Peter Blood is playing catch up, and will be sharing his look at more films soon. I have also found out that Peter Blood is from Louisville originally (well... technically he's originally from England) but his sails have brought him here to Austin. Now... it's time for him to unleash his rapier and leave his latest series of marks upon the films of SXSW...
Peter Blood searches for buried treasure at SXSW: Part II
Day 3: Pirates are, by nature, hard working people. (Pilaging and plundering is very strenuous activity.) This also means we hold a deep respect for the fine art of relaxation. Finding nothing I couldn't do without in Sunday's SXSW panels, I chose to spend most of this day sleeping in, checking e-mail, having brunch and sitting around in the galley with Mrs. Blood. It was a nice change of pace compared to the SXSW chaos of the previous two days. A well rested pirate is a happy pirate me old mum used to say.
As evening rolled leisurely around, Mrs. Blood and I set sail for the enchanted land of the Paramount theater. There, we were to see the World Premeire of The Perfect Specimen, a low budget labour of love by Austinite and former UT Film Teacher Steve Mims and Meticulous Pictures (www.meticulouspictures.com). Before the film was a short subject entitled "Peepshow" that so far is the best I've seen at the fest. Let's just say I've never laughed so hard at "Enchanted April before. Then came Perfect Specimen, which follows goofy, shy, Barry Weiss (Jeremy Fox) and popular girl Julie Morris (Alicia Corbett) throughout the night of their Senior Prom. First off, watch out for these actors. If film production starts to pick up as much as everyone seems to think it will around Austin, you'll be seeing a lot more of them. Alicia Corbett has a smile that can melt steel, and she's even more stunning in real life. Fox was also in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused. The overall tone of the film is very similar to Blind Date (the Ethan Hawke one, not the Bassinger/Willis fiasco) only toned down so the characters seem like real people.
To start things off, Julie's hyper-paranoid father hires a company called Date Check to check Barry out. Date Check uses lie detectors, blood samples, and high tech survelience equipment to ensure that Barry will bring Julie home by her 2am curfew. The rather Kafkaesque technological paranoia continues throughout the film including an incredibly sensitive metal detector at the Prom, a card-eating ATM, and malfunctioning computer equipment. There's the stereotypical jock bully who pushes around Barry's best friend Lester, the school photographer with the smart mouth that always gets him into trouble. "Smile like you can add." The action eventually moves from the Prom out to an orgy (sorry, no details; you'll have to see it), a bar run by a friend of Lester, Lester's Hungarian cousins' house, a Fraternity Party, and a miniature golf course.
It's a very nice little film. It'll never pack'em in at the multiplex, but it has a sweet charm due to it's well cast leads that makes it infinely enjoyable to watch. The direction and script are above typical "very low" budget films. The only problems I had were on the technical side. In the Question and Answer session afterwards, director Mims said the film was primarily shot on Super 16, then transfered to DV for editing, then blown up to 35mm from the DV. Unfortunately, it shows. It probably looks fine on a small screen from the DV master, but the large screen brought out the limitations of the medium. Mims said they may go back and edit the original negative, if funding comes through. I hope it does, because the "warmth" of film would really add to the ambiance this film exudes. Even if it only gets a cable or video release, it would be a big help. I still recomend to anyone that has a chance to see this film to do so; even if only to see two future stars before they hit the big time.
After the screening, we sailed home so Mrs. Blood could get her beauty rest, whilst I hurried over to the Austin Convention Center for the second half of the Jack Hill double feature Big Bird Cage. Father Geek has already covered this event, so I'll again avoid a full review. I will say that I first saw BBC on television at least 15 years ago. It was a local independent station that showed a lot more than the networks ever could (like uncut Benny Hill) including exploitation films every Saturday night. I remember being impressed by the film and its wonderful campy humor. Upon seeing it again with all the full frontal shots and R rated jokes, I am amazed anything resembling a feature length film version of this was ever on TV. Now that I've experienced the real thing, I feel more complete as a pirate. As with all Jack Hill films, it was wonderful sick fun.
Day 4: The first order of the day was a panel with Robert Rodriguez on Guerilla Filmmaking. Among other things, he discussed his theory of shooting runthroughs of scenes on video that he called "Video Storyboards", but the highlight was special footage Robert edited together in his home for inclusion on the newly released El Mariachi / Desperado Special Edition DVD. These two "Ten Minute Film Schools" alone are worth the price of the Disk; the movies are a nice bonus. Next up Robert was joined by Mimic & Cronos director Guillermo del Toro for Mexicans Make Movies. Guillermo is a one-of-a-kind individual. I can't possibly express the delight the audience felt listening to these two future masters discuss an incredibly wide range of topics. All I can do is provide a few Guillermo quotes to try and set the tone. While discussing transporting film reels back and forth acroos the border, Guillermo's suggestion was to "Grab your camera and cans and tie yourself to the bottom of a truck." On why he'll probably never make any non-genre films, "That's all I wanna do for the rest of my life; weird fucking movies." He also recalled his first job on a set "digging a grave. And it was all downhill from there." But Robert and Guillermo's best advice to starting filmmakers was to just go ahead and do it, no matter what your situation. As Guillermo so eloquently put it, "After that you'll at least know. Either you'll get there or you'll realize you're completely fucked."
Then it was off to the Mongolian BBQ for a quick bite, before the AICN contingent set sail for a parking garage roof to see Jack Hill's ultimate masterpiece Spider Baby. Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton have both mentioned this film as one of their infulences, and nothing I say could possibly prepare an unsuspecting first time viewer, so all I'll say is "See it. Now. Find a videostore with balls and rent it. Go to Suncoast or some online store and buy it. Better yet, bug your local alternative theater to show it as a midnight movie. You will not be sorry."
The final port of the evening was the Alamo Drafthouse, for a viewing of Standing on Fishes. (Before the main feature was another excellent short called "Demo Reel - A Tragedy in 10 Minutes" featuring some cool movie posters in the backgrounds and a great cameo from David "Bud Bundy" Faustino.) Fishes tells the tale of scupltor Caleb who scrapes by working on film special effects and dates a neurotic comitment-obsessed actress named Erica whom he continuously fights with. His current project is creating a prosthetic vagina for an eccentric director adeptly played by Kelsey Grammer. Along for the ride are his best friend / employee Jason (Jason Priestly in a pivotal low-key role) and Camille, who rents his guesthouse and is so new-age-y and naive, she just may be an angel. It has the same quirky life-out-of-control indie comedy feeling that a lot of fest films have now, but there are more than enough moments of comedic sharpness and verbal firecrackers to raise this one above most of the pack. There's a love scene in the film so tragicly uncomfortable, it must have been based on a real experience. It's a risky film in that it lays emotions pretty bare and dares its audience to take sides without showing them which side to take. It has the requisite killer soundtrack and recognizable leads without recognizable names; Meredith Scott Lynn who plays Erica can be seen in the upcoming Forces of Nature in a small role and Bradford Tatum had a stint on "Melrose Place". Lynn and Tatun also co-directed the film based on Tatum's script that Lynn also co-produced. It's a solid production that sustains interest and tells a faily compelling story - and that puts it above a lot of studio fare lately.
