I saw Jonathan Caouette's Tarnation at the Coolidge last night. If you have the chance to see it, see it. It's fun and sad and interesting and boring and is perfect for being exactly what it wants to be. It's like meeting someone whose life and family make you so nervous and anxious you can't wait to leave and tell your best friend everything you're hearing. It's Grey Gardens crossed with Wax, or the Discovery of Television Among the Bees mixed with a swarm of videobloggers. If you're studying filmmaking in the United States, and your professor is teaching a class on American Independent film, and this film isn't on the syllabus, complain. If you are serious about making stuff and expressing yourself using video, this film needs to be seen. It's a personal story and it's a demonstration of the times we live in. Especially with open source media efforts like Creative Commons and Archive.org. If you collect and capture media, and you have stories to tell, there are free and inexpensive tools for you to communicate with. Tarnation demonstrates that if you feel the need to talk to the camera, document your life, and hold the camera in your grandfather's face, you better do it. And do it as much as you can. Do it so often it's who you are. And grandpa won't even notice the camera anymore. Do it so you're so normal with the camera that if it's missing, grandpa gets nervous. Tarnation says, 'Keep shooting, keep exploring, and never stop trying to make sense of stuff- never stop trying to make your film.'