Z (France)

I'll admit it, I didn't go to see this based on the film's great reputation built up over the last 40 years. I was simply seduced by the trailer the screened at the Landmark before Food Inc. at last week. Presented as a dramatization of the assassination of a left leaning political figure in Greece it plays like a cross between a thriller, mystery and a courtroom drama (ok a pre-courtroom drama if you're picky). But it's clearly intended as a true story based on actual events. It opens with a statement that any resemblance to real people is NOT coincidental, but intentional.

A great politician opposition party is trying to give a speech. The establishment seems to be in cahoots or at least ignoring the activities of thugs doing their best to disrupt it. When he learns of a possible plot against his life he decides to go on anyway. His murder and an attempt by a local judge to get to the bottom of "the incident" make up the bulk of the film. A sad story of what presumably must be a dark piece of Greece's history is made very watchable by the the pace and onscreen intrigue. Cover up, political pressure, witness intimidation, murder, it's got it all. Except a connection to Zorro - though to be fair that's pretty clear from the trailer.

I was a bit tired and the nice cool air in the dark occasionally lulled me closer to sleep than I'd like. So I must admit to missing a small bit here and there. But I did enjoy it (the film, not the napping). I'm glad it's making a 40th anniversary tour of theaters as I suspect I wouldn't have seen it otherwise and would definitely have been the worse for that.

Food Inc.

A documentary about "big food" that covers a lot of well trod ground but generally does it in a well put together and informative way. Given that it quotes liberally from Fast Food Nation's Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan (author of In Defense of food and The Omnivore's Dilemma) if you've read their books (or heard them interviewed) it's going to be mostly a review session. But it's material that bears repeating and it's presented well enough to be interesting even if you know much of it.

The part I hadn't given a ton of though too before was how distorted food pricing may be due to government subsidies on corn production. Though, I do wish they'd put some harder numbers to it. They make what seems like a reasonable hypothesis - corn sold due to subsidy support for less than the coast of production changes the balance of everything from the price of a hamburger to what's in our food. And when they ask why can you buy a burger for less than broccoli and point at the subsidy as a driver it sounds plausible. But I wish they'd done the math onscreen as to what they claim is the true cost of food (subsidy, health care costs, etc.)

One of the best lines is when the head of Stonyfield Farm is introducing some execs from Walmart to a couple of farmers. The farmers are remarking on how funny it was as how their product was being sold there now but they'd never themselves set foot in a Walmart store, "you know with the boycott and all." Of course the look on the execs face is entertaining. But when the Stonyfield guy mentions that Walmart is very concerned with their public image it just makes you (at least me) want to yell at the screen something along the lines of, "if you care about your image try acting less evil..." (or at least doing things that cause folks to be upset with you)

The film has at least the semblance of balance (such as Mr. Fast Food Nation eating a burger and fries) so it didn't an unpleasant humongous slant that would make it annoying to watch. I can't quite recommend it as a must see. Unless you haven't really paid much attention to these sort of food supply issues in which case it's a good motivational primer. I'm glad they've made the film and I'm glad I saw it - every little bit helps...

Be warned - the hardest part of seeing Food Inc. is figuring out what to do for dinner afterward. Though perhaps that's better than eating before it - you may regret some of your choices.

Lake Tahoe (Mexico)

First off, this doesn't take place at or around Lake Tahoe. It's set (I believe) in Mexico though probably any sleepy, hot, dusty little town with a lot of mechanics but less in the way of automotive help would do. Come to think of it the entire film could be an advertisement for why you should carry AAA.

At the start a young man breaks down in a Nissan that looks suspiciously like my last car. Though more accurately he appears to have crashed into a telephone pole on a deserted road. He walks into town trying to find a mechanic. He has less than stellar luck getting help even though he seems to find a lot of places where one would expect to find assistance. Nonplussed he continues looking and finds an unusual bunch of characters throughout the day. Slowly, we learn his father has passed away very recently leaving him with his mother and a younger brother. Forced to deal with the car the experiences of the day and his reactions and interactions are all colored by his quiet state of mourning.

