Red Threads (2023) Slamdance 2023

 Red Threads was an award winner at Slamdance and I can see why, it’s a trippy film that pulls you in and makes you want to see where it’s going to end up.

An “experimental” film by definition it is really a perfectly told visual trip into the mind of director Yuchi Ma. It's  an examination of memory, life in two countries and how we organize the world. It’s a collision of dumplings, video games and travel. It is not as odd as you might think.

I really liked the film. Actually, my thought while watching the film was this was at the wrong festival, and that this should be screening at the New York Film Festival in their side bar of genre bending films.

Definitely worth a look.

Austin Belzer of Austin B Media is interviewing every on from Slamdance (and someone from Sundance) Part 3 MASOCT, CISCO KID, SWEETHEART DEAL and from Sundance MURDER IN BIGHORN

 Austin Belzer of Austin B Media is still at it. He's still cranking out interviews from Slamdance (and Sundance)

AND FROM SUNDANCE

For more from Austin go to his regular home at Austin B Media

Liz Whittemore on A Perfect Day For Caribou (2023) Slamdance 2023

We find Herman with a tape recorder in hand, giving estranged son Nate life tips and recalling snippets of random stories from his past. When his phone rings, he finds Nat on the other end, requesting a visit. Nate arrives with his six-year-old son Ralph in tow. Three generations in the same place for the first time, Herman and Nate swap stories as they play catch-up with one another as Ralph explores the cemetery with his soccer ball. Midway through the film, Ralph goes missing. Father and son search the surrounding area far and wide, with Nate explaining this is a habit of Ralph’s. Their talk continues along the way, Herman toting a mysterious box with them and Nate chainsmoking as a coping mechanism. A Perfect Day for Caribou catches Slamdance 2023 audiences off-guard with honesty and reflection.

The film opens with Jeb Berrier and a glorious 10-plus minute monologue of stories and advice. His delivery lands somewhere between stoic and hypnotizing. It is an extraordinary turn. Charlie Plummer never ceases to amaze me with his grounded portrayals. It’s like watching a documentary. Plummer settles into Nate without missing a beat. His calming demeanor, similar to Berrier’s, grabs you instantly. Rutherford’s script allows Plummer to break free as the story progresses, and again, he nails it. There is a purity to the performance.

Cinematographer Alfonso Herrera Salcedo‘s work is beautiful. The combination of black-and-white and thoughtful framing captures your attention immediately. I adored the stationary swings. Long takes allow the audience to focus on the dialogue, heightening the emotional investment. The location is a cemetery and the surrounding open plains. Something about this choice speaks volumes on a metaphoric level. Short intercut scenes surprise and delight.

The film is a perfect fit for Slamdance 2023. Writer-director Jeff Rutherford offers an intimate portrait of attempted redemption and connection. Complete with full-circle moments, A Perfect Day for Caribou is a mesmerizing character study brimming with complexity.

For more from Liz check out her regular home at Reel News Daily

Liz Whittemore of Reel News Daily on Who's Annie (2023) Slamdance 2023

A farcical meta delight, Slamdance 2023 episodic WHO’S ANNIE skewers the absurdity of Hollywood, but that’s only the beginning. Annie Pisapia plays herself and doesn’t. Yup. You read that correctly. This “series within a series” is wildly entertaining and wholly bizarre.

Writer-director Sophia Peer plays “herself,” a television director with awkward and quirky energy. Peer bears a striking resemblance to Rhea Pearlman. It’s a head-scratching role, and I could not look away. Sofia Dobrushin plays the “series” version of Peers. Wide-eyed and perfectly cast, Dobrushin appears both afraid and at home in coordinated chaos. I adored her. Annie Pisapia owns the screen, as her comic timing is something to behold. Her rough exterior feels part false flag, part true identity. She is so convincing it is genuinely tough to discern between Annie’s real life and the script. That is the entire point of the series, and Peer has succeeded with flying colors. Adding in Peer’s manic confidence and Dobrushin’s “yes, and” attitude, these three women exquisitely complement one another.

Because the show jumps in style, so does the cinematography. It is eye candy that never gets boring. It is pure silliness, and I’m dying for more. It’s Comedy Central meets Mad TV. There is a lot of meat on the bone for series development. Everyone has enough (or a lot) of backstory to expand upon and plenty of weirdness to start. WHO’S ANNIE is unique in this Slamdance 2023 episodic lineup.

For more from Liz check out her regular home at Reel News Daily

Austin Belzer has been interviewing everyone at Slamdance Part 2: talking to the filmmakers behind STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF, WITH PETER BRADLEY and LOVE DUMP

More from Austin Belzer of Austin B Media. Austin has been doing a nigh impossible task which is doing an endless number of interviews and reviewing films and other festival coverage.  The man amazes me. 

