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South by Southwest 2009: 10 Films (Plus) To Put On Your Schedule |
by Erik Childress
Anyone
who hasn’t attended the South by Southwest Film Festival by now is
truly missing out on some of the most fun you will have all year.
Especially if you’re flying in from the waning days of winter like I am
from Chicago. The 70-degree plus weather of Austin, Texas is almost
worth the trip alone. If you’re a film fan though, boy are you in luck,
even if it means spending most of the sunny days inside of a theater.
But once you get inside one of the Alamo Drafthouses to order up some
tasty goodness during a film premiere or experience the community feel
of the Austin Convention Center or soak in the glory of an old school
moviehouse like the Paramount Theatre, you might be asking if you’re in
Iowa. The average journalist at the festival trying to support some
indie features and documentaries is probably seeing 4-5 movies a day.
But what about the average ticket buyer or passholder? How many do you
see? Well, that’s really your business. Maybe I can help though. For I
have a list of flicks to help narrow down that schedule for you. We
would all like to see every one of the 100-plus films playing the fest
this year, but time isn’t on our side. At least you will have this as a
starting point though. So come on out to SXSW and show that even you
will see more festival features then Ben Lyons.
| “500 DAYS OF SUMMER” Director: Marc Webb Starring: Joseph Goanvirdon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel, Geoffrey Arend, Clark Gregg, Matthew Gray Gubler
It
seems there’s one film I see at a film festival every year that I
immediately begin e-mailing people about and telling them to stamp in
the date of its opening so a group outing can occur. In the past it’s
been Garden State and Knocked Up,ta films that know a
little something about the relationship game and ones I know I can get
my married and single friends alike into with a minimal amount of fuss.
After seeing it at Sundance this year I immediately began texting
friends to set a weekend aside in July, because we’re going to see 500 Days of Summer.
We’re told right from the get-go (in easily one of the funniest pre-title scrawls you’ll ever see)
that this is not a film destined for happy endings. It’s the tale of a
break-up that takes us back and forth between various points of time
during the 500 days (give or take a few) that Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Tom spends with Zooey Deschanel’s
Summer. He works at a greeting card company, delivering the catchy
pre-packaged poetry bought for loved ones around the world and he
instantly takes a shine to the new secretary on the block. She has a
bit of reluctance jumping into another relationship and he’s a bit
nervous on making the first move. But once they commit to each other
it’s all sunshine and Hall-and-Oates tunes. Only there’s a stark
contrast between those glorious beginnings and a year later as they
find themselves slowly growing apart, but not because of the standard
plot contrivances we’re used to in nine out of every ten romantic
comedies to hit theaters.
What debuting director Marc Webb and screenwriters Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber (ignore their Pink Panther 2 credit) have done is given this generation probably about as close to their Annie Hall
as they’re going to get. They are genuinely interested in these
character’s feelings and the tough choices involved in giving into
those emotions. No pre-rehearsed Bachelor confessions here. No,
this is actual reality for any number of young couples with true love
striking one and the doubt of being able to convince themselves hitting
the other (and us) hard. Don’t be scared, we’re not talking Shoot the Moon or Ordinary People here. 500 Days of Summer is a romantic comedy
and occasionally a gut-busting one that has the potential to shoot a
rib directly into your heart. It’s honest and is identifiable to both
sexes, despite a forewarned male perspective. Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
after headlining little seen gems like Brick and The Lookout,
is going to be receiving a lot of love after this comes out and
deservingly so, and its great to see Zooey Deschanel return to the
world of doomed relationships. The first film I ever saw at a film
festival was David Gordon Green’s All the Real Girls (Netflix it now) and after a bad year that saw her waste her charm in Yes Man and give one of the most stupefyingly head-scratching performances in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening,
Zooey has finally come full circle as the heartbreaker every guy would
hope to hold a hand with. Most people will have to wait until July to
see 500 Days of Summer. If you’re in Austin for SXSW, you’ll just have to wait until the end of the festival. It’s worth the stay.
SCREENING TIMES March 21 – 7:30 PM – Paramount Theatre
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT If you want a little warm-up to the way the festival ends, you will have three opportunities to catch Daryl Wein’s Breaking Upwards. It’s also a break-up story but one with a unique concept. Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones
play a couple who have been together a bit longer than Joseph &
Zooey and at the tail-end of their relationship, they are going to take
their break-up slow and experiment with actually planning it out. Think
the reverse of Jerry and Elaine’s “deal” to sleep together and
still be friends. It’s a thought-provoking idea to see if pain can be
micro-managed while supplementing it with other potential suitors and
trying to maintain the positives in a limited capacity. Wein was here
at SXSW last year with the AIDS documentary, Sex Positive (which I also recommended)
and he makes a nice transition here to narrative as both a storyteller
as well as an actor. Zoe Lister-Jones I expect to be seeing more and
more of on the indie scene the next few years and Breaking Upwards
takes a universal situation and spins some life into a story that is
also a cross-check to society’s insistence that it’s moirés on being
together remain the one and only path. You can catch it Saturday, March 14 (9:30 PM) at the Alamo Ritz as well as Monday, March 16 (4:30 PM) at the Alamo Lamar and again at the Ritz on Friday, March 20 (11:30 AM). Visit the website and read our interview with Daryl Wein.
