Well the good doctor, Captain Peter Blood is back to wrap up his SXSW coverage with some quite damn good films including what could very well be the dawning film of a pair of geniuses (MAN OF THE CENTURY). So sit back and relax, and click your down arrow as the scurvy Vitamin C lacking derring-doer of the silver screen seas let's us tag along for the tail end of a movie marathon....
Peter Blood here again with my final report on the SXSW film fest. Days 7
and 8 took me through 7 screenings, only a few of which I'm going to bother
telling you good folks about. There were no parties (that I attended at
least), so you won't have to endure my prattling on about which stars I
accosted or was accosted by. No, today I'll cut right to the chase with
reviews of 3 fine films.
Keepers of the Frame is a documentary about film preservation and
restoration. This 70 min 16mm film should be required viewing for every
studio exec, film student, and true movie geek. We see first hand how film
deteriorates and what can be done to both prevent it (very little) and how
some people try to repair the damage. Interspersed are interviews with
Roddy McDowall (reportedly the last before his death), Leonard Maltin, Alan
Alda, Forrest Ackerman, and others. It's a somber look at how films were
simply discarded like yesterday's newspaper after their screenings up
through the 1950s. Included in the discussions are not just feature films,
but newsreels, experimental films, television shows, and even home movies.
The director said it might be picked up by a fairly well-know cable channel,
and if it does, I recommend it quite highly.
Later in the day I attempted to find a dock to park my ship around the
Paramount theater. I looked at my timepiece to discover I was already 5
minutes late for Man of the Century, that a friend of mine had earlier in
the day said was a fine film. Let me just say first off that NOTHING could
have prepared me for what I was about to see. Other than the brief
recommendation and the knowledge that it had played at Slamdance, (I found
out later it had won the audience award there) I knew virtually nothing
about the film. I was just about to abandon my plan when a spot opened up
just a block from the entrance. I quickly docked and dashed into an already
laughing theater. I missed the opening credits, but not really any of the
set up. (Note: I purposely didn't read Harry's review lest it cloud my
judgment, so if I am repeating his words, mea culpa I did read the
talkback's, but more on that later.) The set up is amazingly simple; our
hero is Johnny Twennies, who appears to have been teleported from a 1920's
talkie and dropped in the middle of modern day NYC. Johnny is a reporter
who writes a column for a local paper from his unique perspective that
everyone wrongly assumes is just an act. His mannerisms, speech and
attitudes all reflect those of a bygone era. In the hands of a less
competent actor, this role would have died on the vine. In the hands of
Gibson Frazier who co-produced and co-wrote the film with director Adam
Abraham, it's absolute genius (Remember those names; they're both brand
spankin' new faces, but I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot more from
them once this pic gets out.) Frazier comes across as John Barrymore,
Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks and Harold Lloyd all
rolled into one. The dialogue is absolutely priceless. Hearing Frazier
spout gems in his rapidfire dialect like "If you're gonna keep ridin' me,
you're gonna have to pay to fare" is an absolute riot.
Several times the film itself becomes a product of the 1920s as well, paying
homage to those films and laughing at them all the while. When Johnny
traverses several flights of stairs at a police station, it's quite obvious
it's the same one over and over again, but the filmmakers keep letting us in
on the joke. There's the requisite club scene with insane musical number
(like Spielberg paid homage to in Temple of Doom), not to mention horribly
inept henchmen, goons who quote Shakespeare, the never-seen mob boss, a
BettyPage-esque bondage scene, and an ending that can only be described as
"wacky". Back to the talk-backs Harry's review received, I noticed one
person mentioned Raider of the Lost Arc as a movie that changed his/her
life, and actually, I think Man of the Century holds up very well to a
comparison. Both movies try to emulate a specific lost movie genre, and
both succeed in copying and often surpass most of their source material.
Like all great films, there's no way I can tell you how great it really is.
You'll have to see that for yourselves. But any film that uses Frank
Gorshin, the friend from Adventures in Babysitting and the gay black guy
from Chasing Amy should be worth a look anyway.
This movie is what Hudsucker Proxy wanted so hard to be, what Pleasantville
started to approach and what Purple Rose of Cairo almost was. There are
just so many COOL things in this movie, but what clinches the deal for me is
the dialogue. It's so dead-on, yet way-off, that it propels the audience
through the 80 min film as if it were 10. I could type for hours and not
get all the great quips in, but one that sticks out in my mind occurs at the
aforementioned club. There's a cigarette girl who apparently Johnny used to
date who's after him again. She walks up and tells him "I get off at 1:30".
His reply: "Good for you and 1:30" and a quick exit. Classic. I watched
several audience members laugh, cheer and clap their way through the whole
film. (Yeah, especially the big redheaded guy.) The film is magic, pure
and simple, and if it doesn't get a major release, then the world is a much
harsher place.
The next day my adventures took me (and some of my fellow AICNers) to the
new film from Greg Araki (Doom Generation) entitled Splendor. Those
familiar with Araki's Teen Apocalypse trilogy may be disappointed Those of
you (like myself) who found those films almost numbing will be pleased.
Splendor tells the tale of Veronica (Kathleen Robertson), a lonely actress
in L.A. who meets and falls in love with two men at pretty much the exact
same time, Zed (Matthew Keeslar), a drummer and Able (Johnathan Schaech), a
sportswriter. She tells both of them about the other right away, but an
uneasy jealousy develops as things progress in both her relationships. The
inevitable happens and Zed and Able meet, but instead of everything blowing
up on her, Veronica manages to talk her two beaux into a ménage a trois.
Suddenly, they're a bona fied threesome, with all the baggage therein, but
essentially they're all happy.
Things start to deteriorate when Veronica realizes she needs a more stable
and mature relationship. As she puts it, "Sometimes I feel like I'm dating
Beavis and Butthead." She finds maturity in Ernest (Eric Mabius who will
soon be the Crow), the director of a TV movie she's working on. Everything
comes to a head when Ernest proposes and Able and Zed have to try to win
Veronica back.
This is a fairly funny little film. It has enough of a shock factor to keep
mainstream America from even venturing into a theater showing it, but it's
geared towards the college crowd and plays to them very nicely. It's not
groundbreaking or revolutionary; it's just a rather interesting take on the
romantic comedy. There are enough laughs to keep everyone entertained and
it certainly presents life as a lot more livable than Araki's other films.
I like quirky comedies and I saw quite a few of them during the fest.
Splendor is probably the most polished of them all; something I certainly
didn't expect from the creator of Nowhere.
I saw other films these two days, but more importantly I'll tell you about
what I wanted to see, but didn't get to. Most of these were recommended to
me by other fest-goers or they just sounded good. Here's my list of
"wanted-to-but-didn't-make-its"... Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human
with David Hyde Pierce, Book of Stars with Mary Stuart Masterson, Wadd: the
Life and Times of John Holmes, Big Monday (a 74 min film shot as one take),
Dill Scallion (a Spinal Tap for country music), and a Day in Black and White
with Harold Perrineau( Romeo+Juliet, Oz).
That's it for my SXSW coverage. Happy filmgoing.
Until we meet again,
Dr. Peter Blood
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