The Otherside

Hip hop is alive and well in Pacific Northwest. Having undergone a break out childhood and adolescence where it tried on lots of personas the art form has grown up, had kids and is now figuring out what to do with the rest of its life. That's roughly the message that the made in Seattle documentary The Otherside opens with before jumping into a whirlwind tour of the state of the "scene." Clocking in at a brisk 47 minutes director Daniel Torok must have been faced with a variety of choices in the editing room. What makes it onscreen demonstrates the unrealized potential for a fantastic film. What's there as exhibited at SIFF will likely be a hit with fans already deeply enmeshed in the genre. But frankly I'm hoping he'll go back and flesh things out for the rest of us. I'm definitely up for a return viewing under those circumstances. What follows comes from a point of love - I hope it's taken that way.

[ Lots of photos from the Seattle premiere of The Otherside are available here ]

First the good. The filmmaker appears to have fantastic access to some very interesting people working to live their dream, at what appears to be a unique moment of inflection in the music industry. The way things are going it's harder to hit that huge mega stardom and riches from selling your songs. On the other hand the record labels that have historically optimized themselves to separate an artist from their full earnings have been weakened. The Internet has wrought an entirely new way to connect with fans and earn a living. Arguably with less of a tournament winner take all economic model - though perhaps one where a higher number of folks can earn a living through their art due to connecting with fans and market segmentation. Broad access to a local music scene creates opportunities to tell a story that wasn't possible some years ago. And concentrating across a range of acts in a single genre gives one the possibility of skipping many of the almost unavoidable cliches of the backward looking doc of an influential band of yesteryear.

So ... We've got access to a compelling set of characters at an interesting point in time. Those are the keys to a great documentary. Add to that great footage and solid technical execution of The Otherside. What's not to love?

The problem for those unschooled in Seattle hip-hop is pretty basic. Lots of background is left out and one theme is expounded on in a manner that weighs way too heavily on telling rather than showing.

In short the distance between what I watched and possible perfection includes the following tweaks

• Less people saying over and over that the Seattle sound is that we don't have a specific sound. There are lots of quick clips of performances. Letting those play out in a way that audience members can clearly see the differences would be far more convincing. Hip-hop isn't the music genre I know best. So perhaps I need more convincing. I could see strong stylistic differences. But most audiences I'd recon would benefit from more onscreen music that's edited to demonstrate the musical omnivores Seattle audiences are said to be. In case I'm being too subtle let's put this another way. If you made up a drinking game premised on drinking a shot anytime someone said "we have no sound" anyone short of an alcoholic would end the movie in the ER. That said - I am pleasantly impressed no one uttered the rock doc bingo phrase "I'm not into labels." Perhaps I'm just showing my age though.

• More background on the sub-genres being mentioned. Maybe with a bit of history thrown in - the music doc animated history section has become popular for a reason. I'm left guessing what the differences are between the tons of sub-genres briefly mentioned onscreen. Some are pretty obvious (gangster rap) but even someone I know who is a fan of hip-hop wasn't able to illuminate me on "backpack" style.

• Expand the view out to other things that might be unique to the northwest scene. Or at least throw a bit of screentime to the local fans. There's mention in passing how club infrastructure has improved. That might be part of it. But I'm not 100% sure and was itching to learn more.

• Macklemore - more or less, either might work better. He's hard to ignore as the local boy made good. From what I read and what I hinted at it seems there's a lot more to talk about here. An issue with overindulgence is mentioned along with a single comment that suggested he may have taken some time off before hitting it big. In for a penny in for a pound I say. Either cover this in more depth of don't go there. It's almost as if the filmmakers got an extremely great bit of Macklemore being introspective on film. But then didn't support it within their storyline. Not to mention Macklemore's reduced dependence to breakthrough on traditional distribution was untouched even though it's likely instrumental to the hopes and dreams of many profiled. That would've been great to expand on. Especially as the moments when local artists answered questions about how long they could go without being able to financially support their families were some of the most heartfelt.

The good news is that at 47 minutes a bit of reorganization and possibly new footage could turn this into a tight and insightful 80 minutes. I hope that's in the cards for the future. The blood sweat and tears of those documented deserve it if at all possible. In the meantime even if that never happens if you're into the Seattle scene shown I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it nonetheless.



[ The Otherside screened at the 2013 Seattle International Film Festival ]

The Otherside - Red Carpet Arrivals (including Macklemore)

Friday night drew a lively, packed house to Uptown theater for The Seattle International Film Festival's  screening of the NW hip-hop scene documentary The Otherside. In addition to full capacity inside the front of the theater boasted a jostling (in a friendly way) group of photographers looking to capture a parade of local music artists. Including local guy made good Macklemore. I did my best to grab a peek to share....

