B-A-N-A-N-A-Z
12 Mar 2008 Leave a Comment
in SXSW
I think it is safe to say that this movie blowed BIG time…BANANAZ takes you behind the scenes on one of the great creative partnerships of our time. For the first time the virtual walls ‘OF GORILLAZ’ come down and the audience sees the true brain child of Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn; the work that went into the drawings, the animation, the music and the voices. As one radio interviewer puts it, “It’s a parallel universe – these guys aren’t in the band but they know the animated characters who are”. Friend and film maker Ceri Levy decided to document the process and started following these two unlikely pioneers, over a six year period, with his camera.Bananaz is the funny, riotous and compelling film which gives a never seen before account of the working relationship of Albarn and Hewlett.An inspiring, unsanitised, free-wheeling comment on what can be done when creative minds meet in the spirit of collaboration from Ibrahim Ferrer to Dennis Hopper…
Depressing & Mind-blowing
11 Mar 2008 Leave a Comment
in SXSW
I am crazy tired today… but it was worth staying up to see One Minute to Nine last night.
Married at 16 years old in the small community of Grant Pass, Oregon, Wendy Maldonado looked forward to a long life of wedded bliss with her husband. Instead, the days and years after their wedding turned into an endless cycle of fear, neglect and violence that left Wendy terrified for both her own welfare and that of her children. After eighteen years of marriage and abuse, Wendy Maldonado finally summoned the courage to deal with her husband in the only way she knew possible. From award-winning Texan filmmaker Tommy Davis comes ONE MINUTE TO NINE, a moving and shocking documentary that uses extensive home footage to chronicle Wendy’s story
In the summer of 2006, an ambitious but unproven Bollywood director started filming Shootout at Lokhandwala, a movie based on an encounter between police and gangsters in Bombay in 1991. With a star-studded cast and a true-life story, the films release was highly anticipated. In the lead role, playing a famous vigilante cop, was superstar Sanjay Dutt. Unfortunately, Dutt was also involved in a massive terrorist trial that had been going on since 1993, and the case came to a head just as filming began. SHOT IN BOMBAY joins the filmmaking team on the last leg of shooting in January 2007, as they try to finish the film before their lead actor is sentenced. SXSW Film Festival
10 Mar 2008 Leave a Comment
in SXSW
Well it all started with SRR mentioning Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and of course I wanted to see it. So we decided to go ahead and buy a pass instead paying for each individual movie on it’s own.
It’s not the nasty divorce or the demotion at his job that sends a man over the edge, but his missing cat. The events of GOLIATH unfold without mercy or relief for a man who clings to his search for ‘the sweetest most wonderful cat in the whole world.’ It’s not what happened to the cat that lends intrigue, but wondering what the man will do when he finds out.GOLIATH interlaces humor and poignancy with a deft hand, never letting you up for air until it’s time. Comedic touches complement the most difficult moments of the film without undercutting the effects of either. The Zellner Brothers’ straightforward production makes keen and sympathetic observations about everyday struggles through a man searching for the seemingly minor satisfaction of a pet when faced with never-ending obstacles and indignities.
Adapted from Elinor Lipman’s novel of the same name, Helen Hunt makes her feature directing debut with THEN SHE FOUND ME, a touching story of schoolteacher April Epner (Hunt) and her very unlikely path towards personal fulfillment. Following the separation from her husband (Matthew Broderick) and the death of her adopted mother, April is contacted by her apparent birth month (Bette Midler), who turns out to be a local talk show host Bernice Graves. As Bernice tries to become the mother to April that she was never able to be, April seems to find solace in the arms of the parent of one of her students (Colin Firth), only to find that the mystery to life’s questions cannot be solved by a simple revelation.
HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY marks the triumphant return of these two hilarious, slacker anti-heroes. The movie stars John Cho (AMERICAN PIE I & II, AMERICAN DREAMZ) as Harold and Kal Penn (VAN WILDER 2: THE RISE OF TAJ, EPIC MOVIE) as Kumar, two stoners who can’t seem to get a break. Their last adventure found them traveling across country to find a White Castle hamburger in order to satisfy a weed-induced case of ‘the munchies.’ This time, the boys get themselves in trouble trying to sneak a bong onboard a flight to Amsterdam. Now, being suspected of terrorism, they are forced to run from the law and try to find a way to prove their innocence. What follows is an irreverent and epic journey of deep thoughts, deeper inhaling and a wild trip around the world that is as ‘un-PC’ as it gets. 
Featuring comedian and former Stoner of the Year Doug Benson, “Super High Me” explores the current debate over medical marijuana. As part of the journey, Benson ingests and inhales medical marijuana for 30 consecutive days in order to get “super high.” But first, Benson must go 30 days without any marijuana and undertake a series of medical exams. Along the way Benson performs across the country and hangs with fellow comics Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk and Patton Oswalt. The comedy routines and on-the-road hijinks create an amusing look at a controversial subject. Benson’s journey covers the two extremes of detox and addiction, an experience that has brought him a certain infamy among the counterculture of Los Angeles.