“ANVIL!: THE STORY OF ANVIL” Director: Sacha Gervasi Starring: Steven "Lips" Kudlow, Robb Reiner
For
over a year since its premiere at the Sundance film festival in 2008,
I’ve heard colleagues sing the praises of this music documentary. I
missed it at the Chicago fest last year and just assumed it was one
more mockumentary in a long line of the genre that has been blurring
lines left and right on the festival circuit. And as I finally put it
on and began to watch its goofy sincerity, I quickly realized that this
was not a mockumentary at all. Anvil was a real band and this was a
real story. All my metal cred – down the drain in a heartbeat. Of
course, aside from the metal bands that made it into the mainstream, I
couldn’t distinguish a Ratt from a Cinderella. Which is why taking the
journey with “Lips” and Robb, the frontmen of Anvil and “demi-gods of
Canadian metal”, was such a joyful experience.
Not that
everything about their story is exactly joyful. The film does begin
with a European fan organizing a little comeback tour for the group
only to see it devolve into the kind of Spinal Tap-esque frustrations
that are impossible not to laugh at. (Honestly, how perfect is it that the drummer’s name is Robb Reiner?)
But then the film turns into an honest confessional about lost dreams
and the lives they now lead out of the spotlight while pushing fifty.
And what you end up having is a dual comeback story as the guys attempt
to record their 13th album and fight through the resistance of the
record industry and their own tempered egos. While you’re certain to
find enough doom and gloom on the documentary scene (and this festival alone),
Anvil is certainly one of the more flat-out enjoyable tales you’re
going to see, scripted or otherwise. Don’t just take my word for it
though, read Collin Souter’s review here at the site.
SCREENING TIMES Sunday, March 15 – 10:00 PM – Alamo Lamar Wednesday, March 18 – 9:00 PM – Alamo Ritz
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT While it may not entirely be a film about the process of improv, it certainly is a film about the end result. Alex Karpovsky who was here with his pseudo-documentary Woodpecker a few years ago is back with an actual document of David Pasquesi and TJ Jagodowski’s freeform improv show in Trust Us, This Is All Made Up.
Each of their shows is like a fresh, one-act play every night and this
is your chance to see one of their hilarious, totally original
creations. Not even Mamet or LaBute have done as much for audiences as
TJ and David have, so go check this one out as there is a promise to
have a full-length bonus performance on the DVD. You can catch three
showings of the film at the Alamo Ritz, including the world premiere
see the world premiere on Friday, March 13 (9:15 PM), Tuesday, March 17 (6:30 PM) and Friday, March 20 (8:00 PM). Visit the website and read our interview with Alex Karpovsky.
“BEST WORST MOVIE” Director: Michael Paul Stephenson Starring: George Hardy, Claudio Fragasso
Some people remember the first time they ever saw Star Wars or Titanic. They would also remember seeing Troll 2
if they ever saw it. Anyone who may ever have come across it on cable
would have been transfixed by its holy awfulness, a film which one fan
in Best Worst Movie comments manage to screw up every
conceivable aspect of the filmmaking process. Never mind that it’s a
troll movie without any trolls in it. (It was originally scripted as “Goblin”
and later tied-in by title alone to the Noah Hathaway/Sonny Bono ‘80s
non-classic.) This is a film involving turning people into plants,
seduction by corn-on-the-cob and, of course, pissing on hospitality. Oh
yes, you will remember. Of course not every bad movie finds the sort of
cult audience that Troll 2 has inspired. Screenings pop up
across the country. People make homemade replicas of the bad goblin
masks. They repeat their favorite lines, often with more skill than the
poor actors who had to see their effort become a major joke. But the
good thing is, most of them are now in on the joke, and this wholly
entertaining documentary invites you to be in on it too.
Created by Michael Paul Stephenson,
who played the terrorized little boy in the film, Best Worst Movie is
equal parts celebration of the love of bad cinema and a sharp contrast
between the lines of fame and infamy. George Hardy becomes the
unofficial star of the film, a most pleasant small town dentist who had
his 15 minutes as an actor and has now found second life riffing on
himself and enjoying the company of people who admire him for all the
wrong reasons. Hardy is his own star though, beloved by the community
that knows him. Compare that to the makers behind Troll 2, director Claudio Fragasso and his screenwriter wife, who mount the kind of slack-jawed, irony-lacked defense of the film (and its themes, no less) that makes Uwe Boll sound like he has a clue. Best Worst Movie is a true success on so many facets. It’s very funny, at times sad (and not in an ironic way) and whether you’ve seen Troll 2
or not you will immediately feel the need to go out and buy it. Or if
you’re able to stay after its world premiere screening, SXSW will be
mounting a special presentation of Troll 2 for your viewing pleasure. Visit the website
SCREENING TIMES Saturday, March 14 – 9:30 PM – Alamo Lamar (followed by Troll 2 at 11:30 pm) Monday, March 16 – 4:00 PM – Paramount Friday, March 20 – 9:30 PM – Austin Convention Center
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT So
after you’ve spent time in a room full of people passing judgment on a
film for being the worst film of all time, perhaps you might want to
spend time with some professional movie critics. The kind that you
normally dismiss and spit on when they don’t like Watchmen. Actually
we’re not all bad and you can see for yourself with Gerald Peary’s well-rounded For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism.
