6:00PM | Opening Night Party on the Rooftop at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art
Photo by tannerherriott used under CC-by-2.5 License
For unknown reasons, the Opening Night reception was held on the 1st floor of the Museum. I missed the rooftop view and all the seating. But, I certainly didn’t miss the sun or the wind. Plus, the location inside allowed for more mingling than the rooftop probably would have provided. Like last night, there was plenty of Stella Artois to be had. For snacks, they had a sort of bruschetta spread with tomatoes & mozarella but also some pesto, hummus, and tapenade. I have no reason to worry about what comes out of the Museum Cafe kitchen, but it’s still a little strange to find yourself second guessing the tomatoes that you eat.
Anyways, we hung out for a while. Sadly, we’re not really the mingling type. But we still talked for a moment with one of the guys with A Beautiful Day. We met the filmmakers behind S&M Queen for a Day as well as the director of disFIGURED. As always, it was a bunch of fun. While we’d been to two parties already, we hadn’t seen any films yet. Now, on to the films…
7:30PM | Whimsical Shorts
Damn The Past! | Juli Kang
This one started out the program. And, what a delight. Very nicely shot. The choreography and music were very good. It was quite humorous while still retaining an emotional connection. It was funny and sweet. (MySpace page)
The Vaudevillian | Bryan Nest
I liked this one a lot too. I don’t know if I’d call it “whimsical,” because it was actually a bit dark, but it was still a very welcome addition. Sometimes you just have to quit listening to that nagging voice in your head and go on with your life and take care of yourself.
Life In Transition | John R. Dilworth
This one was very beautifully animated. For me, it summed up several of the movies I saw Thursday night. Life is a challenging process with a clear and definitive end…so start living it. You can watch this film online on the Stretch Films website through the link above.
Gustav Braustache and The Auto-Debilitator | Rob Cunningham & Tony Mullen
This was our favorite short of the night. It was basically a silent film comedy. Very classic, I thought. It was shot great. The comedic timing was impeccable. And, Gustav Braustache’s gadgets and machines were all so delightful. Later on, Sarah mentioned how they all even seemed to have a sort of personality to them. And, the Auto-Debilitator is perhaps the greatest invention of all time. My love and devotion for Nikola Tesla have suddenly shifted towards the brilliant Mr. Braustache.
A Faery’s Tale | Sylvia Apostol
An uncoventional take on the classic Tooth Fairy tale. Again, very nicely animated. I don’t have a full appreciation of the art of animation. It’s certainly something I’m gonna have to examine further. But, this one was quite nice. You can watch this film on Sylvia Apostol’s website at the link above.
Where Did the Time Go? | Eric Kim & Mary Fecteau
This was what I have to assume was a mockumentary. If that’s the case, I think they could and should have taken it just a little bit further. It was somewhere between a slightly strange (or whimsical) documentary and an almost really funny mockumentary.
9:30PM | disFIGURED | Glenn Gers @ Harkins
L to R: Staci Lawrence as Darcy and Deidra Edwards as Lydia, in Disfigured,
dir. Glenn Gers. Photo by John Stewart Muller, courtesy of Dialogue Heavy Pictures.
Sarah and I were both looking forward to this one, albeit with a little bit of trepidation. The fat girl isn’t usually given a lead role and her weight is usually only used to mock her. But this movie by director/writer Glenn Gers, who previously wrote the screenplay for Mad Money starring Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes, did not disappoint. For a quick DV shoot, it was very well acted and directed. I have to give serious credit to the director who was able to balance the complexities of body image, from a fat perspective as well as an anorexic one, in a way that was fair and compassionate but never coddling either. The sex scene was very competently handled–never taking its self too seriously nor devolving into playing it for laughs.
And, as Sarah said, the friendship between Darcy and Lydia was excellently captured by the actors and director alike. Of course, a movie like this that tackles subject matter like this will have its limitations. It’s not going to appeal to everyone everywhere all the time and it’s not going to please everyone everywhere all the time. It’s a niche movie, in a way. But, I’m so glad it was made. Maybe a studio someday will step up to the plate and make a real movie about real people even if their bodies don’t quite conform to the Hollywood ideal. We look forward to purchasing this one when it is released next month on DVD.
11:00PM | Opening Night After Party at Maker’s Cigar Bar
So after a nice first night of films, we headed on over to Makers. After just over five months as non-smokers, it was our first time in a smoking bar. But, it went okay. I even smoked about half of my complimentary cigar. And that will be that. Over some red wine and Guinness, we talked about the films. Which ones we liked, which ones we didn’t like so much. We talked about what our favorite ones got exactly right. Does life get any better than talking about movies over good wine and beer with your best friend? In my book, that is heaven.
2 comments ↓
I just have to say that I was so impressed with the overall quality of the films. It seems like the deadCENTER films get better and better every year.
Gustav was certainly outstanding. I could watch that one several times over. It created this wonderful, weird-yet-entirely-believable little world. Loved it, loved it.
My other favorite short was Damn the Past!. Seems like you see Asian lead actors about as often as you see fat lead actors. (Which is to say, not too damn often.) So not only was that cool, I’m always a sucker for musicals…and this one was the very definition of “whimsical.”
Now, for disFIGURED. It was cool to get to talk with Glenn Gers for a bit at the Museum party. But, I was still really nervous about seeing the film. I’d invested so much hope in it, that there was a lot of room for crushing disappointment. I needn’t have worried. Despite a few very minor quibbles I might have, I thought this film nailed it. It captured the complexity and messiness of real life, and was never patronizing or preachy…one way or the other. It was definitely not pro-anorexia. And yes, I loved the way the friendship between the two leads was portrayed. It was one of the most accurate representations of female friendship I’ve ever seen. They can be damn tough, and this film got it so right.
Best of all, this was a much-needed break from all the anger I’ve been feeling lately about sexism in Hollywood and in politics. For one night, anyway, I was able to pretend that we lived in a slightly different, slightly better, world…where interesting, smart films could indeed be made about women.
I’m curious to catch the DVD when it comes out. After the screening, Glenn Gers talked for a bit about how he felt the FA group may not have been entirely fairly represented, so there’s a special feature on the DVD about the FA movement. Sounds like there might be some other interesting stuff, too.
What a great first day.
[...] Disfigured. I was so looking forward to this particular film, and I wasn’t disappointed. (Click here for more thoughts on these two [...]