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My Kid Could Paint That
 
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My Kid Could Paint That

Starring: Anthony Brunelli Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Format: DVD
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

List Price: $19.94
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Customers buy this DVD with Who Gets to Call It Art? DVD ~ John Chamberlain

My Kid Could Paint That + Who Gets to Call It Art?
  • This item: My Kid Could Paint That DVD ~ Anthony Brunelli

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Product Details

  • Actors: Anthony Brunelli
  • Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
  • Language: English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
  • Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Thai
  • Region: Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
    PLEASE NOTE:
    Some Region 1 DVDs may contain Regional Coding Enhancement (RCE). Some, but not all, of our international customers have had problems playing these enhanced discs on what are called "region-free" DVD players. For more information on RCE, click here.
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
  • Studio: Sony Pictures
  • DVD Release Date: March 4, 2008
  • Run Time: 83 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0011IR2R4
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #22,330 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)
  • For more information about "My Kid Could Paint That" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Suitable for framing, Amir Bar-Lev's "family human interest story" indelibly captures the media maelstrom that engulfed the Olmsteads of Binghamton, N.Y. when their daughter, Marla, age 4, became the darling of the art world with her abstract paintings. As a gallery owner tells Bar-Lev, the situation is "perfect": The family is charismatic, and Marla is, indeed, "a doll" and her paintings, "unbelievable." More on that later. Bar-Lev chronicles how a community newspaper article about Marla was picked up by the New York Times, leading to more newspaper articles, sold out gallery showings, and media throngs. Marla's paintings sold upward of $25,000 (the owner of the Houston Rockets bought one), and talk-show hosts (Conan, Dave, Oprah) wanted Marla on their shows. "You're in for a wild ride, I hope you're prepared for this," the gallery owner says he told Mark Olmstead, Marla's father, a Frito Lay factory worker who also dabbles as an artist. But no one is prepared when Charlie Rose, during a 60 Minutes Wednesday broadcast, raises questions on whether Marla is the sole artist. Was she coached? Were the paintings doctored, or even painted by someone else? Could she even be called a prodigy? Bar-Lev's canvas expands to consider the nature of art and media culture. It also becomes something of a self-portrait as he struggles with his own growing suspicions about Marla's paintings after he has befriended the family and earned their trust. My Kid Could Paint That is not a masterpiece, but it will resonate especially for everyone who says they don't know art, but they know what they like. It would be an excellent companion to Who the #%&% is Jackson Pollock? --Donald Liebenson

Stills from My Kid Could Paint That (click for larger image)







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Product Description

In this thought-provoking documentary, Director Amir-Bar-Lev tracks the overnight celebrity of little Marla Olmstead, a toddler who creates gallery-worthy paintings on the dining room table of her family home. A media sensation by the age of four, critics compare her work with Jackson Pollock’s. Sales of her paintings reach $300,000. But, sadly, the bubble bursts. When a 2005 profile by "60 Minutes" suggests that Marla had help making her paintings, the finger is pointed at her father, an amateur artist and night manager at Frito Lay. Almost overnight, her family is ensnared in a web of accusation and denial – with the burden of proof placed squarely in their lap: Is Marla a child prodigy or an innocent victim of a hoax?

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26 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Well, perhaps YOUR kid could paint that..., September 23, 2008
By J. Arena (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This documentary exposes, in a very objective manner, the manipulations of the "art world," the media and a very young child by parents.

Parents are ultimately charged with assuring the well-being of their offspring. This is a not-for-profit endeavor. I was as disturbed by the actions of these parents as I am by the pushy stage mothers who dress their daughters up as mini-adults and parade them on stage to win pageants. I perceive that the father in this story would be just as easily at home on a Little League field bullying an umpire as well as engineering this greed and publicity driven scheme.

My heart was also aching for the little brother. The scene depicting him pulling on his father's chair, seeming to beg for attention by announcing that he also painted while "in his mother's belly" spoke volumes.

I viewed the father as a strutting peacock who glories in the exploitation of this situation, and squirmed with discomfort as I watched the mother seem to gain sudden "awareness" while watching the televised expose. When that dawn came, it did nothing to bring the exploitation to an end. The documentary later shows her tearfully regretting what has transpired, but this masterpiece of manipulation and exploitation continues. Therefore, I hold her just as culpable as the father, who is the ring-master of this sad circus.

What is tremendously clear in this documentary is that this situation had become quite disturbing, that this negativity was abundantly clear to the parents, and that they fostered the continuation of the exploitation.

This is a brilliant and objective but very disturbing film.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Is It "Art" If a 4-Year Old Can Do It?, March 7, 2008
By Stephen Elderbrock (Ottawa, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
This is a fascinating documentary for anyone interested in art and the deeper questions about art and the art world. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of the film and the philosophical questions it raises.
When the parents of 4-year old Marla Olmstead begin to sell her abstract paintings, the questions and the investigations begin (interestingly it is not really the painting of the art that seems to be the issue, but the selling of it). Is Marla a prodigy? Is the only difference between her artwork and that of other 4-year olds the fact that she is getting thousands of dollars for hers? What does it mean to say a 4-year old "created" a painting? Was she "coached," or "encouraged" by her father? Does that really matter? The human interest aspect of this film is enjoyable, but the deeper questions it raises about the nature of art, and the reaction of the media and individuals to art, are even more fascinating. The reflections offered by Michael Kimmelman, the New York Times chief art critic, are especially thought-provoking.
The extras included with the film are not to be missed, for they go even deeper into the philosophical questions, and add much to the basic story presented in the film itself.
Highly recommended!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, March 8, 2008
I too watched the movie, all the extras, and then watched the movie itself AGAIN with the commentary track. So well constructed!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars mind of a child
I won't go into the movie as it has already been covered by the other commentaries. As a former artist many of my best abstract works came from my subconscious much like... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael A. Scheurich

2.0 out of 5 stars Solid
My Kid Could Paint That is not a great documentary- certainly it's no F For Fake, the great 1974 pseudo-documentary by Orson Welles, which also dealt with the gullibility and... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Cosmoetica

5.0 out of 5 stars Finger Painting vs. Finger Pointing
I wasn't paying attention when 4-year-old Marla Olmstead burst onto the art scene a few years ago. But at an age when most kids are still trying to produce something good enough... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Richard Hine

5.0 out of 5 stars Any kid could paint that..
I thought the story was great, the parents and child adorable, and the town quaint, I commend the director for his production of this story, but i'm still not sure how I feel... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Phillip Rummell

3.0 out of 5 stars A Kid Could Paint This But Who Could Make This?
Being a painter myself this documentary,presented to me as a curiousity that would be enlightening was something I found deeply disturbing. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Andre S. Grindle

1.0 out of 5 stars Call me cynical but did it ever occur to anyone...
...besides me that the whole thing was a hoax...I mean EVERYTHING -- Marla, the film, the family, the psychologist, etc... Read more
Published 7 months ago by R. Taylor

4.0 out of 5 stars insight!
This film is most insightful in a world where few may enter and the film leaves you wondering how could someone do that to their child or wow she could really paint. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Simon

5.0 out of 5 stars AMBIGUOUS SURFACE STORY WITH A DEEPER MEANING
What happens when the world of childhood collides with the world of art? This film provides a unique answer to the question. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Squirrelygirl (Linda Ward)

5.0 out of 5 stars Bonus Features - Watch Them
This is what good documentary film should be, like what Spurlock did in Super Size Me or Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Daniel G. Lebryk

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Movie
This documentary was truly fascinating! To me, the controversy over whether a 4-year-old painted these pictures in their entirety is not the issue. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Carol Roberts

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