Well Geeks here is a report from the new (2nd year) FORT WORTH FILM FESTIVAL. Fort Worth is that City just west of Dallas, and seperated from Big D by Six Flags, some Water Parks, and that stadium the Cowboys play in, and not much else of note. It was once several times larger than Dallas being the western railhead for shipping cattle East after the Civil War. In the 1880's it was right up there with San Antonio and San Francisco as THE cities West of the Mississippi. Its quite a city with lots of culture and charm, and ol' FATHER GEEK is glad to hear that they have got a triving film fest in the works. Well, enough of the Texas History lesson and on to the report...

Hey Harry--or actually, hey Father Geek, since Harry is in Chicago....

I just got back from a weekend at the 2nd Annual Fort Worth Film
Festival. According to the program, this festiva uses 'the West as a
geographical and mythological setting fixed within a flexible time frame;
the Fort Worth Film festival attemps to explore the dimensions of life in
the West both as a physical reality and as a mental landscape.' If anyone
can tell me what that means, then they are reading too much into it. This
is just a cool little film festival that will hopefully get better (and
get a better slogan) as the years progress.

Anyway, on to my report.

DAY 1: Thursday, October 21

The first film I saw was 'Anima,' a feature film from the US that was
completed in 1997. It tells the tale of a documentary filmmaker who is
doing a project on body preservation. He tracks down an legendary
taxidermist/recluse, who may or may not have been a Nazi; either way, he
certainly has several macabre secrets. This film was very professionally
done, and obviously had a decent budget. But since this is the first I've
heard of it since it was made two years ago, I doubt it will get
released. It's a shame, because it is a beautifully executed piece of
cinema. Although the story is a little weak, you'll be so entranced that
you won't notice any holes until later. There are some stunning
marionette sequences that are worth the price of admission. Now, when I
mentioned both taxidermy and Nazi in the same sentence above, I'm sure
everyone came to the same conclusion. You're all right, of course, but
not in the way you expected; the scene that everyone knows is coming is
handled rather poignantly and without any real horror. This is a small
gem that hopefully will find more of an audience.

Then I went to see a bunch of shorts. They all were horrible. I hate
it
when you sit through short films, waiting for a good one, and you don't
get one. And does a 40-plus-minute ameuter documentary on Route 66 really
count as a short?

Then I saw 'How's Your News?' This is a thirty minute documentary,
following a group of mentally handicapped individuals around the country
as they interview random people on the street. This was the most un-PC
film I've seen in a while. It's not really making fun of these people,
but man--I hadn't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. It's
hysterical, and yet you feel somewhat guilty because it's so funny. Two
names in the credits explained it all to me: Matt Parker and Trey Stone.
They produced this little venture, which leads me to believe that it
won't be too hard for people to find. At the very least, it should make
it around the festival circuit.

Then I saw some more shorts, which were as bad as the others. In
fact,
they gave me such a bad vibe that I stayed home from the festival the
next day (well, I was also feeling sick). So I didn't see any of Friday's
films. To thing that I passed up a chance to see some James Cagney
classics on the big screen just for a few shorts--man, what the hell was
I thinking? I wanted to experience some "bold new visions." But they were
all boring rip off photocopies of real films.

DAY 2: Saturday, October 23

First film I saw was 'Boys Don't Cry.' Not an official festival
film,
but it was playing at a nearby theater, so I checked it out. Man...this
is the third best film of the year on my list. What a wrenching
experience. I can't reccomend it highly enough. Hilary Swank...is
wondrous, as is Chloe Sevigny. They create two of the most wonderful
characters to cross the screen in some time. Their love story is as
tragic as anything you've ever seen. You may not cry at the end of the
film, but your heart will be torn out.

Next on the list was 'Starving Artists,' a hip look at various
twentysomething artistes in Manhattan. There's a Tarantino-esque
filmmaker, a playwrite, a comic book artist, and every one of them is
skewered by a semi-sharp satiric spear. It was a 16mm print, obviously
from some first time filmmakers. It had a lot good ideas and dialogue,
and the acting was all good, but the directing left something to be
desired. It'll need some editing work if it ever wants to get past the
smaller festivals. Of course, my opinion may be skewed because the
projectionist ran the reels out of order. I saw the last half of the film
first, and then the first half after that. I was really confused until I
saw the opening credits halfway through the movie--then it all made
sense.

