IFF Boston 2009

While I missed the opening night festivities on Wednesday evening, choosing to go to the Sox game instead, last night the Independent Film Festival of Boston 2009 began for me.  Last year’s festival I set the goal of writing reviews of all 15 films I saw in the fest, but crapped out after 6 reviews.   This year, I’m trying to set a much more modest goal for myself:  Write a 140 character review on Twitter for each of the films I see this year.  I’ve already posted my first two mini-reviews last night over there, and will hopefully do better than I did last year with the bar set so low.

My current plan is to revisit some of my favorite films after the end of the festival with more in-depth discussions, but we’ll see how that plan turns out.

Also, if you’re interested in joining me for some of the films I’m seeing, here’s an iCal feed of the movies I’m planning on seeing.  There are descriptions, links, times, and locations in there.

Review: Frontrunner

“Frontrunner” follows
the presidential campaign of Dr. Massouda Jalal, a woman who ran in
the 2004 Afghanistan presidential election. The film moves from her
impressive performance in the 2002 interim presidental election through her
2004 campaign. Jalal entered a heated political environment emerging from
Taliban rule, and seeing the struggles and successes of her campaign was
fascinating as an outsider.

While this subject was fascinating, the film itself was a bit
disappointing. I just don’t believe there was enough meat for this to be a
90-minute feature film. Sometimes, instead of using other techniques to
communicate some of the periods of waiting, the film just showed the
waiting. This might have been fine once or twice, but it felt overused in
this film. I also would have liked to see more interviews with the
public, both her supporters and her detractors.

This wasn’t a bad film, but I think it may have been better as a
60-minute PBS special (or if it had had more of the public voice).

Review: The Greening of Southie

“The Greening
of Southie”
documents the construction and design of the Macallen
building in South Boston. Macallen is Boston’s first residential “green”
building, and the goal in desigining it was to achieve LEED “Gold” certification. The
film begins with the foreman briefing the crew on day one and continues
through the first residents moving in.

This was a pretty well-paced film, and took time to explain how the LEED
point system worked and how several design decisions effected the score.
Not only were the design and construction phases shown, but the film also
travels to the source of many of the materials, many of which were local to
New England, as LEED emphasizes local materials.

One of the things which struck me about this film was how the
construction workers reacted to the green mission of this building. Some
were skeptical, some embraced it, and others simply didn’t care one way or
another. Most seemed to acknowledge that green methodologies and design
would likely continue to effect their work moving forward. It is in these
interviews where the film finds its heart.

This film is airing occasionally on Sundance, so if
you are interested in green building or just want to see a solid documentary
with great interviews, check it out.

Review: Nerdcore Rising

“Nerdcore Rising” is a
documentary following the first national tour of the Godfather of so-called
“Nerdcore Rap”, Damian Hess, a.k.a. MC Frontalot, and his band.
Featuring interviews with figures such as Prince Paul, “Weird Al” Yankovic,
and Jello Biafra, this film spends some time upfront explaining and
justifying Nerdcore as a genre. From the beginning I was skeptical, and
honestly, I’m not exactly sure when a genre becomes ‘real’. In fact, I
suspect some of the musicians themselves are equally skeptical of the label,
but I guess in modern marketing, everything needs a classification.

Frontalot’s songs lean towards the witty and clever, but as Prince Paul
points out at one point, originally rap was about clever rhymes and
outsmarting your fellow MCs. Their tour resembles many bands first tours,
playing to sparse clubs, but computer nerds tend to be loyal to their own,
and there always seemed to be someone at each show who knew the songs.
There is a solid mix of live footage with backstage/van interviews, as well
as with other musicians and comedians.

I’m still not sold on the viability of Nerdcore in general, but that
doesn’t really hurt the film. Frontalot is charming if awkward, and his
band is a pretty fun funk unit. They are an amusing lot on and off the
stage, and this film does a great job of presenting it’s story.

Review: Big Man Japan (Dai-Nipponjin)

“Big Man Japan” is a
faux-documentary which follows a year in the life of the current “Big Man
Japan”, Masaru Daisatou. Japan has employed a members of Masaru’s family
for several generations as the first line of defense against the plague of
giant monsters attacking Japan on a regular basis. Through a process
involving an electrical substation, Masaru’s size is increased until he is
towering over tall buildings. Unfortunately, while Masaru’s predecessors
were treated like heroes, Masaru is practically discarded.

