Man in Camo (2018) User Reviews

There's a lot going on

[cgflisek · 7/10 · 2 October 2018]

I was lucky enough to see Man In Camo at The Hell's Half Mile Film & Music Festival in Bay City, Michigan. Honestly, when I first saw the trailer I didn't really have any interest in seeing it. It looked pretty self-indulgent...which it is...it's also endlessly fascinating, There is so much going on visually that it's hard to focus at times but it all comes together and is a beautiful insight into Minkser's life and growth as an artist. I met Ethan during the festival and he's a fascinating guy and I think "Camo" is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to everything he's done and will do. Well worth seeing.

Man in Camo ( and more)

[cdange50 · 8/10 · 30 July 2019]

At first as we experience Minsker's journey we're not sure we can relate. Maybe we're not sure we even want to be there. There's darkness. It's scary. Hang in there. Stick with it. The value of the human spirit triumphs. He engages in the battle within all of us to share that which is inside us and comes out on top, over and over again. He breathes creativity.

Man In Camo Review

[kblighj · 7/10 · 14 September 2023]

Man in Camo was a very unique and creatively made documentary. You can tell, from the first shot of the film to the last, that Ethan Minsker is an artist. Through the film he uses graphics, animation, special effects, and even stop motion to bring his story to life. Throughout the film Minsker talks a lot about sub-culture and artiatic movements within sub-culture, and features a number of other artists as well. Minsker does a wonderful job of sharing his love of art through the screen, from showing his home films he made when he was younger, to showing his art pieces he's made throughout his life. Man in Camo is a truly authentic and artistic documentary.

And you think you know a guy...

[sdaughertyedu · 10/10 · 1 April 2019]

We all know our friends for who and what they are, but never really get the whole story. We share things about ourselves but sometimes forget little details. It's not that we mean to, it just happens. To see a film with someone who is so enveloped in their medium, it was hard to miss out on anything happening in Ethan's life. This film is honest, poignant, and highly entertaining. The style is unique, and whether you know the director personally, or simply being entertained by this film, you reflect on the stories in your own life. You don't have to make it to the top to have some one else write out inaccuracies in your autobiography, you can be just as extraordinary and share some truths with a dash of cinema magic. Can anyone pull it off the same way he did? Probably not, but cheers to Mr. Minsker for paving the way and making his mark in film.

Meeting Ethan

[rachael-53047 · 9/10 · 4 October 2018]

To experience Ethan Minkser's film "Man In Camo" is to share in an explosion of personal artistic explorations recorded and manipulated by him through decades. By traveling with his documentary, he enhances the experience by vising with the people who watch the film; it is personal, and he has a vibrant Q&A after his show. Ethan got people here in Bay City at #HHM13 worked up when they saw the film, and the audience had a great time conversing with him. I am wondering what he will do with the footage he recorded while here.

Wonderfully artistic documentary

[mbea-10233 · 10/10 · 2 August 2019]

Ethan Minsker's films are always a joy because of the varied media he uses, and this is a crowning achievement (so far). It gives a great insider view of how art permeates his everyday life, and though it is centered around his own personal experiences, every artist can identify with his emotions and struggles. An excellent reminder of how persistence and passion are the true source of greatness.

Ethan Minsker, Ethan Minsker!

[jerrywhitejr · 12 November 2018]

It's hard to write a spoiler-free review of this film because as soon as you say "Ethan Minsker," you've given away a huge part of the story. Ethan has been at this for a long time-since he was a kid in many ways. At what? Filmmaking, rebel-rousing, DIYing, punk rocking, zinstering, and making, making, making. He's made a lot of movies over the years and finally made one about himself; he's earned it.

I'm a fan highly-specific stories that reveals the universality of our experience. Man in Camo is part biography, part manifesto, part self-exploration. I firmly believe everyone has a story to tell, but not everyone has the means (or gumption) to tell their own. There's a cautionary tale in here somewhere too, written and read between the lines. You don't have to be from New York to get something out of this-you don't have to be a writer or director, and you don't have to be Ethan Minsker.

We did a special screening of this film at our fest (Vidlings & Tapeheads Film Festival 2018, Hamtramck, Michigan). Ethan came out and led a robust Q&A after the film and the audience, strangers to Ethan's work, stuck around well past the alloted time and were fully-engaged throughout.

