Last week YouTube gave me a gift. My home screen was suggesting some videos for me to watch and one in particular caught my attention. Quentin Tarantino had been a guest on the Jimmy Fallon show and there was a clip with the title “Quentin Tarantino Recommends the Greatest Documentary Ever Made”. Being both a fan of Tarantino and a fan of documentaries, I was intrigued.
The recommendation? Hands on a Hardbody. Fear not, the Tarantino clip above doesn’t spoil the film in the least if you want to hear a little context around the recommendation. So over the weekend I did a little Googling, only to find that the film being presented, in its entirety, by … wait for it … MAILCHIMP? That’s right, Mailchimp, the bulk email marketing service presents Hands on a Hardbody for your viewing pleasure. I haven’t dug in to figure why Mailchimp is presenting any streaming documentaries, and I don’t think I’ll bother, but at least for now you can thank the nice folks over there for this gift of a film.
I won’t spoil any of the storyline, but I will say that it’s a document of an annual event that takes place in an East Texas town. It’s a contest at an auto dealership where the winner can walk away with a brand new Nissan hardbody pickup truck. The film was shot at the 1995 event, and subsequently released in 1997, where it won the audience award for best documentary at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Also on the Mailchimp link above is a short (recent) interview with the director that gives some context around the making of the film. It’s worth a few minutes as well, after watching the film. Enjoy!