The Filmcake

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I made our first movie, a four-and-a-half minute short film called Sleep. I’m almost hesitant to even describe what we created as a movie. It’s more like a sketch or an exercise. It’s a movie that should’ve been made with an old, unwieldy camcorder when we were young teenagers. So while I’ll never have the precious filmmaker story about making all sorts of movies as a child, I can positively say that my first “movie” is done. Now that the first is completed, many can follow in succession with (hopefully) improving quality.

I learned quite a bit in the 12 hours I worked on the movie. Those lessons can then be applied to future endeavors, where more mistakes can be made and more lessons learned. And now that Number One is done, the process of making a movie doesn’t seem nearly as scary and insurmountable as it once did. I can’t wait until I can start on the next one.

If you get better at your art through repetition (and certainly repetition isn’t the only requirement), then this movie was simply the first iteration. That’s why I see it more as a sketch. It is not Citizen Kane. And knowing that makes everything else all the easier to handle.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I judge movies. In this particular instance–how I judge some of the smaller movies from local filmmakers that played at this year’s deadCENTER Film Festival. I have this nagging feeling that I may have been a bit too negative. Perhaps I was expecting too much. But, that begs the question–what should you expect, if anything, out of a low-budget, local film? Which imperfections can be easily excused and which cannot? And is it possible that negative criticism should be refrained when it comes to local and/or amateur filmmakers? Do films submitted to a regional film festival deserve a critical pass?

If I have negative criticism for a big, Hollywood movie, it is rarely tinged with any regret. But when I say something negative about a lower-budget movie made by local filmmakers, then regret becomes a very real possibility. As I’ve been mulling all this over, I came to the feeling that I may have been too negative in my recaps of a pair of Oklahoma films that screened at this year’s deadCENTER. The two films in question were Adam Davis Beatty’s The Rounder Comes to Town and Singletree Productions’ Simmons on Vinyl. Here’s what I wrote:

The Rounder Comes to Town was highly anticipated. It was perhaps a little too indulgently Tarantino-ish and lacked an assured tone. I wasn’t quite sure how funny or campy it was genuinely going for. Perhaps I was taken aback knowing the actor who spouted the oddest lines (something like: I like kitty cats. Kitties in the morning, day and night. Kitties for brunch. Mimosas and kitties. Except he wasn’t talking about kittens.) Still, it showed a bunch of promise. A few changes here and there and it could’ve easily been my favorite of the festival.

and…

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.

I can see now that I was somewhat cautious when I wrote both items. In the first instance, I tried to mitigate the negative criticism with the statement that “a few changes here and there and it could’ve easily been my favorite of the festival.” In the second, I praised previous work and then suggested that I might’ve “not been in the right ‘frame of mind’” for it. Now, I wasn’t brutal with either movie. And neither case could fairly be called film criticism; they’re just a few sentences among a longer recap post. Nevertheless, something of what I wrote has affected me and led me here.

I stand behind what I wrote about The Rounder Comes to Town, aside from the “too indulgently Tarantino-ish” comment. I’m not even sure what that means. All art is indulgent to some degree, and this movie was not overly so. And I haven’t seen enough of those films that influenced Tarantino to be able to say with much confidence that which is derivative of him and that which is derivative of his influences. Otherwise, I liked the film. A very impressive first feature. The uncertainty of the tone was really the only thing that kept this impressive deadCENTER entry from being a favorite deadCENTER entry.

About Simmons on Vinyl, I wrote that it looked like “three good friends having fun making a movie…[without] somebody who can or will rein them in when necessary” and that I would have “preferred something that had been developed some more.” On one hand, you can excuse a lot when you know that the budget for this was $300. On the other hand, that doesn’t make every no-budget movie worthwhile.

If I have any genuine criticism regarding Simmons on Vinyl it isn’t with the movie, it’s with the festival’s awarding of the Grand Jury prize. If I were handing out that award, I would’ve likely given it to another film. But that’s one man’s opinion. The Grand Jury Narrative Feature award has its own criteria for selecting a winner, just like every other contest that takes place on this fine Earth. And that’s perfectly fine. Not liking a movie isn’t the same as the movie being bad.

That being said, the movie is way better than any movie I’ve ever made. And with just about every movie, saying that it could have been “developed some more” is simply stating the obvious. It’s like saying that I really wish they’d spent $375 on this movie. Also, I don’t really remember the movie too much at this point. Too much Stella, I think.

