Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
When John Robie and I firmed up our plans last week to attend Sundance, we began reading the program notes in depth, looking at what sort of choices we'd have to look forward to. As I started talking with other columnists and writers and filmmakers in town, I immediately started hearing, "Oh, it's a lame year," or "There's nothing playing," or some variation thereof. I've heard that every single year since I moved here in the summer of '90, but since I've never been scheduled to go, I never really paid much attention. To me, it's the sound of people who have become too accustomed to the idea of a film festival, people that are jaded from repeat exposure. I'm going to Park City for one reason this year: to see some movies. I found 54 films that I was interested in to some degree, and I decided that Robie and I should each make a list of the top ten films we're interested in for the festival. We're going to try to see way more than ten, obviously, but these are the ones we're immediately taken by. Robie sent me his list earlier today:
There’s no order to this list. I tried to shy away from the more mainstream fare like DONNIE DARKO, NOBODY'S BABY, MEMENTO, SUPER TROOPERS, and THE CAVEMAN'S VALENTINE, but of course I want to see those, too. Of course I want to be cool and tell everyone about the Sundance IT movie. “Hey, I saw Happy, Texas!” Hey, shut up, asshole.
L.I.E.
If it pulls off its premise – a boy falls for an older man he meets online - then it’ll be the first film I’ve ever seen to do so. And if it doesn’t it’ll be a train wreck.
CHILDREN UNDERGROUND
It’s a documentary about Romanian orphans. Hilarious.
BROTHER
It’s directed by Takeshi Kitano and everyone tells me that he’s hip. Jesus, I hate that word...
DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS
It’s about time someone looked at skateboarding with a real sense of history, and Sean Penn narrates. He doesn’t direct it, thank God. If he had it would’ve ended with the skateboarders getting run over by a bus.
SOUTHERN COMFORT
It’s a documentary about discrimination, family, and female-to-male transsexuals. I find the idea of female-to-male transsexuals absolutely fascinating.
HOME MOVIE
It’s a Chris Smith documentary about people and their homes. Not the Chris Smith I grew up with and that went to Harvard to play football. The Chris Smith that made American Job and American Movie and who knows the difference between laughing at people and laughing with people and knows that, inherent in the compassion the second allows, it’s okay every once in a while to do the first.
THE BLEEP BROTHERS
Because the hardest I have ever laughed is watching clips from Japanese game shows and this movie is about two filthy, filthy Japanese comics.
RAW DEAL: A QUESTION OF CONSENT
I remembered hearing about the rape/faked rape the film is about, and I remember being alternately disgusted and fascinated by the whole situation.
THE MIDDLE PASSAGE
I’ve seen very good looks at every aspect of slavery except the passage from there to here, and that’s what this one promises to be about.
101 REYKJAVIK
I don’t want to see it more than any other film I’ve heard of. And that’s why I want to see it.
I would definitely echo some of Robie's choices, specifically DOGTOWN AND Z-BOYS, RAW DEAL, THE MIDDLE PASSAGE, THE BLEEP BROTHERS, and HOME MOVIE. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm dying to see DONNIE DARKO and THE DOE BOY. There's a number of films that are high-profile that I know I'll get a chance to see in a theater, and as much as I'm interested in THE CAVEMAN'S VALENTINE, THE ROAD HOME, CHOPPER, Bill Plympton's MUTANT ALIEN, HEWIG & THE ANGRY INCH, WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, SERIES 7, DOUBLE WHAMMY, THE DEEP END, or SEXY BEAST, I know I will see them at some point. Instead, though, I'm going to add ten films that I'm equally interested in, but that feel like more of a priority for me personally:
WAKING LIFE/TAPE
What? Two new films from Richard Linklater? What did we do to be so freakin' lucky? Of all the guys who really found their voice in the '90s, Linklater remains the one I have the highest hopes for. Quentin Tarantino's got more sass, Rodriguez has more flash, but Linklater's got the soul, and that's what makes DAZED & CONFUSED and BEFORE SUNRISE so great. Here, he's pushing himself to two extremes, making an experimental animated film and an enclosed character drama, and I'm dying to see both.
HAIKU TUNNEL
Looks like a comic nightmare, and for anyone who ever did temp work like I did, it could be both harrowing and hysterical.
LIFT
Set in the world of professional shoplifting. It's this kind of glimpse into a subculture I don't know first-hand that I pray for with indie cinema.
THE BELIEVER
Looks like a fascinating glimpse at what draws young men into neofascist organizations. Should make a great double feature with my next selection.
INVISIBLE REVOLUTION
This portrait of the changing face of hate in America looks like the documentary version of THE BELIEVER, and it'll be interesting to compare the two after all is said and done.
STARTUP.COM
The creative team behind THE WAR ROOM is bringing this look at the current boom/bust business model in the online world, tracing a company's rise and fall. For obvious reasons, I'm fascinated.
GO TIGERS!
Like DONNIE DARKO, this is one of the titles everyone keeps mentioning to me. This is a slice of life set in a small Ohio town that depends on high school football to define themselves, and it's supposedly a winner. I'm not normally a fan of this genre in fiction films, but a real gem like RUDY can win me over, so maybe this one will, too.
TREMBLING BEFORE G-D
The film deals with Orthodox and Hasidic Jews who have come out as homosexuals, and the ramifications of that on their spiritual lives. For me, though, four words determined that I had to see the film next week: music by John Zorn. He's a jazz genius who I'm in awe of, and if he did the score, I'l see the film. It's just that simple.
CHAIN CAMERA
Kirby Dick's last Sundance documentary was SICK: THE LIFE OF BOB FLANAGAN, SUPERMASOCHIST, one of the most disturbing films I've ever seen. This time, he's asked high school students to take turns living with a video camera for a week, then passing the tape and the camera along to the next student in what sounds like a powerful look at the real face of teenage America.
AN UNFINISHED SYMPHONY
Henryk Gorecki's SYMPHONY OF SORROWFUL SONGS. Unseen footage of a Vietman era demonstration by returning veterans against the war. Narration by historian Howard Zinn. Sounds great to me.
So here's the deal: if you're involved with the films on this list, or if you think we've overlooked a film, THEN GET IN TOUCH WITH US!! And you "bigger" films, don't think we're dissing you. We're not. I certainly hope to get into some of the big-ticket items as well. Bottom line, everyone... we want to see your films!! Admittedly, we're giving a bit of a cold shoulder to some of the other fests in town next week, but there's only two of us going. NoDance, DigiDance, Slamdance, and even Tromadance all sound like they've got a lot to offer the adventurous viewer, and if we get the chance, we'll do our best. For right now, though, we're still trying to sort out the main event.
We can be reached at (323) 851-6038 until Thursday the 18th, and starting on Friday the 19th, we can be reached at (435) 654-0201. For those of you who have already started contacting us, thank you. We are sorting everything out now, and we appreciate your efforts. These next few days are going to be manic. We're running one quick spy mission before we leave town (think Ivan Reitman and David Duchovny... think crater sets...), but we'll be making calls and trying to organize things until the second we leave.
"Moriarty" out.
