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.
Some quick backstory before the interview, Craig and his recording partner Phil Harrell were roommates during the Flyway Film Festival with Film Junk’s Jay Cheel. We ended up having dinner together on Friday night before the screenings of the opening night films. So it should come as no surprise that the four of us spent the dinner talking about horror films. After that evening, I knew I wanted to get an interview with Craig so he could talk about his rather fascinating concept album Tonight of the Living Dead.
Using only a public domain copy of the film Night of the Living Dead that he downloaded from Archive.org he remixed the score of the film into a wholly new album. Then, he collaborated with Phil to do the same with the visuals of the film. What’s fascinating is that Craig and Phil did this entirely online. Even more amazing? That they had never met in person until they both attended the Flyway Film Festival.
I’ve never been so stressed out for a movie. It should be noted that at the moment I started writing this I hadn’t even seen the film yet, though I am sitting in the theatre waiting for it to start. It all started this morning. I’d known a few days earlier that Paranormal Activity had finally been booked to play in Minneapolis, but I had foolishly assumed that it would get a standard run. Instead, the film had been booked for just two midnight shows on Friday and Saturday night, making Anna’s and my plans to watch it on Sunday morning totally meaningless. So when I woke up this morning I didn’t know how frantic my day was about to become.
Luckily for me I discovered early on that their would be no Sunday screening. Knowing that Anna would kill me if I didn’t get tickets I did what any man would do, I called her at work and got permission for us to go out past our bedtime.
The conversation that followed was rather strange, as Anna assured me that her sister had told her the 7:30 show had sold out so I must be mistaken. After assuring her that their was no such show I was finally given the go ahead to order tickets and that was that. Or so I thought.
A few short hours later, as I drove to work, I received a frantic phone call from Anna. She had just talked to her sister who had assured her that the Friday show was sold out and that I couldn’t have possibly ordered tickets.
“Well it might be sold out now but I bought tickets.”
“But Lindsey said the show was sold out before today.”
“That’s great. But I bought tickets.”
“Are you sure?”
“Do you want me to show you the confirmation?”
“But Lindsey said it was sold out.”
“She also said the show was at 7 o’clock.”
“I don’t know why you are getting frustrated.”
“I don’t know why you are questioning me about tickets I bought on your orders.”
“I don’t trust online ticketing.”
“Since when?”
“I don’t want us to show up and find out the ticket you bought were already sold.”
“Good lord, you sound like my parents.”
Sure enough, over the next few hours I would receive a few more phone calls questioning whether the tickets I ought had actually been bought. By the time I finally got home from work I was exasperated by the onslaught of disbelief that it was actually possible to buy tickets online. Even once we showed up for the movie, over an hour early based on Anna’s demands, I was still being questioned on whether the tickets were actually purchased. So by the time we finally got seated I had had about all I wanted from Paranormal Activity.
So as for my thoughts? Paranormal Activity is a nice little film. The actors (Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat) both do a good job and the effects are very good, but the film suffers from some gaping plot holes and inconsistencies. Its not a movie that will hold up well to any sort of analysis or scrutiny, but the film is fun to watch and it does offer plenty of scares. Its not as good nor scary as it is billed, but for a bare bones true Indie film its is top notch entertainment. The good news is it scared the socks off of Anna, meaning I have all sorts of ways that I can enact my revenge for the hell she put me through all day. And don’t feel sorry for her, she’s earned it.
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
I’ve got a secret to tell you, I watched A Serious Man over a week ago. When I went to go see it I assumed I would rush home to write something about it and get it online before any other doink could beat me. Then, due to circumstances beyond my control, I simply didn’t have the time due to watching a few other screenings over the next two days. Which is a good thing, as it allowed me a bit more time to think about the film, and make no mistake, this is a film that will force you to think.
Now, I’m going to do my best to not go into any specific spoilers about A Serious Man, but their are things that I think one should know going in. A Serious Man is a dark comedy, and while it has plenty of comedy the film is incredibly dark. Like most of the Coen’s films this one makes sure to put its characters through the ringer, and in a few cases they are downright unrelenting. I’ve heard people complain that they don’t like the Coen’s films because they get the feeling that the Coen’s don’t like their characters and A Serious Man isn’t going to change their minds, and most likely reinforce that idea, but to me A Serious Man is the one clear instance where the Coen’s are playing God. They are working in mysterious ways and tempting their characters to see if they will sin, and sinning results in consequences, rigorous and immediate consequences.
While Burn After Reading, a better film then most will have you believe, came across as a palette cleansing after the grim No Country For Old Men, A Serious Man dives right back into those murky and dangerous waters where every decision is fraught with risk and their are no easy answers.
Where No Country for Old Men saw a simple man come across a stroke of luck that he couldn’t possibly understand, A Serious Man provides the flip of a coin, where a simple man runs across a stroke of bad luck at the worst possible time, leaving him to question the nature of his life and his faith. And while good luck hardly favored Llewlyn Moss, bad luck provides some hope for Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg) to have a better life, if only he finds it in himself to make the right choices. God doesn’t hate Larry Gopnik, he loves him. But he wants him to be a better, stronger more serious man, and he is going to put him through hell so that he can finally reach his potential.
A few other final notes, Stuhlburg has turned in a monster performance in a year filled with them. Not to be out done, Richard Kind follows him step for step in a fantastic supporting turn as Uncle Arthur, Gopnik’s troubled but brilliant brother.
For those wondering, the rather flashy trailer for the film actually does have a tie-in to the film, with many of the scenes having an almost orchestral flow to them as players slowly enter into a scene and interact until it crescendos. For such a dark and subdued comedy, the script comes off almost downright showy with how its structure is so flowery.
As for the ending, its going to perplex people as much, if not more then No Country for Old Men’s ending. Perhaps because it offers far more clues on to what was really going on while providing far fewer answers. I’ve got my theories on to what was actually happening in the film, and I’m quite certain it will take multiple viewings to truly grasp the multitude of events that were transpiring before me.
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