LINOLEUM (SXSW 2022)

March 21, 2022

SXSW 2022

Greetings again from the darkness. For those of us who spend entirely too many hours of our life watching movies, it’s always a welcome pleasure to stumble upon one that is creative and innovative and entertaining. The first feature film from writer-director Colin West is all that, plus it’s funny and touching and features some science. As an added bonus, it features the always great Jim Gaffigan in a dual starring role.

Mr. Gaffigan stars as Cameron, a middle-aged guy who writes, acts, and films an educational children’s science show for Public Access TV titled, “Above and Beyond”. Imagine a blend of Carl Sagan and Bill Nye the Science Guy. It’s a show he and his wife Erin (Rhea Seehorn, “Better Call Saul”) started together, but now she works at the local Air & Space Museum as the two await the finalization of their divorce.

Cameron has been waiting patiently for a preferred time slot, and one day his producer delivers news that’s both good and bad. The show is being picked up for distribution, but they have hired a new host. In what is anything but the oddest thing to happen so far in the story, Cameron can’t help but notice how much he and the new host look alike – although the personality differences are startling. It turns out the new guy bought the house right across the street from Cameron and Erin, and new guy has a teenage son, Marc (Gabriel Rush), who awkwardly befriends their daughter Nora (Katelyn Nacon).

When a satellite crashes in his yard, Cameron seizes the opportunity to become the astronaut he always dreamt of being by attempting to re-build the tangled mess into a custom rocket ship. Obviously I have left out many details in an effort to avoid spoilers for a story that is at times surreal, and can be best enjoyed going in cold. Other familiar faces appearing briefly in supporting roles include Tony Shalhoub, Amy Hargreaves, and Michael Ian Black. We have seen parallel universe films before, but filmmaker Colin West treats us to something a bit different. It may seem like a low-key affair, but “it’s not that simple.”

Narrative Feature Competition Category – SXSW

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Posted by David Ferguson

FINAL PORTRAIT (2018)

April 5, 2018

 Greetings again from the darkness. Geoffrey Rush is such a uniquely talented performer that I wouldn’t hesitate to walk into any of his projects with little hint as to the subject matter. He is simply that good at what he does. Here he plays renowned Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti, a man Rush seems destined to play given their quite similar physical appearances. It’s a 90 minute joy ride (though it’s not really joyful) for anyone who enjoys watching an artist work … or in this case, an artist working as an artist.

Writer-director Stanley Tucci is best known for his acting career, and he also has an eye for the camera and clearly admires Giacometti and his work. Set in 1964 Paris, most of the film takes place in Giacometti’s shabby little compound that includes his studio and a bedroom he sometimes shares with his wife Annette (Sylvie Testud). Occasional forays take us to his favorite café, or walks through the city by his latest portrait subject, the American art writer James Lord (Armie Hammer). In fact, the film is based on Mr. Lord’s memoir “A Giacometti Portrait”, which details his experience posing for the master … a task that was originally promised to last a couple of hours, and turned into 3 weeks.

Also appearing are Tony Shalhoub as Diego, the artist’s brother and assistant, and Clemence Poesy (IN BRUGES) as Caroline, a local prostitute who also serves as Giacometti’s muse. It’s a fine and talented cast, but this just as easily could have been a one-actor play. Rush plays the lead as a typical artist in shambles – one who cares as little for relationships as he does about money, clothes and appearances. He’s perpetually rumpled with mussed hair and a dangling cigarette being his sole accessory.

He is both charming and miserable, sometimes in the same breath – unwittingly pitting his forlorn wife against his more pampered muse … never more obvious than when comparing gifts of a new dress versus a new BMW. Much of the time on screen is spent in the daily ritual: adjusting the chair just so, Lord sitting down and assuming the pose, an artistic gaze cast, followed by the careful selection of a particular brush. More often than not, Giacometti mutters an “Ahh F***”, and proceeds to start over (and over and over). An honored yet frustrated Mr. Lord is forced into numerous flight reschedules, as time means nothing to an artist.

Director Tucci shoots through the smudged window panes more than once, and when Giacometti tells Lord, “I’ll never be able to paint you as I see you”, it really captures the tortured madness and brilliance of such an amazing artist. He doesn’t see the world the way most of us do, and that’s what sets his art apart. Of course the personal toll on the man and those around him is quite high … Giacometti passed away less than two years after the Lord portrait.

watch the trailer:

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Posted by David Ferguson