Cinequest

HAPPIER TIMES, GRUMP: personal connection skips a generation

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HAPPIER TIMES, GRUMP

In the Finnish family comedy Happier Times, Grump, a grouchy and emotionally-repressed Finnish farmer has been content to alienate everyone in his life, but then gets the chance to step up and support his teen granddaughter emotionally. The curmudgeon’s son, the girl’s father, is a Yuppie living in Belgium and he’s a piece of work himself; he has long resented the old man’s harshness and emotional detachment. The worlds of the simple old farmer and the hyper-connected urban teenager are centuries apart, but the odd couple must connect to handle a crisis in the girl’s life.

To enjoy Happier Times, Grump, the audience must 1) be amused by the politically incorrect and Luddite pronouncements of the old man and 2) relish an overtly sentimental ending.

GUEST ARTIST: Jeff Daniels as frustrated genius

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GUEST ARTIST

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.

THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY OF CELESTE GARCIA: the tyranny of the minor functionary

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THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY OF CELESTE GARCIA

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.

EVERY TIME I DIE: the dead return as the living

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EVERY TIME I DIE

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.

CLOWNVETS: unexpectedly powerful

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CLOWNVETS

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.

BLOOD PARADISE: fun with horror

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BLOOD PARADISE

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.

AUGGIE: Who do you see when you put on the glasses?

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Richard Kind in AUGGIE

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.

Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Auggie.

 

 

Streaming the best of Cinequest

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Brooke Purdy in QUALITY PROBLEMS

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.
  • The House on Pine Street: Does she see a ghost? Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
  • Prodigy: She doesn’t LOOK like a monster. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.

 

THERE WILL BE NO STAY

DOCS

  • The Brainwashing of My Dad: When TV changes not just opinions, but mood and personality, too. Amazon, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
  • Meet the Hitlers: Wouldn’t you change YOUR name? Amazon, iTunes, Vudu.
  • There Will Be No Stay: In a society with capital punishment, someone must perform the executions. iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.

 

Mads Mikkelson in THE HUNT

WORLD CINEMA

  • Ida (Oscar winner): Identity rocked at a pivotal time. Amazon, Netflix, YouTube, Google Play.
  • The Hunt (Oscar-nominated): Terrifyingly plausible. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play (and Netflix DVD).
  • Wild Tales (Oscar-nominated): Hilariously dark tales of revenge. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu (and Netflix DVD).
  • The Teacher: A peek into Communist dread. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu.
  • Revenge: The web is spun. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
  • Fever at Dawn: Romance, identity and a moral choice. Hoopla.
  • The Wave: Everything you want in a disaster movie. Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
  • Magallanes: Some wrongs cannot be righted. iTunes, YouTube, Google Play.
  • The Memory of Water: Grief, exquisitely explored. Netflix.
  • Los Hamsters: Riotously dysfunctional. Amazon, iTunes, YouTube, Google Play.

CINEQUEST 2019 is just around the corner

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Make your plans now to attend the 29th edition of Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival. By some metrics the largest film festival in North America, Cinequest was recently voted the nation’s best by USA Today readers. The 2019 Cinequest is scheduled for March 5 through March 17 and will present almost 100 feature films and dozens of short films and virtual reality experiences from the US and over fifty other countries. And, at Cinequest, it’s easy to meet the filmmakers.

This year’s headline events include:

  • New movies with Elle Fanning, Rebecca Hall, Adam Driver, Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Dev Patel, Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård, Jeff Daniels, Salma Hayek, Martin Sheen,  Jonathan Pryce, Emilio Estevez, Christian Slater, Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Stephen Yeun, Katie Holmes, Elizabeth McGovern Blythe Danner, Levar Burton, Emily Mortimer, M. Emmet Walsh and Richard Kind.
  • New movies by directors Mike Leigh, Terry Gilliam, Christian Petzold, Michael Winterbottom and Kim Nguyen.
  • See it here FIRST:  Sometimes Always Never, Freaks, Hotel Mumbai, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, The Hummingbird Project, Peterloo, The Public, Teen Spirit, The Third Wife, Transit, The Wedding Guest and Woman at War are all slated for theatrical release later this year.
  • For the first time at Cinequest – 5 U.S. premieres of Television series.
  • The 1928 Buster Keaton silent Steamboat Bill, Jr. projected in a period movie palace, the California Theatre, accompanied by world-renowned Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ.

Indeed, the real treasure at Cinequest 2019 is likely to be found among the hitherto less well-known films. In the past four years, the Cinequest gems Eye in the Sky, Wild Tales, Ida, The Hunt, ’71, Corn Island, The Memory of Water, Magallanes, Quality Problems, The Sense of an Ending, For Grace, Lost Solace, Class Enemy, Heavenly Shift and Oh Boy/A Coffee in Berlin all made my Best of the Year lists.

Cinequest revels in its Downtown San Jose vibe, with concurrent screenings at the 1122-seat California, the 550-seat Hammer and the 257-seat 3Below, all within 1600 feet of the VIP lounge at The Continental Bar. There will still be satellite viewing in Redwood City.

At Cinequest, you can get a festival pass for as little as $165, and you can get individual tickets as well. The express pass for an additional tax-deductible $100 is a fantastic deal – you get to skip to the front of the lines!  Take a look at the entire program, the schedule and the passes and tickets.

As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty films from around the world. Bookmark my Cinequest 2019 page, with links to all my coverage (links on the individual movies will start to go live on Sunday, March 3). Follow me on Twitter for the latest.

WHAT THEY HAD: caring for Mom and a resisting Dad

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WHAT THEY HAD
Blythe Danner and Hilary Swank star as Ruth and Bridget Keller in WHAT THEY HAD, a Bleecker Street release. Photo courtesy of Bleecker Street

In the family drama What They Had, two siblings (Hilary Swank and Michael Shannon) face their mom (Blythe Danner) sinking into Alzheimer’s, and their father (Robert Forster) refusing to take action. To heighten the pressure, the out-of-town daughter wants to give the old folks more slack than does the local son. He’s been dealing with this situation up close, and he’s fed up. The dad is used to always being in charge, and he doesn’t cope well with needing help.

Despite the subject, What They Had is not a depressing movie, mostly because of the sunniness of Danner’s character. This is a character-driven story that benefits from this stellar cast. This is the first feature for writer/director Elizabeth Chomko, and she delivers an authentic and well-crafted story.

I saw What They Had at Cinequest. Here’s a clip.