Today was my final day at SXSW 2007. But I managed to catch three movies - Doubletime, Helvetica, and The Whole Shootin' Match - before heading back to Dallas.
Doubletime Director: Stephanie Johnes Starring: Jumpers SXSW Summary: In the last 30 years jump roping has moved off the sidewalks and into the gym, now featuringastounding acrobatics, lightning speed and international competition. Doubletime follows two disparate teams--one suburban white and one inner-city black-- as they train to compete against each other for the very first time.
I caught a bit of the national jump rope competition on tv last week, and it got me really excited about this movie. These competitive jumpers do things that I couldn't have imagined were possible. Just stunning stuff.
Doubletime is the best entry in the Quirky Competition Documentary subgenre since Spellbound. Director Johnes follows two teams from two different leagues (yeah... there are at least 2 competitive jump rope leagues), and manages to tell the story of both coaches and several of the kids. Her and the editor did an amazing job of picking these stories out of 350 hours of footage.
But as interesting as the kids were, my favorite thing about the movie is the scenes with the Japanese teams who show up for an international competition. Johnes portrays them almost as an invading alien force... they're never shown talking, they've all got on these impossibly-stylized outfits, and everything they do (even walking down the street) is scored with really intense music. And as good as the American teams are, these Japanese teams blow them away. Like... it's really not even close (sorry Americans).
OK Go was in Austin this weekend and somehow invited one of the jumpers from the movie on-stage to jump during one of their songs. So since I can't find a trailer for the doc, here's that clip:
Doubletime will be released this summer, and is absolutely worth tracking down. One of my favorites of the festival.
Helvetica Director: Gary Hustwit Starring: The Entire Alphabet, Except for R, Because He's a Prick SXSW Summary: Helvetica is a feature-length documentary about typography, graphic design and global visual culture that looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which will celebrate its 50th birthday in 2007) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives. The film is an exploration of urban spaces in major cities and the type that inhabits them, and a fluid discussion with renowned designers about their work, the creative process, and the choices and aesthetics behind their use of type.
So, yeah... this is a documentary about a single typeface. Brian has been pretty hyped about this movie all week, and I was curious to see how it could possibly be a 90 minute doc. Apparently I wasn't the only one, as this was one of the longest lines I've seen all week. In fact, other than Knocked Up, I don't know if I've seen a longer line. We got to the ACC just before the line started moving, and we were so far back, we actually thought we might not get in.
Before the movie someone came out and promised that the movie would make an impact on our lives. I thought that was crazy talk, but the whole drive home I kept noticing how many signs and logos were printed with Helvetica. This morning I couldn't have picked Helvetica out of a line up, and now I'm seeing it everywhere. So I guess he's right. And it's kinda annoying.
The way Hustwit managed to make this into a feature was to interview tons of respected graphic designers about the use and impact of Heletica. There's apparently two schools of thought on the matter: there's a group that loves its simplicity and versatility, and a group that - like elitist hipsters everywhere - hate it because it's so overused.
There's this one great interview where a guy in the latter camp is asked why he thinks the font is so universal. He just kinda shakes his head, signs, then says "Because bad taste is... ubiquitous."
The Whole Shootin' Match Director: Eagle Pennell Starring: Lou Perry, Sonny Davis, Doris Hargrave SXSW Summary: N/A
Before the movie we had some time to kill, so we grabbed some Mexican food. While we were eating, Brian noticed Nicky Katt - Austin's most intense celebrity - talking intensely into his cell phone outside the restaurant. When he finished his conversation, he gravely shuffled inside and ordered his dinner. Intensely. But whatever he got must not have been very good, because he ate it with a scowl. As he left, I averted my eyes. Katt is kinda like the sun... it's best not to look directly at him. (Mr. Katt... if you're reading this, please don't kill me while I sleep.)
So this independent movie came out in 1979 and was thought to be lost for a bunch of years. Before the screening, Louis Black came out to explain to us why this film was capital-I Important. Black claims that this movie is responsible for the entire landscape of indie cinema. But I'm not really sure why that would be the case... especially since you had guys like Corman (or even Wood Jr.) making independent movies well before 1979. But I'm no film historian...
The movie itself... I don't really want to sound negative or anything... but it just seemed very amature. Everything from the writing to the pacing to some of the acting was below the standards of what I expect from a film festival movie. If this had been made in 2006, there's no way it would have been accepted into SXSW. But since it's Important, I guess we're supposed to cut it some slack.
The two lead guys have good chemistry together, and the intro and endings are enjoyable, but I ultimately had a rough time sitting through the 2-hour screening (and the 15ish minute short by Pennell that they showed before the movie).
Amusung aside... at one point during the movie there was a shot of a sign and Brian & I both involuntarily whispered "Helvetica." Stupid font awareness.
Brian's Too-Lazy-To-Format Links
I followed Micah around for half the day then went home instead of waiting for two hours out in the rain. Doubletime (loved it), Helvetica (liked it), The Whole Shootin' Match (bored to tears).
So that's it for my SXSW... tomorrow I'll post some interesting pictures that I took during the past few days. And Brian will continue to post his thoughts until the festival ends on Saturday.
