William Kunstler: Against the Universe and other Sundance releases

About 2 weeks ago (yes, I’m a bit behind on my reviews) I attended Rooftop Films screening of William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe, a documentary that played at Sundance this past January but which I did not get a chance to see while I was there. The film is an intimate look into the life of legendary lawyer and civil rights activist William Kunstler, who took on many controversial cases and threw himself into many intense situations. You might know his name from the Chicago Seven case, or perhaps as a negotiator from the prison takeover at Attica, or maybe the Central Park Jogger case, or still yet the standoff at Wounded Knee between Native Americans and the government. As the filmmakers say in the film, it seemed like he was involved in every important legal event in the second half the 20th century.

The filmmakers are Kunstler’s daughers, so they have as much access as you could possibly want and they remain open throughout the film about their biases. In fact, the film is in many ways more about the evolution of their opinions about and relationships with their father (deceased in 1995) than it is about just him. You follow their journey as they try to understand why it is that he took the cases that he did and come to accept his decisions that they may not have agreed with at the time.

Not only is it an intriguing portrait of William Kunstler, but it is also a really great window into some of the most controversial moments of civil rights history in the 20th century. You really get a sense of the feelings of those involved in these landmark events. You feel their fear, their disappointment, their excitement. Although, I will warn you that this film will make you distrust and dislike the government. It does not shine a positive light on those in power in these turbulent times. But some of the best films are the ones that aren’t afraid to speak the truth of ugly situations, even when you might prefer to be left in the dark. One of the most important uses of film is to expose problems in the world to a larger audience so that people can begin to affect change. And this documentary will definitely inspire you to try to go out and affect change, even if you can’t do it on as grand a scale as William Kunstler.

On a related note, since I’m on the subject of films from Sundance’s 2009 film festival (see 1, 2, 3, 4 entries from January), I should add that one of the films I saw there, Push, is being released in November. I saw a poster for it in a movie theater this past weekend. The title has been changed to Precious (probably a wise move on their part so that it wouldn’t get confused with the action movie that came out this past winter). An incredibly dark but simultaneously uplifting movie, I’m interested to see if they keep it intact the way I saw it originally or if they change a lot and take some of the more gruesome or depressing parts out. I certainly hope they don’t, and from the trailer it doesn't look like they did. This was one of the best films I saw at Sundance. Don't be turned off by all the pop stars you see in the credits. Mariah Carey (who is barely recognizable in the film) and Lenny Kravits did a good job in their relatively small roles.

Speaking of musicians on film - also a notable release that I saw while I was there, especially since this is a music blog, is the release of rock documentary It Might Get Loud, featuring Jack White, The Edge and Jimmy Paige.

Other Sundance films coming out that I didn't have the privilege of seeing while I was there: In The Loop, Humpday, Five Minutes of Heaven, Spread, Moon, 500 Days of Summer, Shrink, Cold Souls, The Cove, and End of the Line.

One Last Sundance Review

So after I posted that extensive review of Sundance films earlier in the week, I saw one more film at Sundance and it was too good not to write about.

I Love You Phillip Morris
Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor star as a gay couple who meet in prison. Jim Carrey's character is the center of the story - a con man extraordinaire and Ewan McGregor's character is a sweet-hearted, rather naive boy who wants to believe the best in him. As you can probably tell just from the premise, it's a comedy and a quite hilarious one at that. I have to say I think it was one of my favorite movies that I saw at Sundance. I also have to say that never in my life did I anticipate that I would see Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor making out... Priceless.

More Sundance Reviews

Happy inauguration day! I am certainly excited for the regime change, as are many Americans. Hopefully we can begin to put the last 8 years behind us and rebuild the country. I really thought Obama's speech was fantastic and I have to admit I got teary-eyed. I watched the inauguration in downtown Park City with many other Sundancers, and it was quite an emotional experience. I can't even imagine what it was like in Washington DC, but I think I'm glad that I was somewhere smaller. Anyway, on to the film reviews...

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the world premiere of John Krusinski's directorial debut. The film is based off the book of the same title, a series of interviews. While I haven't read the book (though now I want to), the film presents it from the perspective of a female grad student interviewing men for her thesis about sexuality, power, gender, experiences, etc. It is edited in an extremely non-linear format - jumping around from scene to scene frequently and without warning - which sometimes works incredibly well and sometimes... doesn't. The acting is fantastic and John found interesting ways to make the interviews more compelling - so it wasn't just a man sitting at a table all the time. Sometimes through re-enactments that the storytellers participate in, for example. The film is a strong directorial debut for John, who couldn't have been much more humble during the Q&A, always heaping praise on everyone who worked on the project besides himself.

