Jason Goes to Cinequest--Day 4

Well, the big first weekend of Cinequest is in the books, I guess I should get to writing about it. Let's see how well I remember any of it. After checking into my hotel, I had a quick beverage (or several) in the lounge, then on to the soiree at Mosaic for some serious drinking.

Finally I made it to a film, TOMMY BATTLES THE SILVER SEA DRAGON. A wild and inventive musical about guilt and inner demons. Tommy Silver (director/writer/star Luke Shirock) is on trial. Well, sort of, he's on trial in his mind, where he has manifested his judge and jury. In particularly, he's battling the guilt over the circumstances of his mother's death. And this is really fucking up his relationship with his girlfriend Carolyn (Celine Held.) Oh, and did I mention it's a musical? And it's a beautiful, kinda insane fantastical trip? Well, it is.

And it plays again next Thursday night at the Hammer Theatre and on Sunday at Redwood City.

And then I caught YOU AND ME, a beautiful romantic comedy of differences. Ella (Hillary Baack) is a sweet, beautiful writer. Oh, and she happens to be deaf, but is great at reading lips. Tony (Paul Guyet) was  recently blinded in an accident. But he tries to keep a positive outlook on life, and not let his disability affect him. Of course, Ella knows a bit about that. So they become friends. They go out on a few dates. And we get to watch it unfold, with all the human vulnerability and sweetness. I love how these characters have their disabilities, but it never defines them. They're fully realized, well-rounded characters with strengths (especially their humor, which IMO is the best strength to have) and weaknesses. And it's just beautiful. I'm not crying, you're crying! Shut up!

If you wanna feel the love, it plays again next Tuesday in Redwood City and Friday at the classic movie palace, The California Theater.

Then it was time for some Mindbender shorts

ARCANE: It bent my mind when a women interrogated for murder tells a story of the creature who did it. Or maybe the guy was a creep and attempted rapist who got what he deserved.
CARGO: It bent my mind with all that dancing.
CONTACT: it bent my mind when the idyllic pastoral scene changed, and we started learning what's actually going on.
DEFUNCTIONARY: It bent my mind learning what a hilarious and terribly run bureaucracy limbo is.
FILIPPA: It bent my mind when a simple game of hide and seek turned super dark.
IMMERSION: It bent my mind when that guy woke up to see a couple of dead guys and a briefcase full of money.
INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY: It bent my mind how a man tested the artificial intelligence of self-driving cars.
PIE: It bent my mind what's really in that pie.
STEVE'S KINKOES: It bent my mind how much making copies can give a guy with a lost (and dead) cat a lot of comfort. Maybe too much comfort.
STRANGERS: It bent my mind with all the crazy, imaginative stuff going on in this wordless film.
VALENTINA: It bent my mind when it was so damn hot that the maid's vagina rebelled and demanded some relief. The climate change revolution will be led by suffocated vaginas.
YOSHUA: It bent my mind how a team of kids from South Central LA harbored an illegal alien.  A big, blue, furry alien. He was cute.

You can get your mind bent as well, when this shorts block plays again on Monday (hey, that's later today!) in Redwood City, or Friday at 3 Below, or Saturday back in Redwood City.

Total Running Time: 305 minutes
My Total Minutes: 471,796