Tag: SLIFF

PIG – SLIFF Review

“Pig” can be defined in many ways. A common farm animal, a person inclined to eat too much, a derogatory slang toward law enforcement, or a fitting short hand for a selfish, sexist man who hates every bone in a woman’s body. None of these truly fit within the confines of the film PIG, which can lead an audience astray. The title is most likely derived from the ramblings of the main character in reflection on his own past behavior, but this plays only a supplementary role in this complex science-fiction story of one man’s odyssey to regain his own mind.

Written and directed by Henry Barrial, PIG is as much a psychological thriller as it is science-fiction. This surely has its roots in Barrial’s education in psychology, which comes through in the script. Rudolph Martin plays the nameless main character, who wakes up in the middle of the desert with his hands bound behind his back and a black hood on his head. It’s not looking like a good day ahead. On the brink of death by dehydration, or worse, he passes out.

Flash forward a bit and our mystery man awakes in the home of a woman living alone in the desert. This woman found the man and has cared for him while unconscious. It is at this moment the man realizes he is suffering from a terrible case of amnesia, unaware of who he is or how he has come to be in this bizarre situation. What’s abundantly clear to the audience, however, is that some is not right and bad things are sure to come. The Man, whose only lead in a slip of scrap paper reading “Manny Elder,” begins an arduous struggle to regain some sense of self, to recover his memory, but leads him deeper into the rabbit hole (so to speak) than he ever imagined.

Rudolph Martin is not just convincing as the amnesiac man, but displays a range of tools in his acting utility belt that make the character that much more engaging. PIG can be classified as fitting the same general category science-fiction film as TOTAL RECALL or MINORITY REPORT, but without the action. On his journey, The Man encounters Manny Elder, played by Keith Diamond, a familiar face from several popular television series, and others who lead The Man to slowly piece the puzzle together.

PIG is a film that too easily can be spoiled, but what I can tell you is that nothing is what it seems, including The Man himself. PIG is not a traditionally structured film, presenting the story in a non-linear fashion that dissects time and shuffles the pieces into a complex puzzle, different but in a similar manner as Christopher Nolan’s MEMENTO. PIG not only stands up to multiple viewings, but actually demands a second viewing to capture the story in it’s entirety. I’m not suggesting its an impossibly complicated story to comprehend, but simply that PIG tells a story in such a fresh and entertaining fashion that you’ll want to see it a second time.

Showtimes
Sunday, November 13th at 1:30pm – Tivoli Theatre

BUBBA MOON FACE – SLIFF Review

Blake Eckard is what you’d call a “micro-budget” filmmaker. This means precisely how it sounds. Movies made on little to no budget, independent fare created by artists driven to have their visions come to fruition, regardless of any financial obstacles that would otherwise restrict such an endeavor. Eckard’s newest film is titled BUBBA MOON FACE, which he wrote and directed. With a title as odd as BUBBA MOON FACE, you may imagine the film being equally strange. On some level, this is certainly true, but its a subtle quirkiness that underlies the entire film, primarily a drama about a drifter named Horton (Tyler Messner) that returns to his rural roots for his mother’s funeral. While back home, his car breaks down and is forced to stay with his brother Stanton (Joe Hammerstone).

Horton is a reserved man, not an entirely happy man, and clearly removed from his past as a country boy given his reluctance and uneasiness around his kin. Certain interactions with his brother suggest he’s been gone for some time. As the story progresses, we’re introduced to Horton’s father Gus (Joe Hanrahan) who really brings out the David Lynch style strangeness of the story. Gus is a multiple divorcee, sexually romantic with a woman at least half his age and clearly heavy into recreational drugs, likely methamphetamine, given the rural setting and his peculiar nature. His presence creates more tension with Horton than is already present Stanton’s newly revealed situation.

Imagine taking BLUE VELVET and and turning it into a low-budget family drama, and you may begin to come close to describing the uniquely absurd and intriguing nature of BUBBA MOON FACE. When a drunken one-night stand named Sabetha (Sylvia Geiger) shows up on Stanton’s doorstep with a newborn baby, Horton finds himself stuck in the middle of a parental spat he wants nothing to do with. From here, the story deepens further into a tangled web of familiar connections and uncomfortable situations, including a casual love triangle between Horton, Stanton and a barmaid named Leslie (Misty Ballew).

BUBBA MOON FACE was shot in rural Northwest Missouri, evident in the many beautifully photographed establishing shots that are peppered throughout the film. On this level, the film feels close to home, as my roots reach into this same general area. While the literal actions and dialogue of the film are exaggerated, for humor and dramatic effect, the core of the relationships and circumstances are based in a foundation of real life. In a less than flattering light, there’s a clear element of what you’d expect to find on The Jerry Springer Show, but the truth is these things do happen. There are people who, for whatever reasons, seem strange and alien to people from other backgrounds, and the same is true in reverse. It seems to me that Eckard is trying to accentuate this.

