Review: BITTER & TWISTED (Marya Murphy)
Posted by Marya
I’m not sure how to approach a review of BITTER & TWISTED. The synopsis and trailer are misleading, perhaps necessarily. It’s the kind of film that must be taken as a whole. The synopsis leads one to believe it will be a slightly quirky, rather dreary and melodramatic story about the effect of the death of a loved one on those left behind (with a little gayness thrown in for good measure). And it is that. But while skimming along with a fairly conventional story, it consistently and delightfully defies expectations, while always remaining genuine and truthful. It is outrageously funny at times, while never flouting its gently melancholic tone. And the quirk never stretches toward camp, but stays within the realm of the real.
Christopher Weekes (also interviewed here at CQ Central) wrote and directed this, his first film, and I’m eager to see what he does next. He cast himself in a charmingly cipherish role as Ben, the brother of the deceased Liam. It’s a role he seems to recede into, and an unlikely one for a child actor turned writer/director, which makes it all the more brave. He’s joined by a marvelous cast including the talented and beautiful Zooey-Deschanel-like Leeanna Walsman as the girlfriend of dead Liam, Indigo, who’s caught up in an affair with an older man. Noni Hazlehurst is marvelously moving as the grieving and lonely mother and wife of the emptied-out father played by Steve Rodgers. The four main characters are rich and fully-realized, and the lesser characters, the sister Lizzie and the scene-stealing Matthew Weston as Ben’s special friend, Matt, are developed enough to make the audience want more of them.
The film is well-written, confidently directed and brilliantly cast. Christopher Weekes has a great future, and I hope he finds a way to make more films. And to cast me in them.
Tags: BITTER & TWISTED, Christopher Weekes, CQ19, DRAMEDY, Reviews.
Review: THE BIRTH OF A NATION (Jarrod Whaley)
Posted by Jarrod Whaley
The following review was originally posted at oakstreetfilms.com.
Yes, a film containing this still was a runaway hit just under 100 years ago.
Let’s address the inevitable blue whale in the room right off the bat: if a film whips up a hysterical degree of ignorance and hatred over a three hour span, but does so through a systematically brilliant employment of literally everything which the cinema is capable of doing, does the end nullify any artistry evinced within the means? Absolutely not. I’m not going to waffle, in spite of the current critical vogue for coating this subject in syrup. If critics were as serious as they claim to be about the “debate” as to whether form can be appreciated when it serves an odious ideological purpose, they wouldn’t still be writing about films like The Birth of a Nation (or this one)–nor would I have been able to see it screened in a beautiful old movie palace, in a pristine restored print, with a live pipe-organ performance of the original score. And yet that’s exactly what happened last night. No one’s head exploded.
Tags: CQ19, DRAMA, events, THE BIRTH OF A NATION.
Review: NIGHT TRAIN (Jarrod Whaley)
Posted by Jarrod Whaley
Love & death differ by only one gene.
The following review was originally posted at oakstreetfilms.com.
Why do so many Western films that deal with a person’s alienation tend not to know whom or what to blame? I won’t list any titles, because I might offend some people I know–but because my saying even that may be seen by those people as a veiled attack, I’ll point out that I’ve been just as guilty. You all know what I’m talking about anyway. Maybe life in America is so comparatively easy that we’re afraid to try answering these questions. Maybe we don’t know the answers, for the very same reason. Maybe, alternatively, we’re simply a culture that is more interested in final states than in causality. The arid soul and its covalent behavior are everywhere observable, we’ll argue, and are in their own right a compelling subject regardless of whatever psycho-social malaise might be behind it. Ye che is as beautiful and as fascinating as it is to an American like me, perhaps, because it’s easy for us to understand that the bleak emptiness of life in China as we are here shown it might easily account for the distant neediness we see in the film’s protagonist, Wu Hongyan. If nothing else, the cold, forbidding industrial slums might be a better setting for this sort of character than is some bright, clean American city. Read more
Tags: China, CQ19, DRAMA, NIGHT TRAIN, Yi'nan Diao.
Review: CAPERS (Cynthia Corral)
Posted by Cynthia Corral
I loved this film 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 couldn’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 his role 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.
Unfortunately, the promised short film never showed, but that’s okay, I loved this film anyway. When the film was over I immediately texted my son to try to fit it into his schedule. I recommend that you also try to fit it into your schedule. This will definitely be one of my favorite films this year.
Tags: CAPERS, COMEDY, CQ19, Danny Masterson, Julian Mark Kheel.
Review: ROCK PAPER SCISSORS (Cynthia Corral)
Posted by Cynthia Corral
Five minutes into this 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 the important questions. 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.
Tags: CQ19, DOCUMENTARY, ROCK PAPER SCISSORS.
Review (and a challenge): Shorts Program 5 (Jason Wiener)
Posted by Jason Wiener
Cinequest has always had a great lineup of shorts. How many people know that Cinequest is on the list of festivals that can make a short film eligible for the Academy Awards (the winner of the jury award is automatically eligible)? And, in fact, Cinequest has been on that list for quite a few years, back when that list was much shorter.
