Jez Jerzy (George the Hedgehog)
Dir. Wojciech Wawszczyk, Jakub Tarkowski, and Tomek Lasniak
31/300
Synopsis: Jez Jerzy is a skateboarding hedgehog who likes to drink beer and fondle breasts. He finds it hard to pursue his passions, however, while being tormented by neo-nazi skinheads, mad scientists and a drooling, flatulent clone of himself. (This was the International Premier, but I was not at the premier showing).
The animation style of this was similar to Ahh! Real Monsters and similar in humor to Squidbillies. Neither of which I really like. I don't fall into their target demographic, and can't seem to stand demented/gross cartoon characters. I believe this was the only film at SXSW that I saw that didn't get any applause at the end either. So, I'd say I wasn't alone. I actually noticed several audience members sleeping in their seats. I'd say the first 15 minutes or so were fairly humerous, and most people reacted well to that, but maybe the subtitles with a cartoon didn't help it too much.
I'd say what I learned from this experience was that a) not everything at a film festival is going to knock you off your feet, and b) making a cartoon in it's short form and not a feature sometimes doesn't just mean that the creators couldn't come up with the cash an animation team would need for such a project, or a matter of time to invest in such a big project, but that maybe it's a conscious decision that having a quirky cartoon character on screen can really only be funny for so long before you loose your audience. Keep it short and sweet.
Synopsis: The first major film out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Viva Riva! follows fast-living hustler Riva. While being persued by Kinshasa's dangerous underworld, Riva finds himself inextricable drawn to a gangster's seductive, kept woman. (This festival was it's US Premier, although, I wasn't at the actual premier showing).
Viva Riva! was an interesting movie to wander into. For being the first movie out of this country, it was an amazing first film effort. I found it amazing that he was actually able to get it funded due to its very graphic nature. But apparently, according to him, he opted to not let investors (esp the gov't) in on the entire contents of the film. Which is a ballsy move, but you have to have juevos to make it in the film industry. So, more power to him. I just hope he didn't burn every funding bridge along the way, and will never make a movie there again.
At any rate, this movie, as I've noted before, was a very graphic movie. You'll witness everything from a woman peeing outside a party to the lead characters indulging in some prostitutes. So, this movie is definitely not for the conservatives. Since the synopsis doesn't really tell too much, I'll fill in some of the holes. The movie follows a guy who has stolen a truck full of barrels of gasoline and taken it to his home town for someone else to sell. For the time being, he lives richly and indulges in nearly every sin his money can get. While he's at it, he is joined by a married friend, and he keeps making eyes with the gangster's girl. So, he's stirred up trouble with the gang in town and the oil guys who send some hit men to bring the oil back.
So, what did I learn about filmmaking from this movie? Well, first off, the ideas of beauty in the Congo and here are not too different. Our guys both like curvy women with big lips that look a lot like Beyonce. A common idea this movie explores, that seems like a theme that cannot be over-done, is the whole idea that wealth brings corruption. You never see someone in a movie get rich, and then live to be a good person and help others. I mean, that would be boring. So, there's a reason for it, but still. Money always is a person's downfall. Other than that, I liked the color choices for costuming.
Synopsis: A funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of alien monsters. It turns a tower block into a sci-fi playground. It's inner city versus outer space.
That last sentence was what hooked us. Inner City vs. Outer Space. What a tagline. And it's like nothing you have ever seen before. Joe Cornish was one of the creators of the Adam and Joe show back in the mid 90s, a very puppet driven tv show. Joe also wrote this movie, and has had it in the works for some time now. And after hearing him talk about how it came to be, one could easily conclude that the film isn't all fiction. Joe kind of took the "what if" approach. What if when I was mugged, an alien invasion occurred in our neighborhood?
This take has always been a good way that I've found to explore options when I'm trying to come up with a screenplay idea. It's a very good practice to get those imaginative juices flowing, and get something, even if it's completely ridiculous, on paper.
Now, I'm not saying this movie is ridiculous. Strange, yes.
The film also brings an interesting group of sub genres and styles into the mix. For instance, the film begins with a youth gang of boys that want to own "the block". The block has a hierarchy of thug looking black drug dealers. So, when the film seems to be going for that look, upon finding that their block is being invaded, the gang becomes more of a small army that's new mission (rather than harass and steal from their neighbors) is to protect them. These two typically violent, yet typically very separated in cinema, worlds collide. And unlike any other SciFi movie I've seen, the sound track is predominantly hip hop music.
The mash-up is very entertaining, and doesn't seem like too much of a stretch. The kids in the movie are all pretty much picked up off the street, but definitely have a talent for acting. I'd also like to add, it has an amazing slow motion shot at the end that will put you on the edge of your seat. Made me happy to see slow motion used like it should be.