While I was watching the film it felt a little slow at times. There's not a lot of talking, but the leisurely pace is more set by the camera work and editing style. It's not a long movie so it doesn't really feel too slow - you just notice the pacing. I had mixed feelings walking out of the theater, but by the next day though the film was starting to grow on me. By now, several days later I believe I indeed did like the film. As an observational piece watching a character for a day I found it interesting and at least somewhat compelling. This is one where watching in a theater doesn't necessarily feel like a must in terms of cinematography. But the enforced quiet and focus you get from not having the distractions of home definitely help.

Screening note: there was actually one distraction when a couple walked into the room (at NW Film Forum I believe "room" is about right) and (clearly thinking it was another spot) flipped the room lights on. I'm guessing most theaters don't have a light switch by the door for that reason...

Twilight Comic Con Clips

We can't all go down to San Diego for Comic Con, hang out all night in line, get coffee from an awesome orange truck, and watch the next Twilight movie. Some of us need to leave some vacation time free for film festivals and the occasional life commitment. But due to the magic of the internet and what appears to be way better small cameras than my cell phone has we can all watch some of the pre-release clips online. At least until youtube takes them down. Which one would hope won't happen as I can't imagine better publicity than previews you can barely hear over the teens screaming. Which I suspect will be very much like the actual experience in theaters on 11/20.

2009 1 Reel Film Festival - Shorts List

Each year Bumbershoot has a hidden away shorts film festival to accompany the labor day weekend live music festival. SIFF has been curating it the last few years. While the SIFF website doesn't seem to have all the movies up yet their seems to be a pretty complete schedule on the bumbershoot site - here. A list of the shorts by name is below - though on cross referencing with the site it seems the list below may omit some. There's a ton I haven't seen but I would recommend The Herd, French Roast, Careful with that Power Tool and Short Term 12. A nice way to spend the labor day weekend. Assuming you're not crowd phobic and can't get out to Telluride. :-)

• It's in the PI
• Alexandria
• All My Dreams VHS
• Andong
• Another Thing
• Babau
• Careful With That Power Tool
• Calvin
• Crane and Digger
• Dark Material
• Day Parents Became Cool
• Dear Fatty
• Elephants
• Fanatic
• French Roast
• Full Employment
• Generation of Consolidation
• Greenspoke
• Henry Is Dead
• Holding this For You
• Lets Dance
• Lowland Fell
• Maggie and Mildred
• Make My Day
• Mite
• Next Floor
• One Night
• Pause For Just One Moment
• Photograph Of Jesus
• Scatterbrain
• Short Term 12
• Tell
• The Herd
• Thicker Than Water
• This Is Her
• Treevenge
• We Fell
• Western Spaghetti
• Whatever Turns You On
• Sophia and Anna

Sita DVD now available at Amazon.com

The DVD for Sita Sings The Blues is now available at Amazon.com. Of course you can also download and watch it for free - but this is a great way to go if you're looking for an official DVD with case, etc. and a way to financially support the creation of the work.

If you've seen the film I encourage you to head over and leave a product review. Just did one myself though it looks as though it's taking a little while to appear on their website.

Thanks to the folks over at FilmKaravan who brought this to my attention.

The Proposal

Sandra Bullock proves she's fearless (or perhaps not the greatest chooser or roles) playing a character that at times is (likely) only slightly less embarrassing than Miss Congeniality 2. Ryan Reynolds generally plays his typical character and gets the better share of good lines in this movie I still cannot believe I went to see. I'm not 100% sure why the theater doesn't ask every male ticket buyer, "are you sure you want to see this film?" to avoid unhappy customers. Well, maybe they do as I bought my ticket from a machine to avoid the line (and any potential embarrassment). But I guess with a title like "The Proposal" you're pretty much labeling I a chick flick right up front. Which normally is absolutely not a problem for me. But with The Proposal I thought perhaps I was crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed.

