This Place Rules

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source: This Place Rules

I've enjoyed Channel 5 for a while, because Andrew is such a smart interviewer, letting people just talk. It's amazing how much people can dig their own graves, if allowed to speak without an interviewer shoving their agenda down their throat. I grew up watching a lot of Michael Moore documentaries, and while I enjoy them, he was always trying to instigate and push his views. With this documentary, Andrew does an amazing job just allowing people to speak from their hearts, even if those hearts may be broken and driven by profit. A great look of how the January 6 riots were driven by so called "leaders" who really just wanted to divide the country further to make a buck for themselves.

If you've enjoyed Channel 5 or All Gas No Breaks then you will most likely enjoy This Place Rules. For those that haven't watched either, Andrew Callaghan's journalism style centers around fringe views, either being portrayed in a humorous or sometimes more sinister and discomforting way. One nice thing about this documentary is that Andrew revisits a lot of the people he interviews which adds layers of meaning based on what's already been covered by the documentary. Andrew's interviewing style is also very refreshing from other interviewers since he's mostly silent, nodding his head, and being nonjudgmental, which allows the interviewees to speak for themselves. As evident from the beginning, not everything is directly related to the capital riots, and some interviews are more loosly related and meant to be surreal or humorous tidbits from Andrew's experience, which some people might be turned off by. Additionally, while Andrew for the most part remains neutral, there are instances where he asks leading questions or injects his opinion between interviews, which is helpful for tying the theme of the documentary, but personally I felt it was a bit redundant since a lot of the interviews really spoke for themselves. For the most part though, I really enjoyed the documentary and felt it was very powerful, especially towards the end.

This Place Rules is great first documentary from Callaghan. To say this is just the beginning of a incredible documentarian would be an understatement. To preface this I know Callaghan's work for a while, being at the birth of All Gas No Brakes. His way of showcasing a unbiased view of extremism and radicalism is addictive. Combined with the comedic aspect you get a golden combination of fascination, intrigue, repulsion and comedy. If you watched the three clips released on his YouTube channel before watching this it does spoil quite a few highlights. I regret having seen those. As the impact of certain moments was lessend. So beware. As a documentary debut this deserves praise, but there is obviously work to be done. It feels loosely connected but mostly scrapped together. The narrative en story being build up ends up kind of anti climatic. The interviews aren't followed up as strongly as they were build up. I think Callaghan is still finding his voice in regards to how loud he want's it to speak, how defined he want's it to be, this right now feels safe. Comedy, an integral part of the Callaghan's succes felt minimal. There's still absurdity but moment's are played straight for the most part. But some creative editing choices could've reinforced his comedic angle which differentiate him from other documentaries. All in all it's simple and straight, room to improve.

Lots of interviews with drunk and drugged up people on both sides. It really exposes the worst of the US in every way. People who are so disconnected from reality that they have nothing to offer beyond fear and anger. People who openly claim to be Nazi's, fascists, religious zealots, and anarchists. It's frightening to see children raised in families like these that feed them non-sensical, truly unbelievable conspiracy theories from a young age. The interviewer who intersperses a little commentary here and there, rarely asks any questions of the people he interviews. He just holds out a microphone and lets them spout whatever insane nonsense they want. The first 2/3s of the film isn't even really focused on Jan 6th. It's just random mentally unbalanced people being interviewed on the streets during various protests with a few interviews with radical leaders like Alex Jones, who are mostly admittedly in it for the money. Unfortunately these leaders manipulated all these angry, ignorant and unbalanced people who don't know what to believe to take violent actions. It's a truly sad portrayal of America when this is really just a small portion of the population.