Also having made my first movie, albeit a 4-minute piece of crap, I can now better appreciate both the hunger and struggle of making movies. There is something very lovely and admirable about it. Along with Rounder, I genuinely look forward to seeing Simmons again. I also look forward to whatever Beatty and Singletree Productions create in the future. Sometimes early iterations can show the promise of great things to come in the future.

I do think local filmmakers do deserve all the praise and support that they can get. As for myself, I plan on being both more positive and more open-minded when it comes to the output of local filmmakers. It’s not that I don’t care about being genuine, I just think that emerging filmmakers need all the help they can get. Without it, the fight to make an even better movie down the road will be even more difficult.

I also think that these types of films need to be judged with the knowledge that they’re created outside of “the industry” with very little money by filmmakers who must create their own opportunities. These aren’t full-time, studio-financed filmmakers. These are scrappy Okie artists. To some degree, you must judge their films based on their promise. A great artist, I believe, can push through the limitations of budget and access. I look forward to seeing what they can do. I also can’t wait to throw my own hat into the ring.

July 19th – July 25th

The Crazies — I was disappointed with this remake of the 1973 Romero flick. I’ve not seen the original, so that wasn’t my problem. And this one wasn’t terrible. It just wasn’t very good. There were some good moments. A couple of good set pieces. But the rest was just too convoluted and boring to make the whole all that worthwhile.

Mad Men (Season 3) — In anticipation of last night’s season four premiere, I went back and watched the entirety of the third season. This is a Great Show. Great actors behind interesting and imperfect characters. Great stories to move everything along. And, perhaps my favorite aspect of the show, a great world they inhabit–a NYC ad agency in the 1960′s. It informs not only the locations, set decoration, costumes, and music, but also the commentary on how much and/or little things have changed since that time period. It’s a world that I love getting lost within.

July 12th – July 18th

Inception – Christopher Nolan’s latest is one in which you can’t really be brief in talking about it. A proper post would run on and on. That being said, I really loved this movie. A truly great summer blockbuster. And a true relief from all the remakes, reimaginings, and reboots. After watching it the first time without knowing too much about it, I then consumed all the reviews (both positive and negative) and interpretations that I could get a hold of before seeing it a second time. Somewhat surprisingly, I found myself liking the movie even more the second time around.

A Real Young Girl and Perfect Love — Two from Catherine Breillat. The first is a rare coming-of-age story. It’s rare in the fact that it deals with an emerging sexuality in a truly visceral way, full of fears, confusion, kink, and exploration. It’s also rare because it’s a girl’s coming-of-age story. This uniqueness makes for a sometimes shocking little film. The other tells the story of a young man’s inadequacy (which are several) in making his relationship with an older woman work. There are some really good performances in this one, and Isabelle Renauld is stunning as Frederique. After a half-dozen or so Breillat films, I can say that I’m certainly a fan. Sure, they can be disturbing at times, but those feelings are not without their purpose.

Bukowski: Born Into This — A documentary about the seedy American poet. I really like Bukowski’s work, or rather the little I’ve read of it. But the man himself…I’d just like to punch in the face. He comes off–for me anyway–as too insufferable. He seems like a cliche of the tortured artist, except one who might throw his empty beer bottle at you if you ever made such a claim in his presence. That being said, the perceived behavior of a man is not necessarily his art. I’m still curious to check out more of his stuff, particularly some of his novels.

2012 — A much, much, much stupider summer blockbuster (than Inception). But one that I still have a lot of fun with. Along with The Day After Tomorrow, Roland Emmerich delivers fun popcorn movies. They’re like high-budgeted SyFy Originals. They may not engage the brain all that much (okay, not at all), but they’re an entertaining amusement park ride.

June 28th – July 5th

District 9 — Wanted to see this one again. And it was on Netflix Instant Viewing. Unfortunately it wasn’t in HD. Still a good, fun movie. The movie is a little schizophrenic. It feels like it’s trying to be several different movies all at once. Thus it never seems to fully play out its various intentions. But for the most part, it manages to hold things together adequately.

Five Easy Pieces — I came to this movie mostly just with the awareness of the diner scene. I became interested in seeing it after reading Peter Biskind’s book about New Hollywood, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. And I also go into this movie almost a little sick of Jack Nicholson. Maybe it’s his more recent acting choices, but I was beginning to think of him as highly overrated.