Frenetic editing, visually rich with about three dozen different animation techniques employed to liven up interviews and interstitials, Man in Camo is Minsker using everything he's learned in his life to tell the story of his life-celebrating his passions in the medium(s) of his passions.

Creative and intriguing but came on too strong

[anniezusin · 7/10 · 11 September 2023]

I thought the movie was incredibly interesting and kept your attention the entire time. The visuals were creative and fun. The animation coupled with the moving graphics made my eyes not leave the screen. I think the movie came off too strong in the beginning and was hard to adjust to the style, pace, and sounds. Once I adjusted tho, I found myself at the edge of my seat waiting for the next words and visuals since they spoke to me. The movie inspired me to get back into documenting my life and trying to bring creativity into my every day life. While this movie isn't for everyone, the story it portrays and highlights is something everyone can watch and appreciate, use as a form of inspiration.

Punk isn't dead, it just grew up a little.

[rose-38967 · 9/10 · 1 May 2019]

Man in Camo is a raucous explosion of multimedia and gorilla filmmaking. It is also a touching, introspective portrayal of one man's journey from angry punk rock kid to doting father, that lays bare the struggles of an independent artist trying to live his truth and support a family at the same time. If you're a child of the 80s who still looks in the mirror and wonders if you should get a new tattoo or if you ought to dye your greying hair blue, you will relate to this film.

So much color for a Man in Camo

[torimahabal · 7/10 · 30 November 2022]

This was such a good watch. I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Ethan Minsker's multimedia approach was effective and it completely hypnotized me. The film had the perfect balance of old footage, claymation, animation, photographs, and digital footage. Ethan Minsker truly captured what it's like growing up feeling separated from other people, as well as fearing death at a young age. I can really feel his love for art in this. It radiates off of my computer screen. And his love really ties everything together, he's making art about making art, nothing is more beautiful then that. (I also really admired how the interviews were set up. I've never seen an unorthodox doc interview done like that)

Great message.. just slow..

[leylasigirci · 5/10 · 12 September 2023]

I watched Man in Camo in class, and I think it is a great film that capitalizes on how much work and dedication goes into filmmaking or art in general by using any form of medium. Overall the visuals were great and captivating. The camo idea is very clever. I think Ethan Minisker is a really interesting guy and a phenomenal storyteller; I just wished it was faster-paced since it was quite a bit to get into at first, and there was a lot going on, but I am impressed that he managed to get most of his life all into one film. We got to see the development of his character from start to finish. Overall, it is a good film, but it is not something I would go out of my way to watch.

Ethan the Artist

[s-janemills · 10/10 · 15 May 2019]

Watching this movie was like a glimpse into my own life as an artist. It was refreshing to see another artist that enjoys getting their hands in all aspects of the art worlds. Seeing footage from Ethan's youth and hearing the interviews were not only highly entertaining, but also very motivational. This movie makes me want to go out there and not just create art, but find the others who want to create art and work together to help others see their own ways of expression, especially if that was not something they had access to. I had a great experience watching this movie and meeting Ethan personally. This movie is highly recommended to those who want to see, hear and experience the sub-culture to pop-culture of music, zines, and art.

A very compelling autobiographic piece

[markkcat · 7/10 · 15 September 2023]

This film as a whole is an incredible visual spectacle, with its usage of its various multi-media creations to form this clear picture of who Ethan Minsker is. While I think slightly self-indulgent at times, it makes sense given the nature of the project, and it paints this very proud and confident picture of the type of artist that Ethan is. It completely justifies its run time and always stays so fast and interesting, never leaving a moment without some animation or music to fill the gap. There's such a scope to Ethan's work that by the end there's no way you won't be a fan of at least some idea of visual presented here.

