Jason goes to Indy-fest, day 4

No, that title's not a typo. It'll all be clear soon.

Another nice night in the hotel Fusion, then I checked out of the hotel and took another pleasant walk to the Roxie to see the 12:30 show, the shorts program "Animation Amalgamation". Here's the rundown:
"Requiem for DRM"--DRM being "Digital Rights Management". This was a top ten short at ourstage.com, which sponsored the program. A clever little music video showing the history of music from birds to CD's, and the futility of trying to stop it from being shared.
"Children of Shadows"--Japenese charcoal drawings of children growing up and taking over their parents' roles. Plus it's got bunnies! In fact, it's got drips of pussy juice turning into bunnies. I like bunnies...and the Japanese are fucked up!
"A Letter to Colleen"--A very angry, sexual letter from the man who's been tormented by her since his 18th birthday.
"Flighty"--For the life of me, I don't remember this one. Did it actually play?
"Hope Springs Eternal"--The hilarious story of Mort, who's such a loser he can't even get suicide right. Can't wait to see more adventures of Mort. Here's a very blurry picture of director Ron Noble:


"Switch"--Computer animated metaphor on life choices. We're all running along with timers on our backs and different doors to choose.
"Einstein's Riddle"--You know, that one about neighboring houses and who lives in each one? Well, this is updated with smoking, drinking, and gratuitous nudity.
"Fault"--The road gets revenge on an aggressive driver.
"Teat Beat of Sex"--Important lessons, explicitly educational.
"Fantasie in Bubblewrap"--The poor souls, won't someone stop the slaughter!? On second thought, that was pretty cool.
"Running Seasons"--The journey of life, in stark black and white.
"The Cock Song"--Sing along: "I'm gonna grab my cock and go to the chicken fight..."
"Veterinarian"--His work is never done. Seems like for every animal he cures, he accidentally causes another one to get sick. I guess that's job security.

So next up was the amazing father/son documentary, "The Body Builder and I". Bryan Friedman has never really known his dad. His dad Bill left when Bryan was two. After a second failed marriage, Bill--now in his late 50's--took up body building. At 57 he won the world championship in his age group. At 58 he was dethroned. At 59 this is his last chance to recapture glory, and to connect with his filmmaking son. Bryan has the idea to film a documentary about his dad, and the end result is about equal parts a look at the strange world of geriatric body-building and a dysfunctional family drama. Bryan is very obviously completely embarrased by his dad strutting around on stage in tiny bikini shorts. And the fact that he doesn't much like his dad doesn't make it much easier. It's ultimately funny, touching, and a bit tough to watch. Obviously what the world of geriatric bodybuilding has needed is Superman doing the macarena. But in the end, there's at least hope for a reconciliation.

And then, Indiefest became Indy-fest with the mega-event, "Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation". This actually played at Indiefest before, in 2005. Reaching back into my pre-blogging archives, here's what I wrote about it back then:

When "Raiders of the Lost Ark" came out in 1981, this group of kids in Mississippi made it their life's mission to re-shoot it scene for scene starring themselves. 7 years later, they finished (mostly, they skipped the airplane fight scene). Then for 15 years it was mostly forgotten. Then Eli Roth (Cabin Fever) got a copy of it, and made it his life mission to get a copy to Steven Spielberg. He succeeded, and in the process made this epic fan project famous (famous enough that their childhood story has been
optioned to be made into a movie itself). Well, I had heard about it last year, and now I finally got to see it. It was amazing, a packed house cheering for every big scene, as
if they were seeing the original again. There are many levels on which you can
enjoy this movie, but not the technical quality (these were, after all, just kids with
camcorders). But you can enjoy it for the dedication, the love, and the real sense of
adventure. These aren't professionals cleverly tricking you into suspending disbelief and making you think they're having an adventure. These are kids actually going out and having an adventure. These kids are really running in front of giant boulders, jumping into rivers, and (most amazingly), being dragged behind moving trucks. I just gotta love film geeks this big.

Watching it a second time, I'll add this. You can enjoy it for the technical merits as well as the technical glitches. The strings are showing, but the strings are part of the fun. And what they accomplished is actually pretty amazing. Also, it's still an amazing audience event. They were just short of selling out the 500 seat Victoria theater, and everyone cheered at everything. And I think Kurt Zala is a new cult hero of everyone in the audience.

