Clark: A Gonzomentary
In the spirit of mockumentaries like Spinal Tap, Hunter S Thompson’s Gonzo style, and the art world in general, Clark is an indie web series that has been ravaging the minds of viewers for months now. To make things more confusing, the actors are going on camera presenting their method as heavily based on occultism and gnosticism. It’s not clear where the line between fiction and reality is, but it seems a fun ride for the hale at heart.
Rare Hunter S. Thompson Documentary Surfaces on YouTube
It’s been nearly 5 years since The Good Doctor said adiós and pulled that silver trigger, bringing Gonzo to an end for good – or so one would think.
Since his suicide at his Colorado ranch, Thompson seems more present than ever. A number of competing biographies have filled the stores, several new films about the man have flickered into the theaters, DVD shelves and bit torrent sites, and nary a week goes by that we don’t stumble across some bit of news regarding the troubled production of the Johnny Depp film of Hunter’s first novel, The Rum Diary.
In the midst of all the hubbub, I overlooked a grimy little treasure: The Crazy Never Die. Crazy’ is an odd film with a strange provenance that gives the viewer a front-row seat at a rather lucid 80’s-era university lecture by Thompson.
Fear And Loathing On Sesame Street
Poor Count … One, two, three … via All That’s Interesting:
We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold. I remember saying something like “I feel a bit lightheaded; maybe you should drive…” And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge bats, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was going about a hundred miles an hour with the top down to Las Vegas. And a voice was screaming: “Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?”
— Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Letters of Note: Hunter S. Thompson
From the great repository of correspondence Letters of Note:
The furious written rant concerned the movie adaptation of Thompson’s novel, The Rum Diary, to which Sorensen’s studio had acquired the rights. Progress had been slow and confused on their part. So slow in fact that Thompson reached boiling point.
Transcript
HOLLY SORENSON / Shooting Gallery / Hollywood / Jan 22 ‘01
Dear Holly,
Okay, you lazy bitch, I’m getting tired of this waterhead fuckaround that you’re doing with The Rum Diary.
We are not even spinning our wheels aggresivly. It’s like the whole Project got turned over to Zombies who live in cardboard boxes under the Hollywood Freeway… I seem to be the only person who’s doing anything about getting this movie Made. I have rounded up Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Brad Pitt, Nick Nolte & a fine screenwriter from England, named Michael Thomas, who is a very smart boy & has so far been a…
