Crossroads Film Festival Part 2

In my second screening, I saw Spirited Away. A Japanese award-winning animated film, Spirited Away was probably on of the best movies I have seen in awhile. The film concerned a scared young girl, moving to a new home. She and her family stumble onto a magical park, filled with monsters. The girl is forced to mature and save her parents from the evil that surrounds them. It is a coming of age film.

The movie was riddled with themes of innocence loss, love, gluttonly, etc. Like many foreign films, the storytelling does not follow traditional westernized architecture. Despite this fact, there really wasn't a dull moment in the piece. I greatly enjoyed the music in the work not only did it enhance the mood of the scenes but it also gave you a sense of awareness into the characters' hearts. I also liked the use of Japanese Animation compared to the typical, stylized American animation.

My only problem with the film is that it was too long for an animated feature, spanning nearly 2 hours. While there was never a slow moment, it tried to accomplish too much if that makes any sense--too many themes to many "quests" for the young girl. With all that in mind, the film was exceptionally well produced.

CrossRoads Film Festival

At Crossroads, I saw two films: Spirited Away and the Winners of in the Short Film Category. In the Short Film Category, two films really stood out to me: the film about the Big Apple Inn and The Man from Memphis. Both films were done very well. I related to them because of my southern heritage and Jackson residence. The Big Apple Inn is about a restaurant in Jackson that has been open for 50 years. Since its openings, it has served pig ear sandwiches--apparently a delicacey in the Jackson community. The director did a really good job explaining what was going on in the restaurant and you really connected with the particpants. He often used close-ups on the food production, which was unappetizing, but countered it with the feelings of the community eating the food. The Big Apple Inn also showed the vibrant culture that Farish Street--now crime ridden--once had. He also gave you a glimpse into the Civil Rights movement. The Film was a great story and for a 20 minute production provided a plethora of information.

Man from Memphis was centered around a 70 year old garbage man currently working in Memphis, TN. It was the story of all underpaid and underrepresented employees in America. Again, I enjoyed the background information given to this film in reference to so much of the working class uprising in America. The most poignant part of the film was the man speaking to children in school. To them, he was a local hero. His courage and sacrifice caused on young girl to sob at his story. Seeing this, he said, "Don't cry..seeing you cry makes me sad..and I'll cry." The entirety of the documentary was driven but the charisma of this 70 year old garbage man. The film was shot very well and we actually felt like we were there with this man at his work. Again, like the Big Apple Inn, for such a short piece, I was given a great deal of information and felt very satisified after leaving.

Between Floors Review

Let me start by saying that I went into this film thinking it would be the best of The Southern Circuit Film Series. However, I was greatly let down. It was actually the worst of probably any film we have had to watch this semester. Essentially, the entire action of the movie is centered around the characters stuck in various elevators. I guess the overall idea of what the author was trying to espouse is true humanity only occurs in these tightly packed, pressured situations. With that in mind, she did accomplish her goal. Despite this fact, there were so many flaws--granted it was a student film--that I could not overlook it. For one, the film was entirely too long. At times, some of the story lines were compelling but mostly they weren't. The wealthy, problematic family had the most substance associated with it. But, the actors/writing was so poorly done that I felt very uneasy watching them on film. To make it better, the director should have focused on one or two of the stronger stories and the relationships. For example, the two men in the elevator arguing was a very compelling story yet we didn't get enough of it. Good idea for a film, but she needed to change up a few of the details.

God's Architects

On March 23rd in the Millsaps College Academic Complex, I was privileged to view God's Architects. The film is about various poverty stricken, divinely inspired architects. Across the United States, we witness the truly amazing accomplishments of these people. From castles to parks to mountains to buses, these people have built truly amazing structures.

The director did an excellent in job in making a compelling story about these seemingly diverse individuals. He chose very powerful stories. I especially enjoyed his editing technique--showing the overlapping similarities of these individuals within the film itself. His music choices were very effective as well.