It might sound like a dry topic, but Peary wisely just doesn’t go with
one talking head after another and mixes in movie clips and archived
interviews to not merely mount some kind of defense for the profession
on the ropes making its eventual transition to the web. Instead he
charts the history (sans the hieroglyphic defacing from Mel Brooks’ History of the World Part I)
and especially the periods of criticism when the culture and the movies
were changing. Peary even charts the quote whore phenomenon and the
current rise of the web through the words of several well-respected
critics. (Yours truly was cut out, but obviously no hard feelings.)
Informative but never pompous or dull, get in there and check it out.
You may change your opinions about critics. At least some of us. It
screens on Monday, March 16 (8:00 PM) as well as on Wednesday, March 18 (12:00 PM) at the Alamo Ritz and then on Saturday, March 21 (4:00 pm) at the Alamo Lamar. Visit the website (www.fortheloveofmovies.net) and read our interview with Gerald Peary. You can also see a panel moderated by Peary on the subject entitled “The Incredible Shrinking (Expanding?) Film Critic Profession” featuring my astute colleagues Scott Weinberg, Shawn Levy and Karina Longworth.
“THE HORSEMAN” Director: Steven Kastrissios Starring: Peter Marshall, Caroline Marohasy, Brad McMurray, Jack Henry, Christopher Sommers, Steven Tandy, Bryan Probets, Chris Betts
Since the end of January this year, movie audiences have been treated to Liam Neeson and all the throat-punchin’ glory that is Taken.
If you haven’t seen it yet, why would you see anything else out in
theaters right now? Even for a PG-13 flick, it was a pretty brutal
revenge flick. But if you want to see it done Australian-style, get
your butt in the seat for Steven Kastrissios’ The Horseman.
Most people haven’t had the pleasure of seeing a great documentary
touring fests called Not Quite Hollywood, which focused on the Aussie
film industry and often on the extremes of violence that would make
soft stomachs a little uneasy. The Horseman is very much within
those parameters but does so through a story where the violence isn’t
just brutal, but absolutely justified.
Peter Marshall
plays a father who discovers his murdered daughter was part of an
underground amateur porn film. Drugged, taken advantage of and
eventually left for dead, her dad is now on a road trip of vengeance.
And God help them. Along the way he is joined by a teenage runaway, but
this is not a film to be remembered for tearful parallels and remorse.
In pure grindhouse fashion this is revenge served ice cold. One by one
he tracks down another member responsible. Neither filmmaker, actor or
distributor is spared from his anger. (Thankfully they didn’t make Troll 2.)
This is not a film about grey areas or the consequences of becoming
like your enemy. No, these guys deserve what they get and if you want
to question what it says about yourself for enjoying it, that’s your
business. But enjoy it I did very much and if your stomach is in a
better place than your heart, I think you will too. Visit the website.
SCREENING TIMES Monday, March 16 – 11:30 PM – Alamo Lamar Tuesday, March 17 – 11:30 PM – Alamo Lamar
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT Even though it’s a film featuring a zombie and has violence right there in the title, The Deagol Brothers’ Make-Out With Violence
is a unique twist on the expectations you might have when you first
hear what its about. It’s the story of brothers during that summer
between high school and the rest of their lives who discover that their
beautiful and popular galpal hasn’t just disappeared, but now
reappeared as a somewhat active living corpse. Unaware of how to
proceed, they take her back to the house they are sitting for and do
their best to somehow coax her body away from death. If she responds a
little better to fresh blood, then so be it.
Except this is not just another Little Shop of Horrors
with the pair finding new victims for their pet object. The zombie of
the film awakens more within them, inspiring both the courage to act
now on a crush before its too late as well as the deep sorrow of doing
everything you can for someone and still desperately trying to get them
to notice you. Don’t mistake this for an instance with the
ineptly-executed and vile piece of trash called Dead Girl. This
is a far more complex and thoughtful examination of the transition to
adulthood and how we deal with death rather than just another zombie
flick. Shellie Marie Shartzer deserves special praise for her physical performance as the reanimated, but the filmmakers (a collective who only go under a brotherly moniker) are truly a group to watch and I eagerly look forward to their next project. Make-Out with Violence could be described as Let the Right One In meets Lars and the Real Girl, but that’s just a label. Like Let the Right One In
it brings a fresh twist to a genre that has nearly run its course, but
is far more than just another genre piece. Check it out on Saturday, March 14 (8:00 PM) at the Alamo Ritz and then on Tuesday, March 17 (9:00 PM) and Saturday, March 21 (9:30 PM), both at the Alamo Lamar. Visit the website and read our interview with the Deagol Bros.
“HUMPDAY” Director: Lynn Shelton Starring: Mark Duplass, Joshua Leonard, Alycia Delmore, Lynn Shelton , Trina Willard
One
of my favorite films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was this
combination of rediscovering male bonding and amateur porn. That’s a
hand-in-hand (or something-in-something else) combo that may have those with squeamish sensibilities headed for the comfort of The Horseman. Don’t be so quick to dismiss though since first and foremost this is a comedy. And a great one. Secondly, director Lynn Shelton
only goes so far to shock with the premise involving two platonic mates
who psych themselves into filming a
not-that-there’s-anything-wrong-with-that act of love for a local porn
festival. Even all you homo-lovin’ commies out there should be able to
appreciate the potential social disaster of two straight men going all
the way in the name of art. Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard
couldn’t be better as the friends who feel the need to prove they’re
not just giving into society’s suburban rulebook. And one scene after
another is a little master class in comic timing amidst the
uncomfortable silences. You can read my full review here.
