Well once again we hear from the great state of Virginia and their film festival in them parts. I love film fest reports, it's kinda like having a chance to be there. Sigh... I can't believe it's so long till Sundance and SXSW... Alas... tick tock tick tock... Here's the report...

King George reporting,

Just like McCabe and Mrs. Miller, I was also at the Virginia Film Festival this past weekend, and I'd like to share some of my thoughts.

One of the neat things about a themed film festival is the interesting comparisions one can make between the films. Many of the films at this festival dealt with "cool" subcultures, but were really about finding a family.

I had the pleasure of attending a screening of Alice's Restaurant featuring the director, Arthur Penn. To be honest, I would have preferred a screening of Bonnie and Clyde (who wouldn't!), but Alice's Restaurant, though dated, is a fascinating social document for a child of the eighties like myself. Penn noted that the key to the film was surrounding its star, Arlo Guthrie, with a cast of crack professional actors. Many of Penn's comments regarded what I think is the film's most interesting aspect, its pessimistic outlook on the future of the hippie movement. The director observed that the short-lived artists' college he attended was a key inspiration for the film's communal vibe. He noted that the idealistic colony containted the seeds of its own destruction from the very beginning, as did such later hippie communes as Alice's Restaurant. The other main theme the director addressed was that of the family, both alternative and real. The makeshift hippie family living in the Restaurant falls short at the end of the film, and Arlo turns to his biological one. Penn also dropped the revelation that he was working on a new film, which he could only describe as a love story. The director noted that the key to his creative freedom throughout his career has been the fact that he has never lived in Hollywood, and in fact lived near the real Alice's Restaurant. It's always a pleasure to hear from a filmmaker of Penn's caliber. I only wish that the moderator's questions (which were a bit scattershot) had been more directed towards the art of filmmaking.

Unlike, MaMM, I was tremendously moved by Penelope Spheeris' The Decline of Western Civilization Part III. Since McCabe summarized the film, I'll dispense with a synopsis.

Because I knew the film was about destitute "gutterpunks," I had a great deal of trepidation going in that it would be exploitative. However, the film is no such thing. Spheeris has a great deal of respect for the subjects of her film. I think she does a tremendous job of depicting each kid as an individual, not just a statistic. When you learn the tragic fates of some of the kids at the end of the film it breaks your heart, because you feel like you actually know the kids. The film is also exceptional as a work of filmmaking. It never becomes repetitive because Spheeris slowly expands the scope of the film, revealing more and more tragic details. What makes the film tolerable is its humor. These kids are very funny in the smart-ass way teenagers are. While watching this movie I thought back to Alice's Restaurant. These kids do serve as a makeshift family for each other, apparently travelling in bands. However, the gutterpunks resist the conventions of society to an even greater degree than the hippies did, and their fate is even more tragic (Jeez, I hope I don't sound like an establishmentarian). I do agree with McCabe that the music isn't nearly as good as that in Part I. But I think that's kind of the point. This is a key piece of evidence in Spheeris' arguement that the entire scene has become a shell of its former self, as interviews in the film from former scenesters attest to.

That being said, she is also respectful towards the bands, who come across as extremely earnest.

John Cassavettes' Shadows, screened earlier in the weekend, touches upon many of the same conflicts between biological family and makeshift-hipster family. Mr. Cassavettes is no longer with us, but it's always wonderful to see an old film on the big screen with an appreciative audience. Anyone who hasn't seen this film will be amazed that indie films with improvisational dialogue were being made as early as the late fifties.

McCabe's comments on Hard Core Logo were pretty much dead-on. See it.

Well, anyway, I'd just like to tell everyone not to look down on regional film festivals. They're great for geeks who can't afford to go to Telluride or Sundance and even for geeks who can (my friend who went to Telluride had a good time).

--King George