Day one of my ninth consecutive SXSW is in the books! (As an aside, people kept referring to this year's SXSW as the 25th anniversary of SXSW film. It wasn't. It was the 25th SXSW film. Totally not the same thing. NEXT year we'll celebrate the 25th anniversary.) It started a bit later than I wanted though. I worked from home today as a time-saving method, and was hoping to get out of town by noon. Unfortunately, work took longer than expected, and I ended up not getting on the road until around 2. Which means I got to Austin just as traffic hit, and made the odds of me making it to the 6:30 screening of Upstream Color at the Stateside pretty slim. Luckily the badge pickup process was as smooth as always (I didn't even have to use the new satellite option they opened this year). I was in and out of the ACC in 10 minutes. Took longer to walk around to where the badges are located than to actually get the badge itself. Good job SXSW! (Incidentally... they moved the location of the Vimeo!!).
So I booked it over to the Stateside and was given an overflow ticket in the 20s, which basically meant I wasn't going to get in. I waited for a few minutes just in case, but decided to go to my second option, The Act of Killing, at the Ritz (thanks to the awesome SXSW app, I was getting live updates of whether that film was close to selling out, and it wasnt).
Notes: Made it to the Ritz just before the intro started. Theyre doing this thing this year where they show some Ritz movies in both theaters at the same time. This was one of those screenings, and I picked 2, which ended up being less than half full. I guess everyone was at UC or Burt Wonderstone. The director told us that he wasnt going to say enjoy the film because it wasnt that type of film, but that he would say that he hoped we had a powerful experience. And I damn sure did.
First of all, The Act of Killing is just a brilliant piece of documentary work. The filmmakers wanted to tell the stories of victims of the countrys brutal regime change, but kept getting blocked and hassled by the government (the same regime that did the killing in the 60s). So in a brilliant move, they decided to let the killers - men who seem to love to brag about what they did - be the subject of the film. They apparently worked with 40 killers before finding the one they focused the film on. And this guy is gold from a doc standpoint. Proud and charismatic and conflicted and hurt and charming and terrifying... they couldnt have picked a better subject. The film is about him working through his - guilt isnt really the right word... something closer to PTSD may be more like it - issues with his past is what the film is about as much as anything, and I was never able to get a firm handle on how much of his initial braggadocio manner and his latter more sorrowful demonstrations were put ons for the camera. I assume both were, at least to a degree. I have a feeling Im going to be thinking about that guy for a while. The director said afterward that there can never be too much empathy in the world, and that he thinks one of the benefits of the film is to remind us that good guys/bad guys is a fake dichotomy... every horrible act and every great act in history was done by a human... and that he wants audiences to see a bit of themselves in this mass murderer, and to think about the implications of what that means.
In a film filled with I cant believe they captured such a perfect moment moments, the highlight comes midway where a supporting actor in the film-within-a-film shares with his co-actors a particularly personal story. Its a crystallizing moment, and one of the most memorable scenes Ive ever seen in a doc.
Its apparently been playing to great reception in its home country, and there are stirrings of perhaps a real change. The director described it as being a emperors new clothes type situation where something has finally been voiced that everyone already knew, and theres now no un-saying it. Apparently even the main guy respects what the film is, and has vowed to stand by it.
Anyway, just heart-wrenching powerful stuff. Loved it.
Weird thing about the Topfer: if you order a beer they put it in a cup with a lid and put a straw in it. Weird.
SXSW Description: Mitchell (Josh Duhamel) and Carter (Dan Fogler), life-long friends who have drifted apart, are on a road trip when their old pickup breaks down, leaving them stranded on an isolated desert road. Nobody can pick apart a man like his best friend, and as the relentless elements of the desert grind them down, they start to attack each others life decisions with unwavering brutality. As they question who they are and who they could have been, their agitation leads to physical confrontation and ultimately knife-wielding madness, and what begins as an inconvenience becomes a very real life or death struggle.
Notes: So... Scenic Route... wasnt bad. Its pretty much a two man show, and the characters go through various permutations of friendly, angry, really angry, and really friendly. There were a few moments of violence that for whatever reason really made me flinch. Perhaps because so much of the film was talking, that the parts with some physical contact seemed all the more brutal.
Theres a lot of dark humor, and more than anything the film is a 50/50 mix of a talky 30something film fest midlife-crisis buddy movie and a flick like FROZEN, where a few characters are trapped somewhere bad with little chance of survival. I liked both of the leads, but admit that during the last 20 or so minutes the film seemed to overstay its welcome a bit. Im not a huge fan of the way the film ended either... there were several potential stopping points earlier on that could have worked more effectively.
