Coyote (2018) LA FILM FESTIVAL 2018

This bizarre animated fever dream about a coyote who is "killed" by some wolves, as is his family as they feast on a dead bison. The Bison then resurrects the coyote in humanoid form and he goes off to get revenge.

Trippy, gross and at times very WTF, COYOTE is a a very strange film. I'm not really sure what I think of it, not because it is so odd but more because I don't think the plot really all hangs together. Its a film that intellectually is all there because I can connect up the pieces but I'm not sure its all on the screen. Something, I'm not sure what, seems to be missing.

That said it is a singular vision and as such is definitely worth a look, especuially if you get the chance to see it at a festival, such as LA where it is playing this weekend.

20 Weeks (2017) Los Angeles Film Festival

Anna Margaret Hollyman and Amir Arison star as a couple who are in love but are not sure where their relationship is going other than they love to spend time with each other. When an unexpected pregnancy occurs the couple is drawn together, When possible issues with the baby's health occur their lives and relationship is thrown into turmoil.

Earnest and largely well made film is for the most part one of the most straightforward looks at how modern medicine is affecting how we view pregnancy.  Covering a variety of issues from abortion, to genetic testing, sonograms, the film gives us a good, and nicely unsensational look at the issues facing modern couples.

The problem with the film is the structure of the film  makes the first half hour a kind of long haul. The film begins with the couple having the sonogram which we know will reveal a problem. The film then jumps back and forth through time showing us how the couple met and how we got here. I'm not really sure why its structured like that because we know where we are going, and we kind of know what is going to be found once we get there. Rearranging the time frame doesn't add anything especially since it takes so long to get to now. Once we get to know the film stops being bothersome and becomes a good story of a couple facing serious choices.

First half hour aside I like 20 WEEKS. Its a beautifully acted that doesn't take the typical Hollywood histrionic route. The characters wonderfully don't peak and valley as they would in  a studio production, these are adults with love and respect for each other and behave as such.

Recommended for anyone who wants a thoughtful look at a serious subject with real characters.

Roller Dreams (2017) LA Film Festival 2017

This is a very good look at the changing fortunes of Venice Beach California through the lives of the roller dancers who put it on the map.

Originally the only coastal section of Los Angeles where blacks and Mexicans could go to without getting into trouble the area became home to a thriving community of men and women who danced on roller skates. These untrained skaters and dancers were doing moves that impressed everyone who saw them. As word spread the legend of Venice Beach began to grow. The skating began to influence popular culture and people with money and political clout turned their eyes on the beach and gentrification appeared on the horizon and the people who brought the world to the beach were kind of pushed out..

A solid look at a now largely forgotten time ROLLER DREAMS brings their stories back from the abyss. That may sound hyperbole but you have to realize that much of what came out of Venice Beach was absorbed into popular culture. Its hard, even for someone who saw it all was over mainstream media, to realize that there was a time when you didn't dance on skates, or move, on or off skates, the way these dancers did and people do now.

The film''s strength is that the film follows the lives of the various people through the changes to now. We get to really see how life treated them over the years and how they drifted apart but always held on to the glory times. The result is a very touching and moving film that is much more complex than you might suspect.

Recommended.

ROLLER DREAMS is a film that will make you go wow repeatedly.

Abu (2017)LA Film Festival

Abu is the Urdu word for father. It is also the name of filmmaker Arshad Khan’s cinematic portrait of his relationship with his father. It is a loving portrait of two men and their family whose lives went differently than they ever expected.

The film charts Khan's life growing up in Pakistan, his discovering boys, while still not considering himself gay (as he was always was told “there are no gays in Pakistan”), his going to college, moving to Canada and his clashes with his father. We also see Khan's father’s life. We see how he moved from a culturally open young man to an older restrictive older man with a deep fundamentalist belief. We watch as the two men try to remain in contact despite moving differently.

Abu is an excellent film. It’s a wonderful portrait of no only Arshad and his father but of the society that they come from. For those of us who are not from Pakistan the film beautifully explains the rules that the two men grew up operating under.

At the same time while I recognize how good the film is it never full resonated for me. I suspect that had I been Pakistani or a gay man this film would have resonated more. I can see all of the little touchstone moments intellectually but I couldn’t feel them emotionally.

Definitely worth a look when the film plays Sunday at the LA Film Festival

For tickets and more information go here

Nightcap 6/11/17: The LA and Soho Film Festivals and BAMcinema Fest all start this week plus Randi's links

The LA Film Festival starts Wednesday the 14th and runs until the 22nd.

It’s kind of odd to think that the center of the film industry really didn’t have a film festival. Filmex was the I grew up knowing but that only started in 1971 and ran just 12 years. After that it was another 12 years before the official LA Film Festival started. Why it took so long will probably remain one of the great mysteries of life.

No matter the festival has been chugging along ever since and this year it's showing some good films.  WHile we have only seen one film they are screening, Keep the Change, we are currently lining up other films to cover so keep checking back.

For more information and tickets go here.
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BAMCinema Fest starts Wednesday and runs until June 25. One of the big festivals of the film year Cinema Fest is an eclectic mix of inde cinema spiced up by lots of special guests. Filmmakers love the fest and many of the screenings  have people doing Q&A’s.

Over the last few years we’ve given the fest a some coverage, unfortunately this year that isn’t going to be up to past years. While I am getting to one public screening, I’m missing everything else. Blame scheduling-basically I could not get out of my day job for any of the pre-fest screenings and my schedule for the fact I'm missing the public screenings which conflicted with prior plans.

My excuses aside feel free to browse the schedule and buy some tickets-though I warn you a number of the screenings sold out long ago – but it never hurts to try.

For more information and tickets go here
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The Soho Film festival starts THursday and runs through to the 22nd. I backed into the festival because I was trying to see where a film from Dances with films LANDING UP  was playing next. It had mentioned the festival in the press material and I was curious what the festival was. Looking at the material I was impressed that I sent out a request for more information (which I'm still waiting for).

Based on the films I've seen so far (we have also seen DUNNING MAN) the festival looks fantastic and i worth looking into.

For tickets and more information go here
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And Now Randi's Links

Circus Leaves Town and how to be a Human Cannon ball
Ridley Scott Petroleum commercial
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Wooster's Suit
Han Zimmer music in a commercial
Full on Musical in a jeans commercial
Cadbury Flake commercial 
Simon Pegg on RAISING ARIZONA
Stephen Hawking plays chess with Paul Rudd
Sort of Part 2
Ben Affleck's commentary on ARMAGEDDON
Dinosaurs connecting generations
How to Simpsonwave
Most beautiful shots from Studio Ghibli
The Beauty of Disney
Harold and Maude's Jaguar hearse
FDNY Second Chance Ceremony
Big Bird Birdsong
Batman and extreme cheese
Paul Simon and Colbert Feelin Groovy