An Artists' Documentary on his own Life and Art

[jentrue · 9/10 · 16 October 2018]

I had the pleasure of seeing this film at The Gorst Underground Festival. I found this documentary, (which is Ethan Minsker's telling of his own story; his life, his art, his creative process, and background) original, inspiring, and thought provoking. This story/documentary, is not told in any kind of traditional way. It is not linear. There is a lot of material involved here, and the work has depth. The artist has done some intriguing self-examination, especially into the way his own mind works and creates. An inspiring and encouraging story for any artist and/or creative person.

stop what you are doing and watch this right now

[dahlia-schweitzer · 10/10 · 10 September 2019]

This film is brilliant, entertaining, and inspiring. What more could you possibly want? I found myself riveted, unable to stop watching, much like Ethan is unable to stop making art. He is a force of nature.

Impressive artist! Impressive Film!

[ssvymbersky · 10/10 · 29 March 2019]

Describing Ethan Minsker requires a lot of hyphens, artist/writer/publisher/organizer/filmmaker/father. It's astonishing that he is able to keep so many balls in the air. I have read his books and been following his zine, Psyhomoto for some time, but I had no idea just how talented and productive he is until I saw this wonderful documentary. It basically tells Ethan's life story with the help of his family, friends and fans. It isn't your average dry documentary. The experimental filmwork and incredible animation work keep this moving along at a brisk pace and it is wildly funny and entertaining. Good fun!

Man in Camo Review

[dpacus · 7/10 · 15 September 2023]

I think experimental is the best word to describe Man in Camo (Ethan Minsker, 2018). The movie employs so many different mediums of art from film (obviously), to photography, stop motion, painting, sculpting etc. And yet it all fits together as one cohesive piece of art. Art is undeniably the movie's center. Ethan Minsker is a habitual artist; that's to say that he's always thinking about what he's going to make next. This movie brings you from his tumultuous upbringing to his life current day (2018) balancing a family, art, and relationships and how his art and life has changed along the way.

Hyper-entertaining Meta-Doc

[Max-movielover · 10/10 · 1 February 2019]

I saw "Man in Camo" at the Snowdance Independent Film Festival in Southern Germany. Minsker's Doc stuck with me as an uncompromising rush of thoughts, voices, visuals and music - like a 90-minute poem that got pumped into my brain like an art-injection directly from the heart of New York's Lower East Side.

In all its volatile self-reflection "Man in Camo" embraces something that seems trivial: An artist's life in all its strange influences becomes a chronicle of creation - all leading up to an emotional finale, where Minsker comes to the understanding, what his most important piece of art might be.

A mix of emotions

[emily_downey · 7/10 · 15 September 2023]

The Man in Camo brings in not only artistic stand points from all angles but also reflects on how childhood shapes the mind of an individual. Right off the bat in this film we see different kinds of animation through stop motion, clay creation, and etc. Over the course of the whole film we see how different genres of film come together on one screen, something that isn't big yet in the industry. Ethan had even mentioned this when having a private lesson with our introduction to film class. Over the course of the film Ethan becomes vulnerable about his inner battles dealing with depression, dyslexia, loosing his friends to drugs, experiencing his own suicidal thoughts, and so much more. Ethan also explained having to go to a private boarding school in Boston and felt like his mom wasn't completely transparent with him at first about the situation. However going to Boston introduced him to the world of Punk Rock and his work as an artist exponentially expanded as he was across the punk scene. As the film progresses we see how Ethan conquers his fear of death to which he was scared of the void and learns that life is worth living as well as creating art. He learns how to manage mental health as well as sharing how he was able to do it and how his brain is wired. Overall I think it was a beautiful display of different mediums and quite a telling story.

"Man in Camo" Hell's Half Mile Film/Music Festival

[peacelovergirly · 10/10 · 2 November 2018]

I had the pleasure of meeting Ethan in Bay City at the Hell's Half Mile Festival. I was a videographer at the event and had a list of Q&A's I had to capture. I ended up sitting next to Ethan while previewing his film, it amped up the film even more. We ended up talking afterwards and went to preview another film, Thunder Road. That alone shows how down to earth of a person he is and his documentary continues to prove that and describes the work of him and many others continue to produce in this world. It's a different kind of lense you get to look through when watching this, and I love it. He does so much good and his creativity is everywhere and it's shown. He puts himself out there and he makes you know who's doing, and if you don't get the joke in that, you probably shouldn't be reviewing movies. This film represents what Hells Half Mile is about and I couldn't imagine someone else receiving the reward.