I've been a fan of Andrew's for years. And I think most fans would tell you that it was inevitable that he would go on to make a full-length documentary film. This Place Rules documents the events that lead up to the January 6th riots. Much like most of Andrew's journalism, this documentary was funny, sad, disturbing, and incredibly eye-opening. What I always appreciated about Andrew's journalism technique is that he never tries to trap anyone into obvious "gotcha" questions. Instead, he goes out in the field and finds the action, letting anyone who talks to him go completely off the rails if they so choose to. He doesn't manipulate what people say and just lets them talk about whatever they want. This results in much of the humor that is found in Andrew's Journalism. But don't be fooled, This Place Rules is not a joke. It highlights the very real dangers and manipulations of extreme radical thinking that is perpetuated by social media forums and news media who profit off of fear and division. Some of this can be hard to watch because you can't help but empathize with some of the people who have gone so far down the rabbit hole that they seem to be beyond redemption. This documentary should be viewed as a warning of what will happen if someone chooses to go down this path. This Place Rules is not only entertaining, but it's also important. And even though much of this documentary focuses on some of the most horrific events that we have experienced in the last 2 years, I was left with some hope because Andrew is using this film to show people the dangers of radical beliefs and I for one believe that this film will make people re-evaluate their lives so they don't end up going down this very destructive path.

Andrew Callaghan is best known for his YouTube videos where he interviews people with very large personalities who are also sometimes under the influence of various substances. I'm only a little familiar with his stuff, having seen a couple here and there, but the format was still recognizable in this feature-length documentary, which sees Callaghan going to various events that took place between November 2020 and January 2021. All revolved around the then-current election and its dramatic fallout, and along the way, he also interviews a few high-profile people in more standard interviews. I do like how this film has a message without being preachy. While it does focus on extreme personalities on the right more than the left, it doesn't let those on the left off the hook, and feels a good deal more balanced than most contemporary American documentaries about politics as a result. The interviewees also make this more entertaining than most political documentaries... at least for a good portion of its runtime. The biggest problem is that at a point, it does become a tiny bit repetitive. There are only so many rallies and screaming matches you can bear witness to before exhaustion sets in, but at the same time, the film's only about 80 minutes long, so it doesn't overstay its welcome too much. I think it concludes well, but also slightly jarringly, as Callaghan does become a little more obtrusive in the final 5-10 minutes, spelling out/directly discussing some of the things he's been building towards in order to give this a proper ending, and to ensure it doesn't just feel like binging 80 minutes worth of his YouTube videos. But complaints aside, a lot of this is really good stuff, and I like his style of journalism. Modern news media and mainstream documentaries show how difficult it is to cover a subject like this in a way that's engaging, informative, and not biased, and I think Callaghan manages to do all of those for most of this film's runtime. For anyone who's not worried revisiting the world of politics in 2020 will make them tear their hair out in anger and/or despair, this documentary's easy to recommend.

It has the same style you'd expect out of Andrew, great editing and just letting people talk. I was very excited for it, but unfortunately I didn't love it. The the story just didn't really flesh together. He showed some more inflammatory actors that goaded the capital riot into what it became, and also painted a good picture of what some of the people that participated had in common. The documentary's main point is that, there wasn't really a point to the riot. There was no real end goal and bad actors just riled vulnerable/information illiterate people up and left people disillusioned. It also focused heavily on the Trumper aspect leading up to the riot and didn't really cover similar bad actors that were on the other side, which to me seems like added fuel to the fire. I realize I said a lot without saying anything in this as I ground out the minimum character limit, the tldr is it was good, but the story just didn't feel whole.

This documentary was amazing (as expected of Andrew) and highlights a really key moment in American history. Andrew truly has a gift of getting people to say what they really think on camera and he lets people speak their minds. They're represented as they are, and a lot of the time they make a fool of themselves by themselves. Some of my favorite moments included the dichotomy between ronin (???) and the little boy from the Q family. It was shocking to see a normal, well adjusted kid having fun and then a child who's been influenced so much by his parents insane fantasies that he doesn't even sound like a child anymore. No child should be thinking about the things he was reciting (seemingly from memory). I truly feel bad for these kids who are growing up in households like that and I worry for their futures. Another favorite moment was at the end with the guy who was a convicted sex offender claiming every political figure he doesn't like is a pedophile. I think it really highlights the projection so many of these kinds of people have. I'm so excited for more content from Andrew. He's truly inspiring. Definitely give this documentary a watch! And if you want more from Andrew he has a YouTube channel called channel five with some more lighthearted interviews.