SCREENING TIMES Sunday, March 15 – 7:00 PM – Alamo Ritz Thursday, March 19 – 12:00 PM – Paramount
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT It takes a little warming up to John Bryant’s The Overbrook Brothers which begins with a Meet the Parents-like scenario only one you expect to devolve into the end of Godfather II soon enough. That’s how off-putting Mark Reeb’s half of the title is when we first meet him. When Nathan Harlan’s
Jason comes home to introduce his fiancé, Reeb’s constant-needling Todd
drops a bombshell on him. Jason was adopted. As Jason seeks to learn
the truth, further info sends Todd trailing him on a road trip and
bringing his winning personality with him. It’s not easy to like this
guy and by all means the movie makes no bones that we should, but the
more we settle into Reeb’s performance and the stupefyingly selfish,
no-off-button behavior of his character the more we end up laughing at
his impudent nature. You can test your own limits though. If you
haven’t started guffawing by the car-freeze-out battle of wills, it may
be too late. That’s where I knew I was enjoying the interplay and I’m
glad I stuck around until the end, for if you think you might be a
little squinty at what may be happening with genitalia in Humpday, believe me, you’ve literally seen nothing yet. The Overbrook Brothers has its world premiere on Sunday, March 15 (4:15 PM) at the Alamo Ritz, then over at the Alamo Lamar on Monday, March 16 (9:30 PM) and back over to the Paramount Theatre on Saturday, March 21 (10:00 PM). Visit the website.
“LUCKEY” Director: Laura Longsworth Starring: Tom Luckey, Spencer Luckey
Tom Luckey made his living as a sculptor, creating unusual works of art (even as part of the structure of his own home) that went against the norm of “the code.”
When he turned his attention to creating complex children’s climbing
structures, he had truly found his calling. Then he fell out of a
window and was left in the body of a quadriplegic. As Tom’s family
readjusts to his condition, one already estranged through a remarriage,
he wants to finish what he started – a three-story tall mountain of a
climber. You know, for kids. Tom’s architect son, Spencer, once
inseparable from his father now his own child on the way and sees an
opportunity to possibly recapture the close relationship they once had.
Stubbornness knows no estrangement though and their everyday proximity
dedicated to conflicting ideas about the final product may actually
draw them further apart.
The sculpture
at the center of Tom’s story becomes its own metaphor for the struggles
of the Luckey family, building a foundation that looks unnatural but is
climbable if you can just fit inside of it. Laura Longsworth’s
document of this quest is a multi-layered examination of family
dynamics, partnership and egos. But, most importantly at the center of
it all is a fascinating combination of creating art and the rebuilding
of a father/son relationship that maintains the contentious impatience
that can arise from maintaining Tom’s condition. Spencer is going to
get his share of hisses for the way he treats his father from time to
time even when we understand the difficulties inherent in staying a few
steps ahead of his dad. By the end of Luckey though, the tears
were flowing. Even if everything wasn’t all sunshines and rainbows, the
looks on the faces of the children is only a warm-up to Tom &
Spencer seeing at least one of their dreams fully realized. Visit the website and read our interview with Laura Longsworth.
SCREENING TIMES Saturday, March 14 – 2:30 PM – Alamo Lamar Monday, March 16 – 7:00 PM – Austin Convention Center Saturday, March 21 – 12:30 PM – Alamo Ritz
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT For
something a little lighter in the true story department, but even more
tragic, I urge you to take 70 minutes out of your day to see Drunken Angel: The Legend of Blaze Foley. SXSW has debuted a number of great music documentaries over the years include Before the Music Dies and last year’s Of All The Things
about songwriter Dennis Lambert. Like them, we are introduced to a
musician we may not be familiar with by name but either know his songs
or looking forward to knowing them real soon. So the story goes with
any forgotten musician, most of their problems were brought on by
themselves and found the verge of stardom alluding them due to their
own rotten habits. Blaze Foley was no different, so why should we care
about another hard-to-like musician (a la The Doors, Control, Notorious)?
Because this one isn’t just so entertaining the time flies, but it also
presents a nice twist on the format by documenting it in various
styles. It’s “five parts” opens with a trailer, becomes its own “Behind
the Music” style show and is bridged by some mocked-up commercials for
Blaze’s unreleased music that are as funny as anything you will see at
SXSW this year. You should have no problems fitting this one into your
schedule and even if you’re cutting it close in-between screenings, be
sure not to leave once the credits start rolling. Remember, I said 70
minutes. Not 60. Your one chance to see Drunken Angel: The Legend of Blaze Foley will be on Wednesday, March 18 (7:00 PM) at the Austin Convention Center. Visit the website
“MINE” Director: Geralyn Pezanoski
Documentaries
on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina are becoming as commonplace as
ones about the Holocaust and the current Iraq War. Spike Lee’s four
hour When the Levees Broke is about as complete as you get when
it comes to the topic and every film in its wake seems lacking in
comparison. None of us should dismiss any of the personal stories when
it came to that tragedy, even if the story is generally the same. But
what about those that had no voice, except maybe that of a bark or a
meow? Geralyn Pezanoski’s Mine gives their story a chance to be heard.
