<p>For all aspiring poets, writers, literati, and counter-culture aficionados in the NYC area, the documentary <em>William S. Burroughs: A Man Within</em> comes out today and we shouldn't need to tell you why you'd want to see it. The doc features never-before-seen archival footage of Burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and confidants including John Waters, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Jello Biafra, and David Cronenberg, as well as a score by Sonic Youth and Patti Smith. Anybody who's interested in this fascinating writer and person won't want to miss it.</p><p></p>Reviews have been positive except for the one written by David Fear for <a href="http://newyork.timeout.com/arts-culture/film/592129/william-s-burroughs-a-man-within">Time Out New York</a> who said: "Even by the standards of the jive-talking hustlers and jazz-loving hipstersâcode name: the Beatsâwith whom heâd alter the landscape of American letters, this gaunt, gravel-voiced junkie took rebellion to a new level. Outspoken about his sexuality long before queer chic, Burroughs didnât toe a gay-lib party line. Punks considered him their patron saint, yet he never claimed affinity for them either. He ran in many circles, and pledged allegiance to none of them.<p></p>"There are precious few examples of the writing that made him an icon, and despite testimonies from former boyfriends and fellow mavericks, the Burroughs we see here is mostly a gun nut who poses for photos with everyone from Jean Genet to Kurt Cobain. Reducing an influential genius to a bohemian Zelig with a firearm fetish misses the forest for the flaming metal trees; in Leyserâs biographical interzone, the superficial trumps the truly subversive."