6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pointless Montage of Eccentrics Yields Random User Experiences But Little Real Insight, February 12, 2007
This review is from: 24 Hours on Craigslist (DVD)
I understand what director Michael Ferris Gibson is trying to do, but his free-form approach is the first and last inspiration this 2006 documentary has to offer. With the possible exception of "Basic Instinct 2", it might well be the most pointless film I have seen in the last several years. Instead of making a film about how the site works and providing an underlying context for the operation of its unique network of online urban communities, Gibson simply looks at the most eccentric users of the site and spotlights their personalities for comic effect. He has no problem finding oddball characters to fill his self-indulgent tableau, for example, an Ethel Merman impersonator looking to start a 1970's-style power band, a pony-tailed butler for hire, an anal-retentive mother who justifies having six strollers to sell, a heavy-metal chef, a baby brigade of mothers working out at the emptied-out Stonestown Mall, and a man who rents himself out as a husband but has a bigger dream of becoming a rent-a-husband pimp.
The list goes on and on, as each episode is introduced under their appropriate categories on the home page. Eight camera crews were sent out to document all these users on a single day in August 2003, but the problem is that there is neither an organizing (nor an exit) strategy behind all the unrelated, human interest stories. The only points of commonality are the stereotypical and rather unfair images that are conjured up of San Francisco as a magnet for lunatics, and to a lesser degree, the contrived device of making a mystical figure out of founder Craig Newmark, whom many in the film believe does not actually exist. The overabundance of extras on the double-disc 2006 DVD is marginally more interesting than the film itself. On the first disc, there is an intermittently interesting commentary track by Gibson, as well as four featurettes describing various aspects of the site and the cultural phenomenon it represents. The second disc offers over three hours of outtakes, which I frankly couldn't watch for more than a few minutes. For heavy Craigslist users, I'm sure this film holds some interest, but others can skip it without regret.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Boring!, September 21, 2011
This review is from: 24 Hours on Craigslist (DVD)
This seems like it would be a great concept for a film but mostly it was a boring collection of self-important nonsense. Just not very interesting - I wish I hadn't wasted my time! If you saw the trailer - that's about all you needed to watch. *yawn*
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dull Series of Interviews With No Particular Focus, November 30, 2008
This review is from: 24 Hours on Craigslist (DVD)
This documentary basically consists of dozens of brief interviews with people from the San Francisco Bay area who have posted on Craigslist. The ads include a "diabetic cat support group" and "seeking models who wear glasses". Of course, there are alot of eccentric characters here. But the low quality of film making makes this doc more mundane and tedious then interesting.
Part of the problem is that the film seems to have no purpose. The interviews are not especially funny, dramatic, inspiring or even informative. Also the segments are so short that you don't really develop an attachment to the people being interviewed. The camera work is shoddy and the whole project comes across as neither artistically credible or entertaining.
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