Sunday, February 22, 2015

Jason goes to Indiefest--Closing Night

And the end, last Thursday night, with a pair of movies.

First up was the perfectly executed drama UNCERTAIN TERMS. Set in a home for pregnant teens, each resident is dealing with different relationship issues...well, since they're all teenagers they're mostly dealing with the same relationship issue--the guy who knocked them up isn't ready for the responsibility and has bailed/will likely bail. And then you add to the mix a handsome handyman, Robbie, who is dealing with his own crumbling marriage (a marriage that started out when he was as young as some of these girls.) He's friendly, but he tries to keep his distance and not be too friendly. But at least some of the girls--with their raging hormones--make that kind of difficult. And he doesn't make it easy either.

...

I just realized how I wrote that seems like the setup for some pregnant teenage fetish porno. But please believe me, it's not. It's a careful, thoughtful movie that explores the inner lives of young women figuring out life in one of the hardest possible ways, and it's fantastic.

And then I ended the night, and Indiefest 2015, with JACKY IN THE KINGDOM OF WOMEN. A French movie that's entertaining although a little bit too on-the-nose about the fictional kingdom of Bubunne where women rule and men are forced to wear burkhas, tend the house, serve the state-provided mush, and basically dream of marrying a good, powerful woman. The best and most powerful would be the Colonel (Charlotte Gainsbourg) which would make one lucky man the "Big Dummy." Jacky (Vincente Lacoste) plays the Cinderfella role in this world, trying to win an invitation to the ball and hoping that the Colonel will take his leash. But wacky adventures turns it into a revolution in the entire society. With a bit of Cinderella, a bit of Barbarella, a bit of Soylent Green, and a giant spoiler.

And that's that, Indiefest is over. Bring on Cinequest!

Total Running Time: 162 minutes
My Total Minutes: 384,691

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