Ahoy, squirts! Quint here presenting Psychedelic once more. He seems to have gone a bit decadent with the meds, but whatever helps you survive Vegas in the summer, I guess. I really like these bite-sized reviews. It really helps to get a feel of a festival on the whole. Below you'll find 11 helpings. Some of them failed, some of them succeeded. CineVegas prides itself on programing experimental and bizarre film. You'll get a lot of misfires with that programing ideology, but when you hit you'll really hit. Sounds like there were some nuggets of gold buried under the crap. THE 4TH DIMENSION sounds really interesting to me. Here's Psychedelic dropping in...
Hey Harry and Fellow Hooligans,
My body orifices expanded to mammoth proportions seeking pleasure. Nerve endings sizzled searching for the perfect high. My penis was like a flesh flower seeking vaginas to suck on. Her nipples slid down my throat when she came. This Acid was gooooood. Delirium led me to Vegas for the 2006 CineVegas Film Festival held at Brenden Theatres in the Palms hotel.
Interkosmos
An art project poses as a documentary about an international group of USSR astronauts in the early 70s. Their mission is to fly two space stations, containing libraries proclaiming communism’s greatness, into deep space so they’ll be preserved forever. As interesting as it sounds, director Jim Finn needs to rein in his idiosyncratic obsessions. Because he doesn’t, there is neither a narrative drive nor arresting visual compositions/concepts to pull the viewer. Nothing happens in three minutes long static shots except interesting music plays, or there’s sometimes humorous dialogue over NASA stock footage of Earth or a distant moon. Then there are apparently irrelevant random music sequences. Half-baked ideas pile up, albeit some interesting ideas. The song playing over most the end credits, and also in another section, is pretty cool. There are plans for a soundtrack CD.
Full Grown Men
A 35-year-old man wants to be 9 and takes a clichéd road trip upon leaving his wife and child. It’s tedious, dull, and at times annoying. His instance of how great childhood is cloys. Almost every story element can be predicted. Director and co-writer David Munro should have made the movie about the retarded, handicapped children featured in a third of it. There’s no insight into immature adults. Joie Lee shines in a small role. Frank G. DeMarco’s cinematography is competent though might have been more stylized.
The 4th Dimension
A genius crippled by Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder believes he’s found a way to maneuver through gaps in time. He wanders landscapes of different decades searching for the mathematical formula that will bring stabilization. Directors Tom Mattera and Dave Mazzoni’s narrative evolves organically into a resolution that reveals the whole point of the story. To call it a twist ending is a disservice. The best comparison I can make is to Chinua Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart. Assured, inspired compositions and camera angles are a breath of fresh air. A long steadicam shot near the beginning is a delight. Dark, brooding mood and tone are seductive and compelling. It lingers on his OCD a bit too much. There are too many shots of him walking or sitting idle. Songs by Aphex Twin are used superbly. It’s very much in the vein of Pi and Primer.
Apart From That
Multi-story film a la Short Cuts or Magnolia follows a group of family and friends in a small town. It’s intermittently engaging but rambles too long, probably could loose a half-hour of its 120-minutes. The most memorable story tells of an elderly woman who’s either going senile or becoming very eccentric. For example, she calls in a false fire alarm and purposely is naked when firemen enter her room. A shooting style reminiscent of John Cassavetes captures naturalistic performances (e.g. a camera will loose focus when an actor bursts with emotion; a technical mistake is left to preserve the performance). An opening party sequence starting the film is more confusing than it should be, especially since it should establish the characters. I appreciate what directors Randy Walker and Jennifer Shainin do, but more editing is needed.
Damn Yankee Day
A foreign exchange student gets caught in drug deals. Plays like an extended student film. Some aesthetic choices are interesting; opening credits are in classic 1940s Hollywood style; it’s in black and white; soundtrack consists of oldies. But the story is brain dead. I wanted to strangle two of the actors. Director Robert Shupe shows flashes of promise; a silent scene of the student searching the creepy abandoned house of his host family is effective. But the sooner this amateur flick is forgotten, the better.