Looking back I keep thinking about funny moments, which is weird, because I didnt really think of it as a comedy when I was watching it. The scene where the schlubby friend wakes up unexpectedly and discovers what the fancy friend did during his lapse in consciousness really made me laugh.
So yeah... on the whole not bad.
We eventually got into the theater and after about a 20 minute delay, the film started rolling. Oh... I meant to say this earlier. This year instead of doing new bumpers before each movie, theyre showing best ofs from the last 20 years. Which is AWESOME, because theres always some dull bumpers each year, and hopefully this time theyve cut all of those out. I also have been experiencing mental muscle memory with the bumpers so far: as soon as I saw a girl in tall striped socks walking through the woods, I muttered Im all outdoorsy now, just seconds before the girl said the same thing to her mom on the phone via flashback. That bumper was from two or three festivals ago, and I still remember that line. Weird.
SXSW Description: Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the students disappearance.
Notes: Anyway, VHS2... so... yeah. Really pretty great. Definitely a lot more fun (intentionally so) than the first. The filmmakers afterwards very much downplayed the logicalities of the wrap-around, but the general gist is that theres an underground community that collects snuff-esque tapes, and the two main characters end up in the house of one of those guys and watch some of this collection. People complained after the first film that something like a Skype conversation wouldnt end up on a tape, but the filmmakers made a good point: anything can be put on tape, and these collectors have decided to do so (a) because analog emits electromagnetic pulses that futz with your body chemistry, and (b) they want to avoid detection online. Good enough for me.
So the wrap is easily the least interesting segment of the film. But all four main shorts are really damn strong. The first (involving a guy with an ocular implant) really had me on edge... mostly through pseudo-jump scares and loud noises, but still... effective. The second (there are zombies) was really damn funny and had some great gags. The third was the longest, and looks at an insane Indian (I think) cult. Great payoff to that one. And the fourth was kind of an amalgam of the first three... funny (shes gonna shit out of her vag) jump-scary, and really solid climax.
Unlike most anthology flicks, there are no segments that are likely to be universally regarded as the best or a real dud. Its solid all the way through, and Id be excited to see more installments presented with this format. Hooray horror anthologies!
From the hilariously drunken post-film Q&A. I like these guys.
Only a few stains on the comforter!
Day two is in the books but - look at that - its already 3:30. Fucking DST. Lets knock out these six real quick.
Notes: First up was Partly Fiction, a doc I missed yesterday about Harry Dean Stanton. Its in b&w and primarily uses really fucking close-up shots of Harry taking about (or around) his life while sitting in his house or the back seat of a car. The resulting effect is one of remarkable intimacy... while at the same time Stanton always seems reluctant to completely open up; theres almost always a bit of a guard between him and the viewer. Except, maybe, for when he sings, which is a good third of the film. He mostly (entirely?) sings other peoples songs, and they almost always are about longing for wanting to return Home. (His rendition of Blue Bayou is particularly haunting). Thats a theme that comes up time and again in the spoken portions of the film. Less a traditional biodoc and more of a quiet, melancholy look at a true legend toward the end of his life (though he still seems full of life and unseen energy in a frail sort of way). I quite enjoyed it.
Funny story: Violet Crown and Ritz are doing this thing where films are shown in two theaters at the same time. The couple next to me got that all wrong, and thought the theater we were in normally was two separate theaters. They were all confused about how that one room could be split into two, and that resulted in them pushing the theater wall next to them to see if it felt moveable. The husband even warned the wife to not push too hard, and then he described in detail a scene from BRAZIL where the main character does a desk tug of war with a co-worker on the other side of a dividing wall.
Also passed out during the line were National Geographic sponsored slap bracelets via a squad of young spandexed girls. The bracelets have a Girl Talk logo on them, and I guess NG is hosting that concert as part of an We Can Be As Dumb As The History Channel And VHS Werent The 80s Cool type rebranding. Later in the week I saw a NG-branded DeLorean. Have at it, guys.
Also, while I was waiting in line, a young woman came up to me and asked if Id like to hear about Rackspace. I politely said no thanks, and got the craziest stinkeye Ive ever gotten from a promoter at a fest. I guess she was really excited about her (employers) product.
SXSW Description: Shakespeare's classic comedy is given a contemporary spin in Joss Whedon's film, "Much Ado About Nothing". Shot in just 12 days (and using the original text), the story of sparring lovers Beatrice and Benedick offers a dark, sexy and occasionally absurd view of the intricate game that is love.
