Film Festival: Day 6

Dharm

This is a good drama about a Brahman priest who accidentally adopts a baby from outside of his caste and the havoc that raises on him and his community. Eventually the priest realizes that his religion has stupid rules that lead to disharmony in society (about 60 years after Gandhi and 2,400 years after the Buddha). It's a little strange watching this film as an American because we haven't had a formal class system since . . . uh, 1968? Okay, maybe that wasn't that long ago but, still, this movie's probably a lot more socially relevant in it's home country (India, if that wasn't clear). Oh well, I suppose the world can always use another movie about people opening their minds and becoming more tolerant. One of them is bound to do the trick eventually.

Darling

This is a Swedish film about a spoiled, rich bitch who gets her comeuppance when she has to take a job at McDonald's. There she befriends a 61-year-old man who's fallen on hard times after his divorce and she almost learns a valuable lesson from him about how being a good, hardworking person is more important than being hot and owning lots of great outfits. Although the ending was disappointing, I can't say that it wasn't true to life.

The Savage Breast

Shorts programs are always a mixed bag. This one had a bunch of films that revolve around music. Also, a surprising number of them feature breasts. I mean, I know it was in the title and all but I still wasn't really expecting it. One of them started off with some Earth Mother mumbo jumbo and then went on to show artful shots of a naked woman for ten minutes. I think my favorite boobless (55378008?) short was Steve Martin on the Loose. Based on a dream the director had, it features Steve Martin and Mary Steenburgen from Back to the Future Part III attempting to save Steve Martin's twin from drowning. I think.

The Sperm

I think this movie was Thailand's attempt to prove that they can be just as weird as the Japanese. This is a movie about (Ringo, spoiler alert!) a young man who, through a complicated set of circumstances, masturbates on the street causing his sperm to become mutated by exposure to some aliens' malfunctioning ray gun. These mutated sperm grow to giant size (for sperm that's about golf-ball size) and impregnate women on their own. The next day, about four hundred women wake up in the final stage of pregnancy and give birth to babies that have the lead actor's face. I can't express how disturbing that visual is. By the next day the babies are now toddler sized (still with full-grown, matching heads) and unbelievably horny. Apparently, they live only long enough to masturbate, at which point they shrivel up leaving behind only a dried up bag of skin. I can't express to you how much classier this film is than Bad Biology.

Film Festival: Day 5

Anywhere, USA

This movie was interesting but I think it was supposed to be funny. Oh, and profound. Funny and profound. That would have been nice. One of my fellow jurors pointed out that it was filled with great characters, it's just that the plot didn't give them much to work with. Knowing that this was made by a first-time director does make me very curious to see what he does next, though. Clearly, there's some talent behind the camera and I think it would be really interesting to see how the director grows (or doesn't grow).

Medicine for Melancholy

I'd say that this film falls in the Before Sunrise/Sunset mold. The trouble is (as Colleen always points out) that's a very difficult type of film to pull off. I mean, just two people talking? Especially for another first-time director. I give that guy a lot of credit for only being a little boring. Again, he's another person that I'd like to see mature as his career goes on. It's also nice to be reminded that movies about black people don't have to be completely retarded.

Lovely By Surprise

So far, this film has made me think the most. I would have to see it again before I could really have an opinion on it because it throws an awful lot at you and it's not always clear what's going on. It took me about five minutes to really wrap my head around the ending. And when I saw "wrap my head around" I mean "figure out what questions are left up to the audience's interpretation". Answering those questions will take considerably more work. This is another first-time director (again with the first-time directors!) that I'd like to keep my eye on.

Storm

This was supposed to be like The Matrix but it was more like The Matrix Revolutions meets The Fifth Element. It's about an epic struggle between two poorly defined sides (with no apparent motivation) and the douche bag who must choose between them. Oh, and the titular storm didn't appear to have anything to do with, well, anything. There should have been way more kick-ass fight scenes with the hot Swedish chicks and way less childhood trauma. Emotions are for sissy movies, not movies where girls wear skin-tight leather unitards and kick people in the face.

Film Festival: Day 4

Summer Scars

Before I even get to this movie, I need to talk about the awesome short that preceded it. You know what? I can't even do it justice. Just take ten minutes of your time to go here, click on "Short Film", then "Nash Edgerton", and then "Spider". Okay, the main event was a solid film about a gang of kids that run into a creepy guy in the woods. Lots of tension and uncomfortable situations follow. Also, a lot of unnecessary religious business. Two of the main characters are named Peter and Paul; and one of them is looking for a dog named Jesus, who doesn't exist (at least, not anymore). None of this appears to be particularly relevant to the themes of the film.

