The Filmcake

June 14th – June 20th

The Box — After liking Donnie Darko but not Southland Tales, I wasn’t sure where this one would take me. But I ended up really liking it. Like those previous two from director Richard Kelly, this one is imaginative, weird, and mysterious. It seems to say something about free will. But then it seems to say something about determinism. It seems to describe god. Or an alien god. Or no god at all. It’s confounding, to be sure. A lot of that surely comes from Richard Matheson. The film is based on his short story “Button, Button.” But Kelly takes the movie a little farther.

A lot of people were disappointed in the aftermath of Donnie Darko. That movie sparked a lot of interesting interpretations. All of Kelly’s movies challenge viewers to try and figure things out. That investigation can be a lot of the fun in watching enigmatic movies like his, even when there is no obvious (or correct) answer. It provides motivation for multiple viewings. But things are ruined a little when the director provides too much information, as Kelly may have done with the commentary track and supplemental materials on the Darko DVD.

I don’t want a definitive answer from the director. I don’t want too much information. I want the film to exist as the strongest piece of evidence for various interpretations. A few pages from the Human Resource Exploitation Manual seen in The Box is available online. It adds a level of interactivity to the film, but I don’t think it improves anything. And any more information would diminish the nice mysterious nature of the film. Aside from broader ideas about the source material or tone or something, I kind of want the director to make the film and then step away. Leave the interpretation to us!

Pink Flamingos — A test of endurance. But one I’m glad I can cross off the list. The name of the film implies a kitschy quality. And the film itself teeters between a disgust for the freakish, a genuine respect for the freakish, and exploitation of the freakish. It’s a strange, strange movie. And one of the scariest horror movies I’ve seen in a while. That Divine reminds me of John Wayne Gacy will only amplify my impending nightmares.

Star Trek — Prior to catching J.J. Abrams reboot of the classic TV & movie series last summer, I hadn’t been much of a Star Trek fan. I’d watched Deep Space Nine for a season or so. But other than that, I’d only seen a handful of episodes and if I’d seen any of the movies, then I sure didn’t remember them. But I went into this reboot with a basic understanding of what was going on in the Star Trek world, as well as some of the most famous character behaviors and lines of dialogue. And to be honest, I wasn’t all that excited about going into this movie last summer. I had never got excited about Star Trek before, how was this going to be any different?

But I have to say after catching it again, I really like it. It’s just a wonderful movie to pop into the Blu-ray player and have fun with. One of the better blockbuster/popcorn movies we’ve seen in the last several years. I think it looks dazzling. Sure, there are just way too many lens flares. But the movie just looks really good to me. The integration of sets and special effects and make-up actually impressed the hell out of me. Sure it’s a big budget film. But I was still impressed.

The story is a bit convoluted at times. The way they get around the reboot through an alternative reality is somewhat clever. But somehow the script remains fairly strong. As far as performances, I believe I had somewhat dismissed Chris Pine the first time around. But upon this viewing, I found his performance to be quite impressive. He gives us a little bit of the original Kirk while still bringing his own stuff to it. I think the rest of the cast fills out strongly. This might just have to be one that I add to my Blu-ray collection.

Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me, shot mostly in Oklahoma, was still shooting during last year’s deadCENTER festival. In my mind, the movie is intimately linked to the local film festival. We got our pictures taken with the “Alba Shark.” We saw them shooting a scene downtown. We caught glimpses of Simon Baker and Jessica Alba at a local lounge. I saw Casey Affleck heading to Bricktown as I checked out of the Colcord. Many locals were extras or helped out with the crew. It was a legitimate film, with a legitimate director, being filmed in Oklahoma during the best film festival in the state. So part of me was a little disappointed that it didn’t screen during this year’s festival. Sure, it probably wouldn’t have been the best movie to screen outdoors for the public. But it would’ve been an excellent addition to an already impressive 10th festival.

The Killer Inside Me Films in OKC

Michael Winterbottom is always a bit of a surprise. He seems to fly under the radar. Perhaps it’s the variety of his projects–the way he bounces around from genre to genre, from tone to tone, from mood to mood. But he’s certainly underappreciated. Most people will know him from A Mighty Heart. But, he’s done so much more. He did Jude, Welcome to Sarajevo, 24 Hour Party People, Tristam Shandy, and now The Killer Inside Me. In addition he’s managed to make a documentary based on a Naomi Klein book and a movie that has gained some notoriety because of its unsimulated sex.

