Sometimes, when a movie plays at SXSW, it’s not just a screening, it’s a celebration. Last year, that was true about ‘The Breakfast Club.’ This year, the celebration was for the opening night premiere of Richard Linklater’s ‘Everybody Wants Some.’
Comedy
‘Chimes at Midnight,’ Orson Welles’ Best Work, Available for First Time in Decades
I inherited a respect for Orson Welles and a love for his work from an uncle who came of age in the 1940s when Orson Welles was one of radio and cinema’s best known actor/directors. When ‘Chimes at Midnight’ came out, I was busy coming of age and rioting at UCLA. I heard about the film and that Welles considered it his best work, but I missed it. Then, like the mysterious Mr. Welles himself, it disappeared for decades. Now, it’s back.
Anthem Film Fest: Help Me, Obi Penn Jillette – You’re My Only Hope
Producer Ted Balaker said, “There has always been outrage, but now with technology, we can supercharge outrage.”
LA Film Fest: ‘Seoul Searching’ – an Homage to John Hughes and the 1980s
The LA Film Festival chose to make ‘Seoul Searching’ one of its Gala Presentations. After the red carpet arrivals, the film was introduced by its director-screenwriter Benson Lee, and had its LA debut in Regal Cinemas’ Premier House. The entire event and the film itself gave that evening at the festival an old-time Hollywood feel. ‘Seoul Searching’ takes viewers on a nostalgia trip. Its theme, its style and its presentation are all retro in a good way. Prior to the screening, the audience did a stadium-style wave for the director. That’s getting into the 80s!
LA Film Fest: Dude, It’s a Dude-omongus Fest
Two films at the Los Angeles Film Festival, June 10-18, explored the Dude weltanschauung to bring us all closer to a profound understanding of the essence of dudeness. (Dude, that was heavy.) ‘Flock of Dudes’ looks at what happens when you put off becoming your father for too long. ‘Dude Bro Party Massacre III’ suggests that maybe dudeness could be a topic for satire.
Crazy Bitches
Billed as a horror/comedy, Crazy Bitches, written and directed by Jane Clark (Meth Head) was something of a disappointment. It wasn’t that scary, and not all that funny, but you might want to see it anyway. Two or three glasses of wine will help.
‘Cocktails and Camouflage’ Comedy Show Raises Money to Employ Veterans in Film and Television
(Originally published on Blogcritics.org) Cocktails & Camouflage was an evening of laughter, memories, and hope at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank, California, on November 6, 2014. The laughter came because on the surface it was a night of stand-up and a darn funny one at that. Emceed by KLOS radio personality Frazer Smith and headlining […]
Anthem Film Fest: A Dark Future, but with a Few Laughs
Two films — two questions about America’s future
‘Premature’ – Dan Beers’ Directing Debut
There is a fine line between comedy and tragedy
Wrong
Having viewed Wrong, written and directed by Quentin Dupieux, I suspect his motto might be “Weird for Weird’s Sake.”
LA Film Fest: ‘Crystal Fairy’
(First published on blogcritics.org) I don’t like hippies or recreational drug use and that’s what Sebastián Silva’s Crystal Fairy is all about. Strangely, I enjoyed the film and recommend it. Part of the Los Angeles Film Festival Summer Showcase series, Crystal Fairy chronicles the road-trip and psychedelic-trip adventures of Jamie, played by Michael Cera, (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Arrested […]
Joss Whedon’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’
(First published on blogcritics.org) What did you do on your vacation? Joss Whedon adapted Shakespeare. At South by Southwest 2012 (SXSW) Joss Whedon explained that he found a new way to unwind from the total immersion of making a movie like The Avengers – make another movie. In 2011, after principal photography on The Avengers was completed, Whedon was contractually obligated to […]
‘Harry Grows Up’ Wins at LA Comedy Shorts Festival
(First published on blogcritics.org) Studies of really young love won top honors at two LA film events last month. At the LA Comedy Shorts Festival (LACSF) the Audience Award went to Harry Grows Up by Writer /Director Mark Nickelsburg, and Writer Cindy Chupack. At the second annual Collaboration Filmmakers Challenge, both the judge’s and the audience awards went to A Simple Test, […]
LA Comedy Shorts: Famous People Talking About Stuff
(First published on blogcritics.org) “Famous People talking about S&%!” (I don’t know why they insist on spelling “stuff” like that) is perennially one of the most popular panels at the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival. That’s probably because of the life changing profundities and insightful observations by the panelists; or, maybe because the panelists are famous. This year’s […]
LA Comedy Shorts: Take My Shorts…Please
(First published on blogcritics.org) The fifth year of the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival (LACSF) (no, I don’t know what happened to the second “F”) opened at the Downtown Independent on April 4, with this year’s theme “Get Lucky” – and I did. So did everyone else who attended. Once again, as in 2010 and 2011, they excreted my expectations. (Excreted, ewww.) […]
‘Mental’ – As in the Slang Term for Crazy
(First published on blogcritics.org) The latest from movie maker P.J. Hogan is a directing tour de force, with some excellent acting from an impressive, award-winning cast, but not all that enjoyable. This is partly because thetrailer for the movie is so misleading, suggesting Mental is a whacky family comedy. It begins, after all, with the mom of the family, played by Rebecca […]
Stand Up Guys
(First published on blogcritics.org) When you have a great screenplay, the talent shows up. Screenwriter Noah Haidle has crafted a story that is sure to become a classic. Stand Up Guys stars Academy Award winners Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin in an action-comedy about senior citizen gangsters reunited after one of them spent 28 years in prison. Val (Al Pacino) is […]
Dances With Films: Can a Bat Monster be Cinderella?
(First published on blogcritics.org) Attack of the Bat Monsters by writer/director Graham Kelly Greene is an independent filmmaker fairy tale. It premiered in 2000 at the Dances with Films festival and, even though the soundtrack wasn’t finished, it won the Best of DWF Award and got good reviews. Then, like so many other quality indie films it disappeared […]
Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
(Originally published on blogcritics.org) As my daughter and I left the preview for Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, we couldn’t help but overhear two other reviewers trashing the film. “It was so repetitive…I didn’t think the motivation of the college girl was sufficiently established to support the romantic relationship…the dialogue was not convincing.” I wanted to […]
LA Comedy Shorts Festival: If You Want it Done Write…
(Originally published on blogcritics.org) You guessed it…then you gotta do it yourself. That was the advice from show creators and writer-producers at this year’s LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival at the Downtown Independent Theater. The “write-it-yourself” panel consisted of Kevin Shinick (writer/creator/producer of Cartoon Network’s Mad and writer/creative director of Robot Chicken), Phoef Sutton (writer/exec producer of Cheers, writer/producer Boston Legal), and […]