FILM FEST 2019

This week my home town of Chapel Hill welcomed the second annual Film Fest 919.  Last year I saw one flick, the future film to be crowned best picture Green Book.  I eagerly awaited this years festivities, even bugging programmers for info about when tickets went on sale.  I was determined to make the most of this years festival. 

This year I loaded up a full schedule.  I saw six films over my four days attending the festival.  I selected two of the movies based on the fact they were Netflix.  It was a combination of I wanted to see them and I felt I wouldn’t be able to see them in a theatrical setting otherwise.  I choose other movies based on what I wanted to see and what is gaining awards buzz.  Here’s what I saw, in order in which I saw, and with my thoughts on the movies.

The Report

What a fantastic movie!  There were parts that were incredibly hard to watch but considering the subject matter that was to be expected.  Adam Driver should earn a second, well deserved Oscar Nomination.  Annette Bening and Jon Hamm both were both fantastic as well.  It’s well paced and the story is just as relevant today as it was when the events took place a short five years ago.  The movie is a great mixture of Zero Dark Thirty and The Post.

The Two Popes

This movie is a great conversational starter.  I was pleased that the filmmakers choose not to shy away from some of the more difficult issues.  It goes very deeply into the debate between Pope Benedict XVI and future Pope Francis about the conservative vs liberal views of the church.  It also goes into the sexual abuse cover ups by the Catholic church.  Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce (The Wife, Tomorrow Never Dies) both shine in the lead roles.  The film plays a lot like Richard Linklater’s Before Series or Southside With You if you haven’t seen that fantastic trilogy.

Ford V Ferrari 

Christian Bale and Matt Damon are great but they’re both top notch actors and that’s to be expected when given good material.  In this case they were both given good material.  The movie itself is a fun ride.  It plays like a Rocky movie in that it’s about an underdog going the distance in a sports related event.  This case its racecar driving instead of boxing.  In the case of Ford V Ferrari it’s also a true story.  The movie runs a good two and a half hours but it goes by in a blink.

Dolemite is My Name

What a blast to watch!  The movie focuses on blaxplotation star Rudy Ray Moore’s rise to fame.  It starts with the creation of his Dolemite character for his stand up routine and the adventure follow Moore (Eddie Murphy) as he struggles turns his cult character into a movie.  Eddie Murphy is at the top of his game as his the rest of the cast including Wesley Snipes, Keegan-Michael Key, Craig Robinson, and a great cameo from Chris Rock.  It’s one I need to see again because I missed parts laughing at the previous joke.

Motherless Brooklyn

I keep forgetting about Edward Norton.  I like him as an actor.  The Score and Keeping the Faith both awesome movies and he’s great in whatever Wes Anderson puts him in..  Hell I even enjoyed his incredible hulk performance.  I said it, get over it.  I really enjoyed the throw back to the film noirs of the fifties and sixties, Chinatown comes to mind when watching this one.  There’s an awesome ensemble here, that’s worth the price of admission.  The big downside is the runtime.  There were times when I felt the two and a half hours.  Then again any film that long runs the risk of losing me for bits and pieces.

JoJo Rabbit

I loved the bizarre since of humor that JoJo Rabbit had.  The entire cast excellent and the movie was incredibly well written.  It’s weird describing this movie: It’s a dark comedy, a war movie, a nazi movie, and told from the point of view of a child.  IT WORKS WELL! It makes a great point and again with an incredibly bizarre since of humor.

Overall I had a great experience at the festival.  I met some really cool people, including some industry professionals, and some six movies that I really liked.  I can’t wait to attend the festival next year!

RETRO REWIND: GATTACA

GATTACA: The big one, the movie I refer to as my all time favorite.  It’s currently fourth quarter 2019, which means I saw this movie twenty two years ago.

I saw it on a rainy Saturday afternoon at the Timberlyne theater, back when they were an Eastern Federal location, years before Regal.  

I was eleven years old back then, when I first saw this movie, and I must admit I fully didn’t understand it then.  That was a mighty big appeal though, room to grow.  Finally I had found a movie I could discuss and theorize about.  Remember I was eleven, not many people my own age were into such movies.  After all this was the same year as the Star Wars Rerelease, Liar Liar, and The Lost World: Jurassic Park.  

One of the things I fell in love with this movie was the look of the movie.  It’s the first movie that I noticed the technical skill behind making movies.

The story also sucked in an eleven year old version of myself, and twenty two years later it still hasn’t released my attention.  When I was eleven NASA, outer space, the Mars Rover all interested me and contributed to my love of this movie.  

As my interests changed over the years I found myself relating to different aspects of the movie.  The puberty stricken teenage version of myself saw Uma Thurman in a new light.  My first Hollywood crush.  As cloning technologies became a fascination of mine, while it dominated the news, the genetic mutation story line of the film became a fascinating plot point.  By the time I was in my mid twenties I discovered horror and mystery films.  Of course the murder aspect of the plot came from and center.  

Of course I skipped over the diagnosis of my heart disorder and watching Ethan Hawke’s character come to terms with his heart disorder became all to real of a relatable plot point.  I love an underdog story and that is at the heart of Gattaca.  

I’m excited to see how this movie continues to change for me as my life does.  

One major things the movie did for me was make the sci-fi genre human.  It taught me that laser swords, aliens, or films on Mars don’t have to dominate the genre.  It’s a lesson I’ve taken with me into other genres and aspects of movies.

JOKER

Saturday night, like I tend to do most Saturday nights, I journeyed a few miles up the road to see a flick.  This weeks film was Joaquin Phoenix in Joker.  I’m a huge fan of Joaquin Phoenix and have loved his work.  Gladiator, Walk the Line, The Master among other were great films that were brought to new levels by his performance.  I was also excited to see a different take on the comic book genre and that was an origin story of a super villain, instead of a super hero.

At 7:30 I was in my seat with a popcorn and oversized soda that’s probably not good for me.  The usual twenty some odd minutes of trailers played.  A few caught my eye but that’s for another day.

Two things stood out for me in the movie about all else.  The first was how dark and slow paced the movie ended up being.  I remember fondly when Jack Nicholson played the joker in Tim Burton’s Batman, and 2019’s Joker throws the camp out the window.  It also expands the craziness of Heath Ledger’s joker from 2008’s The Dark Knight.  That combination added to the darkness of the film.

The other thing that stood out for me was Joaquin Phoenix’s performance.  The performance elevated a mediocre script to another level.  The other thing that elevated the movie was the cinematography.  It made the movie feel like a gangster film of a generation ago.

I don’t agree with some of the Oscar buzz the film is generating.  I have a tough time seeing the film compete for best picture with films like Rocketman and the excellent Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  I can easily see Joaquin Phoenix being nominated but I still haven’t seen films getting acting buzz like The Two Poles and the always great Christian Bale in Ford V Ferrari.  

Looking ahead the 919 festival is next week.  I have tickets to five films, I may pick up a sixth.  I think I’ll blog about that next week.