Been a couple of days. And my last post was rushed. No links to speak of. Oh well. Let's get to the movies!
Backseat was a reasonably good first effort from a couple of young filmmakers. It's a road trip movie, with a few moments of very good writing. But it's uneven and doesn't really inspire. The acting was good, but it's becoming a cliche. "The square and the wildman take a road trip with hilarious results." Some of the hilarious results were laughworthy, but pound for pound, I felt like I could have made this one myself, and as Grand Rapids Dave pointed out, why shoot on film when your budget is so low? The money sunk into stock could have gone to locations, cast, shooting more footage, whatever. I love film like crazy, but priorities, guys.
Grand Rapids Dave and Paul have departed, after many beers in the Driskill bar, many many laughs, and hours of movie geek chitchat. When we parted company last night, they had about three hours to pack, eat, and sober up before getting up for a 5am departure time. I will be working on them on one of their projects in the future. Nothing to divulge at the moment, but stay tuned. When they are ready for a release, I will pass the word.
Speaking of "ready for a release," it's really challenging finding time to masturbate when sharing a tiny hotel room with Johnny A-Game. And that's all I'm going to say about that. What's that, A-Game? Going out for a smoke?
Oh, Baby.
And I'm back!
Back to the movies.
The Ape, written and directed by, and starring, James Franco from Freaks and Geeks and the Spider-Man franchise was... not great. I was really rooting for it. The idea is surreal enough and has some things to say about the artistic process and manhood in general (these seem to be popular themes this year), but James Franco isn't strong enough an actor to direct himself. He's a clumsy director overall, with stylized shots that distract more than they augment, and near the end, as the movie reaches its emotional climax, the directorial choices actually mute the impact of the scene.
It was well-written, though. Franco is more of a writer than I might have thought, and he's a nice guy. I had the opportunity to shake his hand and wish him luck before his premiere. To the surprise of nobody, being rich, famous, sexy, and popular is a recipe for a good mood much of the time.
Frozen is a pschological thriller from the UK that was tremendously engaging. A young woman searches for her sister, who disappeared two years earlier. It flirts with slipping into cliche and contrivance, but the performances are strong, and (half-spoiler alert) it's a relief when a story like this doesn't end in a "shocking," contrived, ultimately unsatisfying and hackneyed split-personality reveal.
I hope this one gets picked up.
Probably the best film I saw yesterday was Unknown White Male, a documentary about a 30-year-old man who suddenly and inexplicably loses memory of all his experiences while retaining all functional memory. So he can walk, talk, ride a bike, whatever, but doesn't remember his family, friends, or name.
Following Doug as he meets his father and sisters and friends for the first time is heartbreaking and riveting. His first time seeing snow, seeing fireworks, and tasting different foods is fascinating enough, but watching home movies of "old" Doug and "new" Doug is creepy and the differences in his photography styles and so on make for subtle illustrations of how much our experiences shape who we are.
Who would you be if someone shook your Etch-A-Sketch? Who would I be?
After the movies, a few drinks with the Grand Rapids boys, Rebecca from Vancouver Film School, and a few other really fun festival attendees rounded out a great night. I think I want a job that just requires me to go from Festival to Festival in a luxurious bus and report on them, like Film Fest John Madden. How do I get that job?
Tonight's films are Abnormal Beauty and Three... Extremes, both from the Asian Horror vault. I can't wait!
Tomorrow, the plan includes a visit to Kerbey Lane Cafe for gingerbread pancakes (thanks for the recommendation, Claire!) and a gametime decision as to whether I'll be seeing Stomp Shout! Scream! Or Tristram Shandy. The latter comes highly recommended by Lynne and Rich at Cinemapolis, but I'm a sucker for surfer/monster movies. And this one comes form one of the guys behind Aqua Teen Hunger Force. That's a pedigree for success if I ever saw one.
Im out. Going to get an Oreo Blizzard. Met someone last night who enjoys Oreos wrapped in balogna. Seriously. To quote Ernie Hudson in Ghostbusters, I have seen shit to turn you white. But that? That's just not right.
