Blood Into Wine Interview with Market News Media

I had the pleasure of intrerviewing Tom, Paula, and Eric during the 16th Annual Sedona International Film Festival. I was so inspired I wanted to get a review from an experience critic. Enjoy the Interview and then the trailer

A film review by Alexander Zalben - Copyright © 2010

Like a rock 'n roll version of Sideways, Blood Into Wine flits from beat to beat, creating a hypnotic, enthralling, and most of all fun documentary out of celebrity winemaker Maynard James Keenan (lead singer of Tool and A Perfect Circle), and his attempts to bring respect to the Northern Arizona wine country.

The best thing about Ryan Page and Christopher Pomerenke's doc is how perfectly it captures the enigmatic showman nature of its subject. Keenan is known for putting on capital "P"erformances, and so the documentary includes some non-traditional elements of its own.

It splits the line between truth and fiction by including a recurring "interview" by alt comedy stars Tim & Eric; a narrator/troubador in the form of Arizona state historian Marshall Trimble (who is so thrillingly charming to watch, he deserves a documentary of his own); and several clearly staged sequences that are meant to make you question whether any of the film is true.

Assuming it is (and well, to ruin the fun a little, it is all true), Keenan made a sudden, rash career change from multi-platinum recording artist to lead winemaker at a tiny vineyard in the desert of Northern Arizona. Not only a surprisingly fertile ground for winemaking, the contrast between the red, craggy, arid landscape, and the green of the grapes and vines is spectacularly captured by the directors on multiple RED cameras.

But there's almost too much story to tell. A rock 'n roller leaving at his prime to hide out and make wine. Northern Arizona's basically unknown wine country versus the big boys in Napa Valley. Even the barely touched story of Keenan's partner Eric Glomski, who loves working at a vineyard but clearly feels the long shadow of working with a rock star... Any of these should be enough for a movie, but the directors can't quite seem to settle down on any one subject.

That isn't to say that each bit isn't tantalizing.

Hundreds of Tool fans in line at a Whole Foods waiting to get wine bottles signed by their idol is as incongruous and hilarious an image as anything else you'll see on film this year. Glomski, beyond the brief mention of jealousy, is a well spoken and charming teacher; his frequent lessons about wine-making will turn even the casual viewer into a devotee.

And the set-up for the Arizona vs. Napa battle is exciting and tantalizing, though the pay-off - a reviewer from Wine Spectator magazine comes to visit Keenan and Glomski's vineyard - is disappointing. Turns out, the "reviewer" is a friend - and fan - of Keenan's. Too bad, because a King of Kong style focus on "little guy versus big guy" could have crystallized the three-act structure the filmmakers are clearly going for.

That aside, Blood Into Wine is a joy to watch. And, like the wine Keenan produces, it's made with more care, love, and originality than you might have expected at first glance.

Category:

Film & Animation

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• Blood
• into
• Wine
• Arizona
• Stronghold
• Page
• Spring
• Cellars
• Maynard
• James
• Keenan
• Market
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• Allen
• Elfman

[neurochris]

@wayfarin ah I see thanks for clearing that up for me. finally!

[wayfarin]

@neurochris

no that part is a 'joke'.

[neurochris]

I don't understand is he serious about making wine by plunging a tool into a grape?