November 29, 2005

I want to start today by encouraging you, if you are in L.A., to come out to next Wednesday's MCN Screening Series event. (You should also come out to see David Cronenberg at the Museum of Tolerance on Saturday.) We are showing two of the Oscar Short List Documentaries back to back and hope to have both directors in the house for Q&A. (We will definitely have at least one.) The first film on the schedule is Rize, directed by David LaChappelle, which is about Krumping and Clowning, two L.A. dance forms that have emerged as a shield against gang warfare and criminal activity for the participants. More importantly, you have never seen anything quite like it on screen. And the bigger the screen the better.

Next is The Devil & Daniel Johnston, my favorite film at Sundance last year, and little seen in Los Angeles. The story of a singer/songwriter/painter who suffers from debilitating mental health problems and somehow becomes a cult legend in spite of those limitations is more fun than it sounds, as directed by Jeff Feurzeig. It won him a directing prize at Sundance last year and it is truly a one-of-a-kind experience, though I analogize it, when pressed, to a live version of Napoleon Dynamite. If you fell in love with Napoleon in the end, you will love this film. If you just found him irritating, you might hate Daniel too. But you will be richer for having taken a look at both of these films.

SUNDANCE - The line-up was announced. And I haven't had much time to digest it. But from the descriptions in indieWIRE, here are my first dozen films of interest from the four competition sections.

DOCS

An Unreasonable Man, directed by Henriette Mantel and Stephen Skrovan

Using rarely seen archival footage and over forty recently conducted on-camera interviews, this documentary traces the career of Ralph Nader from quixotic consumer advocate to upstart presidential candidate to public pariah. [World Premiere]

Small Town Gay Bar, directed by Malcolm Ingram

A voyage to the deep South to tell a tale of the struggle for community and expression in the face of ignorance, hypocrisy and oppression. [World Premiere]

The Trials of Darryl Hunt, directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg

The wrongful conviction of a black man for a white woman's rape and murder offers a provocative, haunting examination of a fear-based racially-biased community and criminal justice system. [World Premiere]

The World According to Sesame Street, directed by Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Linda Hawkins Costigan

A behind-the-scenes look at the unexpected dynamics of adapting the most-watched children's television show for audiences in some of the world's political hotspots and incorporating locally relevant themes. [World Premiere]

5 Days, directed by Yoav Shamir (Israel)

On August 15, 2005, Israel began to evacuate 8,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. In a unilateral move by the Israeli government, they were removed from their homes to make way for 250,000 Palestinians. With exclusive access to the Israeli Defense Forces and the General in charge, seven film crews simultaneously follow key characters during this historic five-day event. [North American Premiere]

The Giant Buddhas, directed by Christian Frei (Switzerland)

A film about the destruction of the famous Buddha statues in Afghanistan. An essay on fanaticism and faith, terror and tolerance, ignorance and identity. [U.S. Premiere]

Viva Zapatero, directed by Sabina Guzzanti (Italy)

A critical and playful look at censorship in Italy under Berlusconi contrasted with other European nations. [North American Premiere]

FICTIONAL NARRATIVES

Right At Your Door, directed and written by Chris Gorak

Multiple dirty bombs are detonated and spread deadly toxic ash and mass panic throughout Los Angeles. With limited information, time and supplies, and in the midst of city-wide chaos, a married couple struggles to survive. [World Premiere]

Stephanie Daley, directed and written by Hilary Brougher

A forensic psychologist, seven months pregnant, is hired to learn the truth behind a teenager's denial of accusations that she concealed her pregnancy and committed infanticide.

The Aura, directed by Fabian Bielinsky (Argentina)

Epinoza is an introverted taxidermist who secretly dreams of executing the perfect robbery. On his first-ever hunting trip, in the calm of the Patagonian forest, his dreams are unexpectedly made reality with one squeeze of the trigger. [North American Premiere]

Kiss Me Not on the Eyes, directed and written by Jocelyne Saab [Lebanon]

An educated young Egyptian woman defends her artistic integrity as a dancer and her social independence in the midst of modern Cairo's culture wars. [U.S. Premiere]

One Last Dance, directed and written by Max Makowski (Singapore)

An assassin is hired to kill the men responsible for kidnapping an important man's son. With every death, the killer gets closer to the last kidnapper's name... his own. [World Premiere]

TV WORTH FEATURING

I really admire Joe Dante's entry into the Masters of Horror series on Showtime, called Homecoming. It's scheduled to air on Friday and it is, I think, the best of the lot so far. You won't really recognize it as a Dante movie, outside of the appearance of Dante regular Robert Picardo… but even he is playing against type.

The film is a satire on modern politics, with a distinctly anti-Bush bent, but with the added twist that American soldiers in a far away war suddenly start coming back to life. Yes, Zombie soldiers. But these are zombies with a very specific purpose and focus, which is quite refreshing.

One of the interesting parts about watching all of the Masters of Horror movies is the assortment of Canadian actors that turn up in these films, which are shot up there. In Dante's film, it is Thea Gill who gets to let it rip, playing a lustier, riper version of Ann Coulter. She's loud, she's horny, and she is good with shotgun. She plays opposite Jon Tenney, who shows some interesting colors as a quiet, angry, intelligent political operative who is starting to wonder whether being the man behind the pseudo-Bush's throne is such a good place to be.

Dante and screenwriter Sam Hamm, who adapted a Dale Bailey short story, walk the tightrope of satire very carefully, which is never easy. There are occasional clear attacks on Bush (look for the "Bsh Babe" license plate), but they are rare. For the most part, this could have been about any president and the machinery around him. It is funny at moments, but it is not slapsticky.

Of course, I find the tall blonde with tight leather jacket, short skirt and knee-high boots for her appearance on the film's version of Larry King Live really funny. It's just that one step closer to satire. The hypocrisy of right wing ministers takes a solid, neat shot to the gut. A sex scene that speaks to how we can't escape the cell even at the most intimate moments is very kinky and very funny and oddly real.

But there are dramatic beats that play very real as well. When Tenney gets caught up in his stump speech about his dead brother who died in combat, it feels real. Good stuff. And Hamm has included tracks of dialogue that are completely familiar.

And again, the zombie stuff is very smart. Dante and Hamm find small things that are different than we have really seen before in this genre.

"They're on the streets. You can't hush this up."
"I figure we have a day or two. Then we need a really good lie."

"He feels pain."
(shrug) "He volunteered."

Good stuff.

It gets a little hokey. It gets a little jokey. The zombies smell bad. But this is the first Masters of Horror film (with perhaps the exception of Dario Argento's weird, raunchy Jenifer, staring Carrie Anne Fleming as the blonde with murderous tendencies that men tend to overlook in light of her incredible body and literal suction cup mouth) worth Tivo-ing and watching more than once. It is a great, modern Twilight Zone episode that mixes iconic imagery with strong, smart political positions.

E-ME.