Because he's a good guy he is allowing me to share his Slamdance interviews with all of you. To this end here are his talk with the filmmakers from STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF, WITH PETER BRADLEY and LOVE DUMP. 

And because you are going to like what he does bookmark his website: AUSTIN B MEDIA

STARS IN THE ORDINARY UNIVERSE (2023) Slamdance 2023

 

STARS IN THE ORDINARY UNIVERSE was sent to me under the heading as the best film at the Slamdance film festival.  While I like the film, I wouldn’t say it’s the best, I could happily call it one of the most delightfully off kilter or wonderfully bent.  It’s a film that is too unique to fairly compare to any other film in the festival.

The film is three interconnected tales. The stories have to do with have to do with finding the meaning of life and point to it all. Characters come and go and follow odd trains of thought that actually aren’t that odd when you think about them. I mean what is the meaning of life and how do we determine that?

You will forgive me if I am not fully forth coming as to the details and meanings of this film but despite seeming simple and “straight forward” the film actually has a great deal rattling around in its head. The answers people are chasing in it are not easy ones. Even the notion of who is superior genetically or socially isn’t as simple as you think. It’s all kind of complicated by the dry sense of humor which makes things you think they are sending things up until the ideas come around.

Yea I’m having trouble trying to sort this out.

What a delight.

If you want heady films give this a try.

Punk Rock Vegan Movie (2023) Slamdance 2023

Moby tells the history of punk rock and veganism to a talking dog while they play chess.

This is a look at how the questioning nature of punk rock turned many musicians and fans into vegans and champions for animal rights. It's full of interviews and music. It's a film that is all about saving the other creatures in the world.

This is a good look veganism and music.  It's a film that works hard to make the point that animals have rights too.

And I kind of have to leave it there. While I enjoyed a lot of the stories told and the connection between food and music, there was a point where I disconnected. As good as much of this film is the trouble here is that the film pushes it's point really hard at times. It makes it clear where Moby and the people on screen stand which is fine, but there is very little respite from some of the lecturing. Its a stance I find a bit odd because several people talk about how they came to veganism by way of cool people who just sort of quietly sold it and let them make up their minds. Moby is more interested in making up our minds for us.

While I appreciate the message I could have used a softer sell.

That said this is worth a look if the subject interests you

MILLSTONE (2023) SLAMDANCE 2023

While the selling point of this film for many is going to be the fact that the film is in American sign language, the truth of the matter is the film really should be talked about because its got a hell of sting in the tail.

The film follows a couple who are grieving the death of their child by a hit and run driver. The therapist they are seeing seems to be the couples last hope at coming to terms with what happened.  Where it goes and how it goes is the film.

And because of the shift in the film this is nigh impossible to discuss without ruining it. Seriously what I want to say I can’t because it would ruin a super little thriller. Frankly I would love to see a longer version of this with things playing out on either end of this moment but at the same time this film is such a smack that I don’t want that ever to be ruined.

Worth your time.

Motel Drive (2023) Slamdance 2023

MOTEL DRIVE is a kick in the ass. The film is the story of people living in a block long stretch in Fresno California where Motels used to stretch  from end to end. However the coming of the freeway and the plans for a proposed high speed rail system doomed the motels. Places that used to play host to the Rolling Stones, Nat King Cole and others are now run down and acting as homes for those on the fringes of society. The film follows several people over 8 years of ups and downs as they try to survive in the motels and the changing neighborhood.

This is a look at how the changing of neighborhoods by grand plans  wreck the lives of those on the fringe. While some people like the Shaws manage to hang on as best they can, others fall by the wayside.  It’s a bracing look at the way things are breaking apart.

What is most troubling is it’s clear that efforts to improve society as a whole at the expense of the motels isn’t working. This is illustrated by the highly touted high speed rail that is supposed to go through the area. Motels are bought up. People are evicted. Then nothing happens. It will leave you shaking your head.

I was moved. The film left me pondering what can be done to help these people because as the film makes clear there are no easy answers.

Recommended

Where is the Lie?(2023) Slamdance 2023

WHERE IS THE LIE is a really good film.  A look at love in the modern age it’s a based on a true story film where a woman named Jazen breaks up with her boyfriend. Turning to a dating app she meets the perfect guy who ends up ghosting her. However what is going on is something else entirely.

I don’t know all of the details of the actual events, and I don’t really care because what is on screen in WHERE IS THE LIE is really good. A look at life and dating in todays world it shines a light into a lot of places that we may not be contemplating, such as catfishing games set up by people with too much time on their hands. It’s the sort of thing that makes me glad I’m too old for those sort of games.

