Cinequest

Movies to See Right Now (at home)

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I’M AN ELECTRIC LAMPSHADE, world premiere at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

We’re in the final four days of Cinequest, so take a gander at my Best of Cinequest. And here are my remembrances of Yaphet Kotto, George Segal and Jessica Walter.

ON VIDEO

Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman deliver heartbreaking performances in The Father, an unsettling exploration of memory loss. I saw The Father while covering the virtual Mill Valley Film Festival in October, and it’s now widely available to stream (just before the Oscars). It’s on my list of Best Movies of 2020.

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

ON TV

Jean Gabin (right) in PEPE LE MOKO

On March 27 and 28, Turner Classic Movies brings us one of the greatest movie stars, Jean Gabin in a pre-noir film, Pépé le Moko. Probably the greatest male French movie star ever, Gabin had dominated prewar French cinema with La Grande Illusion, Port of Shadows and Le Bete Humaine.  After the war, he aged into noir (Touchez Pas aux Grisbi, Razzia) and, in the 1960s, into neo-noir (Any Number Can Win, The Sicilian Clan).  Gabin oozed a seasoned cool (like Bogart) and imparted a stately gravitas to his noir and neo-noir characters.

Jean Gabin is on my very short list of the most perpetually cool humans to ever walk the planet, along with Dean Martin, Ben Gazzara, Joan Jett and Barack Obama.

In Pépé le Moko, Gabin plays the titular Algiers gangster who operates, immune from police interference, in the Casbah. The cops have been trying to lure him out of the Casbah for ages – and then they learn that he is obsessed with a woman…

Pépé le Moko was filmed in 1937, four years before the emergence of the film noir movement, an American cinematic phenomenon soon appreciated, named, and joined by the French. Pépé le Moko foreshadows noir with its elements of the dark, shadowy underworld setting and, of the course, the protagonist who has a dame for a weak spot. TCM is airing Pépé le Moko on TCM’s addictive Noir Alley, with intro and outro by Eddie Muller.

Mireille Balin and Jean Gabin in PEPE LE MOKO
Jean Gabin in PEPE LE MOKO

HOLLYWOOD FRINGE: be careful what you wish for…

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Justin Kirk and Jennifer Prediger in HOLLYWOOD FRINGE. Photo courtesy of Sleeper Cell Films.

Hollywood Fringe is about a married couple of hopeful creatives (Justin Kirk and Jennifer Prediger). They have been pitching their projects to Hollywood execs in futility; (she’s turned forty and her mom still helps with their rent). Popular interest in their experimental theater performances has been (ahem) limited. They give themselves one last chance to make it – but when a studio buys their idea for a series, things don’t go as planned…

We’re used to seeing Hollywood execs lampooned as tasteless capitalist barbarians who always reach for the lowest common denominator, and Hollywood Fringe does skewer the suits. But nobody gets a pass from writer and co-director Wyatt McDill and co-director Megan Huber. The funniest bits send up the artistes for projects that are overly obscure, overly precious or both. And even an impoverished artist on the lowest rung of showbiz can get a comeuppance for White privilege.

The added dimension in Hollywood Fringe is the dynamic of a married couple working in the same competitive industry and often in the same creative projects.

Led by Prediger and Kirk (Mitchell’s boss Charlie Bingham in Modern Family), the entire cast is excellent. Given that the actors live in the world that they get to send up, they must have had a blast shooting Hollywood Fringe.

Filmmakers Megan Huber and Wyatt McDill returned to Cinequest with a complete change of pace from last year’s inventively constructed thriller 3 Day Weekend. No strangers to the Hollywood fringe milieu, Huber and McGill shot some of the scenes in their own Los Feliz apartment.

Hollywood Fringe made my Best of Cinequest 2021 as the best comedy I’ve seen in the fest. You can stream it during the festival for only $3.99 at Cinequest’s online Cinejoy.

EVERYTHING IN THE END: accepting the inevitable

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EVERYTHING IN THE END

The “End” in the title Everything in the End means, literally, the end of the world. Set in a future where climate change has made human extinction certain and imminent, the story imagines how people would react as they understand that they have only a few days left.

A young man, Paolo (Hugo de Souza), whose mother has died, decides to meet his fate in Iceland, the land of the father he has never met. Paolo meets one stranger after another, each of whom is contemplating the situation in their own way. By now, everyone is beyond the shock, denial, anger and bargaining.

