Jason goes to Cine(doggie)quest--day 7

Since every movie today had a dog in at least one scene, I'm declaring it a theme. I've noticed dogs earlier, but I've been holding back on declaring it a theme based on the theory that dogs are pretty commonplace, and it might all be a coincidence. Nope, while Indiefest was all about the bunnies, Cinequest is all about the doggies. Other themes popping out--axes and the clapper (but those are only about 3 movies each so far).

Previous movies that have had at least a brief shot of a dog (that I can remember):
"You Are Here"
"The Doorman"
"Curiosity Kills the Cat"

and I know there were a lot more, but I wasn't keeping careful track. I actually got to the point today where I did blurt out "doggie" during a movie, so it's officially a theme.

Also, I finally remembered to apply my temporary tattoo, showing my Cinequest Maverick pride.

All Right, now on to the movies.

Okay, first up was a Phillipine movie, "Batad", about life in an endangered cultural heritage village of Batad, famous for its rice paddy steppes. It's a comical drama about the hero, Ag-ap, a young man who travels all the way in to the local town (at least a couple of hours by foot) to sell fruit in the market. His feet are sore from walking so much, and so more than anything he wants a good pair of shoes. So for over half the movie it's the 'quest for shoes', where he tries anything to either get shoes or money to buy shoes (including offering to trade a dog for shoes--there's the dog reference). Then when he gets the shoes, it becomes a sort of "be careful what you wish for" story. A very cool movie, that started kind of slow (just because I didn't know what I was watching), but won me over pretty easily. Also it has some absolutely beautiful shots of Batad village and the landscape around it.

Next up was the comedy that's giving "Blood Car" a run for the title of "funniest fucking thing I've seen this week"--"A Dog's Breakfast". The story of a lovable but psychotic nerd named Patrick (you know he's lovable because he takes good care of his dog Mars), his sister Marilyn, and her fiancé Ryan (an actor on the sci-fi soap opera, "Star Crossed"). Patrick doesn't like his soon-to-be brother in-law, so he hatches elaborate plans to kill him. Wacky hijinx ensue. And keep on ensuing, when Ryan dies in a ladder accident while hanging Christmas lights, and for some reason Patrick decides he has to keep it a secret. A brilliant tour de force of slapstick silliness.

Then it was time for the Hungarian comedy, "Just Sex and Nothing Else" (which, by the way, it was great fun standing in line for. "What are you here for?" "Just Sex and Nothing Else"; "I'm looking for Just Sex and Nothing Else." "Well, you came to the right place!" I haven't had this much fun with a title since I saw "Fuck" and Indiefest last year). Dora dreams of marriage and a baby (especially a baby). And when her boyfriend gives her an engagement ring it looks like her dreams will come true--until his wife bursts in. So begins her ordeal of humiliation, beginning with escaping out the balcony topless, and being "rescued" by the neighbor, who just happens to be the lead actor in the stage adaptation of "Dangerous Liasons" she's edited. He's a notorious lothario pig, and of course takes an interest in her. So does the sensitive but clumsy composer working on the play, and the nice Turkish chef at the gyro stand where she stops (he does a great job as a cute but immature showoff). But she's tired of men, and just wants a baby, so she takes out a personals ad (the closing line of which is the movie's title. Also, one of the dates she meets has a doggy, so we're keeping with the doggy quotient). It's a sweet and funny sex comedy.

And finally, a sweet and funny non-sex comedy, "All the Days Before Tomorrow". It's the story of Wes and Allison, who met 2 years ago at her place in Montreal, took a road trip through Utah last year, and are now meeting at his place in Los Angeles. They have a definite chemistry, but the timing is never right for them to couple up. It's a story of one of those friendships that is in some ways closer than lovers, but still sexless (and at times to their mutual frustration). Told in flashbacks, weaving their three main encounters together, and punctuating them with bizarre dreams in which Richard Roundtree is Wes's spirit guide--in one of which he teleports himself with the help of a helmet that wires his head to a dog's head. So that complete's the dog theme of the day, and also was the moment I quietly blurted out "doggy!" in a crowded theater. Because I'm losing my freakin' mind! Here's a picture of the director, François Dompierre:

Good night everyone!

Jason goes to Cinequest--day 6

First, I'm proud to announce my Cinequest posts are now showing up on an actual well-written blog, Cinequesting. For those who've enjoyed reading my Cinequest posts, please visit that blog for more about the festival. And for those who've found my blog through Cinequesting, I'm sorry I hope you enjoy and come back year round for all the movies I watch.

