Lost In GroVont

Not your mother's CIA.

Ah, June is almost over which means that Pride is over and fireworks will soon be polluting the sky. The pomp and circumstance of Pride does not interest me, so my participation is limited to watching parades from the sidelines and going to see movies at the queer film festival, and Frameline 31 screens hundreds of films throughout the Bay Area for two weeks each June.

Itty Bitty Titty Committee was the closing night film I attended. Producer Andrea Sperling won the 2007 Frameline Award which was presented before the movie started with a far too long retrospective followed by a few speeches.

Sperling's wife, Jamie Babbit, is the director of Itty Bitty Titty Committee and was also in the audience to introduce the film. IBTC is a look at a feminist radical group fueled by a soundtrack of all your favorite Riot Grrrl bands. It's a fun film with some fantastical moments at the end that were only forgotten by the making out montage closing the film. If you don't take the film too seriously, it is easy to enjoy. The acting and production values are better than many films with bigger budgets. (Watch the trailer on YouTube.)

A few members of the cast and crew answered questions after the film, including Nicole Vicius, who played Sadie the worst-girlfriend-ever; Daniela Sea, who got the most applause, not for her character Calvin, but for her part on The L Word; and Guinevere Turner, who had a glorified cameo as a reporter. Babbit fielded most of the questions. One audience member was concerned about the excessive smoking by the characters in the film. There is a campaign to keep smoking out of the queer community that is building steam. I've seen posters on the sides of Muni buses in the city. Babbit, a non-smoker, said that the entire cast smoked which contributed, but smoking by twenty-something members of a radical group is not uncommon.

Audience Award Winner, Vier Minuten (Four Minutes), was the stand out of the three showings I attended at Frameline. A story of a piano teacher at a women's prison in Germany as she connects with a jailed prodigy. The film weaved glimpses of the present with Nazi activity in the same prison during WWII. The piano teacher was the common link between the two eras. It's a beautiful story about the relationship between these two very different women. I forgot to vote, so I'm really glad this film won the Audience Award.

The Look of Love was the title of the shorts program at the Roxie described as a "collection of shorts highlight[ing] the ups and downs of searching for love." The shorts ranged from okay to bad to awful. Licorice, Last Exit, Running Home, and Jo FM were the highlights.

It's always potluck when selecting films at Frameline. You have to purchase tickets in advance for most films, and usually, there is very little known about the film. I really happy with my choices this year, and I recommend both full-length features.

The good with the bad yet somewhat adorable

I finished reading The Kite Runner today. Khaled Hosseini's story starts with Amir's childhood in Afghanistan before the Taliban destroyed his homeland and chronicles his family's escape to San Francisco. The real heartbreak occurs when Amir faces his demons (literally through a far-fetched coincidence)  when he goes back to Afghanistan as an adult to discover surprising truths and right his and his father's mistakes. Despite many grim scenes, the book ends on a hopeful note and is riveting throughout its nearly 400 pages.

Unfortunately, the book is being made into a movie. The filmmaker's decided other areas are more picturesque than the Fremont where Amir and his father live after moving to the US as scenes were filmed seemingly everywhere in the East Bay except Fremont.

From good to bad...I saw Because I Said So this afternoon. Mandy Moore is adorable but that's about all this movie had in the positive column. Lauren Graham was underused as were all the supporting cast (except Tom Everett Scott who was annoying as one of Moore's suiters). I wonder if there were originally subplots with the supporting cast. Most of these actors we watch weekly deliver on their own television shows, but in this movie, you barely even noticed them. I think Piper Perabo's ass got more screen time than she did.

Skip Because I Said So and see Catch and Release if you need to see a chickflick this weekend.

Lie With Me

I link to SFist.com constantly but that is because they are the source for local happenings in the Bay Area. It helps that they gave me free passes to see a movie at IndieFest last weekend.