Imagine
you’re told evacuation is happening in your town but you have to leave
your beloved pet behind. No room in the Superdome apparently. That’s
what occurred in the city of New Orleans as the rains were coming. Once
the damage had been done and Dubya’s cronies finally moved in, the
search began for the members of the families that had been, in some
cases, left for dead. If it wasn’t for the recovery efforts of pet
organizations who came to assist, many of them would be. But the final
chapter had yet to be penned for the animals and their owners, thrilled
to hear their doggies survived through websites such as PetFinder and
specially setup shelters, but dismayed to discover they were adopted by
someone else. Their tales of trying to get them back, at times, have a
touch of Solomon to it. Be happy they’re safe and being loved, some
would say. But the ill-prepared prevention combined with a class
prejudice sought to create a further struggle for a number of survivors
and their tales are heartbreaking even amidst the reassurance that the
spirit of aiding the helpless still exists in this country. Animal
lovers will be equally moved and have a lot to confer about afterwards.
Hopefully beginning with where their local pound can be found. Visit
the website and read our interview.
SCREENING TIMES Monday, March 16 – 2:00 PM – Austin Convention Center Tuesday, March 17 – 4:00 PM – Alamo Lamar Saturday, March 21 – 4:30 PM – Austin Convention Center
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT I wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the documentary, The Yes Men. Hardly because I disagreed with the exploits of its satiric activists. I just felt the filmmaking (despite the presence of American Movie’s Chris Smith)
had an amateurish sensibility that strained to do justice to its
subjects’ motivations or keep us interested whenever we weren’t
directly connecting to their pranks. Six years later the follow-up, The Yes Men Fix the World (directed by Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonnano,
The Yes Men themselves), is more polished, much funnier and certainly
most timely. What couldn’t these guys do with five more years of the
Bush administration under their belts? They have their own spin on the
Katrina disaster, but also take on those responsible for the little
known environmental tragedy in Bhopal, India. Their stunts are equally
audacious but a little more streamlined than the giant golden penis cam
they once tried to sell corporate managers on. Like any good prankster
though, the more they operate, the greater the chance people will be in
on the joke quicker. A huge reason why this second film works much
better are the myriad of other social elements that are woven into the
proceedings. How can these guys continue duping the media when
information moves faster than ever? While its funny to see bigwigs
scramble to clean up a fake mess for a change, what of the forgotten
people who believe they are benefiting from the Yes Men’s call for
bogus action? Does false hope sink them further or does it depend on
who is delivering it? The sequel is a great improvement over 2003’s
first chapter and arrives right on time in the climate of change. You
can see The Yes Men Fix the World on Monday, March 16 (1:30 PM) at the Paramount Theater, then over at the Austin Convention Center on Wednesday, March 18 (9:30 PM) and at the Alamo Ritz on Thursday, March 19 (9:00 PM). Visit their website.
“MOON” Director: Duncan Jones Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey
Science
fiction is one of those genres that seems to have no middle ground when
created on film. Either you have a large enough budget to produce
endless special effects or less than two pennies to rub up against a
grand idea. Normally you have too much of one and not enough of the
other. Sci-Fi has become a lost art over the years and so few true
films have been branded under the moniker that we’ve become comfortable
labeling comic book adaptations and anything just a wee bit out of the
ordinary in the same mold famously repped by classics like 2001 and Metropolis. Duncan Jones though has staked a claim to that middle ground though. Basically a one-man show for Sam Rockwell, Jones takes what could have been just another failed attempt to extend a Twilight Zone episode and creates a simple, elegant and at times encapsulating work of science fiction.
Sam Bell (Rockwell)
is the lone astronaut contracted to do a three-year stretch on Earth’s
moon to harvest solar energy for a planet that has squandered most of
its resources. It’s a daily routine of checking gauges, drill
monitoring and exercise. (We all saw what happened to the lie-abouts in
WALL-E.) Assisting Sam in his duties is the reliable piece of programmed intelligence known as Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey)
and the only human contact he has is from the videotapes he receives
from his wife and child back home. It’s enough to make a cubicle job
seem like a tightrope walker. Sam does see a little action one day out
on the surface though when he gets into a wreck and winds up severely
injured. Did he really see what he thought he saw or is his mind on its
last cells just as he’s on the verge of finishing his shift and
returning to Earth?
Again, simple and
elegant but far from being content to just rely on the same old tricks
to mess with an audience. The details of what is actually occurring on
screen from this moment on shouldn’t be spoiled, but are never far away
from the questions that come with the territory of an isolated state of
mind. Tom Hanks may have had Wilson, Bruce Dern had his plants and Sam
certainly has Gerty, but neither can replace the element of human
connection that seems further and further away even when it appears so
close. Moon asks you to pay close attention to those details though and
doesn’t stoop to spelling out or retracing every dot that’s connected
by the end. Whether it be the ironic use of the theme from Doc Hollywood (of all films) or the social argument implied by the film’s final line of dialogue, Moon
is more than just another spooky ghost story in futuristic clothing.
It’s a reminder that science fiction can still be about ideas as well
as imagination. And you’ve got precisely one chance to catch it on
South by Southwest before it gets a limited release in theaters
beginning June 12.
SCREENING TIMES Saturday, March 14 – 7:30 PM – Paramount
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT When Joe Dante made his wonderful tribute to 1950s science-fiction, Matinee,
he helped poke a little fun at the science elements that were often
overexplained for the dummies in the audience. Or, at least, the little
kids whose ears were the only thing not covered while tales of mutant
monsters and world destruction were playing out on screen. Well, David
Gargani is taking the science back in a fun new documentary called Monsters From The Id (a reference to one of the greatest of all sci-fi films, Forbidden Planet.)