As far as improvements, while I did enjoy the use of steady cam exclusive use. His camera did move ALOT, and I can see how this may make the picture look low budget and cause nausea in some.

My favorite part of the film revolved around Shelby's story--the man whose built the castle for his deceased daughter. Of all the stories and individuals, I found him to have both the most interesting and most revealing story. I'll always remember the lines, "I'm a master a mason, a knight templar... suicide is not an option." Those sum up his entire story. His architecture was also my favorite.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. I went in there knowing nothing about its topic and came out of it with a great understanding of it.

Documentary Information

I'll be doing a documentary on a famous ghost at Millsaps College--Frank.

Experimental Topic will be about an ongoing knee injury

5 Minutes About Me

First off, let me start by saying that I was born in Jackson, Ms and immediately moved to North Carolina within the first few months of birth. At age six, I moved back to Jackson. I spent most of my formative years here and have enjoyed much of what the city has offered. As senior, I've spent the last few months doing a lot of soul searching--trying to figure out my life's direction. Most of last year's spring and this recent summer were spent organizing my application to medical school. You might not know this, but this is a very, very daunting task. From MCAT preparation, to letters of recommendations, to essentially writing down your entire collegiate experience, it was a stressful process. However, I did get through it. As a senior Biology Major, I still have to take tough courses despite this being my last semester. Like I did Freshmen year, I spend a great deal of my time studying--either in the library or in my room. I'm usually doing work. In fact, that's really all my life seems to be--school work. In my free time, I enjoy watching to movies/tv, learning about biology/physiology, and watching/attending sports. I'm pretty much a closet nerd about any of the above things--especially sports and movies/tv. I have a great wealth of useless information stored in my brain that I can pull out at anytime, in any conversation. It's a skill really. Well, five minutes is up. I hope I delved a little bit into what makes me, me--hard work, movies, sports, and biology/physiology.

Trimpin: The Sound Of Invention Review

On Tuesday, February 16th at Millsaps College, I saw The Southern Circuit film series viewing of the documentary, Trimpin: The Sound of Invention. The documentary was directed by Peter Esmonde. This film is primarily concerned with providing the audience with a glimpse into the artistic genius of Trimpin, a modern and controversial composer. At the beginning of the work, we are shown the oddities of Trimpin's work--his daily activities from making instruments from kids toys to bamboo poles. Much of this concerns Esmonde either setting up a tripod and/or literally following Trimpin around as he builds various "instruments." It's not until later, we discover that Trimpin has been chartered to compose a concert of sorts for the opening of The Seattle Art Institute. This becomes the primary mode by which Esmonde exhibits Trimpin's artistic creativity and freedom. We see Trimpin struggle with both the conveyance and understanding of his own vision to his players. In the end, Trimpin's work proves successful and much of the Seattle Art Institute's audience thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The most distinctive part about this film was Trimpin himself. At the end of the screening, Esmonde stated that his goal was to show the freedom of creativity artists exude. While I find this true to a certain extent, most of what I got out of the film centered around Trimpin. Esmonde did a great job demonstrating to the viewer both the eccentricity and normalcy of Trimpin. By that I mean, he juxtaposed the strange way Trimpin viewed daily life with Trimpin's own desires and reasons. For example, we see Trimpin building an instrument from wooden shoes, then we see his desires to have his worked published to the outside world. Many documentaries try to pigeon hole the subject matter, but Esmonde did a great job in allowing Trimpin just to be--if that makes sense.

Another really distinctive aspect of the movie were the shots. I'm not sure how intentional a lot of this was, but Esmonde did a great job showing his audience that Trimpin heard the sound of daily life much like an artist sees the colors in the sky. You really grasped the idea. This is most evident in the room where Trimpin has created manipulated sounds from what appear to be glass containers. Esmonde uses medium and long and close ups shots in the this violet lit room. It's a beautiful scene both visually and sound wise. It's one of the few times in the film where the visuals exponentiate what you hear.

