Cinequest Wraps

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

Cinequest, San Jose’s maverick film festival, may be wrapping up this weekend but it’s not coasting to the finish line. There are films showing on multiple screens downtown up to the last minutes of the fest, and there are several events packed into these last few days.

Friday brings us the Day of the Writer at San Jose State’s University Theater. There are three presentations in a row. The first is Crafting the Heart of Sci-Fi: The Story. Featuring Howard Suber (author of The Power of Film), Suber will use films like “2001,” “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” and “The Terminator” as examples as he delves past the flashy special effects to reveal the importance of the underlying story.

Next is The Science Fiction Writing Comprehensive, which examines the process of creating a science fiction screenplay, from idea to finished product. Screenwriters Paul Chitlik (“The New Twilight Zone”) and Steve Cuden (“Stargate Infinity”) will have a discussion moderated by Robert Phelps.

The Day of the Writer closes with a Maverick Spirit Award presentation and discussion. Previous Maverick Spirit Award winner and two-time Academy Award winner David Webb Peoples (“Bladerunner”) will be joined by this year’s Maverick Spirit Award winner for a conversation moderated by James Dalessandro, whose screenplay for “1906″ is in production — it will be Pixar’s first live action feature film.

Friday night brings the screening of F.W. Murnau’s horror masterpiece, “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” at the California theater.

Cinequest wraps up with the Closing Night festivities on Saturday night. “Soul Surfer” will be the night’s film, followed by the presentation of this year’s Emerging Maverick Award to its star, AnnaSophia Robb. The film is based on the life of Bethany Hamilton, a competitive surfer who lost her arm to a shark attack. After a trip to help tsunami victims in Thailand, she returns to competition determined to not only overcome her own challenges, but help others do the same. Following the film and presentation, don’t miss the closing night party at South First Billiards.

If you missed a film you wanted to see, or want to show your friends the fantastic films you discovered during the festival, check out www.cinequestonline.org.

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Small Town Murder Songs

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/11, 2:45 PM Camera 12

Peter Stormare (“Fargo”) is almost unrecognizable in this character-driven film. He plays Walter, a once-violent, now born-again police chief in a small Mennonite town in Ontario. When a woman’s body is found, his new life is at risk — the prime suspect is the new squeeze of his ex-girlfriend, an unpleasant fellow who is all too happy to push Walter’s buttons. Will Walter be able to keep his brutal impulses in check? Will his personal history with the people involved jeopardize the investigation? “Small Town Murder Songs” is gripping, perfectly crafted and has just the right balance of violence and quiet.

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Madly in Love

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/11, 9:30 PM Camera 12

This is the kind of film that makes me love Cinequest. Set in a Swiss town with a large Tamil population, this cross-cultural Bollywood-style romance is incredibly endearing. Devan escaped the violence in his homeland when he came to Switzerland as a teenager, but much of the culture remains the same in the Tamil-heavy area where he lives. He accepts the arranged marriage his father has planned for him until he meets Leo, a Swiss woman who gets hired at his workplace. It’s basically love at first sight, and Devan has to choose between doing what his family expects and following his heart. “Madly in Love” is sweet, funny, and a refreshing mashup of familiar tropes. This is a must-see.

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New York Decalogue

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/11, 12:30 PM Camera 12

Some Cinequest movies are likely to provoke either love or hate, and “New York Decalogue” is one of those. This is a quiet film, mostly without dialog, which paints brief but revealing portraits of several very different New Yorkers whose lives are more interconnected than is obvious at first. I found the film as a whole surprisingly lacking in subtlety, but some of the individual sections are very moving and beautiful. The acting is excellent across the board, even in the segments where it isn’t entirely clear what’s going on. If you enjoy thoughtful art-house films without a lot of plot, this is a must-see. If you like your stories to actually be stories and not rough groupings of snapshots, you’d be better served elsewhere.

