Sunday, September 5, 2010

Knoxville Attempts to Save Detroit



Johnny Knoxville
(yes, that Johnny Knoxville) has decided to try to give a closer look to Detroit in the documentary Detroit Lives.

From Cinematical:

When you mention the name Johnny Knoxville, one thing comes to mind: Jackass. The man has made a career out of performing dangerous stunts and juvenile pranks with his friends -- turning it into a multimedia empire in the process. However, one's body can only take so much abuse -- and as Knoxville gets older, I'm sure he's already planning his next move. The old noggin' probably doesn't take the thumps like it used to.

It turns out that Knoxville might have a future ahead of him as a documentarian. Boot-makers Palladium have been creating a series of viral videos where people don a pair of their boots, grab a camcorder, and explore the urban landscape while talking to the locals. Knoxville is the latest person to meet the challenge, and his film Detroit Lives is scheduled to go up at the Palladium site today. In the meantime, we've got a trailer that doesn't feature a single scene of someone performing an excretory function -- which may be a first for Knoxville.

Detroit, once the fourth largest city in the country, now looks like an urban wasteland. With the decline of the American auto industry, the city has fallen on hard times. But, as Knoxville soon learns, not everyone's giving up on the city. Young artists, entrepreneurs, and dreamers are toughing it out -- hoping to revitalize this once proud city and restore it to the glory days of its past. No small task, given how desolate and decayed some places featured in the video look.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer for Detroit Lives and be sure to keep an eye on the Palladium website for the full length version's debut. Can you take Knoxville seriously outside of Jackass or is he dead to you when he's not getting hit in the groin?

It's great, great stuff. Check out lots more here.