Jason goes to Indiefest--Day 14

The penultimate night! Two more movies last week Wednesday.

First up was the comedy TOWHEADS. I was not familiar with the comedy of Shannon Plumb before, but one of my fellow festival pass-holders is a huge fan. And now I think I can count myself as a fan (ummm...not that I've gone out and perused more of her work, but here's her website.) Here she plays a version of herself, with her real-life husband and children co-starring, she plays a humorously bedraggled and put-upon mother going through a bit of a midlife crisis. She has the physical comedy chops to turn something as simple as pushing a stroller while carrying groceries into a slapstick adventure, without going so over-the-top as to be unbelievable. And she can also make her midlife struggle to find 'anything she's good at' seem not just funny, but poignant in a way that's more than just first-world problems. Yup, she's a talent that I've been remiss to not have known about before.

And finally, I ended the night with the documentary FLEX IS KINGS. It's a look at a unique, Brooklyn-based sort of street dance that has a strong following and intense competitions. It's kind of hard o describe, especially for an affirmed non-dancer like me. But it's funny, inventive, kinda dangerous looking with big leaps and wild contortions. Ah, according to Wikipedia it's "characterized by rhythmic contortionist movement combined with waving, tutting, and gliding. Flex dancers, referred to as flexors, often perform shirtless and incorporate hat tricks in their performance for showmanship." I guess that's a pretty accurate description. The movie introduces us to some colorful characters master flexors, up-and-comers, promoters, etc. all leading up to the premiere event, BattleFest. And the fun is just in sitting back and enjoying the dance.

And that was it for me at Indiefest 2014. Car trouble kept me from making it to closing night. Luckily thanks to Michael at On The Road Mechanics I was up and running again the next day. But between that and missing the first couple of days for a business trip in Switzerland, this was the first year I have a list of films I missed at Indiefest. TEENAGE I can see at Cinequest or when it comes out in regular theaters. And KARAOKE GIRL I can catch at CAAMFest. CHEATIN' I caught on a Cinequest screener, and CONGRATULATIONS! I saw at Cinequest last year (Paul? Paul? Paul!) But my apologies to the filmmakers of the following films, I don't know when or if I'll be able to see your films:

ALDO
DRIFT
REMEMBER YOU'RE SPECIAL
REZETA
YOU'LL BE A MAN

Still, I guess missing only 5 films out of the entire program is not too bad. And that's a wrap on Indiefest 2014.

Total Running Time: 169 minutes
My Total Minutes: 352,635