Let’s talk SXSW. I’ve been a big fan of the fest since my first trip down there years ago. Great lineup, great city, great audiences. This might have been the year of ascendancy for SXSW interactive (and, yes, interactive folks were EVERYWHERE), but the more things change the more they stay the same. Janet Peirson & Jarod Neece put together an incredibly strong line-up of films, and may, in my humble opinion, have set a new high bar for the fest. I think I set a new record for most movies I’ve seen at a fest, and each one was worth it. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Audience Award winner Brotherhood an intense piece of filmmaking that broke out of the gates with a kinetic opening sequence and kept at full sprint all the way to the end. I didn’t know much about the film prior to slipping into one of the last seats at the Alamo S. Lamar. Now, I’m eagerly awaiting whatever director Will Canon does next. Equally impressive (and not nearly as much of a surprise - I’ve been to all his SXSW screenings since Dance Party, USA) was Aaron Katz, who with Cold Weather gave us an insightful portrait of a relationship between brother and sister masked by a smart thriller/mystery. It’s hard to make a good genre film, harder still to make one that works while you are simultaneously undercutting those genre elements. Katz pulls it off in spades. Other treats were the quirky romantic, comedy Barry Munday, which managed to successfully walk that fine line between broad comedy and romantic connection and Helena From the Wedding, an intimate film filled with terrific performances, none stronger than lead Lee Tergesen. With small glances and gestures Tergesen conveyed the complex emotional currents running beneath Alex’s “good host” exterior to bring to life a truly sympathetic character who really connected with the audience. Unfortunately I missed Jury Award winner Tiny Furniture due to my mentor sessions. I’ll have to check that wherever it plays next. And if you’re wondering if I saw any docs, the answer is yes. But you’ll have to wait for my thoughts until next week.
I Can’t Believe I Watched That
(A continuing series on films from my childhood that I (re)discovered on Netflix Watch Now)
(Spoilers abound - you’ve been warned)
My Blue Heaven
Directed by Herbert Ross
In which: Vinnie Antonelli (Steve Martin) joins the witness protection and moves to the suburbs under the supervision of bored FBI agent Barney Coopersmith (Rick Moranis). Hilarity ensues.
I Can’t Believe I Watched That! Sandwiched between two of my favorite Steve Martin comedies (Parenthood and LA Story), My Blue Heaven always shone brighter in my memory than the mildly entertaining, middling comedy that it is. Unfortunately, that brightness fades on re-watching leaving only a couple of chuckle-worthy vignettes and a vague sense of nostalgia for my childhood self. It also made me wonder - what the hell happened to Rick Moranis? This was a man who somehow managed to turn the role of annoying accountant who gets possessed by evil, dog demon in Ghostbusters into a career springboard that led to a series of hit movies such as Little Shop of Horrors, Spaceballs, Ghostbusters II and Parenthood before disappearing into the world of terrible “Honey, I
the Kids” sequels and Little Giants (Actually, I secretly love Little Giants as it combines two of my favorite things: cheesy football movies and Ed O’Neil). Looking at that list now I’m wondering if maybe he and Steve Martin palled around for a bit, which then led to a series of movie rolls for Moranis based on Martin’s inclusion in the project. For you younger folks think Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider. If anyone knows more, please email me and maybe we can do a career re-vitalization film for Rick Moranis. His Wrestler or Pulp Fiction so to speak.
Anyway, I digress. Martin really shines when given the chance. Especially when he plays against straight laced DA Hannah Stubs (Joan Cusack). There is something incredibly satisfying in the layer after layer of bullshit he comes up with to stay out of jail as he slowly and surely starts a crime wave in his new home. When caught with 25 copies of the same stolen book in the trunk of his car (he also had a swordfish), he tells Cusack that he is thinking of writing his life story. “Why do you need 25 copies of it?” she asks. “In case I want to read it more than once…” he replies. Stubbs is left reeling - his BS is so sincere, so matter of fact, that there is simply nothing to do but enjoy it. Is this a movie worth 90 minutes of your time? Well it probably depends on what you think of the following joke:
“What’s the difference between a pregnant woman and a light bulb?”