Notes: Eventually we got in, and after some brief introductions (Whedon and his cast apparently rode here on a bus from LA yesterday, and they had a HUGE reserved section) the film started. I had no idea what the story of Much Ado was about, have never read it, and have never seen any of the adaptations. And so I think I was perfectly poised to fully enjoy the film. Ive seen other comments about the quality of his adaptation, or whether it was necessary to set it in modern day (without, as far as I can tell, changing any of the words), but because the story was entirely fresh to me, I was enthralled throughout. I laughed more than Ive laughed in a theater in a while, and the drama/suspense portion of the play was entirely effective. Fillion has some great scenes as a dimwitted cop (she called me an ass!) and the actors who played Beatrice (Amy Acker) and Benedick (Alexis Denisof) were really fantastic. In fact, the cast was great all the way around (apparently most are from other Whedon projects, but I only recognized the brother from Firefly... and Fillion, of course... I didnt even realize that Claudio was from CABIN). Its great that this thing was shot on a vacation during (or just after?) Avengers, and that a packed ACC audience showed up to see a Shakespeare adaptation just because it was directed by Joss.
Notes: Next was Prince Avalanche a film I didnt know much about other than that David Gordon Green directed it and Paul Rudd was in it. Im always interested in what DGGs doing, even though I havent seen all of his stuff, and none of his films are as good in my mind as the amazing All The Real Girls. And Rudds one of those guys that makes even a bad film bearable. But this... man... I just really didnt dig it. Yesterdays Scenic Route was a much better two dudes bond and yell at each other in nature movie. Rudd and Hirsch were just fine, but their backstories and interplay rang false. Were supposed to be moved by various emotional moments, but because the film played so flat, nothing felt earned. I chuckled a few times, but mostly was waiting for the film to end. I didnt hate it, but its my least favorite thing Ive seen so far this fest.
Rudd was doing something adorable here, Im sure.
SXSW Description: The bar is three customers deep and the bartenders are in the weeds at the greatest cocktail party since before Prohibition. Two bartenders try to achieve their dreams through bartending. An injured Marine turns his goals to becoming a principal bartender at the best cocktail bar in the world. A young man leaves his white collar job to buy the corner bar in his hometown, and years later he struggles to keep it afloat. Featuring the worlds most renowned bartenders and access to the most exclusive bars in New York, this is the story of the comeback of the cocktail and the rebirth of the bartender. Featuring commentary from Graydon Carter, Danny Meyer and Amy Sacco.
Notes: Hey Bartender is much more about the history of bartending, the psychology and mental tolls of bartending, and how the art of cocktails has emerged in the last 20 years. I know very little about the latter, and was slightly surprised that the film doesnt spend much time talking about *why* craft cocktails are so great. We see lots of scenes of top-shelf bartenders making special drinks with care, but theres never a square discussion of why it matters or why people like these beverages beyond the superficial reasons. It would be like a doc about brewers where they talk a lot about *what* making good craft beer means to them, and not *why* a beer from a great brewer is better than a beer from a mediocre brewer.
But thats not really a dig because thats ultimately not what the films about... it really plays in three parts; a low-end bar owners struggle to keep afloat, a high-end bars struggle to be the best, and one of the bartenders from that bars struggle to get a top spot at the bar. Those stories are compelling, and even though the doc doesnt focus on the drinks, it made me really want to spend some time drinking various concoctions at local cocktail bars. I acutally got a taste of that recently on the cruise, where I spent most evenings ordering a rotation of the various 20s cocktails they had available (mostly Bee's Knees and Old Fashioned).
This pic features two of the best bartenders in the world if you buy this docs story.
Notes: Next I headed to the Ritz for my last two films of the night. The first was a doc about Divine, I Am Divine. I'm generally aware of the high points of Divine's career (at least film-wise... I had no idea he had such an extensive touring and record career) but don't think I've seen any of his movies. I really have been meaning to bulk on on my Waters. In any event, despite my lack of first-hand experience, I was completely wrapped up in this doc. He's such a compelling personality, and the footage and interviews they're able to piece together made for fascinating viewing. It's one of the best-presented docs I've seen in a long time. Internet's acting screwy right now, so I can't look and see what else this director has made. I'd be shocked if this was his first doc. Another big hit for this year's festival.
SXSW Description: Lisa Johnson is one day shy of her sixteenth birthday. And she will be forever. She and her family are dead and doomed to repeat that fateful last day before they were all killed in 1985. Only Lisa has woken up and realizes what is going on. She starts to feel as if she is being haunted, but the ghost turns out to be Olivia, a very much alive girl who lives in the house in the present day with her own family. With her help, Lisa discovers that the house once belonged to a serial killer who kidnapped teenage girls and burned their remains in a hidden furnace room. When he died, he became a Haunter - a powerful, evil spirit able to possess the living.
