The Screengrab : slamdance

Let’s Not Forget Slamdance: Five to Watch

Scott Von Doviak — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:30:00 GMT

With all my hub-bubbing about Sundance this week, I somehow completely forgot about the existence of Slamdance. This is particularly shameful on my part, since it was Slamdance (along with SXSW) that deigned to screen What I Like About You, my sole produced screenwriting credit to date. True, I may have wanted to forget that particular screening, which took place in a stuffy, uncomfortable room ill-suited to facilitating the gales of hearty laughter the film so richly deserved. (That’s my theory anyway, and I’m sticking to it). But that’s neither here nor there. I’m not sure Slamdance still has the alterna-buzz it once did, but clearly it’s still going strong – and while it’s much harder to predict what might be worth seeing with so much unknown talent involved, why should that stop me? So here we go with five movies to check out in a stuffy little room in the Treasure Mountain Inn:

OH MY GOD, IT’S HARROD BLANK

Who is Harrod Blank? He’s an “eccentric art car artist, film-maker, and entrepreneur.” This documentary by his friend David Silberberg follows him “from his youth growing up in the woods with chickens and working as a camera assistant for his father - the venerable film-maker Les Blank - to the creation of his first attention-getting art car, to his current multi-faceted career as creator and head of a nationwide art car movement.” I like to think I have an art car. I just wish people would stop trying to steal it.

PUNCHING THE CLOWN

Who among us could resist a film entitled Punching the Clown? Slamdance programmer Evie Peck describes it as “the story of Henry Phillips, a very real singer/comedian, facing numerous ridiculous and off-putting hurdles in his career; all the more amusing as he himself is humorously inoffensive. This film is a hilarious, crazy journey of a comedy career that blurs the lines between funny and inappropriate... like spiked punch at the junior prom.” Phillips may be real, but this is not a documentary; writer-director Gregori Viens’ feature debut is part of the narrative competition.

ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE UNDEAD

Just as we suspected all along, Hamlet was actually written by a vampire. “After casting his best friend and his ex-girlfriend in the show, Julian finds himself in the middle of a two thousand year old conspiracy involving Shakespeare, the Holy Grail and some very hungry vampires.” I was going to make a joke about a zombie Romeo and Juliet movie, but it turns out that already exists. Of course.

SMILE TIL IT HURTS: THE UP WITH PEOPLE STORY

At last, the mysteries of Up with People, “a clean-cut singing youth group who believed they could change the world,” will be cleared up. (Now that I know what happened to the John 3:16 guy, all my childhood questions will be answered.) “Smile Til It Hurts weaves together members’ heartfelt perspectives and private secrets with 40 years of Up With People’s vast archive of footage, photos and news clips into a smile-drenched, entertaining and thought-provoking romp through the underside of politics, cults and money.”

YOU MIGHT AS WELL LIVE

Here’s an offbeat comedy that “delivers big belly laughs from the very beginning to the wickedly outrageous end.” Is that the sort of thing that might interest you? “Robert R. Mutt has never had it easy. His family thinks he’s a moron, the neighbors think he’s a pervert, and almost everyone else thinks he’s a total douche bag. He’s failed at everything he’s ever tried to accomplish, including his own suicide.” Somehow this loser finds himself “on a madcap adventure involving a drug racket, a roller-skating transvestite, a bar-mitzvah and an air hockey tournament which leads to heartbreak and unexpected triumph.” Hey, we’ve all been there.

Austin’s Zombie Girl Goes to Slamdance

Scott Von Doviak — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:30:00 GMT

We’ve seen more than our share of zombie movies in recent years (and someday I’ll get around to tell you my own zombie movie story, so there’s something to live for), but as the documentary Zombie Girl: The Movie will show when it debuts at Slamdance on January 16th, Emily Hagins’ Pathogen is a little different. That’s because Hagins was twelve years old when she made it.

“Most twelve-year-olds are busy with friends, homework, and online chatting,” according to the helpful press release that just arrived via email. “But film obsessed Emily Hagins spends her time writing and directing a feature-length zombie movie, starring her young friends and classmates. ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE documents the exhilarating and heartbreaking two years it took her to shoot, edit, and world premiere the film to a sold out audience in Austin, Texas. Encouraged by famous friends and fans - including Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings), who she corresponds with in third grade, and journalist Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News fame, ZOMBIE GIRL: THE MOVIE traces Emily’s remarkable vision and youthful will to succeed.”

Emily is now 16 and “currently in post-production on her second feature film, The Retelling.” Feh, that’s nothing. Why, I’ve just completed my third blog entry of the day!

(shoots self, others.)

Sundance: The Final Roundup

Scott Von Doviak — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:51:00 GMT

It’s all over except for the long lines at security in the Salt Lake City airport. The awards were handed out last night by a jury featuring Quentin Tarantino and Marcia Gay Harden, and the top honors went to a couple of politically-charged pictures that flew under the radar for most of the festival. The grand jury prize for drama went to Frozen River, writer-director Courtney Hunt’s film about two women smuggling immigrants across the Canadian border. The top prize for documentaries went to Trouble the Water, about New Orleans families struggling in the aftermath of Katrina.

But that’s not all. As Kenneth Turan notes, awards were handed out like Halloween candy this year, with top audience prizes going to The Wackness and Fields of Fuel. Other notable recipients include American Teen (for dramatic directing), Man on Wire (for world documentary) and Choke (special jury prize for ensemble cast). Over at Slamdance, a documentary about a Neil Diamond cover band (Song Sung Blue) was the big winner.

In addition to its award, The Wackness picked up a distributor. Per the Hollywood Reporter, Sony Pictures Classics will ensure that you get the opportunity to watch Ben Kingsley and Mary-Kate Olsen swapping spit.

And on that note, that’s a wrap for this year. Let’s hit the slopes!

Sundance Roundup: Day 1

Scott Von Doviak — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 20:30:00 GMT

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival kicks off tonight in Park City, Utah with the world premiere of In Bruges. The directorial debut of playwright Martin McDonough, it’s the story of two London hit men (Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson) cooling their heels in the titular Belgian city. For the Independent, it’s the harbinger of a new British invasion, as the first of 23 UK-made films to play this year’s fest.

This year’s Sundance crop is expected to be lighter in sprit than the 2007 edition, according to the New York Times, “offering more comedy and optimism than last year’s batch, which contained many darkly hued films about the Iraq war.” Meanwhile, at the Treasure Mountain Inn at the top of Main Street, Slamdance keeps chugging along – no longer the upstart but still the rebel, according to Variety.

Other than that, there’s not much going on today besides the usual schmoozing, swag-bag hoarding and snow-tubing expeditions. During this calm before the storm, you can refresh your memory of Sundance history with this handy FAQ from the L.A. Times. And if you can’t make it to Park City this year, you’ll miss out on the parties, but you can still catch some of the films: the festival’s official website will be offering up one short for free viewing each day.