What Paolo doe NOT find is overt rage or a paroxysm of hedonism. One guy swigs from a bottle of booze, but in a half-hearted way.It’s too late for political or commercial exploitation. And this is not a disaster action movie, so heroism does not take the form of battles or chases. More profound than grim, End of Everything takes the sensationalism out of the apocalypse and leaves the humanity.

Lilja Þórisdóttir is especially good as a local who greets Paolo with with kindness and wisdom.

This is the first feature from writer-director Mylissa Fitzsimmons, and it’s a remarkable showcase for the intelligence of her writing and her eye for landscapes. Without her clarity of mission, the story could have easily veered into a downer or an overwrought disaster saga. Fitzsimmons does let us glimpse the actual apocalypse, but in just the perfect number of seconds.

Set in the stark beauty of Iceland, this is a visual stunner. The cinematographer is Todd Hickey.

Everything at the End is a powerful think piece and made my Best of Cinequest 2021; you can stream it during the festival for only $3.99 at Cinequest’s online Cinejoy.

CARVER: will he be undone by a woman? or by his own obsession?

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Victor Rivas (center) in CARVER. World premiere t Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Select Films.

In the neo-noirish Spanish thriller Carver, a guy named Ernesto takes on the alter ego of Carver in the wee hours. Carver strides through Ernesto’s gritty urban neighborhood in dressed in a ridiculous, homemade superhero costume. He has no super powers, but is driven to make things right, vigilante-style. A sexy, stoned woman of uncertain reliability engages his interest. Will she bring him down?

Ernesto (Victor Rivas) seems otherwise a normal, salt-of-the-earth guy . He lives a quotidian existence, monitoring a supermarket’s security cameras by day and presiding over his family’s evening meals. But when his wife and kids are ready for bed (and this is Spain, so it is LATE), he heads out on the streets, to his wife’s increasing displeasure.

Why? He’s not a wannabe hanging judge; he’s pretty merciful to the shoplifters that he catches at his day job. But he has this need to personally patrol the streets to keep kids and single women safe. It’s odd behavior, and he does so with an almost child-like naivete; we wonder what emotional trauma might have damaged him.

At first, as he fails to spot her manipultiveness Victor is no match for the femme fatale Alicia (Mar Del Corral) , who is channelling Brigid O’Shaughnessy. Then he begins to appreciate just how unhunged she may be.

This is the first feature for writer-director Evgeny Yablokov, and this character-driven thriller is an impressive calling card.

There are many film actors named Victor Rivas. The star of Carver is not one of the more famous one, but a mournful-faced stage actor in Madrid, who has played Kierkegaard.

Not everybody will be satisfied with the ending of Carver, but I thought it was perfect.

I screened Carver for its world premiere at Cinequest, and it made my Best of Cinequest 2021. You can stream it during the festival for only $3.99 at Cinequest’s online Cinejoy.

AGUA ROSA: what are they to each other?

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Lizzy Auna and Axel Arenas in AGUA ROSA. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

The Mexican drama Agua Rosa begins with a young couple heading to stay a few days at an isolated property. We first see them mostly in long shot, often from the back, with very little dialogue, and we need to connect our own dots. Who are they? Why are they here? What are they to each other? That last question is what Agua Rosa is all about.

Mauricio (Axel Arenas) has inherited the place from his father and he’s settling the estate with his significant other Ana (Lizzy Auna). Mauricio is angry at his dad for abandoning his mom, so he’s unhappy and not fun to be around. His anger is leaking on Ana, and I kept hoping “don’t blow it with her by being such a jerk”. But maybe he’s also unhappy with something in their relationship…

Agua Rosa is co-written and co-directed by Miguel López Valdivia and Ca Silva (together credited as Antónimo). It’s their first feature film. They are able to make a languid pace work because Agua Rosa is only 71 minutes long.

The filmmakers use long shots and shots of long duration to emphasize the couple’s isolated setting and the potential isolation from each other. This makes the tight closeups at the climax all the more powerful.

I screened Agua Rosa for its world premiere at Cinequest; you can stream it during the festival for only $3.99 at Cinequest’s online Cinejoy.