Blake Eckard now has made four micro-budget feature films in the last decade. Take a moment, consider that statement and you should realize how impressive that is. Major Hollywood studio films with multi-million dollar budgets rarely are completed from script to release in under a year, but Eckard is trending one feature film every 2.5 years. Eckard’s films may not look like Hollywood fare, they may not be as polished as most viewers are accustomed to, but what I see is an independent filmmaker who knows what he’s doing, but chooses not to focus on the money of making movies. Likewise, I’ve certainly seen better written films, whereas Eckard’s dialogue is far from perfect, but the clumsiness (for lack of better words) adds an element of uncomfortable absurdity to this story that makes sense on a somewhat satirical level.

BUBBA MOON FACE screened at the Tivoli Theatre this morning (11/12/2011) as part of the 20th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Blake Eckard.

THE INTERRUPTERS – SLIFF Review

THE INTERRUPTERS was originally reviewed on September 9th, 2011.

Every day thousands of people across the nation grit their teeth in frustration while reading the daily papers and weekly news magazines. Many more clench their fists against their armchairs while watching local TV news broadcasts. It seems the country (or, state or home city) is going to “Hell in a hand basket!” But they’re not part of the government-what can they do? Film maker Steve James (HOOP DREAMS) and author/producer Alex Kottlowitz addresses this dilemma in the powerful new documentary THE INTERRRUPTERS. the individuals profiled here, armed only with their wits and a cell phone, may be the most heroic action stars that you’ll see in the cinemas this year.

THE INTERRUPTERS documents the effort of an organization called CeaseFire to stem the rising tide of the youth violence (particularly in the south side of Chicago). As the title suggests these people, men and women ranging in age from their early ’20s through their ’50s, step in during heated altercations and attempt to restore calm before fists (and rocks,bottles,knives, and guns) strike out. We first meet the group’s founder, epidemiologist Gary Slutkin, a man who traveled the globe battling disease and now wants to eradicate the disease of violence that is ravaging the community

One of the main Chicago co-ordinators, Tio Hardiman the creator of the “Violence Interrupters” program, meets the street team at a large table and helps map out trouble spots where they must concentrate their efforts. Like most of the Ceasefire members Hardiman’s youth involved gangs and crime. The film follows the team during a brutal year on those mean streets and focuses on three of these people trying to make a difference. While much of the work is with the African-American neighborhoods, the film spends some time with a former Latino gang member, Eddie Bocanegra ,who takes us to the spot where he took a life many years ago. He then conducts an art class with children at an inner city grade school that helps them deal with their fears. Later Eddie interacts with a family who lost their fifteen year old son to a stray bullet. We observe their daily gathering at his grave site and hear his younger sister tell of how he died in her arms.

The most charismatic and vocal of the trio is Ameena Mathews, daughter of legendary gang leader Jeff Fort, who is one of the first CeaseFire workers to step in (near the the start of the film she tries to diffuse a fight right outside their offices). She tells of her time as a party girl and how the party ended when she was shot. Her struggle to reach out to a troubled nineteen year old girl, is full of setbacks and small victories. The busiest of the group may be Cobe Williams, who seems to doing a variation of the old plate-spinning act. He attempts to reconcile a single mother and her two teenage sons who belong to rival gangs. Then he’s doing his best to cool off a street hustler known as “Flamo” (ironically enough) who seeks revenge on whoever called the police on his family home (Mom was put in handcuffs while his wheelchair-bound brother was taken to the station). Finally he picks up a young seventeen year old after serving two years for armed robbery. After a tearful reunion with his sisters and kid brother, Cobe takes him to the barber shop he and his gang had robbed in order to apologize to his victims. Soon they’re trying to score a job for him . Unfortunately, it seems that the CeaseFire team is always on the move with ver few breaks.

Like HOOP DREAMS James lets the participants guide the stories. There’s no flashy graphics, recreations,and animation in this portrait of a community in turmoil. James’s camera where there when the fatal beating of high schooler Derrion Albert made the national news after a grainy video of his murder hit the Internet. The CeaseFire team swoops in and stays with the family as the national media quickly moves on. There is some use of local TV news clips and newspaper headlines along with family photos and videos. The most haunting images maybe the piles of stuffed toys and makeshift posters and cards on street corners where a slaying has recently occurred. This film has more tension that the last five Hollywood thrillers combined. The team is determined not to use violence, but unfortunately they get caught in the crossfire. There’s no magic force field that protects them. In one scene Tio Hardiman is overcome with emotion when visiting an interrupter was was shot in the back while walking away from a street fight he thought had ended. With all this misery, THE INTERRUPTERS leaves you with a great belief in the good of humanity. Along with this horrific tales of carnage, there are stories of redemption, courage, and forgiveness. But they have little time to celebrate those little victories. The street is calling. But, maybe… someday.

