GR Film Buffs

SF360 Film+Club, a monthly social screening series, returns on Thursday, August 28, at 7:30 pm at Mezzanine (444 Jessie Street at Mint)!

How do you react to life’s ups and downs? Do you face your lows with a slide in to the darkness of anger?  On the other hand, do you just do a little dance around to have a good time?

Here in these short flickers you get to see both sides together.

Carson Mell’s outrageous movies sandwich the song and the bleeding heart, cataloging human interaction and unimaginable new species. But we’re suckered in, and we can’t get enough. As we watch, we even think in animation.  He paints a portrait, hanging in the family room with what is left from the 70’s stringing into the grand style here in 2008.  The wrinkle in time breaks us free from previous assumptions.  The seriously funny, or funnily serious films are worth tracks to the Mezzanine, where you can shill before and after, laughing that the future is now.

You’ll see a collection of writer/filmmaker Carson Mell’s short films, in addition to a reading from his new book, “Saguaro: The Life and Adventures of Bobby Allen Bird,” to the backdrop of his fathers vintage New York city footage. Wax creative with the truly unique talent on August 28 at 7:30pm.

THE LIST!
The Writer
Chonto
Reading with NY footage
Sincere Blues
Devil in Denim
Rodericks 1
Cold Operator
Field Notes

Oakland and San Francisco contributor Maria Pecot has been a part of Christorpher Coppola’s PAH Project (Project Accessible Hollywood) this exciting week, and now we finally get to see her stuff. Join up for the screening tonight at 7pm at Roxie Theater, Castro, SF or go online to see the flick and vote for it!

Listen to gun stories from Oakland to better understand the climate of gun violence, so we can all move forward toward more peaceful streets.

http://www.peacheschrist.com/mmass/index.html
Perrin says:
Last Saturday I donned my NightOwl gear and met with Peaches Christ, a drag queen of breathtaking beauty, who knows how to put on a good show.

The pre-movie show was a full-on stage production of Barberalla, staring a Bear and Peaches Christ herself! It spanned the entire film and dubbed, with great costumes including a strange hair sculpture and eerie replicas of Barberellas skimpy space-age costumes.

It was my first time at a midnight mass, but mid-night mass veteran and fellow cult film fan Sugar Jet Girl told me what to expect. For the last 11th seasons of midnight mass, actors, actresses and directors with cult followings have been cameoing on Peaches set, introducing the films or participating in the pre-show skits. (John Waters was there in years past, and y’all know how I feel about him)

When the movie finished at 3:30AM the theater emptied out, I felt like I was waking up from a very long dream about space travel and lava lamps. We filed out past Peaches Christ, who was reclining in a director’s chair by the front door, waving goodbye and signing autographs.
I would go back next week for Pee-wees Big Adventure but I’ll be in Turkey. O-well. I’ll be back in time for the last show of the season, San Francisco’s Underground Short Film Festival which is Aug 22 and the only film festival in town to open with a live rock show.

Tonight, the 12th, thru the 15th there are loads more fabulous films to see at five SF locations. Check out Land of Promise: The Story of Allensworth, at the Museum of the African Diaspora tonight at 5:30p, or King of the Evening at Sundance Cinemas at 8p. Pinned as a “strangers struggling to get through tough times” period flick, this “outstanding film” (-Gail Choice for Our Weekly) dives into the gap between values of spirit and character, and the worth of material things. Land of Promise, a 27-minute documentary, is made my Bay Area locals, documenting the little-known all-black California town: Allensworth. Go back in time or travel off the beaten path with a night of cinema at the 10th annual SF Black Film Festival.

Ilsa for GR Filmbuffs:

I headed out to the annual SuperFest, the wonderful disability film festival, this time to see Multiple, a film that delves into the realities of living with Multiple Sclerosis in an un-close-and-personal sort of way.

Multiple strides forward with an important story of Alison Peebles and the facts of M.S. It is indigo secrets behind blue bars that seem to say, this subject will not be discussed. Her M.S. condition can no longer be hidden from the world now that her legs turn out. She is stumbling and falling as well as her increased fatigue being more difficult to hide. People notice.

