Jason goes to Jewfest South--Opening Night

So, just as SVJFF is about to wind down for another year, I finally get around to writing about opening night. And what a night it was.

EAST JERUSALEM, WEST JERUSALEM is a studio "making of" documentary about a really remarkably recording project. David Broza is a world renowned musician and humanitarian (and, rather sheepishly, I admit I had never heard of him before.) The movie follows his process of collaborating with musicians around the world to make the titular album in a recording studio in East (i.e., Palestinian) Jerusalem. His Israeli, Spanish, and English influences meld with the Palestinian and American influences of his friends and collaborators, and makes for a beautiful experience. It's not a solution to the conflict there, but at least an oasis from it, and some of the most beautiful and moving scenes are just him and his friend and cameraman sitting on the roof chatting. A nice way to start the festival, and kind of left me wondering how the rest of the festival would live up to that (don't worry, it's been fine.)

And then afterwards we were treated to a live David Broza concert, which included a young Palestinian musician as a surprise guest (I forgot his name. Sorry that's what happens when you wait sever weeks to write up an event.) It was pretty amazing, and in just a few hours I went from knowing nothing about David Broza to being a fan.

Running Time: 80 minutes
My Total Minutes: 406,365

Jason goes to Niles for JACK PIERCE, MAKER OF MONSTERS

Catching up with the last month. And October always means some Halloween fun at Niles.

JACK PIERCE, MAKER OF MONSTERS is the new documentary by Strephon Taylor of November Fire. Jack Pierce was the makeup guru behind all the famous Universal Pictures monsters. Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, the Wolf Man, etc. Or one of my favorites, THE MAN WHO LAUGHS (later the inspiration for Batman's nemesis the Joker.) The film uses interviews, archival footage, news clippings, etc. to go over his exhaustive career, from free-lancing to heading up Universal's makeup department, to largely being forgotten and dismissed. Oh, and along the way coaching the Universal Pictures basketball team, which formed the nucleus of the 1936 Olympic champions. Truly a man of many talents, and one all horror fans--nay, all film fans--should know more about.

Then for the die-hards there was a brief archival Bela Lugosi interview, and then a bonus feature, WHITE ZOMBIE (1932.) Featuring of course Jack Pierce's makeup and Bela Lugosi as a creepy master of an island where he keeps "workers" enslaved as zombies using a mind-control drug (this was long before George Romero changed what we think of as "zombies.") A love triangle and some duplicity set up the story, with Madeline (Madge Bellamy) getting all zombified before the jealous suitor who tried to steal her away has a change of heart. It's not as famous as the iconic Universal monster pictures, but still an overlooked little gem of the time.

Total Running Time: 151 minutes
My Total Minutes: 406,285

Jason watches THE WALK in IMAX 3-D

I'm a bit acrophobic, so I fully expected to have to flinch and squirm in my seat at scenes of a man walking a tightrope across the Twin Towers. Especially in IMAX 3-D. And I was mostly right, although surprisingly most of that was in the lead-up and preparation. The walk itself was shot almost serenely, matching wire-walker Philippe Petit's mood. The story I already knew from the excellent documentary MAN ON WIRE (2008, and highly recommended.) THE WALK just gives it breathtakingly realized life. And that's a good thing.

As for the 3-D, I figured there would be little chance of it breaking my rule (into the screen is good, out of the screen is bad.) After all, the money shot is looking down from great distance. But Zemeckis found plenty of ways to create annoying action out of the screen, be it an arrow in flight or a bird. But still, it's mostly good.

Running Time: 123 minutes
My Total Minutes: 406,134

Jason watches THE MARTIAN in 3D

Now that's some smart sci-fi. I can't take credit for this, but a friend of mine pointed out that in many good sci-fi movies there's the moment where smart people have to figure out how to improvise some way to survive. That's the whole movie of THE MARTIAN. Only complaint--and this is really a nitpick--is when Matt Damon says he'll have to "science the shit out of this" he's technically engineering the shit out of this. Now, if he had a control Matt Damon to see what happened if he didn't do any of the stuff he did, that would be science.

Oh yeah, and as for the 3D, it mostly follows my rule of action into the screen = good, action out of the screen = bad. Only time I noticed it breaking the rule was during the storm in the beginning. Had to have dust and rocks flying at your face.

Running Time: 144 minutes
My Total Minutes: 406,011

Jason goes to Midnites 4 Maniacs and sees a Genuine Tribute to John Carpenter

THEY LIVE (1988): We started with this classic that really seems more relevant every day. John Carpenter, under the guise of an alien invasion movie, made a brilliant critique on how media controls our minds. This should be rewatched frequently. And that fight scene.... Man, that's brutal, but also surprisingly deep. It's got more going for it than just the fact that he has one of the best wrestling heels of all time as his hero. RIP Rowdy Roddy Piper, with this movie you've made the world a better place.

ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (1976): A brilliant little no-budget B-movie with horror, tension, drama, acting. On the last day of a police station's operation, a rookie cop has to hold off an invasion from a psychotic gang who are after a man who killed one of theirs after they killed his daughter. Complicating things is that a ruthless criminal is locked up there after car trouble caused a deviation from their planned transport route. And that ruthless bastard might be the only guy who can help them survive the assault. Excellent flick.

Total Running Time: 405,867

Jason watches THE GREEN INFERNO

It's unfair to compare Eli Roth's layers to either his earlier work (which I enjoy a lot) or to his inspiration, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980.) There are plenty of gruesome scenes (Roth claims zero edits were required, this is 100% his vision.) And I like the perversity of the idea of torturing naïve do-gooders. And I like the twist at the end. But beyond that, the plot just seems thin and lacking much of...a point. Or characters. Or the brutal sense of humor of the original (seriously, for those who are familiar with it, the "stop wasting film" scene and the "guys, we're rolling" scenes are two of my favorite examples of pitch-black humor ever.) But at least it's got a few stomach-churning scenes.

 

Running Time: 100 minutes
My Total Minutes: 405,683

Jason watches THE HIDDEN FORTRESS

Okay, this is stretching way back in my forgotten archives. Forgot to write this up, but I saw Kurosawa's THE HIDDEN FORTRESS a couple of months ago at the Stanford. It's Kurosawa, so it's awesome. It's also loosely one of the inspirations for STAR WARS, so...well, it's fun to notice some things. And it's just a cool story with some funny characters. I shouldn't have to sell you on this.

Running Time: 126 minutes
My Total Minutes: 405,583