They/Them/Us (2021) Dances With FIlms 2021

 

Divorced father living with his two kids meets a single mom on a dating site. They fall in love and move in together. However the course of the relationship is bumpy with her love of kink and his getting a job at a Christian College.

Romcom/family comedy has some solid laughs and some nice characters which allows the film to over come the forced nature of some of the plotting. While the kink, Christian and pot angles provide some chuckles, they feel less organic and more like an attempt by the filmmakers to make a film that stands out. To be honest you could swap out or remove any of those angles with something else and have the film work just as well, and probably feel a bit less forced.

Still regardless of my quibbling I laughed in the right places enough to make this a film worth trying.

Evan Wood (2021) Dances With Films 2021

Rachel returns home from college for her grandmothers funeral. She has been away for a while and her return is largely a happy occasion at a sad time. While there she begins to reconnect with her family and friends, particularly her brother Evan who is struggling with addiction issues. Unfortunately Rachel begins making waves unintentionally as she tries to be helpful.

This is a well acted and well plotted film and I don't know what I think of the film. I say  that because the film has some really great  bits, the "resolution" is unexpectedly real.

The battle between cliché and non-cliché comes from the -Rachel character. Differently drawn then everyone else she wanders through the action almost as if she is an outsider. She doesn’t seem to be connected t a lot of the other characters despite being Rachel doesn’t seem to know a great deal. Indeed some of her behavior toward Evan plays as if she has never interacted with him before despite being brother and sister. 

On the other hand the connections and interactions between all of the other characters are spot on. Everyone feels related and connected even the non-family members.  Their connection feels real.  Something that really hits home in the final school scene when Rachel is reading before the class and you realize how unconnected she is and how false her behaviors are. Watching the end for a second time I realized  how well written all the other characters were. They all felt alive.

I need to stop and make one thing clear here. My problem with EVAN WOOD is in the writing.To be honest if Rachel was better written I would consider the film one of the best I’ve seen this year but she disappoints. Charlotte Louise Spencer who plays her is fine. She does what she can with a poorly written character. Frankly I don’t think anyone could have played it better she just is stuck playing a deus ex machina and not a real person.

Ultimately, reservations aside EVAN WOOD is worth seeing for the bits that work.

GRIDLOCKED: ON TOUR WITH THE BRIGGS (2021) Dances With Films 2021

 

Gridlocked is a great film. Its one of the best music docs that I’ve seen in a long time.

To be honest going into the film I kind of sort of knew The Briggs. Watching the film I recognized some of the music but not enough to put a name with a song. However after seeing the film I was off trying to find some of their albums to download.

The film is a record of the band’s short tour along the West Coast of America. They have a new album coming out and want to play some show to support it. They aren’t sure if this will be their last hurrah, life has over taken their careers, but they want to give it one last go.

The resulting film is a masterpiece of a kind. It’s a portrait of band as a bunch of guys. They are not on, not posturing they are just living life with themselves and their families. Along the way they play some music.  I was delighted because for the first time I was watching a music doc where there was no pretense on any level. It was just friends hanging out and making music. No one person was on because everyone was just being themselves.

What an absolute joy.

I absolutely loved this film- nay- I absolutely loved these guys and their friends and families. I loved that I wanted to watch the film because I wanted to just be with them. If they didn’t play any music I still would have loved the film.

And what I love is that despite the guys being a punk band we get to see how good they are just playing music. The film ends with an acoustic song that is just phenomenal.

I can’t recommend this film enough.

Highly recommended.

Holiday at All Cost (2021) Dances With Films 2021

 

Holiday At All Costs is an amusing comedy. It will not shake the pillars of heaven but it will entertain.

The plot of the film has a put upon computer tech trying to take his family on the first vacation in six years. The problem is his boss refuses to pay his vacation time or overtime. He cuts a deal to help out at the resort and then it all goes sideways.

Good characters are lost in uncomfortable situations in a comedy that takes on vacations and martial strife. It’s a film where bad situations make good people behavior awkwardly with the result is a steady stream of laughs and chuckles.

To be honest I had zero interest in covering this film but it was sent along with a film I asked for. When that film turned into a bust I tried this in desperation and ended up having a good time.  If you want to know why I love film festivals like Dances With Film it’s that I frequently stumble into small gems like this that I never would have seen otherwise.

Recommended

SKIDROW LOS ANGELES (2021) Dances With Films 2021

 

Deeply affecting short film  about life on the street.

This film will break your heart. It’s a stunning film that if the cinema gods are looking down will be in the running for the Oscar.

While focusing on all of the people street the film, it primarily focuses on vet Gerald Hall who has been in the street for five years. Hall opens the film  talking about how we need to ask the homeless if they are okay, if they need food and if they need help. It’s a stunning speech that will bring a tear to your eye as it give humanity to all of the people we ignore every day.

