Once you get a Press Pass in your hot little hands at a film festival that is screening more than 190 films (about half full-length features), the temptation is to try and see as much as humanly possible.
I've done that before, and it just about killed me.
It's not just the logistics of getting from one screening to the next, which can be physically exhausting in itself; it's the mental shutdown, in which one film bleeds into the next, to the point that you forget what you liked and why. So when circumstances kept me from seeing certain films, I consoled myself that I was recharging my creative batteries (such as they are). What follows are capsule reviews, providing a snapshot of what was on offer this week, beyond the individual reviews I've already posted.
After the jump: comments on Beings, Snuffed, The Good Life, Cake: A Wedding Story, Year of the Fish, The Rape of Europa, The Favor, Netherbeast Incorporated, 10 Items or Less, Away From Her, Severance, Exiled.
Of the two "Midnight Specials" that screened the first weekend, Beings is best reserved for those with an abiding interest in what it would feel like to be examined by extraterrestrials in an alien spacecraft for what seems like an endless period of time (an appreciative crowd stayed long past 2:00 AM for a long Q & A with the director and alien experts in attendance), while Snuffed succeeds about half-way. Part of the growing sub-sub-genre "serial killer mockumentary," the mock interview footage contains a lot of deadpan humor, but it plays uneasily with the mock footage of the supposed murders. A few haunting images aside, the entire film would have been much more effective at about half the length.
The festival screened a fair number of retrospective titles in connection with their award tributees; I caught the first 30 minutes of To Kill a Mockingbird and, in conjunction with reading Harper Lee's novel a few days in advance, was even more impressed by Horton Foote's screenplay, a model of how to adapt a novel by capturing the very essence of the book's spirit and characters.
Dallas usually has to wait patiently for the big Sundance/Slamdance titles to eventually receive a theatrical release, so it was a pleasure to catch up with a few without the usual long delay. In addition to The Go-Getter (review) and The King of Kong (review), I caught Stephen Berra's The Good Life. The audience appeared enraptured and applauded at the end, but I felt it lacked any real punch; Berra's script is heartfelt and has several good ideas, but the execution of the material -- his work as director -- created a dreary atmosphere and then simply stopped, with listless performances draining the life out of the story. Maybe that was the intention.
Another Sundance title that recently began airing on HBO, Nelson George's Life Support is a film about an important subject, living with HIV, and it's based on the life of the director's sister, Anna. She contracted the disease from her husband (Wendell Pierce) while both were junkies. They've cleaned up their lives, and Anna is involved with community AIDS/HIV groups, though Anna is still paying the price for her past sins, in that both her teenage daughter and her mother remain cool and distant toward her. Queen Latifah is effective as Anna, and the topic is worthy of consideration, even if the film itself is a standard family drama.
It seemed like any film with a local connection was roundly supported, with sell-outs and enthusiastic audiences the norm. North Texas films and filmmakers are definitely different than the Austin crowd so exemplified by South by Southwest, perhaps less "hip" or self-consciously "mumblecore" (the latest thing at SXSW) than hewing closer to the mainstream. As you might expect for any local scene, only a few were above average (I especially liked Midlothia; review and interview), yet it is a very good thing to encourage regional filmmakers to develop their own unique voices.
That being said, I found the experience of watching Cake: A Wedding Story to be like attending a wedding where you don't know anybody and nobody talks to you. To be fair, the many cast and crew, friends, and family members in attendance laughed uproariously, and Jette Kernion of Cinematical sat right next to me and enjoyed it far more than I did -- you can read her review for evidence -- so what do I know.
One thing I do know is that if you plan to add animation to your film, you should have a good reason for it. David Kaplan's Year of the Fish updates the Cinderalla tale to modern-day Chinatown and really updates it with roto-scoped animation. (Think Richard Linklater's Waking Life.) Sad to say, that doesn't keep the film from feeling very shop-worn; the animated look is an interesting idea but it never appears to be connected to the story. It neither adds to nor detracts from the overall effect.
Speaking of art, the documentary The Rape of Europa details how the Nazis looted the art treasures of Europe during World War II. It's a fascinating story if you have an interest in such things; not to sound like a philistine, but I yearned for a little more education as to why the theft of art should be given top billing over the deaths of millions of people during the war. The somewhat older, sold-out crowd nodded their heads in agreement many times during the movie, which proves that the film is effective at reaching its target audience of art aficionados. No doubt I should purchase the book of the same title to educate myself.