Notes: Last film of the night was Haunter a horror flick by the director of CUBE, Vincenzo Natali. I think I went in knowing too much based on the SXSW summary... it really gave everything away. I was still able to enjoy the film (quite a bit), which is a blend of various haunted house flicks without being overly reliant on or duplicative of its inspirations. The film is scary (mostly due to jump scares and the really creepy appearance of its bad guy) but definitely aimed at a younger crowd. There's no blood or language that I can think of, and Abigail is a very young main character. But the film doesn't feel like a childish PG-13 nu-horror throw-away at all. It definitely has an edge to it. Natali remains a director that I will continue to be curious about.
And thats it. As I was in line for Haunted I started seeing that we were going to get a massive rainstorm around midnight. Luckily I was inside when it started, but the half-mile trek back to my car was definitely soggy. The pancho I got earlier today was much appreciated. Id buzz market the company as thanks but its in my car right now. I always enjoy the spectacle of the Drunken Apocalypse that is 6th at 2am on a weekend. Turns out that seeing waterlogged club rats running around trying to get back home makes the Drunken Apocalypse even more amusing.
So wet. So fun. My favorite SXSW night this year.
Day three was a short one, movie wise, due to a kerfluffle at the Ritz. But it was four solid movies. 2:45 now, and I dont have to be at a movie until 1:45 tomorrow. Luxury! Here we go!
Notes: Up first was 12 OClock Boys, a doc that sounded really interesting, especially given my love of The Wire. Its about a young kid - maybe 12 or 11 when the doc starts - in Baltimore that gets filmed for three years. He really wants to join the dirt-bike gang Twelve OClock Boys. Apparently in Baltimore, every Sunday, a few hundred teens and 20s take to the streets on dirtbikes and four wheelers and just cause general havok fucking things up for everyone else. Becoming part of that group is this kids dream, and because hes the main character, we have to invest in that goal.
Of course, its really hard to do that, at least for me, because the gang seems like a bunch of self-centered assholes who revel in causing trouble for troubles sake. Theres little to no focus on what those guys do outside the biking, and if its just that, then I guess on the whole they arent that bad. They never deal drugs or engage in violence during the doc... they just ride roughshod throughout the town. But Id be shocked if they were law-abiding citizens throughout the week that just choose to shake things up a bit on the weekends. If they are, then I apologize Mr. Superman and Mr. Wheelie Willy.
Then again, even if theyre model citizens six days a week... the main character in this movie, Pug, idolizes them and seems to be focused on joining their biking gang to the detriment of everything else. He says he wants to be a veterinarian, but its hard to see how thats even a possibility. With him specifically, I found myself frustrated on his behalf. I just recently listened to a This American Life podcast about Harper High School (oh man, I feel like a douchey shit just for typing that) and this film felt very much like a part of that What Do You Expect Them To Do? Succeed? How The Hell Can They Do That When Theyre Barely Surviving narrative. Or, to put it differently, Pug very much felt like one of the kids during the school season of The Wire that picked the streets. Hes so young and his environment is so shitty, I absolutely cant blame him.
But what I really want to blame is his mother, who comes across terribly in the doc though she doesnt seem to realize it. She and Pug showed up for the Q&A, and as she sauntered on stage she grabbed the mic and gave an wandering speech about how it was a hard three years but we finally made it. Most of the questions from the audience were to or about Pug, but she grabbed the mic and answered for him time and time again, turning the story on herself. At one point she moaned about how it was illegal for cops to chase the bike gang, but they did anyway. I wanted to shake her and try to make her understand that although the cops had a well-reasoned *policy* against chases (they tended to injure innocent citizens), doing so wasnt illegal, and that the only people engaging in illegal activities within the context of the film wed just seen were the crew her kid was lusting after. All throughout the movie she gave Poor Me speeches about how she just couldnt control her pre-pubescent child, and man... it just drove me crazy. The Q&A ended with her bragging about how she was about to get a bunch of women riders together to start their own scooter-based gang, and fuck you very much lady.
The Q&A before CoCo showed up to upstage everyone.
Before the next feature I tweeted this picture and said One of the things that doesnt get discussed much about SXSW is the controversial Nerd Petting Zoo. I ended up getting close to as many RTs as Ive ever had before, so I thought Id document that meaningless fact.
Notes: Next was Continental, a slot-filler doc about a famous gay bathouse in NYC in the 70s. It was directed by Malcolm Ingram, and although I havent seen any of his other docs, I was familiar with him from when I used to listen to Smodcast. Funny side story... I saw him walking around town earlier today and casually noted that large guy needs a bigger t-shirt... I can see the bottom of his gut right now. It was only during this films intro that I realized thats who Id seen earlier in the day.