Once in a Lifetime
The New York Cosmos was a major league soccer team in the 70s that almost made the sport another national pastime. I’m not into sports and was surprised by this fascinating documentary directed by Paul Crowder and John Dower. The personalities involved and the strange notion that thousands attended soccer games in Giant stadium render this compelling. Steve Ross, the late head of Warner Communications, spear-headed making the team world class. The most amazing story is how Pele, the world’s greatest soccer player at the time, was lured to the team. In addition to millions, at a time when Hank Aaron made approximately $200,000 a season, a very famous Washington official went to Brazil to negotiate how this would be good for relations. The team’s glorious rise and thought provoking fall make this ESPN film worth watching for anyone.
The Ring Finger (L’annulaire)
People bring items, sometimes attached to their bodies, to an institute-conservatory that preserves them formaldehyde filled glass tubes or jars. Connections are never crossed yet those separated should be together. It’s like an erotic haunted dream wrapped in a shroud of mystery. The institute head is too serious with his dramatic demeanor. Olga Kurylenko is one of the most entrancing beauties to grace the silver screen in some time. I could stare at her wide eyes and face for hours. She’s the graceful sultry center around which everything revolves. Audrey Tautou, Scarlett Johansson, and Olga Kurylenko would be a jaw-dropping trio. French writer-director Diane Bertrand spins unique cinema that’s dreamily elusive. Beth Gibbons of Portishead envelops the movie with her rapturous voice and score.
Somebodies
Amiable comedy accounts daily life of an African American college student in Athens, Georgia. He’s torn between drinking-slacking and productively building his life. A warm honesty permeates director Hadjii’s writing. The comedy primarily comes from the characters and a few funny situations. It kept me laughing. At times the characters get gratingly broad, his uncle comes to mind, but everyone’s likeability saves the day. It’s shot simplistically, but Hadjii might build a visual style with practice.
One Last Dance
Max Makowski, a Caucasian who speaks fluent English, directs this Hong Kong action-gangster flick shot in Singapore. T is a total pro assassin trapped in a plot to eliminate his boss. Some of the plot details are hard to follow. It’s often dull for long stretches then springs to life with tense and interesting suspense scenes. A good handful of scenes make it worthwhile. Switches to broad comedy klang out of place. However, there’s a funny scene where two armed guys kick down doors. There are visually inventive transitional sequences. The overall direction engages. Francis Ng delivers a standout performance as T. Harvey Keitel makes a weird appearance, but in a good way. Asian actors speak Cantonese the whole time, then suddenly Keitel! He’s credited at the beginning so I’m not giving anything away.
Lunacy
Legendary Czech director Jan Svankmajer strikes with his latest transgressive surreal soufflé. A Greek Chorus of animated meat is everywhere (I do not exaggerate) in a tale merging Edgar Allan Poe and the Marquis de Sade. A Marquis befriends a naïve young man and entraps him in twisted heretical head games. Insanity extremes are explored to ponder proper treatment, though multiple meanings may be interpreted. I was reminded of Ken Russell’s The Devils in two respects: orgiastic free-floating nudity and purposely violating time period. For example, it happens in the 1700s but the Marquis has a record player from the late 1800s. But for all I know Russell may have stolen from Svankmajer. Aside from really dragging near the end, this is energy charged surrealism that makes me want to watch everything by Svankmajer.
Lies and Alibis
Solid Steve Coogan is Ray Elliott, a former con man who runs an agency that specializes in aiding cheating spouses. Alibis and warnings are provided so they aren’t caught. One of his clients accidentally murders his mistress and, by bad coincidence, a five million dollar contract is put out on Elliott’s former partner. Everyone wants Elliott dead or in jail. How will he get out of this mess? It’s a fun romp that feels formulaic, but a great cast and decent direction by Matt Checkowski and Kurt Mattila make it float. The cast includes Rebecca Romijn, Sam Elliott, James Brolin, Selma Blair, John Leguizamo, Henry Rollins, Deborah Kara Unger, and more. Side note: there are many beautiful women in this and they look bad by no fault of their own. Cinematographer Enrique Chediak and the makeup department need to go to movie jail for at least six months.
Head spinning delighted novacaine brain dripping women kaleidoscopic packed in skin on eroticism’s edge shuddering to good times down The Strip. Instinct seduces as I follow the blood trail on the highway. Watch out for rabid fanaticism. Submerge in ménage a trois dreams. Back to L.A., baby.
-Psychedelic
