Slamdance ’14: Wizard’s Way

Some legends might stand eternal, but no server last forever. When the one hosting one of the earliest surviving fantasy MMO’s is finally decommissioned, it causes great angst for two of the most dedicated players. A pair of snarky documentary filmmakers intend to capture the resulting drama, but the story evolves beyond their control in Metal Man’s Wizard’s Way (trailer here), which screened at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.

Although nothing could upstage Christopher Nolan receiving the inaugural Founder’s Award at this year’s Slamdance, news that Jack Black plans to develop and executive produce the American remake of Way was still pretty big stuff. He could probably star as well, in nearly any of the scruffy roles. Joe Stretch and Chris Killen (played by their namesakes) are recent film school grads, who somehow received early notice of the impending demise of Wizard’s Way.  Recognizing a good opportunity for cinematic exploitation, they seek out Julian “Windows” Andrews, a stockroom prole by day, who is the undisputed top gun amongst Wizard’s Way’s dwindling ranks.

As his schlubby roommate Barry Tubbulb explains, Windows is the only player to get married “in-game” to Elin, whom he has never met outside of Wizard’s Way. When the plug gets pulled, Windows is understandably distraught, because he has lost his “wife” along with his life’s passion. Somehow Stretch convinces the gamers to stick with their film, but he has some rather cruel manipulations scripted out for the lads. However, Andrews and Tubbulb might not be as dumb and pathetic as the would-be-documentarians think.

Frankly, Wizard is exactly what Zero Charisma should have been, but wasn’t.  There is no question in the culture war between geeks and hipsters, Metal Man, a.k.a. co-writers Socrates Adams-Florou, Chris Killen & Joe Stretch, line up solidly behind the geeks. Their sympathy for Tubbulb and Andrews is genuine and the eventual comeuppance is satisfying.

As Tubbulb, Adams-Florou lets loose with a fair amount of shtick, but Kristian Scott is surprisingly grounded (and rather reserved) as Windows.  While Killen largely avoids the spotlight (which is definitely an issue for his character), Stretch’s slow, creepy evolution into outright villain is frankly quite impressive. This is obviously a zero budget affair, but everyone in front of the camera gamely holds up their end.

You do not often see movies at festivals that tell documentary filmmakers to sod off, which is why Wizard is so refreshing.  Similar in tone to Electric Man, David Barras’s affectionate ode to comic readers, Wizard defends geek culture in general, while gently encouraging the addition of an offline component.  It all works quite well. Highly recommended for gamers and fans of eccentric British comedies, the news-making Wizard’s Way should have plenty of festival screenings in its future.

Slamdance ’14: Rezeta

Rezeta still calls herself Albanian, but technically that is no longer true.  Regardless of her Balkan nationality issues, the fashion model is not fluent in Spanish.  Nonetheless, she will have no trouble meeting men in Fernando Frías’s Rezeta (trailer here), which won the narrative feature Jury Award at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.

Things always seem to work out relatively okay for Rezeta, if not spectacularly so. The modeling agency that brought her to Mexico is decidedly on the dodgy side, yet she starts scoring high profile work almost immediately.  She gets along reasonably well with most of her roommates in the company’s model crash pad, but frankly she will not be around very much. She is not Blanche DuBois, but Rezeta will knowingly slip into some bad relationships with underwhelming men of means, for obvious reasons. However, things with Alex, the working class punk rock hipster, might be different. He definitely catches her eye when they bond over their tattoos, but he plays bafflingly hard to get.

Highly improvisational, Rezeta the film chronicles the rise and potential fall of a romantic relationship, with some culture clash garnish on the side. Even at its best, Rezeta is never particularly deep and there are long stretches of narrative slack. Still, the Balkan connection lends the Lost in Translation story a fresh angle.

Without question, lead actress Rezeta Veliu is the film’s winning ace-in-the-hole. Not just a pretty face, she is also quite a fine screen performer, blessed with a natural sense of when to dial it up or down. As Alex, Roger Mendoza does not have a fraction of her screen presence, but at least they develop some credible chemistry together during their ambiguous courtship scenes.

The occasional glimpses Rezeta offers of the vagabond lives led by not-quite-supermodels suggests there is more to be mined from this strange world of pseudo-glamour and exploitation. Clearly, Frías is much more interested in the characters transparently based on his co-leads, but their interpersonal dramas are rather hit-or-miss stuff.  Regardless, Rezeta obviously made quite an impression on the jury when it screened at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival. The combination of its award attention and Veliu’s striking look (she is not a plastic cookie-cutter type, by any stretch) should secure it plenty of festival play, including the 2014 Indie Fest in San Francisco, where it screens February 11^th, 16^th, and 20^th.

Slamdance ’14: Goldberg & Eisenberg

They sound like a law firm or an architectural partnership, but their relationship is far from collegial.  It starts with revulsion on the former’s part and obsession for the latter, but quickly goes downhill from there.  There will be plenty of stalking and assorted mind games in Oren Carmi’s Goldberg & Eisenberg (spoilery trailer here), which screened last night at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.

Tel Aviv is a happening city, but you would hardly know it from these two very different losers. Goldberg is exactly the sort of awkward computer programmer he looks like, who spends all of his free time getting rejected on internet dating services.  Eisenberg is just off.  The slovenly thug just seems to loiter about Meir Park all day.  When he sees Goldberg, he immediately wants to be friends, or perhaps something more. 

Goldberg wants none of that. He is definitely straight. He just isn’t very good at it. Unfortunately, rejection only makes Eisenberg more aggressive and erratic. Things will get ugly and the cops will be as useless as all the other cops in previous psycho-stalker movies. Yet, to his credit, Goldberg plugs away in his search for Ms. Right.

