Father Geek looks at 2 great little Screw-Ball Comedies at SXSW -- LUMINARIAS and SPLENDOR

FATHER GEEK here with his first report from the SXSW FILM FESTIVAL. I'll try over the next several days to file some stories that don't duplicate Harry's, or other AICN crew members reports. In that vein I have two films I want to tell you about today. Both would fit easily into the SCREW-BALL COMEDY genre so heavily populated by the Preston Sturges and Frank Capra films of several decades ago. This is a genre that I feel is severly lacking in today's film. It's not to be confused with the heavy slap-stick physical comedy pioneered to perfection by Buster Keaton and continued by the Stooges and then Chevy Chase and others. Nor should it be equated to the current stock of shock-comedy hits like SOMETHING ABOUT MARY or the over abundant dummed-down, stupid comedies that populate every multiplex in America. Screw-ball comedy is full of smart, witty, intelligent humor, the kind of rapid fire dialogue/fencing found in BRINGING UP BABY, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT and SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS.

The first of these two delightful little gems took me totally by surprise. Looking to just fill some time before the BILLY BOB THORTON - MARY STUART MASTERSON panel I decided to gamble on a movie by a 1st time Latina film maker. The gamble paid off big time for me! Written by and starring Evelina Fernandez (who was in attendance), LUMINARIAS is a beautifully shot motion picture set in contemporary LA and chock full of Latino actors' faces that you will recognize from dozens of feature films made over the last 20 or so years, not the least of which is the lovable Cheech Marin in a small role. It deals with the lives and loves of four middle-aged Latinas who meet regularly at their favorite watering hole the Restaurante Luminarias to talk of love and the lack of it; their men, Asian, Latino, and Jewish; independance; prejudice; and issues of identity. The mix is fantastic and you will fall in love with Lily, Sofia, Irene and Andrea by the end of the movie. Several of the non-principle actors steal every scene that they're in. Watch for Irene's brother Carmela and his "walk of walks" , and the scenes with Cindy, Andrea's receptionist/client, outstanding. I can't recommend this "little" film strongly enough, it is a total delight, even to a Ol' Gringo like me.

The next film was much less of a gamble on my part. It was written, directed, and edited by Gregg Araki who I was familar with from his excellant Teen Apocalypse series; TOTALLY F***KED UP, THE DOOM GENERATION, and NOWHERE. His sense of visual style and use of color and music make his films winners for me even if the angst level does blow the top off the thermometer. He came out before the feature to prepare us for what was to follow. He said that he is now somewhat older and a more mature film maker who had already exorcised many of his demons of youth so for us NOT to expect flying heads and disembodied penises in his new film, SPLENDOR. This set me back, maybe this was more of a gamble than I thought coming into Austin's classic Paramount Theater. However, Jim Frealy was still behind the camera and Gregg was once again directing Kathleen Robertson in front of it, so I was still very much at ease. This is a classicly laidout Screw-ball comedy complete with the love triangle and a fourth party trying to break into it, but it is also pure Araki. His anarchic outlook on life fits right into the genre and as expected he pushes the envelope to the max. This will probably grow to be the classic screw-ball comedy for the MTV generation. Color, Art Direction, Editing, and Music flow perfectly through his take on the Ol' Menage A Trois scenero. Araki's aesthetic awareness and his obivious love of the genre make for a truely wonderful film experience. Go see it!