Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. I think my favorite part of any film festival is the strange short films and the stuff that premieres at midnight and the movies that don’t roll in with massive buzz or distribution deals in place. The odds and ends. That’s where you really find out about the taste of the people programming an event. It’s easy to book FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. But the reason you go to SXSW is for the strange eclectic fare that Matt Dentler and his team put together. Like... well... like this stuff, actually:
I always wonder if it's fair to write a bad review for an indie film I don't like. For a big studio film, it's a corporation, and if a few tickets are not sold to the masses because of a review that's posted, it's not a huge deal. But for the films at SXSW, a lot of these have an uphill battle, and I wonder if trashing them hurts them way more. So I'm going to skip even writing about the films I saw that I disliked, and just do some quickie reviews on the ones I did. The Toe Tactic This is a crazy film by an animator. She did the animated sequences in Hedwig and the Angry Inch, if you've seen it. It's definitely more of a "classic" style of indie film. If someone told me this was actually made in the 90's, I would have believed them. Lonely characters, missed connections, quirky awkward situations. It's not a film that's going to hit you over the head with how funny it is, how dark it is, or how moving it is. It's really just a nice, light movie, about a bunch of interesting characters interacting. Additionally, there's a mixture of live action and animation going on. It's not flashy super-techno 3-d computer animation, it's traditional, hand-drawn, animation. It's really gives the film a hand-crafted feel. The storyline of the animated part is that there are a bunch of characters (one voiced by David Cross) who are watching the real live action movie, with a bunch of cards with items on it. For instance, it could be a bra, or a pair of glasses. When that item appears somewhere in the movie, the film stops, and we see that that character has advanced in their game. And it switches back and forth between the two. It's meta, but in a way that's not like I've ever seen. And really intriguing. Anyways, I'm not sure if it's playing again during the fest, but if you want to take in a nice, light, handcrafted indie film, this one is worth seeing. Spider This is a short film that's playing in the midnight shorts section. If you're in austin, this shorts program is well worth your time. If you're not in austin, you can actually watch the film online here:"It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye." Make sure you watch it with your girlfriend. She will most definitely scream. Best. Ending. Ever. The Rambler This is another short playing in that section, that is a totally ghetto horror film. Basically a dude wanders around for 5 minutes, is picked up by a hitchiker, and ends up finding himself in the strangest of situations. There is a barfing sequence in this film that is ENDLESS and awesome. Exploding breasts. Mummy rape. You gotta see it to believe it. It's shot in a way that's way over the top, but still gritty and raw, as if it were made in the 70's. I'm sure it's online somewhere, but I did find a trailer here. Knock Knock This is another short where the end just hits you. I don't want to ruin it, but for anyone outside austin, it's 4 minutes and well worth your time. You can watch it online here. RSO [Registered Sex Offender] Out of all the films I've seen at the festival, this one probably has the lowest budget, but it also made me laugh the most. This is a film that pretty much in the first 3 minutes lets you know what you're in for. The main character describes in graphic detail all the girls he had sex with when he was an adolescent. From fat chicks, to girls that are missing teeth, he goes lays it all out. When I saw it, the audience was pretty much laughing constantly from beginning to end - but i can see how a lot of people would be really offended by this, no pun intended. The main character in this film, he's in pretty much every scene, and he is constantly talking about sex and making sex jokes. To me and my buddies, we actually debated over whether or not we liked him after it was over. Me, I totally hated the guy, but loved watching him at the same time. One friend had a theory that he used these terrible jokes as a coping mechanism, and that there was a deeper psychology going on. Regardless, it's definitely a film you'll be talking about when it's over... and if not, the film is simply a constant barrage of funny (i'm sure I missed a bunch of jokes) so if you laugh at half of it it's still way more than most films. I'd say that if you're a fan of the film Clerks, this film would definitely be up your alley. I saw three other films, but don't want to write anything negative about them. I've got tickets to a bunch this weekend, so hopefully there'll be more to write in about. signing off, sawblade frisbee
