Wrapping SXSW 09: Spotlights + Specials.

By David Hudson on 04/01/2009

A third round of coverage of the coverage with one more to go. Earlier: rounds 1 and 2.

Spotlight Premieres

"500 Days of Summer": Site; reviews from Sundance. And Stephen Saito talks with Joseph Gordon-Levitt and director Marc Webb.

"Adventureland": Site; reviews from Sundance.

"Alexander the Last": Site; Daily.

"Beeswax": Site; Daily.

"Best Worst Movie": Site; Daily.

"For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism": Site; Daily.

"Goodbye Solo": Site; reviews from Venice and Toronto.

"Humpday": Site; reviews from Sundance. More from Don R Lewis (Film Threat) and Andrew Osborne (Screengrab).

"'The Hurt Locker' is an action movie, which, given that it's also a movie about the Iraq War, is kind of a revelation," writes Alison Willmore. "It's essentially apolitical, its concerns not about the larger picture but how the men on which it focuses live lives stretched tight as a wire, and about how one of them has grown to love that. It's also, with no disrespect to the seriousness of its setting, just a kick-ass entertainment, peppered with set pieces that summon incredible suspense out of stillness, whether during the defusing of an IED on a cleared out city street or during a sniper battle out in the desert. No finger-wagging, no 'Redacted'-style didacticism, just head-rushingly cinematic sequences showing off the extremely dangerous day-to-day of an army bomb squad stationed in Iraq." Adds Karina Longworth at the SpoutBlog: "That the conversation surrounding [Kathryn] Bigelow's work seems to consistently get stuck in the mud of gender politics is all the more tragic in the case of 'The Hurt Locker,' a film of such complex construction and complicated values that it should be able to sustain much deeper inquiry than what it feels like for a girl. If anything, it's a film that bears the mark of a painter, full of deceptively beautiful imagery masking multiple layers of meaning." Earlier: Reviews from Venice and Toronto.

"I Love You, Man": Site; Daily and round 2.

"The Last Beekeeper" is "informative enough, and not unentertaining, but it generally lacks a distinctive narrative tone, and possesses no real aesthetic feel beyond the functional," writes Leonard Pierce at the AV Club. "Still, it's got an air of pervasive menace to it, and it does give end-of-the-world buffs something new to be helplessly worried about." More from Belinda Acosta (Austin Chronicle).

In "Monsters from the Id" [site], director David Gargani is less interested in the monsters or what they personified for commie-phobic, atomic-anxious Americans than in their square-jawed scientist heroes inspiring a generation of wide-eyed, popcorn-munching youngsters to take up careers in chemistry, physics, and, yes, rocket science," writes Robert Faires for the Austin Chronicle. More from Joe Leydon (Variety).

"Moon": Site; reviews from Sundance. More from Tim Basham (Paste), Whitney Borup (Film Threat), Brian Brooks (indieWIRE), the Playlist, James Rocchi (MSN) and Stephen Saito (IFC).

"New World Order": Site; Daily.

"Objectified": Site; Daily.

"Observe and Report": Daily.

"Passing Strange": Reviews from Sundance. Robert Davis in Paste: "Hip like rock-n-roll but cheesy like a Broadway musical, Spike Lee captures a New York stage play called 'Passing Strange,' half rock concert, half coming-of-age trip tale about finding yourself in Europe."

"Sin Nombre": Daily.

The "problem" with "The Square," finds Rumsey Taylor at Not Coming to a Theater Near You, "once the plot devolves into desparate characters and their desperate actions, is that the characters engender no sympathy. When the mess unfolds at the end, the most enterprisingly manipulative character is on his knees weeping because of his losses, and we're to sympathize with his total misfortune. Instead, we're left with the sense that his sorrow is entirely earned, as well as that of each other conspirator, betraying any investment the viewer has in any of the principal characters." More from Jenn Brown (Slackerwood), William Goss (Cinematical) and Quint (AICN).

