It's been over for more than a week, but upon writing this, it will finally be over for me.
The closing night feature might just be my favorite film of the festival (time may tell.) THE MISOGYNISTS sounds like the kind of movie I should hate. At least, it features characters I should hate. Set on election night 2016 in a hotel room full of booze, cocaine, and two guys who supported Trump. And they're celebrating with booze and cocaine. Especially Dylan Baker as Cameron (you know Dylan Baker, you've seen him, but you've never seen him get a leading role where he can chew the scenery like this.) His compatriot Baxter (Lou Jay Taylor) is a little more sedate, hoping Trump can pivot from the campaign rhetoric and be a good President. He's also worried about his wife, who is afraid of the incoming Trump administration. Of course, Cameron makes fun of him for his wife--an impediment that Cameron has recently shed, which is why he lives in a fucking hotel room now. Anyway, a night of booze, drugs, prostitutes, and sick revelations are ahead for them. Everyone has strong opinions on the election, and everyone gets their fair share of mockery for them. Now, "fair share" does mean that Trump supporters are in for a lot more mockery. But Hillary supporters--in the form of Baxter's wife and the two prostitutes (who don't even know if they're up for working that night) are also showed as less than stable geniuses. Through it all there's a recurring bit of magic where the hotel TV room spontaneously turns on and shows scenes in reverse (perhaps a sign of how the outcome is turning the clocks back in so many ways.) It's a wild night and a wild movie that I'm very glad I saw, but I'm not sure if I ever want to watch it again. Well, maybe to inflict it on my friends. I might want to do that.
And then I ended Indiefest with THE MAZE. It's based on the true story of the 1983 prison break from what was supposed to be the most secure prison in Europe. The thing is, you kind of need to know a little bit about the sides in the Northern Ireland "troubles" at the time. And I'm kind of a dumb American, I didn't get all...or much...of the references there. There is an exciting prison break drama in there, but my lack of both context and sleep rendered it kind of ineffective for me. Which I guess is a shame. I could tell there was great acting, and a story that is resonant with a time or place. It's just a time and place that is too foreign to me.
And with that, I finally declare Indiefest 2018 closed. Some films were great. Some films were great to sleep through, but it's always a fun party.
Total Running Time: 178 minutes
My Total Minutes: 470,510
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