source: Hot Sugar's Cold World

Right from the beginning, I could tell what kind of movie this was going to be- another boring, over-the-top, trying too hard to be different, hipster documentary. It starts out with what seems to be a very sad, grown man, complaining about his girlfriend that he broke up with 2 years ago. Kitty is framed by Hot Sugar as a mean, stuck up ex; while Hot Sugar is framed as the innocent victim who was just trying to make things work. It was so clear that he is still bitter about their breakup- which is fine, but I don't want to watch an hour long movie about a bitter and depressed man that does nothing to better himself except complain more. The movie starts to switch focus onto his music- what I was waiting for the entire first half of the movie-, but it ends up getting even more boring. It becomes long shots of him staring off into the distance unemotionally(maybe they were trying to lengthen it so it would be considered a real movie). The thing I find the funniest is that they try framing him as some sort of musical genius, as if he created the entire techno/dubstep/electro genre- he's just another Tumblr famous guy who somehow gained a following for being "unique". It's a joke. Next time, create a documentary on a musician who actually changed things. Just don't watch it- save yourself the time. Maybe take a yoga class or learn to knit, do something good for yourself- just don't watch this waste of time.

The films takes us to a peculiar world and vision of sound from Nick Koenig's perspective. It takes us into his world and his own usage of sound in order to create his unique and amazing songs. I was very inspired after watching it!. The film is entertaining with great picture, score and story telling. I even discovered artists that have collaborated with Nick that resonated with me as well. The film is definitely worth watching. It shares new visions and approaches towards things that we take from granted or even ignored at some point, sharing the uniqueness and beauty of everything around us. It also shares some parts of Nick's everyday life. Which is great! because it takes us deeper into the story and his sources of inspiration. Congrats to all the team involved in this documentary!

Just finished viewing. Im left feeling nothing more or less than mid-level annoyance. This is presented as a documentary - but parts were clearly staged. For example: 1) The 'spontaneous' banter with the party clown who was supposedly found through the internet, but was played by (pretty great) actor Pat Healy. 2) The tattooed nazi-fighting upstairs neighbor who HS supposedly thought had died a year earlier, but whom the 'documenatry' crew had somehow managed to shoot comprehensively (i.e., during the course of production, but prior to his death). OK, so if it's one of them mockumentaries, what's the point? No one could possibly claim it to be funny. There are a few vaguely interesting thoughts scattered throughout, but nowhere near enough to justify the 90 minute running time (bringing N dG T into the fray was cringeful). Was the 'Mozart' BS, the blasé BS about his relatives' holocaust experience, and the blasé BS with the skulls in the catacombs meant to satirise pretentious monied millennial hipsters? If so, why would you bother? To present this type of dude as a self-involved tool would be like saying the sky is blue. I can't think of too many reasons to recommend this. I liked the music OK, but I could have just listened to that on my phone while doing something more useful/satisfying with my time. To summarise: This was every bit as annoying as 'I'm Still Here,' but at least that 'documentary' had a charismatic lead with something at stake - this one did not. If you know the guy's music, maybe you'll get something out of it - otherwise, I'd say you could easily skip it and not feel as though you'd missed out on much. BTW: Jim Jarmusch is listed in the cast, but he appears for less than 10 seconds and doesn't say anything.

When you open your film by calling someone a "modern Mozart," that's a tall order to fill; and not only does this film not make its case, I wondered half way through if it was actually parody. It was angst-y in a way that made me resent youth. It was joyless, gray and flat. Hot Sugar's Cold World was hyperbolically pretentious, particularly when our protagonist prodigy decides he wants to "record the silence" of different funeral rooms and morgues. "The silence of that room was too intense for me." Screw you. It's also enough to make one puke to hear this little twerp explain Pavlov's experiments to Neil Degrasse Tyson the way one might explain it to a five year old. Yeah, I think he gets it kid. Like Nick says in voice over at the end, "I'm no longer afraid of getting old, or being old." Me neither. If this film is what youth is like, you can have it.

Trailer—Hot Sugar's Cold World

Hot Sugar's Cold World