Cinequest 2009
Witch Hunt: An incredibly moving documentary executive produced and narrated by Sean Penn, but Sean’s voice quickly fades into the background as you listen to these seriously outrageous stories. This is the horrifying true account of the wrongful conviction of dozens of innocent parents for sex crimes against their own children.
I remember when these Bakersfield cases were going on but had no idea that these parents spent so much time in prison, or that they had only recently been released. Many of the parents and children who are in the film were up on stage for a Q&A after the film. I think listening to the children tell their stories as adults was probably the most difficult, and seeing them in person still suffering from so much guilt was heart-wrenching.
Available on Netflix and Amazon, and I highly recommend that you see this film.
Cinequest 2009
Two Million Stupid Women: Drunk birthday girl recently dumped by her boyfriend runs around town with her two friends pretending she’s not demeaning herself further. I wasn’t sure about this movie about halfway into it when some unidentified issues with the two friends started escalating. But I felt the movie came to a satisfying and believable ending – something that could not have been accomplished without these three very impressive actors.
Now available on DVD and Instant Video.
Cinequest 2009
Historias Extraordinarias – the (4 hour 20 minute) Movie
I am not ashamed to say that I dozed off a couple times in the second half – I did better than I had expected, and another viewer told me she was out at one minute 30.
Having not seen the ENTIRE film, I have a hard time reviewing it. I did enjoy it, I didn’t feel like I had just lost 4.5 hours of my life, I wasn’t sorry to have scheduled it. Would I recommend it? I haven’t decided yet.
I absolutely LOVED that the narration was in such simple Spanish that I could almost entirely understand it without subtitles (I am SJSU certified as “fluent” in Spanish. This makes me laugh.). This of course made closing my eyes for a minute much easier. But that also made it easier to doze off. Ah well.
I LOVED the promise of the three stories: One character named X, one named Z, one named H. Each a solitary man on his own personal journey or quest. At different times one or the other is searching for gold, searching for a beautiful missing woman, one is hiding for months in his hotel room, another trying to get a job done… But I never saw any real ending or wrap up to any of the stories, and I don’t know if it happened when I was asleep or not at all!
I LOVED the short vignette about a very old lion named “Colonel”. I thought that particular story was told very very well.
I was really interested in everything that was happening, although it jumped around so much I kept having to go back through my head to remember which story this or that character was from. None of the stories tied in with each other. I really enjoyed what I saw when I was awake.
But then I fell asleep for more than a moment and woke up to a group of German speaking men, and a first person narrator. What happened??? I figured out who the narrator was, but didn’t understand the connection. This was almost at the end, and marked the moment when I knew I had lost the battle to see this movie.
Also LOVED: The closing song at the end of the movie. Sung in English with Spanish subtitles, I enjoyed the Spanish version even better. Even though I wasn’t sure about the endings of each historia extroardinaria, this final song kind of tied them together for me.
In short: I loved everything I saw. My only complaints are about some missing endings/explanations, but they may have happened when I was asleep.
So what do I decide?
I say, if you’ve read the description and still want to sit through 4 hours 20 minutes of one movie, then do it. I don’t think anyone left during intermission and didn’t return. Just drink more coffee than I did.
It does not appear to be available anywhere, except possibly in Argentina. However you can put it on hold on Netflix and hope it is released one day.
Cinequest 2009
Five minutes into Rock Paper Scissors, a documentary about two brothers who have brought the famous children’s game into World Championship status, I wrote down this note, “Is this for real??”
I had spoken to Graham Walker, one of the brothers, through the computer before attending the film. He seemed to be VERY serious about his film. So as I watched these over the top characters on screen, these players who seemed to have taken “taking it seriously” to a whole new level, I felt like I had been had. There was no way this was a documentary. From the “team doctor” to a trophy fashioned out of a wooden hanger and a gilded fist flinging the “bird”, to then hearing about a bidding war between Fox Sports and ESPN over who would show the World Championships (Seriously? ESPN??)… and Hello, I haven’t even told you about the players yet.