Okay, Monday has been my toughest day of the festival so far. First, I got home from work at about 7:30 am and scheduled a noon movie, so what with time to shower, eat breakfast, and get down there from Fremont, I had about 2 1/2 hours of sleep. Second, for some dumb reason I chose to see nothing but subtitled movies, many of them serious talky dramas.

Like the first movie of the day, "Awakening From the Dead", a very well made but very difficult Serbian drama. I've written before about how I like the dark, absurd, Balkan comedies. Well, this movie has the darkness and the absurdity, but none of the comedy. Instead writer and professor Miki, who on the surface has a happy home life with his wife and son, goes on a bleak journey to visit his terminally ill father, and resurrect the ghosts of the 1999 NATO bombing of Belgrade. It's use of color is striking, starting with a bright, colorful home life but quickly becoming a black and white film when he goes on his joyless pilgrimage. Even reconnecting with (and bedding) his old flame is a sorrowful act. And it only gets bleaker and more shocking at the end. Everything about this movie is very well made, and it's a powerful piece of art, but I can't say that I enjoyed it. But, of course, that's the point. Here's a pic of the star, Svetozar Cvetkovic

Next up was an Austrian/Swiss/German comedy, "Slumming", about a couple of rich, amoral jerks. Especially Sebastian, who has about a half dozen dates set up on the internet every day, just so he can meet the girls and take surreptitious upskirt pictures with his digital camera. He and his slightly less amoral roommate Alex go to the lower class parts of Vienna, "slumming". One night while cruising in Sebastian's BMW, they see poor, raging alcoholic poet Kallman passed out on a train station bench. They think it'd be a real hoot to kidnap him, throw him in their trunk, drop him in a train station in Znojmo (Czech Republic) and, oh yeah, steal his passport. So Kallman wakes up and he's pretty screwed, not knowing where he is or how to speak the language. Funny thing is the locals are actually friendlier than the people back home, and he might just be the first alcoholic to go to the Czech Republic and stop drinking (although it takes him a while). Meanwhile, while Kallman is finding his redemption, Sebastian (and to a lesser extent Alex, who is feeling guiltier about dumping Kallman in a foreign land with no passport) finds his comeuppance in the form of schoolteacher Pia, one of his internet dates who he ends up actually falling for--so much so that he's honest about all the nasty things he does, including dumping that drunk off in a train station in the Czech Republic. A very funny, very cool little film.

Then I saw a documentary, "The Guerilla and the Hope: Lucio Cabañas". Lucio Cabañas was a rural teacher in the Mexican state of Guerrero who became of victim of Mexico's "Dirty War" of the 60's. He was politically active as an agitator for the poor, and the documentary explains his life somewhat but is mostly just interviews of people remembering how great he was. Frankly, it was just too many talking heads and too many subtitles for how tired I was. I kinda dozed off a little in the middle, but I basically got the idea. I think this movie works better for people who already know about him and the times in which he lived, and just want to hear more about him.

Then it was off the the San Jose Rep (oddly, the first time this year I went to the Rep, seems odd that I hadn't seen a movie there before today) for an Israeli psychological thriller, "Frozen Days". Entirely (and somewhat accidentally, as the director just liked the look when he saw it with a loose cable) in black and white except for one drug-fueled bout of color, it's the story of Meow, a young woman who makes a living selling drugs (probably acid) and is pretty aimless. Her only real human connection is with her internet chat buddy 008. After a pretty tough night (a client forced her to give him a free sample, then didn't buy anything), she decides she wants to meet 008 in person. After failing a few times (he lost his keys so couldn't make a date), she goes to his apartment and learns that his real name is Alex Kaplan. However she still doesn't get to see what he looks like because the power goes out just as she enters his building, and it's too dark to see. Her quest to get to know him is thwarted further when he's injured in a suicide bombing at a club where they were trying to meet. He's wrapped in bandages and in a coma, but she has his keys. And then things get weird. She goes to his apartment, starts living there, picking up his mail, and taking care of his life. People who've never met Alex assume she's him (Alex can be a girls name, too), and gradually she starts taking over his life. It becomes a trippy exploration of personal identity. This is just one of those movies where everything was working for me. The black and white seemed pointless at first, but won me over, and the contrast with the drug scene is pretty effective (by the way, with this and "Awakening From the Dead", I saw two movies today that played with color and black and white cinematography). Even the technical glitches, due to a bad tape transfer, seemed to have a rhythm and worked with the sense of fractured reality. Or maybe I was just really tired. Who cares, I really liked the movie. Here' s a pic of the lovely lead actress, Anat Klausner:
And finally it was back the California theater for a Vietnamese historical peasant epic melodrama "The White Silk Dress". "Epic" might be going to far, because it's really a story of one very poor family, set against the Vietnam war, but it treats their lives as an epic, so I'll coin the term "peasant epic". Anyway, it starts in the 1950's, near the end of French colonial rule, with a hunchback servant of the governor in love with a servant girl Dân whose cruel mistress beats her daily. With the bloody overthrow of the French, which throws everything into chaos, they are finally free to be together. Although never technically married, the hunchback gives her his only valuable possession as an engagement present--the white silk dress he was found wrapped in and abandoned as an infant. Together, the emigrate from their village in the north to the south, looking for a better life. Eventually they settle in Da Nang when she gives birth to their first (of four) daughters. They manage to scrape together a meager living selling mussels, and send their eldest two daughters (An and Corn) to school. However, once their in 6th grade, although their very smart they must have a white dress to continue school. Well, let me stop there, before I give everything away. The white silk dress is a symbol of the Vietnamese women's suffering, joy, and most of all grace. The movie works very well on so many levels, it's almost a shame to point out the things that didn't work. First, the sound felt unfinished, with long stretches of silence. Perhaps that was intentional, but I think another pass in the studio would do it good. Second--and the more I think about this I think it's not really a criticism--the ending was very abrupt. Obviously they're in Da Nang during the Vietnam war, so you know there will be tragedy, but the ending is still abrupt. But that's sort of a funny way of saying after 2 hours and 20 minutes (oh yeah, it's pretty long) I wasn't ready for it to end.