Here's a picture of Jayson Lamb (cameraman and special effects creator) and Chris Strompolos (producer and Indiana Jones):


So the Raiders show ran a little long, so I had to sprint to make it back to the Roxie for the next show. I missed the first few minutes of "Helldrivers". This is a documentary about Paul Riddell and the titular Helldrivers, a thrill show group that's been performing for generations. They travel North America doing some pretty amazing stunt driving shows. Paul himself is the undisputed master of two wheel driving. He's the only guy who takes passengers in his truck, turns it up on two wheels, and drives around the track (no one else takes passengers because it changes the center of gravity). His son, daughter, and wife are also in the show, standing on cars, doing drag and slides, exploding cars, etc. Or, I should say, they were in the show, because sadly it ends with Paul deciding to close the show and retire. The end of a way of life and a form of entertainment that just can't draw the crowds to pay for skyrocketing insurance and gas costs.

This was the first half of a pair of documentaries about drivers. The second was "Alligator on the Zipper", a documentary about women truck drivers (as their tagline says, 7 women, 7 stories, 1.4 million trucking miles). It's an interesting premise and a series of interesting characters, with trucking experience ranging from a few months to over a decade. Some are on contract, some own their own truck. They all talk of the freedom of the road--except for one kind of annoying woman who only talks about her million dollar ideas that will make her rich, famous, and be on Oprah. A documentary like this succeeds or not based on the quality of the characters, and this succeeds about 6/7 of the time. The only thing I'd say is it switches so quickly from driver to driver that you never really get to settle in and get to know them one at a time. I would've preferred longer takes with one driver at a time, but maybe that's just me. I have a feeling that somewhere in all the footage, there's probably a little bit better movie that could be made.

Anyway, here's a pic of director Ivo Stainoff:

And here are two of the truckers (and bikers) Mercy and Stacey:

And finally, the last film of the night was, appropriately enough, "One Night". It starts out with a real attention grabber--a woman walks out onto the street in the morning, a guy in a red hoodie walks up behind her and calls her name. When she turns around, he pulls out a gun. Cut to 15 hours earlier...and it never really matches the energy of the opening (how could it). It's Friday night in New York, and 15 strangers are about to have a night of hookups (and breakups...and crackups). It's an interesting setup, but there were just too many characters for me to get to know too quickly. Perhaps I was just tired (this was the end of a 14 movie weekend), but I couldn't keep everyone straight and by the end it was just a blur of everyone hooking up and getting laid. Actually, I shouldn't say I couldn't keep everyone straight, I just didn't have the energy to care about 15 characters I'd just met. I could tell it was well made, and this has the feel of a movie that gets better with multiple viewings. But a single viewing, at the end of a 5 movie day and 14 movie weekend, just left me kinda flat.

So I grabbed a beer at the Kilowatt bar (official Indiefest hangout), talked a bit with the staff and filmmakers there, and headed home. I didn't even wait for the last BART home, I left with easily 30-45 minutes to spare. That's how tired I was/am.

Jason goes to Indiefest--day 3.

All right, this was the day that getting a hotel in the city payed off. I was well rested and took a leisurely stroll down to the Roxie for the first program, the shorts program "Who Loves Ya, Baby?" Let's jump right in. The shorts were:

"On a Tuesday"--a couple gets married midday on a Tuesday at city hall. Then he has to go back to work rather than honeymoon. It's a little flash of joy and love in an otherwise bitter, cynical world. Here's a pic of director David Scott Smith:

"Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore"--If you can't remember what you did to end up in bed with a stranger last night, just make up something really romantic.
"Antes y Despues de Besar a Maria" ("Before and After Kissing Maria")--A little boy obsesses about kissing the new neighbor girl Maria. This would've been a lot better with subtitles, but I could more or less follow it.
"Perfect to Begin"--A hilarious story from the UK about a guy who steals a camper trailer to go on a weird camping trip with his girlfriend and her daughter (he didn't initially plan on the daughter). This movie also features a dead bunny rabbit. Please, won't someone stop the bunny killings!
"Gimme Music, Gimme Shelter"--A guy shows up for a date, while the girl gets ready he judges her by her record collection. High marks on organizational skills, but low marks for taste. Particularly marked down for the Beatles and Britney Spears. HereÕs a blurry pic of director/star Shawn Telford (who doesn't actually hate the Beatles):

"I Hate Musicals"--A bitter, heartless insurance agent has a girlfriend who is making her debut as a musical actress. He shows up, but can't hide his disdain for musicals. A little magic dust cures him. Does it mean I'm getting old and bitter myself if I'd rather see him punished than redeemed? Well, he gets a little of both. Here's a pic of the filmmaker representative from "I Hate Musicals". However I have to admit that I did not note who he was. He might be writer/director Stewart Schill, or he might be one of the producers. Possibly Jeff Shapiro? For some reason I remember the name Jeff. But maybe I'm losing my mind:


"Copy"--if you don't have the guts to talk to that hot chick, just clone her with your clonamatic 6000. Program her to love you, just make sure you have the right DNA sample.
"The Art of Stalking"--There are very careful rules, and nothing distracts a stalker like a second stalker who doesn't follow the rules.