On the other hand, there also seemed to be a pretty big effort to make this seem real. Clips from the Conan show, Ellen, the CBS Morning Show and even CNN certainly made it appear real, and the previous World Championships filmed sure had a lot of extras walking around…
Well, folks, this film was about as real as they come. I think I could have enjoyed it more if I had know for sure if real or not because I spent too much time trying to figure out the truth. Honestly, I was only convinced of its realness when the filmmaker stood up for the Q&A.
“Are you a fan of RPS?” he was asked.
“Umm. No.” was his reply, to great applause. He also informed us that it’s the only sport that has no rules against banned substances. Thanks, Cinequesting, for asking that question. People do want to know.
But did I like it? Yeah, yeah I did. We were all laughing hysterically, we just were never sure what we were laughing at: documentary or mockumentary? But there is no denying that the movie was entertaining, and it was actually really well put together. Matti Leshem, executive producer of such hits as “Paula Abdul: Cardio Cheer”, is set up as a perfectly villainous promoter, and there were various colorful heroes from the large group of competitors. Master Roshambollah was in the audience with some friends, sitting right behind me and cheering loudly in all the right places.
It took me a while to figure out exactly what I thought about this movie. I really had to get it into my head that this was all real and not one big joke being played. But no matter what, I can’t deny that I laughed and had fun, and with the crazy mix of characters that show up for these championships, well, you may just find me there as a spectator one day.
Well, probably not.
Available on Netflix and Instant Video.
Cinequest 2009
I loved Capers from the opening credit animations. I’m going to borrow from the IMDB plot summary to explain the details:
Three teams of criminals share the same Brooklyn block, but each exists in a separate genre of film. The Amateurs are trapped in a 1970’s anti-hero movie. The Sputniks live in black and white. The Moolies can’t escape their rap video life. But they all share a hatred of Connie, a racist local pawn shop owner and mafia widow. So when Connie has a heart attack, each team decides it’s time to find out what’s inside her legendary safe. Unfortunately they all plan their big score for the same night.
If I had read that description before the film, I wouldn’t have been so confused at first. But even in my confusion I loved the characters and wanted to keep watching them on screen. Eventually all the stories start merging together and you understand that they all want whatever is in Connie’s safe. As the Moolies put it, they “want money and don’t want to work for it”. Unfortunately, all three teams end up working much harder than they expected to get Connie’s safe. I freakin LOVED Connie. More racist than Archie Bunker and with less heart, but like with Archie, you can’t help but love her character. Danny Masterson seemed much more comfortable in his role as the head of the Amateurs than he was in Wake. And every time he and his partner appeared on screen walking their little dachshund I let out a little SQUEEEE inside. Dachshunds are to me like Robert Pattinson is to teenage girls.
It wasn’t the greatest film I’ve ever seen at Cinequest, and some people around me didn’t love it as much as I did, but everyone did seem to agree that it was Good, at LEAST. I really liked the use of the different filming styles, even though they confused me in the beginning. I was pretty impressed when the teams started crossing into each other’s stories and their scenes continued to have their own film style even in the same frame. And it had a very satisfactory ending, with a promise of a sequel (except it’s a film festival movie, so a sequel may never happen). Oh, and there’s a “brutal Russian sex scene” that you’re not going to want to miss. Trust me.
Now available on Netflix, DVD and Instant Video, and I definitely say you should see this imaginative, original film!!
Cinequest 2009
Well, sleeping on things didn’t make Wake better.
I’ll start by saying that the movie wasn’t awful, it just wasn’t great. It gets a solid Good for being entertaining enough, and I heard a lot of laughs from the audience, and my teenage kids really liked it. Bijou Phillips is funny and engaging and has GREAT hair in the film (I TOTALLY WANTED her hair!). Danny Masterson is great in person, but didn’t have a great part written for him. I think the problems mostly fall with the story itself.