Showtimes
Sunday, November 13th at 1:00pm – Wildey Theatre

CONFIDENCE MAN: THE HUGH DENEAL STORY – SLIFF Review

This film begins with a scene familiar to fans of  documentaries about music groups. Hugh DeNeal and his band mates are in a car cruising down the highway. No doubt on their way to their next gig. No, not this time. They’re on their way to Leavenworth Kansas so Hugh may turn himself in. This is one of many surprises in CONFIDENCE MAN : THE HUGH DENEAL STORY. As the title suggests Hugh is the main focus of the film. We follow him growing up in a small town in southern Illinois. He seemed to drift until his brother inspired him to pursue a music career. The brothers and some friends formed the Woodbox Gang with Hugh as lead vocalist and author of their most popular songs in the ” caustic acoustic” American genre. His lyrics were powerful and compelling. The Gang toured the country and attracted the attention of former Dead Kennedy band member Jello Biafra, who signed them to his Alternative Tentacles music label.  But the money was not coming in fast enough for Hugh.

Now with your typical “behind the music” type story this is where drugs would come in to break up the band. Not quite. DeNeal decided to try and make extra cash from an internet investment scheme that involved blank T-shirts which unraveled into a classic “Ponzi scheme.”  The film documents this downward spiral with lots of interviews with friends, law-enforcement officers, family and, most revealing, DeNeal himself. Inter-cut is plenty of entrancing footage of the band’s wild performances that sent audience into a frenzy (the great lyrics are printed out too). This is a film that’s a profile of gifted musicians and a cautionary tale of greed and corruption.

Showtimes
Saturday, November 12th at 8:00pm – Wildey Theatre

A DANGEROUS METHOD – SLIFF Review

Psychoanalysis is arguably still as polarizing in today’s society as it was a century ago when Sigmund Freud first conceived it. The very idea of all human neurosis being derived from a primal sexual foundation has controversy written all over it, which is what makes it such a fitting topic for David Cronenberg. Cronenberg’s career has spanned from RABID (1977) to A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE (2005) and most vividly with VIDEODROME (1983) and NAKED LUNCH (1991) – all of these films have one thing in common; sexually charged, taboo subject matter.

A DANGEROUS METHOD tells the story of Carl Jung, a protégé of Freud’s, and his triangular relationship with him and patient Sabina Spielrein during the emergence of psychoanalysis. Jung and Sabina go through a sort of symbiotic metamorphosis. Cronenberg focuses on the shift in character that occurs in Jung, which occurs in conjunction with his treatment of Sabina. They’re relation begins as strictly doctor-patient but transgresses into a sexual enlightening experience for both parties, leading to events to affect the professional relationship of all three characters.

For Cronenberg, A DANGEROUS METHOD is impressively subdued. The film is far less visually graphic and the events are far more cerebral than visceral. Regardless, the thematic elements of sexual taboo, fear and perversion are still very much in play. The film is adapted from the book of the same name by John Kerr, which lends the film its historical relevance. This is most likely the primary reason for a more restrained approach, but the film still works remarkably well.

Michael Fassbender (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) plays Carl Jung, a highly educated and passionate follower of Freud’s theories, the first to apply these concepts in treating a patient. That patient in Sabina Spielrein, played with remarkable intensity by Keira Knightley (NEVER LET ME GO). Freud is played by Viggo Mortensen (THE ROAD). Each character carries a specific level of emotional intensity throughout the film, allowing the dialogue-driven story to convey peaks and valleys to further engage the audience. Vincent Cassel (BLACK SWAN) plays Otto Gross, a small character with a significant purpose as a catalyst for Jung’s metamorphosis. Cassel also provides the sole source of crucial comic relief as the morally uninhibited and sexually obsessed doctor turned patient in Jung’s reluctant care.

Mortensen, playing a somewhat older character, is the calming element of the triangle. Freud rarely steps away from his levelheaded, perhaps stubbornly confident roots. Freud is very much a supporting character, a vessel through which Jung and Sabina channel their destructive yet therapeutic behavior. Fassbender strips away the confidence of Jung’s youthful ambition, breaking his psyche down into its conflicting parts from which he rebuilds himself. He shows the most range within his single character. But its Keira Knightley who outdoes herself in A DANGEROUS METHOD, showing an entirely new depth to her range, an extreme not similar to but far beyond her performance in DOMINO.

