Cinequest 22: Films, the Return of P2, and Room Service

On Saturday morning, March 3rd, our team was treated to a complimentary breakfast while Panasonic gave a brief presentation on their upgrade of the HVX-200, called the HPX 250. This camera has been on the market for almost a year, but this was the first time I got to handle it. With a similar body as the DVX and HVX, it's maybe slightly bigger and a tad heavier - which is not a knock against a camera that belongs to a family that I have long enjoyed working with. Its 10 bit 4:2:2 recording is what they're really trying to sell you on, as well as the return of P2 media.

Unfortunately, my time with it was limited and I think they had the cameras running 60i only because they were hooked up to monitors in the room, so I couldn't really play around in 24p. The sample video they were rolling on one of the screens, however, looked beautiful. The blacks were deep, the colors popped, and the camera seemed to be able to achieve some real nice narrow depth of field. I think returning to this line of camera could be immensely fun, especially if you're shooting a doc or something in a doc style.

I just don't know if I can go back to a fixed lens. Not that the 7D would give you a better image compared to this camera. But I might shoot with the AF-100 first before I shoot something on the HPX-250. That being said, the codec the HPX-250 shoots on sounds like an upgrade from the AVC prosumer codec the AF-100 still shoots with. So... maybe it's a toss up and it doesn't really matter. What still matters is the story you're trying to tell, not always what you tell it with.

Some movies I'd like to mention that stood out to me during the fest:

1) "Silent River": What a harrowing short. Of the dramatic shorts I saw, this one was the best by far. About Romanians trying to cross the Danube into Germany, there were at least two plot twists where in a short I might only expect one and each with were subtly set up, all rooted in character. The end of the film leaves your mind wondering what acts two and three of the feature might be. I love continuing a film in my mind long after the lights come up.

2) "Hatch": Another European drama, this time from Austria, dealing with class, ethnicity, homosexuality, parenthood, adoption, abandonment - all in a tight 15 to 20 minutes? This along with "Silent River" are great models for how to tell a dramatic short that stands on its own, but where the characters continue to live outside the frame.

3) "And Winter Slow": Very solid short film shot in the icy Adirondacks. Great milieu and performances, with solid direction by Brian Lannin.

4) "God and Vodka": Some of this self-reflexive narrative can be a little too precious at times, but when your two leads have banter and chemistry like they do here, the whole of the film becomes stronger than the weakness of a few of its parts. That's a convoluted way of saying this is a charming, earnest without being too on the nose film led by two charming actors and buoyed by luscious cinematography and locations.

5) "Overdue": Another charmer of a short, this one followed ours in the comedy shorts program (Programmer Chris Garcia got cute with following "Do Over" with "Overdue" - get it?! I tease, I tease...). Following a Brooklyn couple as they try as many natural methods as possible to induce their overdue child, this film is pushed by the editing in a similar way that our film is, so it was really interesting to see them back to back. Once "Overdue" falls into its rhythm and is pushed by its quirky accapella score, the laughs build on top of each other. Then the film finds some pathos I wasn't expecting that ends up treating the central couple with an even hand. Very nice work - and adorable last shot.

6) "Vampire Vampire Vampire Vampire": This uneven short  took me two viewings before I fell under its spell. There's a lot of potential here, and much of it resides in the talents of director and co-star Brenton Stumpf. A comedy about fads and why you should never jump on one before thinking twice about it, its more John Hughes with fangs than horror comedy. I look forward to what Brenton shoots next.

7) "The Relationship Doctrine of Don Blanquito": This was the only doc in our shorts program, but once Don Blanquito - a Beverly Hills white rapper who cements his career and legacy in the favelas of Brazil - takes over the screen and unleashes his philosophies on relationships, marriage, and life there was no question why the film belonged in Comedy Favorites. The maxim "80% of directing is casting" holds true here as Don Blanquito is a slam-dunk subject for any movie. His philosophy can be summed up accordingly: "Get that vagina... get that vagina."

8) "Zoltan: Gangster of Love": I have no idea why this Fellini spoof set in a poor Hungarian village was programmed before a documentary about Twitter, but it was a blast of pure energy and cinema. A Fellini spoof of any kind is probably a cliche, but when you have villagers having chickens laying eggs in their hands as an aphrodisiac, well... You've got me hooked for at least the next ten minutes.

9) Sunflower Hour - This Canadian feature length mockumentary about four oddballs and outcasts vying for one spot on a children's puppet show opens strong, drags a bit in the middle, then has a rocking, laugh-out-loud-nonstop last third until it peters out just... a... tad during its epilogue. Director Aaron Houston shows great promise in this, his debut feature, as he not only demonstrates he can deliver on the comedic situations he sets up, but he gives each of his characters well-defined arcs that help keep the story grounded even as things on screen veer off the rails. I rarely feel for the characters in the mockumentary format - even in Christopher Guest's movies I still feel some of the distance the genre can place between the viewer and the characters - but in Sunflower Hour everyone - even those characters I despised - won me over. I was pleased that everyone's story felt closed and had evolved from where we they had begun. My only quibble about the end is that I felt like David - who is the heart of the movie - gets his final triumph offscreen and we're told how achieves it rather than let us see it. The last joke would have still worked even if the scene had been staged a little differently. But now I'm backseat directing, and where I sit it's easy to lob such quibbles at the screen. At the end of the day, Sunflower Hour was an immensely entertaining, enjoyable film that puts the talents of a promising comedy director on display.

While I made it to one last Cinequest Meet-Up Sunday night, my final day was spent with my fiance and old friends in San Francisco. We mostly walked around The Mission district, had some ice cream, a delicious burrito, and stood in a creepy train station - all in the order. My best friend since junior high lives in the area, so he picked us up at a stop halfway between SF and SJ, kindly taking us back into San Jose so we didn't have to traverse SJ's public transportation services all by ourselves.

We were so tired the morning we were leaving we decided to have room service at the hotel, which actually was quite reasonably priced. If you ever find yourself in San Jose, stay at the Sainte Claire, an older hotel with great service, fast and free wifi - and which may or may not be haunted.

San Jose is an odd place. I say that with love, as I was continually fascinated by its oddness. Its odd because its a strange mix of rich and poor, townies and retirees, college students and rabid teenagers roaming the streets in skateboarding packs. During the day, life downtown seemed non-existent. A wandering Asian-American man randomly told us our first day there that China rules the world, and the bar tender at this below ground bar where we ate lunch was maybe too friendly, with a smile that creepily never seemed to recede.

Go to one of Cinequest's many parties or venues, however, and you always felt welcome. I was never lacking in good conversation with someone (well, there was the aspiring actress I encountered that asked me what gender romantic comedy I had screening at the festival... Come again?) and the locals there are proud of the festival and proud of their city. The film community there seems only separated by distance, as many of the filmmakers I met seemed to know each other and had worked together.

Cinequest, overall, was a great experience. I would love to return with another film in the future.

One more chance to catch "Do Over" in Shorts Program 7: Comedy Favorites - Saturday, March 10th, 6:30 PM.