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Nosferatu, A Symphony Of Horror

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/11, 7:00PM California Theater

“Nosferatu” made history when it was released in 1922 and still influences horror movies today (perhaps most notably the excellent 2000 film “Shadow of the Vampire”). Based loosely on Bram Stoker’s novel “Dracula,” it features a vampire of an entirely different breed than the ones of modern entertainment. Count Orlock is no dashing, tragically romantic hunk. He’s hunched, bald, rat-faced, with enormous claws — he is a creature you can really believe is a reanimated corpse. Director F.W. Murnau creates a curious, almost surreal vampire tale in this silent film, and if you have an interest in vampire stories, silent film, early German cinema, or horror films, it is a must-see. A 35mm restored print will be shown, accompanied by Dennis James on the California Theater’s great Wurlitzer organ.

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Cinequest is Underway

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

Buying Tickets and Passes
Buy Tickets or Passes at www.cinequest.org, by calling 408-295-FEST (295-3378), or at the box office of any Cinequest venue. All box offices open 45 minutes before the first screening of the day.

Cinequest Venues:
* Camera 12 Cinemas – 201 S. Second Street, San Jose 95113
* San Jose Repertory Theatre – 101 Paseo de San Antonio, San Jose 95113
* California Theatre – 345 South First St, San Jose 95113

Cinequest started with a bang Tuesday evening and is going strong through Saturday, March 12. There are plenty of films to see and parties to attend, as well as forums and educational presentations for filmmakers.

The forums hit the ground running Friday from 3:00pm to 4:30pm at Camera 12 with Mastering the Art of Maverick Filmmaking, presented by Jacob Rosenberg. Rosenberg, who has worked on films such as “Superman Returns” and “Avatar” will talk about the technical demands of filmmaking, and cover the digital workflow he created for the Bandito Brothers film company.

The first Biz of Art forum is Saturday from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm at Hall Todd Studio Theater on the San Jose State University campus, and will focus on development. A panel of producers and studio/distribution leaders will cover taking a movie from script to screen, including funding strategies and casting. The panel members include filmmaker Brittany Ballard and Senior Vice President and Manager of Comerica Entertainment Group Jeff Colvin, and will be moderated by producer and cinematographer Peter Belsito

Saturday afternoon, from 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm at the San Jose Repertory Theater, a group of 3D experts will discuss and demonstrate a wide variety of questions about the world of 3D filmmaking for the first 3D Celebration forum. Panelists include Stuart Bowling (formerly of Lucasfilm and currently working with Dolby), Steve Cooperman (a Product Line Business Manager at Panasonic), Phil Eisler (General Manager, 3D Vision at NVIDIA), Ted Kenney (a producer and director whose work includes the first live S3D concert broadcast in the US), Philip Lelyveld (Program Manager of USC’s Consumer 3D Experience Lab), and Bernie Mitchell (President of Silver Platter Productions, Inc.).

The 3D Celebration continues Saturday afternoon at 3:00 pm with director Jon M. Chu’s presentation on how to make a 3D motion picture with any budget, small to large. Chu’s feature film debut was “Step Up 2: The Streets,” and he recently helmed “Step Up 3D and Justin Bieber: Never Say Never 3D.” Emerging Maverick Alyson Stoner will join the 3D celebration at 7:00 pm at San Jose Repertory Theater to receive her award, followed by a screening of “Super Hero Party Clown.”

Fans of classic, cheesy horror movies won’t want to miss the 3D celebration’s concluding feature, “Plan 9 From Outer Space: Now in 3D.” The classic low-budget flick runs at 10pm Saturday night.

The second Biz of Art panel is Sunday March 6th from noon to 1:30 pm at the Hal Todd Studio Theatre on San Jose State University’s campus. Sales and distribution leaders will cover marketing and selling movies in detail, including at festivals, through domestic and international sales, and internet/VOD. Panelsts include Jeffrey Brandstetter (a veteran entertainment and intellectual property attorney and co-founder of online distribution platform IndiePlayaTM), Christopher Coppola (a film and television director who is also founder and chairman of Project Accessible Hollywood and the star of “The DigiVangelist”), Strathford Hamilton (the award-winning director who headed the team that created the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers”), Jere Hausfater (consultant for various television, 3D, digital content, and motion picture companies), and Mitch Mallon (a leader in the digital frontier and its market potential and opportunities for music and film).