Push (UPDATE: Theatrically released as "Precious")

An incredibly dark story about an illiterate Harlem 16-year old girl, raped multiple times, pregnant by her father, pregnant with his second child and abused by her mother, I honestly wasn't sure I wanted to see this movie because it sounded so depressing. Another film adaptation of a novel, it turned out to be somewhat uplifting, and at times even funny. It's a powerful story about a girl who won't let the worst of the worst get her down and features some truly amazing performances. It will make you feel like you don't have any problems and that anyone can overcome anything.

Burma VJ
A documentary in which the violent footage was filmed by secret videographers and literally smuggled out of the country, this film paints a grim picture of Burma's current regime. But it's a story that needs to be seen. Something needs to be done about the authoritarian regime and the only way that will happen is if people know about it. And you have to admire the courage of the videographers and the protestors, many of whom are Buddhist monks, literally risking their lives to tell this story and attempt bring about change to their country.

Prom Night In Mississippi

It's hard to imagine that in this day and age, with an African American president being inaugurated today, there are still high schools in this country that have segregated proms. Well, in Charleston, Mississippi, they did. Until 2008, that is, when Morgan Freeman offered to pay for their prom if it was integrated. They took him up on the offer (which they declined when he offered in 1997) and had their first integrated prom. The teens make interesting characters. I'm very impressed at how forward some of them think when they've been raised by racist parents. Of course, none of the racist parents (or kids) agreed to be interviewed. But in a way, it was almost more powerful that way - their silence was proof of their shame. The film is disturbing, enlightening, funny and heartwarming all at the same time. It was great to see the kids socializing and warming up to each other. I hope that Charleston will continue to have integrated proms, but only time will tell.

Paper Heart - The new Michael Cera movie

Last night I got to go to the premiere of Paper Heart, a mockumentary of sorts starring Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera. It's a movie that starts out as a documentary about love (and how Charlyne doesn't believe in it) and then turns into a narrative love story between her and Michael Cera. Charlyne Yi is a stand-up comedian and from the clips they played, I have to say that, besides how awkward she is, I didn't think she was all that funny. But the movie itself was very funny - full of adorably awkward moments and impecable comedic timing. There's a great scene where Michael Cera gets up and leaves a date and they hold on Charlyne Yi waiting for him to come back for an absurdly long time and finally Michael Cera returns through the back door. Also, Jake Johnson plays the director of the film within the film and he was hilarious. And there was some cool puppeteering in the film too, which was random but I think added a lot. I also liked the soundtrack, which was mostly written and performed by Charlyne and Michael (although I will say that it kind of resembled the tone of the music in Juno).

The one thing I don't understand is how Charlyne (or Michael Cera for that matter) are performers because during the Q&A, they were both so shy and awkward and didn't really seem like they wanted to be there - though I admit their awkward (yes, awkward is the key word for anything relating to this film), short answers to questions were kind of hilarious in themselves.

I'm sure that this movie will make it out to theaters after the festival, so go see it.

Hello from Sundance!

Hello from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. I'll be here until January 22nd, and I am sadly still computer-less so I'm not sure how much I can update. But you can expect me to be writing mostly about films until I get back, as I have no access to my music anyway.

Thus far, I have to say, I am not impressed with the organization of the film festival. Everything is 10 times harder than it should be, if you can even figure out how to do it in the first place, and most of the volunteers don't really seem to even know what's going on (though they try their best to be helpful. Most of them have been really nice). But so far the 2 films that I've seen have been absolutely spectacular (which is obviously the most important part).

It Might Get Loud

A documentary about the evolution of guitar-playing and an interesting discussion about technique between three legends: Jimmy Paige, The Edge and Jack White. While this might not actually sound like a very exciting film, it will make you love rock 'n' roll in all its glory. They utilize music beautifully to make you feel what the three legends are talking about. And there are some beautiful shots of guitars that just make you want to reach out and touch them. Not to mention Jack White is freaking hilarious. One of my favorite quotes from the film is when Jack White says "I just got in an accident with a suit on a cell phone. He was probably in the middle of saying the phrase 'totally organic.'" If you already love rock 'n' roll, see this movie. If you don't already love rock 'n' roll, see this movie anyway. You will find a brand new appreciation for it.

Mary and Max

A dark claymation film about two penpals from across the world who don't fit in - one a chubby girl in Australia with troubled family, the other an obese man in New York with Asbergers Syndrome. This film was completely magical. Despite how incredibly dark it is, it's also quit funny and a little bit whimsical. And I have always had an intense appreciation for stop motion animation and the amount of work that goes into it. This film was entirely "in camera" (which means there was no computer animation). Definitely a must see.