I think he does fine work once again with The Killer Inside Me. Based on the pulp crime novel by Oklahoma born Jim Thompson, the film follows the exploits of Sheriff Lou Ford (Affleck) as he navigates his own slippery grip with psychopathy. All of the ingredients of hard-boiled fiction are present. There are unflinching takes on violence and sex. There are twists and turns and double-crosses. It certainly puts the dark back into noir. And for the cherry on top, an ample dose of Freud takes a stab at explanation.

The film is brutal. With seemingly little reason for doing so, Lou turn’s the beautiful face of prostitute Joyce Lakewood (Alba) into something resembling cube steak. It’s brutal. And frustrating. Freud stutters with a reason for this behavior. But whether the Freudian explanation is for Lou or for us remains unclear. Do we even care if violence (or sexual dysfunction) has a cause? Does it matter where the root lies? Or is it enough that it exists?

The violence of the film is also brutal because it comes from Lou’s perspective. To him, the women he loves somehow want this violence inflicted on them. They don’t put their hands up to block punches. For Lou, it is their sexual desire fulfilled.

Why the film offers potential paths toward explanations (e.g. the Freud books on Lou’s bookshelf, the babysitter, the back seat of the car, etc.), it doesn’t provide definitive answers. Perhaps Lou’s past has acted as a compass, directing him down his present path, but he is still very much guiding his own ship.

Casey Affleck impresses once again, playing a psychopathic version of The Coward Robert Ford. He keeps getting better and better. Kate Hudson just makes me long for Almost Famous with the hope that she can rekindle that fire at some point in a future project. Ned Beatty is great as usual. But I’m still not convinced that Alba can really act. She’s a pretty face who delivers some clunky lines. Luckily, a doormat is what the script called for so it’s not as if it’s bad casting. I want to like her as an actor. The shark posters she plastered all over the city last year actually kind of made me like her.

Mostly, I’m just glad that a major film from a credible director was made right here in the Great State of Oklahoma. I hope there is much more that links Hollywood with Oklahoma into the future.

Okay, so I’ve been sadly negligent with my blogging. Let’s just all agree that I’m a slacker and move on, shall we?

deadCENTER really did it up right this year, as befits its 10^th anniversary. There were great films, many locally-made. There were special guest appearances – Spike Jonze and Mat Hoffman made an appearance on opening night, Jesse Eisenberg was Skyped in for a Q&A after Friday night’s screening of Holy Rollers, and film critic/The Treatment host Elvis Mitchell stuck around for most of the festival. This year also introduced us to karaoke phenom Simply Irresistible (S. I.). And, as always, there were the parties. The glorious, glorious parties.

So, without further ado, I give you my Best of deadCENTER 2010:

Best Film: The Rock ‘n Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher. I wasn’t intending to see this one, but thanks to the festival omnipresence of karaoke cowboy Simply Irresistible (one of the film’s characters), I found myself crammed into Kerr Auditorium as part of a nearly sold-out crowd. While the first 20 minutes had me worried that Rock ‘n Roll Dreams would fall into the “group of guys make a self-indulgent film consisting of little more than in-jokes” category, I wound up utterly charmed by this film. The city of Tulsa is beautifully photographed, and I kind of can’t wait to buy the soundtrack (comprised entirely of Oklahoma artists). Rock ‘n Roll Dreams is truly a love letter to Oklahoma.

Honorable Mentions: Heart of Now, Junko’s Shamisen, Mr. Hypnotism

Best Party: I’d be hard pressed to decide which Friday night party was most fun – the Oklahoma Film and Music Office reception at Iguana, or the Film Row Frolic. So I’m declaring it a toss-up. The Iguana party had the music (clearly, someone at Iguana loves Sleigh Bells as much as I do), the food (a buffet of mini-tacos, tamales, cilantro rice, and loads more) and all-you-can-drink swirls. The only way it could’ve been better is if you added some highly entertaining conversation with an out-of-state film blogger.

Oh, yeah – that was there, too.