Next up was the Armenian comedy "A Big Story in a Small City", but first the short "Ground Floor Right". "Ground Floor Right" is the brief introduction of Fang. Fang is an old man with a long white beard, living in his small London flat with 100 birds. That place is a mess, but Fang is a pretty interesting guy. And where else could he live?

As for the feature, "A Big Story in a Small City", it was hilarious. This is exactly my type of slapstick dark comedy, which I find very typical of eastern Europe (I've noticed it particularly in the Balkan states, where I originally coined the term "abserbity" to describe it. Since then I've noticed it's not unique to Serbians). The story is narrated by Grigor Janoyan, who dies in a freak piano moving accident in the opening scene. His grieving family collects the body from the morgue, and sets him up in the house for the traditional viewing. But after most of the day, the daughter realizes that the body in their house is not actually their father. He's a dead ringer (pun intended) for their dad, but he has a small scar on the chin...oh yeah, and prison tattoos on his hands! So a wacky slapstick caper ensues wherein Hadyk, the eldest son, has to lead his brothers (and village idiot friend) to a) find their father's body, and b) swap it back, without c) everyone finding out. Of course, the mob gets involved. Excellent.

Then I was supposed to see "La Creme", but for the first time in Indiefest history, a screening had to be cancelled. Blame the French, who sent the wrong format tape. Fortunately, I'll be able to see it Monday afternoon at 5 pm (I'll just have to leave work early yet again). So instead, after some searching, they played "The Road to Nod". This is described as a "film noir road movie", which is pretty appropriate. Particularly the "road" part. Man there's a lot of driving in this movie. But more than that, there's a load of religious symbolism (Nod is the land that Cain was banished to after killing Abel). The hero is Parrish, who in the beginning of the movie is released from a Frankfurst prison. He goes to the bar and meets with his boss, the Reverend, who has a job for him. The next morning he's to meet for the job, but instead witnesses him getting gunned down by rivals. And so he flees, searching for sanctuary anywhere, and finally ending up in Ireland. For a crime action piece, it's amazingly slow and contemplative, and I'm not sure if I really "got" it. But it plays again tonight, so I might rewatch it and see if I get it better the second time.

Next up was a grafitti documentary, "Bomb It!" There's always been a sort of affinity for independent film and grafitti. I suppose it has something to do with the guerilla nature of the two art forms, but there are a lot of indie films made about grafitti (both documentaries and narratives). But this one is perhaps the most ambitious, starting from the roots in Philadelphia and exploding all over the world (London, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Capetown, and of course New York and Los Angeles). After it comes out theatrically this spring and DVD in May, the filmmakers are planning a 5 DVD set featuring individual cities. Anyway, I don't really know the grafitti world, but after seeing a number of films about it I believe I can kind of get it. And the debates about public space were interesting. They make a convincing argument that grafitti is a vital art form (although I'd object to grafitti on private property) and it's no less offensive than giant billboards telling you to buy the right kind of car so you'll get laid. At least the only thing taggers are advertising is the fact that they exist. And a lot of the grafitti art is really pretty beautiful. I can't really say the same about the tagging, but they make an interesting point that the elaborate artists start out as taggers so you really shouldn't discriminate between the two.

Here's a picture of director John Reiss at the Q&A:

Next up was a reel of Japanese experimental animation. "Tokyo Loop" was made a couple of years ago to celebrate the 100th anniversary of animation on film. Most of them are very experimental. A few are funny, and some just boring. I found it kind of a mixed bag, mostly the kind of experimental movies that appeal mostly to other filmmakers. But I do like some of them. The first one, with the man and dog represented by dots connected by lines--that one totally hit my math geek buttons. And there's the one with all the poo. And there are finally bunnies that don't die! Turns out the Japanese treat their bunnies nice--reaaaal nice.

