I’ve been away at a couple of film festivals (which isn’t really an excuse for not writing, but it’s as good as I’ve got), and I got a chance to see some of the best indie films of the year so far.
Waterfront Film Festival (Saugatuck)
This laidback “Sundance of the midwest” had some superstar filmmakers and actors, and some really excellent selections. Among them:
Eagle vs. Shark
American Fork
Row Hard: No Excuses
Dirty Country
Blue State
Midlothia
Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?
and for some reason, Comic Evangelists
Of the narrative films I saw, American Fork had to be the most entertaining. Another in a line of seemingly “Napoleon Dynamite” inspired works, this film had a lot more gags and a lot more heart. I encourage you to check out the website and watch the trailer in case this doesn’t make it to screens.
I wasn’t exactly excited about “Blue State” – starring Anna Paquin, and Breckin Meyer (of “Garfield”) – but it got me early on somehow. Theme-wise it is close to the similarly-titled “Garden State” (which as readers might note is one of my least-liked films of all time) – it follows a man whose career is thrown off by a tragedy and he goes on a trip which unexpectedly leads him to love. However, instead of a mother’s death, it is the 2004 election, and instead of a trip home and Natalie Portman, it is a move to Canada and the aforementioned Anna Paquin. It is a charming film that also embraces the absurdity of its situation in order to keep from becoming too saccharine, which I appreciate (in comparison to Garden State, which dwells so heavily on the moroseness of its characters’ situations that the absurd situations are unconvincing).
The docs were great too. The best of the bunch was “Row Hard” – about two men who row across the Atlantic Ocean – which is sure to inspire some mid-life crisis rebels to make some mistakes.
This past week I got to attend Silverdocs where Amy and I saw Please Vote For Me probably the most charming documentary I’ve seen in a while, and one of the only ones where I’ve managed to stay awake for the entire thing (most documentaries cause a little bout of narcolepsy in me even if they are brilliant).
And even though I had vouchers to see any film at the fest, we found that all were sold out, so we ended up going to see “Ocean’s 13” down the street. Embarrassing I know, but it was a good film. Soderbergh has a great filming style, and the whole heist thing and the characters are always a lot of fun. I’d like to see them keep making these movies for those very reasons, and this installment was certainly better than “12” – but it didn’t leave me with any sense of progress or any evolution of the characters. They just sort of beat the bad guy and that was it.
the Blanket Statement 