Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene
Friday
The third day of the festival started out with the film Heart of Now at Noble Theater. This wasn’t a film that I had planned on seeing. But there wasn’t anything else scheduled at the time, so we ended up checking out. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a mumblecore-ish film about a girl who stumbles around after a break-up trying to find her footing.
At first, the main character Amber (Marion Kerr) seems a bit developmentally delayed. That really bothered me as I watched the film. But as the film neared its end, and upon subsequent discussion of the film over beer and sushi, I found her childish behavior to actually work within the film. This is a girl who has had a rough go of it. It’s understandable that she might revert to a childlike version of herself, especially as she tries to gain the attention of father-figure, Gabe (Kelly McCracken).
The film was made collaboratively by the SABI group. Actors improvised a lot of their material resulting in a very natural and organic portrayal of personal solitude and reconciliation. In the Q & A that followed the screening, the director stated that he told the cinematographer to pretend as if he was filming the movie for Amber’s dead mother. That explanation didn’t work too well for the DP, who was an atheist, so he told him to film her as if he was in love with her even though she wouldn’t acknowledge him. As a result, the camera captures something that feels very lived in even if not a whole lot of plot happens on screen.
After the movie, it was back to Iguana for the very awesome Oklahoma Film and Music Office Reception. Iguana tacos, swirls, and really good music. It makes one not ever want to leave. And that’s pretty much what ended up happening. Instead of opting for the Metropolis restoration or Roll Out, Cowboy, we stayed at the reception chatting up GreenCine Daily’s Aaron Hillis.
By then it was too late to catch anything, so we headed over to the Film Row Frolic. But first, we checked out the new IAO where they had some past festival posters, programs, and t-shirts on display. There was also a wall to be signed. Then it was down the street for the Frolic. It was very hot. So at least an Asian theme allowed for fans. We hung out there a while. Had more Stella. And then watched Simply Irresistible (S.I.) perform his magic once again.
Then onto Simmons on Vinyl, by Mark Potts and his Singletree crew. I really liked their short film (Hit Boys II Men) and their festival promos (Hard Justice) from last year. So, I was excited about seeing this one. I have to say that I didn’t care all that much for it. It was just too scattered. These guys look like three good friends having fun making a movie. But I’m afraid that in this one, three good friends having fun making a movie doesn’t also provide somebody who can or will rein them in when necessary. That being said, the filmmakers admitted their budget was only like $300 and that they spent very little time writing. So, there’s no real loss here. I’ve spent that much and had much less to show for it after a half-dozen trips to McNellies. And, I can’t say whether or not it deserved its festival award. I say if the filmmakers had fun then it was worth it. For me as a viewer, I would have preferred something that had been developed some more. Of course, I may have just not been in the right “frame of mind” for it. I still want to check out their previous feature, The Stanton Family Grave Robbery, to see if a little more development time led to a better product.
Finally, the evening ended with a karaoking session at Cookie’s that we’d been tipped off to by Hillis. We hung around eventually snagging a table. After S.I. and some others had performed, everybody at our table sang a song. The rotation was long, so it would just be the one. I, of course, “sung” my karaoke standard, “Jolene.”