And finally, the midnight movie "Pop Skull", a drug-addled horror movie. Daniel is a pill addict living in Alabama. He's got a really hard time keeping his life together, and it's made all the more difficult by the murderous ghosts (or something) in his home. Of course, this might all be his dream, as he admits early on that he's having difficult telling dream from reality, and they do no favors making it any easier to the audience. This is one part horror film, two parts drug film, and about 10 parts art film. But don't let that scare you off, there's plenty of visuals and creepy style to satisfy the horror fans, plus enough strobe effects to incapacitate a roomful of epileptics. All I can say is that while the similarity of the title to "popsicle" is a complete coincidence, it still gave me a beautifully nasty brain freeze.

Here's a picture of the filmmaking representatives, which I believe is the producing pair of Peter and Aron Katz. I hope I got that right, I was pretty tired by this time:

And that (after running down to Cell Space to catch the last 30 minutes of the after party) was day 3 of Indiefest.

Jason goes to Indiefest--Day 2

So on Friday after a hectic day at work I escaped, went up to the city, checked in to the hotel, and went off to the movies.

First up was a rare Indian film that's not all singing and dancing, "The Pool". Actually, the filmmaker Chris Smith is American, he just filmed in Panjim, Goa using locals and their stories for his movie (previously he'd only done documentaries, and this is an interesting step 80% of the way to narrative film). This is another film that's very strong on local flavor. This time it's uniquely Indian,a nd particularly the impoverished class of India. Venkatesh (played by Venkatesh) is a servant at a local hotel. Although he's very poor, his neighbor is wealthy and he catches a glimpse of their clean, shining swimming pool (and their pretty daughter). The pool becomes a metaphor for all that he desires, and he works to learn more about the man who owns it (and his daughter, of course). His curiosity leads interesting ways. I particularly like the Indian sense of humor, and just have to mention that there's a joke in the movie about watching too many movies too close to the screen puts too much strain on your eyes. Hey, they're talking about me! Also, although it's too early to call a theme of the festival, the theme of the past year continues, as Venkatesh tells a story about hunting rabbits. At least they don't show any dead bunnies in this movie.

Next up was a night of local poetry. First the short "The Attik: Jungle Electric", about the local Oakland hip hop group, The Attik. It's well made, but short and doesn't really go into any depth. It's essentially a 6 minute commercial for them, and in that regard it succeeds.

Then there was the feature, "2nd Verse - the Rebirth of Poetry". Also made in the bay area and featuring mostly local talent (more on that later), it's about the youth "poetry slam" movement and the Brave New Voices international competition. The 8th annual BNV was held in San Francisco, and the filmmakers got access to young poets from all over the world. The movie makes the argument (convincingly), that these young poets are the voice of their generation, and if that's so the voice is loud, it's high energy, it's angry, but it's still idealistic. The breakout star of the film has to be San Jose native Yosimar Reyes (who recently recorded with Carlos Santana, but that's not in the film). He's a shy, gay, undocumented Mexican who really came into his own through this poetry. His story is probably the most inspirational of them all (okay, there's also Emiliano Bourgois-Chacon, the SF youth poet laureate with cerebral palsy).

Anyway, after the movie we had a brief Q&A followed by a brief poetry reading featuring Yosimar himself. Here's a pic of Erica Eng (director of "The Attik"), Yosimar, and Carl Brown (Director of "2nd Verse"):

(two guys from "The Attik" were also there, but the picture I took of them didn't come out well.

Anyway, the poetry slam ran so long I had to sprint back to the Roxie to catch the midnight film, "Never Belongs to Me". This is a Korean film, from the director of "Teenage Hooker Becomes a Killing Machine in Daehakroh". While that movie was very, very straightforward (everything you need to know is in the title), this movie is one fucked up trip. I can't really sum up the "plot" per se, but here's some things that happen (or maybe not). A young girl gets raped by a tiger and later by a dog, resulting in one pretty freaky half-tiger son and one oddly completely normal looking son, Gun-tae. The half tiger wants to fuck everything on the planet. The half dog son wants to father a child to make his mother a grandmother so she'll be happy. There's a cyborg hooker (possibly the "killing machine" from the other movie, but it's been a while since I've seen it), there's a trio of scumbags. There's vagina dentata, courtesy of the cyborg hooker (always good). There's Dr. Hell who gives Gun-tae a penis gun that makes his sperm into a weapon. This results in one of the sickest shootouts ever on film (wait, did I write "one of"?) Anyway, this plays again as the midnight movie next Friday night, and I'll have to see if I feel up to watching it again. Maybe after a second viewing it'll make sense

And that was day 2 of Indiefest.