As for the doc, this is yet another example of this years crop of captivating docs about insular communities. Id never heard of the Continental before, and my initial reaction to seeing the description of the film was so what?. But the bathhouse itself has a crazy interesting throughline (I had no idea Bette Midler and Barry Manilow, among others, had very influential starts here), and the story of the guy who owned and started the thing was even more interesting. In fact, the film is easily as much his story as it is the Continentals, though the two are definitely intertwined.
One of the post-film questions was from a guy who felt like the owner (Steve Ostrow) was taking credit for things he didnt rightfully deserve to take credit for. Malcolm really took offense to that insinuation, and repeated a few times that Steve was honest about his role (but not sole role) in a number of influential events (most notably a changing of opinion and law about homosexualiuty in NYC) and that he continued to this day to work for and with that community. It would have been great if Steve had been able to come for the film and the Q&A. Hes definitely an fascinating guy that I never would have known about if it werent for this film.
Fun Fact: this doc featured talking head sequences from Michael Musto and Holly Woodlawn, both of whom were in I AM DIVINE last night.
Also Fun Fact: Theres a photo that shows up during the film of one of the interviewees with Obama. I wonder if hes been told yet that hes in a doc about a gay bathhouse. Someone should tell Fox News.
Notes: My third of the day was another counterculture doc, Spark: A Burning Man Story. I didnt realize that was going to be my day when I woke up. But this was definitely one that I was looking forward to based on the trailer, even though I historically have little patience for lets all make a new type of perfect civilization, man hippies. But I know so little about Burning Man, and honestly am curious about what it would be like to spend a week in that madness... and the trailer promised a glimpse of the bureaucracy behind the event... that I just couldnt pass it up. Even though that meant that today would be a five-film day rather than a six-film day. Due to a McConaughey panel (?!?) in the Vimeo, this film straddled the line between the 4 and 6 slots. But I was OK with that.
And I really dont regret picking this as one of todays features. It was probably my least favorite of the three docs I saw, but thats only because the first two were so strong. This was right up there with those two, and I liked that the film was evenly split between the events history, its current struggles (in 2012 it got so big that it had to lottery off tickets, and in so doing it pissed of TONS of regulars... sounds a lot like FF), and a dialogue-free travelogue of the 2012 festival. The latter in particular really made me think that Ive been right in wanting to attend. The idea of just wandering across this massive desert and heading toward camps and structures that look like they might be interesting is really appealing to me. In a very distorted sense, thats what I always enjoy about SXSW each year. Each year, theres always at least one time where Im wandering down Sixth, watching a half-dozen or more spectacles of absurdity (hula-hooping bikini girls, hellfire-preaching dudes, staggeringly drunk couples, drink-special-hyping bros, attention-seeking bands, and more!) and I know that no one I know specifically knows where I am, and I can wander into five different theaters and see movies that might never come out, or I could park myself in a bar and watch the world unfold. Its no doubt entirely unlike what people who go to Burning Man say they experience, but Im just saying... I get the sentiment.
Though, full disclosure, a huge other part of me wanted to slap/ask the starry-eyed artists just what the hell they were doing blowing most of their year building a structure/artthing that was just going to be out there for a week and then taken away. Like... Im never less with the 99% than when I have to watch them do musical fiery art about how 99% they are.
Next I had two hours to kill before Milo. I would have preferred to see Spring Breakers, but since it was getting out 30 minutes before Youre Next, and since the venues were way too far apart, and since Ive wanted to see YN since it screened at FF 2011, and since it isnt coming out out until August, and since SB is coming out in two weeks, I decided to skip SB and see Milo, which would get out in plenty of time for me to head to the Topfer. But since I had two hours, I decided to walk around Sixth, get food, and hang out. I grabbed some Peruvian from a food truck, saw that the line was still under 50 people, then headed to a bar that had free play video games.
I hooked in to an Area 51 machine and double gunned my way to what I think was the final battle (Id never made it that far before) when all of the sudden an employee walked it and said sorry guys, were turning off the games. Dammit! I have no idea why they did that. The bar wasnt packed at all, so it wasnt a crowd-control issue. And their sign outside advertised free games, so thats their whole gimmick. Bummer.
So I finished my beer and headed to the Ritz, and got Q card 113. Which was fine given that the theater seats 241. But once the line started moving it was moving SLOW. And I started hearing bad rumbles from inside. And ultimately the line got cut off literally just before me (if that asshole had turned off the games three minutes earlier I would have gotten in). Apparently the Milo people reserved (and filled) upwards of 70 seats. A third of the seats in the venue. Which... I dont know. Fuck that. Really.