Every year I tell myself that I have to see more of the short film programs, and every year I run into the same problem. I’ll be flipping the the program guide, trying to figure out what to see in each time slot. And maybe my choice will come down to a shorts program or 1 or 2 feature films. The feature films will have beautiful, intriguing descriptions and the shorts program will have a paragraph giving a general overview of the theme and then a list of titles with director and country of origin, but no descriptions. Booooooring!
I know that there’s only so much room in the program guide. I know that it’s difficult to describe a short without giving away too much. And to their credit, the website is better. If you go to one of the shorts program pages, you get a list of the shorts and if you click on each one you get a window with a nice description. Still, it would be good to have that in the physical program guide (I’m often on the bus or light rail trying to choose between movies, or I’m in the theater between films deciding what to see for the next few days). For an example of a good way to present shorts in the physical program guide, get your hands on a guide (thick version) for the SF International Asian American Film Festival (conversely, I find their website very difficult to navigate).
Anyway, this is all to lead into my review of Shorts Program 5: Letting Off Steam. This is their collection of shorts about tension and the release of tension. A pretty intense program, and here’s what I wrote about the films on my blog:
Dead Dog: Don’t mess with this guy’s dog! Seriously, he really loved that dog.
Eiko: A beautiful, mysterious girl shows up in the back of a man’s truck. A road trip about sex and suicide, with an even more mysterious ending.
La Hora de la Muerte (The Hour of Death): A guy calls a radio station’s late night “Hour of Death” show. He’s in a supernatural heap of trouble. Good scary effects, although the sound levels were way low (not sure if that’s the movie’s fault or the projectionist’s fault).
Love You More: Punk love (and lust) set to a Buzzcocks soundtrack.
Rip and the Preacher: Tell me preacher, if fear is just a lack of faith in God, would you care to play a little Russian Roulette?
Twoyoungmen, UT: It’s tough to be gay and a Mormon. Even tougher when your just in high school. Even tougher when the guy you just picked up at the bar has no interest in keeping it secret.
Water Pills: Winona Ryder plays a pill-popping mom forcing her daughter into auditions. But when she finally gets a break, she’ll have to choose between career and family.
There you have it. Short, to the point, more like teasers than real “reviews.” Now tell me, wouldn’t you be more likely to check out a shorts program if you had something like that for each film, instead of just a title, director, and country of origin? I know I would.
And now my challenge to the CQ community. If you see a short film, write up a quick description of each film. Post it here (registration is free) or e-mail me and I’ll post it for you. Let’s get some content out there to get more people excited to see the short films!
Oh yeah, and Shorts Program 5 plays again on Mar 4 at 4:45 pm.
Go here for the CQ Program guide/buy tickets.
Review: Rock, Paper, Scissors (Jason Wiener)
Posted by Jason Wiener
Originally posted at Jason Watches Movies:
A movie that had most of the audience guessing, “Is this for real?”, Rock, Paper, Scissorsis (I’m not kidding) a documentary about the world championship of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Plenty of people asked if this was actually a mockumentary (not in the Q&A with the director, but amongst ourselves afterwards), and I’ll go on record as saying I believe it is a real documentary. The premise (guys taking a simple activity way too seriously and competitively) reminds me a lot of Air Guitar Nation (the world championships of air guitar), which also had a strong ‘is this for real?’ vibe. Anyway, the RPS championship is the brain child of brothers Douglas and Graham Walker. They didn’t know if anyone would show up, but instead it turned into a niche cultural phenomenon (and a huge money sink for them), with larger than life figures like the zen-like Master Roshambollah (who was at the screening) and C. Urbanus–who becomes the sympathetic hero for promoting the sport, teaching the strategy, and then always losing in the first round. Oh yeah, about “strategy.” It does exist, and it’s surprisingly more complicated than you’d think. Ideally, perfect randomness is a zero-sum strategy. But people can’t truly be random, so the trick is to guess your opponent’s non-randomness, and counteract it. And, of course, he or she is trying to do the same. Basically I’d sum up the strategy as “out think your opponent, but not yourself”. There are even terms for series of throws–Avalanche (Rock, Rock, Rock), Bureaucrat (Paper, Paper, Paper), Scissors Sandwich (I can’t remember if it was Scissors, Paper, Scissors or Paper, Scissors, Paper), etc. Seriously, mathematicians and game theorists write papers on RPS strategy. And if all this wasn’t weird enough, the Walker brother’s World RPS Society gets challenged by the flashy upstart USA RPS League. That’s right, a former potential business partner starts a commercial league that gets sponsorship, actually makes money, uses Playboy Playmates as RPS models. The Walkers refuse to go along, claiming they’re destroying the purity of the sport. A truly bizarre story, where the humor comes from taking something silly way too seriously.
