more movies

let's catch up before the awards are announced tonight and before I see the Doc shorts.

Momma's Man

This really hit home with some of the NYC crowd. I really liked it, but I couldn't relate as much as others.

A guy goes home to stay with his artist parents in NYC- his world and NYC are changing and he is having problems and dealing by lying to everyone and trying to hide in his childhood room.

Acting is great- the director cast his parents to play the parents in the film. Azazerl Jacobs is the son of avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs. His parents are really great in this film- this movie will have a great festival run so you should get to see it at a fest near you. It is funny and touching with a devastating ending- shot in the Jacobs apartment that has a personality of it's own- the apt. is a character in the film.

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S Thompson

Not a fan. Too long, never got below the surface- did a bad drug bit- I hate that. I did really enjoy the section about Fear and Loathing on the Campaign trail- maybe for someone who new nada about HST this would be fun- I had already done the introduction so I found the doc to be flat. But I will nonetheless post a pic of the man


Goliath


Funny and Absurd but I wanted a little more. A guy loses his wife is demoted at work and then his cat, Goliath, is missing- he unravels. There is hilarious shit in this movie-hilarious. I mean- look at this poster
But in the end I felt the film was a little stretched to be a feature- don't get me wrong- I would program this in any festival. I laughed very hard and the opening of the film is so strong I can;t stand it. There is the best font joke ever in this movie. And amazing use of a chainsaw on a stick-type pruning device. See this movie and go to their site later and watch their awesome shorts HERE

BALLAST

My pick for Dramatic Grand Prize. Nonprofessional cast gives an amazing performance in this quiet, superbly shot drama set in Mississippi River Delta. I don't want to give you the synopsis or any of that- I saw it cold, didn't know a thing and I loved it. I think it is the only way to really see films but that's me. It feels like the filmmakers were just there to capture things- it didn't feel lit or like a heavy hand was there controlling it. Just a beautiful film. Slow Burn- not for fans of plot driven poops. It plays Berlin next.

Pretty Bird

this movie is nuts. Paul Schnieder writes and directs his first feature an it is a bit of a rudderless ship. it has funny stuff and it definitely feels that Schnieder has a handle on scene work but the film as a whole is all over the place and ultimately tough to accept. Billy Crudup plays a nut who wants to sell rocket packs. Him and Paul Giamatti team up and make them- things are batshit crazy scene to scene and the movie takes a weird and dark turn when a character turns up dead. If you get a chance- an I don;t know if you will- watch this film. You will laugh and not believe the level of absurdity that is committehtted to in every aspect of production- every prop, set dressing, blocking, line reading- everything is crazy and fun for about an hour. use of a wolf poster right out of Robert Paraguassu's arsenal.

Be Like Others

Everything that happens in this doc is fucked. every idea, every action made me put my heads into my hands. Listen to this set up: In Iran homosexuality is punishable by death- but having a sex change is legal. So everyone in contact with anyone gay- or someone denying they are gay by having a horrible mutilation of an operation because they want to be accepted for being attracted to the same sex. The filmmaking is fine but the movie is tough to watch- if the punishment for being gay is death, then the punishment for having the operation seems just as bad. The whole thing makes Alabama look like the most progressive place in the world.


STRANGERS

Good stuff. The film is about an Israeli and Palestinian woman who meet in Germany an have a brief affair. The film was made by two directors- that's it. I like the film a lot- it has a Truffalt kind of feel to it- the it easily drifts between comedy, drama, love story. Great scting that the filmmakers said was all improv, but is edited well enough never to feel like it. The characters also speak in broken English a lot which I thought was really charming. They throw in really dynamic editing towards the end that I loved a la Jules and Jim- there was some split screen (yuck) but that's just nitpicking because the film is great. And because it was a first feature they do get the 'we have a 360 shot' award for including that shot in their film.

I talked to the lead actor and directors almost everyday. we took a picture