Worth watching

[kjohnryan-89070 · 6/10 · 14 December 2022]

An interesting documentary that does a deep dive into Ethan Minsker's life and art. Minsker, who also directed the film, uses many mediums in his art ranging from paint to sculptures to film and he condenses his broad vision and talent into this one film. Not many films are bold enough to venture out into the multi-media realm and Man in Camo does it surprisingly well. And the love that Minsker has for art and life is almost infectious to the viewers. But the film often does come off as an advertisement for Minsker and his self-founded art movement. While the film has many things going for it, it doesn't feel like its existence is entirely warranted and sometimes can feel a little too long. I would definitely recommend checking this out because it is a very interesting film and Minsker is a figure worth noting but it is a far from perfect film.

A powerful personal story celebrating non-conformity

[emetaz · 10/10 · 21 May 2019]

Ethan Minsker's autobiographical documentary begins with his childhood and an early decision by his mother to defy a doctor' recommendation to medicate him to subdue his somewhat wild behavior and personality. It's framed as a proud moment of resistance against the oppression of social norms and the rest of the film is an absolute vindication of that decision. We watch as Ethan's creativity and artistic expression only expands and diversifies and seems to protect him from the grim fate of many of his contemporaries in the DC punk scene and New York downtown art scene.

The compelling story of defying any prescribed path or arbitrary artistic boundary is just dripping in Minsker's wildly interdisciplinary work. Animated flames consume his face as he delivers a talking head interview, he sculpts 24 figures of the titular Man in Camo that we then watch him animate. You get the impression that much of his work you see in the film was specifically made for the film which suggests an artist that is both incredibly prolific and skilled in virtually every medium. When we arrived at the section where Ethan casually explains being at the forefront of the Zine movement I was honestly just in awe of how one person could have created and been involved in so much.

Having recently seen ORIGIN STORY, the documentary about the MeowWolf collective, I have to compare these films about artists' journeies and their respective communities. Not only did I find MAN IN CAMO a better made documentary in every respect, but it's far more accessible and less navel-gazing despite being made by the artist himself! It also ends on an inspiring note that makes you want to make artistic expression a part of your life whereas ORIGIN STORY ends with a disturbing shift toward an aggressive business model that almost seeks to sell you an empty packaged version of that.

MAN IN CAMO is the real deal, a visually stunning, mesmorzing and wonderfully overwhelming story of how to be 300% yourself and ignore all of the noise telling you to fall in line.

Re:True stoties of the struggles of being a true artist Straight from the Bangkok Underground film screening in Thailand.

[jhirambanks · 10/10 · 10 February 2019]

I had the pleasure of being able to meet and hang out with the filmaker Ethan while he was doing his screening in Bangkok back in November last year. It was a small intimate gathering upstairs in the Jam cafe which is a small bar that also ihosts live music on certain nights. Ethan uses a unique style of film making with a mix of animated bits and documentary style of story telling to tell his tale of his lives journey of becoming a writer, artist and filmaker. In his movie you get a sense of the struggles an artist actually goes through without the usual filters in other documentaries or life stories. Many artists who gain amy level of recognition sometimes try to hide a dark past or outsider udeas, Ethan embraces this in his film. Its a bit about being a punk, a writer and family man all bundled together in this film. Definitely check it out if you get a chance especially if your into independent films and artistic styles of filmaking.

Inspirational (and Surprisingly Moving)

[zjguice · 10/10 · 6 May 2019]

I didn't know what I was getting into when I sat down in the theater at a recent festival to watch this film. And I'm incredibly happy that it played out exactly like that. So, I will stay 'mum' and not give anything away. I will say that I admire the man at the center of this film and, in my time, hope to create 1/10 of the work that he has. Ethan is an artistic BEAST. If you're looking for inspiration, look no further than Man In Camo.

Full endorsement

[lindsaykatt · 10/10 · 2 August 2019]

I cannot speak highly enough of the content of this work.

Painstakingly crafted, deeply human, and hard earned; this story's tenderness and courage rings out like a horn, calling for all Creatives/Artists to assemble!

Interwoven into a anthology of pain, passion, and sheer will...this deeply authentic film, speaks as much to the "Story of making" as it does to the story of the Artist himself.

Go support this tremendous work! (Full Endorsement)