Hey folks, Harry here with Monki giving you a sampler plate of his experience of the various bananas... I mean films that he unpeeled his eyes for. Here ya go....
Monki here, dropping off reviews for all the flick's I caught at SXSW this year.
Yes, unfortunately, due to previous engagements, I am only able to attend the first half of SXSW this year, so I pretty much only had one shot at most of the films.
Enough whining, on with the reviews.
The Search for John Gissing:
Mike Binder writes, directs, and stars in this great film about what can happen in a cruel dog-eat-dog business world. Matthew (Binder) and Linda Barnes (played wonderfully by Janeane Garofalo) travel to Europe for a job transfer. Their only contact in Europe is John Gissing (masterfully done by Alan Rickman) who, we learn, is actually the man that Matthew has been sent to Europe to replace. Unfortunately for Matthew, Gissing also knows that he is being replaced, and sends the Barnes' on a wild goose chase around London.
The acting work here is dead-on. Rickman does an amazing job portraying a man who has just been worn by life and wants one last shot at success. Binder and Garofalo have a great chemistry between each other as a couple who have been together for a while. They compliment each other very well.
If you get a chance, check out this film, it's a great date movie.
Citizen Toxie:
I hate to admit it, but I had never seen the Toxic Avenger before, so coming into this one, I was kind of unsure what to expect. I really don't think it would have mattered. Citizen Toxie was chaos of a movie. Gory, campy, racist, and at the same time, one of the most enjoyable films I've seen in a while. This movie had to have been a blast to make.
I enjoyed the hell out of this one, and if you have ever wanted to see a man's head crushed between two breasts, you will too.
Six in Austin:
Six in Austin was a hit-and-miss for me. I enjoyed a couple of the shorts, but a few just seemed too much. Maybe the fact that they were so diverse threw me off, but going from a happy little story involving cute-little puppy stealing to a drama about a man obsessed with a woman and who films her every moment? Too much too ask, give me some breathing room. Maybe the films could be re-arranged for a softer transition, they just didn't flow right.
Rummy was a definite high-point and, being the first of the six shown, set the bar for the other five, which none could reach.
Pleasureland:
A black and white film about a man who gets a little more than expected when renting a movie "from the back of the store." A twisted film shot locally. As far as short films go, it was perfect. Not too long, well done, not too deep, an interesting look at what can happen if someone's obsession with porn goes too far. (Take note Quint!)
Cyberman:
A documentary about Steve Mann, who has been wearing a computer on his body for more than 20 years now. This movie really caught me off guard. The style of documentary is very different than what I have been used too. The movie jumps around from being very artsy, to comedic at times. The score really ties the whole movie together perfectly, pulling the viewer into the moment.
I really enjoyed this one. Maybe I'm odd, but there is something about a man who learns how to swim by studying vectors and researching from old 16mm films that really intrigues me.
Midnight Shorts:
A nice mix of short films to shake you up after Cyberman.
A few highlights: Nougat, a story of being number three in the candy mix and a lesson on revenge. Beautiful. This short needs to tour with Spike & Mike. Interview with Spike Jonze, what can go wrong when a moron is placed behind a video camera. Hilarious. Never Date an Actress, a funny story about a woman who wants to save cows and be famous at the same time.
A few lowlights: Hillbilly Robot, the longest of the "shorts." Way too pretentious and not that entertaining at all. Combine that with the sound messing up made for a very annoying film. Christmas on Mars, way too long and not that entertaining at all.
Brother From Another Planet:
Part of the John Sayles retrospective. A classic from 1984. I instantly had a new respect for Joe Morton. His work as the Brother was amazing. To have an actor NOT talk for more than an hour and a half is one thing, but for that actor to pull it off and be entertaining, wow, seriously impressive work. I really regret that my only real knowledge of his work before this was from Terminator 2 and Blues Brothers 2000.
Excellent work here by Sayles, really funny and really moving at the same time.
ZigZag:
What can I say about this movie that hasn't already been said. Everyone was perfect in their roles. I do have one question though, is there anything that John Leguizamo cannot do? This guy is a-fricken'-mazing. Great great film.
Master of the Game:
I'll spare you the plot, but unlike Quint and Harry, I really did not enjoy this film at all. Maybe it was spoiled for me by the cast and crew being there, but I just really loathed this movie.
Everyone was praising the HD image after the movie, but to me it looked terrible. Lamps being turned off had no color depth in them at all. Way too dark, shadows mixed to make things solid blobs of darkness.
Save for a few certain scenes, the acting was pretty mediocre. Again, a few scenes hit but the actors just did not do it for me. The filmmakers said there was a whole month of rehearsal before filming began? With that I would have thought at least maybe the actors could have done some voice coaching because I have heard better German accents from high-school performances of The Sound of Music.
One of the film's few saving grace's is Ugyar Aktan. His performance was by far the best out of the lot, and I found it kind of odd that his American accent was actually the best accent in the entire film. (He is originally from Turkey)
I will admit, the script was really well done. I believe, done properly with the right actors and a little bigger budget, (although the filmmakers neglected to reveal their actual budget) this could have been a pretty excellent movie. But what I saw merely passes as a decent film.
The Toxic Avenger:
After Master of the Game, it was very important to cleanse my movie-viewing palate with something fun and enjoyable. Toxic Avenger filled that need very well.
Although very different from Citizen Toxie, it still held up the Troma beliefs in camp, gore, and comedy. This 'origin of Toxie' story was really well done, and is one of the better comic-book-type films I've seen.
The Comeback:
Samuel L. Jackson takes on PeeWee Football. Holy crap this was funny.
The Last Game:
This was an AMAZING film. By far the best film of the festival that I saw. Walking out of this film I regretted not joining my high-school's football team.
The amount of emotion that this movie draws up puts you in a state of euphoria. Flashbacks of Rudy and Hoosiers come to mind, but those movies still don't inspire me as much as The Last Game did.
A tale of a coach's last season with a team he has been with for over thirty years, we follow along from training camp all the way to the last game.
A powerful film, it kept me on the edge of my seat until the end.
The amazing thing about this movie is that it is all real. The Last Game is the best documentary I have ever seen. I can't stress enough how good this movie is.
Gigantic (A Tale of Two Johns):
I missed this premier because I was at Master of the Game, and I highly regret it. A fun look at the wonderfully great band They Might Be Giants. The two John’s are great friends and it really shows in their music and what they are like off stage. A very well done documentary that follows the two from their humble beginnings around 20 years ago, up until last September. Even if you are not a fan of the band, you will enjoy this movie.
SXSW this year was quite good, a good lineup of films. I just wish I could have stayed to see Blade 2, but alas, I will be back for next year. Again, I highly highly praise The Last Game, and I can't wait until next year. Also, I regret missing Bang the Machine, a documentary about a Street Fighter 2 championship, and also Martin and Orloff, done by the Upright Citizen Brigade guys. Oh well, can’t catch ‘em all. But if you do, tell me how those two were.
See ya next year,
-Monki
