Whew, a whole year since an update, ugh. I blame FB.   Guess we ought to try this again, eh?   I’ll look into a refresh here maybe in a few weeks here.

Nevertheless, here is the beginning of my annual posting on my SXSW experiences this year.  My friend Steve talked me into doing some SXSW Interactive panels this year, so my film will be weighted more towards the end of the week.  Thanks again to Mindy for holding down the fort as I through myself into the jaws of the festival.  So yes, I got another badge this year.  Volunteering is still very much in the back of my mind but will have to wait for the kiddos to be a bit older I think.

Friday, March 12

Kick-Ass
In a phrase:  “Kill Bill” meets John Hughes. Dash of Apatow potty humor.

This was one of those larger mainstream film screenings.  SXSW tends to land a couple of films every year that are about to open and screens ‘em at the festival.  I don’t usually go in for those, but I thought this one sounded fun.  The premise up front: dorky teenager decides to become a superhero.  Director Matthew Vaughn is known for his films “Stardust” and “Layer Cake” (both of which I very much liked), so that helped suck me in.  The line into the Paramount snaked all the way around the block, and I stood next to a girl who was raving about the film for the hour we waited.  So, I managed to wait it out and got a balcony seat.  I mention all of this as it probably had some impact on my eventual opinion of the film.

So, the thing was lively, no question, and had some truly stunning action scenes.  Well paced overall, and competently composed. The comedy, although it occasionally fell to pretty low humor, was generally pretty well timed and chuckle-worthy.  Still, something nagged at me while I watched it.  There’s no question I identified on some level with the premise; I spent a lot of energy wanting to like what I was seeing.  I didn’t exactly expect going in for the acting to bowl me over or for the plot to be transcendent.  The bottom line is, the premise gets mixed in with some pretty fantastical elements and the audience is asked to buy into these being able to coexist, and it ultimately just doesn’t blend.  The main character (that would be David, A.K.A.  Kick-Ass) in his superheroic misadventures runs into “Big Daddy” and “Hit Girl”, a father/daughter team we find out, via comic book montage, is out for revenge against the city’s apparent main crime lord (played by Mark Strong, recently Lord Blackwood in the Sherlock Holmes film from last year. I love this guy), whom Kick-Ass has mistakenly run afoul.   These two existing superheroes are simultaneously plausible regular folk but also possess superhuman fighting skills. This just never really gelled in my opinion.  I had similar problems with pre-climax climax, when Kick-Ass is caught and to be unmasked on TV.  I don’t think anyone who lived through the Geraldo “Al Capone” thing in the 80’s really buys this kind of media event could happen again.  That note just rang a bit false, even though it led up to the most spectacular little girl kill frenzy in the film.

Also, as the superhero paragons of this universe (espeically Big Daddy, who very purposefully resembles Batman, and has Nicholas Cage doing a thinly veiled Adam West imitation), they kill almost every foe they come across.   It’s corny, I know, but it’s a bit troubling to see figures like this reinterpreted as common vigilantes / murderers.  At the same time, this whole plot is mixed in with a fairly elaborate teen sex farce, mocking the Spiderman/Mary Jane thing a bit as David allows his high school crush to believe he is gay so he can be her gay BFF.   Actually, I almost found this story thread more compelling than the “A” plot.  On this note, the cast of characters is pretty wide, and fairly interesting in conception, including the villain’s family and organization, which is a rare treat these days.  The breadth of them was another glaring weakness though; I never really felt I got to know any of the characters well enough to really buy into what is at base a pretty ridiculous story.  Suspension of disbelief with any superhero move is critical, even if it is an otherwise well crafted and well intentioned parodic twist on the genre.

It’s hard to recommend this one, but it’s not a total waste of time.  Weaknesses aside, the story pulls off without any major non-sequiturs and actually attempts to do some villain development, which always puts it a film a notch up in my book.  Still, I’m wondering if the open ending begging for a sequel is just a stylistic flourish to make it fit the superhero movie genre form or if they’re serious about franchising this thing.  I hope the former; I don’t see how this fairly hybrid premise doesn’t collapse under it’s already considerable weight of absurdity by taking it out any further than they already have.

White Stripes Under the Great White Northern Lights
In a phrase: Jack White keeping it real, solidifying his seat next to Dylan.

So, this is a pretty decent emulation of rock docs that have gone before.  More than one whisper of “Pennebaker” has been uttered about this piece.  Ultimately, it’s a highly stylized “get to know the White Stripes” bit.  We follow them on tour though Canada a couple years ago.  The really interesting part is they decide to hit some really remote places in their quest to do every Province and also do some free day shows for the locals in addition to their normal act.

This has the effect of humanizing Jack and Meg (mostly Jack) as they hang with the hoi polloi, an interesting take considering about how much strange speculation has been made about them over their 10 year career, mostly relating the nature of their personalities and their relationship.  In interview, Jack addresses this head on, freely admitting that the band is a construct, but goes to great pains to point out that the music is still genuine.  The cognitive dissonance on this is a powerful force in the film.  I mean the thing is shot in predominantly white, red, black, and white.  I don’t think it would be a stretch to consider the film equally a construct of the band.  That being the case, it’s a little hard to not take this behind the scene’s look at Jack and Meg as a cynical exercise.  And I’m a fan.

The music sounded good, but this is by no means a concert film. This is much more about putting flesh on the bones of the White Stripes mythology.  As much as I enjoy them musically, I find marketing in the form of art to be a bit objectionable. I guess I’m just not feeling the postmodern groove much this week.  It’s hard for me to like the character Jack White if I feel like I’m being manipulated to do so.  Maybe that’s just naive though, all entertainment is based on this silent contract really.  I guess this just came across to me as working a bit hard to earn my trust, which then produced the opposite effect.  Maybe Jack is the mastermind he is made out to be and this was the intended effect, but I doubt it.

All that said, I suppose this is still a must see for fans.  If for no other reason, you may gain a bit of insight on Meg and her apparently crippling shyness. At least I feel a bit vindicated about the ACL no-show that happened that year.  One lingering question not addressed at Q&A:  what was up with that guy napping on the bed behind them during the interview segments?