The special effects in this movie aren’t great, but neither were the
rubber suits they are replacing. The movie isn’t quite logical, but it’s
fun. The various monsters that Masaru has to battle are hilarious, and the
“data sheets” that appear before the battles are great as well. Masaru is
greeted by the public with indifference at best, and he seems to exist
outside of society. The ending ups the nonsense level to 11 and leaves you
wondering if you were actually supposed to understand what was going on.

This movie isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoyed Toho-style monster
movies, you should definitely be entertained. Even if you are annoyed by
the ending, the time leading up to it is full of gems. This isn’t a movie
you need to hunt down, but when it’s available on Netflix, give it a
spin.

Review: Second Skin

“Second Skin” is a
documentary focusing on gamers who play Massively Multiplayer Online
Roleplaying Games (MMORPGs). It follows a few small groups of gamers
distributed around the country, all playing either World of Warcraft (WoW)
or Everquest II (EQ2). All are rather committed to their games, some
consider themselves addicted, with one entering himself into a 12-step
program to try and break is addiction

Given how easily these subjects could have been played for laughs, I felt
this movie was surprisingly even-handed. There were clearly some moments
where humor was at the expense of the subjects, but they were few and far
between. It was suprising in the Q&A with the filmmakers after the
screening that the first question was basically a complaint that the film
showed gamers in a negative light. It seemed clear to me that this person
was just bringing their own baggage to the event.

That’s not to say that the movie didn’t have it’s flaws. The
“storylines” of the various sets of subjects were intercut, and at times it
was difficult to keep track of the relationships and who the various players
were. I also would have liked to see more information about the rehab
facility. The woman who ran the facility seemed to have a very negative
opinion of gamers, accusing them of feigned helplessness and laziness. She
didn’t strike me as emitting the kind of energy that someone in recovery
really needs. And as far as I can tell from the film, her only
accreditation is that her son was an addicted gamer. The film presented her
as a very negative character, and I wonder how true that is.

Online gamers are often dismissed as anti-social losers, but this look
into the lives of gamers and the relationships built between them is an
interesting counterpoint to conventional wisdom.

Review: Transsiberian

The Independent Film Festival of Boston opened yesterday at the Somerville Theatre with the new Brad Anderson film “Transsiberian”. Anderson has a pretty good record so far, with Next Stop Wonderland, Session 9, and The Machinist, so I was rather excited to see his new work.

Transsiberian follows Jessie (Emily Mortimer) and Roy (Woody Harrelson) as they return from an aid mission in China. Roy, as a huge train nerd, wants to take his wife on a bit of an adventure, so they take the Transsiberian railway from China to Moscow. They share a cabin with Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and Abby (Kate Mara), a couple who appears to have some secrets. As you may guess, some bad things ensue during this week-long journey.

The previous paragraph sounds makes this film sound cookie-cutter, but I’m happy to report that every time I felt I had the movie figured out it threw me a great curve ball. There were times where I felt the pace bog down a bit, but just as I started to think about it I would get surprised by a twist. These twists didn’t feel contrived, they weren’t bricks over the head, they were subtle surprises that drew you further into the story.

The movie wasn’t perfect, but it was really good. Mortimer was clearly the star, and she delivered a fantastic performance. The supporting actors were all solid as well, although Harrelson’s character was more of a caricature, being the comic relief in a rather serious film.. Unfortunately, his levity felt shoehorned in at times… When the film ended, my first instinct was that it needed about 10 minutes trimmed, but I think this was a kneejerk reaction. In all reality, if it weren’t for the moments of feeling slightly bogged down, I don’t think the payoff of the twists would have felt as special.

After the film, the director, co-writer, and Sir Ben Kingsley himself did a very nice Q&A session, even in the face of some rather rude audience members who were talking over them and getting up and leaving en masse mid sentence. But the three of them gave pretty good, considered answers to all of the questions asked.

