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Monday, March 16, 2009
Infamous ‘Troll 2’ spawns ‘Best Worst Movie’
Talk about the redemptive power of filmmaking.
In 1990, Michael Stephenson endured a performance in “Troll 2” (which IMDB honored with its worst-movie-ever-made badge), in which he played a boy contacted by his dead grandfather — and chased by vegetarian goblins, no less.
Two decades later, Stephenson returns with his stunning documentary “Best Worst Movie” to reveal what happened to the cast and crew of “Troll 2.”
Thousands of cult film followers know what happened in Utah during the filming of “Troll 2.” An unusual concoction of amateurs and struggling actors, under the direction of Italian exploitation maestro Claudio Fragasso, produced a bizarre story of a goblin village, communing with the dead, photosynthesis and bologna sandwiches. And “Troll 2” is weirder than it sounds, trust me. Over the years, as Stephenson documents, “Troll 2” has garnered a devoted collection of followers that host showings and parties.
Truth trumps fiction when it comes to the peculiar, however. The cast of “Troll 2,” reunited in a way, includes artists who struggle with their part in the film (one actor says it’s never been on her resume) and others who embrace its history. The dynamics between the former crewmates gets strange, revealing long-dormant tension and more than a touch of sadness.
Showing impressive filmmaking instincts, Stephenson focuses on charismatic George Hardy, a dentist in his native Alabama whose lone acting gig came in “Troll 2.” Hardy is a gregarious and good-natured sort whose ego receives plenty of stroking from the “Troll 2” fanatics who holler his quotes. Hardy wants to share the attention — and, as he sees it, the fun. His response to the “Troll 2” phenomenon morphs into a fascinating portrayal of the appeal of fame, no matter how small.
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‘Made in China’s no pet rock
Did you know that the pet rock phenomenon in the 1970s lasted just six months?
But in those 180 days, inventor Gary Dahl made millions and encapsulated the potent earning power of a fad.
Dahl and his ilk (Richard James’ slinky and Milton Levine’s ant farm, for example) also inspire earnest young entrepreneur Johnson (Jackson Kuehn) on his quest to join that quirky tribe in “Made in China,” the debut film by Austin’s Judi Krant that premiered Sunday at the Alamo Ritz.
Johnson leaves behind a worried mom and an apathetic sister to visit Shanghai, a production epicenter of all things cheap and plastic. He endures a swindler, roundabouts through Shanghai’s back alleys and a most unfortunate faux-Chinese business suit before finding redemption with his own invention.
At its best, “Made in China” delivers a charming narrative against the backdrop of fads and their history. Kuehn (acting every bit a native of Woodville, Texas) offers a convincing portrayal of a budding salesman with lots of naivety and just enough backbone.
Sure, the debut film can drag at times. Jokes fall flat, the plot meanders. But “Made in China” never strays too far off its course. Krant cleverly creates a dichotomy of worlds. She filmed Johnson’s hometown in Woodville, using (in true independent filmmaking spirit) Kuehn’s mom not only as an actor but also the location manager. The shots in Shanghai resulted from “being a little crafty,” Krant said, in some older neighborhoods not trumpeted by Chinese tourist officials. They give the film an unusual air of authenticity.
Expect both Krant and Kuehn to have a shelf life more like the slinky than, say, that pet rock.
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More on ‘Bruno’
When members of the press were walking out the Alamo South Sunday night after a sneak peek at footage from the upcoming “Bruno,” Michael Hogan of Vanity Fair asked me whether I thought the footage was made up, or whether Sacha Baron Cohen was still able to fool people as he did in “Borat.”
Despite Cohen’s fame, the answer, apparently, is that he’s still able to fool people.
Longtime friend and reporter Michael Granberry of The Dallas Morning News wrote last year that Cohen and his associates paid $50 for people to show up for the taping of what was described as a new TV talk show.
Footage from that taping in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton was included Sunday night in “Bruno.” The scene was described earlier on this blog and involved Cohen, dressed as a gay fashionista, describing how he adopted a baby from Africa as a fashion accessory, much to the audience’s outrage.