Jason goes to Indiefest--opening night

All right, my favorite extended party of the year has started, and I'm already 11 movies behind in my blogging. Apologies to my loyal readers (I know, you're all anxiously waiting to know what I think), it's been a combination of good and bad that's kept me away from my blog. The bad, I've been incredibly busy at work. The good, I splurged and got a hotel in the city (just for the weekend), so I don't have to make it back home to Fremont every night. I've actually been much better rested, but I've also been away from a computer where I can blog. I'm actually writing this in my hotel room Sunday morning on a borrowed laptop (thank you Ira), and hopefully I'll find a wireless connection later today and post this.

Anyway, let me get to the movies. Opening night was a double feature, starting with the redneck opus "Shotgun Stories". It's full of the local flavor of rural Arkansas, and takes its sweet time introducing you to the three protagonists. For a while it seems only about the local flavor, and slowly letting you get to know Son, Kid, and Boy. In fact, it took me embarrassingly long to realize those weren't nicknames, those are their given names, courtesy of the father who never wanted them and a mother who is just a heartless, hateful woman. They're of course pretty messed up, living in poverty, and each with their own problems (and anger issues), but each doing their best to survive in their own way. Their lives (or reasonable attempts at it) is interrupted by a curt visit from their mother, who informs them that their father has died. When they attend the funeral, they discover that after abandoning them, he cleaned up, became a good man, and raised 4 more sons (who all got real names). Son has a little tirade ending in spitting on his father's coffin, and that triggers a feud that just gets more and more violent. This is where the movie really takes off, and the time invested earlier in getting to know the characters pays off. There's no one entirely likable in this movie, and I've seen many movies with unlikable characters that just rush to the action. The end result of such movies is I don't care about the fights, because I don't like or care about any of the fighters. But this movie spent the time to make me care about Son, Boy, and Kid. And so I want them to win the feud. Or, more to the point, I want them to reach a peace and not have to fight anymore. Which is really the moral center of this movie. Here's a picture of writer/director Jeff Nichols, at the Q&A afterwards:

Next up was a wild, frenetic ride--Belgium's submission for the best foreign language Oscar (it didn't make the cut), "Ben X". Ben is a mildly autistic Flemish high schooler. He has Asperger's Syndrome, making him ultra-sensitive to stimuli and making it almost impossible for him to speak (but not stupid, he's really very intelligent). However Ben X is his avatar in a MMORPG, where he is a mighty conquering hero (level 80, that's good). He even has a girlfriend in the game, although he's terrified to meet her in person. The movie makes excellent use of video game footage as a form of interior monologue, to let you know what he's fantasizing while going through his daily life. A staple of that daily life is two bullies who torment him mercilessly. Their bullying culminates in a horrible humiliation in front of the entire class (and pretty soon, the internet). In his fantasies, you can see the revenge he wants to take, and I was desperately hoping for bloody, visceral revenge. I won't give anything away, but the revenge he does get is in it's own appropriate way almost as sweet. Awesome.

Then a little after partying at Cell Space, bumming a ride home (thanks again, Ira), and back to work the next day. And so it begins...

Jason tells you how to see everything at Indiest '08!

Or, at least, how I will see everything. There are many other ways to see it all. My schedule is based on a preference for:

1. Late evening shows, meaning I don't have to sneak off work early. Of course, I'll still have to do that a few times.
2. Making as much of the after parties as possible.
3. Seeing movies as early in the festival as possible (so I can decide which, if any, I want to watch again).

I've scheduled a few shows where I have two chances to see them. For those shows, the less-preferred screening is shaded gray.

See y'all at Indiefest starting tomorrow!

Jason draws another funny

I hope this doesn't become too much of a habit. This is more suited to my skills of an artist. And it explains why I'm so happy all the time:

Jason watches "The Savages"

So now all the Oscar nominees I haven't seen are not in theaters (the shorts are playing Feb. 15-21 at the Landmark Shattuck and Embarcadero). The documentaries usually play as a free screening at the Balboa if I can make it. The foreign films are looking pretty impossible to see as anything other than an illegal download. And there's still no fucking way I'm watching "Norbit".

Anyway, as for "The Savages", the trailers for this movie inaccurately play up the comedy elements. Really it's a very serious drama about taking care of a parent in the last stages of their lives. Particularly, a single father who for some not-quite-specified reason didn't do a good job raising his son (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and daughter (Best Actress nominee Laura Linney), and so they're both too screwed-up and selfish to do a good job taking care of him. It's a little painful to watch at times. At least, if you try to sympathize with any of the characters it can be. But it's got some excellent acting and writing, and all in all a well made movie.