Interview. Ron Mann.

"The career of Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth is a perfect fit for pop-culture documentarian [Ron] Mann, whose previous work includes titles such as Comic Book Confidential, Grass, and Go Further," writes the Austin Chronicle's Marjorie Baumgarten.

Another great fit: ArtCar Fest co-founder Philo Northup and Mann for a speedy exchange on Tales of the Rat Fink.

Updated through 10/21.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian's Cheryl Eddy has long fun talk with Mann as well.

The doc "speculates too much, and perhaps credits Big Daddy more than necessary," suggests Omar Mouallem in Vue Weekly. "To say that his work inspired Bart Simpson, Chewbacca and iMacs is a bit of an overstatement. It is an essay turned opinion article."

Earlier: Jeanette Catsoulis in the New York Times and Ian Sands in the Boston Phoenix.

Update, 10/21: "You've got to give props to any documentarian who steps outside the Ken Burns box of archival footage + omniscient narrator + soporific soundtrack = high-minded hagiography," writes Kathy Fennessy at the Siffblog. "Further, Tales of the Rat Fink corrects a problem I have with many documentaries and docu-dramas - it provides context."

Posted by dwhudson at October 20, 2006 2:16 AM