The film revolves around Carys, a troubled woman who is unable to feel emotions after the death of her sister. In order to try and feel something she attends funerals, the more sad and tragic the better. While at one funeral she meets the dead girl’s fiancé, and after accidentally stealing the dead girl’s engagement ring she becomes hopelessly entangled with the victim’s family and her web of lies. Eventually, of course, she falls in love with the fiancé – but will her lies bring an early end to their new happiness?
**Spoilers Ahead** …not that I think you’ll ever get to see this movie.
1. Since when was assisted suicide legal? Unless this movie was set in Oregon (it was filmed in LA, but may have been set in Oregon), this small little legality throws a major monkey wrench into the plotline.
2. I may have heard wrong, but didn’t the fiancé put his dead girlfriend’s body into a car and dump it off a cliff in the Grand Canyon?? Maybe it wasn’t the Grand Canyon, but the dead girlfriend looked remarkably great in her casket.
3. We are to believe that a grown woman from a very religious, Catholic family would rather arrange a suicide that will appear as accidental death instead of telling her parents she has cancer so that everyone could say their Goodbyes and get closure. And that the family would be totally okay with this when they find out the truth. I’m not buying it.
4. Six weeks after his cancer-ridden fiancé has her “accident”, the “killer fiancé” proposes to Carys, a woman he met at his fiancé’s funeral. Maybe he wasn’t actually a killer, but that guy had something wrong with him. And women – don’t get engaged to a guy who just lost his fiancé six weeks earlier!!
5. Speaking of Carys, a woman who supposedly has emotional issues after the death of her sister, she seemed just fine to me. I never really saw someone who was having issues, other than we kept being TOLD she had issues.
6. Letting Jane Seymour wear this necklace in the film was a big mistake. Seeing it so prominently displayed around her neck was a huge distraction and I think is a big mistake in a film you would like to get into theaters. I discussed this with my teen daughter, she had never even seen the necklace before but said she couldn’t help staring at it. “I didn’t know what it WAS,” she said. “I couldn’t figure out if it was a Z or a snake or what.” HEH.
7. Did I miss something else or was there absolutely no closure with Danny Masterson’s character?
Aside from the big holes in the story, it really wasn’t a bad film, but it just wasn’t fabulous either – and I just can’t take that many holes in a plot. Catalina was surprised that I rated it a 3, but I asked her “Do you think people would flock to the theater and pay to see it?” She thought for a few minutes, and finally said “No”.
Yes, it’s available on Netflix, DVD and Instant Video.
Let’s see how far I get since I’m tirrrrrred.
Took Catalina downtown with me to pick up my passes and the kids’ tickets before the film. Went to the Hotel Montgomery to get my pass and right away found Jason and Christopher and… Cullen Hoback! Surprise! I had heard he was in SF last week and asked him to come to CQ – I don’t know if he planned to come anyway, but he’s a great filmmaker and I’m happy to see him around. Hopefully next year he’ll show up with another movie.
Took Catalina to Asqew Grill, my favorite place to eat when I’m downtown and then we were in line for the 7pm movie by 5:50pm. We were like tenth in line, but John arrived 45 minutes later after they had let everyone into the lobby. GRRRRRR teenage boys. So we were standing in line at the interior door while the poor Cinequest people were trying to control the crowd entering the theater – and this HORRIBLE WOMAN behind me starts YELLING that she wants in, that she saw other people going in so why couldn’t she, and just kept arguing and YELLING at the poor volunteer. Meanwhile she inches herself closer and closer until she’s completely bypassed me and four other people. CUTTER. She yelled and harangued and wouldn’t shut up for ten minutes, I kid you not. Her husband stood there smiling. If you are that woman, and you are reading this: YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. GAHH. Regretfully, I didn’t think to take her picture.