I can't say I was expecting that much - but I'd misjudged the time of the film I'd intended to see and reviews for this were OK so I decided to give it a try anyway.

Bullock plays a hard driving, enemy making book industry executive embodying every bad workplace stereotype who plays a little too fast and loose with her immigration paperwork (she's Canadian). Of course this leads to her trying to avoid deportation by marrying her (much abused) assistant. Immigration is skeptical and in the sort of nonsense that only occurs in a movie she's forced to travel to Alaska as the new surprise fiancé to meet his parents for grandma's 90th birthday party. It's a very formula film and I doubt you'll be greatly surprised by anything that transpires (except how Betty White ends up chanting in native American garb around a fire worshiping the nature gods - sorry for the spoiler). I suspect some of the better reviews are driven by the surprise factor The Proposal is not entirely terrible. I'd agree it's not horrible (I did laugh from time to time - and some of the Reynolds dialog is somewhat clever) but I'd say it's far more a cable/video choice vs. something you'll want to drop $10 on. Please forgive me for not looking for a clip on youtube for this one...

Blood: The Last Vampire

I'd seen the anime movie this was based on a year or two ago via Amazon's Unbox.com service. At the time I'd found it utterly confusing, in part because portions of the Japanese language film weren't subtitled. This movie makes a good deal more sense - perhaps because it was simplified/dumbed down but I do appreciate (usually) having some idea what's going on. It's not a terrible film but feels a bit anemic at times. The main character is
- a centuries old half vampire dedicated to killing the full vampires
- a member (or at least a hired gun) of a shadowy organization that "fights" the vampires. I put fights in quotes only because they usually just point her at things to kill rather than getting involved themselves. Though they do helpfully clean up for her after a vampire is dismembered.
- dresses in a Japanese sailor schoolgirl outfit while killing anything that needs killing with a big shiny sword.
I sort of suspect the last part was the main reason for the character's popularity.
When the story opens she's just killing every vamp she can find hoping to draw out the super female vamp that killed her father. Some pretty nicely choreographed fight scenes ensue, mixed in with some less well designed ones. Part of it takes place on a military base (most of the action takes places in 1970) which allows the incorporation of the slightly dumb but occasionally helpful (maybe the word I'm looking for is hapless) teen daughter of the base's general who gets involved briefly in the action. There's some computer generated blood splattering going on throughout the film that's either cool or goofy depending on which review you read. I thought it looked good at first but a little tired of it part way through.
Overall a few cool action scenes, some weak b-movie acting, some cheesy action scenes and a sword wielding chick in a schoolgirl outfit. Depending on your taste that may be compelling enough for you. Fell short for me, but I'm not completely miserable with having made the choice. Last thing to mention is that if your going as a fan of the vampire genre just be aware it's more an action/swordplay film than what you'd recognize as most of the recent bloodsucking flicks.

Julie & Julia

Based on the book of the same name this follows Julie's (Amy Adams) qwest to recharge her life by cooking every recipe in Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) famous French cookbook over the course of a year. That's roughly 524 recipes in 365 days including the much dreaded boning of a full duck. By day Julie works in a government agency fielding calls from 9/11 victims and by night she works her way through the cookbook while blogging about it (on Salon.com no less to ensure the full flashback experience is complete). She's a bit dissatisfied with her life, turning 30 and not yet the published author she'd hoped to be.

I've never read the book (which I assume is based on the blog) though it's been sitting on my shelf for quite a few years. I'm not sure how the book is setup, but the movie splits its time between Julie working on the blog and Julia during her time in Paris (and beyond) as she began work on the famous cookbook. Both Adams and Streep do a fine job with their segments (as they did the last time they appeared together as nuns) though I probably enjoyed the Julia years a bit more. Streep brings the character alive nicely showing the zest for life and infectious laugh she was famous for. It also covers her love life and other aspects of those years I'd known nothing about before. Julie's marriage suffers some ups and downs as the cooking/blog begin to consume all of her time.

