AFF09–Stoner (2009)/Thor At The Bus Stop (2009)/Pocket Full Of Soul (2009)/Little Fish, Strange Pond (2009)
“Efffffffff wooorrrrrrrd!”
STONER (2009)
Directed by: Michael Greene
Written by: Michael Greene/Karem Sanga
Another Austin festival, another movie about Austin stoners. What makes this one different? Um…well…not much, really.
Michael (director/co-writer Michael Greene) is a career stoner. He’s about to graduate from college, which means that his mom (Cyndi Williams) is about to stop paying for his life. He wants to write, but he has no ambition for anything. All he really does is smoke. When he gets into dealing things really take a turn.
Dan (Dan Bui) is constantly beseiged by a guy who wants him to join him at a motivational speaker’s meeting. (“Just listen to the tape! It will change your life!”) Fuck that, Dan says, but he’s too nice to actually say it.
Mark (Eddie Mathis) is a lady’s man who doesn’t want to admit it. Becky (Caitlin Smith) is his current fling. Does he really like her? Or does he like his freewheeling lifestyle better?
Karem (co-writer Karem Sanga) is the straightlace of the bunch. He’s always studying and never smokes. When he goes to a party with the other guys and tries smoking for the first time his whole life gets a little…strange. Oh yeah, and he’s a little bit obsessed with Becky.
Not a bad film and pretty funny, but there’s absolutely nothing new here. And I kind of wonder just how much these guys have smoked. I’ve never smoked in my life, so I’m not the guy to come to to ask what it’s like, but I’m pretty sure that pot doesn’t have the same affect on people as ecstacy. Karem smoked once and was suddenly sweaty, hallucinating and touching people that he previously didn’t want to touch. Doubt it.
I’m glad that Austin has a thriving film scene and I’m glad that a lot of films get made here for basically no money. But I wish Austin filmmakers would make films about something besides themselves. Sure, they put out a few good flicks every year, but they’re all a little samey.
Directed by: Jerry Thompson/Mike Thompson
Written by: Jerry Thompson/Mike Thompson
Don’t you hate it when you see someone interesting on the side of the road, but you can’t stop to find out what they’re all about?
I used to until I saw Thor At The Bus Stop.
Thor, the God Of Thunder And Lightning, is waiting at the bus stop. He is about to die and he knows it. You’ll have to excuse him for being a bit melancholy. And when everyone keeps asking him if he plays basketball he gets a little…angry.
Thor meets and forgets about 20 people throughout this travels around the outskirts of Vegas. We also meet them and follow them around for a while. There’s a slightly disgruntled pizza guy, a white trash dude whose sister was the first victim of Thor’s wrath, a couple of dudes in a car driving for no apparent reason, a couple of thugs with nothing better to do than steal lunch boxes, a guy with a yeild sign through his chest….just a whole lot of people.
The best character is constantly called “the coolest guy in the whole world,” but he’s still a cliche. In fact, I kept expecting him to call his dad, Sam Jackson.
There were some bright spots in the film and some good lines, but it was too long by about half. We got a bit TOO involved in all of these peoples’ lives and, frankly, I just didn’t care.
But, by the end, there is no real mystery left. We find out about all of the characters and learn their stories. And I mean ALL of them. Even the ones who only showed up for 10 seconds in the beginning of the film.
All I can say is, “Meh.”
Directed by: Marc Lempert
Written by: Marc Lempert
Think of the song “Running To Stand Still” by U2. Now take the harmonica out of it. You know what you’ve just done? You’ve taken the soul out of the song. The mourning that Bono and the boys feel for their friends who died of heroine overdoses in Ireland.
Now think of another song. “Love Me Do” by The Beatles. Now take the harmonica out of that song. You’ve just taken the joy of love out of it. Paul no longer has young love in his heart.
The harmonica is an instrument that hasn’t gotten a lot of respect in the past 50 years or so and that’s a real shame. It’s a damn versitile instrument and the people who play it are absolutely in love with it.
Now Marc Lempert has made a film that celebrates the world’s most portable music maker and he’s done a great job. In 47 minutes he interviews all of the greats alive today (except Dan Aykroyd who is thanked and mentioned, but not interviewed) including John Popper (one of the best today), Kim Wilson and Huey Lewis, who also narrates. I think he’s vying for a comeback with this and the theme song for Pineapple Express.
If you’ve ever wanted to know the history of the harmonica or are just interested in knowing why it’s so important to so many people, seek this film out. It’s absolutely worth it.
The only festival I know of that puts the short AFTER the feature.
I’ve driven by Musical Exchange on North Loop many times, but I’ve never ventured in or even really thought too much about it. That little shop, though, has a long history and Walter is a pretty interesting guy.
This short film tells us what it truly means to love an instrument and to make it cry and sing the way its supposed to. Walter Hutcherson has been fixing guitars since 1962 and he plans on doing it until his fingers fall off.
Good for him. he’s a crusty old man and I’ve never met him, but I kind of love him. It’s people like him who keep Austin what it always should be: Austin.
LITTLE FISH, STRANGE POND (2009)
Directed by: Gregory Dark
Written by: Robert Dean Klein
Sweet Stephen (Callum Blue from Dead Like Me) and Mr. Jack (Matthew Modine) are murderers. But they’re very philosophical about their trade. In fact, Stephen may actually be getting a (gasp!) conscience!
Never fear, though. They are still bad, bad dudes who kill beautiful young ladies in LA like nobody’s business. (Ok, they only kill one in the movie, but you get the feeling that they’ve done it before.) They just have long conversations about good vs. evil while contemplating their own lives and eventual deaths.
Meanwhile, Tommy the Cop (Adam Baldwin from Firefly) is drunk and depressed. He’s also hot on their heels. Well, more lukewarm on their heels. He just thinks that they’re fuckin’ weird dudes when he first meets them after an attempted robbery at a porn shop run by Zach Galifianakis. Why rob a porn shop? Well, that’s a mystery that Mr. Jack unravels before the robber is on the floor.
This is a strange little film that I’m not really sure how to describe. It’s kind of a comedy, kind of a thriller, kind of a drama, kind of an existential murder story. There’s even some tabloid tv satire that, honestly, is a few years behind the curve. (The script was written 14 years ago by Robert Dean Klein.)
It’s an interesting film and even a pretty good film. I can’t really say that it’s for everyone, though, because it tries so hard to be philosophical. It hits it right a few times, but sometimes I think it’s kind of all for show.
There were some very good performances, especailly from Modine and Blue who seemed to be doing impressions of each other throughout the film. (Blue is an Englishman doing a slightly shakey American accent and Modine is an American playing an American pretending to be English with a terrible accent.) I always kind of felt sorry for Stephen and was absolutely terrified of what Mr. Jack might do next. Sure, the man was funny, but he was menacing as hell. The performance made me really miss Matthew Modine. I haven’t seen him in far too long.
The film also made me interested in seeing some of Klein’s other films. Unfortunately, after looking up all eight of them, I saw that he wrote two for Uwe Boll. Dammit.