"Three Blind Mice": "In a way, it's a 'message' movie that has been disguised as a buddy comedy and it's done with such ease when you might come expect something a bit blunter from a neophyte filmmaker," writes Noah Forrest at Movie City News. "Of all the movies that you can rent from IFC-on-Demand, this is the one I would most highly recommend." More from Leo Goldsmith at Not Coming to a Theater Near You.

"Goofy, well-intentioned and not particularly good, 'The 2 Bobs' is a mad-lib love letter to the city of Austin," writes Alison Willmore here at IFC. Jette Kernion (Cinematical) "sighed inwardly at the dorky plot, clunky dialogue, and lame gags while at the same time laughing aloud at the unbelievably bizarre situations and jokes." Stephen Saito talks with director Tim McCanlies.

"Winnebago Man" (site) "touches on issues of privacy, frustration, friendship, and loneliness (stuff we can all relate to, obviously), but what I found most interesting was the theme of simple respect," writes Scott Weinberg at Cinematical. "Yes, Jack flipped out on camera 20 years ago and then became sort of a mini-sensation on the 'funny clips' circuit (before YouTube showed up, I mean), but the question of why we laugh and what that laughter does to the man himself, well, that's a pretty fascinating theme to tackle." More from Robert Davis (Paste), Eric Kohn (indieWIRE) and Chris Garcia (Austin Movie Blog).

"'Women in Trouble' is a fun addition to the current trend of revisiting and reworking exploitation-film themes in a lighthearted way," finds Jette Kernion at Cinematical. More from Margorie Baumgarten (Austin Chronicle), Joe Leydon (Variety) and the Playlist.

Special Screenings

"Afterschool": Site; reviews from Cannes and New York.

"Steven Prince, a fast-talking Long Islander, can tell stories," writes Leonard Pierce at the AV Club. Prince is the subject of Martin Scorsese's "American Boy" and he's "a fun guy to spend time with," agrees Hayden Childs at Screengrab. "The downside of [Tommy] Pallotta's movie, though, is the camerawork." Even so, "American Prince" (site) is "entertaining, smart material, and by all rights, it should bring Steven Prince to a new audience." More from Jette Kernion (Cinematical) and Josh Rosenblatt (Austin Chronicle). Scott Macaulay talks with Pallotta for Filmmaker. Online listening tip. A Workbook Project podcast with Pallotta.

"'Berlin Calling' [site] is something of a disappointment; its sex-and-drugs narrative is nothing we haven't seen before, it delves precious little into the vibrant and diverse German techno scene, its script is minimal to the point of being silly, it overreaches with its obvious metaphors, and overall, it comes across as inconsequential and slight when it should be soaked in bad vibes and heavy feelings." Leonard Pierce at the AV Club: "But it does have enough to recommend it... that it might be worth hunting down on DVD if it gets a stateside distribution deal."

"Blood Trail" (site) is a portrait of war photographer Robert King. "Assembled from nerve-rattling documentary footage spanning back 15 years, director Richard Parry reveals a moving, haunting, and blackly comic window into the dark heart of human conflict, both internal and external," writes Wells Dunbar for the Austin Chronicle, where Richard Whittaker has more.

"Burma VJ" (site) is "the backstory to the media footage we watched on TV in the summer of 2007, when 100,000 Myanmar citizens - joined by the country's usually apolitical Buddhist monks - marched against a 40-year-long repressive military regime," writes Anne S Lewis in the Austin Chronicle. "The film is a compelling presentation of a tragic situation, but it has been criticized, and rightly so, for its liberal use of re-enactments, which are only generally acknowledged at the beginning of the film and not specifically denominated."

"Daytime Drinking": Site.

"Drag Me to Hell": Daily.

"Coming on the heels of a year of geek films behind 'Second Skin,' 'Nerdcore Rising,' 'Reformat the Planet,' and 'We Are Wizards,' 'The Dungeon Masters' is a well-crafted film that peeks behind the curtain of role-playing games and gives you an unflinching look at three people who have made gaming one of their creative outlets," wrote Kevin Kelly at the SpoutBlog when he caught it in Toronto.