But whatever. Im beyond lucky to be able to come to this fest each year. And I wandered around, had another beer (this place had a pint for $3 or a pitcher for $5... I picked the former because I had to drive, only to realize the latter was basically two pints... it was this awesome mini-pitcher that people drank right out of... beer and mixed drinks.... so awesome!), found an incredible candy-necklace cock-ring vending maching, watched an amazing Irish(ish) band from the UK perform on the street (and bought their CD for $10), then headed to the Topfer for a super early line-up for Youre Next.
SXSW Description: One of the smartest and most terrifying films in years, "You're Next" reinvents the genre by putting a fresh twist on home-invasion horror. When a gang of masked, ax-wielding murderers descend upon the Davison family reunion, the hapless victims seem trapped... until an unlikely guest of the family proves to be the most talented killer of all.
Notes: Lots of friends were in line (and I met a few new ones), so I was never bored. And eventually we made it in. So... this film... I heard AMAZING things about Youre Next when it screened two years ago. And I was planning on seeing the second screening, as I recall, but the studio cancelled it because I dont know some fucking dumb reason. But given the super strong reaction, I really expected there to be some overy twist or gimmick, like in CABIN. So for the first third of the movie was kind of defensively watching, waiting until its True Form was revealed.
But it turns out that its Real Form isnt a bit of misdirection at all. This is a home invasion movie mixed with a slasher flick that is ENTIRELY based in reality. At least for a while. Its a movie that looks at what would happen if the bad guys in this sort of movie were equally matched with their victims. And its funny. And not dumb. And gory. And theres a late-third synth-fueled Wronged Woman Gets Revenge sequence that had the theater rolling with applause.
I ended up really loving the movie, and I now want to rewatch it to see if the first half, which seemed kind of by the numbers at the time, plays better upon reflection. I mentioned to BK via text afterwards that the weird thing about the movie is that its best strength is that it doesnt fuck anything up. The plot isnt particularly innovative, and the kills are well executed but nothing earth-shattering. But it just delivers EVERYTHING we expect and want in this sort of flick. And the fact that most horror films I watch dont deliver these expectations shows how much shit we put up with as lovers of this genre.
I liked Wingards segment in VHS 2 (the cybernetic eye one), as well as his A Horrible Way To Die feature a few years back. I need to see his POP SKULL and his few other directorial features now, I suppose, if only before background. Because it seems like it has really great things ahead of him. Hopefully he can deliver before Big Money Hollywood fucks him up.
So it's 4, again, but tomorrow is such a late start (other than some work I have to do before my first movie), that I hope it won't matter. Other than Rewind This! tomorrow I really am not sure what I'm watching. I'm crazy excited for that one, though. See you tomorrow!
Last full day of SXSW is done. Its 3:20 and I have an 11 tomorrow. Type fast!
Anyway, I got to the Paramount about 45 minutes early, picked up my Filmmakers Guest ticket, and hung out in front of the theater with other such guests. I was interviewed for this film two years ago, it features a subject very dear to me, has interviews with lots of my friends, and the filmmakers are all my friends. I say that both as full disclosure and to explain why this film was among my top two or three most anticipated films of 2013, and easily my most anticipated film of SXSW this year.
SXSW Description: An exploding industry without rules! Backyard filmmakers with zero budget and a surplus of dreams! Unchecked global piracy! The race to control media consumption! Videotape changed the world and laid the foundation for todays digital culture. Low cost equipment created unprecedented opportunities. Major studios and small indies operated on an even playing field for the first time ever. The story of the home video revolution is a tale of both technological advancement and human ambition. VHS vs. Beta! Porn invades the home! Direct to-video madness! It's all here, along with a rogues gallery of directors, rental employees, XXX vets, box artists, collectors, and more. Join the pizza party!
Notes: There was a Pizza Party/Summer Camp vibe outside the theater, and once we got inside that feeling continued to grow. Josh took the stage for a quick introduction, and then the movie rolled.
Take a step back. I really had no idea what shape the film was going to take. I knew that it had changed quite a bit from what the trio originally expected, and so I was very curious to see what theyd ended up with. And its very much not a chronological Heres how VHS got started, warred with Betamax, won, declined, and resurged. Josh said over post-movie drinks that he had intentionally stayed away from that sort of rigid format. Instead, the film flows very naturally from one themed segment to another. Like, theres a point in the film where a bunch of subjects are talking about the format wars, and then without even realizing there was a specific switch, people are talking about VHS cover art. The way I described that just now reads kind of jarring, but it didnt feel that way at all. Instead, it feels more like the kind of fun mid-festival Movie Obsessives Talk Movies sessions that takes place each year at SXSW and FF (and I suppose any other time you get that many of us together in one place) where the conversation ebbs and flows from one film-related topic to another.