What he shows is that some of those kids who lived through the Atomic
Age of cinema actually had their eyes open and became inspired to
bridge the gap between our technology and that of cinema’s wild
imagination. One of them, Homer Hickam, even went on to have a film made about him (October Sky).
Film lovers will get a kick out of the connections between the films
that Gargani interweaves throughout and the scientists on display
discussing the probable and the impossible involved. If Them and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
were enough to inspire a few from one generation, maybe this can help
inspire the current. Then we won’t have to wait to buy our flying
hybrid vehicles when we’re 90. Unlike Moon, you will have three chances to catch Monsters from the Id starting on Friday, March 13 (9:45 PM) at the Alamo Lamar. Then again at the Austin Convention Center on Wednesday, March 18 (11:30 AM) and back at the Alamo Lamar on Saturday, March 21 (2:00 PM). Visit the website and read our interview with David Gargani.
“PULLING JOHN” Director: Vassiliki Khonsari & Sevan Matossian Starring: John Brzenk, Travis Bagent, Alexy Voevoda
We’ve
had some pretty darn entertaining documentaries over the years stemming
from the unlikeliest of subject matter. Think of the list. Spelling
bees, Scrabble, Crossword Puzzles, Donkey Kong, hell we had one at
CineVegas last year about Beer Pong. South by Southwest has certainly
been no exception to debuting some of my favorite docs of this ilk over
the years. A League of Extraordinary Gentleman touched upon a sport close to my Thursday Night heart, bowling. There was also the premiere of the stuntwoman documentary, Double Dare,
featuring a little lady named Zoe Bell who went from doubling for Xena
to being thrown around on the hood of a car by Kurt Russell in Quentin
Tarantino’s Death Proof. 2009 finds another film joining these ranks and this time it’s all about the arm wrestling.
The
last time we saw such a seemingly uncinematic sport given the full big
screen treatment, it was Sylvester Stallone putting it front and center
in 1987’s Over The Top. Never before and probably never again
will you hear that film discussed with such a loving remembrance. But
it brought a lot of attention to the world of arm wrestling and it even
featured the most respected champion the sport had ever seen. (No, not
Bob “Bull” Hurley.) That would be John Brzenk, a guy who
has broken so many records and stayed on top for so long that it’s
impossible for up and comers not to have some modicum of respect for
the guy not far from my neck of the woods in Elgin, IL. He is also
equally the white whale and the proverbial father that must be cut down
for West Virginia’s Travis Bagent and Russia’s Alexy Voevoda to be number one.
Films
like these are determined to have their heroes and villains or just
enough of a slant to provide audiences with their rooting interest. The
truth of the matter though is that you may find yourself torn on whom
to ultimately turn against. It’s easy to hiss at Travis since he
possesses the kind of self-aggrandizing arrogance that we tend to hate
in our athletes. But that’s mostly with the adrenaline running in the
heat of competition. Away from the moment he’s just another guy bred to
be a winner and trying to capture his American dream. So maybe you’ll
go with him over the big Russian in true Stallone fashion. Only you
want to talk about humble? Brzenk is an honest-to-God hero to Alexy
Voevoda and you get the sense that even HE is torn on his
feelings towards a possible match with his idol. Finally we have Brzenk
himself, pushing 40 now and wondering how far he can stretch his legend
– and if he’s even still interested in doing just that. If only all our
sports champions were as down to earth as he. Pulling John presents a
sport that is cinematically the equivalent of a Thai meal aftermath.
And save for Jeff Goldblum ripping a bone through an arm, you may not
think there is enough to sustain even a 70-minute film such as this.
Only you would be wrong. Not only are the characters interesting and
their feats of strength awe-striking, but the matches themselves become
of great interest because of them. You may hear audiences at screenings
slowly ratchet up the decibel meter in amazement during one of Brzenk’s
climactic battles. So make all the Kenny Loggins jokes you want, but
you will kick yourself if you don’t meet the film all the way. Or just
kick me for making that pun.
SCREENING TIMES Saturday, March 14 – 3:00 PM – Austin Convention Center Tuesday, March 17 – 5:00 PM – Alamo Ritz Friday, March 20 – 10:00 PM – Alamo Lamar
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT Also in the spirit of competition, the festival doesn’t just offer arm wrestling but rodeo. In Prison. With WOMEN! Bradley Beesley’s Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo
takes us to Oklahoma, home of the country’s largest group of female
inmates. Once a year the penitentiary puts on a rodeo show on the
grounds and invites its prisoners to compete. Thankfully this isn’t Death Race or The Running Man,
nor are there any promises of freedom coming from victory. But its no
less dangerous and the rodeo footage that makes up the final half hour
will have you covering various body parts as you watch some of these
men and women mess with the bulls and nearly take the horns. As the
title indicates though, the stars of the film are mostly the female
inmates, many of whom have been locked up for non-violent drug offenses
or simply being a part of the wrong relationship and we experience
their struggles with the parole boards, the harsh technicalities some
are punished for and even a tearful reunion or two with their families.