Nipping at the heels of the Iguana party was the Film Row Frolic, held in an un-air conditioned (but still pretty bitchin’) warehouse-type space on OKC’s Film Row. Girls dressed as geishas, more free booze, and a scorching performance from S.I.

Honorable Mention: The unofficial karaoke after-party Friday night at Cookie’s. I was drunk enough by that point to break my self-imposed karaoke ban and bust out a little Loretta Lynn. And, of course, ol’ S.I. was there to perform his staple, Blackstreet’s “No Diggity.”

Most WTF? Moment: Every deadCENTER has one, but this year had more than its fair share. The winning moment, however, had to be watching a soft-spoken former coworker of mine appear as a vagina enthusiast/poker player in The Rounder Comes to Town.

Honorable Mentions: Seeing S.I. for the first time at the opening night party – long before we knew his genius, and only thought of him as “that weird, karaoking cowboy guy – what’s up with him?”

Also, discussing The Human Centipede, A Serbian Film and much, much more with GreenCine Daily’s Aaron Hillis. This guy’s got some great stories.

Unofficial Mascot of deadCENTER 2010: Clad in black, with cowboy hat, mustache and never-removed sunglasses, Simply Irresistible was hard to miss. And he seemed to be everywhere. Rumor has it that he even spent part of Saturday at the river, entertaining families and tourists waiting for their river cruises. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy made an appearance at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, too. With that being said…

Song I Hope Never to Hear Again: No Diggity.

See ya next year, deadCENTER!

June 7th – June 14th

I spent the good part of the week at the 10th Annual deadCENTER Film Festival. Commentary on what I watched during the festival can be found in those posts. Somehow I did mange to watch something else. I don’t know how.

Shutter Island — It’s Scorsese. So it’s not bad. And I liked it better than The Departed. But I certainly didn’t love it. Part of that is certainly due to knowing in advance about the plot “twist.” In the end, it seemed Shyamalan (twist ending) meets Tarantino (cinematic pastiche) via Hitchcock (cinematically Vertigo-ish). I even liked some of the quirky touches–the rear-projection, the continuity errors, and the bombastic score. But the true test of a film like this is how well it plays upon second viewings. It’s just that it left me so unexcited that I don’t really see myself watching it again. It’s good enough that I’d recommend it, but not good enough for me to remember it.

Sunday

Day 5 ended up with brunch at La Baguette at the Colcord and the Best of Fest shorts at OKCMOA which featured some of the award winners.

The 2010 deadCENTER Film Festival Award Winners were:

• Best Student Film: In This Place
• Best Animation: O Pintor de Ceos (Painter of the Skies)
• Best Narrative Short: Junko’s Shamisen
• Best Documentary Short: A Song for Ourselves
• Best Narrative Feature: earthworks
• Best Documentary Feature: A Good Day to Die
• Best Okie Short: The Rounder Comes to Town
• Best Okie Feature: The Rock ‘n Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher
• Grand Jury Narrative Feature: Simmons on Vinyl
• Grand Jury Documentary Feature: Our House

At the Best of Fest, they screened the animation winner and all of the short film winners. They also, for some reason, screened LA Bag Brothers. That one, perhaps tellingly, was my least favorite of the bunch. Being somewhat of a folk music fan, I found the documentary A Song for Ourselves quite interesting. The Painter of the Skies had some promise but it was too shaky and blurry, perhaps due to a bad transfer or some other technical issue. 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. But my favorite for the day was Junko’s Shamisen, which also happened to be the one film from the Mixtape program that we had to skip out on the evening before. It was a very nice combination of live-action and gorgeous animation. I loved it.

That means that the 2010 festival is in the books. Now it’s on to a new decade of deadCENTER awesomeness. As always, many kudos to Melissa, Cacky, Kim, Ian, and Kevin for putting on a really great festival. Until next year…

Saturday

Day 4 started all intellectual-like and then moved on to heavy partying. That, my friends, is a GOOD day.

