The Genart festival has been going on for a while now, and we're now going to get to see some films I haven't seen yet, last night we saw a documenter called Fuck, about, well, the history, entemology and glory of the word in question. But they demanded no reviews as the thing's coming out into theaters in the fall.
Pity, it's a really good film.
The films are all preceded by shorts, here are the two I've seen aleady. Tomarrow I go see "encore" screenings of two films which haven't been shown yet. That way I can see the west wing and the Supranos. Now the reviews:
Wet
Written and Directed
by Hannah Beth King
For her MFA at Columbia University, Hannah Beth King made this film about a little girl named Jane (Alexandra Lowcher) who’s being pulled in two directions, towards God on the one hand, and to adolescent sexuality on the other. She likes to swim in her grandma’s pool and her best friend Sandy (Nastassja Schmiedt)
introduces her to the wonderful world of masturbation while her grandmother Betty (Nancy Tait) prepares her for a fundimentalist baptism.
Now aside from the really good cinematography, there’s a real suspense about how the film will end, and it’s actually a surprise in a nice bit of misdirection by the director. It’s a nice calling card for all involved, and one can see why it was nominated for a student academy award.
This Morning
Directed by
Lucy Mulloy
When is a home movie not a home movie? When it’s a student Oscar-nominated short! Then it’s a documentery. Lucy Mulloy was visiting a friend, just filming the friend’s kids, when Jay's toy is broken. Jay isn’t there yet, so Mulloy lets the girls who broke the little Wolverine action figure hide it, knowing that Jay has ADD or some such thing needing pills, and is going to throw one heck of a temper tantrum. His sister Dafeney gets the blame, but Dafeney blames it on her friend, who’s now gone. The promised tantrum lasts for much of the fifteen minute film.
Now instead of sending this film to “America’s Funniest Home Videos” [mainly because it’s not the least bit funny], Mulloy gets kudos and money on the festival circuit. I at least hope she got the kid a new action figure.
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7 comments:
Why would anyone here be interested sin something like that?
I disagree with everything what you wrote about Lucy Mulloy's short film, 'This Morning'. I also saw it at the Gen Art festival and I was really moved by the emotional impact of the film. She has an amazing insight into the life of these kids. I actually listened to the questions and answers session after the films were screened and she lived with the family for 3 months filming them and working with them. She is a very compassionate filmmaker and her work is extremely strong. I think that a level of sophistication is necessary in understanding her work. In my opinion it was the best film in the festival and I am looking forward to seeing her future works.
if anyone should make a comment, it should be like the one just above this one.
Nah, I disagree Ericl1... I think that the above comment looks like Ms Mulloy herself posing as an anonymous blogger, and that you're her friend sitting next to her in the computer lab... I was at the Gen Art screening and was generally nonplussed. Alright camera work, alright topic... and I left wondering if the people she filmed actually realized that she would be expoiting their family problems for a school project and then sending it out to all the festivals.... I'd love to hear from the kidz mom and see if she is happy about the whole thing.
I saw "This Morning." You can go either way on it. The editing is nice, the way it utlilizes angles that would be "covered" had the scene been "fictional." People will react differently to this short (those who see it) the way they would react to "American Movie" or "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" (ala Todd Solondz's "Storytelling"). Par for the course with this kind of movie. I do agree, however, that that was totally Lucy Mulloy or her friend (I'd say the latter) that wrote in total praise of this work.
What I was talking about was that whoever it was was talking about what I said, not about "secret shopping" or how you can get better car insurence at Geico or something spammy like that.
Bush is forever saying that democracies do not invade other countries and start wars. Well, he did just that. He invaded Iraq, started a war, and killed people. What do you think? Why has bush turned our country from a country of hope and prosperity to a country of belligerence and fear.
What happened to us, people? When did we become such lemmings?
The more people that the government puts in jails, the safer we are told to think we are. The real terrorists are wherever they are, but they aren't living in a country with bars on the windows. We are.
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