Jeff Daniels wrote and stars in Guest Artist, a comic two-hander about a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright drinking his way through an 18-year-old writer’s block. The playwright has sunk to accepting a guest residency from a Lima, Ohio, amateur theater company. He shows up drunk, bitter and entitled, and, of course, he hasn’t written the play that has been commissioned. His appointed Man Friday is a wannabe playwright (newcomer Thomas Macias) who desperately tries to handle the raging ego and the self-destructive behavior of his idol.
[MILD SPOILER HERE] It turns out that the writers’ block stems from a self-suppression of artistic expression. But there really isn’t any humor or insight into the artistic process that we haven’t seen before.
Jeff Daniels is very good as the frustrated genius. Daniels has been a cinema star for a long time, and for good reason. It’s been 34 years since he broke through with his star turn in Woody Allen’s Purple Rose of Cairo, and he’s beloved for roles ranging from those in the Dumb and Dumber movies and television’s The Newsroom. I most admire Daniels’ performance as professor-turned-battlefield-commander Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain in Gettysburg (1993).
Guest Artist is essentially a filmed play, and it looks like it. For some, a dose of Jeff Daniels will be enough.
In the Cuban sci-fi allegory The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia, the technologically advanced creatures of the Planet Gryok have been living among the Cuban people incognito; impressed by Cuba, they now invite a limited number of Cubans to emigrate to Gryok. Celeste Garcia, a middle-aged docent at a planetarium, decides to make the trip.
Celeste Garcia imagines how this would happen in Cuba and delivers a harsh appraisal of communist Cuba and its omnipresent bureaucracy and line-standing. It’s the tyranny of the minor functionary writ large.
A plot thread of later-life romance and self-discovery makes Celeste Garcia a very sweet film.
What if murder victims didn’t return to haunt the living, but instead, INHABITED the living? That’s the premise of the supernatural thriller Every Time I Die.
Sam (Drew Fronteiro) is an EMT, emotionally damaged by a childhood tragedy. Sam is invited to tag along with two couples on a getaway weekend at a lakeside vacation home. Things get weird as we see that Sam is much more messed up than originally apparent. It also turns out that two of the five have a secret relationship. And…there’s a murder! And then things get even weirder.
Every Time I Die is the first narrative feature for director and co-writer Robi Michael and co-writer Gal Katzir. To their credit, Michael and Katzir refuse to spoon feed the audience, making us connect the dots. Don’t expect to understand everything that’s going on through the first third of the film. This is not a movie for those who need a linear, paint-by-the-numbers plot. To add to the early murkiness, the two female leads are played by twin sisters; once we figure that out, we can try to keep them straight.
At the point where we figure out what happens when a character dies, Every Time I Die has us wondering who will be the next to die and who will be the next to be inhabited by the dead. And, just when we think the movie is over, there’s an unexpected resolution.
Every Time I Die is essentially an ensemble piece, and the cast members – Fronteiro, Marc Menchaca (Ozark), Michelle Macedo, Melissa Macedo and Tyler Dash White – all of whom work often in television, are very good.
Cinequest will host the world premiere of Every Time I Die.
The winning documentary Clownvets pairs two groups of sufferers to bring relief to one and healing to the other. First, we meet US military veterans in rural Michigan and learn about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from their personal perspectives, and from their families and their health providers. Then, unexpectedly, the famed hospital clown Patch Adams enters. (Adams was portrayed by Robin Williams in a much reviled movie, but this is the real Patch Adams ). Adams has the idea of teaching the vets how to clown and bringing them to entertain the most severely disabled in the Third World.
The result is remarkable. Somehow Adams is able to introduce clowning to these macho guys, and then he brings them to facilities that warehouse the disabled in Guatemala. The kindest description of these places might be “hell hole”. The plight of the patients/victims is heartbreaking. The vets throw themselves wholeheartedly into brightening these deprived lives with clowning and with hands-on human compassion.
