What Keith's Watching: Escape from Tomorrow (2013)

Escape From Tomorrow is a movie that will always be noted for the story behind it rather than the film itself.

The story behind it is that most of it was shot at Disneyland and Disneyworld, without the company's knowledge at all. It's truly guerilla filmmaking that was greatly aided by modern technology. Scripts were kept on iPhones and the film was shot with the type of SLR cameras that tourists would be seen using regularly at the parks. It's the kind of dedication and passion you don't often see in filmmaking these days - taking such big risks.

The other noteworthy part of this film's existence is that Disney allows it to exist. They are notoriously strict with their copyrights. But they wisely realized a lawsuit would just bring more attention to the film. There was surely the option to buy the movie distribution, but Disney made the wise choice to stick their fingers in their ears and sing: "la la la."

Now, the story is interesting even though there isn't a straightforward narrative. And when I say the story is interesting, I mean it's out there - it's bizarre. It's like Hunter S. Thompson took a trip to Disney with his family in a car loaded with ether. So if you weren't a fan of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, you may not enjoy watching a father slowly descend into madness and become obsessed with teenage French girls. There's also a strange turn at the end that almost seemed unnecessary.

Even still, Escape From Tomorrow is worth watching if only to think about everything they went through to get it made and encourage this type of experimental filmmaking. And just in case Disney does decided to do something about it.