Okay, that's it so far. I'm actually completely caught up with everything I've seen so far. Time to go back to the movies!

Jason goes to Cinequest--day 5

All right, Sunday was my day of the most highly anticipated movies so far, in no small part because I've been drinking with many of the filmmaker's earlier in the festival.

The day started out with "Shootdown", a documentary about the incident in 1996 in which the Cuban Air Force shot down two American civilian planes over international waters. Oddly enough, I barely remember the incident (I was in college and that tended to be pretty isolated from the outside world at the time), so this was kind of a history lesson for me, too. Director Christina Kuhly is actually the niece of one of the victims, and she still managed to make a very balanced but provocative documentary about the events leading up to and following the shoot down. The victims were on a mission for the group Brothers to the Rescue, which started years before as an organization of pilots who would search for and rescue the Cubans who set out for Florida in makeshift rafts. They started out as a peaceful group that was actually a big help to the Coast Guard and the border patrol (while they were up there they would even report suspicious activity that might be smuggling). However, when Clinton implemented the "wet-foot, dry-foot" policy towards Cuban refugees, their mission changed. No longer just content to do search and rescue (when rescue would just mean returning to Cuba), they became a more outspoken activist group, at one point even invading Cuban airspace to drop leaflets on Havana. So, of course, this got Castro's attention. Anyway, I don't want to recap the entire movie, not just because I want to leave you with some surprises, but because it's so dense I could write about it for ages. I'll just say, it's a great documentary, very balanced (it even includes footage of Castro responding to the incident, actually from an unaired interview with Dan Rather). And the whole situation with Cuba is so complicated that about the only thing I know for sure is they were absolutely wrong to shoot down the planes with no warning. Beyond that, how to fix US-Cuba relations, I haven't the foggiest. I just trust that eventually all the assholes in power will be replaced with better people. In the meantime, I don't begrudge anyone who fights however they can to improve the situation, just don't ask me what the best course of action is. By the way, the Q&A afterwards got a little heated, but it just shows you what a hot button the subject is, and how people will often see (or not see) what the want to see, no matter how balanced you are. Here's a pic of director Cristina Khuly, producer Douglas Eger, and a guy who was there representing Amnesty International, whose name I forget, sorry:
Next up was a hilarious mockdocumentary, "The Doorman". Trevor W is the New York club scene's most important guy--the guy who can make the difference between you getting in or staying outside. He knows everybody, and is living the good life. Trouble is, he doesn't really know himself. Bigger trouble is, he doesn't know who Nicholas Cage is. And that leads to him getting fired leaving his job at his club and finding new work elsewhere--like at PetCo. A compelling and sympathetic look at New York's coolest loser. Here's a pic of the Doorman crew: In the center is director Wayne Price, on the right (with the ice cream cone) is Trevor W himself, and on the left is one of the producers, and I can't remember his name.

