Odds and ends from the first few days of SXSW:

Humboldt County – After being flunked out of medical school by his own father, Peter Hadley (Jeremy Strong) goes for a ride with free spirit Bogart (Fairuza Balk) and ends up in California’s redwood country. There he meets Bogart’s friends and family, all of whom live off the grid and earn their keep by growing and selling marijuana. The debut feature from writer-directors Danny Jacobs and Darren Grodsky boasts an alluring setting and several strong performances, most notably Brad Dourif as the patriarch of the pot-farming clan. There’s a hole in the center, however: Hadley is an underwritten character and Strong is unable to breathe much life into him.

Older Than America – Director Georgina Lightning stars as Rain, a resident of the Fond du Lac Indian reservation in Minnesota who has been experiencing strange visions. Years earlier, her mother was institutionalized after suffering from similar delusions – or at least, that’s the official story. The truth Rain uncovers is based in reality: the children of the reservation were forced to attend a Catholic boarding school with the motto “Kill the Indian, save the man” – a place where unspeakable abuses took place. The history and setting could have made for a powerful movie, but Older Than America is a bit too clunky. The performances aren’t particularly lively, and the mystical elements don’t mesh well with the real-life horror. As a visiting government geologist, Bradley Cooper too often seems to be in his own separate movie.

Dreams with Sharp Teeth – Erik Nelson’s documentary on author/media personality/all-around cranky guy Harlan Ellison gives you just about what you’d expect, which in this case is not a bad thing. Nelson combines archival footage of Ellison’s TV appearances with newly shot material showing the author at his typewriter (yes, a manual typewriter, kids), reciting his work, and even being fitted with a hideous neck goiter for a role in a science fiction program. Friends and admirers ranging from Robin Williams (in his most bearable screen appearance in years) to Sandman creator Neil Gaiman are on hand to offer their two cents and/or take some cheerful abuse from the film’s subject. While there is an element of shtick (or as Gaiman prefers, “performance art”) to Ellison’s ranting, suffer-no-fools persona, he’s certainly worth watching for 90 minutes as Dreams with Sharp Teeth proves.