Tobe Hooper's first feature, "Eggshells," was shot in Austin in 1968 and has been considered "lost" practically ever since. No more, thanks to SXSW co-founder Louis Black and Watchmaker Films' Mark Rance. "Bursting forth with striking visual imagination, Hooper's film is a vital addition to the indie film canon and deserves to be watched when it's finally released on home video," writes Michael Tully at Hammer to Nail. "It's very much a film of the late 1960s, with some eye-popping psychedelic sequences - the sex scene is especially groovy - and characters acting symbolically rather than realistically," writes Jette Kernion at Cinematical. And here at IFC, Stephen Saito: "[A]lthough 'Eggshells' might be confusing at times, it's certainly never boring, and Hooper's work with editor Robert Elkins is particularly striking, with many fascinating scenes where the frantic splicing results in something that seems revolutionary even today."

"For All Mankind": Robert Faires talks with filmmaker Al Reinert for the Austin Chronicle.

"De Ofrivilliga" ("Involuntary"): IMDb.

Jennifer M Kroot's "It Came From Kuchar" [], which I worked on as a producer, is - if you don't mind me saying so myself - a hilarious and touching documentary about the legendary, underground filmmaking twins, the Kuchar brothers," writes Holly Million at SF360. Karina Longworth, too, is a self-admitted "member of the choir. George Kuchar was my independent study advisor when I was an undergraduate at the San Francisco Art Institute, and much of Kroot's film documents his life and times at that alma mater of mine. George is seen clomping through the bayside, architectural masterpiece of a campus, slightly hunched, with appreciative students trailing off him like some kind of handycam-weilding, Bronx-accented, beautiful schlock-peddling pied piper." More from Whitney Borup (Film Threat) and Robert Davis (Paste).

"Know Your Mushrooms": Site.

"Letters to the President": Site.

"My Generation": Site.

The Austin Chronicle's Marjorie Baumgarten: "Asked during the Q&A how this new film compares with his previous [Neil] Young movie, [Jonathan] Demme replied that 'Trunk Show' is a 'reaction to "Heart of Gold." Everything about the earlier film was carefully planned; 'this one is unplanned.' Demme then went on to tell an amusing story about being with Young at Farm Aid and learning that then-Sen Barack Obama was visiting Willie Nelson's bus. Already a supporter of the politician, Demme managed to get the senator over to listen to Young's rehearsal and asked if he knew the song. Obama replied: '"Southern Man"? Give me a break.'" Meantime, Evan Schlansky reports on what else Young's been up to for American Songwriter.

"The Paranoids": Site.

"Saint Misbehavin': The Wavy Gravy Movie": Online listening tip. Aaron Hillis at GreenCine Daily: "Though I had never walked into an interview with the disclaimer question, 'Are you allergic to incense smoke?,' that one wasn't too surprising as my chat with Wavy G. and [director Michelle] Esrick also featured a one-stringed instrument, a propeller hat, a clown nose, and bubbles being blown."

"Super Troopers" is "still probably the funniest of the [Broken] Lizard films (followed by the pretty good 'Beerfest' and the mediocre 'Club Dread'), but their newest feature, 'The Slammin' Salmon,' may be their most polished and consistently enjoyable work to date," writes Andrew Osborne at Screengrab. More from Eugene Novikov (Cinematical) and Quint (AICN).

"Making a film about an entirely unlikable character is nothing new, but somehow 'The Snake' [site] sticks the premise into an indie film wrapper that manages to be hilarious from the outset," writes Kevin Kelly at Cinematical. More from Rodney Perkins at Twitch.

"Strongman" is "an excruciating two hours that could have been cut in half and still retained the film's ultimate effect of verité and little else," writes James Renovitch in the Austin Chronicle. Karina Longworth talks with director Zachary Levy.

"Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo": Site; Daily.

We Live in Public": Daily; reviews from Sundance.

"The Yes Men Fix the World": Site. Interviews from Sundance: Filmmaker, MovieMaker and Alison Willmore. More from Marc Savlov in the Austin Chronicle.

"You Wont Miss Me": Site; reviews from Sundance. More from Robert Davis (Paste) and James Ponsoldt (Filmmaker).

[Photo: "500 Days of Summer," Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2009]

Tags: SXSW 2009