We got into the theater finally, and were off to the side but the California Theater has wonderful seating everywhere.
I think I’ll review the movie tomorrow, as I’m tired and didn’t LOVE the movie, but don’t want my exhaustion to make the review even worse. It wasn’t a bad movie, it just wasn’t that great. Oh, but I have to say this: Jane Seymour had a part in it and she prominently wore this damn necklace. Way to completely distract the audience and take them out of the film with your too-obvious product placement. I rated it a 3 but Catalina gave it a 5. John didn’t vote but said he liked it. I’ll review tomorrow.
So then we went to the after party, and it was in a new location this year – I’m really disappointed. In years past they had held it at the Hotel Montgomery, and it was always packed so full you couldn’t move. But last year was a lovely evening and we got to hang out on the hotel patio and it was the best party ever (the pink vodka didn’t hurt either). There was room to move around and room to sit and hang out. But this year they moved it to a couple restaurants/bars down the street, possibly to accommodate a larger crowd – but it was JAM PACKED when we got there, and we were there before half the crowd got there. There was a band and alcohol and hor d’oeuvres, but Catalina was sad that the chocolate fountain was gone. The main problem was it was just too packed. It was a warehouse packed with people. Catalina took a pic with Nathan Louie and we all just decided to leave. We were sad that we didn’t stay at the party, but I can’t hang out like that with two underage kids in tow.
Did we all have fun? YES. Are we tired? YES.
See ya at the movies.
Non-indie theater: 2009
I took Catalina to see Coraline last week and we both loved it. However, it was way more creepy, crazy, and scary than we had expected! Does that equal bad? I don’t think so. AND it was rated PG (I think more for the overweight, big breasted stripper than the scariness) so take your very young child there at your own risk.
We got into the pretty crowded theater, and as usual with animated movies, it was packed with young kids (mostly girls) who were chatter-chatter-chattering through the previews and even into the beginning of the movie. After that though, there was quite the silence through the rest of it. Myself, I was unexpectedly horrified and completely creeped out by what was happening, I can only imagine what the kids were thinking… (“She wants to do what with WHAT? WTF!!!”) Because that’s what I was thinking.
And at first I thought maybe this was too much, too much horrifying ideas for young children. But when that movie ended, Catalina was not the first one to break out in applause, and she turned to me and exclaimed, “AWESOME! I LOVED that movie!!!” That seemed to be the overall opinion of all the young girls in the audience.
And I thought back to Grimm’s Fairie Tales, and even the old Disney movies. Kids love horror. They love The Scary. I think dealing with The Scary on screen helps kids figure things out in real life. I’m not talking Freddy Kreuger, I’m talking Evil Stepmothers, dealing with the death of Bambi’s mother, the horrors that happened to Dumbo’s mother, the atrocities in Pinocchio, and even that wicked Wicked Witch and her flying monkeys.
I don’t have the educated knowledge to explain WHY kids love this stuff, I just think back to my own love of those books and movies, and how overall those movies were so so so so SOOOO much better than a lot of crap that is out now. The Scary, and the dealing with The Scary, is what makes these movies great. The Scary is there in real life for every child – there are really Wicked Stepmothers and even Wicked Mothers, there is really death and loss to deal with, and there are really drugs and alcohol and circuses and hunters out there. Maybe reading these Grimm tales and seeing things played out on screen helps kids deal with things themselves.
I don’t know. I’m getting waaaaay too far into this. I’m just saying: This movie brings The Scary, so be prepared. But also be prepared to love it along with your kids. Also, the movie is technologically stunning, and we didn’t even get to see it in 3D. Catalina did this weekend when she saw it again at another theater and she said it was “AMAZING”. But I have heard that after this week there will be no more Coraline 3D because the stupid fucking JONAS BROS will be taking up all the 3D theaters.
People please. Take your child to see Coraline before the Jonas Bros come to a theater near you. Jonas Bros = Crap, Coraline = The Awesome.
