by ·Comments Off on Uncle Kent 2 (2015, Todd Rohal)

A self-conscious sequel, Swanberg directing the first act (in which Swanberg tells Kent he doesn’t want to make a sequel and Kent should make it without him), then Rohal taking over as Kent explores simulation theory, wonders whether his reality is real, then takes charge when the apocalypse comes to comic con.

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Get This Party Slammin’ is a very pandemic-looking home time-lapse movie in which Kent wakes up at 10:42pm and energetically cuts his own hair in the bathroom.

Rat Pack Rat (2014)
Woman with newspapered-over windows hires a Sammy Davis impressionist off craigslist to entertain and possibly masturbate/mercy-kill her bedridden son Steve Little. Star Eddie Rouse was a David Gordon Green regular who died the year this short came out, the mom’s only other credit is one of the few Bob Byington movies I haven’t seen. Jennifer Prediger of the Uncle Kent series is also a Byington regular. Kent was in another Swanberg joint with Jane Adams called Build The Wall, which I guess I’ve gotta watch next.

by ·Comments Off on Hillwood shorts

The opener was… Nerenai? That’s what I wrote down, though it’s not listed on the fest schedule… two women with two guitars, mic and drum machine.

You Can’t Stop Spirit (Vashni Korin)
Portrait of the Mardi Gras “Baby Dolls” shot like a Beyoncé video with dialogue loops and callbacks, fun. This came to mind again during the Big Ears festivities.

In Flow of Words (Eliane Esther Bots)
My fave of the bunch, though I remember it the least well now. Widescreen stories of translators who work on genocide trials.

The Last Days of August (Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck)
I knew the Killing of Two Lovers guy was going to be in this program, and recognized his style from the first frame… portrait of dying Nebraskan towns.

Our Ark (Deniz Tortum & Kathryn Hamilton)
3D models and simulationism. Our second Deniz collaborative short.

Nuisance Bear (Jack Weisman & Gabriela Osio Vanden)
Katy gave this a thumbs-down. Widescreen gliding camera discovers creatures on the outskirts of Canadian towns: snow rabbit, dogs, foxes, and the bears, who are caged and deported when they dare to involve themselves in the human civilization that has encroached on their territory and now comes out to gape at them as they migrate.

We showed up for the feature Dos Estaciones (Juan Pablo González), a re-enactment about an extremely buttoned-up woman running a failing tequila factory, but we ditched to get food and rest – it’s a lot of movies to watch over a long weekend.