Then it was a bit of a change of pace, with the Chinese movie, "Curiosity Kills the Cat", a solid action/drama/puzzle, about a series of vicious red paint attacks. Momo is an aspiring photographer, but with only a camera phone to use. She observes the well-to-do people around her, but when she decides to help a handsome security guard solve a case of vandalism against a car in a parking lot he patrols, she uncovers deadly secrets of infidelity across socio-economic classes. It's mostly long, drawn out stretches punctuated with often brutal acts out of the blue (one scene in particular, with an ashtray, was particularly shocking). Very well done.

Then it was another fine documentary from some filmmakers I've been drinking with. "Monster Camp" looks into the world of LARPers (Live Action Role Playing). In particular, it follows the players in the Seattle chapter of Nero. Now I don't do LARP, I don't even do role playing games. I've never played D&D or WOW (World of Warcraft, which everyone in the movie has played). Put I can dig watching people have fun. And to the filmmakers' credit, they don't make fun of the participants. Not that it would be hard--there are overweight people, there are people pushing 30 still living with their mom. There are people who've spent 4 or 5 years as high school seniors. But hey, they're cool with it, and in fact a lot of the players have become cooler by being a part of it (yes, they actually developed social skills in the game). And for those keeping score at home, this was my 100th movie so far this year, so who am I to judge someone else's obsession? (of course, I do have my own apartment and a kick-ass job playing with radioactive materials, but that's another story). Here's a pic of director Cullen Hoback, who also did last year's "Freedom State", which is the movie I was most disappointed to miss at Cinequest last year (but I have it on good authority it'll be out on DVD sometime soon).

And finally, the retarded good-time movie of the year, "Blood Car". But first, the short "If I See Randy Again, Do You Want Me To Hit Him With the Axe?", a bloody hilarious movie about lumberjack safety and respecting the lumberjack code and the chain of command. Moral of the story--be a blue jacket, not a green jacket. Okay, now "Blood Car". The basic premise is that in the near future gas is so expensive (over $30 a gallon) that nobody but the ultra rich drive. So a vegan dweeb named Archie tries to invent a car that runs on wheat grass, but ends up inventing one that runs on blood. There's a possible political allegory here, but it's best to ignore it--or better yet, completely misinterpret it (yes, it is patriotic to kill people to fuel your car!) Because this movie is not about making you think or motivating you politically--it's about being as retarded and bloody as possible. And like most things car related, it's really about getting laid, as Archie finds that although the vegetable stand girl is nice, the meat stand girl is a freak (yes, Archie's got a little Betty vs. Veronica thing going on)! And, of course, when the government gets interested in his invention, the wacky hijinx just get wackier and hijinxier. Here's a pic of director Alex Orr:

Jason goes to Cinequest--day 4

All right, I've got a backlog or 10 movies I need to write about, so let's just jump right in. First off on Saturday was "Seven and a Half", except I screwed up and arrived about 25 minutes late (I thought I had to leave by noon, not get there by noon), so really I saw about six and a quarter instead. Luckily the seven and a half refers to the episodic nature of this feature, and I have a plan to catch the episode and a half that I missed. Anyway, this was another of the Balkan features, this one from Serbia, and the seven in the title refers to the seven deadly sins. It's a series of separate episodes (although they're all tied together in the final 1/2), each dealing with a different one of the sins. Greed I missed completely, and Wrath I saw the final portion about a boxer on steroids (and a lot more) getting ready to beat the crap out of some guy. Then there was lust--an internet pedophile poses as a little girl to pick up friends, only to end up with anotherinternet pedophile. Gluttony--a couple shows up to an avant-garde art exhibit, mostly for the free food. Of course, when the art is made of really disgusting food, they just keep on eating (seriously, I was starving all day and still couldn't eat because of this segment). Pride--a man and wife on a game show for couples bicker while trying to win the big jackpot. She's pissed because she's only seen as eye candy while he's the 'genius'. Sloth--a pair of burglars have a great plan to rob an apartment on the 23rd floor...except that the elevator's broken. Envy--a couple of drunken jackasses are jealous of the nice life, wife, soon-to-be-son, and mostly the car that the owner of the cafe wear they drink owns. Actually, a very cool, funny movie about the wages of sin. I'm sorry I missed the beginning, but as I said I have a plan to see it later in the festival.

Then it was time for a little break from the movies, to see a movie star--Minnie Driver! She was receiving the Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award, and I try to take a break and see at least one of these every year. She did about an hour of onstage interview, and she was pretty cool. She has a very charming, soothing voice, that was punctuated by some very sharp, clever humor. My favorite comment was when she was on the set of "Phantom of the Opera" (she was the diva Carlotta) and she overheard someone voicing a concern to Joel Schumacher that she was too over the top, and Joel Schumacher responded, "Nobody's ever paid to see under the top!"