An as-yet unnamed panel (which promises to include an Academy Award winner) will discuss mobile cinema — films made on high-quality camera phones — for the Make It Easy, Make It Great forum on Sunday afternoon from 3:00pm to 4:30 pm at Camera 12.

Tuesday March 8th at 9:30pm the Rough Cut forum at San Jose Repertory Theater will explain the process of taking a film from the initial cut to the final, polished version. The event begins with a screening of the rough cut of “Cheap Fun,” and conclude with a panel of filmmakers discussing what the director can do to finish the film successfully.

This is just the first week of the festival! Check out www.cinequest.org for the full festival schedule of events.

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Mystico Fantastico!

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/3 7:00 PM, Camera 12
3/5 4:30 PM, Camera 12
3/8 4:30 PM, San Jose Repertory Theatre

This dreamlike film is both sweet and funny, and brings the genre of magical realism to the screen with a deft touch. Louise washes ashore in a sleepy Mexican town with only a doll and a small basket in her possession. Her memory is a blank, and she at first convinces herself that she’s having a strange dream. When the dream persists, however, she slowly starts to acclimate to the new culture in which she finds herself. As her memories begin to return, she discovers that she may be in this little town for a very personal reason. The relaxed acting, quietly amusing narration, and radiant performance by Beatriz Yuste as Louise make this film a delight.

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A Kiss and A Promise

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/3/2011 7:15 PM, Camera 12
3/6/2011 1:15 PM, Camera 12
3/7/2011 2:00 PM, Camera 12

Even setting aside the tired “ooooh, a bisexual serial killer!” cliche it revolves around, “A Kiss and a Promise” is a disappointing film. It follows the escapades of the outwardly meek but sociopoathic David, his fiery and masochistic wife Samantha, and the sole regular tenant of their B&B, Charlie — who’s also David’s lover. Not satisfied with the arrangement, David begins picking up, raping, and murdering young women. As the police close in, all three characters begin to disintegrate, with disastrous consequences. David is a pathetic, whiny killer (he keeps begging one of his victims to kiss him like she’s enjoying his assault on her) and Samantha is frustratingly oblivious to the serious flaws in him. Charlie manages to be interesting, but devolves into a flailing mess all too quickly. The cinematography is nice, but the rest of the film left me cold.

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Dying to do Letterman

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/4 7:00 PM, Camera 12
3/6 7:00 PM, San Jose Repertory Theatre
3/8 5:00 PM, Camera 12

Steve Mazan always dreamed of performing on Letterman. His first few years working as a stand-up comic didn’t get him there, but he figured he had plenty of time to make his dream come true. When he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, he realized that he had a lot less time than he thought and rallied those closest to him as he set out to make it happen. This documentary chronicles his campaign to get an audition for Letterman’s show, his careful honing of his craft, and the ups and downs of living with a terminal illness. The film is both touching and hilarious, and walks the fine line between self-deprecating humor and tastelessness with precision. This film is a must-see for anyone who dreams big.

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The Happy Housewife

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Ealasaid Haas

3/3 12:00 PM, Camera 12
3/10 9:45 PM, California Theatre
3/12 7:30 PM, Camera 12

This strange Dutch film follows a young woman’s descent into madness following the birth of her first child. The first half or so of the film feels like a horror movie as Lea lets her handsome husband talk her into having a baby, endures a traumatic birth, and falls prey to postpartum psychosis. Her failure to adjust to the changes in her life collides with long-repressed emotional turmoil from her childhood, and she has to either choose to get her life back on track or give in to her demons. This isn’t a film for everyone — the graphic labor and childbirth sequences are harrowing and Lea’s unraveling is frighteningly convincing. Those who are suited, however, will find themselves treated to a tour-de-force performance from Carice van Houten as Lea and a tightly-written and beautifully-shot film.

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