Here We Have Idaho
From the Archives
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Comedy, Documentary, Biography, Reality, 15-Jun-2020
On a visit home to Idaho, Matt documents family dynamics and recalls scattered memories from childhood. “Here We Have Idaho,” made by and starring Matt Barats, is a witty self-portrait about small-scale resentments and feeling undervalued amongst loved ones. He leaves his “high-octane, balls-to-the-wall” life as a New York City alt comic to spend some time with the fam. But soon he learns there’s no room for him to stay in the house — he’s been demoted to sleeping in a trailer in the driveway, a fact that he stews on for days. Other running threads include “Barry Lyndon” (the film), Apples to Apples (the game), and his brothers’ “gorgeous blond wives,” who, according to Matt, spend all day drinking Hot Toddies and looking well rested. When he finally gets some alone time, he visits the downtown YMCA, or his old high school where he reminisces about being voted “Best Sense of Humor” (despite not being Mormon in a majority Mormon school, an impressive feat, he insists). But returning home means being an outsider in his own family — Ma, Pa, Brother 1, Brother 2, as he refers to them — and he regresses back into his adolescent self, a self-described “teenage bitch.” We’ve previously featured Barats as a writer and actor on films such as “Farside,” ”Reveries,” and “Improv is Love”. -KA. Director, etc: Matt Barats. Co-edited with Whit Conway. Title by Colin Burgess. Special thanks to the fam, and childhood friend.
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