The Matsugane Potshot Affair

This film reeled me in from the very beginning with it's darkly comedy sensibilities. But the problem with black comedies is that they're extremely dry and require an awful lot of attention from the audience to pick up on those elements. So, when this movie got bogged down with a bunch of extraneous action mid-way through I just got bored and stopped paying so much attention. Near the end I thought I was going to fall asleep.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad

Acrassicauda is Iraq's only heavy metal band. They take their name from the black scorpion, which is known to be way more badass than regular scorpions. This documentary follows their story as the band attempts to play shows outside the green zone in Baghdad where mortars and gunfights are a daily occurrence (much of it was filmed in 2006). Eventually, the guys decide that it's too dangerous to remain in their hometown and, one by one, move to Syria where Iraqis are not allowed to work legally. Yeah, things are going great in that part of the world.

Phoebe in Wonderland

Some movies you just know are going to get a theatrical release. I mean, this one's got Felicity Huffman, Bill Pullman, Patricia Clarkson, Campbell Scott, and it stars the littlest Fanning. The movie gets off to a dishonest start by pretending that it's a story about a girl finding herself through theatre but it's really about parents coming to terms with their daughter's mental condition. In that way, it's a very powerful film that deals with issues that we as a society are just now coming to grips with. So, this one's worth checking out.

Confession of Pain

Okay, you know The Departed? Well, that was a remake of a film from Hong Kong called Infernal Affairs and this is made by the same people. It's a movie with an odd structure. It's a murder mystery where you learn who the killer is very early on but you have to wait until the very end to find out why (Answer: It was all part of an elaborate revenge plot). Honestly, the whole thing felt like a really long episode of [insert network detective show here]. I'm sorry, but shit like this should be wrapped up in 45 minutes, sans commercials. But hey, I wasn't a huge fan of Infernal Affairs to begin with.

Film Festival: Day 3

The Toe Tactic

My day got off to a slow start with this film about a young woman who needed to discover . . . something. I'm not quite sure what, but I do know that she needed the help of five animated dogs that served as a Greek chorus, voiced by David Cross, Eli Wallach, Andrea Martin, and others (oddly enough, it featured H. Jon Benjamin in a rare live-action role). All of this was scored by Yo La Tengo.

In a Dream

Any Philadelphian will recognize Isaiah Zagar's mixed-medium mosaics on South Street and throughout the city but they probably don't know much about the man himself. Fortunately, his son made a wonderful documentary about him (at the bequest of his mother). At least, the project started off as a portrait of his father as an artist but it ended up becoming an examination of a difficult time in his parents marriage. One member of the audience described this film as the bravest thing she'd ever seen any family do and I have to agree. It's a brutally honest film about imperfect people who have to come to terms with their self-inflicted wounds. If you ever get the chance, you should see it.

Bad Biology

The director said it shouldn't have been made. This movie is so indecent that I don't think I should even try to summarize it. Hell, that mutant baby pictured above only scratches the surface of this film's depravity. I loved it!

The Visitor

This is the type of movie that is almost made Oscar nominated. It's a moving portrait about how people's lives can altered by chance encounters and then torn apart by an unfeeling bureaucracy. It's full of really strong performances and it even deals with a current social issue (immigration policy in post-9/11 America) by focusing on how it affects individuals on a personal level. You should catch it when it's at the Ritz. And it will, undoubtedly, play at the Ritz.

Stuck

Inspired by the horrifying real-life events of a woman who hit a homeless man with her car and then parked in her garage with the victim still embedded in the windshield, alive and pleading for help, this film packs a powerful punch. The main character's refusal to assist a dying man or even acknowledge her responsibility for the situation is chilling. That being said, this is also a movie from the man who brought you Re-Animator, so it's got a few laughs. It's a really smart film and in many ways it's the opposite of a standard horror film. In this movie the unstoppable foe who continues to come back from the dead is the innocent victim while the horny co-eds are the merciless villains.

Film Festival: Day 2

Pistoleros

This movie presents itself as a modern-day, Danish spaghetti western in the Sergio Leone model but it's really just another Tarantino knock-off with a ludicrously convoluted plot. The entire story hinges on the fact that a criminal would stash a large amount of loot and then force his closest friends to get tattoos offering clues as to the location. Why would he do this? He knows where the money is. He hid it. Was he afraid that he's forget where he put his fortune? It's almost like he was daring people to try and steal his money. Also, one of the buddies that he forced tattoos on was a stripper. Right, 'cause nobody would ever get a good look at that one. Maybe he was hoping that everybody would just be too distracted by her tits.