This may change on subsequent viewings, but on this first go-through, it felt incredibly fast paced (but without feeling rushed or like certain topics got the short shrift) Its just over 90 minutes, but I couldnt believe when the end-credits started rolling. I think a large part of that was that I was constantly looking to see which of my friends or industry stalwarts were going to pop up next (as well as to see whether I had any other segments left).
Afterward a number of us commented that the film has the possibility of making people realize that SO MANY films never made the jump out of VHS. Its a widely known fact among people that obsess about this kind of thing, but I truly believe that 9 out of 10 people who watch movies just assume that everything on VHS is on DVD. I loved the Rockafire doc, but doubt that many people who watched it felt motivated to actually track down their own set of animatrons. But I can really see normal people (or at least the types of people who find and watch interesting-looking docs) seeing this and thinking man... I should find my old VCR and maybe look at getting some tapes).
Its a complete passion project from top to bottom, on both sides of the camera. Josh told us afterward that he wanted to make something that was relentlessly positive, even though some of the things that were being discussed were sad. And on that front the film massively succeeds. Its impossible to say for sure, but Im almost certain that Id love this movie even if I had no involvement. Ive walked away from various recent genre docs feeling cold... like Id just watch a studio-backed Exploitation For Dummies cash grab. Rewind This is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. On the side where things like Not Quite Hollywood reside.
Fuck it, Ive rambled long enough. Congrats to the RT team.
After Rewind This most of us decided to skip the 3 oclock slot and get drinks at the Driskoll. Its super fancy there, and I felt weird. Plus the beer selection was lame. But it was fun hanging out with everyone. Noah, Max, Jay, and I peeled off the main group eventually and went to Jackalopes for burgers. At the rec of Josh I got the Frito burger, which was great, but gave me severe gut issues later in the evenings. Eventually around 6 we closed out and Jay and I headed to the Paramount for the Hawking doc.
Notes: I had no idea what would be going on after the Rewind This screening, and so I didnt slot anything other than the midnighter. So I more or less picked Hawking on a whim because nothing else looked particularly good. Zero Charisma was a film a lot of people seemed really interested in, but I didnt think the trailer looked great, and I didnt want to have to drive to the Rollins. The post-film buzz on it was really strong, though, and now I kinda wish Id gone there. Because Hawking, although about an interesting guy, really just feels like an unremarkable program youd see on PBS on a Saturday afternoon. Maybe thats because the necessarily had to use a lot of recreation footage. Im not sure.
This was my first time at Slaughter, and even though I didnt have time to really look around, I loved that the hallways are packed with display cases of labelled 35mm films, as well as scattered Mondo posters. I actually prefer the design of it more than Lamar.
SXSW Description: A man discovers that his chronic stomach problems are due to the fact that he has a demon baby living in his colon.
Notes: So, Milo... I dunno. I was worried when I first read the description that it was going to be too far down that Troma This Movie Is Awesome Because Were Doing Something Offensive path. Ive seen too many extreme movies to be impressed with your film solely because youve implemented a butt monster. I know Im in a minority on that... the two dudes sitting next to me reacted like most people would when the butt monster bit off some guys dick. They shook with laughter, one covered his eyes, and the other said what?!? out loud. But thats why I mostly cant do Troma movies... they use the outrageous content as a crutch to distract from everything else in the film being subpar.
Here, by contrast, the non-butt monster stuff was easily my favorite part. I liked Ken Marinos husbandly interactions with Gillian Jacobs (shes completely playing married Britta here). I liked his conversations with he-must-be-practicing-unlawfully psychiatrist Peter Stormare. The band of older women with new Indian boyfriends was funny. So was Warburton as the schmarmy boss (his background gag of hey, look what I can do {cue funny dance} killed me) and Huss as an inappropriate fertility doctor. Pretty much the only parts of the film that bored me were Marino having to deal with his butt monster. Its just... Ive seen that stuff in Basketcase, and you sir are not Basketcase. Those segments were more along the lines of 90s Full Moon Little Creatures movies, another subgenre that Im not a fan of.
So I guess Im saying that I wish there was less butt monster in the butt monster movie that I voluntarily went to see. Im kind of a dick.
SXSW Description: From the singular mind of horror maestro Rob Zombie comes a chilling plunge into a nightmare world where evil runs in the blood. "The Lords of Salem" tells the tale of Heidi (Sheri Moon Zombie), a radio station DJ living in Salem, Massachusetts, who receives a strange wooden box containing a record, a gift from the Lords. Heidi listens, and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of the towns violent past. Is Heidi going mad, or are the Lords of Salem returning for revenge on modern-day Salem?