We started at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art for a couple of panels and a screening. The first panel was called “How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Make My Movie.” This turned out to be a lucky panel to be on. Three of the four panelists, Jack Roberts, Adam Beatty, and Mark Potts, won awards later that night. Unfortunately, Lagueria Davis was not as lucky. Still the panel was very interesting and all four contributors offered up interesting thoughts (all you need to get in the writing groove is tea, an iTunes playlist, and a candle). With budgets ranging from near a million down to $300 for a feature, all of the panelists were inspiring. This was the moment in the festival that I had my annual bout of wanting to be a filmmaker myself.

After that first panel, the documentary For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Criticism was screened. I absolutely love film criticism. There’s a real art to good criticism. I hope one day to have a fraction of the skill of some of my favorite critics. The documentary was interesting, but having read Phillip Lopate’s book American Movie Critics it wasn’t all that eye-opening for me. It could have benefited from being made a couple years later than it was. There has been so much change–so many critics losing their jobs–that many of the subject identifications were way out of date.

The film then lead into the “Critics Panel” which was moderated by OKCMOA’s Brian Hearn. The panelists included Gerald Peary (critic and director of For the Love of Movies), Pete Vonder Haar (of FilmThreat), and Elvis “Shake It, Don’t Break It” Mitchell of KCRW’s The Treatment. Again, I just love the art of film criticism so this was very interesting for me. Like the movie, I’m not sure that a general audience would have enjoyed it quite as much. Also, the movie and the second panel would’ve benefited from a talented and respected film blogger. The movie briefly featured Karina Longworth (formerly of spout), but that was about it aside from Harry Knowles (Aint It Cool News). As it stands, it was hardly even accepted that a good critic could be had from someone who hadn’t at some point held a position with a print publication. They are out there. My RSS feed is full of them. Still, it was a lot of fun and made we want to get a book of Pauline Kael’s criticism.

So after the panel it was over to IAO for the Mixtape shorts program. Bicycle Cowboy was a fun silent-y film that made what it could out of its conceit. Mr. Hypnotism was good, even if I was never quite sure if Dr. Dante was real or if this was actually just a mockumentary. feMC was somewhat interesting, if incomplete. Cinder I just didn’t get or care for. Seltzer Works was a beautiful short documentary that surprisingly captured my interest.  And my most anticapted short, Blastula: The Making of Embryonic, was mostly nice to look at but lacked any context. I’m a huge Flaming Lips fan and I’ve listened to their Embryonic album. So, I could tell what was going on. But the documentary short barely even identified the band members, much less any context for the band or the album as a whole. It would make for a fairly pretty DVD extra or something, but didn’t really stand on its own. At any rate, we had to leave before the last film in order to make it to our next film.

I hadn’t planned on seeing Justin Monroe’s The Rock ‘n Roll Dreams of Duncan Christopher when the festival began. But the non-stop promotion of the film by Simply Irresistible was enough to make me change around my schedule. And, I was certainly rewarded. Great direction, hilarious moments, solid performances, beautifully shot, and with a wonderful soundtrack. Very solid AND an Oklahoma film. My only problems came in the last few moments of the film. But I can certainly allow them a brief hiccup.

We made it over to the Cosmic Art Jubilee in time for the Awards Ceremony. Then it was off to a bite to eat before the Block Party on 9th Street (Iguana once again). After that wound down and I finally managed to shake Elvis Mitchell’s hand, we ended up meeting a few friends elsewhere and partying even longer into the night. It was a long day. And nearly the end of the festival. But so, so wonderful.

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.”

Thursday

As usual, Day 2 started off up on the roof of the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Just hanging out, talking to friends and meeting a few new people. And more Stella.

Then off to Kerr Auditorium for 8: The Mormon Proposition. While the documentary was definitely preaching to the choir, the atmosphere of the screening made it a very worthwhile experience. Stranded in this island of Red, it’s a rare but welcome opportunity to be surrounded by such like-minded individuals. While not gay myself, this issue of marriage equality is still very important to me. Over six years ago upon President Bush’s proposal of a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage, we decided to remove our own wedding bands until marriage became legal in the state of Oklahoma. It’s been six years and it may very well be six more.

So, watching this movie in a theater full of people with similar viewpoints was quite uplifting. And Programming Director Melissa Scaramucci’s impassioned opening and closing remarks were a welcome surprise. After the film, instead of the scheduled Nonna’s after-party (which has always been the most disappointing of deadCENTER’s many parties), we all met up at Iguana’s for some food, drink, and lively political discussion.