Easily the most exhilarating and profound moment in A DANGEROUS METHOD is during Jung’s initial session with Sabina. The film begins with Sabina being carried, kicking and screaming, into the hospital where Jung will attempt to treat her. In this long, boldly static scene the camera remains stationary. Cronenberg composes the frame carefully, creating a geometrically aggressive shot with Sabina in the foreground and Jung seated just off to the side and behind her, just slightly out of focus as he proceeds to dissect Sabina’s condition through a series of questions. Knightley’s performance is at first intimidating, even off-putting as she virtually assaults the viewer with her interpretation of Sabina’s physically manifesting psychosis. However, after a very short period of time, as I began to be drawn into the intricacies of her acting I began to realize the brilliance of the scene. Cronenberg set up the shot, and then allowed Knightley to carry the scene and she does with spellbinding conviction.

A DANGEROUS METHOD is a sexual film, without being blatantly graphic and direct with that sexuality. Cronenberg works so comfortably within this context that it never feels awkward or forbidden, but rather like the logical progression of such relatively fringe science to the time. Psychoanalysis is a science that feels much more like an art, a curious juxtaposition that really doesn’t occur in any other branch of the sciences. Cronenberg successfully presents a portrait of two maverick minds in a way that humanizes them, instead of placing them infallibly on pedestals. A DANGEROUS METHOD suggests the human animal is not greater than its primal instincts, but has the power to accept itself for what it is and in turn discover freedom from blindly imposed sexual morals.

DYING TO DO LETTERMAN – SLIFF Review

Growing up we’re always told that it’s important to set goals, to follow your dreams. But what if you were given a time limit to achieve these (shorter than your expected life span). This is the dramatic theme in the new documentary DYING TO DO LETTERMAN. The film follows the journey of a likable professional stand-up comedian in his thirties by the name of Steve Mazan. Growing up his comedy hero was David Letterman, so his goal was to do his act on Dave’s show. Then the fates threw him a curve. His doctor told him that he had cancerous tumors on his liver. Inoperable. Worst case scenario- he had maybe  five, six years. Instead of plopping on the coach and bemoaning his fate, Mazan focused in on his Letterman Show dream with a vengeance. After asking his comedy club audiences to email the show, he gets an official letter from NYC. One of the Letterman producers tells him that it’s not gonna’ happen-they’re not in the business of granting wishes. This news just makes Mazn more determined. He doesn’t want to get on the show because he’s sick. He wants to earn it by being funny. Trouble is that his wait time could be very brief.

What could’ve been a grim story becomes a tale of hope and laughter. His girlfriend of only a few months becomes a great source of strength as she decides to stay with him and tries to  follow her dreams also. We get a look at how comedians work up their act and massage their jokes to perfection. Mazan gets a lot of help from a couple of comic pals and gets some advice from several Letterman vets (Jim Gaffigan, Kevin Nealon, Brian Regan, and Ray Romano, whose Letterman stint turned into a huge sitcom). He also gets  a pep talk from the late, great Robert Shimmel (perhaps his last interview before he succumbed to cancer). This film is an uplifting story that will give you a great insight into the lives of the men and women who grab a mike, deal with rowdy drunks, and follow their hearts  no matter what life throws at them.

Showtimes
Saturday, November 12th at 2:15pm – Plaza Frontenac Cinema

FORT MCCOY – SLIFF Review

Review by Dana Jung

Most people don’t know, or at least know very little, about the POW camps that the United States
maintained during World War II. Numbering in the hundreds, in nearly every state of the Union, these
camps at their peak housed almost half a million German and Japanese prisoners. Films based on these
camps have been few (SUMMER OF MY GERMAN SOLDIER, FAREWELL TO MANZANAR, COME SEE THE
PARADISE) and mostly grim reminders of a dark period in American history. FORT MCCOY, a new movie
co-directed by Michael Worth and writer/star Kate Connor, tells a fact-based story set against the
backdrop of the Army base of the title, of one summer in the life of an American family, circa 1944.

The Stirns move to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin when the father, Frank (Eric Stoltz), takes a position as a
barber for the Army base. With his wife Ruby (Connor), sister-in-law Anna, and two young children,
Gertie and Lester, he has moved his family to this remote location to do his part in the war effort, since
he physically failed to make the draft. With GIs on one side training to ship out to battlefronts, and
mostly German POWs on the other, daily life for the Stirns becomes pretty eventful. Anna takes a job at
the base and becomes smitten with a young soldier. Nine-year-old Gertie befriends Heinrich, a young
German POW not much older than her. Ruby worries about her and Anna’s brother, who is stationed
aboard a warship in the South Pacific. Ruby also becomes more and more concerned about the effect
on her children of living in such close proximity to the reminders of war.

Told in a simple and elegant style, with some nice period detail and a lot of humor, FORT MCCOY is a
wonderful little story that takes the familiar themes of how war effects us all and how evil victimizes the
innocent, and shows that love and goodness still remain the saving graces of humanity.

