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Startup.com
Artisan // R // September 18, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
An internet user for close to 10 years now, I was thrilled when online stores started popping up on the virtual landscape. The ease of ordering almost anything online, whenever I wanted, seemed almost too good to be true (so did the prices). I eventually found myself opening my own ".com",but it was simply myself working as many hours as I could per week. Out there, there were people whose careers depended on whether or not their businesses' site was up and running. And, after a while, it was too good to be true. Stocks that were previously over a hundred dollars came spiraling downwards when it became apparent that online stores and businesses could not make a profit. There are countless online companies who have stood on the edge of going out of businesses - many have, but many have held on and found that they have to change the way they do business.
That arc from begining to end is put on display in "Startup.com", a fascinating documentary produced by D.A. Pennebaker ("The War Room", "Don't Look Back") and directed by Chris Hegedus ("War Room") & Jehane Noujaim (who was Kaleil's roommate after college). The documentary follows two normal guys named Kaleil and Tom, who had an idea that I don't think anyone would deny is generally superb. People can go online and pay their parking tickets or settle any sort of local government fees that they're saddled with. When the film starts, the company doesn't have a name, but the two settle on govworks.com.
Things go right at the same time as they're going wrong. They've found a venture capitalist that will put up massive amounts of money. Terms are on the table, but their lawyer is nowhere to be found and they're panicking trying to get him on the phone. The stress is getting to them as well as the painfully heavy workload - they are seen going all across the US trying to get money. Both are prone to using language that generally revolves around four letters - it only adds tension to the proceedings. The other element that fascinates is the differences between the two young men. Kaleil is a fierce and outgoing individual who is not afraid to yell and not afraid to go after his goal; he says at one point that he will not lose a fight. Tom, on the other hand, is a smart and subtle person. The opposites seem to work well together, but not for long.
And yet, where's the actual final product? We really don't see much of it at all. It seems as if the entire lives of these two revolve around promoting their idea and trying to get more money for their idea, but not always building the idea further. They even buy out a friend's share in the company. Kaleil's on CNN and at a confrence with President Clinton. Yet, when it comes time to unveil the final product, it doesn't really work. Although the group giggles about the painfully problematic search function, the next scene shows Kaleil coming to grips with the real fact that this site can't go out to the public in its current condition. The competition has brought similar products to market that function better. The company is broken into and it looks like it might have been corporate espionage. Things become very grim.
Things get worse and even downright ugly. Where this was previously focused on the rise and fall of the business, it also becomes the rise and fall of a friendship. In a particularly horrible bit of business, Kaleil tries an agressive power play and forces Tom out of the office - literally, with security guards and a letter informing him that he no longer works there. As we find out in the end, things didn't end without some positive notes and some possibilities in the future for two, but what a stunning ride the previous 103 minutes have been. Incredible drama, joy and sadness. You can hardly believe it was all real, but these people really saw the rise and fall of an empire. Startup.com is one of the year's very best pictures. It kind of stuns me that Artisan didn't push the picture even wider (it reached a max of 35 screens), especially after its gross on those screens was quite strong. Hopefully though, "Startup.com" will really gain an even bigger following when it reaches DVD.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Startup.com" is presented in the film's original 1.33:1 full_frame aspect ratio. The film was shot on digital video and, although the quality does vary, the presentation does remain fairly consistent and slick looking. Sharpness and detail do tend to vary - some sequences did look a little bit soft and some moments did go very slightly out of focus, but the image generally looked at least moderately well-defined and crisp.
Aside from the softness, though, I really didn't find anything to be concerned amount. A tiny bit of shimmering on clothing was seen once or twice, but this didn't cause any real distraction. I didn't notice any pixelation, edge enhancement or other flaws at all.
Colors appeared rather natural, but could appear slightly subdued or flat at times. Still, they didn't appear flawed or considerably problematic. The material is obviously low-budget and, with that in consideration, Startup.com probably looks as good as it can here.
