Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another couple reviews from Sundance.
NOISE
This was one of the most talked up films of the fest for me, one of the few that I got early word on pre-festival. Going in, I knew there was a cop in it and that it was a thriller and that's about it.
The opening of the film is incredible. This takes place in the first 4 minutes, so I'm not going to call it a spoiler. We start out following a girl through a subway. Immediately there's something off... the sound is extremely loud, though the subway isn't very full. It's late at night and this girl passes by employees spraying down the walls... like I said, kinda creepy tone. A train pulls up and she tries the handle. It's a little jammed and she tries again and it opens. She takes a seat.
The lady in front of her starts to fall over as the train leaves the stop. The girl goes to check on her when she realizes the woman is dead. The camera pulls back to reveal the entire train is filled with bloody, dead bodies. She's trapped on the subway train with no one to keep her company besides the killer and a dozen of his victims.
Pretty great start, no?
For good or bad, the movie continues in a radically different way than you'd expect from an opening like that.
The main character is a cop who was patrolling the subway at the time. Inexplicably he collapses and falls, receiving a nasty and bleeding bump on the head. For a while he's been dealing with tinnitus, a continual ringing in his ears. As the film progresses it gets worse and worse.
Does it tie in with the murderer on the train? What about the rash of dead bodies being found? Well, I've seen the movie and I still don't know.
I really liked the film and I do believe it's going to get a sizable fanbase, but I'm a bit conflicted. I liked the fact that it is radically different from any other typical thriller, but there is a part of me that wants to see this story told in a somewhat more traditional way. I know, that's not what Sundance is about, but that opening promises a movie that could have been absolutely terrifying. I'm glad the movie is the way it is, but I want to see that alternate universe commercial version.
All the actors are great, including our leading man with the ringing ears. He's very likable, very real. There are a few slightly David Lynchian characters sprinkled throughout. Not as extreme as you'd find in a Lynch film, but there's a slightly retarded local teenager who likes to dress up his dog with stolen props, be it a police hat or a construction worker's tools. There's also a rollerblading female cop. They'd feel at home in TWIN PEAKS, if you know what I mean.
The main focus is this cop (Brendan Cowell), with the murderer on the loose aspect falling into the background. It's an odd choice, but it's what makes this movie this movie.
Oh, and hi to the NBC 6 in Miami guys. You dirty, filthy, disgusting geeks.
THE UNFORSEEN
I almost didn't make this movie. My midnight screening of NOISE started 30 minutes late and it was past 3:30am by the time I finally got back to the condo. THE UNFORSEEN started at 9am, which means I had to be up before 8am to make it and the thought of doing an environmentalist documentary on 4 hours of sleep, especially since it was kicking off a 6 movie day for me. Needless to say, when the alarm went off at 7:50am I almost ignored it.
I didn't and made my way to the Egyptian Theater, my first screening at the most recognizable Sundance theater.
It was really trippy to be sitting in a theater in Park City, during the Sundance Film Festival, while watching a documentary about my town. The flick focuses on development in Austin that encroaches on the Edwards Aquifer and endangers Barton Springs, a very famous and popular natural pool.
I moved to Austin in 1993, so it was immediately fascinating to me to see the stock footage of the town from the '70s, '80s and '90s... watching my city grow and become the city I recognize and know. It was also bizarre seeing news footage featuring local news anchors... but in the '80s and so much younger than I'm used to seeing them.
I was hoping the movie would act as a bit of a recharger for me, a little time to "visit" Austin during this madness and it very much was. I don't think I've ever seen my city shot so beautifully.
Being vaguely familiar with the SOS (Save Our Springs) movement, my favorite part of the documentary for me was watching the community rally against these multi-millionaire conglomerates to keep that great balance of nature and city that is Austin. The politics were incredible. The community voted against the zoning by an overwhelming margin, but then the Texas legislation board, heavily influence by lobbyists, passed a bill that gave carte blanche to these big corporations. Thankfully, Ann Richards (then Governor) vetoed it.
God, I miss Ann Richards. This film has one of the last interviews with Governor Richards and if nothing else it made me smile just seeing that old lady kicking ass again.
Of course, when Bush became Governor big business got what they wanted and the Springs have suffered greatly.
I can't say how this film will play to a non-Austinite, but there were many rich old ladies at the screening who were upset and I doubt they were Austin locals. The doc does spend a lot of time with the main developer and the lobbyist, but there is definitely a slant against the developers. I knew Terrence Malick was an Austinite and his love for the city is evident. The documentary was his idea and he produced it, along with Robert Redford (wonder how it got into Sundance...) who I was surprised to learn spent a lot of time in Austin as a kid and has a long interview in the doc sitting at the springs, reminiscing about his childhood swimming in the natural spring and how it ignited his love of nature.
I really enjoyed it and hopefully those who don't smile when they see aerial views of Austin can relate to the fight.
Alright, off to tonight's midnight flick. Be back soon with more!!!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
