Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Monki’s a good egg. He wrote several reviews for us at previous SXSWs, and it’s good to see him back at it this year:
Monki here with a batch of SXSW reviews. This SXSW seems to be a lot more crowded this year, a lot more badges than last year and a lot of really great films that always seem to overlap each other.
First off, Greg Pritikin’s new movie Dummy. Dummy is an amazing film about a man who finally takes a stab at his dream to become a ventriloquist. Adrien Brody (looking very much like a young Harold Ramis) was freakin’ amazing in this movie. His portrayal of Steven as a torn character trying to grow up while being surrounded by situations that won’t let him is absolutely remarkable. Brody made this film before The Pianist and all of the ventriloquism is actually done by him. (And yes, there is a lot of it)
Milla Jovovich is insanely good as Steven’s I-Wanna-Rock-Hardcore friend in a band. Her character was something I would have never placed her in, but it looks like she really enjoyed the hell out of playing this role.
The movie was just outstanding, by far one of the best films I’ve seen this year. I also had a chance to talk to the director and he was a really humble guy, very excited to be here. Go see this film, it is definitely worth it.
I also want to talk about Melvin Goes to Dinner. This is Bob Odenkirk’s (of Mr. Show fame) first feature film and it is exceptional. It’s a film that has been adapted from Michael Blieden’s stage show about a day in the life of four different characters and a dinner they share and what comes over a few bottles of wine.
What Blieden has captured though is an incredible character driven film that moves the audience from all out laughter to tears in seconds. The best way to describe the film is as “real.” It has a very kinetic feel to it even though the characters do nothing more than discuss their lives over dinner. The whole movie is told at the dinner table with flashbacks to earlier in the day.
The cameos in this flick are also great; aside from the four main characters we get a bit from Bob Odenkirk, David Cross, and a wonderful actor who was only referred to as “El Diablo.” Needless to say El Diablo’s scene was perhaps one of the best points of the film.
Odenkirk, Blieden, DJ Paul (Producer), and Michael Penn (Music) were there for a Q&A afterwards and were very happy with the response of the crowd. As always they seemed like very nice people who were genuinely excited about making movies. I got to talk with Blieden afterwards and he was really cool. He was pumped that my friend remembered his stint on the Daily Show (with Kilborn) as the music video critic.
If you are currently at SXSW take the time to see these movies. They are both amazing. On another note, CABIN FEVER is perhaps the best horror movie anywhere near release right now. My roommate had to leave the theatre about halfway through because he honestly felt like he was going to throw up. (Eli should be proud of that).
Stay tuned for more!
Hurry up, Monki, since our own staffers seem too busy watching films to actually write any reviews... coughquintcough...
"Moriarty" out.
