After watching dispatches from elsewhere I had to see this. It's just as interesting except there's a point where you see the director at the check in table and that's when you know this isn't just a documentary it's heavily manipulated and he was in on it. Still an interesting watch though.

A wonderful interactive street-art project based on the philosophies originated by the Church of the SubGenius, the band DEVO, the David Cronenberg film Videodrome and the television miniseries Wild Palms is turned into a very tedious mockumentary. Unfortunately, unless you participated in the analog-geocaching-role-playing-game, watching The Institute can be a very eye-rolling experience. Much of the film is filled with poorly acted re-enactments, hokey "found footage" and phony interviews.

If you make it past the sixty minute mark, it becomes very apparent that you are watching a semi-talented improv-group's re-imagining of David Fincher's The Game starring Michael Douglas. I love ingenious street-art and clever stunts and would have loved to have watched a serious documentary about how the artist(s) came up with this very well thought-out hoax, but to sit down and watch what you know is a joke, gets very tiring and very boring very quickly.

NOT !

I have no idea what I just saw exactly, but I was glued to the screen the whole time. Should there be some definitive resolution to art? This was a unique viewing experience. I give it a high score. Why? No idea, but that seems like the right thing to do for some reason. Maybe somebody else will get it and then explain what in heck just happened.

Meanwhile, there is plenty of stuff to wrack your brain on. Human psychology, belief, art, what kind of life are we living, would I participate in such a thing? Is modern society missing something like this? Should we ask for more? What kinds of "stone soup" have we created in the past, and is that a bad thing to do or a good thing...

Too many chefs... at least bring ingredients !