Of course Coraline is now available on Netflix, Blu-Ray and Instant Video!
(If you want Jonas Bros, look it up yourself.) 🙂
Cinequest 2007
I rented Outsourced for my friend Scott, a movie from Cinequest 2007 that my daughter and I had fallen in love with.
Plot: Todd Anderson is the head of a Seattle call center whose entire operation has been fired and outsourced to India. Todd is sent to India to train the new employees.
I love the movie because in the beginning you see India through Todd’s eyes; you see stereotypes, crazy cab drivers, cows in office buildings, horrendous art… but it is not long before you are seeing America through India’s eyes, and laughing harder at your own self and country and customs than you were at India. The movie shows you the beauty in “tacky” and teaches you that you are indeed a “schmuk”. Nothing I could say in a simple blog entry would get across the beauty and humor and lessons that are in this film.
“Did you like it?” I asked Scott when it was over.
“Well,” he said slowly, “Thank you. That’s what I have to say. Thank you for showing this to me. I REALLY enjoyed it.”
He was sure this one would make it to theaters – in reality, it didn’t. I see on IMDB.com that there are two theaters showing it this weekend, Varsity Theatre (Ashland,OR) and Drexel East (Columbus,OH). This is one of those movies for which you feel SO LUCKY to have had access to Cinequest, because so many people would never get to see such a fantastic film.
But you’re in luck, because you can get it now on Netflix. Or you can buy it from Amazon. I recommend you just go out and purchase it, and I am making a rare guarantee that you WILL LOVE it.
(Edited: It was eventually made into a television series, which was OKAY, but you really should see the film.)
Cinequest 2008
Today is Tuesday, and I saw Karl Rove, I Love You on Sunday. Some of the movies I saw during the festival I decided I liked more after a few days went by. This movie had the opposite effect – I think I didn’t really like it. Keep in mind it was the last movie I saw at the festival, which makes it the twenty-something movie in 12 days. So if you thought I was dozing through movies before, you better believe I was tired by the time I saw this one.
To save my own brain time, this is what IMDb.com says about it:
Election Year, 2004. A documentary on the “unknown supporting actor” takes a surprising turn when the lead of the film (Dan Butler; “Bulldog” from the television series “Frasier”) becomes smitten with the idea of playing Karl Rove, President Bush’s notorious senior advisor. Initially bent on bringing Rove down, as Butler gets deeper and deeper into his role, he actually falls in love with Rove.
It was funny and I laughed quite a few times, and the audience laughed quite a lot, and I loved Julia Miranda, but I believe the audience was a little confused here and there, and I am admitting to being one of the confused ones.
I thought it was a movie. Then it appeared to be… a mockumentary? or a documentary? or a movie about the making of a mocku/documentary? I don’t know??? It was difficult figuring out what was real, what was not real, was that really Karl Rove, did he really write a letter, was anything real, or was it one giant joke?
In the Q&A afterward Julia Miranda explained that she loves movies that make her feel happy, creepy and sad in every scene. And they definitely did that, but I’m not sure I liked the feeling all the time. The “intervention” scene became more than a little uncomfortable, more so because it wasn’t even clear who was in on the joke and who wasn’t.
It only became clear (to me at least, but apparently not to everyone in the audience) toward the end of the movie that none of this was real when more really over-the-top scenes came – and then I felt more free to laugh, knowing this was all a big joke.
I will agree that the idea was a good one but I don’t think the outcome of the idea worked. I think it went a little too long for what it was and could have been cut to an hour. And I think making it clearer just a little earlier that this was all a joke makes it easier to get through.
But then again, twenty-something movies in 12 days. The sixth one in 24 hours. I was ready for the festival to be over. So if you saw it and liked it, I’m not going to argue with you, you are probably right.
Now available on Netflix, DVD and Amazon Instant Video!
Popcorn and Vodka 