Anyway, enough babble, just go see the movie when it's released. Here's a blurry pic of the Q and A.
(and yeah, that's the executive producer, Edgar Wright 2nd from the right. Kyle, Nate, and I's jaws had to be picked up off the floor when he walked in.)
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
Dir. Rodman Flender
28/300
Synopsis: Did Conan O'Brien go on tour to connect with his fans of fill a void within himself? Rodman Flender's documentary captures an artist trained in improvisations at the most improvisational time of his career.
So, I'm currently 12 blog posts behind what I've viewed, and I'm really quite sorry to anyone who has been following this trying to be patient and wait on the rest of the SXSW posts, but here goes!
Conan O'Brien Can't Stop is a film that picks up just days after Conan has been pushed out of the late night lineup. On the surface, he seems to be in good spirits, joking around with a bus of tourists. But one can tell, the man doesn't know what to do with himself. So, when left to his own devices, extra time (that he's not used to having, and great emotional fury, he sets off on tour.
I know, I just gave you another synopsis. Sorry.
This movie works in a lot of ways. It brings the laughs from his tour footage, people that come to support him, and just Conan being Conan. I'm not sure that this movie could have not been funny, no matter who was behind the camera. What's interestingly captured throughout though, is emotion that an entertainer suppresses. It's this emotion that Conan uses to recreate himself and create a new act. In the history of television, people have been laid off and fired, but never in this kind of spotlight. So, to watch someone at that level of the business go through the feelings of not knowing what's next, nor how to get there, is very interesting and almost inspiring. A very engaging story is being told in this film about a man that doesn't just let himself be let go, he doesn't just fall, he fights back and rallies his troupes.
Anyway, this movie was picked up within 24 hours of it's first screening by Abramorama, Magnolia Home Entertainment, and AT&T’s U-verse for screening, video on demand and dvd distribution, and online viewing. So, I guess the moral of the story on this one seems to be if you can find the right person at the wrong time to point a camera at, you can make a very good documentary.
Being a huge Conan fan myself, I loved the movie, and of course, I enjoyed the Q and A where he was present. I hope you will too!
Synopsis: Hotel clerks by day, amateur ghost hunters by night, the last two employees of the historic Yankee Pedler Inn set out to prove that their place of business is as haunted as it's reputation.
I've been really excited about getting to talk about this movie ever since I entered the Paramount theater and passed Ti West coming down from the balcony as I, with my measly little film pass in hand, was running up to try to find a seat. The House of the Devil's director wasn't the first brush with celebrity (or at least a name I had heard of before) that day, having run into Danny Devito and Carla Gugino on their way to a tv interview as I was handing out t-shirts to passing strangers with the promotion I was working.
But this was different. I guess the air about the viewing was special or something, but it really just seemed to humanize the filmmaker and the movie itself. It's an amazing feeling to know that you're on a level playing field with someone a packed theater has come to see. Knowing that you have everything that filmmaker has to make a movie (except the $... but that's another story), you breathe the same air and watch the same movies. There's nothing keeping you from being on his end of the process. Made me want to make movies.
I'm also very excited about this post because I have some video from the Q&A for my four follower's viewing pleasure. So, enjoy a little Ti West action. :) Sorry, the quality is pretty bad on my old digital camera, I didn't pack the T2i along, unfortunately.
This film brought something to the table that I haven't seen. Now, I may have, and this could leave some room for discussion, but the writing and directoral style of Ti West is very interesting. In the House of the Devil, Ti begins playing with the idea of light humor in a very seriously scary movie, but in the Innkeepers he plays it through. So, in one moment, you are laughing and relaxed in your seat, but then after a short suspenseful moment or two, you are back to the edge of your seat, peaking through your fingers at the screen.
I feel like this works for a couple reasons. In movies where you are tense the entire time, there's no rest. I feel like sometimes, you almost just get tired of being so stressed out and you begin to separate yourself from the screen and the experience as a whole. And if you go into a movie that is going to rely mostly on it's blood, guts, and gore to make it scary, then you've got a weak script to begin with and not something anyone is going to invest much thought into. But, when you make the characters likable through their light bickering and banter, your audience is going to fall for them by laughing with them. Then, in turn, they're going to go on this journey with your characters through the stuff you have up your sleeve. Ti decides to sprinkle the giggles in even toward the end, again, allowing you and the characters to relax, but you're going to jump.
I do think that it's worth stating that I typically hate scary movies. You typically have to really do some sweet talking to get me into one, but I made the exception over a year ago when I was intrigued by Kyle's VHS copy of House of the Devil. The movie wasn't extremely intense, but at the same time, it wasn't Brain Dead either. It was like you could take the movie as seriously as you wanted to, unlike something like the Ring, where I begin to feel more and more trapped. So, for obvious reasons I skipped out on seeing Insideous, but I probably will catch another Ti West film if I get the chance.