Why does clowning – of all things – seem to treat the veterans’ PTSD? Perhaps it is the fully committed silliness and the absurd costumes – the vulnerability from intentionally looking ridiculous and acting ridiculous. Somehow it seems to refract/distract/heal the effects of PTSD.
I am generally not a fan of warmhearted movies, but Clownvets moved even me. In a running time of little less than an hour, it’s able to pack an emotional punch. I expect Clownvets to be the Feel Good hit of this year’s Cinequest.
Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Clownvets, and Patch Adams himself is expected to attend.
In the horror comedy Blood Paradise, the author (Andrea Winter) of lurid best sellers is wallowing in malaise after her latest book bombs. For a change of pace, she gets away to the Swedish version of an agriturismo, a remote and spartan farm. The farm has every earmark of Gothic horror, and Blood Paradise has great fun with every creaky door and ominous scarecrow. The farmer explains his wife’s grave out back, “she loved the garden but now it’s only a garden of death”. The farmer’s creepy middle-aged sister is obsessed with dolls. His menacingly silent, paunchy son is mostly shirtless and fondling a shotgun. And the author’s driver is her biggest fan – and seriously unhinged. Just when the blood starts splattering, the author’s hunky, dim and besotted boyfriend Teddy shows up for a surprise visit in a white suit.
Part of the fun is that the author has adventuresome sexual fantasies and makes a living envisioning gruesome scenarios; her especially rich imagination makes every ominous cue seem even more alarming.
Blood Paradise is written by its star Andrea Winter and directed by Patrick von Barkenberg (who also plays Teddy); it is the first narrative feature for both. Winter is a good sport about her own nudity, and has fun playing the author as a brat. She also has fun with Teddy’s allergies, which erupt at the most importune times. And there’s a very amusing homage to Psycho.
This is a Swedish movie set in Sweden, but almost all the dialogue is in English. Blood Paradise plays at the 2019 Cinequest.
In the superb indie Auggie, Felix (Richard Kind) is pushed into retirement before he wants. He’s given a goodbye gift that he never would have thought to wish for, augmented reality glasses. Suddenly plunged into inactivity just as his wife Anne’s career is thriving, Felix finally gets around to putting on the glasses. The glasses give him a virtual companion, Auggie, equipped with the artificial intelligence to give the wearer his craved-for experiences. Most insidiously, Auggie even delivers individually customized emotional support. Everyone’s digital companion takes the form of what they desire, and Felix’s Auggie is a smoking hot and adorable young woman.
The more Felix wears the glasses, the more Auggie is able to fulfill his every need, even triggering more inner desires that he was aware of. This isn’t quite a Doctor Faust who knowingly opts into his fantasy; Auggie’s artificial intelligence is able to see Felix’s fantasies even before he can imagine them. All things in moderation, of course, but Auggie’s infinite availability becomes additive. This is no longer healthy for Felix or his family.
When a character asks, “Who do you see when you put on the glasses?”, it’s a devastating moment.
Auggie is the first feature for director and co-writer Matt Kane. Kane has avoided writing Felix as a stereotypical clumsy old grouch. As written by Kane and co-writer Marc Underhill and played by Richard Kind, he’s very smart and perceptive. He just isn’t ready for unimaginable temptation.
You’ll recognize Richard Kind, a reliable character actor and voice artist with 221 screen credits. My favorite Kind performance was the moving portrayal of a man seeking closure after the death of his wife in Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter.
Susan Blackwell is perfect at Felix’s wife Anne. Blackwell has had small parts in some very fine films and hosts her own Broadway interview show on YouTube, Side By Side with Susan Blackwell. Cristen Harper is suitably seductive as Auggie.
These 2012-2018 Cinequest favorites are available to stream now:
FEEL GOODS AND COMEDIES
Quality Problems: A screwball comedy for the sandwich generation. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
Venus: Meeting your kid for the first time while transitioning. Amazon, iTunes.
The Sapphires: Here’s a crowd pleaser – Motown meets Aborigines. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, Google Play.
Threesomething: Original and cheeky. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
The Grand Seduction: An entire tiny hamlet is enlisted in an absurdly elaborate and risky ruse in this Canadian knee-slapper. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
Hunting Elephants: Apparently, Israelis see just as little generosity, fair-mindedness and decency in their bankers as we do in ours. iTunes.
