gavin6942 The life and career of the legendary Hollywood insider, Shep Gordon.I had never heard of Shep Gordon before this documentary showed up on Netflix. Now I know he was instrumental in the rise of Alice Cooper and his legend, he helped create the "celebrity chef" and he was involved in the Cameron Crowe plane crash story fictionalized in "Almost Famous".We learn about the Hollywood Vampires, and the unlikely drinking duo of John Lennon and Alice Cooper. I say unlikely not just because how different they are musically, but the political aspects could have been mind-blowing (though Cooper insists he was apolitical at the time).We learn of the Anne Murray and Alice Cooper connection, which is even stranger than Lennon. Heck, in many ways this is far more a story of Alice Cooper than it is of Shep Gordon. If a Cooper documentary does not exist yet, expect one to come around soon thanks to his role in this.Is the story too positive? That seems to be the biggest complaint, that the film comes off as more of a Mike Myers love letter than a true documentary. Surely someone at some point must have had something negative to say? Maybe, maybe not. At the very least, Myers should be applauded just for getting this out there and letting the world know Gordon exists. Clearly Hollywood knows, but does anyone else?

runamokprods Shep Gordon has managed many huge acts, first in the music business, and then in other areas ranging from film to cooking. He has also befriended just about every heavyweight in Hollywood. And yet it seems he's managed to do so while still being a good guy, a nice guy, an honorable guy. There are on camera interviews with Alice Cooper (who was Shep's 1st client, and who he has managed for 45 years!), Mick Fleetwood, Michael Douglas, Tom Arnold, Emeril Lagasse, Anne Murray, Mike Meyers, Willie Nelson, Sylvester Stallone and Steven Tyer. But the best interview subject is Shep himself, who has tremendously entertaining, often funny and occasionally tragic anecdotes about his many years in show business. Among the most interesting are the various clever, and sometimes amusingly devious ways Shep would raise his clients' public profiles and help make them stars. There's a genuine wisdom and even a spiritual side to Shep, who befriended the Dali Llama, and spent a week cooking for him as a way of giving back. Ultimately Shep realized, sadly late in the game, that there was more to life than work, and that he was missing out on having kids and a family. Not a 'change your life' film, but it's always engaging, like listening to the most fun and intelligent guest at a great party.

chrisjapan An upbeat and informative documentary about the life of a man who's done a lot of sex, drugs and managing rock & roll. He appears to have rubbed shoulders with so many celebrities, but still remains down to earth. I'm sure he has a 1001 stories to tell,some in the film are really interesting. I think Shep would make a great pick for the old fantasy dinner party scenario.I was engrossed by his journey and the unpretentious honesty of his very interesting life, a true opportunist and marketeer who appears to remain steadfastly loyal to those around him. A funny documentary very different from so many before, loved the graphic reconstructions and the narrations transposed on these, thoroughly entertaining, I learned and laughed a lot.

cricket crockett . . . as Chicken Little used to say. Film director Michael Myers gets a bunch of his buddies to pay homage on-screen to 21st Century Hawaii's version of 20th Century Paris' Gertrude Stein. However, unlike Stein's salon for intellectuals, what the denizens of Hollywood producer\music artist manager Shep Gordon have in common is that almost ALL of them are filthy rich. They can personally thank Gordon for much of their lucre, as well as their fame. Unfortunately, Gordon himself has been at the forefront of blurring the line between fame and infamy during the past 50 years. As he observes toward the end of SUPERMENSCH, "There's nothing I've ever seen in my life with Fame that's healthy--it makes it hard to survive." This film makes frequent references to ill-fated Gordon intimates, including Janis Joplin, Jimmi Hendrix, and Teddy Pendergrass. The other constant themes are Gordon's thwarted obsession to have a biological child of his own (who could inherit his "$20 million" digs on Maui), and Bad Karma (which he attempts to ward off by sleeping in the same bed his role model the Dalai Lama reclined in at a New York City luxury hotel). All this is enough to prompt viewers to shout at the screen, "But hey, Shep, WHOSE idea was it for Alice Cooper to start slaughtering defenseless chickens on-stage as part of his "act"??!