The taping occurred at TWL Studios-Productions, Granberry reported.
And now, from The Associated Press, comes word that Cohen “tricked the Alabama National Guard into allowing him onto a post, giving him a military uniform and briefly letting him train — all, supposedly, for a German TV documentary.”
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Screening alert: ‘Sunshine’ — see this one
Karen Skloss’ profoundly affecting documentary on single motherhood screens at 9:15 tonight at the Austin Convention Center and again at 2 p.m. Friday at the Alamo Ritz, where it enjoyed its premiere last Saturday.
Skloss weaves something singular and powerful from several threads dealing with adoption, unexpected pregnancy, relationships and the impervious ties between parent and offspring. It’s Skloss’ own story, yet it’s completely universal. Even resistant guys will find themselves melting in this radiant “Sunshine.”
Skloss’ lyrical storytelling gets a nice assist from the expressive, sometimes dreamy camerawork by longtime RIchard Linklater collaborator Lee Daniel.
More on the film and screenings HERE.
Read Charles Ealy’s interview with Skloss HERE.
Karen Skloss during the Q&A for “Sunshine” on Saturday at the Alamo Ritz
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As a surprise, Linklater unveils his latest
Well, sort of a surprise. … Richard Linklater filled the “Special Screening” slot this morning at SXSW with his small gem “Me and Orson Welles,” which received a warm hometown welcome at the Paramount. The two-thirds-filled house laughed, clapped, loved it.
Linklater, sporting a killer Western shirt embroidered with characters from Howard Hawks’ “Rio Bravo,” admitted he wasn’t supposed to be showing the movie this early (even though it played Toronto last year), since it won’t be released until October. What the hell, he said. He couldn’t not play it at longtime friend Janet Pierson’s first SXSW as the fest’s producer and leader.
The movie — based on Robert Kaplow’s novel and adapted by Austin writers Holly Gent Palmo and Vincent Palmo, Jr. — is about “art, youthful ambition and the blessing and curse of those compelled to put on a show,” Linklater told the crowd.
It’s a lovely movie, a richly appointed ’30s period piece set inside Orson Welles’ famed Mercury Theater in New York. It follows Zac Efron’s ambitious teenage actor as he finagles his way into Welles’ stellar troupe, using wiles, charm and confidence. It’s about learning the showbiz ropes the hard way by the hardest teacher, the blustery and bumptious Welles.
In a searing star turn, Christian McKay plays Welles as a seductive but insufferable supernova of gaseous ego and barking entitlement. Though not the late rotund Welles, he nevertheless takes up all the space around him and steals its oxygen, leaving those nearby gasping.
McKay’s lusty and rollicking Welles is the wild-eyed ringleader of a constellation of stars, from producer John Houseman (Eddie Marsan) to Joseph Cotton (James Tupper). They are mounting an ambitious, career-making production of “Julius Caesar” and we are history’s bedazzled witnesses.
Elegant and smooth, “Me and Orson Welles” evinces Linklater’s knack for character-driven chamber pieces, fluttering with sharp dialogue while exploring the brambles of love and the dour realization that egos and great art are sometimes horribly, wonderfully indivisible.
More about the movie HERE.
Linklater’s towering SXSW success
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We see funny people
Outside the sold-out premiere of the big-star comedy “Adventureland” Sunday night at the Alamo South, its writer-director Greg Mottola (he also did “Superbad”) and one of its stars, Bill Hader, stopped for an artistic portrait. (Thanks!)
Their movie, “Adventureland,” opens April 3
Also there were actor Danny McBride (“Pineapple Express,” etc.) …
… and (below) his good pal Jody Hill, who directed McBride and himself in “Foot Fist Way” and is screening his new Seth Rogen comedy “Observe and Report” at 9:30 tonight at the Paramount. (Be there. Rogen will be.)
Later Sunday night, following the screening of the excellent if harrowing border drama “Sin Nombre” at the Paramount, a red carpet roll-out was held for the cast of the comedy “Women in Trouble, co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marley Shelton, both below. (We heard — cough — the movie wasn’t so hot.)