Some links:

8: The Mormon Proposition
The Equality Network
White Knot

Well, while the flood waters have me trapped in my house, I might as well finally get to a re-cap of my deadCENTER experience. I’ll just start from the beginning.

Wednesday

Set up a couple of lawn chairs behind the VIP section to watch The Birth of Big Air. As we waited, we were entertained by a karaoking cowboy in black. We had no idea who he was…and it wouldn’t be the last time we saw him.

To be honest, I wasn’t all that excited about this kick-off film. I’m not an extreme sports enthusiast. But I have to say that I was presently surprised with the documentary. It was like Bradley Beesley’s The Fearless Freaks except that it took place on a vert ramp. BMX pioneer Mat Hoffman’s fearless way of gripping life by the neck and shaking every last bit from it mirrors the intense passion of fellow OKC’er Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips. They’re both a little mad. But they’re both inspirational and I’m certainly proud to call them fellow Okies.

To have both Hoffman and one of the producer’s of the documentary–Spike Jonze–in attendance for a Q & A made the kick-off event all the more special. I would’ve liked to attend the fundraiser beforehand, but to merely be in Jonze’s presence was satisfying to me. Oh, yeah, there was also a record-breaking crowd in attendance for the film. Way to kick things off deadCENTER!

If you missed either of the deadCENTER screenings of Jeff Tremaine’s The Birth of Big Air, don’t worry. You’ll be able to catch it on ESPN starting July 29th. After the premiere, you’ll find it playing on the other ESPN channels in subsequent days.

Sarah re-caps Day 2 of the 10th deadCENTER Film Festival:

As usual, Day 2 of deadCENTER began with an after-work soiree on the rooftop of the OKCMOA – and as usual, it was hot, muggy and windy, but still a great time.

After a couple drinks, we headed over to Kerr Auditorium for a screening of 8: The Mormon Proposition. Narrated by Dustin Lance Black (who, aside from writing the Oscar-winning screenplay for Milk, has written and co-produced several episodes of HBO’s Big Love), the film chronicles the significant role played by the Mormon church in the passage of California’s Proposition 8. (In case anyone forgot, Prop 8 stripped the right to marriage  from same-sex couples.) I left this film with my blood pressure highly elevated, much as I expected. Some of the hatred, bigotry and blind obedience to religious dogma portrayed in 8 left me seething in rage.

Marriage equality is an issue near and dear to my heart. As someone who is married but has chosen not to have children, it’s not unreasonable to presume that my own (hetero) marriage would also be deemed “inferior” or “invalid” by many of the same people who oppose same-sex marriage. But my relationship with my husband is – by far – the most important, rewarding and enjoyable thing in my life. The thought of other people, just as in love as Dwight and I, being denied rights that we often take for granted (visiting each other in the hospital, for instance) makes me want to cry and punch things. To me, marriage is not about making babies. It’s about love. It’s about partnership. And everyone should have the right to freely make a commitment to anyone they choose – be they of the same, or opposite, sex. The only thing that makes me angrier than social injustice is unquestioning allegiance to religious dogma, but I’ll save that rant for another time.

On the bright side, I was heartened to find myself sitting among a theater-full of presumably similarly-minded people. Since I ordinarily feel like the black sheep – one of a handful of liberals in the state of Oklahoma – rare is the occasion for that wonderful, warm feeling of solidarity with my fellow citizens. This screening was one of those occasions, and one of the reasons I look forward to deadCENTER every year. For a few days every June, I’m reminded that yes, there are other people like me here in Oklahoma – people who love art, and who care about more than banning abortion, preventing same-sex marriage and keeping Big Government From Invading Your Home and Takin’ Yer Guns.

Day 2 wrapped up at Iguana (not Nonna’s as expected, yay for spontaneity!), where lively discussion of the film (and politics in general) ensued over drinks, chips and salsa. Big thanks to Iguana for providing an outstanding score to our evening – Sleigh Bells and Arcade Fire? I’m giddy.

For Day 3, I’m looking forward to checking out Mark Potts’ film, Simmons on Vinyl at Untitled [Artspace], Roll Out Cowboy and the always-fun Midnight Shorts program at IAO, and more Iguana.