NUMBER 3 FILM OF 2011

VIVA RIVA!

This was a selection from the 2011 Wisconsin Film Festival.  The quick description is African Film-Noir, and it might be a loose example of a 'Nollywood' which refers to the Nigeria-based film industry that puts out entertaining movies for the African masses (like Bollywood in India).  But this is set in Zaire so I can't say what connections this movie has to the main African hub of popular filmmaking. 

Viva Riva has a femme fatale, a charismatic anti-hero, multiple layers of eccentric villians, and a (minor spoiler) bleak ending.  It has that feel of a B-Movie... where it's best to just enjoy the ride and not think to hard on the amorality of it all.  For any fan of film noir it's a unique treat, because all those movie tropes are set in the weighty background of a chaotic impoverished African country.  In this environment, the desperation these characters get themselves into aren't just dramatic flourishes but a real possibility.  What might be thrown away as a genre picture actually becomes something more compelling.  Is this kind of violence and tragedy a purely escapist for of cinema for "NollyWood" viewers?  Is there an overall message involved?  Are Western viewers supposed to think of this in a more sociopolitical way?  All important questions, but in the meantime it is a really incredible version of a familiar story. 

The WIFF 2011 wasn't the best of the Wisconsin Film Festivals I attended, but this was a real treat.

BEST FILMS OF 2011: NUMBER 4

YOUNG ADULT

The film countdown that should have been completed months ago returns!  I think at the beginning of this fun I mentioned how there were some non-epic character-based dramas that resonated, and this is one of them.  I couldn't help but compare this to Juno, which won an Oscar for screenwriter Diablo Cody, who also wrote this film.  As sweet as Juno was... the rumblings in my head and among some critics were that as naturalistic as the dialogue was, teenagers didn't really talk like that.  For me, the move was a little bit of a cop out, to give an eccentric larger-than-life character her own little sayings and "isms"...  there was something warm and heartening about what Juno went through, but how is it original or challenging to layer on an adult sensibility to a juvenile character?

So I assumed after watching Young Adult that it would at least receive a screenwriting NOMINATION, because these characters talked in really authentic ways that fit in well and organically with the situation.  In addition, I was sure Charlize Theron was going to get at least an acting nomination as well.  She didn't have to get into layers of old-person makeup like in Monster to pull off a complete performance of a defeated woman.  But nothing for this sweet sad movie?  No matter... I don't need that kind of validation.  While it didn't get a lot of legitimate acclaim (and some of my facebook friends hated it too) the film has stuck with me.  So many great movies and filmmakers are very derivative... they are basically perfecting a genre movie and subverting it in a way that hits a sweet spot for me... and those are usually the ones I really like by the end of the year.  So I long for chances to give equal credit to the movies that have real characters, real performances, and believable situations, executed with the appropriate cinematic scope (minimal works just as much as maximal) that is suitable for the well-written material.  It's not a film that explodes... it percolates... but it was always engaging.  Of course, throwing Patton Oswalt in for good measure is a huge bonus, especially when this goofball gives his all to a dramatic role that you knew he was capable of.

This isn't the last of the character dramas that were really good last year.  I don't think I've spoiled anything yet.

TRON LEGACY (2010)

TRON:  LEGACY (2010)

Format:  Blu-Ray from my Uncle Jay

I've been in the middle of some unfair cinematic immersions this summer.  First I see a bunch of Avengers movies that were released a year apart in the course of a couple weeks in order to build up for the main event in theaters.  Then I watch these movies, made 28 years apart within a few weeks as well.  The suckers that watched the first movie sure had to wait a long time and grow up before this franchise was revisited! 

But I won't be mean... like I said before, the first one established a pretty distinct universe and imagery that was invigorating despite the low-budget effects (which weren't really a factor if you thing of the Tron universe as a different dimension with a visual logic all its own).  I also think of the wonderful effect it would have to see a completely high budget version of only what you could imagine back in 1982.  Tron 1 felt like it could really inspire imaginations because you only get a hint of what that computer universe is.  So I am a little jealous of the Tron-heads who were able to see a vision realized that they might have been thinking about during their entire adult lives.