Notes: Got in, missed the pre-film intro to grab a beer (apparently Zombie said that 50% of the audience was going to hate it), and made it back to my seat as things got stated. And.. .man... heres my two reaction tweets (which kept getting retweeted afterward):
:: LORDS OF SALEM has it all, if "all" is inept dialogue, ultra-generic plot, ponderous pacing, and laugh-inducing "evil" imagery.
:: Seriously, there's a demon in LORDS OF SALEM that looks like ALF covered in Silly Putty.
So heres the deal. I found out during the Q&A that a major actor died before the film finished, which meant they had to cut out a lot of his unfinished scenes, which also meant they had to cut scenes featuring other actors and, I assume, important plot points. So that sucks, and what we got probably isnt what he set out to make.
But what we got? The dialogue really is laughable throughout, to the point where I couldnt figure out for a while if it was an intentional parody of Art Horror. Even though I havent seen Zombies other films, Ive never heard bad dialogue as a critique thrown at him. Maybe it has been. And the plot... its basically the Evil Record plot of TRICK OR TREAT (1986) crossed with a generic Witches Get Killed And Vow Vengeance Through Their Ancestors thing mixed in. It reminded me of any number of films where these storylines were done more interestingly, which made watching this movie all the more tedious.
Its the kind of movie that has on-screen titles that start with Monday and go through each subsequent day. You dont know up front how many days youll see, but I assumed it would be a week. The funniest thing about this screening is that starting with Wednesday, each new day got a new batch of walkouts. It was like people werent enjoying the movie, were considering just powering through, but when they saw a new day start, it just zapped their will and they tapped out.
Midway through theres a point where the above-mentioned ridiculous-looking silly-putty ALF monster rises from a throne while ominous music plays, then he waddles over to where the main actress is laying and fucking flaps his tiny stubby arms in a way that looks like its meant to be scary. That particular moment made me think that Id misunderstood the first half of the movie, and that it was about to spiral into intentional spoof territory. But in never does, which makes that one moment all the more inexplicable. Zombie mentioned that scene during the Q&A as his favorite part of the movie because he found it really funny.
Lets just jump to the post-movie Q&A. Rob walked out and said no one else is coming out. The cast went home. He then fielded questions from lots of people who seem to be huge fans of his, which mostly served to make me think that I really feel bad for him having to deal with that fanbase. If tonights audience was any indicator, that group is the worst of the intersection between dudes that live to mosh and that read Fango like a bible. It was a parade of terrible questions (tops goes to the guy who asked Zombie to talk about how he transitioned from musician to filmmaker, which made Zombie say it was a long and boring story and then start to summarize it, which made the guy interrupt him and say I know that part... I watched you from the beginning. On MTV. I saw you in concert on tour. {Zombie (muttering) you asked...} Before you started to tour. Before your first album. During.... {random audience member: Cool story bro} {everyone else: laugh} {Moderator (Will Goss): Next question}), all of which Zombie responded to in a way that made me laugh.
He seems like a nice guy who just sort of does whatever he wants without caring what anyone else thinks. I assume hes set financially from White Zombie, and I like the idea that theres people like him out there that just make movies that they want to make. Thats 100% what I love about outsider directors from the 70s and 80s. And so even though I thought this particular film was a turd (he talked a lot about how he was inspired by the more esoteric Euro horror films of the 70s and 80s... I dont think he came close to capturing what was great about the best of that subgenre... and this doesnt fit anywhere else in these notes, but his whole Hail Satan shtick in the film seems super false and interesting only to 15-year-old metalheads who just decided Religion is Bullshit), Ill be interested in seeing what else Zombie does going forward. The price of filmmakers saying fuck what will sell, Im making what I like is that Ill potentially not enjoy a lot of what they make. And Im totally fine with that.
One additional comment upon further reflection the following morning: itd be great if unique filmmakers like Zombie could make a large body of work these days for people to reflect on and reject or embrace, in whole or in part, some time down the road. That was a legitimate reality for decades, but the current insta-analyze, loudly-trash mindset (of which I am a part, including my tweets last night) can only serve to either significantly slow down the rate at which a filmmaker can get funding for new films, or to discourage him or her from even trying new things going forward. And thats bad for everybody. Just an observation.
Last day of SXSW for me featured two good films, a fun ride home with a friend, and a TMBG concert. Lets get to it.
SXSW Description: Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals, Alabama is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music. The music of Muscle Shoals changed the world and sold millions of copies. At its heart is Rick Hall who founded FAME Studios. Overcoming poverty and personal tragedy, he brought black and white together in Alabama's cauldron of racial hostility to create music for the generations while giving birth to the Muscle Shoals Sound and The Swamper