Underplayed Gems

The Cool School (2008)

The Cool School poster
Directed by
Morgan Neville
Genre
documentary film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 26m
Rated
G
Rating
5.9 of 10 from 7 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

This documentary tells the story of how the Los Angeles contemporary art scene started, focusing on the Ferus Gallery and its founders. It profiles several artists who helped put LA on the art world map.

breezylivelyinformativenostalgiccelebratoryfast-pacedaccessibleinsightful

What happens

The Cool School is a 2008 American documentary film about the rise of the Los Angeles contemporary art scene. It was directed by Morgan Neville and narrated by Jeff Bridges. The documentary premièred at the Cleveland International Film Festival. It focused on the Ferus Gallery, and its founders, Walter Hopps and Ed Kienholz. It profiled numerous artists, including Ed Ruscha, Craig Kauffman, Wallace Berman, Ed Moses, John Altoon, and Robert Irwin. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 26 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 24 as positive and 2 as negative for a 92 percent rating. Among the reviews, it determined an average rating of 7.00 out of 10. The critics consensus reads "A breezy and lively modern art documentary, revealing that LA is not a cultural wasteland when it comes to fine art." (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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