By Warren Curry
After neglecting CinemaSpeak for too long, I have returned with a new entry. Please, please, hold the applause. Now I’m not deluded enough, obviously, to think anyone is actually holding their breath in anticipation of my new blogs, but I’m sure maintaining a consistent blogging work ethic must be good for…something. Besides, Dan and Memo have been threatening bodily harm and, trust me, you don’t want to get on their bad sides. No sir…
The 2007 Los Angeles Film Festival has come and gone. I’ve attended the event every year since 2002 and, wow, has it grown over that time. The festival has now called Westwood Village home for two years, and it’s a great location that would be even better if the area’s old, one-screen theaters were renovated. Of course, I love watching movies on these enormous screens, but stadium seating is pretty much a must for me these days. The cramped seats at theaters like the Majestic Crest and Landmark Regent actually caused me pretty severe back pain towards the festival’s end. In fact, the discomfort was bad enough that I decided to skip the festival’s final day in hopes I wouldn’t wake up at 5:00 AM the following morning in excruciating pain (it worked).
Whereas festivals were once seen as an event that celebrated the art of film, most of the world’s bigger fests are also proudly championing the commerce of movies. Studios understand that high profile festivals are fantastic places to launch their new releases, therefore small movies are increasingly pushed aside so companies with marketing/advertising budgets big enough to produce 30 indie flicks can drum up much needed media coverage for their property. Can you sense the sarcasm?
Never was this more evident than the World Premiere of Michael Bay’s (a name synonymous with artistic integrity) “Transformers” at LAFF 2007. Predictably, this was the buzz event of the festival. I’m skeptical as to whether or not using LAFF as its launching pad is helping the movie make any more box office $, but it certainly garnered the festival a lot of press, and that’s a good thing. Sure, I’d like to hope this doesn’t become the norm, but, to a large degree, it already is, so I’ll save my energy.
In the movie capital of the world, where film and business go together like peanut butter and jelly, I appreciate that the city’s two biggest festivals, LAFF and AFI, allow attendees the opportunity to sample films that are way under the commercial radar. At its best, there’s something undeniably pure about the festival experience. You can see the work of filmmakers whose chief concern, believe it or not, is artistic expression. I’m not sure where Bay’s movie about an ’80’s cartoon fits in here. Believe me, I’m not trying to knock “Transformers…” ok, maybe I am a little bit…but aren’t there about, oh, 10,000 other non-studios movies that could use the exposure LAFF could provide significantly more than what might turn out to be the highest grossing movie of 2007? Keep in mind this festival is organized by a group called Film Independent. Now there’s some irony good enough to eat.
Unfortunately, the worst movies I typically see at the festival are programmed in the Narrative Competition, and this year held true to form. In my article on Einsiders.com, I called director Jess Manafort’s “The Beautiful Ordinary” one of the most pointless movies I’ve seen in ages. I’ll stand 100% behind that comment. Is it a generational thing, or are teenagers really this asinine these days? Imagine if “Dazed and Confused” was stripped of every ounce of wit and charm and repopulated with characters based on the most annoying kids in your high school — in a nutshell, that’s “The Beautiful Ordinary.” I was at a screening stacked with cast, crew, friends, etc., so the response was positive, but I feel extremely sorry for any acquisitions executive who mistakenly believes this film will go over the same way with a regular audience.
The Lisa Kudrow starring “Kabluey” was much less insulting, but mediocre at best. It’s a slight, silly dramedy…to call it lightweight would be giving it too much credit. The film’s writer/director Scott Pendergrast stars as a lost 30-something who moves in with his sister-in-law (Kudrow) when she learns the government is extending her husband’s stay in Iraq. He’s supposed to take care of her kids so she can return to work, but it turns out to be a task too difficult for the man to handle. So he takes a job with an Internet company passing out fliers while dressed as their big blue mascot. At times I honestly wondered if Pendergrast had conceived this film entirely around the blue mascot suit. Did he find it in a thrift store somewhere and think to himself, “I have to make a movie about this suit! It’s dramic (please note that I just coined a new term) gold…”? It’s not often you see a director try to milk so much humor out of repetitive sight gags that aren’t so funny to begin with, but at least he committed fully to the joke.
And now that you think I’m completely skewering the festival, let me mention that I caught a few great flicks there. The high school debate team documentary, “Resolved,” was my favorite film of the fest, and I can’t imagine a scenario where this movie doesn’t acquire distribution. I also saw a couple of great foreign titles — “Fireworks Wednesday” from Iran is an absolutely riveting drama and the French film “Blame it on Fidel,” which I just learned is being released in the US this summer, while not nearly as intense, is also superbly made and just as intriguing. These discoveries are the main reason that I so enjoy attending film fests, even if sitting through 15-20 movies in a little over a week becomes a tougher challenge every year.
All in all, I had an enjoyable time at LAFF 2007, despite the back pain and a few weak movies (the less said about “Wizard of Gore,” the better). There’s always a lot of energy and good vibes in the air at this festival, and Westwood’s generally a nicer place when the UCLA students (at least most of them) are gone for the summer.
And in the spirit of independence, I’ll look forward to the Red Carpet World Premiere of “Live Free or Die Hard Again” at next year’s festival. I just can’t get enough of the pompous Mac guy.