The performances are excellent. Stoltz underplays beautifully, creating a quiet man whom fate has
dealt an unfair (to him) hand, but who draws great strength from his loving wife and children. The
lovely Connor is the solid center of the film, trying to keep her family safe and help assuage the guilt
her husband feels. As Anna, Lyndsy Fonseca (TVs NIKITA, KICK ASS) is all bright-eyed curiosity, but
with an undertone of intelligence and compassion. Fine supporting parts are also turned in by Camryn
Manheim, Seymour Cassel, and Brendan Fehr, and by the child actors as well. The characters are so rich,
in fact, that if FORT MCCOY is flawed, it is in trying to cram too much story into its 100 minutes.

However, one of the strengths of the film is that thematically it stays true to its roots and doesn’t try to
drag in comparisons to the world we live in today, with our own POWs and paranoia. A true labor of
love for Kate Connor, on whose own family much of the story is based, FORT MCCOY is a heartwarming
and satisfying experience that sheds light on a quite different time and place. Watch through the end
credits of the film, and you’ll find there is still meaning to be found in the simplest of images.

Showtimes
Saturday, November 12th at 1:30pm – Tivoli Theatre
Sunday, November 13th at 4:45pm – Plaza Frontenac

MISS REPRESENTATION – SLIFF Review

Review by Dana Jung

In this country, 51% of the population are women, but only 17% of Congress is women. Our elected leadership consists primarily of white, male, higher-income, college educated individuals—a class which represents only 6% of the general population. The countries of China, Cuba, Iraq, and Afghanistan have more women in government than the United States. Why? Who is to blame for this disparity? These numbers are just statistics, but the fact that the majority of young women today seem to have little or no interest in politics or social activism is the real tragedy.

These are some of the themes presented in the persuasive and sometimes eye-opening new documentary MISS REPRESENTATION by Jennifer Siebel Newsom. The film mixes interviews with notable women and men, images from past and current entertainment venues, and many more facts and figures, plus the personal reflections of the director in an interesting and compelling manner. It was the birth of her daughter, according to Siebel Newsom, that was the inspiration for this film. Taking a hard look at the way women are perceived in this country, in everything from music videos to the powerful halls of Washington, with rates of depression in young women doubling in the last decade, and with the astounding rise in the number of women having eating disorders, getting cosmetic surgery, or just having a negative self-image, MISS REPRESENTATION squarely points its finger of blame at one main culprit: the media.

Reality TV shows that glorify the basest and most unrefined human behavior, newsmagazines with their Barbie-like commentators, and advertisers that pander to feelings of anxiety about body image, are just some of the targets of MISS REPRESENTATION. The government, too, has played a role by deregulating mass media outlets (remember “Family Hour,” anyone?) and limiting the power of the FCC. The truth is, nearly everything we see and hear– on television, in movies, or through the internet—is packaged and manufactured by huge media conglomerates, which have governing boards with only one woman for every 10 board members. Women only own about 6% of all radio and TV stations, and only about 10% of all producers, writers, and directors are female.

It is heartening to see such public figures as Condoleezza Rice, Katie Couric, Rachel Maddow, Geena Davis, and Lisa Ling speak eloquently about not only the status quo, but also the danger of a future devoid of women’s voices. Many of the excerpts of news shows also speak volumes about how women are treated in the media; some are presented without commentary, as they amazingly portray the ignorance and sexual bias prevalent in so much of what is considered “broadcast entertainment” today.

The director recounts how, as a new actress just starting out, she was advised by her agency to omit from her resume’ the fact that she had an MBA degree from Stanford. It might limit her roles if she was thought of as “too smart.” In the world we live in, full of dangers both known and as yet undreamed of, is it right that women in America spend more on body image products and plastic surgery that they do on higher education? Is it right that the media machines we have created and condoned can engage in the “symbolic annihilation” of one of the countries’ great resources—our young women? MISS REPRESENTATION presents a thought-provoking and sobering case for change. Hopefully, it will be seen by many young women and perhaps awaken in them the same desire for social evolution that previously had been directed at buying the latest pair of jeans.

Showtimes
Saturday, November 12th at 7:00pm – Plaza Frontenac

SLIFF Interview: BILL PLYMPTON

This interview was conducted by Jim Batts on November 11th, 2011.

Bill Plympton is one of the most creative and prolific artists to emerge out of the independent animation shorts film arena of the late 1980’s. His short YOUR FACE was nominated for an Academy Award and follow-up shorts like HOW TO KISS and  HOW TO QUIT SMOKING became the highlights of several traveling animation compilations and festivals. He soon branched out into feature films with THE TUNE and set up a New York animation studio to produce commercials and music videos along with more features and shorts. Recently Plympton has helmed several live action features. He’s here in St. Louis to accept the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 20th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival. Mr. Plympton was kind enough to take time out of his busy schedule to speak with me by phone.

