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FILM
Buzz |
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December
20, 2008 |
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Film
Reviews |
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Kaffeine Buzz
reviews independent and foreign films,
in addition to reporting the latest buzz behind
Colorado's film festivals.
MILK (Gus Van Sant)
East Bay punk rock was the ostensible rational
for the move from my Midwestern roots to the San
Francisco Bay Area in 1992. But an underlying
factor—which I was too terrified to acknowledge
overtly at the time—was that I couldn’t
wait to be in a place where I would feel comfortable
with my sexual preference: a natural inclination
that for my very survival, I had hide from everyone
I had ever met beside the few people I with which
I shared intimacies.
Upon my arrival to San Francisco’s Castro
District, I was pretty disappointed.
I found the gay community to be, for the most
part, homogenous (no pun intended) and off-putting.
Izod shirts and Chanel shades abounded, and beside
a few exceptional dives, unscrupulous punk rockers
were the same scum in the Castro that they were
anywhere else. Over the years, little of this
has changed.
Harvey Milk migrated to San
Francisco far before I did, and he stumbled upon
the same Castro that defeated my expectations.
The difference for Milk was that he didn’t
have the expectations I did. He, in a sense, created
them for me.
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Idiots
and Angels (Bill Plympton) |
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Slumdog Millionaire
(Big Night - Starz Denver Film Festival 2008)
A story of destined love set in the slums of
Mumbai may not be the expected next step for acclaimed
director Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting,”
“28 Days Later,” and “Sunshine”)
but it is the step he took with “Slumdog
Millionaire.” One that was a departure from
his other romantically toned film, “Alien
Love Triangle.”
Aside from the plot’s subject style, the
movie supports Danny Boyle’s reputation
for creating engrossing, engaging, exciting, emotional,
rich and vibrant films.
“Slumdog Millionaire”
is about Jamal Malik, a contestant
on the Indian set of “Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire?” who is getting so many answers
correct, that the producers accuse him of cheating.
After his arrest and during his interrogation,
question by question, Jamal explains to his accusers
how his gritty life in the slums of Mumbai has
led to him to this place in time where he’s
winning and on the verge of 20 million rupees.
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Last
Chance Harvey (Directed and Written by Joel Hopkins)
Starz Denver Film Festival - Closing Night - Sat, Nov
22 |
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Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman) is
a rejected man. His job is fragile when he leaves
for London to attend his daughter’s wedding.
And when he arrives, Harvey finds that his family
has distanced themselves from him and even his soon-to-be-wedded
daughter prefers her step-father over him.
Stressed out and desperate,
Harvey leaves the wedding early to fly home, hoping
to secure his position as a New York jingle-writer
and make an all-too-important meeting. But again,
Harvey meets defeat, arriving at the airport late
and missing his flight.
At the end of his rope and completely devastated,
he wanders into the airport bar where he strikes
up a conversation with a reluctant Kate
Walker (Emma Thompson).
Kate is a lonely 40-something who is uncomfortable
with her current life. She’s lonely and
mostly alone, with the exception of her overbearing
and nosy mother. Reduced to the occasional blind
date and romance novel, Kate wishes for something
more; something different.
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The
Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky) |
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“The Wrestler” is an honest and blunt
look at the desperation and emotion involved in
one man’s attempt to regain his glory days.
Director Darren Aronofsky ("Pi,"
"Requiem for a Dream," "The Fountain")
adds “The Wrestler” to his archives
of movies about the dissention of people in desperation.
Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey
Rourke) is a retired professional wrestler
who is trying to make his return by climbing his
way back up through the independent wrestling
circuit. Certain events cause him to reconsider
his relationship; one with his daughter, who wants
nothing to do with him, and the other with a woman
he desires (Marissa Tomei), a stripper to whom
The Ram is a “regular.”
The audience watches as Randy battles with various
obstacles on his journey, including age, time,
money, jobs, himself, his past, his passions,
and of course, other wrestlers. In the end it
almost seems that the audience is watching a man
who is desperately attempting to connect with
someone or something; needing to feel needed.
This film puts the audience in a strange disposition
of admiring a man who is not admirable, and hoping
for a man who has brought ruin upon himself.
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Idiots
and Angels (Bill Plympton) |
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Open Shelf Films
Friday Night – “Groundhog Day”
– Friday, December 12 - MCA DENVER –
7:30pm – 10:30pm
“Groundhog Day,” a classic snow season
comedy with a message, starring the king of smartasses,
Bill Murray, will be the feature film for the
MCA Denver “Open Shelf Films”
night this Friday, December 12.
Sure, you could watch this from the convenience
of you couch. Unless you’ve got your own
home theater the likes of an AIG of BofA CEO,
it won’t be the same as enjoying the funny
flick at the big screen of the MCA.