First look at the 2021 Cinequest

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Jessica Pare and Gabriel Byrne in DEATH OF A LADIES’ MAN, opening the 2921 Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

Make your plans now to attend the 2021 Cinequest, Silicon Valley’s own major film festival. This year’s fest will be online as Cinejoy, scheduled for April 20 through April 30. 75 of the features will be world or US premieres – be in the FIRST AUDIENCE to see these films. You can stream the vast majority of the premiering films for only $3.99 apiece.

Cinequest is a significant showcase for independent film, documentaries and world cinema. The 2021 program has features from from 50 countries, including Spain, Belgium, France, UK, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Iceland, Germany, Honduras, Israel, Taiwan, Iran, Korea, Kenya and South Africa.

IN THE SHADOWS from Turkey: North American premiere at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

This year’s headline events include:

  • New movies with Dame Judy Dench, Viggo Mortensen, Sam Neil, Ed Helms, Julie Delpy, Eddie Izzard, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne,Jessica Pare and Brian Gleeson
  • New movies directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada (Blindspotting), Mortensen and Delpy.
  • See it here FIRST:   Together Together and This Is Not a War Story are among the movies slated for widespread (and perhaps theatrical) release later this year.

At Cinequest, you can get a festival pass for $199, the Spotlight Films stream at $11.99 and the Showcase Films stream at only $3.99. Access the entire program here.

This is the eleventh year that I’ve covered Cinequest. I’ll miss the in-person schmoozing with filmmakers at the Continental Lounge, being greeted by Nathan Louie in his Chinese imperial garb, the bubbly film introductions by volunteer Chris Marcoida, and the silent film at the vintage movie palace, the California Theatre, accompanied by Dennis James on the movie palace’s Mighty Wurlitzer. And the unofficial Cinequest cocktail (a shot of Tito’s chased by a cheese cube).

As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) about thirty Cinequest films from around the world. Bookmark my CINEQUEST page, with links to all my coverage (links on the individual movies will start to go live on Thursday, March 18). Follow me on Twitter for the latest.

CARVER: world premiere at Cinequest, Photo courtesy of Select Films.

CINEJOY LAST SUNRISE: racing into darkness

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LAST SUNRISE

In the gripping Chinese sci-fi thriller Last Sunrise, we’re in a super-hi tech future, powered almost totally by solar energy – which doesn’t look as blissful as it sounds.  As befits a dystopian story, there’s a disaster, and this one is just about the worst one conceivable – the death of our Sun.

Wang Sun (Zhang Jue) is very serious astronomy nerd with no apparent non-scientific interests.   He doesn’t really know Wu Chen (Zhang Yue), although she lives in a neighboring apartment, and it doesn’t appear that she’s ever thought about anything profound.  When the catastrophe happens, the two are forced on the road together in a race for their lives.

Last Sunrise is real science fiction about a plausible (and inevitable) future occurrence, and it’s about real ideas.  This isn’t just blowing stuff up in space, which too often passes for sci-fi today.

Losing the sun is pretty bad – it gets dark, the temperature is plunging and humans are running out of oxygen.  There may be refuges, but there’s little remaining battery power to fuel people’s escapes.  Of course, it doesn’t take long for social order to break down.  Last Sunrise becomes a ticking bomb thriller as the couple tries to find a refuge in time.

Of course, with no sun lighting the earth and moon, it is very dark and many more stars are visible.  The f/x of the starry skies in Last Sunrise are glorious.

The two leads are appealing,  especially Zhang Yue, whose Wu Chen is revealed more and more as film goes on.

The life-and-death thriller is leavened by witty comments on the consumerist, hyper connected culture (pre-disaster).  There are very funny ongoing references to instant noodles.  And Wang Sun, who is a bit of a hermit, doesn’t appreciate how devoted he is to his digital assistant ILSA (not Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, just ILSA).

This is the first feature, an impressive debut, for director and co-writer Wen Ren.  Cinequest hosted the North American premiere of Last Sunrise, the sci-fi highlight of the festival and is streaming Small Time in CINEJOY through October 14.

five more movie choices from CINEJOY

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Steve Starr and Gay Walley in EROTIC FIRE OF THE UNATTAINABLE

Cinequest’s October virtual festival CINEJOY. runs through October 14. I’ve written about the best of Cinejoy, and here are five more Cinejoy films.