Okay, the it was back to the movies, for a Czech film, "Railyard Blues", an ensemble slice-of-life piece punctuated with some absolute absurdity. Ostensibly about the daily lives of workers in a railyard, it meanders through love triangles, fake deaths, and lots and lots of drinking. It was pretty good.

Then I saw the very funny "The Trouble With Romance". 4 stories all taking place at the same time in the same hotel (but in different rooms), each comically representing different types of relationships (or different stages in a relationship). "Banged" has a girl going back to a guy's hotel room to have sex, only to keep imagining her ex-boyfriend and freaking out. She ends up having a deep heart-to-heart with her own imagination. "Spice" has a longtime married couple going to a hotel room to rekindle the spark in their marriage. The wife really takes control, first with a little bondage, then inviting a girlfriend in for a threeway, even though the husband is tentative. "Dumped" is the funniest of the lot, with a guy who has planned a fantastic third anniversary with his girlfriend--taking her to the club she's always wanted to get into. The only catch is they have to go with his two stoner buddies that she hates. So dump-ilarity ensues (along with one of the funniest toilet scenes I've ever seen. A different type of dump-ilarity). And finally, "Love?" about a guy who hasn't been with a girl since he broke up with his college sweetheart two years ago, so he hires a callgirl. A very funny, very well done film, and also remarkable for it's strong female characters. Here's a pic of some of the cast and crew of "The Trouble With Romance". The guy with the mic is director Gene Rhee, and I don't remember exactly who all the rest are, except that the two women are both actresses and producers.

Then I saw the horror movie "Sublime". A very well done horror film, both in terms of just the raw gory element and the story. It opens with an absolutely gorgeous landscape, with the hero Tom Cavanaugh (TV's "Ed" and the recurring character of Zach Braff's older brother on "Scrubs") falling from the sky and waking up just before he hits the ground. He plays George Grieves, a middle class white guy who's just turning 40. So the day after, he goes into the hospital for his colonoscopy. However, he wakes up the next morning drenched in sweat with stitches in his abdomen. It turns out he was mistakenly scheduled for the wrong operation, and then the nightmare just gets worse. I'm debating how much to give away, because I hate spoilers but I do want to talk about it somewhat. In fact, I don't know how to talk about what makes the movie great without the spoiler. So here's your spoiler alert (highlight to read): I figured out about 45 minutes to an hour in that it's all a dream. And then for about 5-10 minutes it pissed me off because in general I hate the "it's all a dream" ending, I think it's a stupid cop-out most of the time. However, in this movie I think you're supposed to get it pretty early on. The tagline of the film is something like "What happens when your fears become real". However, because it's all in his dream, it's really a matter of what happens when all your fears become exposed--especially the ones you didn't know you had. So realizing it's all in his head eventually made the movie work for me. I guess because I got over it being a twist and got into it being an integral part of the story. End spoiler alert. I particularly liked the black nurse named "Mandingo" with the nation of Islam bow tie. It's rare for a movie to take such risks with racism these days. But in the end, once you know the twist ending, it all makes sense. There's also tons of symbolism in the movie--most noticeable is the crow representing his soul. I'm sure the movie would reward multiple viewings, so it's a good thing that it'll be out on DVD in just over a week. Which is kind of odd, because this screening was the world premier. But it was the second of three in a production deal between the producers (Raw Feed) and Warner Home Video to release these movies straight to DVD. I'm just lucky it played here first. Here's a pic of writer Erik Jendrensen and director Tony Krantz:
Then it was time for what is always my favorite shorts program: "Mindbenders"
"4U"--I already wrote about at Indiefest. I'll just say that watching it again knowing the twist and observing the audience was quite a treat.
"Alone and Inhuman"--Puppet poop. Yeah, I don't need to say more. It was awesome.
"Criticized"--Given that this is about a filmmaker taking his revenge on a critic who hated his movie, let me just say that this is the greatest achievement in the history of any art form ever. Seriously, it makes "Citizen Kane" look like vomit that was then re-eaten and shat out by a particularly stupid monkey.
"Filthy Food"--T. Arthur Cottam, of "Beer Goggles" and "Pornographic Apathetic" does it again. Dirty, dirty peach. Dirty banana, dirty peanut butter, dirty cookie dough, dirty cream, dirty apple juice. Starring the mouth and fingers of Annie Terrazzo, also of "Pornographic Apathetic".
"Maquina"--A psychotic bit of surgery turns a young lady into a 21st century technological update to the archetypal character of the vagina dentata. I've never wanted to be a woman so much in my life.
"Room to Breathe"--A guy's wife is always nagging him. He should really take his brother's advice and not go off his meds. Trouble is, his brother died years ago. Here we go again!
"Venom"--an old lady wages a war on insects, after a little bee sting killed her beloved kitty.
"Y Que Cumplas Muchos Mas"--Happy birthday--here's a social worker to carve up!

