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.

BEST FILMS OF 2011 (NUMBER 6)

#6

THE KING'S SPEECH

I think there's been a whole Oscar cyle since I've seen this movie, and it was released in 2010.  Nonetheless I saw this in Madison in 2011 so it was in the running for my top 10.  I'll have to say it's a movie that suffers from Oscar-winning residue.  This is the kind that makes not-bad but not-incredible movies the ultimate winners over much more interesting and deserving movies.  A look at some of my top 10 of 2010 shows this... True Grit, Social Network (that one was a little overrated, I admit), INCEPTION, WINTER'S BONE, THE FIGHTER... AND BLACK SWAN!  Not only were these movies great, they were also directed by visionaries behind tons of bold groundbreaking movies of the past 15 years.  Yet King's Speech won Best Picture, and Best Director... sigh, well water under the bridge.

Yes, the subject matter puts a lot of monumental global tension through a dim narrow prism in the form of the King's struggles with his speech impediment.  But put aside the need for a context with more gravitas and what you get is a very well acted and engaging story, rich in detail and surprisingly suspenseful.  Colin Firth's performance is just incredible... there is so much weight on the delivery of his words that your heart stops as he struggles.  Royalty is nothing if not without stature and the ability to impress, and this King, while not mentally weak, has to struggle so much early on to do the most basic speeches.  So it's not something I'm rushing out to see again, but it is a high quality movie with an honest expression of human frailty and its consequences.

A SCHIZOPRENIC LOVE STORY (2012)

A SCHIZOPHRENIC LOVE STORY

San Antonio Film Festival

As my journey through this very unique film festival continued, this screening was compelling because of the ability to get a little bit of an insider's view of the film business.  The film itself was entertaining and a fairly light and unique take on crippling mental illness.  The main character suffers from a trio of delusions in the form of three eccentric people... fortunately if you've seen Beautiful Mind you can understand the angle this film is taking towards the portrayal of this guy's madness.  Through the process of his therapy and medication, and a friendly neighbor and love interest who decides to show up at his door.  Bruce Davison, who is best known to me as the guy who played the Senator that was turned into a mutant by Magneto in X-Men but who was also nominated for an Oscar, also has a small role and gives this film a little more clout.

The screening was attended by cast and crew, and it was a blast to see the people up on the screen right down in the multiplex afterwards to answer questions.  What was fascinating was how they talked about setting a film in a simple scene in order to prove to investors that they can make a low budget film with a compelling story.  That opened up a new idea on how to appreciate movies.  No one has a big budget to portray their complete visions as first-time filmmakers.  What they can do is try to weave an interesting tale with those limitations of scope and budget, and A Schizophrenic Love Story is an example of using the the perspective of a troubled mind to take a movie into weird realms while staying within a very simple setting.

INTO THE WAKE / SAN ANTONIO FILM FESTIVAL

INTO THE WAKE (2012)

WIFF 2012 FILM

Upon coming to terms with missing a chance to join Marge and Steve in Madison for my fifth Wisconsin film fest in a row with them, I was excited to find out that a film they had watched was playing at the San Antonio Film Fest!  Also, as an example of how many films are out there that will never be blockbusters, Into the Wake was the ONLY film from the dozens playing in Wisconsin in April that made its way to my new town's festival.

First off, Into the Wake made me nostalgic for the Upper Midwest.  Most of the movie's dramatic scenes are shot in what appears to be in the North Center or Ravenswood neighborhoods of Chicago, as well as around scenic vistas by the Wisconsin River that I became very familiar with.  Just like the Dark Knight movies taking place on the streets of Chicago had a weird effect, I think the familiar landscape personalized the cinematic experience for me.

 

About the film itself, I would consider it a slightly shallower take on Winter's Bone that is a tad less believable and a smidgen less well acted.  Given that Winter's Bone was incredible on so many fronts though, that means that Into the Wake was pretty darn good.  The thick rich vein that comes with backcountry family rivalries can be tapped to many ends, and the filmmakers gave the story a style and intensity it deserved.

 

Enjoying these recaps!  Maybe I'll make it a daily clip!

TRASH DANCE (SAN ANTONIO FILM FESTIVAL)

TRASH DANCE (2012)

So, now begins my recollection of my San Antonio Film Festival experience.  From June 18-24 I sampled a few movies.  A little different that the very popular and fun Wisconsin Film Festival, which I attended from 2008-2011.  First of all, hardly any details of the scheduled films were released beforehand.  The theaters weren't very full.  During the short film showcases I had to wait minutes at a time for the projectionist to load up the next 2 minute film.  These films were often student films of varying quality... some had very local colors and themes.  So, it is not something that I would jump at the chance to go again.  It's not an immerse film experience, and not a user-friendly festival to say the least.

BUT, what was interesting about this festival was ACCESS to the filmmakers.  One movie had it's world premiere and the filmmaker came up to greet me and remembered my name.  The cast and crew were available at most screenings.  I'm now facebook friends with two of the filmmakers.  What made this special was that by seeing the physical people that attempted to make their cinematic visions with a limited scope and budget it really personalizes the experience in a whole new way.  There were some real technical and thematic faults with these movies but you can tell there was a passion behind them, and it convinces you that with enough drive (and the willingness to commit money of course) anyone can make something, and it can have many redeemable qualities.  It was a real insiders experience.  I just wanted to watch some unique movies, but I was surrounded by aspiring filmmakers who talked about the business of making movies and using this fest as a forum as a testing ground to get their careers started.  

Trash Dance was my first film screened during the three days that I attended the festival, and while the theater was empty and the film was only 60 minutes long, it actually probably had the most compelling theme of the festival.  A choreographer in Austin specializes in creating pieces that make blue collar activities artistic. She wants to create a performance using real trash workers.  She is a real Austin weird artistic type but through patience and understanding recruits folks that don't seem to have any interest in interpretative expression begin to rehearse for her work.  You feel that tension.. that feeling that this is really out of place for her to be doing this.  But the life stories of the workers and the way she crafts something that respects what they do shows that you can't judge anybody at face value or working class level.  From the lady's spacey eyed thoughts on dance you think you'll have maintenance workers dancing around in leotards but it's pretty magical what she pulls off.

More entries from the San Antonio Fest forthcoming!

Jonah

THE INTOUCHABLES

THE INTOUCHABLES (2011)
2012 WIFF selection

I am far from the 2012 Wisconsin Film Festival now, but this film was the Audience Favorite at that festival, and it found its way to the Santios Bikou theatre a few weeks ago.  The Bijou is near my apartment, they show artsy movies, and it's one of those movie cafes like the Alamo Drafthouse.  Nice to have it nearby.

This is about the most interesting and entertaining version possible of a very cliched premise.  Basically you have two people from different walks of life forced by circumstances to spend time with eachother, and each person learns a little more about themselves in the process.  But it is warm and charming, with unique twists given the French setting and the race issues in that country.  It's not  enough to overpower the feeling that you've seen this before, but worth a try.

In case you haven't noticed, I am trying a one film per post format.  I hope to address every film I've seen despite the backlog, and maybe somedays I'll want to give a simple recap or another day I want to do some tangential essay about how the movie relates to life experience.  We'll see how it goes.