Independent Film Festival of Boston 2008

Here’s what I’m seeing this year at the Independent Film Festival of Boston

Awesome (Extended) Weekend

This weekend was all about entertainment and real estate. The Independent Film Festival of Boston is going on, and coco_b  and I hit up a bunch of screenings:

  • Fay Grim – This sequel to the 1997 film Henry Fool, which I have never seen, opened the festival. I really liked this film… Corinna and Audra have raved for a long time about HF, but I’ve never had a chance to see it. After seeing FG, it’s at the top of my Netflix queue. The story was well crafted, the characters were really interesting, and the actors did a fantastic job.
  • The King of Kong – A documentary about the Donkey Kong world record. Obviously, I had to see this film, but my expectations weren’t high. This might have been the best movie of the festival. The documentary was fantastically paced, the subjects were fascinating, and the film made the trivial consequences seem like the most important things in the world. I knew a bit about Billy Mitchell and Twin Galaxies through nerd osmosis, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine the dirty dealings and shenanigans… Even Corinna, who isn’t a gamer by any stretch of the imagination, loved this film.
  • Rabbit – A short film set in a kindergarten “learning to read” book, where all objects have their names printed next to them. It looked like illustrations from a Dick and Jane book, but with a far more surrealist premise. It was very enjoyable.
  • Fido – I really wanted to love this one.. The basic premise is this: A idyllic world, stuck in the 50s, where Zombies have been domesticated and are effectively pets/slaves to humans. And that sentence makes it sound like a winner, but it was an idea that just shouldn’t have been stretched to feature length. The movie was effectively Lassie but with a Zombie instead of a dog. Lassie episodes were only 30 minutes, this film was 90, and the stretching was evident. I really loved almost everything about this film; The concept, the characters, the acting, the cinematography, etc. was all great, it the story just couldn’t support a feature length film. I think this would have been an awesome 45 minute short…
  • Death Trike – A funny little short about a homicidal tricycle.  I don’t feel I need to elaborate much more..  Very fun…  From the director of Forest of the Dead.
  • Black Sheep  – Another huge highlight of the festival..  Genetically engineered sheep with a thirst for blood.  Very much in the spirit of Peter Jackson’s early films like Bad Taste and Dead Alive.  Very well paced, very funny, and properly gory.  Those Kiwis sure do know how to make a horror flick.
  • Monster Camp – I was afraid this documentary about Live Action Role-Playing (LARPing) would be a bit to exploitative..  I mean, I think LARPing is hilarious, but I laugh in private..  My fear for this film would be a theatre full of people laughing at the people dressed up as lizards..   But thankfully the film was very delicate and well crafted..  The filmmakers weren’t playing for laughs even if there were plenty of them in there, and when people were laughing, it didn’t seem cruel..  That could be because it was a theatre full of Boston-area nerds, though, so I’m not sure…  But I had the feeling that the subjects would have been able to laugh along with the crowd and not be terribly embarrassed..    It was a very fun film, and really provided insight into the LARPing scene..  I also think it made me a bit more sympathetic to LARPers in general…  I think playing helps many of these people in a similar way I think Computer Science House helps people;  A sort of “social primer” to help not-terribly-social people develop those skills they need in the real world.

To further Xtremeify this weekend of entertainment, Corinna and I went out to Providence on Saturday to see Stephen Lynch at Lupo’s.  Before the show, we met up with Omar, an old friend from the Rovia days…  He’s getting his Ph.D at Brown, but I hadn’t seen him in a few years, so we grabbed dinner and caught up a bit.  The show was fantastic!  Our seats were pretty good, and Lynch (who’s been on Broadway for a year as The Wedding Singer) was on his game completely…  He seemed to have really missed being on his own…  He had some verbal sparring with a heckler, but he seemed to have the upper hand..  It was a great show…  Unfortunately, Corinna’s mysterious food allergy reared it’s head again, but she took enough Benadryl to keep it somewhat in check in order to enjoy the show.  The Benadryl put her on her ass, though, so she slept the whole ride home and missed out on Black Sheep that night…  She woke up with the flu, so fate is apparently not smiling upon her.. =(

On Sunday, even though Corinna was feeling shitty, we managed to squeeze in 5 open houses…  Out of the 5, 3 weren’t even really worth considering, one was OK,but the last one turned out to be really cool.  We haven’t made an offer yet, we’re hoping to have a few more viewings in the next day or two before we make our decision, but we’re both rather excited about this place…