I really liked WHERE IS THE LIE. The  cast headed up by EJ Jallorina is super. We really like pretty much everyone and they pull us into all the mystery of what is going on. I was hooked early and when it was done I wanted to go back and take another ride.

One of the things that I loved was that this film which is very much tied into technology and apps actually manages to use the cinema screen to replicate what we the characters are seeing on their phones and devices.  This may not sound like much but more and more in films we are flashed visuals that are supposed to be a phone or tablet or computer screen, by the more often then not the filmmakers don’t manage to make it movie friendly. Yes  we are seeing what the characters are doing but its not cinematic. Its intrusive with lot of stuff we don’t need. Here director Quark Henares designs the shots  so that we both get a sense of what is on the screens the characters are looking at but we also get something that works cinematically. That may sound like a small thing but it’s not, because too often the technology shots simply don’t blend into the film as a whole.

This is a super film. I had a good time. It mad me laugh and it made me think about love, and the madness of these times and the crazy things people do.

I want to say more but I don’t want to give anything away. There are a couple of turns I didn’t see coming  and I don’t want to spoil anything.

This is a gem.

Sexual Healing (2022) Slamdance 2023

 

This is the story of Evelien Spreitzer, a 53 year old woman with severe disabilities who has never had any sort of sensuous touch. Anyone who has touched her has done so for purely functional reasons.  Taking matters in her own hands she decides to get in touch with her sense and her sexuality.

This is a very good look at one woman and her story (born prematurely she wasn’t expected to survive and died several times). It’s a film that will end up putting a big smile on your face watching Evlien‘s absolute delight in discovering the wonders of human touch. You will feel really good at the end.

While I could quibble about a few little things, this film is a winner and highly recommended.

The Mad Writer (2023) Slamdance 2023

Portrait of hip hop artist/producer L’Orange aka Austin Hart as he deals with life and the appearance of serious medical condition that could end his career.

Full disclosure going into the film I had no idea who L'Orange was. And coming out I kind of  feel the same way. I'm not sure this film really tells us a great deal about the man. It feels like a portrait of a man who is not comfortable in his own skin.

Forgive me, but because he's clearly so uncomfortable on camera I'm not certain I really have any idea who he is. Yes there are the moments where he is performing and the odd unguarded moment, but mostly this looks like a portrait of a man who is being forced to be "on" because the camera is there.  This goes straight on to the end of the film where L'Orange tells the filmmaker what the ending would be and we get this odd version of that.

Yes we get to know his music and about him a bit, but at the same time this whole things feels off.

QUEEN MOOREA (2022) Slamdance 2023

Portrait of Moorea Howson a young woman born with  the genetic disorder Williams Syndrome  Refusing to be stopped Moorea sets her sights on love and life beyond what doctors say she is capable of.

Sweet documentary about a lovely young woman. I adore that she is unstoppable in what she wants. And while she may have had to step away from the dream of being a cardiologist there really isn’t anything she hasn’t been able to achieve.

I don’t know what to say beyond that other than if you give the film a try it will give you a smile.

Recommended.

LAUGHING WOO WOO (2021) Slamdance 2023

At the time of the Arab Spring an Eygptian asylum seeker in San Francisco with a woo wooing contagious laugh, has a wild time dealing with life as it prevents him from getting his papers to his attorney.

This amusing comedy is being used as a proof of concept film which bodes well for the future. Funny in the right ways the film scores numerous bonus points for giving us a point of view that we don’t normally see such as a clash of multiple cultures (let’s just say our hapless hero doesn’t have just the US to deal with). Part straight on comedy and part examination of the plight of the asylum seekers this is a film with a message and lots of laughs.

I liked this film a great deal. I liked it enough that I’ll be curious where director Amir Yousef takes the film. I say that because while most proof of concept films feel unfinished this one feels complete. That said there are enough openings that I’d love to see which path is taken.

A gem

Downwind (2023) Slamdance 2013

The first film on my Best of 2023 list is a gut punch film about the poisoning of the world via radiation from nuclear tests, waste and power plants. This is a film that will haunt you forever after you see it.

Beginning with the first nuclear tests in the American Southwest, the film makes clear that the US government, and others as well, have not had the best interest in the safety of anyone in mind at any point ever. Consider that the initial thought was to do the tests on the east coast so that the fall out went over the ocean, but they thought it would be cheaper to do it  in the west where less important (Native Americans) lived.  It's also made clear they new what the dangers were before the first bomb was exploded but they went ahead anyway.

Odds are if you are like me, you knew some of this before, but you didn't know everything and seeing it all together will over whelm you.

