Hi guys! I'm back from the phenomenal SXSW Film Festival! No bullshit, this was THE best fest I've attended yet! And I've been to Sundance twice! I saw a BUNCH of movies I really dug, the parties were cool, and the people treated my colleagues and I like solid gold.
for SXSW, trust me on this.
ANYway, here's some interesting nuggets:
Hellboy - Del Toro brought the movie in at the last minute, and during the post-flick Q & A he informed us that not even
the studio had seen the final cut yet! Heh. Some of my enthusiasm may stem from the festive atmosphere in which I saw the movie, but I had a big red BALL with
Hellboy. 4.5 out of 5 stars!
Before Sunset - Lots of people add the festival were smugly asking "Errr...did
Before Sunrise really NEED a sequel?" - but I think it's a darn underrated movie, and this follow-up is another big winner. Another 4.5!
Coffee and Cigarettes - Del Toro, Linklater...
and Jim Jarmusch?? Holy moley! The movie's a collection of short films, all of which offer a few actors (and musicians) who play themselves while...drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes! One short between Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan is a mini-masterpiece, Cate Blanchett plays two roles in one fantastic sequence, and one section that delivers Bill Murray with a duo of Wu-Tang Clanners is drop-dead hilarious. A few others are poignant; others are just weird. But if you dig Jim Jarmusch, you'll have a good time with this oddball experiment. Yup. 4.5.
Up For Grabs - 5 stars!!! This is an amazingly addicting documentary in the vein of
Super Size Me and
Spellbound. It's about all that hoopla that surrounded Barry Bonds' 73rd home run ball and the bizarre court case that followed. I just didn't want this thing to end. ESPN should buy it and show it twice a month.
Blackballed - An extremely funny little indie about a disgraced paintball champion who returns home after vanishing for ten years. This one won the Audience Award at the festival.
Knots - I never thought I'd say the following, but...
John Stamos is freaking hilarious! No lie, he steals this fast-paced and enjoyable little sex farce. Steals it whole. Paulina Porizkova, Tara Reid, Annabeth Gish and Scott Cohen star as well. Fun little 'relationship' comedy.
Dead & Breakfast - Oooh, this one was right up my alley. It's just your typical zombie comedy musical. Erik Palladino, Jeremy Sisto, Gina Philips... all clearly having a good time dishing out the gory bits. Ever Carradine is like, mega-ultra-cute. Diedrich Bader and Portia de Rossi contribute kooky cameos, and this one lunatic called Zach Selwyn (who can also be seen as one of the six finalists on ESPN's 'Dream Job' and who also loves to drink beer) steals the show with his tunes. Horror fans will love this one...but keep in mind that I said that about lotsa other indie horror movies that many of you probably hated.
Code 46 - Michael Winterbottom's new one. It stars Tim Robbins and Samantha Morton and it can probably be best described as
Gattaca meets....something else dystopian and bizarre. The two EFC crix I was with didn't dig it all that much, but I did. I'll be curious to hear reactions on this one as they trickle in.
Red vs. Blue - If you've ever played
Halo for more than say....4454325443 hours, you'll eat this stuff up with a spoon. This is simply a collection of shorts that are also accessible at
www.redvsblue.com . Basically a bunch of nutcases make movies out of
Halo. Funny.
Public Domain - An acidic indictment of reality TV. I've reviewed this one already, so let's move on to...
Slasher - Like everyone in the world, I love a whole lot of John Landis' movies, so I was pretty psyched to see this, his latest. It's a documentary about one truly manic used car salesman. This one premieres on the IFC channel in a few months.
Surviving Eden - At last year's SXSW, I saw Greg Pritikin's
Dummy, which I pretty much loved. This is his second flick. It's a comedy about one obese weiner who becomes a contestant on "Surviving Eden" and lets the success go to his head big-time. Cheri Oteri is truly hilarious, and Peter Dinklage steals the movie whenever he's onscreen. Keep an eye out for it.
...I'll be back with some more later on. I'm tired!