Andrew Jenkins in Chris Scheuerman’s brilliant debut LOST SOLACE
INDIE DRAMAS
The Center: Sliding into a cult. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
Lost Solace: a psychopath afflicted by empathy. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
Dose of Reality: You won’t predict this ending. For SURE. Amazon.
. Paula Beer and Franz Rogowski in TRANSIT, playing at Cinequest next Wednesday. Courtesy of Music Box Films
The Oscars are finally over, And I was pretty much OK with the whole shebang – I loved Roma, and I really love Green Book, too. I was and am still grumpy about Rami Malek winning an ACTING Oscar for a performance in which he was often LIP SYNCHING; this was several rungs below Jamie Foxx’ Ray Charles and Joaquin Phoenix’ Johnny Cash; and Bradley Cooper acted as a singer, sang the song himself and even WROTE the song!
Anyway, The Wife and I did enjoy our annual Oscar Dinner, although we had to sub out a Bohemian Rhapsody pub ale because we couldn’t source the novelty teeth in time. The Movie Gourmet’s Oscar Dinner 2019
Starting this weekend, my coverage of Cinequest will explode on to the Internet. Stay tuned.
OUT NOW
In They Shall Not Grow Old, Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson has, for the first time, layered humanity over our understanding of World War I. By slowing down the speed of the jerky WWI film footage and adding sound and color, Jackson has allowed us to relate to the real people in the Great War. This is a generational achievement and a Must See.
Romais an exquisite portrait of two enduring women and the masterpiece of Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Won multiple Oscars. It is streaming now on Netflix.
Green Book: The Best Picture Oscar winner. Tony Lip is a marvelous character, and Viggo Mortensen’s performance is one of the great pleasures of this year in the movies.
Vice: in this bitingly funny biopic of Dick Cheney by writer-director Adam McKay (The Big Short), Cheney is played by a physically transformed and unrecognizable Christian Bale. A superb performance, .pretty good history, biography from a sharp point of view and a damn entertaining movie.
Stan & Ollie: Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy deliver remarkable portraits of a partnership facing the inevitability of showbiz decline.
Pawel Pawlikowski’s sweeping romantic tragedy Cold War is not as compelling as his masterpiece Ida.
The Favourite: Great performances by three great actresses, sex and political intrigue are not enough; this critically praised film didn’t work for me.
ON VIDEO
The Hollywood movie Gloria Bell, starring Julianne Moore, is coming to theaters on March 8. Gloria Bell is a remake of the the Chilean gem Gloria. Fortunately, Sebastián Lelio, the original writer-director of Gloria (and A Fantastic Woman) is also directing Gloria Bell. Here’s your chance to see the original.
ON TV
Great movies abound on TV as Turner Classic Movies concludes its 31 Days of Oscar, but here’s a curiosity that I don’t remember ever seeing. On March 2, TCM plays the 1968 astronaut-lost-in-space drama Marooned with Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna and David Jannsen. A 1970 Mexican audience is shown watching Marooned n ALfonso Cuaron’s Roma; it’s a hint that Marooned may have been an influence on Cuaron’s Oscar-winning Gravity.
On March 4, TCM presents John Huston’s under-appreciated Fat City (1972). Stacy Keach plays a boxer on the slide, his skills unraveled by his alcoholism. He inspires a kid (a very young Jeff Bridges), who becomes a boxer on the rise. Keach and Susan Tyrrell give dead-on performances as pathetic, sad sack barflies. Tyrrell was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
The Hollywood movie Gloria Bell, starring Julianne Moore, is coming to theaters on March 8. Gloria Bell is a remake of the the Chilean gem Gloria. Fortunately, Sebastián Lelio, the original writer-director of Gloria (and A Fantastic Woman) is also directing Gloria Bell. Here’s your chance to see the original.