Since this was a documentary, it was hard to get at a direct story line. However, as it unfolded, we immediately found most of the conflict in the film centered around Trimpin's creation for the Seattle Art Institute. This was shown well, and it gave much of the proceeding shots meaning. The main problem with this story line is that, in the beginning of the film, we are not really sure where it's going. By that I mean, we are exposed to this strange man, Trimpin, and not sure if this will be only a character study or something more. I found this troublesome at times. Overall, Esmonde's generous exposure of Trimpin's charisma saved much of these problems. Before the screening began, Esmonde's asked us to close our eyes at times and just listen to Trimpin's music. Unfortunately, this was not possible because Esmonde did not include of Trimpin's music over the scene. Everything visually seemed purposeful. If he wanted the audience to this, perhaps providing less commentary by Trimpin or the various people interview during the film would solve the problem.

I purposely went into this film trying to know nothing about its topic and scope. From the screening, I honestly felt like I knew Trimpin very well. I enjoyed much of his approachability. The other themes Esmonde attempted to espoused I did not get--his idea of the freedom of the artist in a general sense. I just didn't see this WHILE watching the film: as an afterthought--perhaps.

For a topic that I would initially have no interest in otherwise, the film did an EXCELLENT job of presenting its subject matter. Disregarding the lack of direction at the documentary's onset, the rest of the film kept me really interested and I greatly enjoyed this glimpse into Trimpin's mind.

Review of Hey Hey, It's Esther BlueBurger

On Saturday January 23, 2010 at the Jackson Jewish Film Festival, I saw the comedy Hey Hey, It's Esther BlueBurger at Millsaps College. This film essentially covers the daily life of an Australian Jewish fourteen year old girl named Esther BlueBurger. In the beginning of the movie, we Esther ridiculed by other girls at an posh, catholic school. She develops a friendship with a duck named Normal whom she retrieves from a bin filled with other ducklings. Normal is eventually killed by Esther's science teacher--in order to be used for dissection. As the story unfolds, we see Esther alone in a world trying to find some kind of acceptance. Eventually, in the middle of the film, Esther leaves her catholic school and--unknown to her parents--attends to the local public school with the help of her new friend, Sunni. Esther becomes close to Sunni's mother and moves further apart from her own family. When Esther and Sunni have a falling out, Esther returns to her catholic school. Now, all those who once ridiculed her revere her. In the end, Esther stops caring about what others think about her, her family, and her friends. The movie ends on a high note where Esther spells out her name phonetically to the entire assembly and falls off the stage. However, she lives. Sunni and Esther once again unite in friendship.

The most distinctive part about this film was the use of music. For a film that appeared relatively low budget, the poppy songs increased the production quality significantly. The choice of music from each scene punctuated the overall emotion of the film.

As far as storytelling, this film did a great job following the life of the young teenager. It really made me care for the character. However, for some reason, the most tense moment in the film--the death of Normal--really pained me. I wish I could've seen the loss Esther experienced more vividly-- that actress could not communicate this through film. As an audience member, I found myself caring much more for Normal's sake than any other character--Esther notwithstanding--in the film. As I am neither Jewish nor Australian, I also felt I missed out on most of the humor in the film. There were some areas of situational hum0r but those were too cliche for me to care about.

Honestly, I don't now if the filmmaker could have made this film any differently. The director did an excellent job in storytelling; however, the actors and subject manner fall short. Walking out of the theatre, I felt more questions had been asked than answered. More than anything, I was subject to a social commentary than a piece of fluff--which is good in a sense. One line that really caught my attention occurred when n Esther said, "I don't wanna be no 14 year old virgin." I could see the pressure young teens must feel for sex. Later, we are given the knowledge that Esther performs oral sex on an older teenager as well. She again feels forced into doing it but social pressures. The film reaches to far and leaves a great void. A better approach would probably been to have focused more on the comedic aspects of Esther's life or than the stark reality of the life of a lost teenager--not attempting to grasp both. I hope that makes sense.