We get a chance to face the facts of our own disabilities and the compound fears of what will happen to us when people find out we are not perfect. This is a beautifully constructed autobiographical revelation into an unknown neurological disease. I knew nothing about Multiple Sclerosis. Seeing the animation of the of the concrete heaviness in the shoes as image of nails being pounded into the ground to limit mobility was my first real understanding of the words I heard over the years. The sliver barbed wire spreading over and digging into the hands as Alison struggles to put on an earing gave me such a clear understanding that words never ever explained satisfactorily.

What do each of us have to give up as we grow and change is a constant thread in our adventure called Life.

This is also a story of Woman and Shoes as well. We each have shoes for every occasion and every emotional corner of our selves. Out go the shoes never to return to their place in her closet. Glamour and dancing as well as the sheer appeal of the high heal for the opposite sex is highlighted as a very red pair of shoes sprouts teeth and attacks the ‘trainers’ walking shoes. As the body changes adjustments have to be made.

We find out that aside form film and T.V. work she has an acting company in Scotland which is presenting a play called S.M./ M.S. the play is about a sadistic-masochism dominatrix who has multiple sclerosis. With the theatrical company is the amazing place where her strength and grace comes through on the screen. Alison takes a trip home for some enforced relaxation after 6 years of solid working life. Enforced relaxation is the back step to her first episode with being unable to tell her feet to move from one place to another. It is a moving return to square one in the progressive game we share.

This is a compelling story of bravery and action against many odds.

Perrin says:
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize for documentary at Sundance this year, Trouble the Water is playing tomorrow @ 4:30 at the Harvard Exit Theater. I will be there, trusting that directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal can fill in the blanks about Hurricane Katrina’s ugly aftermath.

The Filmmakers at Sundance

With first-person storytelling, their efforts to shed light onto the nightmare-like news-coverage of the New Orleans tragedy has been greatly appreciated by audiences around the country.

The results are in from SIFF and IndieFlix’s collaborative competition, MyFestival, which drew thousands of online visitors. The Feature Film Winner is Perfect Sport, about girls and boys wrestling on Vashon Island, and the Short Film Winner is Robbie’s Withdrawal, about a baby.
The special recognition films are Eternal City and Hot Wind: America’s Fallout Casualties.

Join me at the Harvard Exit Theatre on Sunday June 15th @ 6:30 in celebrating these local talents.
807 E Roy St Seattle, WA 98102 (206) 323-8986 www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/Seattle/HarvardExitTheatre.htm

Film Info:
Perfect Sport, directed by Anthony O’Brien (USA, 2008)
Beautifully shot on 35mm on Vashon Island, Washington, local writer/director Anthony O’Brien takes high school drama to the mat. He stars as high school wrestler Lee Bishop who must compete against his sister Tina’s natural talent when she decides to join the boy’s team, before personal demons and bigger issues threaten to destroy him. Directed by Anthony O’Brien. Also starring Jessica Rose (Lonelygirl15) and Harvey Keitel’s daughter Stella.

Robbie’s Withdrawal, directed by John Burish (USA, 2008)
When Marcus backs out of Robbie’s big day with the baby, she’s forced to go it alone.

For more information on SIFF MyFestival or the winning films, you can contact the SIFF Press Office at 206.254.9240 or go to www.myfestival.indieflix.com

For my own personal SIFF Finale I choose a most inappropriate flick, one I thought would soar beyond it’s documentary bedfellows and focus on a positive, fluid story about Good Food. I wasn’t expecting to be shaking in my booties as the lights came back up, not only feeling like there was only one right way to do this, but also feeling like most people wouldn’t go the extra length to ensure the longevity of our food supply.

I don’t know what documentaries are supposed to do anymore… There are so many grim truths out there, and people as a whole have shown no serious drive to react to factual barages (as many documentaries turn out to be) and so not only so I see audience sizes shrinking for these types of films, but also the reaction on people’s faces says, “get me out of here!” “Where’s my movie fix, my dreamy story to get lost in, to take me away from this tragic reality!”

