March 14, 2009
SXSW.01
Last night was a fabulous way to start off this 9-day film-interactive-music festival. Thus far I've watched two movies, stuck my head into the Screenburn arcade, and watched two other "screeners" of films. Throw in some mingling and people watching, and it's a good start.
NEW WORLD ORDER
The film I saw first I watched a screener of last week, actually. It's an IFC flick called New World Order. It documents the efforts of Alex Jones, who hosts a talk radio show on the globalization of our country and the ominous "New World Order" conspiracy that is supposedly run by an elite group of uber rich called the Bilderberg group. I watched (and reviewed) another movie of Alex's, called End Game, which focused primarily on the clandestine and bullying nature of this group's rare global meetings. While some of what he talked about in that film was intriguing and had a hint of compelling truth to it, I had to conclude that he was a crackpot when he went off about the government's use of flouride in our water supply being a purposeful decision to help with massive public mind control. This fairly well-edited documentary starts off with JFK's speech about "secrecy" and its unwelcome place in a healthy democracy. There's a few brief moments that discuss the JFK assasination, but there's also some personal profiles of this conspiracy-fighting group that express diverse views. One Southern guy appears to be a Christian, who does a lot of protesting and handing out of literature in the New Orleans area. Another guy from the New York City area could care less about who killed JFK, but is just upset about the idea of a group of elites controlling the masses and stripping away the unique DNA of our republic. All the profiled members of this group rally around Alex Jones for a 9/11 commemorative rally at Ground Zero. Their shouts of "9/11 was an inside job!" echo throughout the film at several events they attend. While the notion they propose is troubling, I have to give them props for showing a discussion between the Southern Christian guy handing out flyers and a military man who directly challenges his notion, urging him to choose carefully what he devotes his life to. Not every group would show a reasonable critique of their efforts in their own documentary.
I LOVE YOU MAN
This movie was flat-out hilarious! It was so funny, the laughter in the audience was boisterous and almost out-of-control. The plot, which involves Peter Klaven (played charmingly by Paul Rudd), who is freshly engaged to the lovely Zooey (Rashida Jones) and discovers that he's always been a "girlfriend guy," who doesn't really have any guy friends. With a wedding ceremony to fill out (with groomsmen to match the bride's maids), as well as the paranoid desire not to be too clingy as a husband, Peter sets out to find and bond with a guy friend. As you could have guessed, there is lots of "guy" humor in this film, as well as slapstick, sight gags, and the usual and realistic modern day goofy dude stuff. The underlying questions behind the film, like fidelity, commitment, and a healthy marriage, are sometimes hidden behind the projectile vomit, references to urinal cakes, the big "M," and farting. Due to the funny scenes with Zooey and her friends, it might be balanced enough to make this a date movie, but the laughs will come most easy for unhibited guys.
EXTERMINATORS
It's almost unfair to watch several films in a row at a film festival (much the same way as it is a good music festival), because seeing two exceptionally good films back to back always wears away at the memory of the previous movie. Such was the case with this hilarious flick about several women that were involved in rage therapy with a counselor. These women bond and it shouldn't be surprising that their common experience of not being able to control their anger very well starts to bear some dangerous fruit. Alex (played by a goofy, nerdy Heather Graham with way-too-large glass frames) finds herself employed as an accountant by one of her rage-challenged friends, Stella (Jennifer Coolidge, from Legally Blonde), who runs an exterminating business. One thing leads to another and these women find themselves solving several "men problems" by channeling their pent-up anger and creativity. Suddenly, a rash of men that abuse their wives are winding up dead in and around Austin, TX (where the film was shot). One of the investigating detectives that questions Alex following the first death starts to fall for Alex, and vice-versa. This brings an extra amount of tension into their relationship as the rash of sudden deaths becomes a growing investigation ... and then there's the snooping around by a seedy IRS guy, deftly played by a swollen lower lipped Sam Lloyd. This was was just insanely funny. Amber Heard shines as one of the stars, with her little goth girl style making her a perfect replacement for Pauley Perrette's character (Abby Sciuto), should NCIS ever need a replacement.
PHOTOGRAPHS OF JESUS
There's a short little documentary on the vast arachives at Getty Images, where lots of high speed editing and fun computer-assisted cut/pasting accomanies the narration about the uniqueness of all the jobs in and around this library of photographs. People have asked for photos of Jesus, as well as the Yeti, Hitler at the '48 Olympics in London, and all kinds of strange requests. Very well done and quite educational.
Random thoughts and highlights:
I'm impressed. Prior to the screening of Trimpin, there was a standing ovation for several "wounded warriors" that were in attendance.
One band or company stood out with a "sign of the future" insertion into the registration bag. It was a micro sim card with the logo Astral Werks. Nice going!
One thing I LOVE about SXSW is, not only is it a thoroughly planned out event, but some of the thoughtfulness is so compassionate! One of the organizations that promotes itself here is Road Recovery, which reaches out to people to help them with addictions and other road bumps they might face in and around rock and roll. This is an organization we're only too glad to promote (and check out that little SXSW profile link above, where they reference Danielson Familye as one of their "guilty pleasures"). Another thing I see at SXSW every year are well-placed flyers and signs that announce various 12-step meetings. It's no secret that a lot of musicians have succombed to the addictive power of alcohol and other drugs; and attending an event like this could be very hard for them, being that they're bombarded with parties everywhere with alcohol freely flowing. Hats off to this organization for caring about their fellow man and helping provide support for those that need it.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at March 14, 2009 07:10 PM