Jason goes to Cinema By The Bay and sees AMITY

Instead of sticking around for a fifth documentary at Docfest on Saturday, I had to go to Japantown to see this film. And since I just barely mistimed the bus route, I hoofed it from the Mission to Japantown (specifically, from the Roxie to the New People Center)--approximately 1.7 miles in 30 minutes. So I officially got my exercise. Anyway, on to the film.

By the time an actual female character shows up in Alejandro Adams (AROUND THE BAY, CANARY, BABNIK) newest film AMITY, the female presence is conspicuous through its absence. This is approximately at the 50 minute mark of the 80 minute film. So it's pretty remarkable that the central relationship in the film is actually between a father and his daughter. Or, to be more precise, it's between an absentee, divorced father and his estranged daughter, on the night of her graduation. He has decided to fly in and surprised her by renting a limo for the night for her to party in. But she blows him off and he's left alone with the limo driver. The limo driver happens to be a former military counselor, so he has some insight on the human condition and this guy in particular (who doesn't just have problems connecting with his daughter or ex-wife, he seems to have problems relating well to anyone.) And while the limo driver is an excellent source of insight for the audience, he still doesn't seem to be able to get through to the man.

Oh, and once the female presence is introduced, it sort of goes into overdrive with the limo filling up with drunk, kinda slutty (or at least slutty acting at the moment) women. It's like the movie wants to have just as bad of a relationship with women as its main character does. And it reminded me of something that happened to me on the BART a couple of years ago, that is probably an irrelevant tangent but possibly very relevant.

I was BARTing home (to Fremont, end of the BART line) and there were a couple of young ladies (maybe college students, but probably high schoolers. I'm old enough now that all you young 'uns look alike to me.) They were obviously tipsy and going on and on about how tired they were and how they still had to go to another party after they got off the BART at Fremont. I tend to carry Foosh energy mints on me (to help make it through the 5th movie in a marathon day.) And because I'm a fundamentally nice guy (don't let my Twitter feed fool you) and because I was tired of the girls complaining about how tired they were, I offered them some caffeine mints. One girl looked at it and said, "What are these, roofies!" Then she grabbed one, ate it, grabbed another, and forced it into her friends mouth. Now I am never, ever, ever one to say, "she was asking for it" but I suppose if I were consistently hanging out with women like this, I would probably have a low opinion of them. Maybe the point is I imagine the main character in the movie spending most of his time with women like this (when he's around women at all.)

Yeah, so anyway I'm not sure if that meant anything. And I'm pretty sure I got sidetracked from the movie. Maybe the point is I imagine the main character in the movie spending most of his time with women like that (when he's around women at all.) And I will say that thought bugs me because it feels like I'm blaming those women rather than blaming him for being an unlikable jerk. But I will say Alejandro's movies are consistently provocative, even if I can't always say they were fun to watch.

Running Time: 80 minutes
My Total Minutes: 303,336

Jason watches I THINK IT'S RAINING

It was the opening night of Cinema By The Bay, part of the SFFS fall program, and probably the only film I'll see in this program.

This is the directorial debut of Joshua Moore, programmer for the SF Jewish Film Festival. So I already knew he could pick good films, but it turns out he can make them, too.

The film is mostly a character study of Renata (Alexandra Clayton). She's seems a bit of a quirky free spirit, opening the film with a monologue about always moving forward, until a little girl offers her an ice cream cone (What flavor? Yummy!) Then we see her wandering through San Francisco, getting drunk and disruptive, being both funny and annoying. And we see her taking some medication, and having a few breakdowns. And we learn that she's back in San Francisco after some unexplained absence. Presumably it had something to do with those breakdowns, but at least San Francisco is welcoming her with open arms.

And then she meets Val. And equally quirky guy, waiting for a bus in the rain. It's raining, she has an umbrella, he doesn't, but rather than just wait under the bus stop shelter, he decides to chat her up and try to get under that umbrella with her (opening move, pull out a cocktail umbrella and try to huddle under it). And it works, and it looks like romance might be in the air. At least, it might be if she can drop her quirky defenses and not have another one of those emotional breakdowns.

As a final point, I kind of hate the cliche of saying "the city is a character!" but g-d damn if it isn't appropriate here. I just loved that it's set in a very distinct San Francisco, but San Francisco for insiders (residents or frequent visitors like myself). There's not a shot of the Golden Gate Bridge or cable cars (or Coit Tower, the Transamerica pyramid, or anything recognizably San Francisco to someone who has never been here). Instead, it's the San Francisco of Muni buses and BART tickets (although using a BART ticket as a bookmark was kind of nostalgic for me, everyone is on Clipper now). In fact, now that I rack my brains, I'm not sure if the words "San Francisco" were ever spoken. I felt it made the movie work on different levels depending on if you're familiar with SF or not. If not, it works perfectly well as a universal story, it could happen in any city. If you know San Francisco, it's a unique story that could only unfold in exactly that way in exactly that city.

Running Time: 92 minutes

My Total Minutes: 254,217

Jason goes to Cinema By The Bay

The SF Film Society puts on a whole fall season, and I'm always too busy/distracted for it. But I did manage to catch one day of their weekend of locally made films last Saturday. It also turned out to be all documentaries. Weird. Anyway, here's how it was:

First up, a collection of short student docs from Stanford, THE STANFORD SCENE. They were all pretty good, but as short student pieces (that had to be finished in one quarter) the dominant theme was that I wanted most of them to be longer.

SHAVING THE CASTRO: A look at a neighborhood barbershop in the Castro that's been there long enough to pre-date when all the gays moved in. And it survived the change and has become something of a neighborhood landmark.

