American Movie

Recently, my favorite YouTube channel, Red Letter Media, did a review of a 1996 film called Feeders. This bizarre little B-movie was panned pretty hard by the panel, but it did get briefly recognized for the significance of being a shot-on-video, no-budget film that managed to somehow land in a video store, completely removed from the help of any studio– something that was new to the 90s era of indie filmmaking. As RLM member Jack Packard put it, "this is the precursor to everything we're doing now– people outside of the studio system making movies on their own." While Feeders was made by the Polonia brothers, its story and creators share strong parallels with Mark Borchardt, equally a creator and character in his own right, and also the focus of the 1999 documentary American Movie.

Due to the total authenticity of both the filmmaking style and the subjects themselves, American Movie has a very strong comedic flair. You would almost be hardpressed to think that you're not watching a mockumentary, or perhaps a feverish, Wisconsinan cousin of Napoleon Dynamite, as Borchardt sincerely makes every effort to see his dream movie get made, but this film confirms that truth really is stranger than fiction. And the director, Chris Smith, is sure to make every effort on his part to capture each detail of Borchardt's highly unique life– and particularly his directing style. From casual shirtless interviews on set to failed stunts to securing production money from family members, we get a highly detailed portrait of Mark Borchardt by the end of the film. It's actually less of a documentary about how to create an indie movie outside of a studio system so much as it is an ultrasound of the kind of person it takes to see one through.

The cinematography and editing style of the film is meant to mirror the style of Borchardt's filmmaking– that is to say, it has a distinct handheld "shot-on-video" look to nearly every shot (excluding the establishing shots.) Using the Thanksgiving dinner scene as an example, no one is framed quite right (subjects are often right in the middle of the frame), the camera follows every person speaking with the bare minimum amount of cuts, frequently gets too close to subjects faces, and uses minimal lighting outside of the available lighting in the rooms each shot it in. In other words, there is very little attempt to make everyone in each shot well-lit or well-framed, giving it, along with the long shots without cuts, the appearance of a handheld home video.

As a film student, it's impossible not to sympathize with Borchardt. He's a lovable loser. The ultimate underdog. A man in search of the American dream, trying to beat the system, just him and his friends. How cool is that? It takes a really special kind of confidence and perseverance to push through with that, regardless of the quality of the film or its financial success. Maybe he's stupid for doing so, if you look at it realistically. But looking at it as a film, it doesn't matter, because damn it, you root for this guy to succeed. I highly recommend American Movie– perhaps the only documentary I have ever seen to get me to genuinely laugh out loud on multiple occasions. 

Searching for Sugarman

Malik Bendjelloul's Searching for Sugarman is one of the most uniquely cinematic documentaries I have ever experienced. Certainly I'm not the only one to feel this way– it won the late Swedish filmmaker the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards in 2013. Featuring great music, stylistic animation, and a captivating story clouded in mystery, this is the type of documentary anyone– even the most casual of audiences– can get into.

The effectiveness of the film can be credited to a variety of things, but overall, the element of suspense is what separates it from the great majority of other documentaries. It is, by its title, a "search", and we follow Stephen Segerman on that search to find Sixto Rodriguez. So while the film is meant to be informative in nature, the way that information is revealed is done in a way that keeps the audience guessing as to whether Segerman will reach his goal. This is classic narrative structure that is typically not found in documentary filmmaking, but is what makes going to the movies such an immersive experience for audiences. 

This could be just as good of a film to study for building suspense than any other narrative feature. Rodriguez himself is not fully revealed until just over halfway into the film. If the filmmakers really wanted to create a structurally narrative-based documentary, they could've pushed the reveal to about two-thirds or three-quarters of the way through the film so that the act structure worked better, but that's probably taking it too far– too little of Rodriguez may have defeated the point of the film. 

That being said, I really liked that the purpose of the documentary was not to just inform the audience of this man's life. This was much more about the journey to find Sixto and the impact he had on the South African people and culture than it was on Rodriguez himself. Perhaps it was the right time and the right place, but this music was liberating to these people during the Apartheid. Besides, a documentary all about Rodriguez alone may have gotten boring quick considering how short for words he is. Letting his daughters and those who did the searching for Sugarman talk for him was a smart idea.

The concert at the end to top things off was brilliant, both structurally and on a filmmaking level. It's a huge payoff for all the setup we've gotten throughout the film for all Rodriguez has done for the people of South Africa and how legendary of an artist he is. It's also incredible to see how well the found footage meshes with the recreated shots, to the point that you really don't know what isn't found footage. The scene is put together by a collection of short cuts from a variety of different sources ranging from within the crowd to on the stage to behind the stage, and nothing lasts longer than a few brief seconds. It's seamlessly edited so that it feels like, as an audience member, you are there witnessing this historic event. This is a supremely well-edited film overall. Searching for Sugarman gets a very high recommendation from me.