Plus, it’s a cool way to start the weekend
and wash away the week’s anger and frustration
of driving after the snow dump, or as a way to
pre-de-stress if you’ve got plans to hit
the mall for that all-time favorite pastime, holiday
shopping.
www.mcadenver.org
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Idiots
and Angels (Bill Plympton) |
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Bill Plympton is probably best
known for his political cartoons, which have been
featured in many various newspapers. “Idiots
and Angels” is a departure from the bluntness
and pinpoint subjects of his newsworthy drawings.
Instead, Plympton tackles much broader and less-definable
human conditions, such as happiness, evil, self-content,
and selfishness.
The Starz
Denver Film Festival screening of
“Idiots and Angels”
was well received by the audience, and it was
well talked about days later. The man himself,
Mr. Plympton, was present at the screening, and
when asked how he came up with the premise, he
responded, “I just, one day, had an idea
of an asshole guy who wakes up with wings one
day.” True to his word, this is, indeed
the premise.
However, Plympton takes the audience deeper into
the journeys of this asshole with wings, showing
us his perceived world response to a person with
wings and that person’s response to the
world’s response, and so on.
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FILM
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Chocolate
(Prachya Pinkaew) |
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Maybe Prachya Pinkaew isn’t
best known for his movie titles, or at least the
English titles. What Pinkaew is known for is his
Muay Thai movies “Ong-Bak: The Thai
Warrior” (who’s title is misleading
because Ong-Bak was an idol, the warrior was Ting)
and Tom yum goong, which in the U.S. was released
as “The Protector.”
His newest film, “Chocolate,”
has nothing to do with, well, chocolate. If you’re
looking for a movie about the confection then
you’ve come to the wrong place.
Aside from the absurd story, this movie is all
action. Pinkaew is known for his amazing cinematic
muay thai, his over-the-top stories, and his clever
choreography. In the traditional Pinkaew way,
all stunts in “Chocolate” are self-performed
with no wires.
Zin (Ammara Siripong) is an
autistic girl who finds interest in Muay Thai
when her mother moves her next to a Muay Thai
school. Her autistic mind absorbs the motions
like a sponge, and even more so, the martial arts
movies she watches thereafter. When her mother,
Zen, is diagnosed with cancer and begins a treatment
for which she cannot afford, Zin sets out to collect
the debts her mother never received. Zin quickly
finds herself entangled with the Thai mob.
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Starz
Denver Film Festival 2008 - Flick Picks November 14 -
November 23 |
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31st Starz Denver Film Festival
2008
The flurry of films is here once again, as the
31st Starz Denver Film Festival kicks off tonight
with a red carpet opening night, featuring “The
Brothers Bloom,” starring Adrien Brody (yum),
Rachel Weisz, and Mark Ruffalo.
Going every day, from November 13 through November
23, the Starz Denver Film Festival brings together
over 215 films and shorts from all over the world,
hitting on every topic imaginable.
To help you navigate the myriad of choices, Matty
and I have put together our Flick
Picks of films we’re looking
forward to checking out.
It’s also important to know that once you
decide what films you want to see, buy your tickets
online at denverfilm.org. Many of these films,
like “Gomorrah,” are already on the
sold out. BUT – you may be able to get Rush
Tickets by planning ahead and getting in line
at the Concierge Desk at the Starz FilmCenter
lobby one hour before the film starts.
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Found
Footage Festival - Friday, Oct 17 - Starz |
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While I was out in San Francisco
recently, I couldn’t help but pick up an
envelope that was used as a note from one to another,
because it was hand titled: “To the asshole
who took my spot.” There is something wonderful
about coming across treasures that provide such
honest examples of the human condition, and I
was pleased to find the screener for the Found
Footage Festival upon my return home.
Talking to me from New York City, their home
town, Found Footage Festival’s co-creator,
Joe Pickett, had this to say
about their nationwide tour that’s bringing
them to Denver this Friday, October 17. “[Starz]
sounds like our kind of place. Those are the kind
of places we typically play, so it should be fun.”
Fun indeed. The hosts and treasure hunters, including
Pickett and Nick Prueher, will
have an array of celluloid clips of late ‘80s
and early ‘90s in tow. Everything from a
rapping employee training video, public access
television shows, a few scary home videos, and
a dirty mouthed RV dealer. Let’s just say,
it’s a ‘laughing at them not with
them’ type of film festival.
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FILM
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Fifth
Annual Toofy Film Festival - September 13 & 14 - Boulder
Theater - Boulder |
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Now in its fifth year, the
Annual Toofy Film Festival returns to the Boulder
Theater this Saturday, Sept 13 and Sunday, Sept
14, featuring a weekend film, fashion and music.
In true Toofy tradition, there are a number of
short program features planned for the weekend,
including Mike Judge’s Animation Show that
features “Key Lime Pie,” a student
short by Trevor Jimenez, a graduate of Sheridan
Animation program, about, you guessed it, Key
Lime Pie, but with a film noir twist.
Then there’s Best of Toofy Showcase, where
you get to revisit your favorite independent shorts
from years past and check out the ones you missed.
