It’s Day 3 of the festival and Day 1 of my friend Dan crashing rent-free in my living room. Let's get into it.
Sunday, March 10th, 2019
Films I Planned to See
Showtime Title Location
2:45 PM The Art of Self-Defense Paramount Theatre
6:00 PM Apollo 11 Convention Center
9:30 PM Booksmart Paramount Theatre
Films I Actually Saw
Showtime Title Location
2:45 PM The Art of Self-Defense Paramount Theatre
7:15 PM The Garden Left Behind Long Center
10:00 PM Mother's Little Helpers Long Center
I'm 0-2 at the Convention Center, which is screening a lot of the festival's documentaries. I've only been able to see fictional films thus far, and I'm hoping to change that tomorrow. On a positive note, The Long Center is a great place to buy single tickets despite its relatively small size. Both screenings I attended there today had plenty of empty seats.
The Art of Self-Defense
Sunday, March 10th, 2019
Films I Planned to See
Showtime Title Location
2:45 PM The Art of Self-Defense Paramount Theatre
6:00 PM Apollo 11 Convention Center
9:30 PM Booksmart Paramount Theatre
Films I Actually Saw
Showtime Title Location
2:45 PM The Art of Self-Defense Paramount Theatre
7:15 PM The Garden Left Behind Long Center
10:00 PM Mother's Little Helpers Long Center
I'm 0-2 at the Convention Center, which is screening a lot of the festival's documentaries. I've only been able to see fictional films thus far, and I'm hoping to change that tomorrow. On a positive note, The Long Center is a great place to buy single tickets despite its relatively small size. Both screenings I attended there today had plenty of empty seats.
The Art of Self-Defense
Riley Stearns’ follow-up to his debut film Faults is a dark comedy that satirizes toxic masculinity. Jesse Eisenberg, in classic Eisenberg form, plays Casey, a timid accountant who struggles to relate to other humans. After being mugged by a motorcycle gang, Casey decides to mold himself into a tough guy by purchasing a gun and joining a karate dojo. As he progresses through the class, he begins to discover strange things about his sensei, played by Alessandro Nivola.
Eisenberg and Nivola play their roles as straight as possible, bringing out the absurdity of Stearns’ clever script. The film seems to be a direct satirization of Death Wish and similar male revenge fantasy movies. Its lack of emotion and the asinine decisions made by its male characters serve as a commentary on fighter bro culture. This film boasts a rare combination of comedy and intelligence. I'm looking forward to seeing it again when it hits theaters in June.
The Garden Left Behind
The Garden Left Behind tells two parallel stories: one of a Hispanic transgender woman working to afford transition surgery and one of a young man fighting to measure up to his friends' standards of manliness. The film tackles many American issues including trans rights, immigration, and traditional masculinity. The two narratives remain fairly separate before colliding abruptly in the film's final scene, revealing transphobia and toxic masculinity as two sides of the same coin.
Mother's Little Helpers
Mother's Little Helpers is an intimate indie drama about four adult siblings who come together to care for their mother after she is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. As the siblings deal with the logistics of their mother's demise, they learn about each other and grow closer together.
The film is well-acted, but it lacks originality. It hits all the beats of your standard indie family drama and doesn't attempt anything innovative. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed the film, which resonated with me on a personal level given its similarity to my grandmother's death nine years ago. However, it's tough for a traditional story to stand out at a large festival.
Today was a solid festival day. Nothing reached the highs of Pink Wall or the lows of Porno that I experienced yesterday. That consistency probably makes for a less interesting blog post, but it resulted in an enjoyable day. On to the next one.
Michael Dixon is a mild mannered accountant by day and a mild mannered movie watcher by night. He will not do your taxes for you. He lives in Austin, Texas with his lovely television and collection of fine whiskies. You can't purchase his book anywhere because it doesn't exist.
The Garden Left Behind
The Garden Left Behind tells two parallel stories: one of a Hispanic transgender woman working to afford transition surgery and one of a young man fighting to measure up to his friends' standards of manliness. The film tackles many American issues including trans rights, immigration, and traditional masculinity. The two narratives remain fairly separate before colliding abruptly in the film's final scene, revealing transphobia and toxic masculinity as two sides of the same coin.
Mother's Little Helpers
Mother's Little Helpers is an intimate indie drama about four adult siblings who come together to care for their mother after she is diagnosed with stage four lung cancer. As the siblings deal with the logistics of their mother's demise, they learn about each other and grow closer together.
The film is well-acted, but it lacks originality. It hits all the beats of your standard indie family drama and doesn't attempt anything innovative. That's not necessarily a bad thing. I enjoyed the film, which resonated with me on a personal level given its similarity to my grandmother's death nine years ago. However, it's tough for a traditional story to stand out at a large festival.
Today was a solid festival day. Nothing reached the highs of Pink Wall or the lows of Porno that I experienced yesterday. That consistency probably makes for a less interesting blog post, but it resulted in an enjoyable day. On to the next one.
Michael Dixon is a mild mannered accountant by day and a mild mannered movie watcher by night. He will not do your taxes for you. He lives in Austin, Texas with his lovely television and collection of fine whiskies. You can't purchase his book anywhere because it doesn't exist.
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