John Wilson on his unlikely concrete movie: ‘There might be a kind of sickness in shooting things this way’
The creator of How To with John Wilson has returned with his first film, a documentary about how to sell a documentary about concreteAs mayor of New York City, Zohran...
By Adrian Horton · The Guardian Culture
The creator of How To with John Wilson has returned with his first film, a documentary about how to sell a documentary about concrete As mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani has frequently demonstrated impressive media savvy, but arguably nothing has proved his genius for in-the-know promo more than a video , released in April, with the documentarian John Wilson . The spot, in support of the mayor’s plan to reduce the presence of the city’s ubiquitous sidewalk sheds, suggested that either he or someone on his team was a fan of How To With John Wilson, the film-maker’s cult-beloved HBO series that remains a taste signifier for alt-humorous New Yorkers. And for good reason: over three near-perfect seasons, Wilson, armed with his ever-present camera and diffident, memoiristic narration, explored the city’s disintegrating streets with a singular eye for the weird and unintentionally hilarious, turning the most mundane of NYC preoccupations – public restrooms, parking spots, scaffolding – into profound meditations on the glories, indignities and absurdities of modern life. Continue reading...