TIGHTLY KNIT: A quirky look at knitting circles. More than just old ladies, there are all kinds. The best part is the knitting equivalent of graffiti taggers who "yarn bomb" knitted sleeves around trees, parking meters, etc.

DREAMS AWAKE: Winner of the 2010 Student Academy Award. Doroteo Garcia (who was in attendance) is an immigrant janitor whose planned short stint making enough money for his family has turned into a decade long separation. So he's turned to poetry (and union activism) to express himself.

STILL REVOLUTIONARIES: A candid, insightful look at the Black Panthers from former members Madalynn Rucker and Katherine Campbell.

AN ARCHITECT'S VISION: Chris Downey was an acclaimed architect, and then he went blind. A fascinating look at how he's coped and learned to explore space by touch and sound instead of sight.

ZEUF: Zeuf is a breast cancer survivor, a nurse, and a surfer. And this movie is about her story and particularly her body image issues and accepting herself as she is--a strong, confident, proud surfer woman (who happens to have lost a breast).

KEPT: A look at hoarder--people who collect stuff and never throw stuff out. That's a lot of clutter.

WITHOUT COUNTRY (SIN PAÍS): The story of the Mejia family, torn apart by an insane deportation system (deport the parents first, then the son who was brought to America when he was one a year or so later. Leave the daughter who was born in America here?)

Next up was the coal mining documentary (didn't I see another one of those about a week ago?) DEEP DOWN. Like ON COAL RIVER (from Docfest), it's a movie that contrasts the effects of mountaintop removal mining with the beautiful scenery of Appalachia. And it's a portrait of locals who fight to protect their land. Terry Ratcliffe's family has lived there for generations, he owns his land and built his own log house. A mining company has offered him quite a bit of money to mine the mountain just above him, but he doesn't really want to sell (although he's tempted. He makes a meager living selling handmade wood furniture). Meanwhile Beverly May is an activist who works to prevent the coal company from destroying their hollow. Also like ON COAL RIVER, there's not a lot from the coal companies' point of view. Which is kind of expected, it's hard to justify mountaintop removal on any level other than 'we can make a ton of money doing it.' And that doesn't really fly well against personal stories of people struggling to survive.

Next up, a movie 30 years in the making, ED HARDY TATTOO THE WORLD. 30 years ago was when director Emiko Omori first ventured into Ed Hardy's tattoo shop. She made a short film at the time, but now she's made a feature length film about the entire scope of Ed Hardy's life and art. He was interested in drawing at a young age, and dabbled in fake tattoos before pursuing a "serious" art career. He graduated from the San Francisco Academy of Art and was primed for a career in fine art, but sort of shocked the world by declaring he would return to his childhood fascination with tattooing and elevate it to high art. He immediately learned that tattooing was harder than he thought. He could draw, but knew nothing about how bodies moved, how deep to get the needle, etc. He apprenticed under Sailor Jerry, and quickly learned his chops and did make an undeniable impact on the world of tattoos, especially by introducing Asian motifs (including the huge all-back tattoos) as well as classic Americana. Recently he's retired from tattooing, and taken up "serious" art again. And he's opened up his own shop for his art. A good movie about a fascinating, amusing man.

And finally, the night ended with 4TH AND GOAL, a documentary about NFL dreams with a focus on the class at City College of San Francisco. Under coach George Rush, Sr. (whose son is a producer on the film, making this kind of a father worship film) City College dominates the world of junior college football. Kids who for some reason (often financial) didn't start out in a division 1 school but want to play football flock here, and coach Rush really forms a family that is not just based on dominant football, but also demands academic achievement. As much as he doesn't want to squash anyone's dreams, he knows that the chance of any of them--no matter how good they are--of making the NFL is pretty slim. But all the subjects of this film at least make it into division 1 schools on football scholarships after two years there. And for the most part, they all find there is much less of a supportive, family atmosphere there. In fact, it seems right that the one kid from Sierra Leone that coach Rush officially adopted--a young Gibril Wilson--did go on to the NFL, and won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants. Each player was allowed to bring one friend/family member onto the field with him. On the field celebrating the Super Bowl win with Gibril was coach Rush. None of the other players had a career in the NFL--some fell to injuries, some made it to training camp but were cut. But all have a starring role in this film, and their stories, drive, and love of the game make this movie work.

And that was Cinema By The Bay. Or at least the one day I saw of it.

Total Running Time: 283 minutes

My Total Minutes: 215,098

Jason figures out how to split time at several film festivals this weekend.

Almost, I think. It's exhausting being me. Anyway, here's my plan.

Tonight (Thursday) I'm heading to Palo Alto for the Silicon Valley Jewish Film Festival screening of AFTER THE CUP.

Friday night, I'm finally going to catch 3rd I, the SF International South Asian Film Festival. Especially excited about FOUR LIONS at 7:20 and ASSHOLE at 11:30. SLACKISTAN at 9:30 will probably be cool, too.

Of course, that means I'll miss my chance at a second screening of BABNIK, from this year's Cinequest, when it plays at Cinema By the Bay. I do plan to attend the series on Saturday, though (unless I'm too exhausted). Always happy to support locally made film, and especially since Cinequest is promoting it, too.

On Sunday, I work at Niles and as soon as I'm off at 4 pm I'll head down to San Jose for yet more of SVJFF, catch a couple more films there.

Good thing I finally (for the first time in a few weeks) got completely caught up on my blog posts, because I'm pretty sure I'll fall well behind this weekend again.