I've put the full set of photos up on Flickr. With a subset below in lower resolution. If you're in any of the photos and would like a copy, etc. just let me know.

Included the trailer, a couple of teaser photos and then a bunch more after the jump. I'm planning on writing a more complete review of the film itself in the week ahead.

A special, HUGE, HUGE, HUGE thanks to Isha Rana host of the WNYU radio show North by Northwest. Without her assistance very few of the photos would be properly labelled. And if they're still not probably a typo on my part. Still looking to identify a few of the subjects - please shoot me a note in the comments on directly if you can help.

Dan Torok (director of The Otherside) and Macklemore

 

Macklemore

Prometheus Brown

SIFF 2nd Weekend Recommendations

There's a lot of stuff going on every day at SIFF between now and June 9th. To try and cut through some of the clutter I wanted to share some recommendations for this long Memorial Day weekend. I've only seen a small fraction of the SIFF films (hard as that may be to believe) so likely there are some gems I'm missing. But based on what I've seen here are some interesting, quality choices worth staying inside for. I haven't watched yet but am really looking forward to catching The Spectacular Now, Her Aim is True, Drug War and of course some of the shorts packages playing.

And don't forget if you're having difficulty navigating the SIFF website it's probably not you. I'd written up some snarky instructions on how to get around that folks keep mentioning have proved helpful to them.

On to the suggestions...

Nightmare Mystery Theater - Speaking of shorts, I recommend checking out as many sets from this ShortsFest weekend as you can. Specifically I highly recommend the Nightmare Mystery Theater session in order to see The Quiet Girls Guide to Violence and The Sleepover. The former is one of my fave shorts of the past year. The latter is just bloody, fun and rather clever. Don't miss this set for those two reasons.

OK ... now on to the feature length stuff.

Out in the Dark - Roy and Nimr are two people who aren't really supposed to be in a relationship - due both to conflicting cultural and political reasons. Nimr is Palestinian and Roy is Israeli. They meet, they fall in love - that's the easy part. The rest is hard. Really, really hard. When I picked this up I didn't expect much. But the film manages to adeptly combine a relationship story that feels real, with the intractable political situation of the middle east conflict that also feels painfully authentic. Feeling at times more like a thriller than a love story Out in the Dark works extremely well on multiple levels. Definitely recommend.

The East - The latest from Zal Batmanglij and Brit Marling, also featuring the dreamy Alexander Skarsgård in a prominent role. While it's not quite as good as their earlier Sound of My Voice the eco-terrorism vs. big business thriller was overall a satisfying watch. With the bones of a Hollywood approved style story the pair manage to create something a bit richer while still delivering something just a bit different. Plus, Marling as always is very easy to watch onscreen.

Fateful Findings

I'm calling it right now, Fateful Findings is going to win SIFF 2013. Regardless of category; best dialog, plot, love story, computer hacking - this film takes the experience to eleven. Admittedly, for some that might be to negative eleven. But in the bad movie olympics, Fateful Findings sticks the landing to take the gold, silver and bronze. A hell of a lot of fun to watch by myself, I cannot believe it won't be 10 times more enjoyable at its world premiere midnight screening. I seriously cannot wait for the equally improbable sequel. Take a gander at the trailer - if you're intrigued, RUN to buy a ticket. In a just universe, they'll sell out.

On one hand Fateful Findings is an absolute masterpiece of "can't look away" dysfunction, for which the phrase "hot mess" seems too complimentary. On the other hand, the bizarre and often unexplained vision makes it hugely entertaining - in ways many other bad films such as The Room don't approach. One doesn't need to throw spoons at the screen to enjoy Fateful Findings. Though I suppose a few cocktails or bit of other now legal in Washington substances couldn't hurt. Troll 2, you've now got some serious competition.

The film's poster trumpets it as "a dark mystical journey where passions collide with technology on the edge of life as we know it." Certainly a fair description. Things open with a creepily beautiful time lapse shot of an office building as clouds stream by on a sunny day. The camera cuts quickly to a long, creepy shot of storage lockers. Jumping next to two children walking innocently through a forest. Not even two minutes in, they pass an animated ram's skull that gives the Chaos Reigns fox from Antichrist a run for it's no particular reason appearance money. Without noticing, they continue on their way to discover an enchanted treasure hidden under a disappearing mushroom (seriously). It's "a magical day", the young girl writes in her notebook, while the young boy pockets a smooth black cube. They're in love, but perhaps doomed to be apart for many years, as shortly after returning home her family moves away from his. And the stage is set ...