Good Food is trying to angle towards the positives, the many Washington farmers and producers bringing sustainability into the agriculture industry (where was it all along?)… but the end result is that “get me out of here” fact dribble. I want this topic to be brought out by tasty experiences, by meeting farmers, but learning to love the land and focusing on what is easy and possible to integrate into your lifestyle soon. Accumulating mundane and to some, horrific, facts about the un-health of our food is like taking a step backward for me. Yes, I know I am the choir that the filmmakers were preaching to, but would anyone not in the choir want to see a film like this anyhow? Who is this film for?

As a local eater, a sustainability writer and an general spokesperson for holistic living, traveling, viewing and munching, I say there are some better ways to get into the food system on a local level. Read Seattle’s new Edible Magazine (I write for the Edible East Bay edition, winner of the Morcom prize for local magazine). It is a gorgeous, fun publication that makes the things mentioned in Good Food come to life in a forward-moving way. Shop at a farmer’s market once a week, in Seattle, and all the other cities I’ve covered in my guidebooks, there are plenty of them! And an entire Farm to Table chapter to boot! Think before you eat, but not just about the calories!

So I say it is OK if you skipped this one, even though it is rare enough for me to poo poo a film, especially one made by local, concerned talents. It is just that the non-choir will be even more turned off by a message with this tone and in this format, it is one of the reasons I am so empowered by writing GrassRoutes guidebooks, there are so many fun and easy ways to be in line with the environment and community!

Please not again… (the song is easily stuck in my head. If you’re not a jazz geek like me, click here.)

But in the film world, we are just as caught up with separating business from pleasure as other career paths. Speaking with Yung Chang, a director who spent many months with his subjects prior to filming them, and who maintains a supportive relationship with them today, I realized that many times this separation is bogus.

Yung Chang with Seattle’s corporate backdrop

Take Visioneers, for example, a film made in the Pacific Northwest as a spoof; an imaginative take on the extreme direction in which our tech-productive society may be headed. In the film, screening times below, dreams, independent ideas, genuine friendships and emotional bonds are prohibited, on and off the job. In order to increase profitability, Visioneers’ Jefferson Corp. commands the entire lives of its employees, and yes, this proves to be far, far too close to comfort. But that is because the nature and pace of the work itself is predetermined, not based on people’s unique ideas and experience.

At GrassRoutes, there could also be said to exist this lack of clear boundary between work and “private” life, many of us are life-long friends and mix business and pleasure on a regular basis. This often gets the work done more swiftly, I find, things are more friendly, more relaxed. I watch these films, Yung Chang’s Up the Yangtse, and the Drake Brothers’ Visioneers, and though the content may be seemingly dissimilar in every way, what I admire about them is the same, both films offer up an answer for living in harmony, both show the consequences of acting without a consciousness of the others around you, at work and at home.

So I say, check out these SIFF films, and go ahead, mix business with pleasure, let your dreams inspire your work, whatever it is, I’m thinking more and more each day, that bringing your whole self to any interaction or project makes the thing go better. True?

Details:

Up the Yangtse
Read full GR FilmBuff review here
Interview Podcast coming soon
Already screening at SIFF, but now playing at Seattle’s Varisty, Portland’s Cinema 21 and LA’s Laemmle Theaters, to name a few

Visioneers
Screenings at SIFF: Egytian Theatre 6/12 at 9:30pm, 6/14 at 4pm
Buy tickets at www.siff.org/tickets

Yung and I at “work” after our interview

GR Film Buff Serena Recommends:

Seattle’s 34th International Film Festival would be place the ideal place to go film-crazy this week. This fest just keeps going and going, ode to Energizer Bunny…
If I could go to a film each day for the next week, here’s where I’d be.

Today, Saturday. I’d grab a hot make-out partner and mosey over to The Egyptian, where I’d melt into the waves watching Newcastle, the watery, golden-bodied surfer epic charting tragic character shifts in a lifestyle far away from Seattle’s clouds. (Full review, plus interview with the filmmaker, Dan Castle, and starring actors Lachlan Buchanan and Reshad Strik coming soon to Film Buffs and GR Podcast Library). www.newcastlemovie.com, 5/31 at 6:30, 6/1 at 1:30, both at the Egyptian Theatre.

