Lucky Stars In Your Eyes

Daniel Johnston “Like A Monkey In A Zoo” – The very best thing about Jeff Feuerzeig’s The Devil and Daniel Johnston is that, in spite of containing quite a bit of footage depicting Johnston in severe manic states, it never treats the man “like a monkey in a zoo.” Even when Daniel hits his lowest lows – beating his manager with a lead pipe, crashing a small aircraft piloted by his father, frightening an old woman into jumping out of a window – Feuerzeig consistently avoids sensationalism. If anything, he errs on the side of fan-ish reverence, making the film come off more like a sentimental history of Johnston’s art and struggles with mental illness rather than a critical documentary. I appreciate the fact that a film about Johnston would probably never be made unless it was created by a devoted fan, but I am disappointed that the movie rarely engages with what I would consider to be a major part of the Johnston phenomenon – the fetishization of his illness and “outsider” status by a large portion of his fanbase, either as evidence of his authenticity and purity, or as a voyeuristic selling point. But then again, maybe that’s a whole other film waiting to be made. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Kathy McCarty “Walking The Cow” – The Devil and Daniel Johnston does serve its subject well in terms of emphasizing the fact that his fascinating troubles are only a small part of Johnston’s eduring appeal, and that his music really has touched many people over the years. His own recordings can easily distract listeners with their shoddy lo-fi sound, shakey performances, and Daniel’s child-like, somewhat androgynous voice, but his catalog is perhaps best suited for interpretation by other artists. Johnston’s longtime friend Kathy McCarty’s album of his songs, Dead Dog’s Eyeball, is especially great; foregrounding his melodic sensibilities in elegant arrangements, and lending her skills as an interpretative vocalist to his surprisingly nuanced lyrics. In her hands, “Walking The Cow” becomes less of a curiosity, and more of an obvious alt-pop classic. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)