Run Time 100 min + 2842 = 2942 minutes invested in this "little" project
Synopsis: A diverse group of British people respond to an ad from artist Gillian Wearing. Taking part in an experiment with Method acting, they find themselves for the first time confronting their innermost personal truths.
So, in case you hadn't picked up on it yet, my SXSW posts are going to try to remain pretty spoiler-less(?), and the format of these posts are a little different with the synopsis up top. I'm doing this mainly so that you can see what is posted in the SXSW film guide a) so that you can see what very little I know about these movies and what to expect upon walking into the approximate hour and a half in darkness I spend with these movies, and b) because some of these are actually a little difficult to find information online about. I noticed there was something (I think the Storm Thurgson documentary) that doesn't even have a cast and crew thing up on imdb yet. So, I'm taking you on a journey with me this week into the good and the bad, but mostly good, that I'm encountering.
Back to Self Made.
This movie could have gone about a zillion ways from the synopsis, but it actually took a very interesting route. The art of method acting and finding a performance from within ones self rather than finding it around you has always been a very interesting thing to most. The whole idea of trying to recall emotions from experiences and not just becoming the character and taking yourself there, but instead bringing the character out of you ranges between exhilarating to insanity very easily it seems. But you can always seem to notice where the performance is coming from due to the charge behind it. Amazing things can come from such a strangely practiced craft.
Well, this movie comes from the documentary perspective with inner-cuts of interviews with the main participants, their warm up activities, rehearsals, virtually therapy, and their final performances. As the synopsis says, people were chosen after they contacted the director who simply put a classified ad out for people that want to be in a movie. The people chosen were a wide array of people, but none were really actors. Just your run of the mill bunch. But, Sam Rumbelow, their method acting coach begins preparing them in what seems like a very strange way. He talks with them about their lives and they share their hardships, and he teaches them to use them on film. And as a man behind me in line for another movie said to a friend, "Things get real."
I really feel like this movie is worth your time if you are interested in ever becoming an actor or a director just in the amazing transformation these people make. I'm not sure if I've seen much more powerful acting on screen. These people were only with the coach for two weeks, and from the UK, where method acting doesn't seem to be hailed as much in comparison with the classical style. Otherwise, this movie is extremely dramatic in nature, and very deep. Not something to pop in on the weekend with friends. But still, an amazingly moving and honest film.
Run Time - 88 minutes + 2754 = 2842 (nearly 48 hours of straight movie watching)
25/300
Taken By Storm (Thorgerson): The Art of Storm Thorgerson and Hipgnosis
Dir. Roddy Bogawa
Synopsis: Real? Surreal? Iconic? Impossible? The album art of Storm Throgerson is so deeply embedded into our psyche, it's hard to believe it all came from one mind.
Welcome, dear readers, to South by Southwest week! The city is alive with the sound of music and movies are projected on nearly any flat surface people can find downtown. Quite a spectacle to see. This is also a very exciting time for my blog because I can turn the tables on you, and for one week, I can recommend movies to you before they hit theaters (or dvd... or netflix) near you! I've got a film pass and I'm not afraid to stand in line for 2 hours to barely squeeze into a theater after badge holders. So, this should be a fun week.
For my first SX film viewing, Nate, Kyle, and I slid into the Ritz to catch the world premier of Taken By Storm. This of course, is the documentary on the artist that did the famous iconic album artwork for Pink Floyd, and some artwork for Anthrax, Yes, and Audioslave. The film choronicals his life through his many hardships and breakups, artistic and marital. But of course, his art carries on.
I felt like the movie was a very interesting piece in that it seemed to educate the audience on who this man who nearly everyone owns artwork from, but also dig deeper into the issues artists face and things they give up when they make their art their priority. I really didn't know who the guy was when we hurriedly jumped in line, but by the end of the film, a really great appreciation came over me for this guy. I feel like that's what the filmmaker was going for. So, I'd say his message was quite successfully driven home.
Storm Thorgerson was in the audience during this viewing, and it was the first time that he had viewed the film in it's entirety as well. So, this in itself was an interesting experience to get the chance to have a Q and A session (which is common practice, at least at SXSW during premier events). He got quite a few questions about working with the different music artists that he had worked with, but he seemed very candid when he was asked about his view of the film. You could tell that even him seeing an outside perspective of himself was almost more than he could take. Not in a bad way, but I guess to have himself immortalized on film in that way and to have his raw emotions and struggles out for the world to see, it's like he just wasn't sure how to react. It's very different from looking into a mirror, for sure.
Anyway, this film was an awesome experience. If you are interested in pop art, iconic art, or music in the record era, you should check out this movie. Very amazing artist with a good eye, luck, and little to no digital effects.