SOUND: "Startup.com" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. As one might expect, the surround use during the picture is extremely minimal. There's a few scenes where some sound does come from the rears (the office coming together in a cheer) and music does occasionally come from the rears, but other than that, they remain silent. Dialogue is clearly captured, but some of the yelling does sound rather strained.
MENUS:: "Startup.com" has a great main menu done by Artisan, showing two figures pushing a giant dot up a hill with sound from the picture in the background.
EXTRAS:: Artisan offers an interesting and informative small group of supplemental features on this DVD release, which are listed below. The only element where I felt this edition came up short in supplements is the lack of deleted scenes - as with any documentary like this, I'm sure there's a lot of footage that was filmed and not used - it would have been nice if that had ended up here.
Commentary: This is a commentary from directors Chris Hedgeus and Jehane Noujaim. The two provide a really fun, interesting commentary that doesn't get too technical and doesn't simply have the two sitting back and telling what's going on on-screen. They mainly discuss some of the stories and events that went on during filmming (travel, not being allowed into some of the meetings and occasionally getting kicked out, but still getting audio anyways). They also discuss their thoughts on the internet boom and bust, as well as the actions of the two main participants. There's a few pauses of silence throughout the commentary, but those interested in more insight about documentary filmmaking or the two lead particpants will enjoy this track.
Documentarians on Documentary: This is a 10 minute featurette with the two filmmakers who discuss their views on the act of documentary filmmaking. One of the more entertaining moments is the opening, which has the two showing the viewer the list of titles that were considered for the picture - it's interesting to see all of the different ones that were considered.
Trailers: The film's teaser and theatrical trailers are both offered.
Also: Production notes and cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: Amazingly, the last two weeks of September of 2001 provide two of the best documentaries that I've seen in the past few years. "Startup.com" leads off the duo on 9/18 and "Dark Days" releases on 9/25. "Startup" is a riveting exploration of business and the rise and fail of not only this particular internet business, but a previously long-lasting friendship - it's really one of the year's best pictures. Artisan's DVD provides audio/video quality that's about as good as the material can look and some interesting supplements, as well. Both "Startup.com" and "Dark Days" are must-sees.
An internet user for close to 10 years now, I was thrilled when online stores started popping up on the virtual landscape. The ease of ordering almost anything online, whenever I wanted, seemed almost too good to be true (so did the prices). I eventually found myself opening my own ".com",but it was simply myself working as many hours as I could per week. Out there, there were people whose careers depended on whether or not their businesses' site was up and running. And, after a while, it was too good to be true. Stocks that were previously over a hundred dollars came spiraling downwards when it became apparent that online stores and businesses could not make a profit. There are countless online companies who have stood on the edge of going out of businesses - many have, but many have held on and found that they have to change the way they do business.
That arc from begining to end is put on display in "Startup.com", a fascinating documentary produced by D.A. Pennebaker ("The War Room", "Don't Look Back") and directed by Chris Hegedus ("War Room") & Jehane Noujaim (who was Kaleil's roommate after college). The documentary follows two normal guys named Kaleil and Tom, who had an idea that I don't think anyone would deny is generally superb. People can go online and pay their parking tickets or settle any sort of local government fees that they're saddled with. When the film starts, the company doesn't have a name, but the two settle on govworks.com.
Things go right at the same time as they're going wrong. They've found a venture capitalist that will put up massive amounts of money. Terms are on the table, but their lawyer is nowhere to be found and they're panicking trying to get him on the phone. The stress is getting to them as well as the painfully heavy workload - they are seen going all across the US trying to get money. Both are prone to using language that generally revolves around four letters - it only adds tension to the proceedings. The other element that fascinates is the differences between the two young men. Kaleil is a fierce and outgoing individual who is not afraid to yell and not afraid to go after his goal; he says at one point that he will not lose a fight. Tom, on the other hand, is a smart and subtle person. The opposites seem to work well together, but not for long.