And here's a pic of the mindbender creators, from left to right they are (to the best of my knowledge) T. Arthur Cottam of "Filthy Food", Richard Gale of "Criticized", Leonid Mandel and Andrew Fisher of "Alone and Inhuman", and Ehren Koepf of "4U":

And that was day 4 of Cinequest.

Jason goes to Cinequest--day 3

Okay, moving (or movie-ing, ha!) right along. I got 4 hours of sleep and then back to the movies for a full day (5 movies). I'm writing this up while taking pictures of gamma rays. Here we go:

First up was a Hungarian movie, "The Prince's Respite" (or, as the subtitles said, "Princely Reprieve"), a darkly comedic, high concept, existential drama about death. Alida is a successful model and Miss Hungary, but after a fatal run-in with a mugger, she finds herself greeted by two hags in the waiting room of the afterlife, where souls wait for thousands of years to be judged. Asharoth, the prince of Hell, chooses her to play a game--she will be sent back to life and if she can convince anyone else to take over her death, she can live again. There are a couple of catches though. First, she has only one minute. Second, that same minute is repeated over and over again until she either wins or is caught by the "collectors"--three spearsmen on black horses (who hate it when Asharoth plays this game, because the dead are supposed to stay dead). Nobody has ever won this game, however nobody has ever been given a full minute before. Also, once she's back on earth, she meets another prince, Thor, who is trapped between heaven and hell. Thor likes the game and tries to help her beat Asharoth. His main advice--it's impossible to convince a stranger to die for you in just one minute, so try friends or family. Which is solid advice, trouble is it disgusts her to ask them. And, of course, no matter how well you know someone, it's not easy in to convince anyone to die in your place in just one minute. It was a really cool idea, and very well executed, although I guessed the ending quite a while before it happened. Still, it was a gratifying ending.

Next up was another Hungarian movie (I didn't plan it that way, it just happened), "Fresh Air", an extremely deadpan comedy/drama about loneliness and the glumness of going through the motions of everyday life. Viola and her daughter Angela are both pretty depressed. The movie opens with Viola at a dating service dance, and it's obvious she's tried this many times before. In her day job she's a restroom attendant and her daughter is a student hoping to break into fashion design (although she needs her best friend to enter her in a European student competition because she's too unmotivated on her own). Most of the movie is very slow and kind of hum-drum, but the charm lies in the surprising humor underneath--like how Viola keeps a cabinet full of air freshener sprays of various scents, and spends the day mixing them to find the perfect scent. Or Angela being courted by a young physics whizz (wait, in Hungary they have guys who know physics and know how to talk to girls? On a side note, when he first meets her he very very quickly tries to explain the magnetic force on a moving electron to her, and although the equations are right he missed an important point. At the end he shows her the right-hand rule for determining the direction of the force, but because the electron has negative charge the force is actually in the opposite direction, so he should've used his left hand. Sorry, that'll be the only physics interlude today). Anyway, it was a pretty good movie.