Backseat was a reasonably good first effort from a couple of young filmmakers. It's a road trip movie, with a few moments of very good writing. But it's uneven and doesn't really inspire. The acting was good, but it's becoming a cliche. "The square and the wildman take a road trip with hilarious results." Some of the hilarious results were laughworthy, but pound for pound, I felt like I could have made this one myself, and as Grand Rapids Dave pointed out, why shoot on film when your budget is so low? The money sunk into stock could have gone to locations, cast, shooting more footage, whatever. I love film like crazy, but priorities, guys.
Grand Rapids Dave and Paul have departed, after many beers in the Driskill bar, many many laughs, and hours of movie geek chitchat. When we parted company last night, they had about three hours to pack, eat, and sober up before getting up for a 5am departure time. I will be working on them on one of their projects in the future. Nothing to divulge at the moment, but stay tuned. When they are ready for a release, I will pass the word.
Speaking of "ready for a release," it's really challenging finding time to masturbate when sharing a tiny hotel room with Johnny A-Game. And that's all I'm going to say about that. What's that, A-Game? Going out for a smoke?
Oh, Baby.
And I'm back!
Back to the movies.
The Ape, written and directed by, and starring, James Franco from Freaks and Geeks and the Spider-Man franchise was... not great. I was really rooting for it. The idea is surreal enough and has some things to say about the artistic process and manhood in general (these seem to be popular themes this year), but James Franco isn't strong enough an actor to direct himself. He's a clumsy director overall, with stylized shots that distract more than they augment, and near the end, as the movie reaches its emotional climax, the directorial choices actually mute the impact of the scene.
It was well-written, though. Franco is more of a writer than I might have thought, and he's a nice guy. I had the opportunity to shake his hand and wish him luck before his premiere. To the surprise of nobody, being rich, famous, sexy, and popular is a recipe for a good mood much of the time.
Frozen is a pschological thriller from the UK that was tremendously engaging. A young woman searches for her sister, who disappeared two years earlier. It flirts with slipping into cliche and contrivance, but the performances are strong, and (half-spoiler alert) it's a relief when a story like this doesn't end in a "shocking," contrived, ultimately unsatisfying and hackneyed split-personality reveal.
I hope this one gets picked up.
Probably the best film I saw yesterday was Unknown White Male, a documentary about a 30-year-old man who suddenly and inexplicably loses memory of all his experiences while retaining all functional memory. So he can walk, talk, ride a bike, whatever, but doesn't remember his family, friends, or name.
Following Doug as he meets his father and sisters and friends for the first time is heartbreaking and riveting. His first time seeing snow, seeing fireworks, and tasting different foods is fascinating enough, but watching home movies of "old" Doug and "new" Doug is creepy and the differences in his photography styles and so on make for subtle illustrations of how much our experiences shape who we are.
Who would you be if someone shook your Etch-A-Sketch? Who would I be?
After the movies, a few drinks with the Grand Rapids boys, Rebecca from Vancouver Film School, and a few other really fun festival attendees rounded out a great night. I think I want a job that just requires me to go from Festival to Festival in a luxurious bus and report on them, like Film Fest John Madden. How do I get that job?
Tonight's films are Abnormal Beauty and Three... Extremes, both from the Asian Horror vault. I can't wait!
Tomorrow, the plan includes a visit to Kerbey Lane Cafe for gingerbread pancakes (thanks for the recommendation, Claire!) and a gametime decision as to whether I'll be seeing Stomp Shout! Scream! Or Tristram Shandy. The latter comes highly recommended by Lynne and Rich at Cinemapolis, but I'm a sucker for surfer/monster movies. And this one comes form one of the guys behind Aqua Teen Hunger Force. That's a pedigree for success if I ever saw one.
Im out. Going to get an Oreo Blizzard. Met someone last night who enjoys Oreos wrapped in balogna. Seriously. To quote Ernie Hudson in Ghostbusters, I have seen shit to turn you white. But that? That's just not right.
2 Comments:
Three...Extremes is supposed to be quite good. The "Dumplings" segment with Bai Ling (about an actress[?] wanting to stay young) also exists in a feature length version and is said to be excellent as well. Chris Doyle shot this segment (maybe the whole movie, I can't recall). He's Wong Kar-Wai's d.p. of choice and gives good drunken interviews.
I think Lions Gate is giving this s perfunctory theatrical release before putting out a region 1 dvd; hopefully they didn't dub it ala Haute Tension.
And by the way, I believe Heath & Jake devise a solution to "finding time to masturbate" in Brokeback Mountain.
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