Friday
20Feb2009
Movie Review - 'Eleven Minutes'
Friday, February 20, 2009 at 1:18AM | Eleven Minutes
Featuring Jay McCarroll, Nancy Kane, and Kelly Cutrone  |
Reality television has created an almost embarrassing array of minor celebrities, everyone from the naked tax evader guy on Survivor to William Hung. If we've seen them, how will we ever forget that shrieking religious banshee of Trading Spouses or Omarosa from The Apprentice?
These shows aren't immune from big personalities; that's the reason most people watch. But few reality or competition shows have as much on the ball as Project Runway. The contestants actually have to do something, and do it in original ways. EVery stitch is scrutinized.
From a pool of fashion designers, three are chosen each season to display their new lines of clothes at New York's Fashion Week, one of the biggest events in that entire industry. It would be like determining the American Idol winner by having finalists perform at the Grammys.
The show has had its ups and downs, but it's better than most. In the inaugural season of Project Runway, an eccentric designer named Jay McCarroll took home the big prize, which means acclaim and cash (although McCarroll didn't take the money). But that was four years ago. What has he been doing since?
The documentary Eleven Minutes chronicles McCarroll's struggle to establish a foothold in the industry following the Runway win. It's a side of the business we haven't seen, and that refers to both the fashion industry and the dark side of post-reality reality. McCarroll was not given the key to the city in Milan or Paris, and in fact, you could argue that all the Project Runway experience gave McCarroll was a big target on his back.
Watch the Eleven Minutes trailer
Colin Boyd | Permalink | in Documentary, Reviews | Print Article | Email Article | Post a Comment | Share Article
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