The film is a mix of science and social. We get both the science of where the fall out went and what it does and is still doing to people. While at the same time we see via tales of THE CONQUER (where most of the cast and crew got cancer), CHINA SYNDROME (which barely made it to theaters before Three Mile Island) and Lewis Black's comedy (the insanity of duck and cover) we see how radiation has affected what we see.  And sometimes things merge as when Patrick Wayne talks about the mound of dirt brought to Hollywood from the CONQUER location that is still at the studio and very radioactive. More crushingly the film is filled with the story of dozens of people who died from the direct effects of being exposed to fallout.

This film rocked my world. Yes, it can seem a bit like a polemic, but at the same time, there really is no "other side" to the fact we are all being poisoned.

I have no idea what to say except see this film. 

This is the first great film of 2023.

Space Happy: Phil Thomas Katt and The Uncharted Zone (2023) Slamdance 2023

Portrait of Phil Thomas Katt a musician/filmmaker/artist who is working on the fringes of the entertainment industry in Florida.

I'm not entirely happy with the PR information on the film in that it infers that Katt and the people in his orbit don't have talent. They have tons of talent, what they don't have is money and they struggle to do what they love despite having to cash to do so.

I really liked this film. Hell I really liked Katt and his friends. These are really cool people who are making some really good music despite not having any cash. I completely relate to their struggles since doing Unseen Films is a labor of love for me that doesn't pay me monetarily.  Watching the film I kept thinking that if Katt had a little bit more money he might actually get some traction and make it big. (Hell A&E should do a series on him)

Assembled from decades of video we get a nice over view of Katt and his life. Actually hat the film does is make you want to find Katt and hang out with him and have you tell you the stories that aren't in the film.

What a delight.

Recommended.

Just Right (2023) Slamdance 2023

Obsessive compulsive Mel want's to go out with her roommate and his friend but it seems as though things are working against her.

This is a sweet little film. This is delightful portrait of a nice young woman who has certain things she must do to get through the day. 

What I love about this film is that where most other films would focus on Mel's ticks for laughs, here the film is about Mel first and foremost. Yes the compulsions play into the the plot, but they are not the plot. This is about just trying to get ready to go out with friends.

A small gem.

Our Males and Females (2023) Slamdance 2023

Kamel El Basha and Shafiqa Al Tal are luminous in this story of Muslim parents who have to wash the body of their trans daughter after she dies. The performances are so transcendent that you will be wondering why they will not get noticed by the Oscars at year end. This is as good as acting gets.

This is a slow burn time bomb. It is a crushing film about parental love and the intolerance of society. Much isn’t said and yet the entirety of human experience seems to be contained within it. We feel the pain of a couple completely lost in a situation they hoped never to have to deal with.

Forgive me some my words fail me. This is a film whose emotion simply overwhelms everything. Consider that even the characters say little.

An absolute must see.

Destined to be one of the best and most haunting films of 2022

WAITING FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE (2023) Slamdance 2023

Five friends get together in a beach house and talk.

A couple of quick tidbits and quibbles with the promotional material to start. Ignore the talk of the budget. They are trying to promote the film as being made for a minimal amount of money. It’s a pointless come on. I say that because unless someone pointed it out you’d never know. This is a film about people and not effects so cost doesn’t enter into it.

The other thing to ignore any comparison to The Big Chill. It’s lazy. The film is good enough that it stands on it’s own feet.

What is not a quibble is the fact that this is a great little drama about friends hanging out. It’s a film that feel vital and alive. Told largely in long takes with the camera settling in just observing. It’s a method of story telling that sometimes can result in a film that feels static, but here, with everyone close together with the camera, the film feels alive. We are in this place with these people and living life. The choice by director Linh Tran is a good one because instead of making us outsiders  we are one of the group.

There is magic here.

Tran has assembled a magnificent cast. I have no idea if they were friends going into the film, but on screen everyone feels like they belong together. We sense connections that most films never manage. Everyone feels like they really are friends. Its this point that makes this film better in many ways than Big Chill it wants to compare itself to.

I really liked this film a great deal. While the characters are a good deal younger than myself, thoughts and feeling still connected to me. There is a reason that great art transcends age in that it speaks to something universal in us all. There is something about the human condition that touches us. WAITING… connects us to our humanity.

This is a small gem

Recommended.

MASCOT (2023) Slamdance 2023

Young man with congenital issues with his teeth has to try and find a way of dealing with the rage in his life as things don't go his way.

This is a great looking, and beautifully acted film that shows reveals to us a life on the fringe of society. Unable to comprehend and cope with the things happening around him Jerry reacts with violence, fed by the macho culture he is part of and social media. It’s a view of life that is sadly much to common today as can be seen by the rise of violence against  women and those things that are not to “our” liking.

This film is a bracing gut punch

Recommended.