And yet, where's the actual final product? We really don't see much of it at all. It seems as if the entire lives of these two revolve around promoting their idea and trying to get more money for their idea, but not always building the idea further. They even buy out a friend's share in the company. Kaleil's on CNN and at a confrence with President Clinton. Yet, when it comes time to unveil the final product, it doesn't really work. Although the group giggles about the painfully problematic search function, the next scene shows Kaleil coming to grips with the real fact that this site can't go out to the public in its current condition. The competition has brought similar products to market that function better. The company is broken into and it looks like it might have been corporate espionage. Things become very grim.
Things get worse and even downright ugly. Where this was previously focused on the rise and fall of the business, it also becomes the rise and fall of a friendship. In a particularly horrible bit of business, Kaleil tries an agressive power play and forces Tom out of the office - literally, with security guards and a letter informing him that he no longer works there. As we find out in the end, things didn't end without some positive notes and some possibilities in the future for two, but what a stunning ride the previous 103 minutes have been. Incredible drama, joy and sadness. You can hardly believe it was all real, but these people really saw the rise and fall of an empire. Startup.com is one of the year's very best pictures. It kind of stuns me that Artisan didn't push the picture even wider (it reached a max of 35 screens), especially after its gross on those screens was quite strong. Hopefully though, "Startup.com" will really gain an even bigger following when it reaches DVD.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Startup.com" is presented in the film's original 1.33:1 full_frame aspect ratio. The film was shot on digital video and, although the quality does vary, the presentation does remain fairly consistent and slick looking. Sharpness and detail do tend to vary - some sequences did look a little bit soft and some moments did go very slightly out of focus, but the image generally looked at least moderately well-defined and crisp.
Aside from the softness, though, I really didn't find anything to be concerned amount. A tiny bit of shimmering on clothing was seen once or twice, but this didn't cause any real distraction. I didn't notice any pixelation, edge enhancement or other flaws at all.
Colors appeared rather natural, but could appear slightly subdued or flat at times. Still, they didn't appear flawed or considerably problematic. The material is obviously low-budget and, with that in consideration, Startup.com probably looks as good as it can here.
SOUND: "Startup.com" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. As one might expect, the surround use during the picture is extremely minimal. There's a few scenes where some sound does come from the rears (the office coming together in a cheer) and music does occasionally come from the rears, but other than that, they remain silent. Dialogue is clearly captured, but some of the yelling does sound rather strained.
MENUS:: "Startup.com" has a great main menu done by Artisan, showing two figures pushing a giant dot up a hill with sound from the picture in the background.
EXTRAS:: Artisan offers an interesting and informative small group of supplemental features on this DVD release, which are listed below. The only element where I felt this edition came up short in supplements is the lack of deleted scenes - as with any documentary like this, I'm sure there's a lot of footage that was filmed and not used - it would have been nice if that had ended up here.
Commentary: This is a commentary from directors Chris Hedgeus and Jehane Noujaim. The two provide a really fun, interesting commentary that doesn't get too technical and doesn't simply have the two sitting back and telling what's going on on-screen. They mainly discuss some of the stories and events that went on during filmming (travel, not being allowed into some of the meetings and occasionally getting kicked out, but still getting audio anyways). They also discuss their thoughts on the internet boom and bust, as well as the actions of the two main participants. There's a few pauses of silence throughout the commentary, but those interested in more insight about documentary filmmaking or the two lead particpants will enjoy this track.
Documentarians on Documentary: This is a 10 minute featurette with the two filmmakers who discuss their views on the act of documentary filmmaking. One of the more entertaining moments is the opening, which has the two showing the viewer the list of titles that were considered for the picture - it's interesting to see all of the different ones that were considered.
Trailers: The film's teaser and theatrical trailers are both offered.
Also: Production notes and cast/crew bios.
Final Thoughts: Amazingly, the last two weeks of September of 2001 provide two of the best documentaries that I've seen in the past few years. "Startup.com" leads off the duo on 9/18 and "Dark Days" releases on 9/25. "Startup" is a riveting exploration of business and the rise and fail of not only this particular internet business, but a previously long-lasting friendship - it's really one of the year's best pictures. Artisan's DVD provides audio/video quality that's about as good as the material can look and some interesting supplements, as well. Both "Startup.com" and "Dark Days" are must-sees.
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