Harry here with what seemed like a very fruitless series of films for poor Memento Man. One of those days where just nothing went right at all. Where it all just died on him. Read about the dark day in the Mountains!!!
Hey Harry!
My Sundance mythic quest for great films continues in the midst of frigid
temperatures!
KILLING TIME
KILLING TIME, by director Anthony Jaswinski, is an interesting, awful movie. It's interesting in its theme of a young man's quest through Manhattan. I believe this quest has more to share with us than GERRY (the film that Roger Ebert seems to be defending with his life, calling anyone who disagrees with him about this film "unintelligent" because they must not understand the type of challenging filmmaking it has in common with the French New Wave. Don't give us that pretentious crap, Ebert. I love the French New Wave and GERRY is by no means the French New Wave. But I digress . . .) KILLING TIME (like Richard Linklater's SLACKER in its loose, episodic structure but not nearly as powerful or with as much to say) takes us through moments of Trevor's meeting various people as he walks uptown through Manhattan. I must admit as I sat on the back row of the huge Eccles theater that the digital projection of this digitally shot film looked remarkable. There was a scene showing ants on the pavement, and another showing clouds reflected on a building that seemed every bit as sharp and brilliant as film. The awful part of the movie, however, comes from the uncomfortable acting from everyone in the film, the lackluster script, and the boorish directing. All in all, as I watched the audience continually get up and leave the theater during the film, I knew that I was not the only who felt as though the director were forcing us to be KILLING TIME (although I'd rather be doing it on my own in NYC rather than with these completely uninvolving characters.)
BTW... what happened to Sundance with the screening of this film in the
Eccles today? Their digital projector didn't work so the screening was
delayed 55 minutes while they tried to get another digital projector.
Thankfully while the audience was waiting, they showed the delightfully
hilarious short film, TIME OUT, about two little kids (played by grown
adults) who are talking together on a playground. This short, by Robbie
Chafitz, is one of the best of the festival (right up there with ERNEST AND
BERTRAM!)
LUCKY BREAK
LUCKY BREAK truly provides one for its audience. This is a charmingly funny
British comedy with lots of heart, like director Peter Cattaneo's previous
effort, THE FULL MONTY. Here we have prison-bound Jimmy (the endearing James
Nesbitt) who decides to encourage the production of the warden's (Christopher
Plummer's) musical about Lord Admiral Nelson so that it can be used as a
cover for a jail break. Meanwhile, Jimmy goes to anger management classes
and discovers the captivating Annabel (Olivia Williams, who most of us
remember as the wife in SIXTH SENSE, a role she played with a spot-on
American accent.) Watching these prison inmates rehearse and perform this
musical is a laugh riot. This is another gem of the festival.
WORLD TRAVELER
WORLD TRAVELER is a quest film about someone who doesn't know he's on a quest. Billy Crudup plays Cal, a man whose only decision seems to have been not to decide anymore. He runs away from his wife and three-year-old son in NYC and just begins driving west. On the way he drinks and sexes himself through various stages of numbness, all the while meeting (but not necessarily connecting with) various people. The most interesting of these is Dulcie (the ever-amazing Julianne Moore) who is on a quest that may never be fulfilled. After various levels of emotional pain and disillusionment, Cal finds himself on the Pacific coast, discovering his own father who ran away from the family when he was a boy and realizing that maybe they have more in common than Cal had previously thought. Bart Freundlich's (who also did 1997's THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS) directing feels assured and Terry Stacey's cinematography beautifully captures the wide-open American landscapes. I love the ambiguity and the space that the film provides for us to fill in the details. Yet the film as a whole never really feels like it completely takes off, but remains partially home-bound.
The quest presses forward! From Park City, UT, this is Julianne Moore's errand boy, Memento Man, signing off!