WAMG: My name is Jim Batts with WeAreMovieGeeks.com [and] I want to welcome you to St. Louis. Great to have you here for the big film festival. I guess we can make you an honorary film geek since I saw your documentary and you mention you saw, or still do see two or three movies a day. Is that still the case?

Bill Plympton: Yeah, I do. (laughter) I’m crazy.

WAMG: Oh, that’s amazing! That’s amazing! In the documentary, which I really enjoyed, ADVENTURES IN PLYMPTOONS…

BP: Thank you!

WAMG: …you mention about getting a lot of inspiration, or I guess getting your start watching, Saturday morning cartoons. I was wondering if there was a particular animator or studio that you kind of drifted towards back then?

BP: Well certainly Warner Brothers.. the Bugs Bunny and Daffy Ducks were very,very amusing and made me laugh and that’s when I decided that laughter is the magic potient to make everybody feel good, feel healthy, love their life, and that’s what I want to do. I wanted to make people laugh.

WAMG: Oh, yeah.

BP: My Dad was actually,although he was a banker, he was a very lively guy, and he was always the center of attention at parties. Because he could make everybody laugh. And I just thought, ” Wow, you know I’m not very good at telling  jokes verbally, but I can make people laugh with my drawings. So I’m trying to emulate my Dad with my cartoons.

WAMG: Yeah, I enjoyed the stories in the film about getting into trouble with some of your drawings in school. Brought back some memories myself there.

BP: That’s true. That’s true.

WAMG: Definitely.  Did you or were you aware of some of the people behind the cartoons when you were growing up?

BP: Later actually I started looking at the directors. Not when I was really young, of course I didn’t really care. But I later I found out that Tex Avery or Bob Clampett were the geniuses behind the cartoons that I found so funny.

WAMG: Did you ever check out  or have any interest in the early Fleischer Studios stuff?

BP:  Oh, certainly. I loved the Popeyes and the Betty Boops and the Supermans were really entertaining, but I don’t know, I think for my mind the Tex Avery stuff was just a whole other level. It was very smart humor, it wasnt just stupid, punch you in the face humor. And of course the style was much more sophisticated and much better drawn than the Fleischer Brothers stuff. So that’s why I was attracted to the Warner Brothers. Then, of course, Disney was a huge influence. I mean everybody who’s an animator today grew up on Disney. The feature films, you know Song of the South, Sleeping Beauty, Dumbo. Dumbo particularly is one of my favorites. It’s a classic, classic film.

WAMG: I’m still hoping that one day we’ll see Song of the South available at our local video store.

BP: Tough to find anymore.

WAMG: Speaking of influences, since you are a print cartoonist I’m wondering if there were any particular comic strips or comic books that influence you back then, that you started to read and pick up on?

BP: Well certainly Peanuts, I love Peanuts. I love Al Capp.  Li’l Abner. Although the comics weren’t that big a deal for me. I thought they were amusing. For me it really blossomed when I saw R Crumb’s underground comics. And the others… Spain and Rodriguez, those other guys’ underground comics really opened up my eyes as to what comics could be and I was in college when I discovered Zap Comics. But also Charles Addams, the guy who did the Addams Family, was very influential because he was doing really dark, sick cartoons about death and murder and pain and suffering that were funny. And that was  kind of a verboten topic back then.

WAMG: Yeah, yeah.

BP:  Mad. I used to look at Mad. Don Martin was my favorite in Mad, certainly. Although I wasn’t a big Mad freak. I did like Mad magazine. I thought it was good.

WAMG: I was wondered if you were about the right age for when Mad first came out as a color comic book. When Harvey Kurtzman was editing it?

BP:  Certainly. Yeah, Harvey was a big hero of mine. And I was fortunate enough to become a friend of his shortly before he died. And he was a very supportive guy, really liked what I did, and supported what I was doing, so it was very nice dealing with him. I never worked for him, but he was kind of a friend actually.

WAMG: You did mention the underground comics, were you offered or perhaps did you send some stuff in to the underground Zap-type comics?

BP: Well, I was  too young then and they were all in San Francisco, so it was all sort of, it didn’t work out . I did however do a lot of comics for men’s magazines, Screw, Playboy, Penthouse, Oui (I did a lot of stuff for Rui, actually) that was my exposure,  outlet for comics.

WAMG: I enjoyed seeing those covers in the documentary. You were able to be very creative with them.

BP: Well, they only paid like ninety bucks or something. They didn’t pay very much, but it was easy money and it was fun to see it all over the city so it worked out.

WAMG: Did you first start to produce animation during your college years or did you start to fool around with the family 8mm camera?

