Hey folks, Harry here with Castor777 with 3 more positive looks at future films that may make their way into your life. This time... This first one is a documentary that we haven't heard of, but that sounds fascinating. STORYTELLING and RUN RONNIE RUN are both sure to rule, Can Not Wait To See STORYTELLING!!!! Here's Castor777...
Hey Harry,
Back much sooner than I thought with three films that
actually give me hope that this year at Sundance may
actually pull through to be as good as the past year.
I'll start with the lesser known of the three.
LA Story (3.5 out of 5)
Simply put, 'LA Story' is a documentary investigating
the murders of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Williams
(Notorious B.I.G.). Both rappers died within a year of
each other and it was believed that 2Pac's death with
the reasons for Biggie's. One of the main points that
the documentary makes is that 2Pac and Biggie were both
friends before the whole 'East Coast/West Coast' thing
that divided the rappers up into two different groups.
We are shown both unseen footage from the rappers and
people that were closest to them in their tragic
lives. The film was also claiming to have new
information about these rappers deaths and how evidence
has pointed to Suge Knight having masterminded both of
their assassinations.
'LA Story' is both interesting and humorous. The
director (Nick Broomfield), is seen in the film more
than anyone and shows that he knows how to deal with
the people he is interviewing. Some of which, mostly
on Tupac's side, seem to have no idea what they are
talking about when the questions arise around his
death. These are parts early in the film that could
have been trimmed down quite a bit, as Broomfield seems
that he's not even trusting the information they are
giving and smells the bullshit. The second part of the
film, dealing with Biggie's death, is where the film
really finds information that seems true and
realistic. Biggie's bodyguard seemed the most
believeable out of everyone interviewed in this film,
as a witness to the murder that has the best idea of
what happened. The film also has a surprising
interview with Suge Knight in prison before he got out
and has to be seen to be believed. 'LA Story' was a
premiere at Sundance (as was all three of these films)
and should definatly be seen when ever it is released.
Storytelling (4 out of 5)
Much is already known about 'Storytelling' that a
synopsis really isn't need. This film is split into 2
different story (originally 3, but the 3rd story was
entirely ommitted from the film most likely because of
the MPAA) entitled 'Fiction' and 'Nonfiction.' Fiction
deals with a sex scam that happens between a girl and
her professor, Nonfiction deals with a documentary
filmmaker following around a high school student and
his odd family. The film is directed by Todd Solondz
whose 'Happiness' was one of the most superb movies
released in 1998. Unfortunatly, when 'Storytelling' is
compared to this film it doesn't come close, but it
does have strong merits of its own that makes it a
great film to seek at Sundance (and later this month,
in fact).
Solondz is such an incredibly gifted writer that makes
this film, like 'Happiness,' work so well even when
it's uncomfortable. The first story seemed to be far
superior to me than the second, and its sadly much
shorter. It's not that the second story is bad, it
just covers so many different characters that they
never really seem to come together completely in the
end. But some criticisms cannot be blamed on the
filmmaker and can easily attack the MPAA. It's not
hidden truth that this film was to be given the NC-17
rating, and Solondz once to make sure that the audience
knows this. In the most sexual scene of the film, to
cover all nudity and sexual acts, a red box suddenly
appears on the screen (Todd felt that if the MPAA once
him to cut something, he'd rather cover it up so the
audience knows what's there instead of editted out
entirely). If the 3rd section was taken out because of
the MPAA, I can only hope that Fine Line allows Solondz
to release a directors cut when it finds its way to
DVD. 'Storytelling,' like 'Happiness,' is definatly
going to rise controversy - I just hope most like it as
much as I did.
Run Ronnie Run (4 out of 5)
Well Harry, you were definatly right about this
one; 'Run Ronnie Run' is incredibly hysterical.
The film is a spinoff of one of the skits on HBO's Mr.
Show. Ronnie is a hick with an incredibly large
criminal record. Every night Ronnie seems to find
himself drunk and wrecking havoc all over his town -
from bowling alleys to high school proms. Cops seem to
have trouble catching him half the time, and Ronnie has
made it on a Cops spinoff on multiple occassions.
Soon, a Hollywood producer wants to make a show out of
Ronnie doing this in different states around the
countries that will soon make their show, Run Ronnie
Run, the highest rated television show on national
televsion. But as unoriginal and medicore that you may
expect this film to be, 'Run Ronnie Run' is one of the
funniest comedies to come out in sometime.
The film feels incredibly out of place in Sundance,
even for a premiere. This is in no way an art house
film or a revelation in independent cinema, it's
basically a film that makes any SNL film look like
shit. There are various cameos from Ben Stiller, Jack
Black (who was seen often on Mr. Show), and a hilarious
scene with Jeff Goldblum. Like many comedies
however, 'Run Ronnie Run' does tend to grow a tad bit
dull when the film comes to it's final act. Bringing
back a subplot towards the films end seems very
unnecessarily and is only used for obvious reasons to
give the film a easy route for its ending. A love
story in the film is also at times not too funny and
doesn't come close to offers the laughs as some of the
ongoing gags in the film does (the little Asian kid was
my personal favorite). But these are only slight
critisisms that brought the film down to a 4, as I'd
still recommend 'The Laramie Project' the best film to
see at Sundance. But without a doubt, when April comes
and 'Run Ronnie Run' is released nationwide, expect to
see a laugh riot that's very unlikely to disappoint.
Alright Harry, I'll be back in a couple days with more
reviews of 'Close to Home,' 'Better Luck Tomorrow,'
and 'Thirteen Conversations About One Thing.'
Castor777
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