And with enough space between films, this definitely does not suffer from sequel-itis.  A few reviews seemed to talk about how there was not enough action, that the big scenes were more of a homage and not central to anything important.  But those scenes were AMAZING to watch.  While technology might have restricted what action pieces could have been shown in the first one, it took a unique perspective to decide to add more darkness and an interesting storyline to the saga without using every technical gimmick in the book that was at their disposal.  Of course I would have love to seen more big battles in this uniquely realized polished computer world, but the exposition gave it a depth and seriousness that wasn't necessarily expected as a way to build off the first Tron.

OK, now, the lead actor playing Flynn's son was pretty wooden, and some of the cliche action-based dialogue seemed like it could fit right into Star Wars prequels, but the first one wasn't perfect either.  But TRON:  LEGACY gave new and old fans what they were looking for, with some surprising maturity as well.

DOWN BY THE RIVER / SAN ANTONIO FILM FESTIVAL

DOWN BY THE RIVER (2012)

[Sorry not a lot of images and links available]

Other than a program of short films at the end of the night, this film was how I wrapped up my San Antonio Film Festival experience 2 and half months ago (wow, falling behind!).

Don't mean to sound grumpy, but the film's technical quality was pretty low.  Sound was bad, images were blurry.  That is forgiveable if you can see a unique vision on the screen that just couldn't get realized because of the low budget limitations.  But this was a rather conventional, though heartbreaking, story of a family struggling with a daughter afflicted with sickle cell anemia.  There's badly mixed montages as the love interest builds a relationship with the protagonist, a lot of slow-motion scenes, and not the best acting.  Credit where credit is due, the little girl was probably the best actress in the whole bunch, and the heavy-handed emotional tugging was broken up by some naturalistic scenes with the protagonist and his work buddy, who provided some genuine innocent laughs.

But here's the rub... this was a very personal and emotional.  The writer/director/actor (one or some of those roles, I don't remember) actually had a little sister die early of this disease.  The cast and filmmakers and well-wishers were all in the front waiting for the world premiere of this movie.  And while it didn't strike me as a high quality movie, you could tell this was coming from a really raw place.  It's a great capstone to this film festival where personal visions that weren't technically perfect or grand in scope were presented to filmmaking colleagues and the interested public.  I am often conflicted about whether I have the capacity or resources and outright healthy obsession to put aside my normal routine and work hard to put whatever creative visions in my head out there.   I have to give an incredible amount of respect for people to decide to do whatever they can to get their films made and released.  I kind of wish that these movies completely blew me over to the point where I saw a revolutionary filmmaking talent in its chrysalis, because I could really be on board with preaching their quality to whomever would listen.  But while I still don't think making a film (and not just imagining ones better than the things I see) is in my blood, this experience made the filmmaking experience more approachable to me.

So the verdict on this whole festival experience is that not all film festivals are the same.  This was not incredibly well organized, and the choices weren't as diverse as the Wisconsin Film Festival.  This had a more local and regionalized feel, but it looked like it also served as an initial testing ground to present some films, someone's hard work and toil, for the very first time.  It was a great opportunity to be a guinea pig for films that might not ever be seen for a wider public. 

And now back to the regularly scheduled viewing process, which over the past few weeks have included some real mainstream duds but some gems as well.

BEST FILMS OF 2011: NUMBER 5

NUMBER 5 FILM OF 2011

TREE OF LIFE

There were reports when this movie came out said that theaters were warning movie-goers that this movie was a little different.  I also heard they withdrew it from screens after audiences were complaining that the film was boring and nothing happened.  I even remember an interview excerpt with cast member Sean Penn, offering his opinion that his own character could have been given something more to do by director Terrence Mallick.

Trying to reason with this movie, to bring it down to a level where it has a definite purpose, would be like an attempt to ask the Lord or whatever supreme deity you believe in to take existence as a whole and try to "dumb it down" for the masses to understand within 2 hours.  And like Job or my namesake in those Bible stories, reasoning with the divine is pointless.

