Died Young, Stayed Pretty

Meet North America’s swelling underground poster-art community whose images rip apart fantasies of the American Dream in search of every last drip of irony. With compulsive devotion, Eileen Yaghoobian’s docu-tour of anarchist graphic design assembles the ranting voices of the unsung men (and one woman) whose posters advertised the early gigs of alternative rock legends such as Marilyn Manson and Pearl Jam.

While this hairy, slightly creepy crew of bookish nerds appear to be prime candidates, underdogs one and all, for easily pleased documentary viewers to welcome under their wing, the lack of narrative direction, exploitable drama or character growth strands the film at the level of an animated picture-book accompanied by lots of gratuitous whining. It’s a rambling film, one that’s destined to share the same fate as the poster art the director adores – as something to be glanced over, snickered at, and then forgotten. India Bourke