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Interview: Rhett & Burke Lewis / BILLY WAS A DEAF KID

Posted by Jarrod Whaley

And now (drumroll, please) for the second–and, sadly, final–of my CQ audio interviews; this time you’re in for an easygoing chat with The Brothers Lewis, also on the top floor of the Rep, minus the alarm but plus a noticeably loud “walla walla” track provided by the downstairs-queued attendees of some other film. Listen toward the end for the moment at which Rhett spills water on my shoe. Was he in character? Perhaps. I’m just glad he didn’t spit on me.

The third and final CQ screening of Billy Was a Deaf Kid is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday (i.e. March 5): 2:15 @ the Camera 12.

Listen:

Download:
CQC Interview: Rhett & Burke Lewis (MP3 – 15.4 MB)

(Special thanks are due to Marya Murphy, who digitized and FTP’ed to me my CQ interviews after I left my MD recorder in San Jose by mistake. Thanks [specially], Marya.)

Interview: Mark Tran / ALL ABOUT DAD

Posted by Jarrod Whaley

Here’s the first of two (the second will be posted in a very short while) audio interviews I managed to squeeze in during my unfortunately limited time at Cinequest; Mark Tran and I discuss his film, All About Dad, on the upper floor of the Rep while some kind of fire alarm or something sounds in the distance. Listen to it right from this page with the handy audio player (batteries included), or download the file and listen at your leisure.

Note that if you prefer reading to listening, this interview will be published textually on my blog sometime very soon.

You can catch All About Dad this Friday night (i.e. March 6): 9:30 @ the Rep.

Listen:

Download:
CQC Interview: Mark Tran (MP3 – 8.54MB)

(Special thanks are due to Marya Murphy, who digitized and FTP’ed to me my CQ interviews after I left my MD recorder in San Jose by mistake. Thanks [specially], Marya.)

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.

Trailer: THE MARKET: A TALE OF TRADE

Posted by CQ Central

Trailer for Ben Hopkins’s The Market: A Tale of Trade (without English subtitles).

The Market: A Tale of Trade showtimes at Cinequest 19

Trailer: BITTER & TWISTED

Posted by CQ Central

Trailer for Christopher Weekes’s Bitter & Twisted.

Bitter & Twisted showtimes at Cinequest 19

Trailer: ALL ABOUT DAD

Posted by CQ Central

Trailer for Mark Tran’s All About Dad, a CQ19 world premiere.

All About Dad showtimes at Cinequest 19

(P)review: WAKE (Jason Wiener)

Posted by Jason Wiener

Excerpted/edited from Jason Watches Movies:

Bear in mind that I generally don’t like to watch movies on DVD. I find the big screen and the feel of an audience’s reaction is very, very important. So when/if I rewatch a screener movie on the big screen, I may well have a very different reaction. And, in fact, I’m sure I’ll rewatch this movie because  it’s the opening night film, and the lead-in to the big opening night party.

Wake is the story of Carys Reitman (Bijou Phillips). She’s an emotionally damaged young woman, unable to cry. She’s gone through all the sad movies she knows, and turns to the only place she has left–strangers’ funerals. Luckily she has an in–her best friend Shane (Danny Masterson, who’s also in Capers at Cinequest this year) is an undertaker. She goes to yet another funeral, but even this has become so routine that it doesn’t move her. That is, until the deceased woman’s fiance Tyler (Ian Somerhalder) gets up and speaks–and speaks far more candidly than is normal for a funeral. Not only is she moved, but she’s attracted to him. Wacky hijinx ensue–the engagement ring slips off the corpse as she’s fiddling with it, and then she pockets it so no one will notice. She starts dating Tyler, but the family of the deceased expects he’s up to no good–even going so far as to accuse him of murder. And when clues start to point to how they might actually be right, it looks like Carys might be next. There’s also a cameo by Jane Seymour as Carys’ estranged mother, who holds some secrets to her past–like why she’s so interested in funerals.

As an opening night film, Wake works on multiple levels. It’s a smart, witty, funny story that provides a good time at the movies. In other words, it gets the audiences excited to see lots more movies over the next week and a half. It also introduces the theme of the festival–this year it’s “Transform” (not to be confused with Michael Bay’s abomination, Transformers). And Carys’ transformation, both through love and through confronting her mother, definitely fits the theme.

Wake makes its world premiere opening Cinequest on Wednesday, Feb. 25th. See you there (I’ll be the guy with the hair in the front row)!

Official site

Cinequest page/buy tickets

Follow everything I see at Jason Watches Movies, and see the best of my reviews here at CQCentral.com.

–Jason

5Q: Christopher Weekes / BITTER & TWISTED

Posted by CQ Central

1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of Bitter & Twisted, from writing to financing.

Bitter & Twisted is a film I wrote as a way to try and break into the industry after countless rejections from all the film schools back home in Sydney. I was twenty when I’d completed the first draft and not really knowing what I was doing, at first I tried sending it out to basically anyone at all I had contact with that I knew was working in film and television back in Australia…but of course no one seemed that interested in it at first. Read more

5Q: Mark Tran / ALL ABOUT DAD

Posted by CQ Central

1Q: Tell us a little about the origins of All About Dad, from writing to financing.

I started writing All About Dad during my undergraduate years at San Jose State. It was semi-autobiographical, as it was taught by my professor to “write what you know”. When I finished the screenplay, I applied for many grants, but was ultimately rejected. I set out to make this film, and was ready to go knee-deep into credit card debt. Fortunately, one of my professors found a guy who wanted to donate $10,000 to a student project. From there, the ball started rolling, and found more donations; enough to make a dirt-cheap indie-feature. Read more

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