Tomorrow, Sunday. If I didn’t get enough snogging in on Saturday, I’d get yet another hot date and steal him away to see Young People Fucking, the Canadian film following each step of seduction from foreplay to afterglow. (Full review coming soon.) Turns out this film isn’t just young people fucking, but the mystery, domesticity and arrogance that goes along with the pursuit… For a more somber, “let’s make this next week count” kind of experience, I’ll take an unsuspecting friend to see FLOW: For the Love of Water, which chronicles the dire state of our necessary resource. (See GR Film Buff Maria’s full review here.) Young People Fucking, Egyptian Theater 5/31 at 9:30pm, 6/1 at 4:30pm, FLOW: For the Love of Water, Harvard Exit, 6/1 at 6:30pm, 6/3 at 4:30pm.

To shy away from the Monday Blues, I’d get my tickets early for Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life, a film about one of my favorite musicians, whose tragic yet magical time on earth continues to bring music lovers new life and inspiration. (Please learn some more of these classics, oh piano player at Canlis! Next time I want to hear Silk Stockings and Lush Life!) 6/2, Harvard Exit, 9:30pm.

For Tuesday, I’d try to bring a sense of humor to the things with which I have difficulty. Daniel (illustrator of GrassRoutes Travel Guides) and I recently found out his late aunt was a member of SLA (the Symbionese Liberation Army), and though we’ll be processing this information for some time, I’ll try to get in a humorous perspective by watching John Waters’ SLA-inspired Cecil B. DeMented (2000), a mock-kidnapping akin to the SLA’s taking of Patty Hearst. 5/3, Egyptian Theatre, 4:30pm, lecture with John Waters, Benaroya Hall, 7:30pm (separate ticket).

Wednesday brings home the bacon with a local classic-in-the-making, Dark Horse, filmed on picturesque Orcas Island. In order to prepare an untamed Fresian horse for the upcoming dressage competition, lead character Dana (Carol Roscoe) must sort through a web of memories, healing herself, the neighbors, her family and a few souls from the animal world in the process. 5.4, 6:30pm and 5/7, 1:30pm, both at SIFF Cinema.

OK, I admit I first was interested in the film Alexandra solely because of the title. Alexandra is one of my favorite people on this planet (see our Paseo blog here), but it turns out there are other Alex’s that win my heart. This Grandma-come-soldier infiltrates behind army lines, against all odds and all advice, to reunite with her grandson, now a Chechnyan soldier. Her bold, straightforward, absolute love is astonishingly poignant, especially against the backdrop of the war (filmed on location). 5/2, 4:30pm, and 5/5, 7pm, both at SIFF Cinema.

Take a break from the movies on Friday, don your jeans and heels and grab a swank drink at the bar in the W Hotel Lobby. I’m going to be there, bugging the concierge about the typewriter they use for decoration — can I please use it? Then I’ll get some conversation going with the filmmakers, actors and fellow films buffs passing through. W Hotel, 1112 4th Aveneue (at Seneca), 206.264.6000, www.starwoodhotels.com

Saturday is all about having fun, right? So I’ll just be out with it and say I’m cozying up to Timecrimes…again… (it’s been screened in Seattle once and was at the San Francisco International Film Festival as well.) It is rare that a goofy-gory story like this would get through to me, but the story is intriguing, and acting fascinating and the overall experience, well, fun. So even though you may have already been there, done that, take a friend to see a fun film. (GR Film Buff Maria’s full review here.) 5/7, 9:30pm at Pacific Palace Cinema and 5/15, 7pm at the Egyptian Theatre.

Saturday Alternate: If you need some inspiration for your weekend, some do-gooder energy, get behind Good Food instead. (Full Review coming soon). Focus on the positives in the agriculture industry in Washington State: 5/4 at 7pm (Egyptian Theatre) and 5/7 at 4:30pm (SIFF Cinema).

Have a great week in film, you movie-goers, you!