Running 40 minutes SKIDROW  has more emotion than any five feature films combined. Certainly it has more punch than most similar films.  As I just inferred above the film’s power comes from it’s insistence that everyone we are seeing is more than just a person we pass. Director Van Maximilian Carlson makes everyone so real and so much a part of our lives during the run time that we end up carrying them with us well past the end credits. That may not sound like much, but it is vitally important since it means that perhaps we will get of our theater seats or couches and actually go out and do something.

Easily one of the top films at Dances With Films and 2021 as well

Highly recommended.

Mousie (2021) Dances With Films

 

Young Roma girl is being hidden from the Nazis by a a performer ina run down nightclub. However the small girl doesn't like being cooped up...

Solid war time drama has a real emotional kick. It's not hard to see Sally Bowles trying to hid a child had she stayed in Germany when the war started. In age when many sorts feel like a proof of concept its nice to see a film that feels complete. That isn't to say this couldn't become a feature, but it's nice to see a film where I didn't want to know where the rest of it was.

This is one you'll want to track down.

Dear Ike: Lost Letters to a Teen Idol (2021) Dances With Films 2021

Filmmaker  Dion Labriola grew up being a fan of Ike Eisenmann who starred in the Escape to Witch Mountain movies. A gay youth he retreated into his art work and dreamed of making a film with Ike.  Years later Labriola turned his letters and art work into a project.

A good documentary about how the connection with an actor he never met shaped the course of a life. It’s a movie tale, that is a real labor of love for Labriola who wrote, directed and created the numerous animated sequences that fill the film.

Recommended.

Dreamover (2021) Dances With Films 2021

I’m going to start by saying that if you see DREAMOVER you MUST stay through the end credits  because the film’s ending is in a post credit sequence. If you don’t the film seems to end on a WTF note.

The plot of a film has an unhappy man experiencing nightmares getting a treatment to end them. The process is supposed to change his way of looking at life by having him reexperience a time he was in love. We then follow his nightly romance.

How you react to the film is going to be determined by how you react to the ending of the film. This is a really nice romance that plays out in unexpected ways. Its so nice to see the course of love play out in a more realistic sort of away. It kicked up a lot of emotion for me as I could relate to much of what happened.

That said- there isn't much to say beyond that since the only way to really discuss this film is to do it from start to finish - the real finish. So stay through the end credits because the pre credits ending is not the real ending.

Recommended

DREAMOVER plays at Dances With Films September 5. For tickets and more information and tickets go here

Sing to Me Sylvie (2020) Dances With Films 2021

 

After ten years apart Sylvie meets David on the street. Long ago they were an item and performing together. Now he lives in a tent a busks and she lives with her husband. She tells David he can stay with her for three days while her husband is away. The stay rekindles Sylvie’s itch to perform and her feelings for David.

Well made and well acted drama doesn’t quite come together dramatically. Blame the script which keeps the buttoned up Sylvie much too buttoned up. While writer, director and star Janette Bloom infuses Sylvie with lots of seething passion, giving a wonderful performance, the script doesn’t really give us enough to hang our hats on. There is no real sense of her life outside of the moments that pass between the two leads. While the film is a perfect representation of the moments we see, the problem is we have no sense of life outside of what we see. What is Sylvie’s life like? What is her relationship with her husband. We really don’t know. Not enough is said and I simply couldn’t connect to the cypher at the center with the result the film wobbled for me.

While not bad, it should have been great.

LIMINAL (2021) Dances with Films 2021

Steve lives untethered in his head shifting between now and then. Along the way he tries to sort out his desires and where he belongs.

Excellent short film  is one that is better to see than read about. That is not just words so I don’t have to discuss the film, but more because director Dan Abramovichi has made a film that creates an effect. Scenes turn into dances. Dances turn our expectations. Somethings seem to be reality, some things are refashioning of it.  This is a film that is an experience. I could tell you it’s a quest to find love and reveal all of its twists and turns but there is no way I can express how the images make us feel that and move us on a deep level.

See this film- it is highly recommended when it plays Dances with Films

ALPHA RIFT (2021) Dances WIth Films 2021

Swords and sorcery movie moved from medieval times to the modern world as young man is revealed to be one of a line of legendary knights tasked with keeping ancient evils at bay.  He is forced into facing his destiny when one of the demons is released from his prison and threatens to take over the city.

Throw back to the era of Goonies and Spielbergian influenced kids film ALPHA RIFT is a film that tries to walk the fine line between being family entertainment and being a modern adventure film. Its amusing and nicely tongue in cheek but personally I would have liked a little harder edge to some of the danger. I also suspect that my reading that this is supposed to be the first salvo in a new multi-platform series removed a chunk of the edge as well. I mean knowing they want to continue thins makes you less fearful of the outcome.

Goofiness aside I kind of liked this. The plot isn’t bad, the characters are good (I love Lance Hendrickson) and the fights are well done. I would be game for a sequel, which says a hell of a lot more than most other platitudes.

Worth a look.

Dances With Films 2021 Shorts OH BABY, KLUTZ and GOOD COUPLE

 

OH BABY 
This is the story of a first date that seemingly goes  side ways.