Though after watching the screening of Lie With Me last Friday, I was glad that I didn't actually pay for my ticket. It wasn't a horrible film. At times, the cinematography painted beautiful colors on the screen but it felt like a porn film with more attractive actors.

Two people make eye-contact and have a non-verbal moment at party and for half of the movie their relationship is love at first sight without the messy dialogue. They stick to the sex until David's dying father starts making jokes prompting David and Leila to actually start talking.

The couple's parents are the only thing in the film giving the characters depth. It is hard to watch a film when you don't care about the characters even if you are given full nudity. (Seeing the characters naked does not make them three-dimensional!)

What you are left with is two pretty, yet damaged, people who will never be together because they are too fucked up and an audience who doesn't care what happens to them.

Lie With Me stars Eric Balfour and Lauren Lee Smith. Eric played Buffy's "potential friend" in the pilot of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". Lauren currently plays The Soup Chef on "The L Word".

IndieFest continues through Valentine's Day at various theatres in San Francisco. The preview for the Danielson: A Family Movie looked promising so I will probably try to catch it at the Roxie.

You can not avoid the cliche

The Dears have released details on their new album. From the email newsletter:

Lots of strummy, dirty, riffy guitars. Ridiculous drumming and inventive bass-ing. Tons of creative  synthesising. It couldn't be a Dears record without that. There are no strings (thank heaven) and the only brass on the record is Chris from Stars with his F horn on songs like Ballad/Battle of Humankindness. My dad also plays tenor saxophone on a track called Last Breath; he's like seventy-something and apparently still has some chops.

Murray also mentions that he sounds less like Morrissey on the record. Is that good?

Watched Heights and Wedding Crashers recently and this article from Fametracker makes much more sense. Both films are good. Heights is a dark, family drama with good acting and dialogue. Wedding Crashers isn't laugh out loud funny, but if it had been billed as the romantic comedy it is, I would have been less hesitant to view it.

No more boundary-less ant farm to observe. Most of the ants have moved out of my kitchen. I left the house last night to go get drinks, and when I returned, the ants had dispersed.

Jinx put Max in space. Jinx must get Max back.

First Descent is not your typical ski porn[1]. First Descent tries to have heart. Unfortunately, I went to see the documentary for the awesome snowboarding footage and was, in turn, disappointed. I think the film makers need to re-think who their key audience is. Can you imagine anyone shelling out $10 to see a snowboarding documentary who wasn't in it for the awesome snowboarding footage? (Even the three teenage boys in the front row left the theatre after 30 minutes.)

First Descent divides the evolution of snowboarding into three parts and inter-cuts them into the story of three generations of active snowboarders hanging out in Alaska. We're supposed to care about these five snowboarders. We meet their mothers, hear about how much they are admired by their contemporaries, and are told again and again how devoted each one of them is to their sport.

I like snowboarding. I like strapping on my board and looking down the face of a mountain (a very small mountain). I like watching snowboarding. But I didn't give a shit about these five people in Alaska or these five people in their childhood homes or these five people roasting marshmallows. I didn't care that the youngsters looked up to the aging vets. I didn't care about Farmer's struggles with getting older. I wanted to see them zooming down the side of a mountain. (And they are beautiful mountains.)

So the film fails on two counts. It wanted me to care about the snowboarders but was unable to do so. And for a snowboarding film, it was lacking in awesome snowboarding footage.

Maybe I wouldn't be so bothered by the failure of First Descent if the brilliant documentary, Dogtown and Z-Boys, hadn't been released four years earlier.

The frequency of my movie going has increased lately as I try to use up a gift certificate. And since I feel cheated if I don't get two movies out of one ticket, I also saw Walk The Line. It's a glossy bio-pic of Johnny Cash which does exactly what it is meant to do: portray a music legend as a damaged kid who overcomes his struggles in order to achieve love and fame. The love story is tear-worthy but not too cheesy. The music is great. And the filmmakers have a lot of things going for them out of the starting gate, so it would tragic if the film sucked.

