Hey there everyone... Harry here with ANNETTE and JOAD'S look at the first two nights of SXSW. We did the DESERT BLUE party together, but then split. Me to come home and write.. and these two lucky bastards to party. Damn the responsibility of life! Anyway... The next night we split up... I was obsessed with seeing A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE, while they were hooked from their conversation with Jason London on seeing $PENT. Oh... and just in case you're curious... They are not wearing signs that say... "I write for AICN!" nor do they introduce themselves as Tom Joad and Annette Kellerman. So their experience is that of someone with a film pass to SXSW... And this is why this fest is sooo damn cool. So here they are... the best of buds... the mermaid and the man of dust to let it fall as they saw...
Hey dude, how ya hangin'? We're definitely overdue to crash into the unconcious zone we all know and love, but had to send ya this ASAP so people can possibly read before $PENT has a chance to show again... see you bright and oily...
Tom and Annette here, back for more this year at SXSW ’99. Realizing you guys don’t want to read eight reviews of the same things, we’ll be reporting together on the fest, beginning with a quick rundown of our experience at the post DESERT BLUE party as well as a review of the magnificent $PENT.
Following the Friday night U.S. premiere of DESERT BLUE, the AICN crew headed over to 6th street for the after-party at the Jazz. Basically, the night consisted of kickass live music, free drinks and food, and great conversation.
The crew procured a table and twenty minutes later, we were joined by Rana Joy Glickman and Charlie Spradling of $PENT. Rana, the film’s producer, brought us (among other things) last year’s FULL TILT BOOGIE and Charlie, the female lead of $PENT, has one of those faces you’ve seen in a millions things, most notably, THE DOORS, WILD AT HEART, and television’s TWIN PEAKS. Rana has known Harry for awhile now, and Charlie, a regular reader of the site, came over to meet the crew. It wasn’t long into our talk that Charlie called her husband over to join us. Up walks Randy fuckin’ "Pink" Floyd from DAZED & CONFUSED!! Since joining the AICN bunch, we’ve had the absurdly amazing opportunity to meet and chat with various actors, actresses, directors… and Jason London definitely ranks as one of the coolest, most down to earth people we’ve had the pleasure of talking with. First off, we’re all from Oklahoma, which we just don’t encounter all that often. We gabbed about all sorts of Okie-shit, from high school wrestling to being Sooner-bred, great stuff… We talked about his film, THE RAGE: CARRIE 2, which had opened that night and his starring role opposite his wife in $PENT. Jason’s the kind of guy who absolutely loves doing independent films, but understands the business and doesn’t have a problem with doing a couple “after school” specials in order to put his kid through preschool. He was very excited about screening $PENT at SXSW and offered a few hilarious stories. Like the agonizing reality of sitting next to your in-laws while they watch you go down on their daughter ON A SIXTY FOOT SCREEN. Believe us, we felt his pain after watching the scene the following night. Both he and his wife were unbelievably cool. Soon after wrapping up our hour plus conversation, the two made an early exit in preparation for the long day to follow… and it was about time for us to hit the dance floor.
The final band of the night had taken the stage and we assumed our positions on the dance floor. There are few things finer than cutting a rug next to Brendan Sexton III (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Desert Blue) and Morgan J. Freeman (dir: Hurricane Streets, Desert Blue). I mean, as we repeatedly bumped into Brendan, we couldn’t help but grin at each other, thinking “I’m going to rape you tomorrow” (If you don’t get that, then go get WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE right this second.)
Scattered about the dance floor were some of the other cast members of DESERT BLUE, including Ethan Suplee, Sara Gilbert and Isidra Vega. As the band concluded their encore (complete with backup vocals by Brendan and Morgan), we were in desperate need of a smoke. Who should be standing next to us with an entire pack of cigarettes in hand, but Ethan Suplee himself. With balls of a Golgathon, Annette promptly introduced herself and asked him for a smoke. He kindly obliged with zero hesitation and we briefly spoke of after party plans. Once again we grinned at each other while the line, “You stupid bastard…” flew through our minds. He is pretty fuckin’ cool. As Ethan made his exit, we hooked up with Brendan. We joked about all of us breaking it the fuck down on the dance floor and how utterly kickass the last band was. He even introduced us to the drummer adding, “Hey man, you all were the only band they danced to.” I could see the little pink hearts popping above Annette’s head. Too, too cool.
Onto Tuesday’s screening of $PENT. As we entered the Austin Convention Center, we immediately ran into Rana Joy Glickman who introduced us to the director, Gil Cates, Jr. This is one really cool crew. I mean, we don’t know if it’s the festival spirit or what, but they couldn’t have been more accommodating as they led us to the theater and supplied us with promotional goods and invites to the after party.
Before we found our seats, we ran into Jason and Charlie again and chatted briefly about the film and our mutual recoveries from the DESERT BLUE party the night before. Shortly thereafter, we took our seats and the festivities began.
First off was an amazing one minute short film by Ari Gold called CULTURE. It’s a shame most of you won’t get to see this bit of brilliance. Basically it consisted of the director himself dressed in his best RESERVOIR DOGS black suit against a white background, shooting imaginary guns complete with vocalized gunshots, and simulated slow motion as he pretended to put up a good fight before being gunned down, hitting the wall behind him with a terrific burst of fake blood. (Sorry about the horrible run-on, there – we couldn’t resist.) We were giggling with pleasure and disbelief at the unexpected genius behind this one. Fantastic stuff.
Before $PENT, some of the cast and crew were brought out for a quick introduction and stated that they’d be around for a Q-N-A afterwards. The room darkened and the cool SXSW trailer rolled. It was then that we were awed by $PENT. A perfect blend of comedy and drama, the film deals with Jason and Charlie playing a couple who each has their own vice to overcome. He plays a guy who’s got a gambling problem and she’s struggling with alcoholism. This is a film that works on every level. The production is tight, it’s polished, and it’s all the more fantastic knowing it was completed in eighteen days. The story continually turns left when you think it’s going to take a right. The editing is perfect and Gil handles the scenes that would make some directors fumble the ball with the ease of one who’s obviously got the gift. All of the characters central to the story have plenty of great dialogue. Nipples. Nicholson. This flick rocks!! You know, we’ve all seen movies with husbands and wives starring opposite each other, and sometimes, their off-screen chemistry just doesn’t come across on screen. Some people just don’t click. These two click. Joined by a supporting cast including Phill Lewis, James Parks, Erin Beaux, Richmond Arquette, Rain Phoenix, Margaret Cho, Jonah Ethan Blechman, & Barbara Berry (from TV’s SUDDENLY SUSAN), the stand out performances give the film an even more solid, well rounded appeal. It’s not often enough that we see films that resonate. This one will be with you for days.
After a short Q-N-A session, we hooked up with the cast and crew at the Dog & Duck Pub for celebratory beverages and more great conversation. The place couldn’t have been more packed, but we luckily were able to grab a table with Charlie and Jason. Also at the table were Charlie’s parents, her best friend, as well as her cousin Michael, his bud Bodie, and the newest addition to our cool bunch, the Pirate. Basically we drank and bullshitted until Gil informed us that we were moving the party to the Omni hotel to regroup before a late-night raid on 6th street. An absolutely kickass ending to a kickass night. Fun was had by all.