Very good short film is kind of hard to write about since the  end of the film is what makes the film. This is a tale that has the right mix f heart and humor with a nice kicker ending that will make you smile. (I’d say more but this is a film that you need to see all of before we can discuss it since I don’t want to give it away)

Recommended.

KLUTZ 
Young writer feels she has lost herself, and her ability to fight gravity. As a result she is constantly falling. Unable to write the next novel she writes the story of a young  girl whose super power is falling.

Sweet little film has some great performances and some great turns of phrase. I loved the dialog in this film which beautifully walked the line between being real and being scripted.

Mostly though I loved the fact that this film made me smile.

Recommended.

GOOD COUPLE
After a big fight Danstorms into the night. After a night of soul searching Julia is ready to hang it up but  Dan returns wanting to make up. Things become perfect. Perhaps too perfect.

Intriguing drama/thriller is a look into our souls. What do we want and what if we get it?

This is a super film that starts off making you think you know where its going and then bends as it goes along drawing us in and making us consider what we are really watching.

A small gem.

Zero Gravity (2021) Dances With Films 2021

In California a teacher and a group of kids from various backgrounds take part in the Zero Robotics competition, The kids will have to code a robot so that it will do a series of tasks. The competition will have them compete other schools across the country. The kicker is that the robots are located on international space station.

Very good documentary about a bunch of kids leaning to love coding and science. This is a really cool little film that transcends a basic idea of a school competition and makes it into something more. Seriously this film made me go wow and I'm not talking about the spectacular space views but the idea that they have to deduce how to move a robot moving in zero gravity. The idea that they are programming something that they probably didn't understand amazed me. 

I know that doesn't sound cool, but trust me it is. 

Also really cool are al the people we meet. I kind of fell in love with everyone on screen.

This film is great fun and recommended a when it plays at Dances With Films or any other festival this fall.

The list of upcoming showings at Dances with Films LA, United Nations Film Festival, Boston and others can be found here

Garage (2021) Dances with Films.2021

 

A man returns to the garage where he was molested as a child in order to try and banish the demons of his soul.

This is a dark and troubling film that operates on a purely visceral level. We are in out protagonist's head space as he tries to sort out the things which haunt them and the result is that we are haunted ourselves. 

I don't know what I feel about the film largely because despite watching the films a couple of times I simply don't want to be in the headspace of the film. The result is a film I can't shake and can't stop wrestling with.

That's a rave

Worth a look when it plays Dances with Films.

OVER MY DEAD BODY (2021) Dances with Films 2021

Excellent short film  about a Persian Jewish woman who brings her boyfriend home to meet her parents. All is fine until she reveals that he is a Muslim. As he family freaks out, and her father threatens to burn himself alive, the young woman has to decide what to do, bow down to the wishes of her family or find happiness with the man she loves.

Beautifully acted film feels lived in. The arguments here feel as though they are the sort of battles that the filmmakers experience. The result is a pained film where we realize that any choice is a wrong one and going to cause pain to someone.

A small gem.

Incognito (2021) Dances With Films 2021

 Police in 1995 find a woman looking confused. She thinks it's still 40 years earlier. She is brought to a hospital where her doctor tries to get to the bottom of it.

Allegedly based on a true story tale is the sort of thing  that would be right at home on the Twilight Zone. Its a solid little film  that plays better the second time through when the science fiction twist falls away and this is revealed to be a solid little drama.

Actually the problem with the film is that the construction works against our expectations in the wrong sort of way. I was watching the film waiting for a gotcha ending and disappointed that there wasn't a solid sting in the tail. Watching the film a second time I found with my expectations gone I liked the film more.

Worth a look when the film plays Dances With Films

Dances With FIlms August 26 to September 12

The always great Dances With Films hits Los Angeles starting Thursday and runs until September 12. This great not so little festival always has some of the best films I see every year. I am looking forward to wading into this years goodies.

I have a stack of films to go through starting tomorrow.  I have to finish up four other festivals (NYAFF, Fantasia, Chain and AAIFF) before I can.

Until the reviews hit  here are some reviews of films we've reviewed before.

ADDICT NAMED HAL
TAKE OUT GIRL
BLEEDING AUDIO
FIREBOYS
HOLY FRIT

For more information and tickets go here.

Fireboys (2021) Chain Film Festival 2021 and Dances With Films 2021

 Portrait of the confined youthful offenders who have volunteered t fight the wild fies in California. The idea is that the men will be able to wok toward early release and get back on the straight and narrow. The problem is that because of their criminal background they can't transition into being real fire fighters.

This is a great film. 

I love that this film shows what it takes to be a fire fighter. More to the point I love that the film shows the issues the men face after fighting fires. So often in a film like this we can miss the bigger issues, but this film doesn't do that. We see that there is an injustice occurring- one that is going to get worse if the fires keep happening and we keep losing men who could b helping fight the fires.

Highly recommended.

FIREBOYS plays Chain Film Festival virtually starting August 20. It plays in person August 21. For more information and tickets go here/

It plays Dances With Films September 11. Tickets and information here