But with this one, Nicholson delivers a great performance as Robert Eroica Dupea. At the beginning of the film, Dupea appears as a roustabout on the oil fields. He is thoroughly blue collar. He survives in motels and bowling alleys with a dimwit waitress. He seems every bit a redneck jerk.

But then he must return to the family home on news that his father is ill. Once he arrives, we realize that he comes from a decidedly sophisticated family. He was classically trained on the piano. His family mixes with artists and intellectuals. Dupea isn’t working the oil fields because he’s blue collar. He’s just trying to avoid his family and this other part of his life.

The movie pits sophistication against provincialism. Dilettante against redneck. The soundtrack to the movie even pits Chopin, Bach, and Mozart against Tammy Wynette. Dupea struggles against both sides of his past. Eventually, he rejects them both in favor of Alaska.

Thirst and Let The Right One In — A couple of really good vampire movies from the last couple of years. These certainly aren’t your daughter’s vampire movies. And neither is American either. Thirst was a real surprise. It was not at all what I had expected. I think I was waiting to see an ultra-violent picture that was trying too hard to be badass. But what I got was a well paced, beautifully shot story that took me to some unexpected places. It explores religious guilt, morality, and the absurdity of eternal life through a vampiric perspective. I kind of can’t wait to see it again. I also really want to check out director’s Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy.

Let the Right One I had seen at the theater. After Thirst, it made the perfect double-feature. Thankfully, the Netflix Instant Viewing version featured the theatrical subtitles. After watching them both, I’m convinced that a vampire’s life (much like a religious afterlife) would be tedious struggle of monotony.

Jaws — It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this one. And I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen it in an uninterrupted and unedited format (I may have only ever seen it on TV). I was honestly surprised with how serious the movie is. Seeing as it pretty much launched the Summer Blockbuster, I expected something a little more goofy. Big summer movies seem to be primarily about escapism. This was downright horror. The shark was impressively scary to me. Except for one particular scene, I thought the horror of the beast was quite believable.

Toy Story and Toy Story 2 — With the third installment at the theaters, it was about time that I actually saw the first two. While the toys make for delightful characters to follow around, I was left a little empty. They were okay. But I certainly prefer Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up to either of these. I wanted to love them…but I just didn’t.

June 21st – June 27th

Bluebeard — I really like this movie a lot, so much so that I ended up watching it twice. Based on the Charles Perrault story, the movie recounts the original folktale as a pair of more modern sisters rediscover it while playing in the attic. Sisterly rivalry, a common theme in Catherine Breillat’s films, is certainly present all over this one. Certainly, this film is less sexually explicit than some of her other films which ought to make it more accessible.

This was a folktale “period piece” done on the cheap. But very effective. Because of that, it seemed like something Herzog might have done. The story was compelling enough to make costume and location seem adequately authentic. And Breillat captures the story with very painterly compositions. The eclipse scene is especially striking. At first, it just seems too artsy and conscious. But as we pull back and figure out what is going on, its effectiveness is apparent.

Lola Creton, Dominique Thomas, Credit: Strand Releasing

This is an art film. So it’s not all that accessible. Thank god. It means there can be nuance and complexity. Lots of swirling grays on Breillat’s canvas. I love that about this movie. It’s feminist in an unexpected way. Marie-Catherine (Lola Créton, wonderful) is no saint. She is most certainly flawed. She’s a gold-digger, for starters. But Bluebeard (Dominique Thomas) is a godlike figure with quasi-religious power over her. He may value honesty and trust. “If you tell me the truth, you’ll never anger me.” But no mortals can obey the rules of his game. It’s a rigged game he sets up. So of course she must disobey him. For that, she pays with her life.

Of course, this movie makes me not only want to see more of Breillat’s films but also to explore more un-Disneyfied folktales from Perrault and others.

The Maid — Another really good one. This one a Chilean film from Sebastian Silva. It features a remarkable lead performance by Catalina Saavedra as Raquel. The movie itself tackles what is meant by family and the power of inertia.

Family isn’t simply blood relatives. Family are those who you care about and who care about you. New friends, fleeting friends, even a pet are sometimes more genuinely family than blood relatives.

Personal inertia seems to be popping up in more and more films these days. Or else I’m just aware of it more. Certainly my mental well-being is dependent on overcoming inertia. For Raquel, inertia is literally killing her. Her life is a repetitive cycle of house-cleaning and caring for kids who are not her own. Not until she is nudged out of her numbing stasis by a rival maid does she overcome her inertia. At that point, happiness becomes a possibility once again.