Tree of Life uses the film medium to contemplate the universe and try to place a comprehension of the infinite into an intimate human context.  If untethered from any kind of story this movie would be more at place in a museum gallery or experimental film festival.  I'm sure Brad Pitt being present helped increase the general interest as well.  But this film does have a story, it just isn't remotely linear.  It subsumes any human conflict or petty struggles of a protagonist to a logic of a divine presence that is incomprehensible.  Every moment in this movie is made to make human struggles insignificant compared to a bigger picture.  But with that dramatic cloud hanging over the movie, the effect is that the most tender life-affirming and death-accepting moments are given the air of a divine cosmic order.  A baby's foot, a rejected patent hearing ruining a man's dream career, a tragic call drowned out by airplane noise, and all forms of nature big and small.  These are all weaved into an immense tapestry that makes the only real character the overseer of all this wonder.  But the most interesting moment to me was a split second where an elderly father (not close to being a main character) is having a likely fatal stroke just in the corner of the frame.  It's so subtle you hardly notice it, because it is part of this vast montage of a mother raising a child as innocently as she can.  And the focus is not on the real tragedy of the dying father in the background, but the mother figure shielding the toddler from viewing that tragedy.  The film continues and the grandfather is no longer there.  We live, we die, some die abruptly, but everything is part of a bigger picture.

When people go to the movies they do not necessarily want to want to get popcorn and a soda and have the experience that is the sensory equivalent to hiking in a park and taking in completely natural surroundings, or even questioning the meaning of everything or the logic of whom may or not have created it.  Tree of Life was so moving... using sounds, pictures, spirituality, and solemn performances to take cinema to very unique places.

GENERATION ME / SAN ANTONIO FILM FESTIVAL

GENERATION ME (2012)

SAN ANTONIO FILM FESTIVAL

Usually around Sunday night every week, when I have seemingly taken in all the culture and life opportunities that I can handle in my waking hours, I have a habit of feeling like I should be the CREATOR of art instead of the nitpicky INTAKER.  If I don't keep that desire in check (and I don't mean suppression) I can snowball that creative desire into frustration with my own professional and personal life and that's never constructive.  I really do find being artistic challenging and overwhelming and whenever I get that bug I usually start thinking all practical-like as far as wondering what I can uniquely offer and how feasible it would be to give up other interests to pursue that path.  Anyway, over the past week my creative distractions came about when I noticed how artistic my doodles have always been, especially when they are around the margins of legal pads and notes from occasionally boring business meetings and conferences.  I seem to be tapping into something artistic in my subconscious that is both part and separate from the mundane working world that I occupy to "pay the bills", so to speak.  Because with those blank yellow spaces on my pad of paper or bulleted points and fragments and contact names those creative scribblings wouldn't stand out as weird or odd.  As far as a unique artistic exhibit that I could imagine revolutionizing the art world would be a full-fledged display of this concept.  Masterpieces drawn in the margins.  Paintings, abstract to a degree, where whole spaces are restricted from any markings whatsoever.  This idea that if you have limits you might not have a complete picture of unrealized potential but your passion shows through in the parts you can create.

Which brings me to a movie featuring a baby throwing up on someone's face, and a lady fishing a wad of cash out of a toilet with unwrapped tampons.

I kid, I kid, there is a LOT MORE raunchy stuff in this comedy, set almost entirely around Austin in places even a newbie like me could recognize.  This film is also over two hours, which allows for plenty of time with a large cast of different characters as they try to meet and greet people in an age where online communications can be so distracting and create all sorts of misinterpretations.  This is a really fun movie.  Flawed for sure... it's social commentary was dealed out a little too directly, and not every toilet humor scene seemed necessary or effective.  But as the cast and crew were introduced after the film, I had felt that in my filmwatching history I had never seen a movie that looks more like a huge gang of talented people just having a blast in making the best movie they could.