Admittedly this is a bit of a stereotypical chick flick and probably doesn't break any new cinematic ground. But as entertainment it delivers and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. So I do recommend it. But I suggest you eat something first - probably not something you want to see hungry.

Welcome Hachi Fans from Japan

I noticed a funny thing last night reviewing site visitors. A huge uptick coming via Japan. Seems that in an article titled "Will Hachiko be Accepted by Americans" I hit the (not quite so) big time in Japan (linked above and image to the left). Perhaps more importantly it's probably the first (and last) time my name will appear in the same paragraph with that of Richard Gere.

From what I've been told it's an article at the Yahoo movie website exploring if the new Hachiko related movie will translate to American audiences. For those not familiar, it's the true story of a dog in Japan that waited for it's owner at the train station for many years after his death (wikipedia treatment here). Hollywood has remade the story with Richard Gere. Two bloggers are quoted in the article - both of us I believe shared some similar "fame" a few months ago when fans of skater Johnny Weir cited our two reviews of the documentary about him during SIFF.

My original writeup of the Richard Gere him is here. Not really especially newsworthy as far as things go - but the incident has amused me more than some recent films so it seemed worthy of posting. And did I mention the same paragraph with the star of An Officer and a Gentleman?

Last Batch of Palm Springs Shortsfest 2009 Shorts

Phew - finally through the list. Pretty impressed with myself that I only had to look up 2-3 of the shorts to remind myself which one they were. All in all I'm glad I went to Shortfest for a couple of days. Still think I prefer the more sedate schedule of feature fests.

• Andheri (India) - Indian maid choosing between the real world and a rather bad employment situation.
  
• Civil Servant P327JUM (Sweden) - eh, life of a civil servant. I may have been a little too tired to "get" it. Or not.
  
• The Funk (Australia) - punchy story about a guy who wakes up on the wrong side of something and has a very bad day. Creative production and editing pulled me in.
  
• In Between (Canada) - I liked this film about a sister left alone to watch the convenience store while the brother heads out to help someone stuck in a broken down car. Shorts work best for me when they have a hook - and this one about confounding expectations got me with a big awwwwww at the end.
  
• Maid to Oust (Switzerland) - Maid wants a different life. As does the woman whose house she cleans. Both get it in unexpected ways.
  
• Sell it to the Hedge Funds (USA) - If you want to watch a guy cold calling people while you suspect he's a douchebag then this is your film. I preferred the more entertaining 20 second rule on the topic of telephone sales.
  
• Alma (Spain) - this is the one with the dolls stealing souls
• Apple of My Eye (Mexico) - Second movie with the theme of a partner way too small (small enough to fit in a pocket). Liked this one slightly better than 4 Inch Precious.
  
• Cages (Mexico) - A big animated fave of the judges, this one didn't do quite as much for me. Sort of the creepy Tim Burton look which isn't really my thing.
  
• Eyelash (Switzerland) - So weird. I think if I saw it a few more times I'd be sure if I understood it. Too many animals relieving themselves involved somehow for my taste.
  
• Juiced and Jazzed (USA) - retro animation and jazz tell the story of a woman whose brief adventures into alcohol send her literally to hell. Entertaining.
  
• Trickster (Germany) - Seemingly a demonstration of every CGI technique the filmmaker knows. I was incredibly impressed technically, but completely uninterested by the end (it also seemed very long).

And then there's the short I didn't see but wish I did - Mendel's Tree (trailer below). If anyone has a tip on where I might watch it online it'd be appreciated.

More Palm Springs Shorts...

I was totally planning to write something insightful and perhaps pithy about each of the short films I watched in Palm Springs. Then I looked at the list again. And again. And again. Now I am quite daunted. So I'm just going to take a quick pass through and see what I end up with. At the very least I want to keep a record of the list so when one of the ones below wins the Oscar I can recall how I didn't think enough of it this week to actually say anything significant about it. Well, at the very least I'll tell myself I was lazy and it was a long list...

Ok - here it goes. let's see for how many I can remember something at all about them 1 week+ later.