It has been a long time since I've seen a really great movie in the theatre. I'm hoping Brokeback Mountain and The Family Stone won't disappoint.

[1] Awesome snowboarding footage! With a hip-hop soundtrack! 

Not your mother's ski porn

For a brief period of time while living in Jackson Hole, I crashed in a small basement bedroom with a group of hippies and their dogs. The front door was never locked and weed was the dominating smell. It was an interesting experience for me. However, I did come to appreciate ski porn which were the only images displayed on the tiny tv in the living room. Ski porn is not what you might think. Ski porn is what the other members of the house would call ski and snowboarding footage with a techno or hip-hop soundtrack and it was incredible. (Most of the videos we watched were produced by Teton Gravity Research.) My interest in ski porn somewhat explains my excitement about the release of First Decent next week.

I spent my Sunday watching movies at the Metreon. I hate the Metreon. It is like a techno-mall with a movie theatre. Unfortunately, the Metreon is the best movie theatre in town as far as picture and sound quality are concerned and I had a gift certificate. I saw the new Harry Potter and Rent.

Of course, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was both great and disappointing. Yes, I've read all the books multiple times, so I expect the visuals in my head to be perfectly recreated on screen which is impossible. I hate watching movies based on books, especially books I love. But how can you not see the new Harry Potter movie?

Rent was also a movie I was hesitant to see since I had never seen the theatre production. Although an excellent movie, as I left the theatre I felt as I did after seeing Chicago: the live theatre production is probably much more impressive.

Nothing But Green Lights

As my weekend ends, I recollect on it with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Friday night, I saw The Fiery Furnaces. I will do a short recap on the show tomorrow. 

Saturday I caught up on all the tv I did not have time to watch during the week. Nothing important happened on television, which isn't a surprise, I know, but as I am reading Klosterman's chapter  called "Being Zack Morris" I recall this passage:

We like the "process" of watching these shows. The idea of these programs being entertaining never seemed central to anything, which remains the most fascinating aspect of all televised art: consumers don't demand it to be good. It just needs to be watchable.

I like good television, Deadwood is one of my favorite shows and critically acclaimed. But I will also watch The O.C. or Gilmore Girls occasionally because it's distracting from reality and I don't have to think for 45 minutes. My guilty pleasure this season is America's Next Top Model. Yes, it helps that in airs before Veronica Mars and that it has a queer girl in the cast this cycle. I also find myself saying out of character things like, "That dress is hideous!" or "She's such a bitch!" I've begun to care about these "reality characters" far more than I want to admit. I have come to the conclusion the people on reality tv fall in to one of three categories:

1. Someone you want to spend time with.

2. Someone you hope never crash lands on your island.

3. Someone who is not unlike wallpaper.

Ultimately, I want Kyle to win because she stands out from the wallpaper only a little, and the makeover that turned her into a brunette last week transformed her from valley girl cute to sexy. She probably has some annoying quality I'll come to loathe as the season progresses, but right now, she's my pick to win.

After work today, I did a mainstream movie double-header at the multiplex. Serenity and Flightplan. I tried to lower my expectations before walking into the theatre to see Serenity. The part of my brain who loves all things Joss Whedon was happy; the cynical part, let out a sigh of relief. Serenity is a good movie but I want to see a new episode next week, which isn't going to happen. Hopefully, Whedon & Co. will continue to produce "Firefly" films yearly (or at least every other year). Flightplan was an okay suspense film.

Also, check out Tom Vek.

Probably uses the metric system

It's Friday and I'm not doing anything. Two jobs makes for a long work week so I appreciate having the night off.

Next week will be busy. The New Pornographers on Tuesday at Bimbo's 365. The Fiery Furnaces on Friday at my new favorite SF venue, Cafe du Nord. Plus the usual sixty hours of work.

This week's highlights are few and far between.

