Twisted: A BalloonamentaryMAY 27 2008

An interesting-sounding documentary, on a row between two schools of balloon twisters. (Some examples of the craft.) From the NYT:

"Twisted: A Balloonamentary" examines the world of professional balloon twisters, who make everything from life-size racing cars to their own wedding dresses. It also exposes the rift--who knew?--between the "gospel twisters," who use their craft as a way to teach Bible lessons, and the "adult" twisters, who use balloons for more prurient entertainment.

"I refused to see the movie" when it first played, said Ralph Dewey, a prominent gospel twister from Deer Park, Tex. "There's just too much unclean stuff in there." He and several other like-minded twisters boycotted a screening of "Twisted" at a balloon convention in Texas last year.

The scenes that might make Mr. Dewey squirm take place at a gay men's party in Las Vegas, where balloons are fashioned into parts of the male anatomy that are most logically suited for this purpose.

According to the twisters themselves, the two factions have long co-existed, however uncomfortably, at conventions and other gatherings, but the film is bringing simmering resentments to the surface.