Later in life, a violent accident brings the couple back together. Things have grown considerably more complicated by then. He's living with a drug-addicted girlfriend who loves to pop pills and wash the same dish over and over again. He's also somehow been negatively impacted by that black cube. Clearly aging at twice the rate of the girl he once knew, appearing at least 15 years older than her by the time they meet again. Along the way, he's gained amazingly cheesily-rendered paranormal powers and some super lame best friends. A lot of crazy shit goes down - but I've already revealed too much.

The trailer for the film hints at the significant issues with the writing and acting. In reality, it barely scratches the surface at how off it all is - it's truly terrible. Complexities of plot build on themselves so quickly that it's hard not to imagine there's a 17 hours director's cut somewhere that more clearly explains things. This isn't like The Room, where things are completely out of left field. It's more that the paranormal activity aspects of it are largely peripheral to the relationship and the incomprehensible We Steal Secrets shades of plot. The most mystifying things aren't that he can walk through walls or who the unnamed black clothed spectral people who materialize at will are. What troubled me far more are things like ..
- Who takes a shower with their lover who has just returned from the hospital with bloody streaming head wound and doesn't even ask about the incompetence of whoever put the bandage in place? Or I don't know ... why she has a gaping head wound?
- What does Neil Breen's character have against laptop computers? In every office scene he's got around 5 different laptops which he consistently physically abuses. Thrown across the desk, pelted with books, and dumped on the floor --  there's clearly some deep seated aggression at work here.
- The budget for Fateful Findings appears pretty significant. For such an over-the-top production you'd think wardrobe could afford a bra for at least one of the women who appears onscreen? {Ed. note: you're complaining about THIS? Wow. It must be really, really bad. ~Imaginary Amie} 
- If you're going to have nudity, why my Lord, why is it entirely limited to Neil Breen's ass? Is that some sort of tribute to Tommy Wiseau?
In all fairness though, the issue with the laptops may actually be explained. Breen's character earns his living as a novelist but is clearly torn about it, preferring to spend his time hacking into corporate and government databases to unearth incriminating proof of corruption and malfeasance. The horror of becoming a writer tortures the man, leading to the best line in the film (which cannot be done justice with the written word), "I have a damn masters degree in computer science ... And I turn out to be a writer ... Of novels!" Perhaps most impressive is how he's achieved fortune as a writer and skills as a software guy without learning how to type. Or actually know how turn the computers on, from what I can tell.

Hacked secrets have a way of bringing out problems - and that truism does not get an exception in Fateful Findings. Breen is plenty busy fending off the hot daughter of his friends, dealing with a failing relationship, recovering from a coma, and engaging in new (oddly PG) rated affairs. During all this soap-opera drama, things start to get real. All I'll say about that is that if the government ever decides to go after me I'll hope to suddenly develop the same mad skills as Breen. Also, that government goons sent after my loved ones helpfully drop the coordinates as to where they're taking their kidnap victims where I can finding it. Yes ... that happens ...

Fateful Findings is a true one man show. Neil Breen is the writer, director, producer, editor, production designer, and male lead of the picture. I'm assuming if asked he might also remark that he's also a writer, a doctor, a nuclear physicist and a theoretical philosopher. One can call a film so bad it's good - but to be fair if it's good, then it's good. It matters not at all how it got that way. To me, it's the same as making a big deal about how much money was spent on a picture. I still only pay $11 - so that someone is taking a $200M bath isn't for me to judge. If I like it, my money was well spent. I'm confident fans of non-normative film making will get their money's worth with Fateful Findings. You'll want to be there when it plays SIFF as it's unclear when the opportunity to see this masterwork will present itself again.

SIFF 2013 Opening Night Red Carpet

Earlier tonight I had an opportunity to attend the red carpet arrivals for the Joss Whedon production of Much Ado About Nothing. The film was great, that was established during SXSW where I also had the opportunity to shoot the cast's red carpet arrivals. This was an opportunity to be part of their welcome to Seattle, where amazingly bright sun made the photography a bit more challenging than I expected.

 

What follows after the jump is just a small subset of the photos I took. I'll be adding more over the next few days. The full resolution versions are available here. I'll also be posting some photos of less famous SIFF patrons who walked the red carpet within the week. If you spot your photo there and would like a full resolution version just shoot me a note and I'll be happy to get it to you.