195 - PAVEMENTS / KIM'S VIDEO with Arthur Jones

Doc director Arthur Jones (Feels Good Man, Antisocial Network) is a '90s indie rock guy, just like George, so they tackle these two parallel docs. Our first in-person episode in a few years (most recent was Rodney Ascher in 2021), Arthur and Giorgio Angelini were in-person in March 2020 to discuss Feels Good Man.

PAVEMENTS (Alex Ross Perry, 2024) is a hybrid docufiction about the UR-slacker band from Stockton that took the indie world by storm. Perry combines standard music doc tropes with a meta-biopic, meta-musical theater show, and meta-faux-museum exhibit, to meta-success. George and Arthur go deep on living through the irony-poisoned '90s, Malkmus as Fauntleroy, Stockton as the birthplace of Universal Basic Income in America, and Don DeLillo's White Noise.

KIM'S VIDEO (David Redmon, Ashley Sabin, 2023) Korean immigrant Yong-man Kim starts a chain of video stores in New York, including a lot of bootlegs and underground film and music. The times catch up as they inevitably do with media retail, and the stores all close. Who will house this one-of-a-kind collection of VHS and DVDs? How do they end up in Salemi, Sicily, and what will be their fate? Director Redmon takes an investigative approach that is surprisingly gonzo and, like the best docs, does not end up where you think it will.

Both docs are currently available to stream on MUBI.

Arthur Jones is best known for making documentary films but enjoys working across a variety of disciplines.

He directed the award-winning documentary film Feels Good Man (2020) and co-directed The Antisocial Network, Netflix (2024). Both of these movies are deeply researched true stories that explore how the internet has made us all a little crazier. Each is visually inventive and filled with unique motion graphics.

In addition to working as a director, he freelances as a graphic designer, illustrator, editor and animator. He completed design and motion work for the upcoming doc features Go Deep (Amazon Prime, HyperObject Industries) and Have You Seen Me Lately (HBO Documentary, Ringer Films) and edited Joe Mande’s comedy special CHILL (Hulu).

Arthur has guest lectured at colleges and universities on a variety of subjects, including the history of conspiracy theories, internet memetics, online extremism and non-fiction filmmaking. He write essays, illustrate articles and record podcasts at the substack Brainworms U.S.A.

Michael Stubbs HBO doc Stockton On My Mind

Stephen Malkmus SiriusXM guest DJ mix

Karina Longworth 2012 story on Kim's Video from The Village Voice

Audio edited by Arthur Jones.

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