As I think about it, there’s actually a small niche of films like RPS. Anyone up for a trilogy of RPS, Air Guitar Nation, and Pizza! The Movie (the documentary that includes competitive pizza dough tossing, not the narrative comedy that I haven’t seen)?
Rock, Paper, Scissors plays again on Feb 28 at 12:15 pm and Mar 8 at 5:15 pm (both times at the Camera 12 theater).
Go here for the CQ program notes and to buy tickets.
Go here for the official website.
Tags: CQ19, DOCUMENTARY, Reviews, ROCK PAPER SCISSORS.
Review: The Market – a Tale of Trade (Jason Wiener)
Posted by Jason Wiener
Originally posted on Jason Watches Movies:
Pazar Bir Ticaret Masali (The Market: a Tale of Trade) was one of my “take a chance on something different” screenings. A comedy about a Turkish market trader? That could go a number of ways, many of them not good (e.g., I was afraid that substantial cultural differences could keep me from getting the humor in the movie. That happens. Or it could be a slow, aimless “slice of life” movie instead of a “slice of cake” movie–to borrow a Hitchcock quip). Well, it turns out I had no problem revelling in this movie that was surprisingly active, funny, and morally complex.
Mihram (Tayanç Ayaydin) is a small time trader in his local bazaar. He’s known for being able to get anything, but he refuses to work with local crime boss Mustafa (Hakan Sahin, whose introduction is actually one of my favorite scenes in the movie). Of course, as Mustafa says, “In trade, everything is connected”. For example, in the opening scene Mihram is selling some wire to a friend whose wire was stolen. Turns out (unbeknownst to Mihram), the wire he’s selling is the same wire that was stolen.
While Mihram is a good trader, he never keeps much money because he has a bad habit of drinking and gambling it away. Still, underneath it all he’s a good man–or so his wife insists. He has the chance to prove that when the local doctor tells him how a supply truck was robbed and they desperately need medicine for the sick children. He has to cross the border (the IMDb summarysays into Kazhakstan, but I could’ve sworn it was Azerbaijan. Surprise–I think IMDb has it wrong) to get a better price. He has to make a few trades on the way, smuggle in some goods, and partner with his feisty uncle Fazil (Genco Erkal). And even then, forces conspire to thwart his mission, and he’s forced to make some troubling moral choices (troubling even for a professional black marketeer). Very enjoyable, a good balance of intelligence and humor.
Pazar Bir Ticaret Masali (The Market: a Tale of Trade) plays again on Sunday, March 1 at 2:15 pm.
Go here for the CQ program notes and to buy tickets.
Go here for the film’s official website.
Tags: Ben Hopkins, CQ19, THE MARKET: A TALE OF TRADE.
Review: ANOTHER MAN (MichaelVox)
Posted by MichaelVox
Originally published at the MichaelVox Movie Review Blog
Black and White. Stark. Covered with snow. Francois and his girlfriend, Christine have recently moved to a sort of backwards hamlet in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. He took writing classes in college and carries around a resume to show the printer of the local weekly paper. The man doesn’t need to see a resume. As long as Francois can write, he gets the job. One of his duties for the paper is to attend the weekly screenings held at the town’s only movie theater.
First up: LAST DAYS, the Gus Van Sant film based upon the final few days in Kurt Cobain’s life. Francois has no idea how to feel about the film. Does he like it or hate it or is he indifferent? He simply can’t answer. To be fair, LAST DAYS is not exactly and easy film to quantify. My first words about it in the summer of 2005: “I’ve had nearly a week to digest this. And I’m still not sure if it’s merely good or fantastic. It’s like watching a dream. People move about and do things without needing to push the plot along.”
Tags: ANOTHER MAN, CQ19, DRAMA, Lionel Baier, Reviews.
Review: THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE (MichaelVox)
Posted by MichaelVox
Originally posted at the MichaelVox Review Blog
Tiivii (you’ll recognize Natar Ungalaaq’s angular face from THE FAST RUNNER) is an Eskimo living on a rushing river in the far north of Canada with his wife and two daughters. It is 1952. A French medical ship anchors and the natives board it for a check-up. Tiivii is found to have a lung disease. His family is sent away as he is taken on a two month boat ride to Quebec City for treatment. His biggest worry is that his family won’t have enough to eat. “Who will hunt food for them?”
Upon arrival at the modern hospital, it becomes clear that no one on the staff speaks his language and he doesn’t know any French. His hair is cut and his native clothes are disposed of. The doctors can’t explain to him what his sickness is, but through some pantomime and the use of a calendar, Tiivii is told that he may need to stay in the hospital for two years. He is placed in a ward full of coughers, who look at him in wonder. The first meal he’s supposed to eat while in the hospital? Spaghetti. For a man who’s never used utensils.
Tags: Benoit Pilon, CQ19, DRAMA, Reviews, THE NECESSITIES OF LIFE.