Saturday, April 19th
Today started off with a documentary. For the Loves of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism (**1/2) is pretty much exactly what it says. The film starts off pretty interesting by exploring the very early years of film criticism when critics were still trying to figure out how to approach this new art form. It goes on to explore the first famous critic, Bosley Crowther, who wrote for the NY Times for 27 years. The most entertaining section of the film is when it talks about the film critics that rose up in the 60s, such as Andrew Sarris and PAuline Kael, who battled pretty fiercely over the auteur theory, which Kael detested. Kael's biting wit is on full display in several interviews and press clippings included int he film. After this, it moves on to the rise of television, but this is where the film stumbles a bit in my opinion, While including several interviews with Roger Ebert, the filmmaker only spends about 3 minutes discussing the impact Siskel and Ebert had on film criticism, not even touching on the "Thumbs Up" system they developed. It seemed like an odd choice, especially when the film rushes by that to talk about the rise of the internet and actually spends more time on Harry Knowles and other internet critics. I'd consider the film a moderate success for the interesting exploration of early film criticism, but the choices made in discussing modern criticism are puzzling and hamper the film's credibility.
The next film was another documentary called Pip & Zastrow: An American Friendship (***). Pip Moyer and Zastrow Simms were two of the top athletes in their segregated Annapolis schools. They quickly became friends, despite the racial prejudices of the time, and the film explores their friendship over the years. Their lives took two different directions, as Pip went to college while Zastrow went to jail numerous times. Pip later came back to Annapolis and got alot of attention for joining an all-black amateur basketball team. Pip later on became Mayor of Annapolis, while Zastrow still found himself in legal trouble. To Pip's credit, he never turned his back on Zastrow, even stepping in to let him out of jail so he could attend his mother's funeral. The most interesting part of the film dealt with the aftermath of Martin Luther King's assassination and the civil unrest that it caused. This time Pip called on Zastrow, got him out of jail again, and they walked the streets together to help diffuse the situation. The film follows their lives up until present day, as Pip deals with struggling health conditions and Zastrow attempts to rehabilitate himself. This movie is a success because it doesn't portray these two men as pure saints, but talks about some dark areas of their lives as well. This makes the two men even more interesting and human. There was a Q&A afterwards, with 71 year old Zastrow Simms in attendance.
I don't have much to say about the next film, called It Was Great, but I Was Ready to Come Home (**). It was the first narrative feature of the day, but had much less to say than the two documentaries. It follows two women who go on a vacation in Costa Rica. There's not much of a plot. The film just follows the two women from town to town. You gets bits and pieces here and ther through the conversations they have together, suggesting that they're trying to get over painful failed relationships, but this never really comes together. They just keep on moving to the next town and then the next town, and then it's over. There's really no ending here. I don't mind movies that are a bit ambiguous and this one does have some nice scenery and two appealing leads, but it ultimately feels pointless. The director Kris Swanberg seems like she has some talent, as the overall look of the film is really nice and it moves along at a decent pace. It'll be interesting to see what happens when she actually has something to say.
This film was preceded by a short called Love, Sadie (***), which is about a quiet girl who we learn is abused by her father. She has many people that write her notes asking for advice or telling her thay have a crush on her, but she has trouble responding and articulating what is going on in her life. This was only 12 minutes, but it packed a pretty good punch.
The next film was one of the big events of the festival, since it had already premiered to much success at Sundance. It is called Moon (***1/2), and stars Sam Rockwell in a splendid performance. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an astronaut who lives on the moon, working for an energy corporation that is responsible for providing all of the Earth's energy. He is aided by a robot named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey with deadpan perfection). Sam's 3 year contract is about to end, and he awaits returning to his wife and daughter, but Sam starts to get sick and get sin a serious accident with the land rover. As he recuperates back at base, he sees a younger version of himself who says he's there to fulfill the same 3 year contract. The two Sam's struggle to make sense of the situation, as representatives from the company are due to arrive in just a few hours. This is a really strong sci-fi film, which includes enough humor to keep it light, but never strays too far into silliness. There's not much action here, but Rockwell's compelling performance and the unravelling mystery are more than enough to keep you interested throughout, and the film builds to a very satisfying conclusion. This one is a winner.
The final film of the night was not a winner. It is called Deadland (*), and is about the future of the United States after a nuclear strike almost completely demolishes it. The country is now called the United Provinces, and is run by the Officers of the Province, who hold on to a secret cure for the radiation poisoning that is slowly killing people. The main character is Sean Kalos, who is on a quest to find his missing wife, a quest that puts him in the middle of underground revolutionaries fighting the new government. This is an example of a bad sci-fi movie. In fact, it is every bit the quality of one of those bad made for sci-fi movies. This one is terrible across the board: acting, directing, story, dialogue, editing. This was a major disappointment following Moon.
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