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Annette Kellerman and Tom Joad's Adventures at SXSW: DESERT BLUE party and $PENT
Hey there everyone... Harry here with ANNETTE and JOAD'S look at the first two nights of SXSW. We did the DESERT BLUE party together, but then split. Me to come home and write.. and these two lucky bastards to party. Damn the responsibility of life! Anyway... The next night we split up... I was obsessed with seeing A SLIPPING DOWN LIFE, while they were hooked from their conversation with Jason London on seeing $PENT. Oh... and just in case you're curious... They are not wearing signs that say... "I write for AICN!" nor do they introduce themselves as Tom Joad and Annette Kellerman. So their experience is that of someone with a film pass to SXSW... And this is why this fest is sooo damn cool. So here they are... the best of buds... the mermaid and the man of dust to let it fall as they saw...
Hey dude, how ya hangin'? We're definitely overdue to crash into the
unconcious zone we all know and love, but had to send ya this ASAP so
people can possibly read before $PENT has a chance to show again... see
you bright and oily...
Tom and Annette here, back for more this year at SXSW ’99. Realizing
you guys don’t want to read eight reviews of the same things, we’ll be
reporting together on the fest, beginning with a quick rundown of our
experience at the post DESERT BLUE party as well as a review of the
magnificent $PENT.
Following the Friday night U.S. premiere of DESERT BLUE, the AICN crew
headed over to 6th street for the after-party at the Jazz. Basically,
the night consisted of kickass live music, free drinks and food, and
great conversation.
The crew procured a table and twenty minutes later, we were joined by
Rana Joy Glickman and Charlie Spradling of $PENT. Rana, the film’s
producer, brought us (among other things) last year’s FULL TILT BOOGIE
and Charlie, the female lead of $PENT, has one of those faces you’ve
seen in a millions things, most notably, THE DOORS, WILD AT HEART, and
television’s TWIN PEAKS. Rana has known Harry for awhile now, and
Charlie, a regular reader of the site, came over to meet the crew. It
wasn’t long into our talk that Charlie called her husband over to join
us. Up walks Randy fuckin’ "Pink" Floyd from DAZED & CONFUSED!! Since
joining the AICN bunch, we’ve had the absurdly amazing opportunity to
meet and chat with various actors, actresses, directors… and Jason
London definitely ranks as one of the coolest, most down to earth people
we’ve had the pleasure of talking with. First off, we’re all from
Oklahoma, which we just don’t encounter all that often. We gabbed about
all sorts of Okie-shit, from high school wrestling to being Sooner-bred,
great stuff… We talked about his film, THE RAGE: CARRIE 2, which had
opened that night and his starring role opposite his wife in $PENT.
Jason’s the kind of guy who absolutely loves doing independent films,
but understands the business and doesn’t have a problem with doing a
couple “after school” specials in order to put his kid through
preschool. He was very excited about screening $PENT at SXSW and
offered a few hilarious stories. Like the agonizing reality of sitting
next to your in-laws while they watch you go down on their daughter ON A
SIXTY FOOT SCREEN. Believe us, we felt his pain after watching the
scene the following night. Both he and his wife were unbelievably
cool. Soon after wrapping up our hour plus conversation, the two made
an early exit in preparation for the long day to follow… and it was
about time for us to hit the dance floor.
The final band of the night had taken the stage and we assumed our
positions on the dance floor. There are few things finer than cutting a
rug next to Brendan Sexton III (Welcome to the Dollhouse, Desert Blue)
and Morgan J. Freeman (dir: Hurricane Streets, Desert Blue). I mean, as
we repeatedly bumped into Brendan, we couldn’t help but grin at each
other, thinking “I’m going to rape you tomorrow” (If you don’t get that,
then go get WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE right this second.)
Scattered about the dance floor were some of the other cast members of
DESERT BLUE, including Ethan Suplee, Sara Gilbert and Isidra Vega. As
the band concluded their encore (complete with backup vocals by Brendan
and Morgan), we were in desperate need of a smoke. Who should be
standing next to us with an entire pack of cigarettes in hand, but Ethan
Suplee himself. With balls of a Golgathon, Annette promptly introduced
herself and asked him for a smoke. He kindly obliged with zero
hesitation and we briefly spoke of after party plans. Once again we
grinned at each other while the line, “You stupid bastard…” flew through
our minds. He is pretty fuckin’ cool. As Ethan made his exit, we hooked
up with Brendan. We joked about all of us breaking it the fuck down on
the dance floor and how utterly kickass the last band was. He even
introduced us to the drummer adding, “Hey man, you all were the only
band they danced to.” I could see the little pink hearts popping above
Annette’s head. Too, too cool.
Onto Tuesday’s screening of $PENT. As we entered the Austin Convention
Center, we immediately ran into Rana Joy Glickman who introduced us to
the director, Gil Cates, Jr. This is one really cool crew. I mean, we
don’t know if it’s the festival spirit or what, but they couldn’t have
been more accommodating as they led us to the theater and supplied us
with promotional goods and invites to the after party.
Before we found our seats, we ran into Jason and Charlie again and
chatted briefly about the film and our mutual recoveries from the DESERT
BLUE party the night before. Shortly thereafter, we took our seats and
the festivities began.
First off was an amazing one minute short film by Ari Gold called
CULTURE. It’s a shame most of you won’t get to see this bit of
brilliance. Basically it consisted of the director himself dressed in
his best RESERVOIR DOGS black suit against a white background, shooting
imaginary guns complete with vocalized gunshots, and simulated slow
motion as he pretended to put up a good fight before being gunned down,
hitting the wall behind him with a terrific burst of fake blood. (Sorry
about the horrible run-on, there – we couldn’t resist.) We were
giggling with pleasure and disbelief at the unexpected genius behind
this one. Fantastic stuff.
