes a constant high, be it through drugs or his music.

Read a snippet from my review and watch the trailer after the jump.

Lil Wayne Loses Battle to Block 'The Carter'

Filed under: Documentary », Music & Musicals », Celebrities and Controversy », Distribution »

So here's what I just can't get my head around: Why exactly would anyone sign up for a candid documentary about themselves if they're going to get all sensitive about their privacy? Well, only Lil Wayne knows the answer to that one, and he's not talking. Variety is now reporting that an earlier attempt by Wayne to block the distribution of The Carter, a documentary about the eccentric rapper from Adam Bhala Lough, has been struck down, and QD3 Entertainment has been given the green light to start looking for a distributor.

The Carter was shot over the course of several months, and through a haze of weed smoke and cough syrup, Wayne recounts stories about his sexual exploits, personal feuds, and displays every kind of general strangeness on screen. After months of arguing back and forth between QD3 and Wayne's management, Wayne's lawyers finally brought formal charges back in March. Wayne's suit carries a laundry list of charges, including Breach of Contract, Fraud, and Invasion of Privacy against QD3, Digerati Holdings, Quincy Jones III (who has a stake in both of those corporations), and an additional 50 unnamed co-defendants.

Wayne claims that he was told he was to be given the final say in the theatrical release, but those promises weren't honored by QD3. The film had garnered some pretty decent reviews (read ours here) when it hit the festival circuit, but Wayne has yet to comment on what he found so objectionable in the final edit. Representatives for Wayne said the film could cause irreparable damage to his reputation and career, but considering this is the same guy who feels comfortable telling Katie Couric about his love of codeine, you have wonder just what's in the film that he doesn't want us to see.

Sundance in 60 Seconds: Thursday, January 22, 2009

Filed under: Sundance », Festival Reports », Cinematical Indie »

Sundance in 60 Seconds

Sundancers enjoyed unseasonably warm weather (41 degrees in the afternoon) as the festival headed toward its concluding weekend.

Deals. After picking up the Nazi zombie flick Dead Snow, IFC Films added another comedy to its roster, acquiring Armando Iannucci's In the Loop just hours before its premiere, according to Mike Jones at Variety. The film stars Tom Hollander, Peter Capaldi, James Gandolfini, and Steve Coogan. A 2009 theatrical release is planned, per indieWIRE. But where's the bidding wars for docs? A. J. Schnack of All these wonderful things writes: "For the first time in anyone's recent memory, the first half of the fest had come and gone without a major doc sale."

Reviews/Interviews. Would-be comedy Paper Heart is "partially built around Charlyne Yi's persona," says Eric D. Snider, "and I find her persona boring." Oh, dear. The "typically hilarious" Michael Cera also appears. James Rocchi was busy, interviewing the great Kevin Spacey about Shrink and talking with actor / director / writer John Krasinski about Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. James also reviewed Ondi Timoner's documentary We Live in Public, which he called "incisive, exciting and thought-provoking."

Prison drama Bronson, from Pusher trilogy director Nicolas Wining Refn, has created a fair amount of buzz, and Scott Weinberg knows why, describing it as "raw, blistering, harsh and compelling." Scott also took a bemused gander at Bobcat Goldthwait's World's Greatest Dad, with Robin Williams essaying the titular role of a father dealing with life after his teenage son "dies while masturbating." Yes, folks, it's a comedy! To end on a musical note, Erik Davis caught The Carter, a doc about rapper Lil' Wayne, "a passionate, talented man who's slowly losing himself." You can check out all our coverage at the fabulous Sundance hub at Moviefone.

Blog Talk. After the jump: Woody Allen's soul, Bobcat's schedule, and Paris Hilton.

Sundance Review: The Carter

Filed under: Documentary », Sundance », Theatrical Reviews », Sundance Reviews 2009 »



Heading in to watch The Carter, a new documentary that chronicles the life and times of Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (aka Lil' Wayne), I thought what more is there to know about the hip, slick, fast-paced rapper lifestyle? Well, surprisingly, director Adam Bhala Lough expertly pieces together not just a movie about another well-to-do rapper, but one about a workaholic, a drug addict, a father, an artist and an icon.

When we first shove our way into Lil' Wayne's life, he's holed up in a hotel room in Amsterdam, smoking mass amounts of marijuana while he religiously stands at a make-shift mic for hours recording songs on the fly thanks to the portable studio he brings with him everywhere. We learn Wayne's new album, The Carter III, is due in stores in nine days -- and even though a million copies have already leaked overseas, Wayne and his manager both feel they'll sell a million copies in the first week. As we jump back and forth between the United States and Europe, we slowly become more intimate with Wayne through his interviews with international reporters, as well as through the unpredictable man himself.
 
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