IMAGI-BLOG
SIFFlog, days 21-23: a mixed bag of local produce
Submitted by imaginary embracey on June 15, 2007.
Three days left, and local films are on my mind. While I didn't make it to everything in this year's Spawned in Seattle lineup, the local stuff I did see was a mixed bag... heavier on bad than good.
The best of the bunch, and one of my favorite nonfic pieces of the festival, was Made in China, in which Seattle filmmaker John Helde uncovers his father’s experience growing up an American boy in pre-WWII China. It's beautifully researched and assembled, and it achieves what many personal family indie docs don't: universal emotion.
I warned you about the clueless, just-OK comedy Outsourced in my week 2 highlights; other middling offerings included King of Kong and Monster Camp, both of which seemed to be preaching to their respective choirs.
Music docs didn't fare well either: igChar was thumbs-down on the whiny Kurt Cobain About a Son, and there's just no excuse for the horrible production values of The Life and Times of Yva Las Vegass.
But the most disappointing local film of the bunch is surely Cthulhu, a Lovecraft-inspired gay love story by way of supernatural disaster fantasy tale, which has one more screening (Sunday 4p Nep) and which you really oughtta skip. The images are frequently stunning (when they're lighted properly, anyway), and Tori Spelling is the best thing about the movie (which should tell you something), but everything else -- and by that I mean acting, writing, and direction -- is mostly bad. Not even bad in a funny way, either, though I did giggle a lot less at the "serious" stuff than the audience members around me at last night's nearly-sold-out world premiere at the Nep.
I wish I'd missed it.
So what's everyone looking forward to this final SIFF '07 weekend? (Hopefully not Cthulhu.)
» permalink «
2
Rick said on June 17, 2007:
Hey! My brother worked on Cthulhu as a second PA. I want to see it just 'cause it will be cool to see his name in the end credits!
Also, he showed me stills from the shoot days, and it looked pretty amazing. But then again, nobody speaks in stills...
» reply
4
Grant Cogswell said on July 21, 2007:
I know this is REAL LATE but I just saw this. Opinions run the full gamut on CTHULHU (I wrote and produced it) and it seems to be a love-it or hate-it kind of film (some of the more well-known 'lovers' include James Longley, Gus Van Sant and David Schmader) but I will say a couple things in its defense: the projection on opening night was a mess, the reason for the 'bad lighting' and the flickering in the frame; and I didn't hear anyone at all laugh at anything they weren't supposed to.
» reply
5
imaginary embracey said on July 21, 2007:
Ooh, name-dropping, eh? Well, thanks for the post. Based on the film's IMDB user comments I'd say you're right about the love-it/hate-it part (though the love-its are suspiciously love-it). But I'm glad the film has found some high-profile admirers, and I really do wish it the best.
» reply
6
Grant Cogswell said on July 21, 2007:
Well, you know the wild world of blog comments on the internet - it's all about bringin' the hate. This is a VERY divisive film - and I wish you'd seen the clean projection on Sunday instead - I think that some of the issues that bother the folks who've seen it who diss it are deeper-seated. I will say I haven't met a gay man yet who didn't think it was the cat's pajamas.
» reply
7
imaginary embracey said on July 22, 2007:
Actually, now you have (virtually) met a gay man who doesn't fall into the "cat's pajamas" category. I'm a total homo.
» reply
8
Lovecraftfan said on August 28, 2007:
As far as it looks, the "good" reviews are all written by the same person with different names.This movie stinks, but the fake reviews advertising it are a real stench.
Oh, and the socalled cogswell review; you never failed to give a full quote.
» reply
9
yogie said on August 29, 2007:
What makes you think Tori is the best at this movie?!
This movie is so bad, that you might think nothing can make it worse - but Tori Spelling does.
Lovecraft is spinning in his grave, and spelling does speed him up.
» reply
10
imaginary embracey said on August 30, 2007:
Lovecraft is spinning in his grave, and spelling does speed him up.
I love it!
And you may very well be right.
Appreciation of La Spelling's performance depends upon your tolerance for camp. Mine is high, therefore I still say she's the jewel in the Cthulhu rough.
» reply
11
Grant Cogswell said on September 26, 2007:
OK, folks: Look at DreadCentral.com, a major and respected horror website, where David Bostaph gave the film 5 stars. Creep-a-Go Go gave it four and a half. S.T. Joshi (the world's foremost expert on HPL, his biographer and most authoritative editor of his works and letters) said Cthulhu contained, "the essence of Lovecraft" and was "possibly the best Lovecraft adaptation yet". James Longley (Iraq in Fragments) called it "A great movie. Fetching, creepy and cool."
These people aren't friends of ours. Okay, they are NOW.
Like I said, the film isn't for everybody. But clearly it IS for a LOT of people.
Upcoming screenings include the closing feature slot at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in Portland on Oct. 7th, and will show at Reel Affirmations (the Wash, D.C Gay/Lesbian festival) at the 1200-seat Lincoln Theater on Oct. 13th and at the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Film Festival at the Harvard Exit on Oct. 14th as well as the Icon Film Festival in Tel Aviv, the Escapism Film Festival in Durham, NC (where they are NUTS about it - Google their reaction) and the Eerie Horror Fest in Erie PA on Oct. 11th (also loving it).
» reply
Reviews
imaginary char said on June 15, 2007:
I've got Sex and Death 101, How To Cook Your Life, and Getting Home on the calendar for this weekend.
Kurt Cobain owes me 96 dollars. My therapy fee is 60 bucks an hour.