Traceroute (2016)
Artist and life-long nerd Johannes Grenzfurthner is taking us on a personal road trip from the West Coast to the East Coast of the USA, to introduce us to places and people that shaped and inspired his art and politics. Traceroute wants to chase and question the ghosts of nerddom's past, present and future. An exhilarating tour de farce into the guts of trauma, obsession and cognitive capitalism. Features interviews with Matt Winston, Sandy Stone, Bruce Sterling, Jason Scott, Christina Agapakis, Trevor Paglen, Ryan Finnigan, Kit Stubbs, V. Vale, Sean Bonner, Allison Cameron, Josh Ellingson, Maggie Mayhem, Paolo Pedercini, Steve Tolin, Dan Wilcox, Jon Lebkowsky, Jan "Varka" Mulders, Adam Flynn, Abie Hadjitarkhani, Kelly Poots...
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Such a frustrating disappointment
Good movie but grossly overrated
A Major Disappointment
A lot of fun.
A geeky nostalgic road movie (get it? traceroute? trace/route? get it? hop hop? nudge nudge?) that follows a pretty crazy dude across a pretty crazy country.'The United States' were really important to young Johannes when growing up in 1980s Krautlandia, so he pays a visit as a pop culture pilgrim. And while Johannes is covering a topic that has been covered a million times before, he brings originality to the film...lots of.You will either really like this doc, or you will be cursing me for wasting 2 hours of your life. Oh well. I'm just sad that he didn't make it to Oklahoma City.
I'm a musician, and there is one thing I absolutely HATE: careless, sloppy, unsystematic soundtracks, especially in documentary films. I know that it's hard to discover good music, but: COME ON! If it's true, Traceroute had a *total* budget of $15,000. There are no excuses anymore!A great soundtrack is more than just a collection of great songs. A great soundtrack pulls a story along while somehow effortlessly blending into the background. The right one can help define a movie; a terrible one can ruin an otherwise decent film.Traceroute relies heavily on its amazing soundtrack to convey the mood of childhood and rebellion, nostalgia and counter-culture, traveling and arriving. There's a retro-electronic vibe present in most of the tracks, but also classical music, and all-time favorites like Vera Lynn's 'We'll Meet Again.'I'm glad the track list is here on IMDb. I need it for my own road trips!
Traceroute is a wonderful journey through a life history that is very relatable for me. It explores various facets of nerd culture's evolution over the past forty years. It's intellectual, humorous, absurd, entertaining, and poignant. The production seamlessly and unapologetically blends styles, camera types, storytelling approaches, and content. It's a fun movie to watch and presents a nearly agendaless examination of the goods and bads, the beautiful and the toxic, and the celebrated and the outcast.
As someone who was a supernerd and then kind of just accidentally stopped being one (all before the age of 15), I've kind of felt disconnected to the 'hard core' nerd- side of life. I don't get 50% of the references my nerd/geek friends make, I haven't watched the majority of mandatory nerd films and I wish I could persuade myself to take up online gaming, but I just can't be arsed (pardon my French). HOWEVERThis was a super fun documentary, very candid and not overly stylized. Of course: you need to have a certain interest in the subject and it helps if you know the things they're referencing to. But I've found that it's also extremely funny because of the very sharp sense of humour and the diversity of the people the visit. Nicely done!