Thanks to the guys over at Film Junk I came across the trailer for the new mumblecore science fiction film Mars that will be debuting at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival. Combining its eye catching visual presentation with its misanthropic tone hopefully will result in an interesting romantic comedy, though the trailer certainly reminds me at times of Dark Star.
But what I might be most interested in for the film, is the involvement of James Kochalka, who is one of the best American independent comic creators currently working. I wouldn’t be surprised if he helped with some of the background animation, but that he is acting in this film gives me hope that some of his outstanding writing talent might be used to help sharpen up the dialogue. Please let it be true.
As a youth I used to live in the shelves of my local video store. Most summers I would spend my days down at the local strip mall (a scant 1.3 miles away) bowling for hours, reading comics off the rack at the drug store, picking out the most essential candy at the grocery store and finally wandering in the stacks, searching for the perfect movie to watch that weekend. All this time spent in the stacks lead to a curious skill of recognizing films based solely by their cover art, and I’d often know the plot of the films based off of the descriptions on the back. Soon it became a bit of a game for my friends to quiz me on what the films were about, but only the films I’d never actually seen and using simply the cover as a hint.
Of course, back then I was still very young and simply didn’t have the time nor the resources to watch every film I wanted to. So I would pick and choose which I would watch, often leaning heavily towards science fiction and fantasy films (my horror obsession didn’t really kick in until my early twenties). So how is it that I never watched a post-apocalyptic film about a nomadic swordsman? Simple, I hated the cover.
Growing up I was always a huge fan of short stories. I was a voracious reader and they helped make me feel like I was getting more bang for my buck (or my parent’s buck as it were) when I read compilations. But even besides the fact that I could read more stories, and thus go on more adventures, I loved how they provided small snap shots into the character’s lives. They allowed me more freedom to come up with a continuation on the narrative, allowing me to fill in the gaps and construct worlds that only I would experience.
But while short stories have allowed authors to flourish, short films seem to be a slightly different animal. Too often festivals focus only on the ultra short films that have to rely on ironic or O’Henry style endings to drive the film, resulting in an all to often seemingly manufactured and formulaic genre.
Thankfully, the Flyway Film Festival cares not about running times, preferring instead unique tales and wondrous characters regardless of if the film is three or thirty minutes. Because of this, it is the audiences who benefit if they decide to attend this festival.
Not many new additions but their are some notable ones. First we have The Messenger and (Untitled), films I know nothing about and probably will never see. Besides that I am happy to announce that Thirst will actually play in Minneapolis, though it won’t have a week long run. instead it has been added to the upcoming Midnight Madness schedule, and will play the weekend of November 6th, and you can be sure that I will be in attendance for one of those shows.
The other big addition is one of my most anticipated for the fall season, that being the science fiction farce Gentlemen Broncos. I’ve been looking forward to this film for well over a year, and I am finding it incredibly difficult to remain patient for the adventure of Ronald Chevalier. Hopefully I’ll luck out and be able to attend a screening beforehand, but that looks unlikely.
*** – Denotes recommended viewing
All dates subject to change
10/09 Earth Days Lagoon
10/09 The Boys Are Back Edina
10/09 Amreeka Edina
10/09 Unmistaken Child Lagoon
10/16 Coco Before Chanel Uptown
10/16 Still Walking Lagoon
10/16 More Than A Game Lagoon
10/23 An Education Uptown
10/23 The Horse Boy Lagoon
10/23 Damned United Edina/Lagoon
10/23 Amelia Lagoon
10/23 Flame & Citron Edina (NEW DATE)
10/30 New York, I Love You Uptown/Lagoon
10/30 Canyon Lagoon
Friday afternoon, on a lark, I decided to attend a screening of the new action/science-fiction film Surrogates starring Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell. To be honest, I was a bit cynical about it going in – aside from District 9 I’ve been left wanting by films of the action/science-fiction genre for quite a while now. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Surrogates is a fun, engaging film with enough twists to keep you guessing until nearly the end.
The special effects were used to great advantage and never felt superfluous. There were a number of terrific performances by the film’s well-known cast, Ving Rhames’s performance of ‘The Prophet’ (a Mumia Jamal-style subversive at war with future Earth’s techno-establishment) being especially outstanding. It is a fresh approach to a kind of science-fiction film (that being the kind of film where the main characters’ senses of reality are altered in some irretrievably extreme way through the use of technology) that have been seeing a lot of screen time since The Matrix made such a splash lo those many years ago. And, with films like these, it manages to make several pointed observations about the subtle ways in which a life filtered through certain technologies (such as the one we’re using now) can make for a more vivid, yet distant, reality. There are a number of spots where the film shifts between its mystery and action elements and the kind of social commentary one might expect from a work of speculative science-fiction like this.
Sure the plot runs afoul of a few science-fiction clichés here and there, and the film gets by with minimal tickling of the cerebellum; however, Surrogates is an exciting action/science-fiction film with enough going for it to make it well worth your time.
Friday afternoon, on a lark, I decided to attend a screening of the new action/science-fiction film Surrogates starring Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, and James Cromwell. To be honest, I was a bit cynical about it going in – aside from District 9 I’ve been left wanting by films of the action/science-fiction genre for quite a while now. But I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Surrogates is a fun, engaging film with enough twists to keep you guessing until nearly the end.
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