In Gloria, we meet a 58-year-old woman who has been divorced for ten years. This ain’t An Unmarried Woman where a woman must learn to adapt and become independent. She supports herself with an office job, and she gets along with her adult kids, but they have their own lives. She doesn’t stay cooped up in her apartment, she tries out yoga and laugh therapy and cruises a certain Santiago disco – a meat market for the over 50 set. She already is plenty independent, and she knows what she wants – some adult companionship and a friendship with benefits.
On one outing to the disco, she meets a distinguished and sweet-tempered gentleman who is a great dancer and who absolutely adores her. Of course, he also has some flaws, to be discovered later. Gloria eagerly embraces the good things that happen to her, and when there are bumps in her road, she refuses to wilt.
Gloria was a big hit at last year’s Berlin Film Festival. Part of Gloria’s appeal to some audiences is, no doubt, an unusual amount of nudity and sex for a film about people in their late 50s and 60s. But I think the best part about Gloria is the resiliency of the main character – she takes her lumps for sure but refuses to withdraw into victimhood.
Paulina Garcia is extraordinarily good as Gloria – her performance carries the movie. She has the ability to suffer an indignity without becoming pathetic. Sergio Hernandez is very, very good as Gloria’s new flame, as is Alejandro Goic as her ex. Gloria is a crowd pleaser.
It’s Oscar weekend, and here’s The Movie Gourmet’s annual Oscar Dinner (with its snarky reference to Bohemian Rhapsody). I also published my curtain raiser for the 2019 Cinequest and my recommendation for Sammy Davis Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me on the PBS American Masters series
OUT NOW
In They Shall Not Grow Old, Lord of the Rings filmmaker Peter Jackson has, for the first time, layered humanity over our understanding of World War I. By slowing down the speed of the jerky WWI film footage and adding sound and color, Jackson has allowed us to relate to the real people in the Great War. This is a generational achievement and a Must See.
Romais an exquisite portrait of two enduring women and the masterpiece of Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men and Y Tu Mama Tambien). Will win multiple Oscars. It is streaming now Netflix.
Green Book: Tony Lip is a marvelous character, and Viggo Mortensen’s performance is one of the great pleasures of this year in the movies.
Vice: in this bitingly funny biopic of Dick Cheney by writer-director Adam McKay (The Big Short), Cheney is played by a physically transformed and unrecognizable Christian Bale. A superb performance, .pretty good history, biography from a sharp point of view and a damn entertaining movie.
Stan & Ollie: Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy deliver remarkable portraits of a partnership facing the inevitability of showbiz decline.
Pawel Pawlikowski’s sweeping romantic tragedy Cold War is not as compelling as his masterpiece Ida.
The Favourite: Great performances by three great actresses, sex and political intrigue are not enough; this critically praised film didn’t work for me.
ON VIDEO
The great character actor Richard Jenkins was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in last year’s Best Picture The Shape of Water, and we should remember that he also got an Oscar nod for his starring turn in the indie drama The Visitor. The Visitor is available on DVD from Netflix and streaming from Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
ON TV
Turner Classic Movies, in its glorious 31 Days of Oscar series, airs John Huston’s 1949 The Treasure of the Sierra Madre on February 23. It’s still a gripping yarn – three down-and-outers improbably (and literally) strike gold. But can they trust each other enough to realize their gains once envy and greed appear? The Treasure of the Sierra Madre features one of Humphrey Bogart’s most colorful and compelling performances, which is reason enough to watch this classic.
But I also love watching director Huston’s real life father Walter Huston, who is cast as another of the trio. Most of us know Walter Huston, with his Gabby Hayes visage, from this movie, but Walter Huston was a major movie star as cinema moved to the talkies. Just between 1929 and 1939, he starred in thirty films. I love Huston’s work in this era, and I think that, with his very modern sensibility, he would be successful if he were working in today’s cinema. This is a good introduction to his work. (Walter Huston also appeared very briefly in John Huston’s directorial debut The Maltese Falcon – as Captain Jacoby, the guy who staggers into Sam Spade’s office with the titular black bird and expires.)
Walter Huston, Tim Holt and Humphrey Bogart in THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE
