Poet, photographer, and impassioned slayer of Orcs Viggo Mortensen has starred in such great films as "Lord of the Rings," "History of Violence," and one of my sentimental favorites, "A Walk On The Moon."  He also makes an especially delightful appearance in Joe Pacheco's "As Smart As They Are." Viggo doing a waltz at the Housing Works Book Cafe is reason enough to see this literary rock 'n roll documentary.

"As Smart As They Are" traces the collaboration between One Ring Zero, the Brooklyn house-band for McSweeney's Publishing, and an ensemble cast of award-winning authors, each of whom contributed original lyrics. Original lyrics they are. Author Myla Goldberg torments guest singer Syd Straw with tongue twisting, five star vocabulary words. Paul Auster riffs on the ills of Cincinatti and the Iraq war. The film's title, in fact, comes from the inspired dialogue of a talking cockroach. 

Musicians Joshua Camp and Michael Hearst are an original duo, taking to the stage (and side walks) with an accordion and a claviola. "As Smart As They Are" screened last night at the Makor Center in New York, with a live performance by the band and special guest Rick Moody. The film is currently on tour. [posted by Marcy]