Before $PENT, some of the cast and crew were brought out for a quick
introduction and stated that they’d be around for a Q-N-A afterwards.
The room darkened and the cool SXSW trailer rolled. It was then that we
were awed by $PENT. A perfect blend of comedy and drama, the film deals
with Jason and Charlie playing a couple who each has their own vice to
overcome. He plays a guy who’s got a gambling problem and she’s
struggling with alcoholism. This is a film that works on every level.
The production is tight, it’s polished, and it’s all the more fantastic
knowing it was completed in eighteen days. The story continually turns
left when you think it’s going to take a right. The editing is perfect
and Gil handles the scenes that would make some directors fumble the
ball with the ease of one who’s obviously got the gift. All of the
characters central to the story have plenty of great dialogue.
Nipples. Nicholson. This flick rocks!! You know, we’ve all seen
movies with husbands and wives starring opposite each other, and
sometimes, their off-screen chemistry just doesn’t come across on
screen. Some people just don’t click. These two click. Joined by a
supporting cast including Phill Lewis, James Parks, Erin Beaux, Richmond
Arquette, Rain Phoenix, Margaret Cho, Jonah Ethan Blechman, & Barbara
Berry (from TV’s SUDDENLY SUSAN), the stand out performances give the
film an even more solid, well rounded appeal. It’s not often enough
that we see films that resonate. This one will be with you for days.
After a short Q-N-A session, we hooked up with the cast and crew at the
Dog & Duck Pub for celebratory beverages and more great conversation.
The place couldn’t have been more packed, but we luckily were able to
grab a table with Charlie and Jason. Also at the table were Charlie’s
parents, her best friend, as well as her cousin Michael, his bud
Bodie, and the newest addition to our cool bunch, the Pirate. Basically
we drank and bullshitted until Gil informed us that we were moving the
party to the Omni hotel to regroup before a late-night raid on 6th street.
An absolutely kickass ending to a kickass night.
Fun was had by all.
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(Just kidding. I know you're busy working on something.) Actually, I found the diatribe on OK kind of intersting. Some of the things you said, (the drugs and sex stuff) I find to be true in any rural area of low population where there's nothing to do. Believe you me, there are many areas like that here in FL. I can recall a certain small berg I visited with a friend while in college, who kept his various types of pot in glass cookie jars lined up next to each other, and was also the proud owner of a vast collection of porno movies. I think you left out one of the biggest activities - driving around drinking beer. Anyway -- about the report -- I enjoyed it very much. Good job.
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Perhaps you shouldn't schmooze with the cast and crew before seeing a film. I and everyone I've talked to thought $PENT was a well photographed, very well acted, well shot piece of crap. Predictable plot, forced "wacky" humor (I think the "large nipple" bit gets old after the first 12 times) dialogue that was jokey instead of witty, the repressed gay boyfriend who we all knew would kill himself (more doomed than cop's likeable partner), and an AWFUL ending.
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Why do I stay in Oklahoma? Cause I can buy a 2600 sq. foot house for $110,000 that would cost $200,000 in most other cities. And yes, it's on the north side of OKC. Not in the run-down middle where Lane spent way to much time watching movies at the suck ass May Twin. Damn, even 15 years ago you would have to had some balls to even go in that theater. I mean it was right up the street from the biggest freak show on earth, the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds. Talk about your urban legends, only 2 people died in the Belle Isle Power Plant (it was never a water treatment plant, what the hell would a water treatment plant need with a six story tall smoke stack?) but at least 4 young girls went missing from the fair, never to be seen alive again. And what do you think is going to be built on the site of the former creepy, abandoned Belle Isle Power Plant? A Wal-Mart! Just what the world needs, another Wal-Mart.
Lane didn't even mention the best theater ever in OKC, the Continental. It was huge, like 1500 seats. With a curved screen for those 70mm Bond flicks. I must have seen Live and Let Die a dozen times there. But nothing compared to sitting in the front row watching the Starchild scene in Kubrick's 2001! Damn, that kid must have been 25 feet long. It was closed down in the early 80s and has just been sitting there empty since. A damn shame.
The ol' classic Will Rogers Theater is now a reception hall. Before I got married last year, for the second time (let's not talk about that), my bride-to-be and I paid it a visit to see about having our reception there. The place is a fucking dump. It almost made me cry. I remember seeing A Clock Work Orange (damn, another Kubrick flashback) by accident there. A friend and I went to see some long ago forgotten movie but the film had broken so many times they could not run it again, so they were showing this strange British movie, as the ticket girl called it, that was not suppose to start till the next day. We watched it twice. It was just about the most incredible thing I had ever seen. And even way back then I thought it was painfully ironic that I was watching this masterpiece in a theater that had murals on the walls of cowboys roping cattle. I knew right there and then that Oklahoma was way behind in the culture department.
But some of Lane's rants about OKC ( I know, this whole post doesn't have a damn thing to do with the subject matter but I feel the need to defend us okie's) are a little off base. Starwinds, which was a freaky little new age shop, moved from their $1100 a month location in a part of town that was more suited to it's customers, to a $5000 a month building next to a company that doesn't allow Playboy to be sold at their convenience stores. What the hell did they expect?
That's enough about my little corner of hell. Peace, I'm out!
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