BP: No, I became obsessed with animation in college. And unfortunately there was no animation school or industry in Portland, Oregon when I was in college. It was basically no one to turn to, at least I didn’t know who to turn to.  And so I tried to do it on my own with an 8 mm camera and that was a big failure and I did a 16 mm and that was shot upside-down accidentally, so I just decided it was too much work. And so I went to New York. I moved to New York to become an illustrator, and so my desires to be an animator were basically put on hold until the mid 80’s when animation started coming back and the whole indie-film world started exploding and I felt, well  if these guys could make films outside of the Hollywood circle, then it could do it too. People like Jim Jarmusch and Spike Lee were making films. In New York, independent films, so I was inspired by that.

WAMG: Now, getting back to the start of your animation career, did you start with just the pencil drawings, or did you try to go right in to the colored cel work?

BP: I started with pencil drawings. It was the lowest tech, it was the easiest for me. It was very simple to do that.  And it wasn’t until I think I did THE TUNE, which was in 1991 that I gave it a shot, doing cell animation and that was just an experiment with it and then I think I did cel animation just until I did HAIR HIGH, that was the last cell animation film I did. But all the features were done on cel animation. THE TUNE had some, then, of course I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON, MUTANT ALIENS, and then HAIR HIGH was the last one and it was then that digital technology came in and the price was low enough that I could afford to a digital transfer. That was the thing that held me up was the cost.

WAMG: Watching your shorts like YOUR FACE and HOW TO KISS and those others I could just imagine how many boxes of colored pencils you’d go through.

BP: Not only that, but my apartment is filled with bins up to the ceiling with artwork that is still around from those films. So. it’s all for sale on my website.

WAMG: Really? That’s great! Did you have any mentors starting out in the business. I saw Ralph Bakshi in the documentary, Did you contact him or did he contact you around the time of producing your short films?

BP: No, I should’ve. That was a mistake. I’m a pretty shy guy and even though he was doing FRITZ THE CAT when I had moved to New York, I really wasn’t aware of it. And had no connections with anybody who was in the business and I should’ve been more pushy about that. But mentors? No, I had one woman, Connie D’Antuono, and she was the one who really showed me how to make a film, how to make an animated film, the technology of it. I knew how to draw it. I knew how to write it. I always loved the Preston Blair book that he did called ” Animation “, that was my bible. I guess if there was a mentor, it was him. And he was really the influence on how to make animated films. But once I knew the magic formula, the technology behind it, then I went crazy. I started in 1985 making two or three short films a year. And then a feature every two or three years.

WAMG: Well Bakshi brought his new Mighty Mouse cartoons in 1987 and that was when you were making your short films. I wondered if there was any talk of a collaboration once he was moving back into features with COOL WORLD.

BP: He was in LA and I was in New York, so that would’ve been very difficult and I never really knew him till about ten years ago when we met, I forget where it was, probably the San Diego Comic Con or something like that and he was a big fan and he was a big supporter and in many ways he was jealous that I could make my films without studio interference.

WAMG:  Especially television executive interference, too. (laughs)

BP:  (laughs) Yeah. But his budgets were 100, 200 times mine, so that’s the other side of the coin.  That he had these huge budgets, and he got big-name stars and I’m struggling making these little indie films that barely get distribution, so there’s both sides of the equation that are valid and I actually prefer mine even though I’m not a rich guy, I don’t make a lot of money, but I make the films I want to make. And that’s what I’ll be talking about in my appearances here in St. Louis, how it is possible to be an indie film maker, indie animator, and make a living, make money. And I hope a lot of local artists, or film makers show up to my shows and enjoy the films that I’m gonna’ show. And everybody who comes gets a free Bill Plympton drawing., so I hope they turn out.

WAMG: So besides seeing your great work, you’ll take home a piece of work!

BP: That’s it!  I didn’t think of it that way.

WAMG: Before we finish I wanted to tell you that when I’d see your films in the tournees and festivals, there’s be almost a rumple through the audience and some applause when your films would appear. Did you ever sneak into to these screenings so you could gauge the audience reactions?

BP: Yeah, it’s important. If I’m in town I definitely like to go to them. Not so much anonymously, but  I like to sit in the audience and hear how the audience responds to each individual film cause it’s important to find out what works and what doesn’t work and what the audience likes. And , obviously, with the Spike and Mike show,it’s outrageous, weird humor. That’s what I like to do.

WAMG:  It reminded me of what I’d read about movie theatres in the 30’s and 40’s. When Bugs Bunny would show up, there would be applause and your work would have a similar reaction.

BP: Occasionally I would do that. Sort of anonymously sit in there and listen to what they’d say about myself . I try not to impose myself on them. I try to remain secretive there. But it is fun to hear people’s laughter and that’s what drives me to make my films is hearing people laughing at my films  and that’s the main reason I do it.