Next up was the two-man existential comedy riff "Hitler Meets Christ", based on the play by and starring Michael Moriarty ("Law and Order") as Hitler and Wyatt Page as Christ. Or perhaps they're just a couple of crazy Vancouver bums who think they're Hitler and Christ. Either way, they spend one night humorously talking/ranting/arguing about good, evil, life, death, etc. Hitler's in his own personal hell, wanting to die and be forgotten, while Jesus is in his own personal heaven, feeling so needed on earth and also enjoying Hitler's suffering. And ultimately, that's the big climactic question--can Jesus forgive Hitler? The movie was shown in black and white and evokes both the newsreels of WWII and the films of Bergman, although in the Q&A the director revealed it was shot (digitally) in color (over the course of 6 years), and some distributors are interested if it's in color. So this might eventually be released, but in a slightly different version than I saw. All in all, I thought it was a very good movie, but I can see how it might work even better as the original stage play. Michael Moriarty plays Hitler with the perfect mix of pathos and beaten down evil (his grand plans have been reduced to a few half-hearted rants), and Wyatt Page plays Christ (not at all like the icon) with soft-spoken, confident humor, like he knows a joke that nobody else gets. Here's a pic of (from left to right) co-producer Jeremy Dyson, director/co-producer Brendan Keown, and composer Hooman DePars:
Okay, next up was "Border Post", a hilarious military comedy in the vein of "M*A*S*H" from the former Yugoslav republics (a co-production from all of them--Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Slovenia). This is part of Cinequest's "focus on the Balkans" this year, which I'm very excited about. I mentioned to Cinequest programming director Mike Rabehl last year that Cinequest is the only place I ever see Balkan comedies, and I love their dark, absurdist, slapstick sensibility. I don't know if that had anything to do with them programming a Balkan series this year, but I like to fantasize. Anyway, "Border Post" is another perfect example of this sense of humor that I love. Basically the wacky adventures of a multi-ethnic group of soldiers manning a quiet little post on the Albanian border about 4 years before the breakup of Yugoslavia (there are news references to the rise of Milosevic throughout). The alcoholic commander, who makes their lives miserable, has an embarrassing medical condition that prevents him from coming home to his wife, and so he invents a border crisis with Albania to keep everyone up there for the three weeks it takes to treat him. Everyone, that is, except the smart-aleck rookie doctor who has to go into town to get the commander's penicillin and to check up on his (the commander's) wife (and he ends up doing a lot more than just "checking up", if you know what I mean). Things get more and more ridiculous, and the very dark ending is what really gives it the Balkan sensibility (up to that point I could see an American remake being very popular). I loved it, and I can't wait to see the rest of the Balkan movies this year.

And finally, the midnight mixed-media animation "We Are the Strange". Set in the world of a video game of the same name, with characters like "Blue", a girl who's skin turns to scales if she talks, smiles, or opens her mouth; "Emmm", a little doll boy on a quest for ice cream; "Rain", a cloaked, flamboyant monster-killer; and "Him", the pure E-vile overlord of stopmo city. For the first half, it's sort of a WTF trip, like watching the world's dumbest/craziest video game play with itself. And then eventually there's a story that takes over, in the form of giant robots battling each other. Pretty f-in' cool. Here's a pic of director/writer/voice of "Him"/everything else M. Dot Strange:

And that's it for day 3, I've got 5 more movies and a Minnie Driver interview to see today, so I'm off.

Jason goes to Cinequest--day 2

By the way, a couple more pictures of me from the CQ after party, courtesy of NBC 11 news (www.nbc11.com). First early in the party, and then much later.

Okay, after working most of the night, I went home, got a little sleep, and was back at the movies by 1:45 pm for the matinee screening of "Prince of Soap", a Finnish romantic comedy. Ilona is a starving actress working in a small experimental troupe that sometimes draws as many as 5 audience members to a show, but does really important (i.e., unintelligible) work showing how capitalism destroys human kindness. Unfortunately, this doesn't pay the bills, so she auditions for a popular soap opera, Burning Hearts. She's summarily dismissed from the audition, but accidentally wanders into the wrong room and ends up hired as a writer. Then she falls in love with the lead actor Kalle, who's having an affair with the married producer Raakel. If this sounds like a soap opera plot itself, that's no coincidence. In fact, the whole premise is that the soap opera's plotlines are autobiographical. So of course, wacky hijinx ensue. Also an excellent example of a trend that's been catching on for a number of years--employing wildly varying cinematographic styles in the same movie, for either dramatic or (in this case) comic effect. My favority cinematography gag is showing the filming of the soap opera scenes, but having the center masked off and filtered like it looks in the final show, while the edges (showing the boom mike, etc.) are in black and white. Very cool, and a very funny movie.

Then it was a shift of gears to a slow Chinese drama, "Courthouse on Horseback". The travels of a rural traveling court, two old veteran judges and one rookie who travel along a winding mountain road to four villages (Chicken Tail, Chicken Belly, Chicken Neck, and Chicken Head), dispensing justice and settling local squabbles. Feng is the leader, and his longtime assistant is being forced into retirment, hence the rookie, who is to be her replacement. At each village, Feng shows the importance of knowing the local customs, and rules on squabbles both weighty and petty, often in surprising and humorous ways, which confound the young rookie. For example, at the first village the dispute is over a pig who has accidentally dug up the neighbor's ancestors' burial mound, which is a terrible insult. Feng rules that the defendant must give the plaintiff a pig and perform a Buddhist ceremony to appease the spirits. This is all fine, except for two things--first, although the defendant is willing to give a pig, he insists his ancestors' spirits are against the neighbors coming over and taking it. So Feng himself takes the pig and delivers it to the plaintiff (which the rookie finds very undignified). Second, the rookie points out that the national court can't order a Buddhist ceremony, so Feng officially strikes that from the ruling (but privately tells the defendant that of course it'd be wise to go hire a Lama anyway). And so it goes on. There were a few technical glitches in the presentation, due to the fact that the film print didn't arrive yet and so they showed the screener DVD, and every 20 minutes or so the film company's logo popped up onto the screen. Also, the subtitles were not the best, either in presentation or in translation. Still, it was an interesting look at a part of China I've never seen.