“You can unscrew a lightbulb.”
What the critics said then:
Such comic moments are scattered throughout ‘‘My Blue Heaven,’’ which is a truly funny concept and a disappointment on the screen. Mr. Martin has been the best part of every movie he has made, whether they are as hilarious as ‘‘The Man With Two Brains’’ and ‘‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’’ or as bland as ‘‘Planes, Trains and Automobiles.’’ ‘‘My Blue Heaven’’ is definitely one of his blander works. Though the scene in which Vinnie teaches the F.B.I agent to dance the merengue was made for Mr. Martin’s graceful sense of physical comedy, the film makers rarely allow him to let loose, and they never take full advantage of his shrewd comic acting. - Janet Maslin, NY Times
Friday I head down to SXSW for the fifth year straight; a festival I’ve had a love affair with ever since my first trip to Austin, when Cowboy Del Amor took home the audience & grand jury prize. Beautiful Losers premiered there as did the short Prom Date and the festival helped secure distribution for Kurt Cobain About a Son. I didn’t expect to be back this year - I was stung too harshly by the sudden closing of Las Manitas Avenue Cafe - but the festival lineup proved too alluring. Not to be missed: 11/4/08, Barry Munday, Cold Weather, Helena From the Wedding , How to Fold a Flag, Jean Michele Basquiat: The Radiant Child, Life 2.0, Putty Hill, and The Canal Street Madam. Also, I’ll be participating in the mentor sessions on Monday, March 15th. Sign up, say hi, and I promise to be informative.
In order to keep with the punctuated feeling of last night’s Oscar presentation, I’ve decided to deliver my thoughts on said presentation in bullet point form. Before I do, however, I’d like to explain what bullet points are and why they are used. A “bullet point” is a symbol used in order to mark off items in a list in order to make the list both more legible and organized. And now that that’s been established:
• Alec Baldwin & Steve Martin did a great job hosting. At least for the first 15 minutes of the show. Why the producers decided to keep their best asset off stage for so long is a mystery to me. One industry insider suggested that any mid-show banter was by necessity more improvisational while the intro can be studiously rehearsed. Maybe, but I think the hosts were up for a little improv.
• The shorts are finally distinguishing themselves as something other than the awards that separate the Oscar pool winners from the Oscar pool losers. Whereas last year they provided an Oscar high point with “Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto”, this year they offered the Oscar low point with what has already been dubbed “Oscar’s Kanye Moment.”
• Interpretive dance!? Did anyone seriously think that would increase viewership? Next time try Nascar or even better - THE PBR!
• George Clooney is the new Jack Nicholson.
• Did we really need a whole montage tribute to horror in place of seeing the ceremonies for honorary Oscar winners Lauren Bacall and Roger Corman. I think not.
• I hope Kathryn Bigelow’s win doesn’t make studios, producers, financiers pat themselves on the back about the breaking of a glass ceiling. Her victory was truly, truly amazing. But the field of directing is still overly dominated by men, and only once that is rectified will real change come about.
• I can’t believe The Hurt Locker won! That’s just damn awesome and congrats to everyone involved in making and distributing such a great film!!!!
1) On the 10 Best Picture nominations: Despite the enlargement of this category, the race still comes down to - like every year - the films that were nominated for Best Director (and beyond that we know the “real” race is actually only 2 films), and in the end Up, the best film of the year, will get its ghettoized Animation Oscar.
2) On the documentary race: For the whole of 2009 I could not bring myself to watch The Cove. Then - thanks to the Cinema Eye Awards - I got motivated to actually watch the film and I hope the Oscars can do the same for the rest of the country, because it is truly a “Must See.”
3) On Independent Film: I still don’t know what “independent film” means these days. That said, arthouse distributors put up a fine showing and I congratulate them all, especially Sony Picture Classics for pulling out a Best Original Song nomination. Best Original Song! Who’d have thunk it?
Let’s talk SXSW. I’ve been a big fan of the fest since my first trip down there years ago. Great lineup, great city, great audiences. This might have been 
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