While perusing various news outlets for massage therapy news, I happened upon a story from MassageMag.com that was initially very interesting. It said that a movie titled “The Art of Massage” had received a prestigious Best of Show award from the Aurora Awards at the Aurora Ceremony.
This seemed like big news, and I hurriedly tried to dig up information about this movie, hoping to find rave reviews and interest about either a compelling story surrounding a massage therapist or the field of massage therapy itself.
But I couldn’t find any information about the movie, or even about the Aurora Awards. Only after searching using extremely precise keywords did I find the Web site of the massage therapist who starred in the movie, Adrian Carr.
Carr’s Web site seems to serve as a way for Carr to promote his movie. The Aurora Awards – as well as The Telly Awards, of which Carr’s Web site says his film has won two – also seem to be a way for businesses to promote their video products instead of celebrating art and creative presentation through unbiased, professional critique. To wit, among the over 100 declared Aurora Awards winners in 2009 listed on The Aurora Awards Web site, companies like Best Buy and the National Restaurant Association were listed. I don’t remember these groups producing Academy-awarding-winning projects in the past, but I could be mistaken.
Cynicism aside, I was able to find reviews of the movie “The Art of Massage”, both being from massage therapists, not film critics. The reviews were glowing. I was also able to view clips of the movie on YouTube and Carr’s Web site, and the clips made the movie seem like a well produced instructional video on massage therapy.
So I was hoping to start an informal sounding board about the movie. If anyone has seen “The Art of Massage”, please share your comments. Does it go past being simply a high-end instructional video? Is there reason to expect the movie to be shown at a real film festival? Any recommendations on other videos about massage therapy, documentary, instructional or otherwise? As always, any input given is greatly appreciated. Let’s hope we can find some honest opinions about the quality of this film and other films about massage therapy.