I laughed probably as much at this movie than at most theatrical comedies starring big celebrities.  Even the amateurish jokes rang true because these people weren't in it for a big paycheck.  The characters also weren't cartoonish (well some of them were a little overblown for even more comic relief)... they talked like people I know, and heck if I hung out in Austin instead of Des Moines in my early twenties (no knock against Drake) I might have done a lot of the things they do.  I don't care about technical difficulties or scenes that fell flat, because to make 2 hour plus comedy that flew by takes a lot of skill as a filmmaker.

Imagine the motivation of an Adam Sandler and whoever produces his next movie.  Adam Sandler gets millions of dollars, the producers get all the tools they need to make a high quality looking movie, because its guaranteed to make money.  What motivation is there, other than pure artistic integrity of those involved, to make a movie that is consistently funny from beginning to end?  So many mainstream comedies offer up the laughs you need in order to not feel cheated, but cheapen those laughs with a LOT of padding in order to move the narrative along and make the film last over 70 minutes.  It's been disappointing to say the least.

Now imagine the motivation of Erica Marsallis-Lamanna (who friended me on facebook once I gave a positive review, incidentally), who wrote and directed this movie.  I can't be in her shoes so I don't know all the budget and scheduling issues that made it at times not look or sound excellent, but you can see how motivated she was to make Generation Me as good as it could be.  Star power could not sustain a low-budget movie like this, so she had to create engaging characters, engaging themes, and just make it a whole lot of fun.  I'd almost rather see a movie like this that throws so much up there and come up short than to see a movie with a lot of resources behind it that has no heart.

I am happy I had a chance to see Generation Me but also getting more upset as I write this that there are movies like the American Pie series and whatever young adult movie of the day that represent such a shallow version of youth culture.  I hope this movie gets a lot of buzz and gives the director a chance to make more films.

Also, another weird thing, this movie marks the second appearance in this festival of an actress named Jamie Teer.  She was the female love interest in A Schizoprenic Love Story.  This festival gave me an appreciation for filmmakers but also to indie movie actors too, as I had to pay attention carefully before I realized that these two very different characters were played by the same person!

BIBLE STORYLAND (SAN ANTONIO FILM FESTIVAL 2012)

BIBLE STORYLAND (2012)

San Antonio Film Festival

As I discussed before, the unique feature about Bible Storyland was all about access.  You had the feeling that this was a testing ground for films before they really made the big festival circuit.  When I was waiting to get inside the screening for this movie, the DIRECTOR introduced herself to me, and even remembered my name a couple times later when I was being seated and during the post-screening Q+A.  I cannot say how willing I was to dismiss some very minor imperfections in this movie when you were able to meet the person who put their passion on the screen.  Not only was the director there, but the documentary's main protagonist, Harvey Jordan, an art dealer from Southern California whose obsession with finding out more about a failed religious theme park in the central drive of the movie.

Listening to the director's vision was interesting to me, though, because personally the most compelling idea in the movie (maybe it was the urban planner in me) was the failed attempt at creating a religiously-themed pseudo-utopia, with the accompanying interviews with historians commenting on what theme parks like Disneyland and Disneyworld were trying to achieve at the time of their creation.  And if I have to say anything bad about the movie, that particular topic didn't have enough depth to sustain the whole movie.  When the director said that that her film was really an exploration of Jordan's evolving obsession with Bible Storyland and his personal journey towards the acceptance of mortality I didn't really see it at first, and maybe it could have been less subtle. 

As I think about it though, the connections fuse together.  I think movies about individual obsessions come a dime a dozen, and if you followed every person around who had a pet hobby it would end up concluding the same way.  Jordan follows through his interest in Bible Storyland through the very end, and one of the final scenes is really unique in tone.  This is when Jordan presents his research and work on his obsessions to a group of elderly social club attendees who might have heard about the theme park plans in the 1960s, but now could barely care less.  It seems like he is rather humbled by this experience and is able to move on with his life.

Again, I chose this film on a whim because it fit into my festival schedule.  I had no idea who would be attending NOR that it was the world premiere of the movie.  But now that I've met the people involved who were able to present their perspective on their own creation, Bible Storyland is now a more compelling and personal movie than I could have imagined.