Steineded How sad is this?

Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Ralphus2 I had no idea what this documentary was about before watching it. The blurb said something about, "Before there was Jackass, there was Cap'n Video..." Frankly, this didn't enthuse me so much. I'm lukewarm at best about Jackass. If you feel the same way, forget about the whole Jackass thing and just watch "Beauty Day". There is so much more here to enjoy.As with any documentary, the subject is key to how interesting you will find it. If the subject is a person, then that person needs to be interesting or special or exemplary in some way. Or all of the above and more. In Ralph Zavadil, director Jay Cheel has a unique and endearing subject. Yes, Zavadil is the creator of a pre-Jackass cable TV show that featured him jumping off stuff, setting stuff on fire, rigging up motorized stuff, and just generally playing the fool, but the man, Ralph, turns out to be much more than that.He's had some hardships, but nothing TOO disadvantageous. He's injured himself; one crucial time quite seriously, but he's recovered fully. He's had and then lost true love, but he's coping with that OK it seems. His old career is over, but he's got a job with a close friend that he seems to enjoy and is good at. He tries to resurrect the Cap'n Video show and it doesn't quite work out, but he's not depressed about it. In other words, Ralph is an optimist and a big-hearted positive force in the world. If he never even thought up Cap'n Video (though that seems unlikely) he would still be an interesting and lovable specimen. Actually, it's his intelligence and balanced world-view that come across so strongly; more so than any Jackass-like tom-foolishness.It's Ralph that makes this documentary and Jay Cheel is wise enough to let it happen that way. He doesn't get in the way (Gasland!!!) and you might even assume that this is Ralph's own project a la Cap'n Video, although production values are...ahem...CONSIDERABLY higher.This reminded me of my very favorite documentary, "The Devil at Your Heels" (Robert Fortier, 1980), which, coincidentally, is also Canadian. Both feature characters that effect you as you watch them; characters that remain in your heart and mind long after meeting them. The difference being that Ralph is a smarter and more positive force than the poor doomed Ken Carter. (If you haven't seen "The Devil at Your Heels", seek it out. It's quite remarkable.) Thanks Ralph and Jay. You made my day.

KyleBel This is a very wonderful documentary. However they say that he came before Johnny Knoxville and the Jack Ass guys. However, before the Jack Ass guys were "Jack Ass" they were "CKY" so I'm so confused as to who really came first, but I would love to know. Some of the skits he did, like the snorting of the raw egg was similar to the wasabi snort in Jack Ass. His hair pie, I'm positive the other guys did this with Ball Hair. Either way this was an awesome little documentary. A man with a camera and one shot who did some crazy stuff. It's worth the watch and if you like Jack Ass or CKY then you'll totally love this.

curtistalls I had never heard of this film before my initial viewing of it at MOMA NYC a few months ago. My good friend listens to the director's (Jay Cheel) podcast (Film Junk) and had found that Beauty Day was showing for two days here so we decided to check it out. The film centers around Ralph Zavadil, or as he's better known to native Ontarians, Cap'n Video. Cap'n Video was a outlandish 80's local cable celebrity known for performing crazy, low budget stunts à la MTV's Jackass, but well before them. It goes into the history of that character then into the present and how his life has changed. I had never heard of him, but did recognize him from a quasi famous youtube video where he attempts to just off a ladder into a swimming pool. Needless to say, he didn't make it. Ralph is an extremely entertaining study and Jay Cheel does an excellent job showcasing him. The film is beautifully shot and the music choices are spot on. I look forward to seeing more films from Jay and I am now an avid Film Junk listener.

cultfilmfan I have always thought that to make a documentary interesting, you really have to show something, or someone who is exciting and unique in their own way and have that said thing, or person bring their own unique style to the film, so it does not really seem like anything else. I think the more interesting the subject, or person you are profiling, the more interesting your documentary will be. The people behind Beauty Day, have chosen just the right man to make a really interesting documentary, Ralph Zavadil. For those unfamiliar with Ralph Zavadil, he lives in the Niagara region of Ontario, Canada and back in the early 90's on a local cable channel he had his own very inexpensive and financed problem starring himself as his alter ego Cap 'N Video. Cap 'N Video would perform a bunch of dangerous type stunts and also do a lot of gross out gags with Ralph always staying completely in character and depending on your taste as a viewer, you would either laugh, be disgusted, or maybe a little of both. After an Easter Special of his program that was deemed offensive because of the local humane society, Ralph's program was shut down and now more than 20 years later a documentary is made about him and we get a personal look not only on Cap 'N Video, but also Ralph himself and the film features old footage of his skits as well as interviews with family and friends and in the last half of the film, Ralph tries to put together a 20th anniversary show, hoping he can get it broadcast just as he used to, on local television channel 10. I remember watching some of the Cap 'N Video stunts and sketches back when they were on over 20 years ago, but now new fans can get used to his bizarre, but somewhat creative art by watching old sketches on video community sharing websites. The film was interesting to me not only because this film was filmed and takes place where I live, but also because Ralph is such an outgoing and laidback person that he is very entertaining to watch, whether you like his style of comedy or not. Watching the old Cap 'N Video segments in the film, made me laugh and laugh often, but there is a lot more to this film than just gross out gags and dangerous stunts. The film shows Ralph's first serious girlfriend and past jobs he had in the past and through the film you can see that he has a vision for himself and what he wants to do. I think he wants to have some sort of freedom to do the things he loves and not be weighed down by a tedious and by the numbers job. In interviews, Ralph seems like a lot of fun and so laid back and easy going and with a great sense of humour. This film gives us a chance to view the man behind the persona and he is every bit as interesting as his wild alter ego Cap 'N Video. I think I appreciate anyone whose art means so much to them that they will do almost anything to make it happen and here you can see that doing this program was a lot of fun for Ralph and even though he got paid for it, I think more than anything the joy he got out of it was making people laugh and being able to tell these crazy stories to friends and neighbours about what he did. It is evident throughout the film and on the internet as well, that he still has a loyal group of fans who still love to watch the old episodes, whether by old VHS tapes, or online. Beauty Day works so well as a documentary because it does what any documentary should do and that is being informative, but doing so by being very entertaining at the same time. The filmmakers found a great subject with Ralph Zavadil and I am glad they stuck with that idea. Showing the old skits was a lot of fun and laughs to be had watching it, but the film also gives us a more personal side to things, which I could really appreciate because I felt I got to know him better and the mind behind the genius, in other words. Ralph lives to entertain and make people laugh and isn't that a wonderful thing? Whether tobogganing off his roof, or skiing down a clothesline, Ralph's first priority is to put a smile on the viewer's face and he seems like that same type of man twenty years on and I can respect that and his dream. I hope this film does well, not only in the Niagara area, but across Canada and when it hits other countries as well. I also hope his online videos take off as well. Beauty Day, is fascinating, humorous, entertaining and at the same time heart warming to see how much all this means to Ralph. A very well done documentary that deserves to be seen by fans, or anyone interested in a weird, but redeeming documentary.