Gordon-Levitt
Shelton
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Interview: ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ director Michel Scott
Austin American-Statesman: So how do you shoot video from the back of a horse?
Michel Scott: I actually grew up riding horses. My father owns a ranch in Colorado, where I would spend summers. I started riding when I was three or four but I hadn’t ridden for five or six years. I started training and brought the camera with me to see how it worked out. Eventually I got more comfortable with it, but nothing could have prepared me for what was going to happen in Mongolia. There were a lot more hours in the saddle than I expected, and I pretty much wound up holding the camera the entire time.
AA-S: Once you got involved, how did the story change?
Scott: There were definitely some twists and turns in the story that I didn’t expect. When Rupert told me they were going to take their child and ride through Mongolia and visit shamen, it doesn’t get much wackier than that. From my perspective as a filmmaker I said, ‘This is going to be amazing. This is a fantastic story.’ I thought this was going to be a story about acceptance. And ultimately it is. But it ends up being something else.
AA-S: Isaacson is producer and also the lead character, and yet he and the family aren’t always shown at their best.
Scott: The great thing about Rupert is he’s very interested in being seen from all sides. He wants the story to be as real as possible. I wanted to be sure we weren’t showing something unreal, especially since the storyline is unreal. And luckily Rupert was OK with that. It can be quite a challenge to film subjects who are also involved in the production of the film. In fact, that’s one of the greatest no-nos of documentary film. That can get very complicated very quickly. But Rupert was very gracious and wanted to show all sides of him and the family.
AA-S: The backstory of their domestic life in Elgin is intercut into this incredible quest narrative. Why that approach?
Scott: “I have to give a lot of credit to our editor, Rita Sanders. She was very helpful putting the structure of the film together. I think the initial reason was that we have all of this backstory, but the audience is going to know Mongolia is coming. We didn’t want to spend 30 or 45 minutes before leaving for Mongolia. We know that’s what people were going to be anticipating, so we wanted to get to Mongolia as soon as possible. But the backstory was so important for the actual trip to Mongolia to make sense.
AA-S: Did you try the boiled lung?
Scott: Yes. Actually, I tried all of the organs that Rupert tried. I have to admit I didn’t think they were that bad, except for the heart — the heart was pretty gross. I was ready for the worst.”
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‘Drag Me To Hell’: Raimi’s horrific vision returns
It’s good to see that success hasn’t spoiled Sam Raimi’s bloodiest, goriest, most outrageous and downright fun instincts.
In an ode to his glorious horror past, Raimi presented his new film “Drag Me To Hell” at a raucous midnight screening Sunday at the Paramount Theatre.
The film, due for a May release, still has a few post-production issues to sort out. But tightened sound effects and a few tweaks will only add to one of the year’s most anticipated films.
Sure, Raimi can wield the studio’s tools enough to produce the “Spiderman” trilogy that makes him one of Hollywood’s most desired directors. Give the man a few buckets of blood-red corn syrup and a budget without restraint, however, to really watch the fun begin.
And Raimi delivers the fun in a story that could be straight from the scribbled notes on his script from 1981’s “Evil Dead,” which redefined the horror genre with its blend of slapstick and gore.
An innocent loan officer with good intentions named Christine (Alison Lohman) tries to prove her hard heart to a supervisor and turns down a glass-eyed Mrs. Ganush (Lorna Raver), who responds to the denial with a flurry of spittle and, yep, a Gypsy curse. Christine enlists the help of everyone from her earnest boyfriend to concerned fortune-tellers as she battles Mrs. Ganush and her demonic sidekicks.
The ensuing tussles will look familiar to longtime Raimi fans. Eyes pop, bodies ooze and shadows creep across the screen. “Drag Me To Hell” may not technically be the new “Evil Dead” film, but it’s close enough for the fans that have eagerly awaited the return of Raimi’s horrific vision.
Really, the only thing that seemed missing at the Paramount was an appearance by Bruce Campbell.
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