Given the not so ambiguous nature of Eisenberg’s interest, it is highly doubtful G&E could be produced in America, lest GLAAD be offended.  It is decidedly un-PC, but old school indie scenesters will dig its grungy 1980’s-Lower Eastside vibe.  Cinematographer Ido Bar-On gives it a murky, dirty look, befitting the tunnel vision of its characters.  Frankly, the first hour or so largely consists of standard cat-and-mouse stuff, but Carmi totally pulls the rug out from under the audience’s feet with an inspired third act.  It goes from dark to pitch black, cranking up the macabre irony.

As Goldberg, Yitzhak Laor completely looks and acts the part of a nebbish, low rent Frasier Crane.  Likewise, Yahav Gal’s Eisenberg is uncomfortably intense and clammy.  They fit their roles perfectly, but you wouldn’t want to spend much time with either of them.  On the other hand, the charismatic Ronny Dotan shines in her too brief appearances as Noa, Goldberg’s potential geekly chic girlfriend.

Initially viewers might think they have seen G&E many times before, but it is worth staying with it. While it does not have the same manic energy and sinister edge of Aharon Keshales & Navot Papushado’s Big Bad Wolves or Rabies, Carmi proves he has plenty of filmmaking potential. Indeed, it should be the perfect film to see with an appreciative Park City crowd when it screens again tomorrow (1/21) during this year’s Slamdance.

Slamdance ’14: I Put a Hit on You

Anyone who has read Jack London’s Assassination Bureau or seen Bulworth knows there are some contracts you cannot cancel.  Unfortunately, if a spurned woman was familiar with them (or the dozens of thematically similar books and movies), she is too drunk to remember when venting online about her decidedly not-fiancé.  This leads to trouble in Dane Clark & Linsey Stewart’s I Put a Hit on You (trailer here), which screens during the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.

When the thoroughly type-A Harper pops the question to the more laidback Ray, you could say he reacts rather badly.  Badly stung, she retreats into a bottle of wine and starts fooling around on Craig’s List (or a generic proxy).  When she comes to, she realizes she has struck a bargain with some creepy netizen to kill Ray in exchange for her engagement ring.  In a panic, she races to Ray’s flat for a series of increasingly awkward conversations.

IPAHOY is one of those economical films, whose titles also serve as synopses.  Essentially, it is also a two-hander, primarily shot in two locations. Granted, it is shrewdly assembled from a budgetary perspective, but there is no getting around its inherent staginess. Since we never really see much of the mysterious outsider, the film necessarily consists mostly of Harper and Ray bickering and bantering.

As Harper and Ray (who sound like a publishing company), Sara Canning and Aaron Ashmore have an okay screen rapport, but there’s nothing here you would consider movie magic. Still, they are quite believable as a functionally dysfunctional couple.

It might sound forced, but the drunken Craigslisting premise is surprisingly easy to buy into and it sets-up some moderately amusing lines throughout the film.  Frankly, everything about the film is modest and small in scope.  Mostly pleasant but wafer thin, it is not a film you will long carry in your subconscious.  Hardly a festival priority, I Put a Hit on You will probably still draw interest as a “safe” choice for older, more conventional audiences when it screens again tomorrow (1/20) as part of this year’s Slamdance.

Slamdance ’14: Elliot

Did the recent death of Tom Laughlin leave a vacancy for Elliot “White Lightning” Scott to become the next white, working class martial arts star? No, absolutely not.  Although he aspires to be the Nova Scotian Chuck Norris, Scott’s barely there career is only headed in one direction—due south. Viewers will understand why after watching Jaret Belliveau & Matthew Bauckman’s documentary Elliot (trailer here), which premiered yesterday at the 2014 Slamdance Film Festival.

With two scruffy DIY martial arts flicks under his belt, Scott is trying to complete his most ambitious project to date, a beatdown entitled Blood Fight.  Unfortunately, the production has been plagued by problems that initially do seem to be entirely his fault.  Nevertheless, Linda Lum, his increasingly impatient girlfriend-slash-producer is clearly starting to have doubts about his action movie dreams and pretty much every other aspect of their relationship.

Frankly, Barney Fife had better moves than moves than Scott, but for a while viewers will try to see him as noble dreamer, like an Ed Wood or Mark Borchardt, whose ambitions exceed their talents.  However, this is not American Movie. While in China with his acupuncture class, Scott lets his yellow fever run rampant.  Aspects of his not so carefully constructed backstory then start to unravel. In fact, by the time the documentary enters the third act, Belliveau and Bauckman have pretty clearly turned against their subject, which becomes quite a sight to behold.

Things get so in-your-face uncomfortable, you have to wonder if it is all an extended meta-joke in the tradition of I’m Still Here.  Either way, it is dramatic stuff and a not inconsiderable feat of filmmaking, shot on location in both Nova Scotia and China. There is also a lot of humor in the film, mostly derived from Scott’s sheer brazenness and lack of self awareness.

Scott’s martial arts might be laughably amateurish (an underwhelmed Shaolin monk is obviously tempted to beat him like a drum and we sort of wish he would), but Belliveau & Bauckman practice a decidedly nimble form of cinematic jujitsu. Not exactly a film for martial art purists, Elliot is sort of like Kung Fu reality programming.  Right now, the late legendary Sir Run Run Shaw is probably looking down on Scott and thinking “kid, you stink.”  Yet, it is all undeniably compelling.  Although it screens as part of Slamdance’s Doc Features section, it could be comfortably programmed elsewhere as a midnight movie. Recommended for anyone open to a bit of Canadian bizarreness, Elliot screens again this Monday (1/20) as part of this year’s Slamdance in Park City.