Harry's Day 4 @ SXSW: The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, THUNDER SOUL, CHERRY & CENTURION!!!

Today kicked off with my discussion with Gilbert Shelton at the Austin Convention Center. Our main source of discussion was about the upcoming FABULOUS FURRY FREAK BROTHERS movie. They've pretty much finished with a lot of pre-production and they're currently seeking out financing to complete what will be an incredibly enjoyable and hilarious film... if it comes to pass. After SXSW I'll write a full accounting of this, but I want to get into talking about the movies I saw today. About a month ago - I got a fortune cookie that said that on the next new moon, that I would have luck. Well, March 14th was the New Moon - and let's see how my luck held out. The day began with that GILBERT SHELTON exchange which truly was a highlight for me personally. That's good. Then I went to that Alamo South for my first film of the day... THUNDER SOUL What an incredible documentary, story and work. This is a documentary of astonishing power and emotion. All at once superior to every doc I saw last year - yes, even BEST DOC winner THE COVE. This is the story of a Houston High School stage band in the 70's that just fucking had the funk magic like you wouldn't believe. Do a search for the Kashmere Stage Band. They're legendary and for all the right reasons. It was the project of High School Band Director Conrad O Johnson. And who is he? Well, that takes some telling. Conrad had immense talent. You know the saying, those that can't, teach? Such monumental bullshit. Conrad was a brilliant musician and composer. He was offered gigs with the great bands of the 30's & 40's. Duke Ellington wanted him, but Conrad didn't want the glitz and glamour life... he didn't want to live on the road. So instead, he and his wife and children came to Houston and got a position as Band Director. For years he worked there - and he was a great Band Director for his students. Teaching them how to best play - but then... from 1968-1975 - Conrad did something astonishing. He saw that his kids were truly excited by FUNK. The work of characters like James Brown, KOOL & The Gang, The Commodores and their like. And he decided to change what a Stage Band could do. He wrote original compositions for his High School - and man... it fucking ruled. I won't tell you just how incredible this band and music was - how far it took these kids and how much it affected the rest of their lives - nor will I tell you how it has all wound up, but I will tell you this. THUNDER SOUL is a companion documentary for the great WHEN WE WERE KINGS. This is a powerful positive documentary that shows just how beautiful the empowering times of the seventies were for the Black community... beautiful afros - crazy fucking clothes and the music. This music that's been sampled throughout our culture via folks like MC HAMMER to modern DJ god, DJ SHADOW. But to hear and see this band perform - it is thrilling. For much of this film, tears streamed down my face. Tears of elation, hope, sadness and yes Triumph. After the film - some of the Kashmere Stage Band appeared to answer questions - and I dare you to find a class as dedicated to a single teacher that touched their life over 30 years ago. But when you watch this film - and you will. This documentary WILL get theatrical distribution. And when it does, it will go wide - because it is THAT FUCKING GREAT. And it will get nominated for BEST DOCUMENTARY at next year's Oscars - and you'd have to be a real cocksucker to vote against it. After the Q&A - I leave the theater only to have this astonishingly lovely hand touch my shoulder... it belonged to Carla Gugino. As she comes into sight, I see Malin Akerman. My head was still swirling from the awe and wonder of THUNDER SOUL... and as my funk clouded brain began to clear - I could see that not only were both Silk Spectres were in front of me. But their faces? They'd been crying to. But not in a sad way, in a joyous illuminated way. It made both Carla and Malin easily more beautiful than I'd ever seen them. We talked almost exclusively about how much THUNDER SOUL rocked. We also discussed the history of Technical Snafu screenings that we'd all attended. The previous night, if you read Josh Olson's wonderful piece on ELEKTRA LUXX, their film was halted about 30 minutes before the end by a digital projector going out... with no hope of recovery. I was sad that I wouldn't be able to attend their "make up" screening later this same night (yesterday), but I was already committed to seeing Neil Marshall's CENTURION at midnight. But more on CENTURION in a bit. First... there's... CHERRY Here's a film about a brilliant young seventeen year old engineering student at an Ivy League school - who is a virgin... and his first semester of college. Generally I hate "Virgin" stories - just because they tend to focus on the desperate cluelessness of a Virgin... and at least for me - that certainly was not my story. Nor the story of any of my friends. There's something about CHERRY that rings true and honest. And yeah, it is a little crazy, but I remember when I was 17 (not a virgin) at my first semester of college, I ran into an awesome "OLD" lady... about 25, who really shined to me in our Film History class. I was a bit of the "super acheiver" in that class - but I remember that first time she took me to her house to cook for me. It felt so grown up. And I just went with it. That's what I love about this film... Kyle Gallner plays Aaron. He's great in the film. Great. As the older lady, Laura Allen is just fan-fucking-tastic. She's the lady that goes back to college to try to complete what she never did before. She had a host of troubles in her life... and when Kyle goes to her house - he discovers her daughter Beth played awesomely by Brittany Robertson - who is playing 14-15. Yes, there is a love triangle - but it may surprise you how it is handled. I have to tell you - even side characters like Laura's boyfriend/cop Essai Morales delivers a really solid performance - and our main character's nightmare roommate, Wild Bill / D. C. Pierson - well, I knew this character at College. The story goes to a lot of places and they all feel reasonable. This is one of the best films I've seen in the genre of Virginity in cinema. This was a real surprise for the day. After that - it was time for the worst kept secret screening in the history of Secret Screenings in Austin, Tx. Basically - this is what happens when I'm not involved. There were too many people that talk involved in this Secret. CENTURION DOG SOLDIERS and THE DESCENT I love from top to bottom. DOOMSDAY - if you're high or drunk it can be a blast. It can also be an assaultive experience that can grate on you a bit. CENTURION is just fucking great. Essentially this is the story of the "legendary" Ninth Legion that apparently never existed, but if it had existed, this is essentially what may have happened. The story is epic. Thousands die. The Legion began with 3000 men. And well - it gets real bad. And why is that? Because the Picts were fucking scary awesome badasses. The Roman legions had never quite encountered an enemy quite like this. Imagine if the Braveheart folks got a chance to whupass on the Roman Legion - that's the film. The lead is Michael Fassbender who you may remember as being awesome in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, 300 and his best work in HUNGER. His character, Quintus Dias is the son of a legendary Gladiator who won his freedom. Which basically means his dad was a badass. And Quintus learned the art of war from him. The result is a really wonderful character. The amazing Pict Ambush of the the entire Legion column is spectacular. Heads exploding with the power of the blows... giant balls of fire tearing through the ranks, heads split in half. limbs torn off... it's just amazing. Olga Kurylenko plays this Pict warrior woman from hell. Perhaps one of the all time great badass women in history. After the ambush, the Roman General is captured and the surviving men of the 9th try to rescue him, it goes badly - and the rest of the film is essentially BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID - but unlike that film - where we never really see Lord Baltimore - Olga's Virilus is in play. The result is a thrilling film. Throughout this first screening the tired SXSW audience shook the walls with applause after many of the action sequences. This is a harder film than the series ROME that HBO gave us - but it fits exactly in that universe. It is playing a second time at SXSW - and I think I may very well go again. I liked it that much. I'll write a fuller review as it approaches release, but you need to mark this film as something to keep your eye on. Neil Marshall has rose to the occasion yet again! Neil committed to making Michael Fassbender do his entire commentary track as Christopher Walken - cuz apparently Fassbender does a KILLER WALKEN - and wouldn't that just fucking be the bomb? Alright - so the Fortune Cookie was right. The Ides of March were good to me - and shit... I even got a great Roman film on this Ides of March! Awesome!