Then it was time for a shorts program, "Ties and Expectations" all in one way or another about relationships. I'll go through these quickly:

Bomb--a young boy and girl find an unexploded bomb in a field. A chilling dark comedy-drama about how some people (the boy) live around so much danger that they don't even think about it, and it takes an outsider (the girl) to be frightened.
Car Jacking--a hilarious tale of a woeful boxer and a shoplifting granny who thinks the boxer is trying to steal her car.
Carmichael and Shane--a hilarious mockumentary about a single father raising twin boys. Since he doesn't have the resources to give them both a good life, he does the only responsible thing--he chooses a favorite.
Kubuku Rides (This is It)--A dark, dreary look at alcoholism and abuse through the eyes of a young boy watching his mother fall apart. Very sad.
Love Seat--Kinky, very very kinky. He likes to sniff her chair, she likes to beat him up for sniffing her chair.
Lucky Days--A view from inside the TV at 7 people who might just win the big $100 million lottery jackpot. Very funny, and interesting look at different ways people regard the lottery. Here's a pic of the director, David Elver:

Men Understand Each Other--A man calls up his best friend in the middle of the night worried because his wife hasn't come home. Of course, the friend knows exactly where the wife is.
We Won the War--A little girl has a brief conversation with an old man in a laundromat, who tells her about the first time he ever had to slit someone's throat. Technical problems with this showing, the picture was stretched vertically so the top and bottom were off the screen, and the sound was too loud. Otherwise it would've been a lot better.
Voilá l'Histoire--A french art piece which looked like found/captured footage that the director put together with voiceover/dubbing to make a statement about the Serbian war. Long and pretentious and boring.

Okay, then it was over to the fabulous California theatre for a hilarious romantic comedy, "You Are Here". Hey, I just realized I started and ended my day with romantic comedy. That wasn't planned, but worked well. It's a story of clubs, unrequited love, drugs, waking up naked in a vetrinarian's office, dead gangsters, and Taoist philosophy, and sex. Need I say more? Okay, I'll say this--Mick is awesome, and if you just do what you like and trust in the universe, it'll all work itself out.

And that's day 2 (first full day), of Cinequest 2007.

Jason goes to Cinequest, opening night

Cinequest started tonight!

And, as bonus news, I'm working the midnight-8 am shift at work, so I'll be able to watch movies all day (including matinees), go to work, go home, sleep for 2-4 hours, and then go back to the movies, for the entire festival. I think I'm going to die from lack of adequate sleep!

Anyway, the opening night film was Mira Nair's ("Salaam Bombay", "Monsoon Wedding") newest film, "The Namesake", starring Kal Penn ("Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle", "Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj"), here flexing his dramatic muscles. Mira Nair was in attendance to introduce the film, and told how she made it in a fit of passion after burying a parent who had died unexpectedly. The story spoke to her as a story of sudden loss of a family member, and as a story of a person caught between two cultures (in fact, the two cultures she straddles--American and Indian). Kal Penn plays Gogol Ganguli, and American of Indian descent (although born in New York), who as a young child likes his unusual name (named after his father's favorite author, the Russian Nikolai Gogol), but as he grows up he grows to resent it, eventually changing his name (to Nick, in fact). His two names end up representing the two halves of his personality/culture--Gogol=Indian, Nick=American--and it's the story of how he (sometimes painfully) reconciles the two. It's a very good movie, full of the humor and heart that is typical of Mira Nair's work, but ruined by horrible audio flaws in the theater (which obliterated what I assume was the climactic emotional dialogue between Gogol and his mother).

Anyway, hopefully the audio glitch was not a sign of things to come. After the movie it was off to the after party, where--since I went from the party to work--the question of what I drank and how much will be discretely left unanswered. Actually, that's the one down side to working right after the movies--I can't drink like I want to. But it's worth it to be able to see the matinees.


Anyway, here's a picture from the after party of me with Cristina Khuly, the director of "Shoot Down". I'm going to see her movie on Sunday. I'm trying to start a new fashion--"Monster Camp" headbands with "Shoot Down" postcards tucked inside.