Then I saw 'The Burning Man,' a documentary about the annual Burning
Man
festival in the desert in Nevada. Every year, a massive group of avante
garde artists from around the world gather in the desert for a week
to...create. It's kind of like woodstock. There are all sorts of
fasciniating sculptures, shows, exhibits...just weird stuff that people
put together in the desert. It's a great doc, and should get some sort of
release. There's plenty here that is worth seeing, such as the 'Penis
Toss' game or the crucifixion bike. At the end of the festival, a giant
effigy of a man is burned down--a symbol of letting go of your creation.
This one is definitely worth a look; if memory servers correct, there was
an update a few months back sent in from someone while they were actually
at the event.

Next film up was 'Unto Thee,' a TV-style drama about a white upper
class
couple who inexplicably give birth to a black baby. This was like an ABC
Movie Of The Week, but considering that it was an indie film, the
production quality was superb. I spoke with the director afterward, and
he told me they got a lot of 35mm film stock for next to nothing. It's
one thing to have cheap film, but this guy knew how to use it. It could
have used a few more "artsy" cinematic touches, but overall it was good.
I imagine it'll end up going straight to video or TV.

After that, I saw 'Something Of Mine,' which was a demo reel for a
special makeup effects group. It was made back in '91, but even for back
then, this was pretty tame. Not that much gore, really--nothing I
couldn't do. It was shot on video, which made it hard to see all of the
violence. I think the highlight was supposed to be when a character had
his lips cut off, but you just couldn't really see it happen. Skip this
one if it comes your way--which it won't. The only reason it played here
was because it was primarily made by the staff of the Fort Worth Star
Telegram.

The final movie on Saturday was the festival staple 'Wadd: The Life
and
Times of John Holmes.' Now first of all, let me just say that I don't
like porn. I'm not condemning it, I just don't like it. However, I
absolutely loved 'Boogie Nights,' and since that was partially inspired
by Mr. Homes' story, I thought I'd check it out. It's a good documentary
for the first hour; then it just gets long, boring and depressing. And
John Holmes really just isn't that nice on the eyes--he's really
unappealing, especially once he starts dying of AIDS. But if you liked
'Boogie Nights,' you might want to see it; you'll be surprised how much
was lifted verbatum from Holmes' films.

DAY 3: Sunday, October 24

Got an early start today with 'A Picture of Me,' a film about a
Polish
woman who moves to Chicago with her American husband and tries to
maintain happiness in her life. It's kind of like 'Eyes Wide Shut' meets
'The Story Of Us,' but not nearly as good as those two. There is one
really effective scene where the husband, who suspects his wife is having
an affair, is driving home from work and the sounds of traffic begin to
sound like his wife making love. But the ending is an unforgivable cop
out, and a lot of the music is grating. This probably won't go very far.

Next was 'The Return of Paul Jarrett,' a touching documentary about
a
WW1 veteran returning to a town he helped save in France. Some of the war
footage is surprisingly frightening, and the footage of Paul Jarrett
walking through what was left of the battlefields and trenches had an
incredible sense of history. This could very likely end up on TV
somewhere.

Next was the short film 'Ghostboy,' a dark and bittersweet fable
about a
little girl who befriends a lonely ghost. It was a little sentimental at
times, but overall I think it was pretty good. It's kind of hard for me
to criticize this one fairly, since I wrote and directed it. It was the
world premiere. (By the way, I'm shooting a feature film in January, and
anyone who is interested in it can go to www.road-dog-productions.com)

Then I saw a screening of Forbidden Planet. The print was in poor
condition, but I had never seen it in full anamorphic widescreen before,
much less on the big screen. If you've only seen it on video--well, it's
not THAT great, but I definitely liked it better big.

Finally, I saw 'Man Of The Century.' I don't think it is as good as
Harry does, probably because his review built it up too much for me. But
having said that, let me say that the film is FANTASTIC! This deserves to
be the indie sleeper of the year, by far. I haven't been this charmed by
a movie or a character in quite a while. It's all good clean fun, and
that's such a refreshing change. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the
performances are perfected to a T. DON'T MISS THIS ONE! You'll feel like
a million bucks when you leave the theater.

Well, that's it for this year's Fort Worth Film Festival. I wish I
had
caught the Cagney retrospective, and it would have been nice to go see
'To Kill A Mockingbird' and meet the stars of that film (who were all
present). Damn crappy short films--had to make me sick. Oh well (everyone
be sure to go to www.road-dog-productions.com, because our film needs all
the support it can get.--just thought I'd throw in another cheap plug).

Ghostboy