Saturday’s feature film, “The Fix,”
is set in L.A. with a host of seedy characters
that are on a race of a different kind, taking
the streets from Beverly Hills to Watts. The goal:
for the doc filmmakers Milo and Bella to transport
Milo’s brother from jail to rehab by 8pm.
The risk: if they miss the deadline, Milo’s
brother spends three years in jail.
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FILM
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What
We Do Is Secret (Rodger Grossman)
Noisepop Film Festive, Roxy Theater,
San Francisco - Opens Starz FilmCenter Friday, September
12, 2008 |
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“What We Do Is Secret” explores the
life of Darby Crash, founder and front-man for the
pioneering Los Angeles punk band the Germs who died
of an apparently intentional drug overdose in late
1980. What We Do…, having been conceived some
fourteen years ago, has been highly anticipated,
and with heavy skepticism.
Starring as Crash, accredited actor Shane West
(ER, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, A Walk to Remember)
is at the end of the critical barrel from jump
street, having to appease a very sensitive and
innately finicky Crash fan base not only as an
actor, but as a musician, as he now performs live
with the remaining Germs on the tour circuit.
In “What We Do…” writer/director
Rodger Grossman cocoons the view from the beginning,
re-enacting interviews with Crash and the other
Germs, bassist Pat Smear (Nirvana, Fu Fighters),
Lorna Doom (guitar) and Don Bolles (drums). The
‘band’ passes the oral baton, giving
a retrospective history of the Germs before the
film flashes back to the incendiary days when
Crash first had the brainchild of forming a group.
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FILM
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Cinemocracy
Rocks - Monday, August 25 - Red Rocks, 6pm |
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During last year’s Starz Denver Film Festival,
a panel discussion focusing on one of the more politically
oriented documentaries led to the 2008 Democratic
National Convention and the potential for showing
films during the DNC that had a political bent.
Denver Film Society took that idea to heart,
and together with the Denver Office of Cultural
Affairs and in partnership with the Denver 2008
Host Committee launches Cinemocracy Film Festival.
On the first day of the DNC, Monday, August 25,
Cinemocracy kicks off at Red Rock at 6:00pm, featuring
a number of acts, including The Apples in Stereo,
Okkervil River, and Jill Sobule. Locally created
short films were submitted, and online viewers
placed their votes. The top 10 winners listed
below will be shown the night of Cinemocracy,
along with three special award winners. This will
not only showcase the filmmaking talent in our
state and our level of political awareness, but
how more than ever, film is a key medium for educating
the public on key issues within our society and
culture.
Entry is $20, which includes a 1 year subscription
(6 issues) of GOOD Magazine, along with preferred
seating for the the Cinemocracy Rocks screening
and concert. All $20 goes to supporting the Denver
Film Society as a charitable contribution. Now
that’s democracy in action, a tax deduction
to get in the know on politics.
Here’s
the official scoop from DFS:
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Tropic
Thunder (Ben Stiller) |
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There have been numerous
satires over the years. Classics like “Airplane,”
which sits on many a DVD shelf at home, or “Scary
Movie I, II, or III,” which have been on
the favorites list for some, but not for all.
Then there’s “Tropic Thunder,”
which will no doubt go down as THE most hilarious
spoof on Hollywood to date. They’ve even
gone so far as to create three trailers that play
before the film…since this is a film about
the making of the film that wasn’t made.
You’ll get the picture, trust me. Just
make sure to get there for previews, which include
a trailer for “Fatties Part Two” starring
Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black), which
I’m guessing is a poke at the series of
Eddy Murphy movies where all the characters are
played by one guy with prosthetics and 6-hour
chair time in the make-up trailer.
Essentially, Tug Speedman (Ben Stiller)
is an action film star whose light has continued
to fade over the years. His last attempt at being
taken seriously was playing a mentally challenged
“Simple Jack,” which seriously backfired
on him, and he came out of it looking not much
better than the character he portrayed. So playing
one of the leads in this Vietnam-era epic may
be his last chance, for real, so he’s got
to get that “Platoon” reach-for-the-sky
pose down to perfection.
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Sundance Channel Presents:
Live From Abbey Road
Thursdays at 10:00pm EST
Episode 9 Premieres Thursday, August
14 – The Kills, The Fratellis, Sara Bareilles
It’s times like this when I miss cable,
something I got rid of a few years ago. I figured
I would put that money away to travel myself instead
of sitting at home watching someone else have
all the adventures. But yes, I do miss that damn
Travel Channel, the Food Network, Comedy Central,
IFC, and one of my “favorites” from
those 200+ channel days, the Sundance
Channel.
This summer Sundance has an adventurous series
of a musical kind called "Live From
Abbey Road," which takes place in
the most famous of all recording studios, bar
none. Within this intimate setting, artists perform
and open up about themselves and their music.
Some very noteworthy artists that have appeared
include Elbow, MGMT, Stereophonics, The
Black Keys, Manu Chao, Hard-Fi, Suzanne Vega...and
some you may not be sorry you missed (Rascal Flats,
Matchbox Twenty, James Blunt).
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