IT and the Horror Genre in 2017

Fans and critics alike are raving over the most recent adaptation of the classic Stephen King horror thriller, IT. Offering more than just a glimpse at a terrifying threat that personifies the very essence of evil, Andy Muschietti’s reimagining of the 1990 TV miniseries focuses on the bond and growth of the members of the “Loser’s Club”, a group of children in Derry, Maine who are each terrorized by the antagonizing Pennywise in different ways. By focusing on the children’s tenacity to overcome their individual fears rather than focusing on the spine-chilling fear itself, as many films in the genre do, IT becomes more than just a horror film. And to filmgoers’ great benefit, that is a trend that has been going upwards in recent years.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, IT drew in a scary good $51 million on it’s opening day alone. That means that in a single day, it broke records for the biggest opening in the month September (beating Hotel Transylvania 2), biggest Friday ever for an R-rated film (beating Deadpool), and biggest opening ever for a horror film (beating Paranormal Activity 3, if you include the box office numbers from Thursday early releases). These numbers are huge for box offices as theater attendances had fallen to a 25-year low with seven consecutive below-average weekends.

IT’s box office draw is also significant because it is already the third film in the horror genre to hit the $50 million domestic mark in 2017, matching Annabelle: Creation ($93.5 million so far) and Get Out ($175.5 million), although there are five movies depending on your definition of the genre, as sci-fi horrors Alien: Covenant ($74.3 million) and Life ($100.5 million) also passed the mark. How rare is this? Well, in the previous four years combined, there were only six total films to gross at least $50 million: two in 2016 (Don’t Breathe and The Conjuring 2), zero in 2015, two in 2014 (Saw 10^th Anniversary–so one if we’re only counting new films– and Annabelle), and two in 2013 (The Conjuring and Evil Dead [2013]). But despite five box office successes for the genre already in 2017, there may be more still yet to come. Darren Aronofsky’s highly anticipated psychological horror mother! hits theaters this month along with Jeepers Creepers 3, and in October horror fans will be treated to Cult of Chucky, Leather Face, Snowman, and Jigsaw. The latter four may have difficulties competing with each other at the box office but nevertheless, it is likely that we have not seen the final box office horror hit this year, making 2017 one of the best years in history for the genre.

Of course, money doesn’t determine whether or not a film is actually good– a variety of factors go into that. What makes 2017 even more unique is that the top box office drawers in horror have also gotten favorable ratings as well, something not all too common in the history of the genre. IT currently stands at 88% on Rotten Tomatoes (71 on Metacritic), making it “certified fresh”. Annabelle: Creation has mixed but generally favorable reviews at 68% (62 on Metacritic) and Get Out impressively remains the most highly rated theatrical wide-release of the year at 99% (84 on Metacritic). So what can we take away from all this? Horror fans can rest at ease– or maybe, not rest at all– because horror films are getting better, seeing more success, and perhaps, inducing just a bit more fear into the world.

Wind River

Head over to your favorite theater because moviegoers have been given the perfect film to transition into the next phase of the year. “While missing person statistics are compiled for every other demographic, none exist for Native American women.” Those are the words that fill the screen in the final moments of Taylor Sheridan’s directorial debut of Wind River. The film follows the murder case of a young Native American woman on one of the largest — and certainly one of the most desolate — reservations in the country. Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen present brilliant, career-defining performances, making it easy to forget that they both played Avengers together less than a year ago.

Sheridan, screenwriter of Oscar-nominated films Sicario and Hell or High Water, is the real star of the film. His ability to take a highly sensitive issue and adapt it into an emotional journey about recovering from loss while also putting audiences on a thrill ride that keeps them on the edge of their seats, waiting for a bomb to drop at any moment, is worthy of praise. Already a budding master of building and releasing tension, Sheridan manipulates the audiences’ emotional responses in Wind River. Unlike many thrillers that keep the tension high for much of the film, there is enough time to relax between moments of anxiety to build the tension back up. Like a good roller coaster, this movie shows that the real fear comes while waiting, increasing as the drop gets closer.  

The film might fall somewhat short on action but each sequence in Wind River is purposeful– not a moment is wasted– making it one of the best paced and well written movies in 2017 . Renner (Lambert) and Gil Birmingham’s characters (Martin) share a very touching moment together after Martin learns of the death of his daughter. Since Martin only has a couple of scenes in the film, this could have easily been a throwaway scene. Instead, it is an extremely important scene in the movie that is used to show the strength of Lambert’s character as he uses his own loss to help Martin find solace. It highlights the wilderness theme; you either “survive or you surrender”.

Sheridan’s young résumé is already quite impressive now with three modern American-Western films under his belt. After a summer movie season full of high action, car cashes, explosions and The Emoji Movie, Wind River provides just the right amount of gripping catharsis filmgoers need to refresh and understand the strength that comes from dealing with loss. Plus, the awards season is just around the corner, so you might as well whet your palette with something fresh, thoughtful, Oscar-worthy and truly stimulating before nominations are handed out.