Hey folks, Harry here. My boy, Quint is reviewing a pair of damn fine films that showed at SXSW this year. First, I have to say that both of these are in my top 5 flicks of SXSW (#1.DARK DAYS, #2 HIGH FIDELITY, #3.THE INDEPENDENT, #4. GRASS, #5.DROPPING OUT), of course I didn't get to see even half of the films that showed... though I do have a big ass pile of video I now have to go through. WEEEEEE! But anyway, here's your trusty crusty seaman!
Ahoy Constant (and non-constant) Readers. Everyone's favorite crusty ol' seaman is back once more, this time with a look at two of the most entertaining films I've seen at SXSW this year (at least so far). One a documentary, the other a narrative film. Both have been discussed already on this site, so I'll keep it as short as I can. Let's start with the documentary.
Grass, which chronicles the history of Marijuana and the restrictions of use put open it by the US Government, is a rarity in the world of political documentaries. It combines relatively unknown and interesting information on its subject with lots of humor and lightheartedness. The film gives you the information to mull over, it doesn't shove it down your throat. Too many documentaries I have seen literally attack the subject matter, which can make them uncomfortable to viewing. Grass is full of humor and makes its statements in often hilarious ways.
The film is comprised of footage from various educational films, news room stuff, old newspapers, anti-pot films (Reefer Madness, etc) from way back and other misc. stuff. All that is told from a timeline perspective of the history of Pot, from its arrival via Mexican immigration, to the original bills proclaiming Pot illegal to the resurgence of Pot in the '60s to present day Legalization strikes. All the above is held together by two important elements. One, a superb narration by Hemp's (seemingly) biggest spokesperson, Woody Harrelson. From first word to last, you can't wait to hear what he has to say next. Two, the incredible and truly hysterical "segways." Whenever the filmmakers jump from one important event in the history of Mary Jane to another, they throw in some sort of elaborate segway that gives the viewer a feel of the way pot was viewed in that timeframe. It's very hard to describe... They reminded me a lot of the News stuff in Starship Troopers, in that they both are accompanied by grand, booming instrumentals and done to make the audience laugh. Keep a special eye out for the Yellow Submarine homage in one of these segways... that is of course if you ever get to see this documentary. I have no idea if it has distribution or not, but if the gods of cinema are smiling, then you'll see it sometime soon
The second film I want to chat a bit about is The Independent, starring Jerry Stiller and Janeane Garofalo. One of the down sides of film festivals is you end up getting drowned in all this dark, angst ridden, heavy downer "the world sucks" film student bullshit. It's so refreshing to see films like Grass and The Independent that are there, primarily, to entertain. Both are light, funny films. I do like the occasional downer movie/short, but sometimes it feels like that is the only kind of story some of these filmmakers can come up with. The Independent is about a B-movie director named Morty Fineman, played by Jerry Stiller, who looses funding for his latest masterpiece, Mrs. Kervorkian, about a bigbreasted nurse who fights for a person's right to die (with a big gun, of course). Despite having made over 400 films in his career, he is broke and owes a huge debt to the bank. He sees his chance to finally make a successful film when he gets the rights to a convicted serial killer's life story.
It just goes on from there. The actors are all in top form in this movie. There were parts that made me nearly bust my very sizable gut. This movie has several moments where you get that rare laughter, the kind where you literally throw your head back and laugh. The funniest and most memorable scenes are the clips or trailers of Morty's past films, including his only studio film A Whale of A Cop. Apparently, it was supposed to be a story of friendship between a kid and a whale, but those darned execs decided that the whale should be played by someone human. The cameo of.... a certain somebody... as the Whale Cop is perfect and perfectly pulled off.
The movie is filled with tremendous cameos. Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, Ron Howard, Roger Corman and many more all appear in the movie. I couldn't recommend this movie enough. I believe this film has distribution, so if you are a fan of comedy and this one pops up in your area I strongly suggest taking a look at it.
Now, a treat for you who read all that above crap, I got some news on Spielberg this weekend. I met a guy named Alex Mcdowell who was the Production Designer on a couple of my favorite underrated films, Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas and Fight Club. He was also working on Minority Report. He told me that at the end of last week, Spielberg finally put a halt on Minority Report in order to make some headway on AI. He said something about maybe starting back up again next month. I thought that was really fuckin' interesting. I asked him what look Spielberg was going for on Minority Report. He smiled and told me simply that Spielberg had issued a memo stating he wanted Science Reality, not Science Fiction.
So, that's that. Hope you enjoyed my ramblings. I'll be back again till then, maties, farewell and adieu.
-Quint
