![Image](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTMzNzk5YWUtYWIyMy00MzU3LThjNjAtMGRmMjNkN2U2ZTI3XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTE0MzQwMjgz._V1_QL75_UX500_CR0,0,500,281_.jpg)
According to his Twitter page, Bo McGuire has been “putting the queer in country since 1984ever.” Now, with his feature debut “Socks on Fire,” he’s putting some much overdue queer into the documentary landscape, with an anarchic, poetic and sometimes mind-blowingly surreal memoir that rakes over the coals of a very personal family feud. At its base, there is a very simple story: once his favorite relative, McGuire’s Aunt Sharon showed her true homophobic colors after the death of her mother (McGuire’s beloved Nanny) when she tried to throw her gay brother John out of the family home.
We’re used to these powerplays in glossy American dramas, all the way from “Dallas” to “Succession,” but in McGuire’s film the setting is his modest hometown of Hokes Bluff, Alabama. The casting is unusual too, with Aunt Sharon having the unusual distinction of being played by both...
We’re used to these powerplays in glossy American dramas, all the way from “Dallas” to “Succession,” but in McGuire’s film the setting is his modest hometown of Hokes Bluff, Alabama. The casting is unusual too, with Aunt Sharon having the unusual distinction of being played by both...
- 11/22/2020
- by Damon Wise
- Variety Film + TV
![Stories We Tell (2012)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTg3MDU2NjI3N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjYwMzYyOQ@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Stories We Tell (2012)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTg3MDU2NjI3N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMjYwMzYyOQ@@._V1_QL75_UX140_CR0,0,140,207_.jpg)
If you’re going to make an experimental film, you may as well swing big. That seems to be the motivation behind “Socks on Fire,” a detailed excavation of filmmaker Bo McGuire’s small family drama, which is at times . Yet another entry into the genre-pushing category known as “documentary/narrative hybrid,” McGuire stitches unremarkable archival footage with more florid staged recreations, hiring actors to play various family members.
Since the triumphs of “Stories We Tell” and “The Act of Killing,” hybrid film has threatened to take over the documentary world, with seemingly every other festival title bearing some trait of the highly disputed label. While “Socks on Fire” deserves praise for nursing artistic ambitions beyond conventional non-fiction storytelling, it gets overly mired in its own lyricism. Lacking a truly compelling story, McGuire turns to florid experimentation to keep his film afloat. The result is an admirable first effort that contains flashes of cinematic beauty,...
Since the triumphs of “Stories We Tell” and “The Act of Killing,” hybrid film has threatened to take over the documentary world, with seemingly every other festival title bearing some trait of the highly disputed label. While “Socks on Fire” deserves praise for nursing artistic ambitions beyond conventional non-fiction storytelling, it gets overly mired in its own lyricism. Lacking a truly compelling story, McGuire turns to florid experimentation to keep his film afloat. The result is an admirable first effort that contains flashes of cinematic beauty,...
- 4/29/2020
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
![Robert Stack in Unsolved Mysteries (1987)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmQ4YzhiMjktOTU0Ni00ZDU4LTk1ZDMtOGQzODcwYTU3NmNlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxODQ4MDg@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR1,0,140,207_.jpg)
![Robert Stack in Unsolved Mysteries (1987)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNmQ4YzhiMjktOTU0Ni00ZDU4LTk1ZDMtOGQzODcwYTU3NmNlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTkxODQ4MDg@._V1_QL75_UY207_CR1,0,140,207_.jpg)
The hope is that the sorrow of losing a loved one proves the extent of the pain we must suffer before we set about sifting through what’s left of that expired life. It’s why we throw parties after funerals to try and approach a sense of normalcy through a celebratory remembrance of yesterday’s good times together despite today’s tough truth making it possible. We take a deep breath, confront our grief, and await the will reading meant to put every duck in its row before dispersing back towards our respective homes and families yet again. We take care of these details in the present to alleviate what must ultimately be done in the future. We confirm each other’s wishes so there’s no room for any surprises.
As Bo McGuire discovers shortly after the passing of his grandmother in Hokes Bluff, Alabama, however, spoken words...
As Bo McGuire discovers shortly after the passing of his grandmother in Hokes Bluff, Alabama, however, spoken words...
- 4/22/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
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