The SFist rants about the BART/MUNI commuters on escalators. I'm always rushing around the city for no reason other than the need to move, so I loathe the bottleneck at the Powell street escalators. Unable to determine the volume of my voice over "Time Running" coursing through my ears, I will first whisper "Excuse me."  A second later, I will repeat the phrase with a bit of urgency and louder. Occasionally, I will raise my voice without concern for volume. Please stand to the right and walk on the left. Please don't make me shout at you.

Advertising along Valencia has become more amusing. The billboard above Zeitgeist for Nicolas Cage's new movie, Lord of War, now features the current President's face. And I'm tired of seeing Elijah Wood every other block on posters for two different movies. (In less than a day, his face is usually adorned with a mustache and devil horns.) In junior high, I had a crush on Elijah Wood. (Did you see Paradise?) But I find his post-hobbit movie roles annoying.

If you haven't already, please take a listen to DeVotchKa. I heard their set on one of KEXP's live podcasts and immediately fell for their sound. Segue appropriate comment: DeVotchKa's song, "How it Ends," plays throughout the trailer for the new Elijah Wood movie Everything Is Illuminated based on the book I have yet to read.

I'm hitting Hotel Utah tomorrow for the Thee More Shallows show.

You can't sell a sport called Murderball.

"The devil wears a grey skirt, and her name is Kimberly Joyce." says Ron Livingston's character in Pretty Persuasion about the character played by Evan Rachel Wood.

Three movie theatres in one week. Two dark comedies. One documentary. All good. (I rarely go to see movies in the theatre any more. It's been a weird week.)

Pretty Persuasion is yet another high school farce that doesn't hesitate to push buttons. From racial slurs to teenage sex. Even reflecting some of Joyce's motivation with a fictional high school shooting. The sight gags are hilarious. Especially the scenes with three characters (the Twinkies scene!). Someone would be talking but the real humour would be portrayed on the other side of the screen, usually by Evan Rachel Wood. (Although not related, James Wood is in the film as Kimberly Joyce's phone sex enjoying father.)

For a teenager, Evan Rachel Wood is choosing all the right roles. Her young career is reminiscent of Christina Ricci's. She's played the good girl ("Once & Again" and in a few PG rated movies), the bad girl (Thirteen), and done a handful of not great but not horrible films in between (The Missing, The Upside of Anger).

Murderball is a documentary about the rivalry between the USA and Canadian quadriplegic rugby teams. The pace of the film was excellent. One minute I disliked any one of the guys; the next minute I would be routing for them to win.

In the meta category, I've been trying out the new TypePad features on this blog. Live feed for my livejournal right there in the sidebar! Eventually I'll get motivated enough to take advantage of the custom CSS. Until then, I'm just pushing for more updates.

You keep saying you've got something for me.

Best use of Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ in a Roshomon like film: 11:14

Or, best use of Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ in a Rachael Leigh Cook film: 11:14.

Not once in the twenty-gazillion times I walked by the posters for 11:14 outside of the Roxie theatre did I think the cleavage filling the frame belonged to Rachael Leigh Cook.

Halfway through Greg Marcks’ 11:14 when Rachael Leigh Cook’s character of Cheri appeared full-length on the screen, I was proven wrong.

She’s come a long way since The Babysitter’s Club.

I was also told by the signage outside of the Roxie again that Rachel Leigh Cook was in the neighborhood on Friday night. I missed that although I could have walked by her a half-dozen times. Shrug. I hope she had a good burrito while she was hanging out in the Mission.

I’m a fan of dark comedies. And, 11:14 is dark. And, I left the theatre laughing. The Roshomon style of storytelling is over used in films but it some cases it works well. The short lived TV series “Boomtown” used it brilliantly. As does, 11:14. I was never confused with what was happening, nor terribly surprised by the wrap-up, but I was entertained and impressed and amused.

I always find all-star casts distracting with thoughts of “Oooh, it’s the kid from ‘Flash Forward’” or, “Patrick Swayze?” Although, well-acted, it is the only obvious flaw in the film. Well, the penis jokes were a little...well, penis jokes...stupid.