As the end of the festival approached, I admit to growing tired of seeing "dysfunctional families," surely an oxymoron that I should quit using, since every family on the face of the earth is evidently dysfunctional. The Favor narrows its focus to one man and one teenage boy; when the boy's mother dies, the man agrees to take the boy in as a favor to the mother. The teen is, of course, angry and resentful and rebellious and confused, while the man is, frankly, a bit creepy. In any other movie the quiet, soft-spoken bachelor who takes photos of dogs and their owners for a little extra cash would be a serial killer and/or a pedophile, so it's more than a bit disconcerting to see him shown to be a kind, generous-hearted, selfless soul. The acting was too precise -- the line readings just a little "off" in their rhythms. It wasn't a bad movie, just not one that jump-started my engine.
The world premiere of the comedy Netherbeast Incorporated started off with the complete goodwill of the entire sold-out audience -- people were cheering the sponsor commercials, for goodness' sake -- and the first couple of scenes delivered solid laughs. Darrell Hammond plays the CEO of a company run entirely by vampires, but the early good spirits were disrupted by too-lengthy explanations that do away with all the vampire conventions and literally stop the movie cold. The laughs came thereafter in fits and starts. There is a sweetness at the core of the movie in the romance between Steve Burns and Amy Davidson, but with Dave Foley, Jason Mewes, Judd Nelson, and Robert Wagner at their disposal, the young producing/directing Ronalds Brothers don't fully tap into the satirical resources available to them. Clever in spots, perhaps some fine-tuning in the editing would help smooth things out.
Movie stars can get away with anything, it seems, and Morgan Freeman pushes that idea to the extreme in 10 Items or Less. He's a nameless Hollywood star, still coasting on the successes of his past though he hasn't made a film in four years. He's dropped off at a rundown supermarket to do "research" on a possible role and quickly becomes fascinated by a cashier named Scarlet (Paz Vega). Though it wishes otherwise, Brad Silberling's script has nothing to do with real life, but it coasts by on the charms of its two stars.
Another well-known actress, Sarah Polley, stepped behind the camera for Away From Her, the closing night film of the festival. She adapted a short story by Alice Munro about a long-married couple (Julie Christie, Gordon Pinsent) and the challenges they face when one is struck down by Alzheimer's Disease. Having lost one parent to this insiduous illness, I pretend no objectivity; I half-watched it on a screener, fearful of getting too caught up in my own memories and heartache. Even at that remove, the excellent performances are obvious, as is a measured pace and deep involvement with a few characters who, most likely, will break your heart.
During the festival, I tried to see as many lesser-known titles as possible, especially those that don't yet have distribution, but I couldn't resist taking another look at Christopher Smith's Severance and Johnny To's Exiled. The former I saw at last year's Fantastic Fest in Austin with a large, appreciative, responsive audience; while the crowd in Dallas was much smaller, they were no less responsive. Knowing where the gruesome stuff really begins, it was even more fun to enjoy the inter-personal dynamics before things start going terribly bloody wrong.
Having seen Exiled twice already on DVD, I could sit back and soak in the atmosphere, the sights, the sounds, the music, the tension, the outlandish over-the-top surrealism, the pure joy, the framing, the acting, the gunfire.
Sheer pleasure: the stuff that film festivals are made of.
And more to come, with screenings tonight and tomorrow, as well as award announcements, to round off the experience.
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BEINGS
SNUFFED
(Could not locate a web site or trailer)
THE GOOD LIFE
Information Page - Director's Site
CAKE: A WEDDING STORY
MySpace - official page (trailer available)
YEAR OF THE FISH
Official Site (trailer available)
THE RAPE OF EUROPA
Information Page - Actual Films
THE FAVOR
MySpace - official page (trailer available)
NETHERBEAST INCORPORATED
Official Site
10 ITEMS OR LESS
Information Page - US - Thinkfilm Company
AWAY FROM HER
Official Site - Canada - Capri Films (trailer available)
Official Site - US - Lionsgate (trailer available)
SEVERANCE
Official Site - US - Magnolia Pictures (trailer available)
EXILED
Official Site (trailer available)
I think I was sitting a few seats down from you during Exiled. The only films I saw after that were La Vie En Rose on Wednesday, and Punk's Not Dead on Thursday. I picked a couple of good ones, I really enjoyed this.
Peter, you've done a masterful job reporting from AFI Dallas. I, for one, deeply appreciate the time and energy you've spent surviving the experience. Heh. Here in SF it seems unbelievably daunting sometimes with one festival dovetailing another; but, I think I'm finally learning that--as much as can be sampled--it's often best to pare it down to something truly manageable.
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