  • Erotic Fire of the Unattainable: My favorite discovery so far at Cinejoy, this is a captivating study of a free spirited woman of a certain age and her asymmetric relationships. It’s docufiction – “people playing themselves in stories that relate to their own real lives”. Here’s my full review.
  • The Last Days of Capitalism: Taking place entirely in a Vegas hotel luxury suite, a rich forty-something extends his encounter with a much younger hooker into several days of verbal probing and sparring. It’s kind of My Dinner With Andre with spa robes and sex. It turns out that he is hedonistic for a purpose, and she is more than she seems, too.
  • Far East Deep South: In this genealogy documentary, a Northern California Chinese-American family is stunned to discover that they have roots in Mississippi.
  • Watch Me Kill: Filipino actress Jean Garcia stars as a pitiless and prolific contract killer. Something from her past is haunting her, and there is a mind twisting thread. I was okay with the relentless violence, as would Quentin Tarantino, but not every viewer would be.
  • The Return of Richard III on the 9:14 am Train: This French comedy of manners centers on a crew of neurotic actors holed up in a vacation rental to rehearse a project. Although it’s got the best title in Cinejoy, it’s only mildly funny.

You can see these films and those on my best of Cinejoy at CINEJOY.

SMALL TIME: innocence among the addicted

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Audrey Grace Marshall in Niav Conty’s SMALL TIME, premiering at Cinequest. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

Filmmaker Niav Cinty explores rural America’s opioid crisis through its impact on one little girl in Small Time. Emma (Audrey Grace Marshall) is growing up among damaged and ill-prepared adults who are modeling the worst possible lessons about drug use, parental responsibility, handling firearms, choice of language and taking things that belong to someone else. This is an opioid-ravaged world in which the one character who actually saves two lives is the local abusive drug dealer. Emma sees things that no child should see.

Emma is spirited, smart and has a child’s pureness of heart.  Amidst the adult chaos, she’s baking cookies and thinking about the tooth fairy. But we have to ask, what is the shelf life of innocence? When will her environment take its toll?

Nobody is comfortable watching a child in bad situations, so why isn’t Small Time unwatchable? Writer-director Conty has mastered the tone by making Emma such a spirited, hopefully indomitable protagonist. And Conty embeds just enough humor in scenes with the local lunkheads playing the board game Risk and Emma turning the doctrinal tables on a priest, forcing him to resort to bluster.

The child actress Audrey Grace Marshall is very good. Conty shot Small Time over three years as Audrey ranged from seven to ten. Small Time was filmed on location in north central Pennsylvania.

Cinequest hosted the world premiere of Small Time at the March 2020 festival and is streaming Small Time in CINEJOY through October 14.

the best of CINEJOY

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Jenna Lyng Adams in BEFORE THE FIRE. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.

Cinejoy is Cinequest’s October virtual fest and it opens today. Some of the very best from the March festival return, along with some new indie gems that you can’t see anywhere else. I’ve updated my CINEQUEST page with reviews of nine Cinejoy films. Browse the films and buy tickets at CINEJOY.

MUST SEE

  • Before the Fire: In this year’s Must See at Cinequest, the only escape from an apocalyptic flu pandemic is a woman’s long-estranged rural hometown – but the scary family who traumatized her childhood is there, too. Written by its female star Jenna Lyng Adams, and the first feature by its female director Charlie Buhler, this indie thriller rocks. World premiere at Cinequest.

INDIES

  • Small Time: Rural America’s opioid crisis explored through its impact on one little girl; what is the shelf life of innocence? Shot over three years with insight and verisimilitude. World premiere at Cinequest.

WORLD CINEMA

  • Willow: This triptych by Oscar-nominated master Macedonian filmmaker Milcho Manchevski plumbs the heartaches and joys of having children; there’s a scene in the final vignette with a mother and son in a car that is one of the most amazing scenes I’ve ever seen. North American premiere at Cinequest.

LAUGHS

DOCUMENTARY

  • The Quicksilver Chronicles: Two bohemians live in a ghost town close (yet far) from Silicon Valley, and life happens. World premiere.

AND TWO I HAVEN’T SEEN YET

  • but they’ve got GREAT TITLES: The Return of Richard III on the 9:24 am Train and Erotic Fire of the Unattainable.
THE QUICKSILVER CHRONICLES. Photo courtesy of Cinequest.