Baghead

I love seeing movies when I don't know a thing about them. This one started off in a super-meta way by showing an independent film being screened as part of a film festival. Then it transitioned into a thoughtful character study about four friends in L.A. Next, things got back to being all meta when the friends decide to spend the weekend in cabin writing a screenplay that will feature all of them as actors. Then, suddenly, things took a dramatic turn as all the elements of a good horror film emerged. This movie kept me guessing about it's nature the entire way through and I loved every minute of it. Also, the characters are so well drawn that everything they do has a ring of truth to it and that makes this such a strong film. So far, it's my favorite film of the festival.

Mirageman

This Chilean film about a do-it-yourself superhero had a lot of neat fight scenes and a few good laughs but, overall, it lacked focus. Sometimes movies try to take on too much and they just end up being muddled. Also, the whole thing just seemed a little lackluster.

Film Festival: Opening Night

Young@Heart

A documentary about wicked old people who sing James Brown and Sonic Youth songs? Sounds a little too quirky doesn't it? Well, that's what I thought (and it totally was) but this movie is too feel-good to hate. I went through several stages while watching this film. From "this is too cutesy" to "okay, old people singing really is funny" to "I'm really starting to care about these people" and by the end I was at the "I can't believe I'm actually being moved by this". Charming old people, you've warmed my heart of stone and I can't wait for the rest of the festival!


And now, I must rush off to a swanky party with an open bar. Life is sweet my friends, life is sweet.

Addendum: A couple of the wicked old people were at the swanky party . . . on the dance floor. So cool.

The Rape of the Vampire: Not as pleasant as it sounds

I saw The Rape of the Vampire.

Usually pretentious vampire movies are right up my alley.

This time? Not so much.


That's how the movie made me feel.

Blood Diamond: These guys go through a lot of trouble for a rock

Blood Diamond is a solid film with a bit of an identity crisis. It's not sure if it wants to be a sincere message movie about the perils of conflict diamonds or an action movie about a man fighting for his family. To it's credit, the film delivers competently on both fronts but I felt like it could have been more successful if it choose one aspect and stuck to it. However, I am torn on this issue.

In principal, I really like the idea of using the standard action-movie format to create a blockbuster that deals with relevant sociopolitical issues. I guess there's a fine line between brilliantly subverting a genre by challenging the viewers to examining global injustice and making an action movie that's a little preachy. This film almost makes it into the first category.


Nothing good ever happens in the third world.

The Little Shop of Horrors: Without the singing

Roger Corman famously filmed The Little Shop of Horrors in only two days. At least, he completed principal photography in two days (there were some reshoots) but why quibble about details?

It's amazing that a feature film could be completed in that amount of time and nothing short of a miracle that the finished product is such a delightful little gem. Don't get me wrong, it's still a cheaply made B picture but it's surprisingly charming. It has so much character, so many inventive ideas and so much quirk that it practically begs to be turned into a musical with a proper budget.

Aside from the obvious man-eating plant, there's plenty of other weirdness going on here. All of the characters are so over the top that they shoot straight past "broadly drawn" on their way to some form of Kabuki-comedy. Mr. Mushnik is Jewier than fucking Tevye, Audrey speaks with an inhumanly high voice, and Dr. Phoebus Farb and Wilbur Force are a match made in somewhere I never want to visit. Basically, it's an insane little film with a shoestring budget.

And that's how I like my movies.


Why yes, that is an impossibly young Jack Nicholson.

Capturing the Friedmans: Ambiguity unbound

I think that great documentarians pick challenging subjects and aren't afraid of exploring the uncomfortable territory they lead to. And Capturing the Friedmans is filled to the brim with uncomfortable territory. It tells the story of Arnold Friedman who pleaded guilty to sexually
abusing and sodomizing the children that took his computer classes.

This case is especially complicated because the police failed to uncover any physical evidence and used questionable methods while interrogating the children. On the other hand, Arnold had a decent sized stack of kiddie porn hidden behind his piano and he admitted to molesting a minor on a previous occasion. It's quite possible that he is a pedophile who was wrongly convicted of child molestation.

The film consists almost entirely of gray areas and neither the Friedman family nor the police/prosecutors come off as very credible. The director, Andrew Jarecki, gives both sides enough rope to hang themselves. That the facts of what actually occurred remain so illusive is especially surprising considering that Arnold's son (and professional clown), David, made extensive recordings of the family as it went through this crisis. These home movies contain footage of incredibly personal moments of the family discussing the case, their legal options, the turmoil they're all going through and, most disturbingly, them just goofing around and having a good time.

It would have been easy for Jarecki to pick a side and make a film about how Arnold sexually abused entire classes of children or how a community fell victim to paranoia and began a witch-hunt that resulted with an innocent man in prison. But the director chose a more difficult path by presenting all of the confusing and contradictory evidence, trusting the audience to find their own answers to this mystery . . . or not, in my case.


So, who's the black sheep of the family? The admitted child molester or the professional clown?