• French Roast (France) - Cute animated feature about mistaken identity and how that can almost get you arrested for bank robbery in France if and when you don't pay your bill at the local bistro. Life lesson - if you forget your wallet just fess up, don't keep ordering more and more coffee. Even if it seemed like a good idea in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
• The Incident at Tower 37 (USA) - Cute animated story about being tolerant of aliens who are sabotaging your plan to drain their planet of water.
  
• The Incredible Story of My Grandmother Olive (UK) - Cute animated story (that I can totally see being a feature film) about a wheelchair bound grandmother who falls for a wheelchair bound alien. His wheelchair is way cooler.
  
• Blossom (Netherlands) - Woman who can't leave the house deals with issues in life and love.
  
• Love and Roadkill (USA) - Something about wondering if you should get out of your car when a guy stops and offers you a ride while doing his job picking up roadkill.
  
• One of Those Days (UK) - A mistake on my part. This belongs on my favorites list from the festival. On judgement day a bureaucratic nightmare leaves a man who spent his whole life being good confused with someone named Vlad. And not Vlad the happy churchgoing guy down the street.
  
• Roadkill (US) - The first few minutes of a visually attractive but possibly morally bankrupt horror film. Other than the morally bankrupt part that's the description the director gave. It would make an interesting horror movie if nothing else.
  
• Conrad the Wise (Canada) - Cute kid, slightly dark story.
  
• The Curiosity of Penny Parker (Canada) - Some of them nursery rhymes can really hurt if taken too literally.
  
• The Fairy Princess (US) - Don't fuck with the fairy princess. Best of example of having kids in the film does not equal for kids. Sort of creepy to watch, but I sort of liked it by the end.
  
• The Macabre World of Lavender Williams (US) - Weird zombie animatronic dog with the voice of Christopher Lloyd - 'nuff said. Actually that description makes it sound more fun than it is. Just a bit weird.
  
• Playing House (South Korea) - Korean ghost story - I think. Like other Korean ghost stories I've seen (yes - I do think it's a specific genre) interesting to look at. But confusing and includes the murder of a goldfish.
  
• Chile & Cheese: A Continental Rift (Canada) - Events surrounding the mis-use of condiments at a 7/11 style store.
  
• Early Checkout (Australia) - A case study in how not to behave in a situation where you may have accidentally strangled your girlfriend while having sex (at her request - well not the to death part) while your buddy sleeps next to you. Better yet - here's a tip - skip the choking during sex part. Just a suggestion. Otherwise you might want to watch this short.
  
• Expiration (USA) - Cute idea about when does drinking expired milk truly become dangerous. Short enough to be OK.
  
• Greed (Sweden) - Animated thing about a guy and greed.
  
• The Last Supper (Australia) - Jesus's disciples having a grand old time at the last supper before he shows up.
  
• My Treat (USA) - Ladies fight over who pays the check. Literally. A bit much - but amusing ending.
  
• Stop Requested (France) - Apparently when the French do the walk of shame after an ill conceived hook up they can take it to a whole other level.
  
• Thick as Thieves (USA) - Not the greatest criminal recruits each successive victim to join in. A little hard to suspend disbelief - though at some level... Cute ending - that does make sense.
  
• Fish & Chip (USA) - One one hand I did not like this film. Mermaid violence in wrong. One the other hand I learned about the real life business mermaidrentals.com apparently run by a guy who calls himself "The Tailman" - insert your own joke here.
  
• Miracle Fish (Australia) - Parent's lame gift may have a dramatic outcome of a very dramatic day's events.
  
• My Four Inch Precious (USA) - Guy grows tiny little woman from magic flower. Falls in love. Complications ensue.
  
• Nutkin's Last Stand (USA) - Documentary I thought was a joke until halfway through about the assault by "American" gray squirrels on the peace loving "reds" of England. Interesting once I figured out it was for real. Possibly awesome if it hadn't been.
  