And remember guys, just because it’s a women’s prison movie and many of
them are real lookers, they are probably tougher than any of you not
involved in arm wrestling. Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo has its world premiere on Saturday, March 14 (11:00 AM) at the Paramount Theatre. It screens again on Tuesday, March 17 (1:30 PM) at the Alamo Ritz as well as on Friday, March 20 (4:30 PM) at the Austin Convention Center.
“THE WAY WE GET BY” Director: Aron Gaudet Starring: Bill Knight, Joan Gaudet, Jerry Mundy
As
I alluded to earlier, someday video stores and online rental sites may
have their own sections dedicated to films about the current conflict
in Iraq. Hopefully the veterans of this current quagmire will be able
to find happier memories and things to look forward to on their DVD
shelves rather than just another reminder of where they’ve been. Unless
that movie happens to be Aron Gaudet’s The Way We Get By as its just the kind of reminder our men and women over there could use.
It’s
the story of a group of senior citizens from Bangor, Maine who spend
many mornings and evenings going to the airport to shake the hands of
the departing and returning soldiers from Iraq. Bangor’s airway serves
as our main passageway between the U.S. and Middle East and these
well-wishers keep track of every one of them and do whatever they can
to provide a little bit of homespun hope on their long journey. Bill Knight, Joan Gaudet and Jerry Mundy
are just three of the subjects that should be given immediate sainthood
by the time the credits roll; seniors who are far from their own
problems involving foreclosure, health and, in the case of Miss Gaudet,
a granddaughter facing her own trip into this mess.
Can
it possibly be selfish to provide a little bit of good cheer to those
who mostly remain nameless to anyone outside their circle of friends
and family unless they return with an American flag draped over them?
Every selfless act is going to make someone feel good, but where The Way We Get By
becomes more than just a meet-and-greet for self-gratification is
within the contrast of its subjects against the finality we hope is
coming later rather than sooner. Just as our service folk unfortunately
become, the elderly are another group of people that society and even
our government would just as easily forget about if they weren’t
reminded of their struggles. Bill Knight is not just another lonely
greeter but also a veteran of war himself. Joan faces the unnerving
fear of her granddaughter not having a chance to be welcomed back.
Jerry Mundy has already seen his son die tragically and may be facing
death again soon. These remarkable individuals contribute to a story
that is not just indescribably moving but is a timeless metaphor for
our country. I absolutely loved this film and I’m hoping that when
you’re done wiping away the tears and the Q&A has finished, each of
you will have a chance to see some of these people on the way out and
shake their hands. Visit the website and read our interview with Aron Gaudet.
SCREENING TIMES Sunday, March 15 – 11:30 AM – Austin Convention Center Monday, March 16 – 5:00 PM – Alamo Lamar Thursday, March 19 – 7:00 PM – Austin Convention Center
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT Over the years we’ve seen some actors get that one big role late in their careers. Henry Fonda in On Golden Pond, Paul Newman in Nobody’s Fool, Richard Farnsworth in The Straight Story, Peter O’Toole in Venus and James Cromwell in Babe, Oscar nominees one and all. And some may consider Hal Holbrook’s nominated turn in Sean Penn’s Into the Wild
to be that role for him. Certainly the best thing in that film, but
director Scott Teems has gone a step further and done for Holbrook what
Thomas McCarthy did for Richard Jenkins last year in The Visitor – given one of our great character actors a chance to shine in a lead role. And shine Holbrook does in That Evening Sun, as an aging farmer who leaves the nursing home his son (The Shield’s Walton Goggins) has sent him to and returns to his Tennessee farm. Once there he now finds it populated, leased by his son, to a man (Ray McKinnon)
he once refused to rent his guest house to. Never one to back off,
Holbrook’s Abner Meecham moves into that guest house and decides to
wait until the farm is rightly returned, a task that is going to
involve annoyances, threats and potentially even a little violence.
It’s a little House of Sand and Fog and a little Gran Torino,
but towering above is Holbrook’s terrific work as Abner, carrying the
film with a mix of stubbornness, guardianship and regret. Not often do
you get to see a performance that an actor has earned after decades in
the business and often less that you see them live up to it. Some
studio would be mad not to want to pick this up just in the hopes of
mounting another awards campaign for Mr. Holbrook. Until it ends up in
theaters though you will have three chances to catch it at SXSW. That Evening Sun has its world premiere on Monday, March 16 (7:00 PM) at the Alamo Ritz, then over to the Alamo Lamar on Tuesday, March 17 (4:00 PM) and back to the Ritz on Saturday, March 21 (7:30 PM). Visit the website.
Normally
the article would end here. You have my ten choices plus a number of
very worthy titles that would be more than enough for any festival
passholder to fill their schedule with. Except I would be ashamed of
myself if I didn’t find room to give you two more choices. Hey, if
American Idol can turn their Top 12 into a Top 13 a few minutes past
everyone’s allotted Tivo times I can certainly turn my Top 10 up to 11.
“SEVERE CLEAR” Director: Kristian Fraga Starring: Mike Scotti
Films
about the Iraq war and the lack of interest at the box office has been
well-documented. Aside from Paul Haggis’ excellent, but overlooked In the Valley of Elah, films like Grace Is Gone, Stop-Loss, Home of the Brave and The Lucky Ones
have been poorly executed and flat-out sloppy exercises that have done
no justice to the soldiers who have made it back or the families
waiting for their return. You may be tired of hearing about the topic
just in the few times I’ve mentioned it in this very article. I have to
admit, even I have been inundated with enough narrative and documentary
features in the past five years that I couldn’t bring myself to watch
HBO’s acclaimed Generation Kill miniseries. But was I glad that I wasn’t tired enough to sit through Kristian Fraga’s Severe Clear, which we may look back as one of the best.
