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List Price: $29.95 | | Label: Heretic Films
Salesrank: 68631
Released: April 25, 2006 |
| Our Price: $17.99 |
| Used Price: $13.99 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
The community web site Craigslist.org has become one of the most popular sites on the internet boasting 10 million unique users. 24 Hours on Craigslist documents a random day-in-the-life on Craigslist San Francisco of what has evolved into the world's largest community board.An Ethel Merman drag queen searches for the perfect backup band for her Led Zeppelin covers. Doors for sale one night stands compulsive roomates transsexual erotic services. The mundane and the sublime the ridiculous and the profound all come together to paint a portrait of a thriving humanistic community in the midst of an ever-accelerating culture.DVD Features: Available Subtitles: English Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 2.0) Commentary by: Director Michael Ferris GibsonDolby Digital 2.0 4 Hours of Deleted Scenes Bonus Footage Feature Commentary by Director Michael Ferris GibsonFour Featurettes Making of Documentary Meet the Staff of Craigslist Rebuilding the Tower of Babel Who is Craig?System Requirements:Running Time 83 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DOCUMENTARIES/MISC. Rating: NR UPC: 858964001034 Manufacturer No: 858964001034
Description of 24 Hours on Craigslist:
The fact that the outtakes included in 24 Hours on Craigslist occupy an entire disc of their own and last more than twice as long as the main program is an indication that director Michael Ferris Gibson had an embarrassment of riches to choose from when editing this 2004 documentary. Viewers should applaud his restraint in limiting the film to 83 minutes. Were it much longer, chances are that it would become tedious; as it is, it's an entertaining if not exactly riveting piece of work. Craiglist.org, of course, is one of the most popular sites on the web, a cyberspace classifieds with listings in every imaginable category, and after founder Craig Newmark randomly picked a single day in '03, Ferris and his crew spent that day roaming around San Francisco (home of Craigslist's main office) and checking out some of the many folks who placed and answered the ads posted there. Needless to say, strangeness abounds. The titles of the listings tell much of the story: "Indian virgin seeks willing woman." "Flogging for flowers" (don't even ask). "Seeking gay sperm donor." "Will marry gay guy for money." Problem is, given the limitations of shooting within one 24-hour period, there's not much Ferris can do other than interview the people involved. Although we do see a few actual activities (the antics of a "flash mob" assembling in a hotel lobby and a city park; some moments from a "staring contest"), what we mostly get are talking heads. What's more, notwithstanding the presence of a few real characters like the Ethel Merman impersonator looking for heavy metal musicians to back him in performance, there's nothing here as fascinating as, say, the guy who tried to sell his soul on Ebay a few years back. Bonus features include about 80 minutes' worth of featurettes (a "making of," an interview with Newmark, etc.) in addition to the aforementioned outtakes. --Sam Graham
24 Hours on Craigslist Reviews:
Informative and Interesting 
2008-05-06 - I bought the documentary to show in my college course about Human Communication on the Internet. The interesting scenes immediately give a sense of what Craig's List is and how it operates. I was surprised that there was no documentary-style information like I expect from a news report. The film simply shows people and what they say about their experiences as they use Craig's list. Some of the scenes are quite entertaining, and the piece is thought-provoking regarding our consumerism.
My students seemed fascinated by the type of people who use the Internet this way. We have much to learn about how people use the Internet. I would think anyone interested in understanding the Internet or who is considering developing an Internet business could gain ideas from this documentary.
An Interesting Documentary
2008-05-05 - "24 Hours on Craigslist"
An Interesting Democracy
Amos Lassen
Craigslist is an interesting aspect of our lives. As most of you know Craigslist might just be what is holding urban life together and today many people have a Craigslist story whether it
be selling furniture, renting a apartment, finding a roommate or looking for a quick sexual liaison. But how many of us know who Craig is. The movie shows us that Craig is a giant computer located under the stands at Kezer Stadium, San Francisco.
Michael Gibson, who made this film, used eight camera crews on the morning of August 4, 2003 and filmed people who had posted their needs and desires on Craigslist and then went out and filmed people who responded. Some of the moments are very funny and some are very strange The 50 year old guy who lived with his mom and was searching for a woman who weighed 270 pounds was unbelievable but obviously it was true.
It is impossible to capture the essence of Craigslist on film but this is what we have. Even though we know that the website is not just about aberrant people and those with lewd imaginations, this is what is captured here.
:S 
2007-06-24 - An interesting idea for a documentary: What happens in 24-hours on Craigslist? Or at least this is the repeated message on the box, previews, etc. Unfortunately, it's not so much about 24-hours on Craigslist (which could have been kind of awesome) as much as what happens on Craigslist and who the hell Craig is (or isn't). I enjoyed the film enough I finished watching it and couldn't resist the temptation of visiting my local branch of Craigslist. Beyond that though - eh, a bit of a waste of time.
Good, kind of fun, 
2007-02-20 - It was kind of fun to watch. Not awe inspiring. I bought it mostly because I like the website. But if you like people documentaries, you will like this. If you are a techie looking for more information about craigslist, this movie doesn't have it. It's about the people who use craigslist and not craiglist itself.
Pointless Montage of Eccentrics Yields Random User Experiences But Little Real Insight
2007-02-13 - I understand what director Michael Ferris Gibson is trying to do, but his free-form approach is the first and last inspiration this 2006 documentary has to offer. With the possible exception of "Basic Instinct 2", it might well be the most pointless film I have seen in the last several years. Instead of making a film about how the site works and providing an underlying context for the operation of its unique network of online urban communities, Gibson simply looks at the most eccentric users of the site and spotlights their personalities for comic effect. He has no problem finding oddball characters to fill his self-indulgent tableau, for example, an Ethel Merman impersonator looking to start a 1970's-style power band, a pony-tailed butler for hire, an anal-retentive mother who justifies having six strollers to sell, a heavy-metal chef, a baby brigade of mothers working out at the emptied-out Stonestown Mall, and a man who rents himself out as a husband but has a bigger dream of becoming a rent-a-husband pimp.
The list goes on and on, as each episode is introduced under their appropriate categories on the home page. Eight camera crews were sent out to document all these users on a single day in August 2003, but the problem is that there is neither an organizing (nor an exit) strategy behind all the unrelated, human interest stories. The only points of commonality are the stereotypical and rather unfair images that are conjured up of San Francisco as a magnet for lunatics, and to a lesser degree, the contrived device of making a mystical figure out of founder Craig Newmark, whom many in the film believe does not actually exist. The overabundance of extras on the double-disc 2006 DVD is marginally more interesting than the film itself. On the first disc, there is an intermittently interesting commentary track by Gibson, as well as four featurettes describing various aspects of the site and the cultural phenomenon it represents. The second disc offers over three hours of outtakes, which I frankly couldn't watch for more than a few minutes. For heavy Craigslist users, I'm sure this film holds some interest, but others can skip it without regret.