• Werewolf Trouble (USA) - Werewolf with overly accepting roommates has issues. Apparently him murdering people every month not a problem for his roommates. Social commentary I guess.
  
• The Casuarina Cove (Singapore) - Based on a true story of some entrapment of gay men soliciting sex with other gay men in Singapore.
  
• Diana (UK) - Didn't fully get this story of an Indian (I think) cross dresser in London around the time of Princess Diana's death.
  
• Feedback (USA) - Feedback can be hurtful when too direct. Mildly amusing. I wasn't quite the intended demographic.
  
• ADM for EVE (USA) - Had no idea what the story/point of this way. Seemed interesting - but I'm perhaps dumb. I saw it's available on IMDB so I may watch again.
  
• Bohemibot (USA) - Crazy professional grade sci-fi story. Not quite my thing but very impressive technically. Trailer is here.
  
• Light Years (USA) - multi view story of people who learn the world is ending in 8 minutes. One of the few times I think it might actually be worth it to have CNN on. Not entirely surprisingly the two French brothers who learn the news while drinking in a cafe deal with it exceedingly well.
  
• The Stars Don't Twinkle in Outer Space (UK) - Interesting take on a boy with an escapist fantasy inspired by old space travel serials in one of the worst places a young boy could be in history. Wouldn't be what I'd call "fun" - but interesting and well done.
  
• 40 Degrees in the Shade (Mexico) - Traveling through the desert? bring water and lots of it.
  
• Between Dreams (Finland) - Traveling on a train and sleeping is the theme of this short. Well it's probably something else - but that's what I took away from it. Plus I thought it was Russian for some reason.
  
• The Boarding Ticket (USA) - The life and times of a boarding ticket. Cute and fun.
  
• Hunger (UK) - Something involving women who pick you up might not be up to any good. You know nothing good is coming from the start - and you are not disappointed. OK as an exercise, but not a lot of story.
  
• Knife Point (USA) - Redefining your expectations as to who's who here - and also that of the phrase "Crazy Christians."
  
• Styx (Scotland) - Trying to cross the river Styx? Bring exact change.
  
• Transit (UK) - Boy has some kind of encounter in the men's room with a guy being escorted by toughs of some sort. Interesting reveal I guess - but not quite a favorite for me.

OK - still not done - but I'm losing interest for now. But I'm within striking distance of finishing the list - so stay tuned.

One thing I'm really wishing is that more of these shorts were available online somewhere. It's a shame - perhaps there's a market for these I'm missing but it seems that most folks would do better with broader distribution of their material online so if folks like it they could point it out to others. As usual, I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. :-)

Public Enemies

Michael Mann directs this telling of the story of John Dillinger as played by Johnny Depp. Overall I'm glad I saw the film - but would definitely put it below my initial expectations (at least those I had before reading reviews). I will say I wasn't bored even though it's fairly long. But oddly it wasn't that involving either - the New Yorker review describes it as neutered and I think that's a fairly good description if one is forced to choose a single word. Given the famously amazing gun play of Heat I figured at the very least there would be some exciting action in the mix. But I didn't really feel I was pulled into those scenes either which felt somewhat fractured and just shot in small doses pieced together. That style made definitely it harder to follow the overall sense of what was happening. Perhaps that was on purpose illustrating the chaotic nature of what was involved. Given though that these were ostensibly fairly practiced folks shooting at each other I felt as though I was missing something with the camera essentially just cutting back and forth between people shooting at each other.

Several of the performances are a step above standard action fare. Depp is enjoyable to watch, and the role Christian Bale has as the main agent in charge of catching Dillinger is one of the few I've seen where I felt his almost comically stoic onscreen personality seemed to fit in recent films. At times beautiful there are several changes in the style of cinematography I found particularly jarring, pulling me almost completely out of the film. I don't think it's a good thing if during a gun battle I find myself thinking "hey, is this part shot in a style of digital that's intended to look like a modern documentary?" I actually thought this was my imagination until I started reading a bit online and saw there were in fact changes of style. A much better use of the documentary style (at least for me) is evident in the superb film The Hurt Locker where if manages to feel natural within the narrative flow of something you know if fiction. Here, well .... it just felt off. Until those switches in style though I liked the smooth, admittedly stylized view of the film. I also read some online complaints about the sound which I also thought was me. There are a few times where I felt as though I was supposed to be able to hear the dialog but just couldn't. I saw it in a theater with pretty high quality projection all around so I'm inclined to believe that was the film and not the theater.