Based partially on a memoir but mostly collected from first-hand footage, Severe Clear is the story of First Lieutenant Michael T. Scotti and
his tour with Charlie Company 1st Marines during the first wave of
Operation Iraqi Freedom. Culled from God knows how many hours of video
by Scotti, this is the real deal that makes Brian DePalma’s Redacted
look amateurish by comparison. Beginning with the gung-ho days when
Scotti’s battalion were excited to exact the revenge no one openly
discussed for 9/11, Severe Clear instantly reminds us of Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket
and how our soldiers had to keep things light in the face of a
situation they haven’t yet begun to grasp. Coupled with readings from
his journal and an almost satiric commentary from BBC news reports, the
arc of Severe Clear is as striking as any war narrative you can
imagine. Neither Republican nor Democrat in nature, it would be
interesting to hear a member of the former party defend Donald
Rumsfeld’s response to how things were playing out at the time.
Apocalypse Now
is actually invoked by one of the soldiers during one of the many
firefights they endure during the film, but it was already well on my
mind as another portrait of one man’s journey to decipher where his
mission was headed. Scotti’s footage never shies away from the thick of
battle and the harsh aftermath, some of which will be hard even for
fans of The Horseman to endure. It’s so encapsulating that we,
at times, wonder if his commanding officers ever told him to put the
camera and pick up his weapon. Fraga’s editing is a masterstroke of
information and he knows just when to let the visceral rush and terror
of the video speak for itself. Severe Clear is more than just
another collection of moments and memories; presenting just how quickly
war can change a person. We understand Scotti’s disposition getting off
the plane and the retribution we were seeking. There was no big switch
to change his attitude towards the mission overnight. He wasn’t
delivered the smoking gun about the failure to discover WMD’s that
turned America’s pulse. His company actually discovered a few and he
was still way ahead of the curve than what was being reported to us
back safe at home. The version I saw was still in rough cut form, a few
shots missing here and there layering it with its own redacted irony,
but it was more than complete enough to recommend it as strongly as I
possibly can. And when you see the full version at SXSW, I suspect you
will spreading the word as well. Visit the website
SCREENING TIMES Monday, March 16 – 4:30 PM – Austin Convention Center Tuesday, March 17 – 1:30 PM – Alamo Lamar Friday, March 20 – 2:00 PM – Austin Convention Center
OTHER SCREENINGS TO CHECK OUT Now that you’ve seen the real deal, maybe Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker
will seem like a cheap knockoff, reducing the conflict to a series of
adrenaline-fueled set pieces that will have you chewing your nails down
to your knuckles. Sold yet? Bigelow does not make message movies, or at
least she shouldn’t if The Weight of Water was any indication. No, she
makes action movies. One of her films boasted the tagline “100% Pure Adrenaline”
for pete’s sake. So its fitting that the film she would make about Iraq
would be about the fix for adrenaline – even if it comes in the form of
bomb disposal.
Jeremy Renner, a terrific actor who got noticed playing Jeffrey Dahmer and then went on to play assorted scumbags in North Country and the big-screen version of S.W.A.T., has been easing over to the other side recently. First in 28 Weeks Later
and now as Bigelow’s expert bomb defuser who may enjoy his job a little
too much. Through the course of no less than six expertly-staged
sequences, Bigelow rarely rests us as we watch Renner’s squad
(accompanied by Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty as the more cautious members) get into one scrape after another where the potential BOOM is never as simple as red wire/blue wire. I saw The Hurt Locker
back at the Toronto Film Festival last September and am eagerly looking
forward to seeing it again. True, it’s little more than an excuse to
mount some exceptional action, but where Peter Berg’s The Kingdom
made you wait for its kick-ass ending, Bigelow gives it to us every 15
minutes proving that when in her element, she’s one of the best pure
action directors in the business. The Hurt Locker is getting a limited release in theaters this June, but if you’re in Austin you will get your chance on Tuesday, March 17 (6:30 PM) at the Paramount Theatre.
And
that will do it for now. Surely with a number of films already under my
belt I will have the opportunity to see some premieres and the
presentations by filmmakers who didn’t send advance copies. Who knows?
They may have warranted a mention here. Maybe next time.
I’m personally looking forward to more comic goodness from Paul Rudd, Jason Segal, Seth Rogen and Anna Faris (all of whom will be in attendance for panel discussions) in I Love You, Man and Observe and Report, Tony Jaa punching more throats in Ong Bak 2, Broken Lizard’s latest collaboration, The Slammin’ Salmon and especially a live presentation by Joe Dante of TrailersFromHell.com and Sam Raimi showing a work-in-progress of his summer offering, Drag Me To Hell.
Until
then, you South by Southwest attendees have a head start on ticket
buying. I hope to have steered you in the right direction. Feel free to
find me at the festival to tell me if I helped spend your money well
and I’ll be happy to pass those sentiments along to the filmmakers, all
of whom I hope to get a chance to meet in-between screenings and all
the great food and parties that the festival has to offer.
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link directly to this feature at http://www.efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=2712 originally posted: 03/10/09 05:01:52 last updated: 03/12/09 04:00:26 printer-friendly format
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