{.}

Director Bruce McDonald and writer Daniel MacIvor’s drama Trigger is about the former leaders of a rock band meeting up years after an acrimonious, druggy flameout (I wondered if the band might be loosely modeled on Veruca Salt, although there’s also something Mick’n'Keef about their dynamic, and maybe a bit of Chrissie Hynde in Wright’s physical presence). Kat (Molly Parker) is in LA making big bucks on soundtrack work; Vic (Tracy Wright, in her final performance) is in Toronto, just scraping by, but working on an artistically pure project; Kat wants to drag Vic to a show that celebrates women in rock.

There were moments when the banter between Kat and Vic really crackled, but there weren’t enough of those to overcome my reservations. I struggled throughout with credibility issues, some of them mundane (how big rock shows are run, and how well they can accommodate last-minute changes) and some of them more central (how people struggling with addiction discuss it, e.g., usually not in well-composed, stage-y soliloquies). The stage-y quality is reinforced by the proportion of the running time that’s Kat and Vic interacting just with each other; I think having other characters more involved in the mix would have opened the picture up considerably.

This really stunning set of short films sits very well together, with a troubled relationships between fathers and sons, running through several of them (animals are also key to a few selections).

“We’re Leaving” - Zachary Treitz’s story of a couple who unexpectedly have to find a new home for themselves and their alligator is funny and tense, and he gets fabulous performances from people who aren’t professional actors.

“After You Left” - Jef Taylor (director, co-writer) and Michael Tisdale (co-writer, lead) portrait’s of a guy reeling after the sudden dissolution of his relationship. It’s fantastically on-target. It also makes a great case for fair use rights; there’s a scene with a Radiohead-obsessed friend that was priceless, but which might be prohibitively difficult for a small production to get licensed.

“Chainsaw Found Jesus” - A striking and unusual use of voiceover helps establish a distinct authorial voice in writer-director Spencer Parson’s short film. It reminded me of some of the short story writers I’ve been enjoying lately, like Wells Tower, Eric Puchner, and even, in the relationship of the the narration to the events in the film, David Foster Wallace.

“Protoparticles” - Writer-director Chema García Ibarra’s science-fiction fable mixes serious science fiction content with mild slapstick, the sort of existensial melancholy I associate with South American magical realists like Cortàzar, and a decidedly low-tech vibe. It reminded me a bit of Chris Marker; some of the imagery also recalled Ted McKeever’s recent graphic novel Meta4.

“Tatooine” - I’d originally seen Eric Power’s animated short-short in the context of a music video for Jeremy Messersmith’s surprisingly tender and non-jokey ballad “Tatooine.” In computer streaming video, the cleverness and wit of Power’s paper cut-out animation was evident. On a larger screen the depth of his craft really shines through — literally, he makes great use of shadows between the pieces of paper. Also, his website has a singularly awesome url: ericpowerup.net.

“Little Horses” - Director/co-writer Levi Abrino and co-writer Luke Matheny’s story of a man vying for his son’s affections with his ex-wife’s new partner is hilarious and trenchant; like “Chainsaw Found Jesus” it reminded me of Puchner and Tower.

“Ich bin’s, Helmut” - Director/co-writer Nicolas Steiner and co-writer Stefanie Ren present the extraordinary story of Helmut. This was very surprising and I don’t want to give anything important away, but it looks as if it could be one continuous eleven minute shot. At some point I realized what was going on with Helmut, and I the film could easily have been heavy-handed in establishing that, but it maintains an unusual grace and sly wit throughout. I was reminded again of a short fiction writer I admire, this time Kelly Link.

In writer-director Sophia Takal’s feature, Brooklynite couple Sebastian and Genevieve (played by Takal’s real-life fiancé Lawrence Michael Levine and real-life room-mate Kate Lyn Shiel) sublet a property in West Virginia so Sebastian can blog about his experience trying to farm. Their relationship, already a bit rocky, is strained by the the intrusion of their neighbor Robin (played by Takal herself). I liked Green a lot — the sound design is quite interesting, and a lot of the cinematography is beautiful. Green is most notable for the mistakes it avoids: its small hermetic cast could easily feel stilted or stage-y; it could be heavy-handed. Instead, it’s nuanced and balanced, and, critically, just a little ambiguous about some of the characters’ motivations.

Color Me Obsessed is markedly different from most rock documentaries. No band members are interviewed, and none of their music is heard. Instead, the film is entirely composed of interviews with people affected by The Replacements, some of them famous, many of them less so. The film’s structure is linear and loosely organized around the band’s albums. 
The selection of voices implicitly addresses the fundamental dichotomy of ‘mats fandom: some people loved The Replacements for the drunken trainwrecks, and some people loved The Replacements despite the drunken trainwrecks. If you’re already a Replacements fan you’ll find yourself thinking “yeah!” one second and “no way! are you crazy!?” the next; almost every album is someone’s favorite, but every album after Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take out the Trash is also the one where the quality nosedived. 
Likewise, if you’re up on the history of The Replacements, you’ll find some moments very satisfying (why is an album titled Tim? The answer is lies within) and some a little head-scratch-inducing (there’s no mention of the probably-apocryphal story of Paul Westerberg firing the “original” lead singer, even to debunk it; the infamous “stealing the master tapes” story is told from the label’s perspective, with no mention of the acrimonious relationship between the band and their former label).
No matter how much of a fan you are, you’re probably going to hear some surprising anecdotes you hadn’t heard before. I’ll eschew spoilers, but some of the most compelling moments aren’t even directly about the band; they’re about how people responded to the it. 
If you’re not a fan of The Replacements, you may find Color Me Obsessed an uphill climb, because there’s absolutely nothing that objectively portrays why anyone should care about this band. (Of course, if you’re not a fan of The Replacements, maybe I should make you a mix, so we can possibly address that.)
Even though I am a fan of The Replacements, I thought Color Me Obsessed was wearing its welcome thin by the end; two solid hours of encomiums is kinda a lot for one sitting. Which doesn’t mean I won’t eventually work my way (I hope) through a mess of bonus interviews on the DVD.

Yet again, I’m going to try to do capsule reviews of all the films I see as part of Independent Film Festival Boston. Here’s the first.

I unabashedly loved Being Elmo, but it’s tough to write about — I don’t know how to convey the sheer joy of it without making it sound treacly. It reminds me a little bit of Best Worst Movie in that it relies largely on the charisma and geniality of its primary subject, but Best Worst Movie had more dimensions and a much more conventional plot arc to work with, and the warmth and charm of Kevin Clash, the man who brings life to Elmo, is of a very different genus from George Hardy’s. Director Constance Marks got clearance for some great historical footage and makes very effective use throughout of b-roll and contemporary shots of important locales in Clash’s story; her pacing and framing is also impressive. But I feel a tiny bit cheap writing that; it means a sliver of me was outside the film, thinking about how and why it worked instead of just getting swept up in it. But it was only a little sliver.

I thought the sequences with Clash mentoring young puppeteers as he was once mentored were particularly magical. Not only do they show the generosity of his spirit, they also illuminate the depth of work and thought that goes into his craft.

Thanks for joining the Daily Kitten project 2011. Hope you enjoyed meeting the kits.

(There are bigger versions of daily kittens at summervillain’s flickr site)

A Merritt twofer today since Claudia took two days in a row . . .

(There are bigger versions of daily kittens at summervillain’s flickr site)

(There are bigger versions of daily kittens at summervillain’s flickr site)