Other than that it gives a view of both the bank robbers, the FBI, and the somewhat in between group of organized crime figures who were worried Dillinger's exploits were hurting their progress to more lucrative lower risk pursuits. It's not purely shoot 'em up entertainment and not serious character study either. Just a summer movie I suppose...

Moon

The solution to the world's energy needs has been found on the far side of the moon. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) works on a lunar station mining the material - or more accurately supervising the equipment that mines the material. He's in the last two weeks of a 3 year contract during which he's been living on his own with only a computer played by Kevin Spacey to keep him company. The real time communications system has been down forcing all communication to be one way video messages back and forth.

When we meet him Bell is looking a bit worse for wear both physically and mentally. Then things get weird in what's sort of a sci-fi mystery/thriller with a commentary on evil corporations thrown in. I thought it wasn't bad, but in large part because I'd seen the trailer (included below but watch at your own risk) I'd guessed correctly at a large portion of the plot as the film was just starting. Even so the film held my attention. Being that this is probably the only sci-fi mystery genre film out now if you're in the mood for something slow moody and interesting this could be your best bet. I enjoyed Kevin Spacey as the robot jack of all trades (including psychologist at times) considerably more than his character in Shrink. So I guess a mild recommend. I'd heard really great things ahead of this so perhaps my impression is just a victim of expectations.

I'm specifically not analyzing/describing the story any further as I think knowing where it's going does take away from it.

Dual World Record Attempt in Fremont - Now with Extra Zombies

This weekend (Friday technically) there's a big zombie related set of activities in Fremont. Don't think I've got the attire ready myself but it sounds like a hoot if you're "a zombie person." Also works if you've been looking for an unusual way to mark the untimely passing of Michael Jackson. Link is here - and I'll let them explain below...


"The Fremont Outdoor Cinema and XBOX 360 Announces

GUINNESS WORLD RECORD ATTEMPT – ZOMBIE WALK- Seattle
RED, WHITE & DEAD ZOMBIE PARTY
Co-Hosted by Mark Rahner & Robert Horton
Experts in Zombie Culture &Authors of Zombie Comic “Rotten”

MOVIE FAN ALERT (SEATTLE): BREAKING NEWS!!! Reports of serious fun and screaming crowds dressed as Zombies appear to be infected by the “Fan Fare” epidemic is said to be widespread and viral taken over the streets of a small arts community in Seattle, known as Fremont.

Details are trickling in from our sources. We have been told that there have been reports of mass crowds attending the screening of Shaun of the Dead, to what appears to be a the world’s largest gathering of Zombies, people are encouraged to dress up to avoid being eaten by the Living Dead.

If you’re still alive, we repeat, if you’re still alive…we need your help to spread the word to everyone you know to ensure we break the record and bring it back to Seattle. Our reputation as a city is depending on your participation. We MUST prevail for the good of all Zombie fans out there.

This is pertinent to every living man, woman and child and for the reputation of Seattle.

Everyone must meet at the extraction zone located at 3501 Phinney Ave North, home to the Fremont Outdoor Movies on Friday, July 3rd and that everyone should report in costume dressed as ZOMBIES for this historical event to ensure that you are not detected by the Living Dead. Its your only means of survival and we are counting on you to make this possible. We need 5,000 people to break the record and we need them on Friday, July 3rd.

We are told that the infected “otherwise referred” as Zombies are hungry and want to watch the movie SHAUN OF THE DEAD. Scientist are telling us it’s the only way to kill the zombies. If you can not dress up, fear not, we will have a Survival Camp to dress you up to help you fit in with them."

