By Laura P. Valtorta
Attending film festivals means watching films – a lot of
films – some good, some terrible. Reviewing these films would be like riding a
roller coaster, even if we were not subjected to “talk-backs” with the
directors afterwards. Better not to meet them. These people can be jerks. Or
the director of a stinky film can come across as pleasant. The personality of
the artist is an inaccurate measure of the quality of art he or she produces.
Woody Allen is an excellent example. He’s made some major
mistakes in his life.
Yet, Deconstructing
Harry, Crimes and Misdemeanors, and Annie
Hall are some of the most influential and well-loved films ever.
This
weekend, I watched several independent films at the Long Beach Indie Film &
Music Festival (www.longbeachindie.com)
and tried to jot down reviews.
Nowhere Michigan was a feature drama about cooking
meth in a small town. Granted, the subject matter was old and overheated, but
good acting and clever casting saved the day. I enjoyed the gross, funny caricatures
among the meth dealers and the townspeople. Unfortunately, the director was a
prick: very self-satisfied and congratulatory during the talk-back. If they
keep that guy away from the public eye, his films might go somewhere.
“Naranja, the
mini series” employed some rabid stereotypes to put across a couple of glaring
messages: crime is oftentimes a set-up. Criminal suspects are unfairly profiled
by police. Duh. The director, Martin Barshai, could have employed more
subtlety, but his actors were talented.
Also, Martin came across as a nice guy, willing to listen – to a degree.
He receives a semi-positive review.
Sometimes I
got side-swiped by famous actors in the credits. “Ingenue-ish” was a short
narrative comedy about an L.A. actor sleeping around in order to advance her
career. It was light and cute. The running joke was that the main character was
an “ethnic mystery” because she was Asian with freckles. Apparently, no female
actor in Hollywood gets cast based on her talent. (But what about Brenda Blethyn
and Meryl Streep?) When I realized that the director was John Stamos, I became
more interested. This means I’m just as much of a sell-out as anybody in the
film.
Films about
sports included Touch Gloves about a
boxing gym in Massachusetts. It was so much like my own film, White Rock Boxing, that I’m guessing the
director must have seen my work, which came out in 2013 and appeared on public
television. The director wasn’t present. Otherwise, I might have punched him.
The best
film (besides my own, “Water Women,”) I saw was a complete surprise: Robert
Shaw, Man of Many Talents, directed by Peter Miller. This was the
biography of an unschooled orchestra conductor and choral leader who became
very popular in the 1940s through the end of the century. He headed the Atlanta
Orchestra and was instrumental in integrating orchestras and choruses. Loved
the film. No director in sight to spoil the effect.
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