The History of Concrete

John Wilson. A generic enough sounding name. I had never heard of him or his HBO series How to with John Wilson. He must have some sort of cult following because I saw his documentary The History of Concrete on a Sunday night at the Mayfair Theatre and it was full of people; the most I had seen in a very long time. I went because I had seen the trailer and it looked amusing. It's not, it's hilarious. I haven't laughed as much since Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie. It's not really the history of concrete. I mean, technically, yes, sort of. But really, it's a portrait of America in the same way Borat is a portrait of America. Although there are no fictional characters. This is John Wilson interacting with all the strange and silly that America has to offer. The film starts with him attending a Hallmark movie seminar about how to make a Hallmark movie. Bizarre, funny, and somewhat sad. This pretty much describes all the different segments which make up The History of Concrete. To name just a few, he covers the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race; an annual race in Queens, New York, consisting of 5,649 laps around a single city block over two months. This is run on concrete. He goes to a concrete convention where there are brick-wall-making competitions (like a firefighter thing). Wilson, to acquire more funding for his documentary, is required to make his film a music biography, so he finds Jack Macco, a rock musician who has a cover band and sells liquor as his day job. Bizarre, funny, and somewhat sad. Wilson's narrations that join all his segments are paired with quick visual gags that come as fast and as corny as Airplane! jokes. He is clever and very funny. The film also serves as a warning about the crumbling infrastructure of America and the environmental disaster of the world's coastlines caused by the consumption of sand for China's rapid concrete growth. Some heavy facts here. Bizarre, funny, and somewhat sad. It will hit you like a ton of cartoon bricks. Catch it in theatres now or rent it from Movies 'N Stuff when available.