Palm Springs Shortsfest 2009

This past weekend I was lucky enough to be able to attend part of the 2009 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films. Given the films were shorts I was able to catch quite a few in only a couple of days. Didn't see too many of the official winners - but thought I'd still write up some notes below. There are definitely a few to keep an eye out for if you can spot them either online or on the big screen. Overall I saw 56 films from 17 countries - with a bit of the bias (at least in what I saw) towards the US, Canada and UK in descending order.

Below are a set of ones that stood out for me with a short summary of each. I'll follow up with the rest a bit later. I'm definitely partial to funny/clever when it comes to shorts with sweet/twisty ending being the next category. Super confusing with no resolution usually doesn't work for me. Just a bit of background to categorize your expectations.

In no particular order...

• Multiple Choice (Australia) - Very entertaining. A group of high school (or college) students oversleep for an exam. The come up with a bold strategy for potentially getting a make-up exam. Will it be successful and if so at what cost? A clever idea executed well - and one of my favorites.
  
• Short Term 12 (USA) - This short won the Narrative Grand Jury Prize at SIFF 2009. Following the ups and downs of the staff and residents of a teen inpatient center for those with psychological issues. Used the time well to effectively give you what seemed like an authentic look at the experience from different sides of the divide. Plus I felt obligated to include one favorite that wasn't just funny.
  
  
  
  
  
• The 20 Second Rule (USA) - Another "funny" short. A telemarketer has a rule that 20 seconds on the phone with a potential client greatly increases his odds of closing a sale. He discovers that perhaps he should have quit a bit earlier when he annoys a voodoo priestess during a ritual.
  
  
  
  
• Careful With that Ax (New Zealand) - If you have a kid (or common sense) you'll cringe all the way through. If you don't (or maybe if you do) you'll likely laugh at the same time. 2 minutes of why an unattended ax isn't a good thing. I get the impression this may be one of a series as there's a "Careful with that power tool" short that played at SIFF this year - though I didn't see it.
  
• Marry Fuck Kill (USA) - A man plays the game of the title with his wife. Sometimes you just don't want to think about why an answer is so complete and detailed. Short, clever and amusing.
  
• The Border Armadillo (Mexico) - one of two animated ones I enjoyed. Animated animals are not entirely my thing, but this colorful armadillo trying to provide for his family was fun to watch and very technically well rendered.
  
• The Taxidermist (UK) - No, this is not a video version of the song by False Prophets (something tells me no reader is gonna get that reference). It's an oddly sweet (if macabre) story of a business that invents a potion to help pets live forever, which puts a serious dent into the business model of their neighbor, the taxidermist. The daughter of the pet shot/immortality potion feels bad about that, seems drawn to the neighbor and complexity ensues.
  
  
  
  
• Dish (USA) - Emo 15 year old kid hangs out with his emo friends while discussing their other friends gay sex exploits and fussing with his hair. Largely centering around the main characters decision to become more sexually active or not (and again, his hair) it's a sweet story that could have equally been about heterosexual kids. Actually, from a dramatic perspective this is probably my favorite of the shorts, even though it's not dramatic with a capital D. Couldn't find a trailer online - but their official site is here.
  
• Tongzhi in Love (China) - Documentary about being a gay male in China. It's on my list because I feel I walked away understanding something specific adding pressure to coming out of the closet in what seems to be a conservative society. Trailer is here.
  
• Remote (Canada) - Time twisty murder mystery thing. Not 100% sure it makes "sense" but it's tight, well executed and kept me thinking all the way to the end. Might not make a great full length film, but as a short it worked well.
  
  
  
  
• SIMULACRUM® (Canada) - A guy buys a clone (or robot unclear) to live his work life so he can work on his dream (of course a romantic novel set in Paris). Entertaining at a surface level it also asks questions about whether our "dream" is what should be persued in all cases vs. taking a fresh look at what we already have. And if focusing on something closer to reality can turn the present life into a dream. Films website is here.