The story of Raymond and Peter, mean drunks and awful roommates whose constant shouting matches - committed to tape by frustrated neighbors - made them an unwitting, unsuspecting pair of underground celebrities. Like the thematically-similar Winnebago Man, the quest to learn more about these clueless cult legends is much more rewarding than what's actually at the end of the trail. While the focus hovers on revisiting the tapes, hearing the men who recorded them reminisce about the glory days, and watching dozens of talking heads throw on a headset and burst into genuine fits of laughter, it's a light, cheery smile a minute. Later, when the inherent humor of the material begins to run out, the whole picture begins to look downright pathetic. Hearing about the legal struggles that surrounded the story's film rights, witnessing the self-important ruminations of the guys who held the mic, seeing how confused and flabbergasted Peter was about the phenomenon, captured on film years later... these actually take away from what made the tapes so enjoyable in the first place. As a momentary distraction, an escape from the mundane to voyeuristically laugh at the worst state of the human condition, the tapes are in their element and at their best. This level of over-inspection only rubs away the veneer and many of the laughs.

From director Mathew Bate comes the stunningly well put-together documentary "Shut up, Little Man: An Audio Misadventure." It tells the complete story behind the infamous audio tapes that have been circulating around the globe for around 20 years. For those unfamiliar, the tapes are real-life recordings done by two college graduates of their drunken, next-door neighbor's violent, profane and often hilarious verbal (and occasionally physical, as is implied) brawls. They were essentially a viral sensation long before the age of the internet took over, and circulated throughout the US. (and eventually the globe)This documentary, as mentioned in the subject line, feels like two different documentaries on a common subject, "smooshed" together. The first half of the film follows the two guys, who in the late 80's made the initial recordings and helped facilitate their distribution. It follows their stories, and how the audio grew beyond expectations, spawning everything from comics, to small plays and even eventually a film.The second half of the film is a more comprehensive look at the two main subjects of the audio- Ray and Eddie, a homophobic violent drunk, and his gay and equally as drunk roommate. It pieces together their story and we are eventually able to learn more and more about them, and their relationship as friends/roommates/enemies.The film is presented in a very interesting way, and the method by which the production team chooses to develop the subjects is fascinating and very cool. Lots of cool visuals, stock footage set to the audio, and other visual tricks give the documentary a level of eye-candy, and there is rampant humor throughout. If you've seen the fabulous documentary "Winnebago Man", you will know the sort of thing to expect, because the latter half of the film is in much the same vein.It's also interesting seeing "Eddie Lee Sausage" and "Mitchell D", the two men who made the recordings, and how their lives have been affected by it, both for the better and for the worse. Some scenes focusing on the morality and exploitive nature of the audio and the "art" it inspired are exceedingly though-provoking.That being said, the film does get a little lost at times. Some scenes focusing on "fans" of the audio feel out of place and don't add much to the story, there is some redundancy in how the film keeps coming back to the same themes over and over again (but not in a clean, poetic way, but in a forced, contrived way), and it does drag at times.However, that being said, it's still a fundamentally solid and extremely fun documentary, and I'd highly recommend it. I give it an 8 out of 10.

Shut Up Little Man is certainly not groundbreaking. I think in the hands of a more talented documentary maker they could have told something fascinating and parts of this are but its told in sort of a silly plodding way. However, the story itself is actually really fascinating. This was truly a story that, if encouraged by the internet, would have been viral in seconds. But this was years before the internet, before mass communication like emails and cell phones, and actually spread and became viral via the Sanfrancisco underground and audio tapes. Remarkably I had never heard of this story but it is kind of neat to watch and see everything unfold and the best part for me was seeing them trying to re-connect with the subject of this viral project. The project is of two alcoholic (and I think mentally deficient) neighbours who would become verbally abusive and scream horrendous and darkly funny things at each other. Even a film was made based on these two men which I had never heard of but hopefully will see at some point.Mitch Deprey and Eddie Lee Sausage are the two guys who started the viral sensation. Granted the entire beginnings of this is very juvenile but I feel like Mitch and Eddie were still, twenty plus years later, still sort of juvenile about it. The two men in the apartment, Raymond and Peter, have a very serious problem and yes listening to them is often funny, in the same way that if you heard your neighbours arguing especially like this you would listen in because its human nature, much like reality TV is now such a craze. Still the film does try and touch on how ultimately very sad the entire situation is, and Mitch and Eddie even seem to get emotional at point when re-visiting Raymond and Peter's lives but I wonder how sincere it is.This is writer and director's Matthew Bate's first full length documentary and he does a good job. The film is easy to watch and covers all aspects of the legend that was Raymond and Peter. It covers the gambit of things that happened to these seemingly simple recordings. I just don't think it delved into the true significance of how profound this event was in history. Decades before internet, or reality Television this set the bar for what people loved to see, hear, and experience. Its fascinating and worth seeing. 7/10

It's difficult to believe that simple recordings of unorthodox arguments had the ability to go viral in the 1980's. It may seem unfathomable, but Tribeca's new documentary Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure assures us that it happened. In 1987, two young punks named Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitchell "Mitchell D" Deprey moved into a bright pink, low rent apartment (eventually coined the "Pepto Bismol Palace") and were consistently bothered by their next door neighbors loud, inane arguments that would happen throughout hours of the night.The neighbors were apparently on a life long welfare and alcohol binge. They were bigoted and homophobic Raymond Huffman and openly homosexual Peter Haskett. Though it appears them living together was a contradiction in itself, sources claim that the two were close friends when sober. Which, as we can assume from watching the film, wasn't too often.Peter and Raymond would argue like a married couple, using profanity so explicit it may be questioned why they weren't thrown out. They would exchange insults back in forth with Peter usually yelling "shut up, little man!" at Raymond. After growing weary of the yelling, and after an attempt to stop them did not work, Eddie and Mitchell decided to tie a microphone to a ski pole and raise it out the window so they could record their neighbors' mindless rants for their personal record. They recorded them to a cassette tape, and the newly discovered mechanism of evidence and defense eventually became used for enjoyment and curiosity. They continued doing it for the logical reason of human nature; to see how far they would go next time. The result makes for a surprisingly entertaining documentary. Just like the documentaries F**k and Winnebago Man, it proves that the topic of swearing, if taken seriously and effectively, will produce a very interesting breed of films.What makes this documentary so interesting was it shows how things went viral before computers. What if the "Shut Up Little Man" recordings had Youtube under their belt? They would've spread uncontrollably, but due to the primitive technology, it took longer for them to be heard.The film was made for two major reasons; the first being because, at one time, three separate films from three separate groups were trying to make a film on this subject, including Eddie and Mitchell, and all were rejected or stuck in development hell. And the second reason because one big question lingers over Eddie and Mitchell's heads "do they owe Peter and Raymond anything?" Both men died in the nineties, but is it fair to market their recordings for a profit without giving them something in return? It's a little late, but the duo do the best they can to try and make amends. This involves tracking down a third member of some of the infamous recordings. To say what happens when they meet him would be criminal. Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure is funny, engaging, and genial. There's nothing to really be biased about, which is why I believe the documentary didn't feel like a burden at all. Just like with Winnebago Man, things could've quickly spiraled into a whirlpool of mindless swearing and inconsistencies. Luckily enough, the film doesn't get preoccupied with ridiculous, directionless comments which is a lot more than can be said about some of the actual recordings.Starring: Eddie Lee Sausage and Mitchell Deprey. Directed by: Matthew Bate.