SXSW 2013

10 posts

Episode 190 – Frances Ha / Before Midnight

In Episode 190 of Moviewallas we discuss the delightful Frances Ha and the sublimely brilliant Before Midnight.

before-midnight-poster francesHA

– Frances Ha

– Before Midnight

Visit www.moviewallas.com for reviews, articles, film festival coverage and more!

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Episode 185 – Trance / Evil Dead / The Company You Keep

In this Episode of the Moviewallas Podcast, we talk about:

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– Trance

– Evil Dead

– The Company You Keep

Visit www.moviewallas.com for reviews, articles, film festival coverage and more!

– Email us: mail@moviewallas.com
– Join the Facebook community: facebook.com/moviewallas
– Follow us on Twitter: @moviewallas
– Subscribe to the Podcast: iTunes Store / Other Podcast Clients 
– iPhone App: iTunes
– Android App: Android Market
– Get free email updates Sign-up form

 

Episode 183 – Olympus Has Fallen / Spring Breakers / Admission

This episode of the Moviewallas podcast includes reviews of:

olympus_has_fallen Admission-Poster Spring breakers

– Olympus Has Fallen

– Spring Breakers

– Admission

Visit www.moviewallas.com for reviews, articles, film festival coverage and more!

– Email us: mail@moviewallas.com
– Join the Facebook community: facebook.com/moviewallas
– Follow us on Twitter: @moviewallas
– Subscribe to the Podcast: iTunes Store / Other Podcast Clients 
– iPhone App: iTunes
– Android App: Android Market
– Get free email updates Sign-up form

Downloaded | SXSW 2013

Back in the year 2000, when the rest of the world for worrying about the Y2K bug, we were making the decision to get a broadband connection to enable us faster access to the worldwide web.  A big driver of this decision was a new service we had discovered called Napster which enabled us to share music that we had purchased with our friends.  More importantly it gave us access to a world of music we had never been exposed to.  Imagine my delight then when at this year’s SXSW, the movie Downloaded was playing.   Welcome to one of my favorite films of the SXSW 2013 Film festival.

downloaded

Downloaded written and directed by Alex Winter (yes, that Alex Winter of Bill S Preston fame – Bill and Ted) focuses on the advent of digital media sharing, including the rise of game-changing company Napster and controversial pioneers Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker. The digital revolution ultimately created a technology paradigm shift and upended the music industry.   This great documentary has insights from well known music artists and figures within the music industry including: The Beastie Boys’ Mike D, Noel Gallagher, Henry Rollins, former Sony Music Chairman, Don Ienner, former record producer and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell and Hilary Rosen, former CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America.

Alex Winter masterfully documents an account of a time and events that in my mind changed history.  More importantly he has shared the profile of a young Sean Fanning who has previously been portrayed as an anarchist as a thoughtful and rather lonely young boy who just wanted to push and understand the boundaries of the technology of the time.  In addition, we see a very different Sean Parker to the one portrayed in last years hit The Social Network.  What particularly resonated with me through the entire movie was the story of the genius young minds behind Napster and what motivated them and it’s not always what you may think it was.

Watching a group of brilliant young minds come together and create something that not only changed the public perception of what they were willing to pay for and which ultimately brought the music industry as it had been for years to it’s knees but also how these young men defend themselves against corporations is fascinating.  This is a David vs. Goliath story that is definitely worth a watch.

fanning and parker

The biggest treat for me came during the Q and A after the movie when we got to meet Alex, Winter and both the Seans in person.  The interaction between the three and especially the Seans just solidified how brilliantly Winter had captured the essence of these incredibly talented young men.  If you have any interest in music, entrepreneurialism, dot com or milestones in history, this is a must see documentary

 

 

Improvement Club | SXSW 2013

Choreographer/Dancer/Writer/Director Dayna Hanson brings us Improvement Club – a hybrid feature film that uses dance and music to tell a story of the exhilaration and humiliation of making art in America today. When their New York gig falls through, a ragtag, avant-garde performance group with a political message struggles to find their audience– and the motivating force behind their work.   This mockumentary includes Hanson’s live, dance-driven rock musical inspired by the American Revolution, GLORIA’S CAUSE and traces the fictional creation of the actual musical and choreographed dances. Their desperate desire to express themselves takes the Seattle-based ensemble into the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest on a surreal pursuit of trust, togetherness, and the true meaning of creativity.

improvement club picture

This is a great example of life imitating art as we get a sense of what seems like an autobiographical account of Hanson’s personal struggles as an actor.  The film follows the performance group as they present their art for critics and audiences who just don’t seem to understand how Avant-garde they really are and don’t really appreciate what they are doing.

I must say as I was watching the movie I did find myself questioning what exactly I was supposed to be getting out of the movie as the narrative cleverly dissolves into some experimental dance numbers which are quite entertaining at times. Incredible direction and clever camera angles kept me engaged enough to follow the film to completion when I realized that the joke is really on us as the audience, surely the question this movie is asking us “Are we ready for this?”  I especially appreciated the fact that the score for the movie is integrated and comes from the real band playing in the movie.

Ultimately I came away with a sense of the trials and tribulations that many such performers must face on a daily basis, the constant battle between the desire to follow you H-art or get a real job that pays a decent wage.  If you are a fan of dance or alternative performance or just an alternative movie, make sure you view this one.

This is a great example of life imitating art as we get a sense of what seems like an autobiographical account of Hanson’s personal struggles as an actor.  The film follows the performance group as they present their art for critics and audiences who just don’t seem to understand how Avant-garde they really are and don’t really appreciate what they are doing.

I must say as I was watching the movie I did find myself questioning what exactly I was supposed to be getting out of the movie as the narrative cleverly dissolves into some experimental dance numbers which are quite entertaining at times. Incredible direction and clever camera angles kept me engaged enough to follow the film to completion when I realized that the joke is really on us as the audience, surely the question this movie is asking us “Are we ready for this?”  I especially appreciated the fact that the score for the movie is integrated and comes from the real band playing in the movie.

Ultimately I came away with a sense of the trials and tribulations that many such performers must face on a daily basis, the constant battle between the desire to follow you H-art or get a real job that pays a decent wage.  If you are a fan of dance or alternative performance or just an alternative movie, make sure you view this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efgHF0_tVrI

The SXSW Show

SXSW logo

 

In this special Episode of Moviewallas we talk about the 2013 SXSW Film Festival.

Including discussion of the following movies:

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Spring breakersMuchAdo

don jonDrinking Buddies

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– Trance

Evil Dead

– We Cause Scenes

– Before Midnight

– Spring Breakers

– Much Ado About Nothing

– Don Jon

Tiny

– Drinking Buddies

– Downloaded

– A Teacher

For more SXSW 2013 coverage visit:  http://blog.moviewallas.com/category/film-festivals/sxsw-2013/ and www.facebook.com/moviewallas

Fede Alvarez and the cast of Evil Dead

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Director Danny Boyle discusses the movie Trance

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Director Joss Whedon and the cast of Much Ado About Nothing

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The cast and crew of Drinking Buddies

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Harmony Korine and the cast of Spring Breakers

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Director Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tony Danza talking about Don Jon

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