WAMG: Well, they’re going to laughing for a long, long time at those films. I want to congratulate on getting the well deserved SLIFF Lifetime Achievement Award . It’s a terrific thing they’re doing. I’ll wish the best of luck this weekend and I look forward to seeing more of your work. The best compliment I can give you is that after seeing the documentary I pulled out my old sketch pad.

BP: Good for you! For more information people can go to plymptoons.com. Good bye!

An Evening with Bill Plympton will be at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium on Friday November 11 at 7 PM.  The next day, Saturday November 12, the same venue will present the documentary ADVENTURES IN PLYMPTOONS at 5 PM. A master class with Mr. Plympton will be held at Webster that same day at 1 PM. All the events are part of the 20th Annual Stella Artois St. Louis International Film Festival.

GIVE A DAMN? – SLIFF Review

GIVE A DAMN? was originally reviewed during the St. Louis Filmmaker’s Showcase.

As the wealthiest nation in the world, it’s difficult to define exactly what our role as individuals to the poorest nations in the world should be. To a great extent, this is a decision that has to be made by the individual. Keep this thought in your mind while watching GIVE A DAMN? Native Saint Louisan Dan Parris did while making the film, the title of which is a question, not a statement.

Parris, an average guy with what might be called an average devotion to his faith, made a decision to experience poverty and hunger, so that he could better understand exactly what his place can and potentially should be in the fight against the epidemic. However, as any wise person would do, he decided not to take on this adventure alone.

Dan enlists his friend Rob Lehr, a former minister who has lost his faith and become a rather pessimistic and angry atheist. Rob is reluctant, bitter about the very idea of considering he is somehow responsible for the lives of impoverished people in a country far from his own, but he chooses to join Dan anyway, if nothing else, for the first-hand experience of seeing true poverty for himself.

Dan is grateful for Rob’s participation, but needs a spiritual companion. He approaches his friend David Peterka, a devout Christian and a free-spirited wild card. David could be described as the unknown Christian member of the JACKASS films that’s high on life and open to just about anything adventurous. Immediately, it becomes apparent that Rob and David would not always see eye to eye, adding an additional layer of depth to the story.

And, so the journey begins. Dan, along with Rob and David, his own personal devil and angel on his shoulders, begin in Saint Louis and set out to hitchhike across the Unites States, Europe, and finally end up in Kenya, all on only $1.25 per day for food, lodging and transportation. Needless-to-say, this plan is not without its inevitable hiccups. Relative to the entire experience, their time in the United States is a cakewalk, compared to their time in Africa.

Let’s jump ahead a bit, progressing in the film to roughly the halfway point. This is when things get serious, and the story becomes truly compelling. Up to this point, we’ve been primarily focused on the physical journey, but when Dan and Rob barely survive a deadly plane crash in the African slums, the film splits into two parallel stories. Dan sustains injuries serious enough that force him to return to the United States, creating a secondary story arc, as David and another friend continue on their quest to live on $1.25 a day in Africa. This is where the heart and soul of the film emerges, grabs hold of the viewer and makes its most significant impact.

The cast and crew are literally one and the same, in true indie fashion, giving the story a very personal touch. While the film is technically still a work in progress at the time of this screening, it doesn’t feel incomplete. The story is well structured, just non-linear enough to add anticipation and lock in the viewer’s interest. The beginning of the film does feel a bit more like a television documentary series, but this quickly subsides. The only thing I can honestly pick out, as needing improvement in the film, are select areas where the audio could be tweaked, but the film is otherwise extremely satisfying.

Of course GIVE A DAMN? has visually emotional footage. How could it not contain some imagery, given the subject matter? One of the things the film has working in it’s favor is Parris’ conscious decision not to approach the project in a preachy fashion. Viewing the film never feels like a sermon, never feels like a non-profit infomercial, but more importantly throws varying points-of-view out into the open for the viewer to collect, sort, analyze and use for making their own decision. Yes, there are moments when God and religion take on a slightly more prevalent role, but rarely in such a direct and matter-of-fact fashion that may turn portions of the audience off. In this way, the film succeeds not only in promoting their cause, but also in calling out those who claim to support the cause.

When considering the scale of the experiment, taken on by three guys with virtually no budget and even less understanding of what they’re getting into, GIVE A DAMN? is a tremendous accomplishment. As harsh as this may sound on the surface, I believe the tragic plane crash may have actually been a blessing in disguise, despite the loss of two lives in the process. I do not wish to put words in the mouths of the filmmakers, but I can imagine they would agree with this statement, on some level. I know the film will have a lasting impression on my own outlook on the world. I hope you too will take the time to see the film, and ask yourself if you GIVE A DAMN?

Showtimes
Saturday, November 12th at 12:00pm – Washington U. /Brown