Saturday started with very little sleep, after keeping filmmakers up in my room partying until 4:30 or so. But I was in the lounge at 10 am for morning drinking, because that's how I Cinequest.
I started with the comedy shorts. Hooray for starting the day drunk and laughing!
BIGFOOT'S LOVE SLAVE: It's exactly what it sounds like, a musical homage to the hairy hunk himself.
FUCK EVERYTHING: Speaking of hairy hunks...of something. The Hairy Soul Man is back with a song that has become my manifesto for the week.
GRAHAM'S MATE: Just don't fuck with the guy who owns the junkyard. If you want a headlight, pay fair price for it.
MIXTAPE MARAUDERS: Stoners, arguing over the art form of mixtape creation, and refusing to call it a mix CD even though it's a CD, not a tape.
MULTIVERSE DATING FOR BEGINNERS: With a flip of a scarf, you can try the same date over and over until you get it right. Or maybe just give up.
MUST KILL KARL: I mean, Karl is a total ass. It's not such an extreme solution. He kind of has it coming.
POSITIVE: It's good to be positive. Unless we're talking about herpes. Then it's not so good.
SPACE BUTTHOLE: Also played at Indiefest. From long time Cinequester and animator David Chai, comes an endless string of poop jokes.
THE SPECTACULAR SUMMER OF WEREDOG AND AMY: Dogs are so much nicer than men. But a dog who turns into a man once a month, that's not so bad.
WE KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE: The scary side of gentrification
WE SUMMONED A DEMON: If you're gonna play with magic spells, learn to do 'em right, dammit!
You too can laugh it up when this plays again on Saturday in Redwood City and Sunday at the Hammer Theater.
Then back to the lounge for a few more drinks before ENTHUSIASTIC SINNERS. Now I'll admit, my enthusiastic drinking got the better of me, and I kinda snoozed through this movie. Which is a shame, because there's a lot of nudity and sex in it. That's really all I remember. Apparently there's a story about a married cop and a widow who have a lustful day that might end in them actually liking each other. But the important part is all the nudity. Viva la Skinequest!
You can enthusiastically sin when is plays again on Tuesday and Friday in Redwood City, or next Saturday at the 3 Below.
Then Skinequest continued with SNAPSHOTS, a sexy story of three generation of women. The legendary Piper Laurie plays Rose, the matriarch of the family (played in flashbacks by Shannon Collis.) Her daughter and granddaughter are visiting her lake house, and each carrying some relationship issues secret. Turns out, keeping secrets goes way back in this family, as some rediscovered old photographs reveal. Seems like back in the 60s, Rose and her husband Joe were very good friends with the neighbors, Zee (Brett Dier) and Louise (Emily Goss, a returning Cinequester from THE HOUSE ON PINE STREET--Cinequest 2015.) In fact, Rose and Louise were very much more than friends. Louise was a bold, brash woman of the 60s, and taught Rose quite a bit about love. But it was a different time, they were both married, and the thought of leaving their husbands was just not possible. So they had a brief affair, and while they went their own ways, the memories and the snapshots remained, and while they were secret for 50 years, when they're brought out they can offer some wisdom and insight into the complexities of love in every generation.
This plays again Saturday and Sunday in Redwood City.
The I had time for a quick bite and a drink at the VIP soiree at the Fountain restaurant in the Fairmont. Then to the magnificent California Theater movie palace for YOU CAN'T SAY NO, a comedy about how love ends...or maybe doesn't fully. Hank and Alexandra (Hus Miller and Marguerite Moreau) had a good run--14 years and a couple of kids. But it's just not fun anymore, so they're getting a divorce. Hank takes a road trip up to Sonoma to visit his wine-drinking, pot-smoking, eccentric father (Peter Fonda.) Alex takes her own trip, but soon sees Hank stranded on the side of the road. Sometimes fate plays funny tricks like that. So with the kids shuttled off to stay with family, they have a little time to themselves, and decide to play a game. That game is, "you can't say no." I mean, they're clearly not getting back together (right?) but at least they can recapture a little bit of the fun-loving, spontaneous spirit that they once had. Well, wacky hijinx ensue, but maybe the game is just as bad for them as their marriage was. But it's fun while it lasts. As long as no one does something crazy like jump off a bridge.
You can play the game, too, since it plays again Tuesday and Friday in Redwood City, and you can't say no.
Next up I stayed in the California for SEEDS, a psychological thriller/horror film set in New England. Marcus (Trevor Long) has gotten a little too far into drunken debauchery (thank God that hasn't happened to me yet. Worst I do is get drunk and fall asleep in movies.) So he's holing up in his family home, looking for a little solitude and maybe get his life back together. It doesn't really work out when his brother asks him to look after nephew and niece. Which he tries to do, but there's a monster infecting him. I mean, maybe it literally is a monster growing inside him, taking him over. But maybe it's all in his head. The tension is excellent, as this is a film that builds and builds, with the horror elements coming as well-timed punctuation. This one I think will grow in my brain for a wild before I decide how much I like it.
This plays again Monday at 3:15 in Redwood City. Hey that's really soon. Go run see it now! Also next Friday night, again in Redwood City.
And finally I ended the night with a little demonic possession and TELL ME YOUR NAME. Inspired by true event, Ashley (Sydney Sweeney) is mourning her mother and has moved in with her aunt Tanya (Jessica Barth.) She still sees her mother, and she opens up to her best friend (Madison Lintz) about it. A seance gone wrong leads to something far worse. It seems not only is she possessed, but she unwittingly invited the demon in. So we're in exorcist territory, especially after a pretty shocking scene in a church. Reverend Michael (Bruce Davison) takes the role of lead exorcist, assisted by young Pastor John (Matt Dallas.) The title comes from the concept that knowing the demon's name is key to defeating him. But if the demon was invited in, all the commanding in the name of Jesus Christ won't work, he's got the power over her soul now. Well done, solidly scary horror film.
You can get demonically possessed by this film as it plays again Monday at 1 pm in Redwood City (yikes! too late!) and Saturday night, also in Redwood City.
Then it was all over except for the drinking back in the hotel room until security broke up the party around 4 am.
And that's how you do a Cinequest Saturday.
Total Running Time: 552 minutes
My Total Minutes: 472,348
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