Coda’s ongoing coverage of the 2022 Phoenix Film Festival & International Horror Sci-Fi Film Festival. I'll be using these posts to recap the films I've experienced as part of these festivals.
18 ½ - Directed by Dan Mirvish
The year is 1974. Connie (Scream
& Reacher’s Willa Fitzgerald) is
a White House transcriber working for the Office of Management & Budget
when she stumbles upon the only known recording of the missing 18 ½ minute gap
of the Nixon Tapes. Afraid and conflicted, she enlists the help of Paul (FIRST
COW’s John Magaro), a New York Times reporter.
I
was surprised at how good this film was, as it was barely on my radar at all.
And I’m quite glad I made it to the screening. The sound design, cinematography
and costumes are so postmodern of the 1970’s New Hollywood movement that the
film almost comes off as meta. With long scenes of intelligently written and
well executed dialogue that remind me of the works of Buck Henry combined with
the technical sight and sound reminiscent of Francis Ford Coppola’s THE
CONVERSATION (and similar subject matter), this film was going for something
very specific. And I think it nailed it.
Fitzgerald
and Magaro are both fantastic here. Their chemistry exudes a very specific
charm. But the film also boasts a great supporting cast. I always love it when
Richard Kind shows up, but Richard Kind with an eyepatch is even better. And
Vondie Curtis-Hall is one of those insanely reliable ‘I’ve seen him in tons of stuff but can’t quite name anything’
actors that has the ability to steal any scene at any given time. This flick
even has an all-star cast of voice talents recreating the infamous recordings.
Bruce Campbell, Ted Raimi and Jon Cryer all provide the film’s background
soundtrack, so to speak.
Ultimately,
this film is having a lot of fun with a subject matter that has turned out to
be far more prescient in recent times. With the new reporting of the 7-hour gap
in Trump’s cell records and “burner phones” being used during last year’s
insurrection, I wonder what a movie with this type of energy will be like
looking back at the end of our nation’s 45th Presidency. How long
before we’re able to look back at today’s threats against democracy and rule of
law with a whimsical quirk?... This is not a rhetorical question… I seriously
need to mark it in my calendar and begin counting the days…
In
summary, this a very clever and accomplished film that has a lot of fun with
its material. I can see myself revisiting it in years to come.
HYPOCHONDRIAC – Directed by Addison Heimann
A
young gay man’s life unravels as he begins losing control of his mind and body,
all while the ghosts of his childhood trauma come back to haunt him.
Due
to my own carelessness, this was the film that I ended up with when I lost my
ticket to the much anticipated, MASSIVE TALENT screening… Honestly, I’m kind of
glad. I was going to skip this film altogether. And I ended up completely
loving it. And as it turned out to be my final screening of the festival, it
was a great note to end on.
This
was such an unsettling depiction of mental health issues. The director (present
for the screening) stood up and told us before it started that it was based on
his real mental breakdown. Then, as I recall, this was re-stated in one of the
film’s opening title cards. What was to follow on the screen made these
statements completely unnecessary. This film wears its heart on its sleeve so blatantly
that it’s painfully obvious how deeply personal this story is to the
storyteller. And this, is one of the most special and refreshing things that I
can find in this medium that I love.
The
characters here were well crafted and organic to the story’s setting. Our main,
Will was portrayed phenomenally by Zach Villa. It’s his mental condition that
is the film’s focal point and a large part of its success rests on his performance’s
ability to switch in between hyper-expressive and subdued into concern as he internalizes
his fears. The rest of the cast works well to either trigger or react to Will’s
ever-changing condition while remaining careful not to steal the show. No, we the
audience are here for Will. His headspace, and every beautiful and horrifying
thing going on in it is ours to experience with him as this film crescendos
into a kind of Cronenbergian mental body horror climax.
If
this all sounds a bit too intense for you, I don’t blame you. But I also have
to mention just how funny this film can be throughout. It’s actually hard to
describe the overall tone of this film. It’s serious about a serious subject
that you’re definitely supposed to be taking seriously. But it also has no
problem taking breaks from time to time to snicker at itself or to just be
goofy. I think this is a big part of why I felt it was so obviously personal to
the filmmaker. Like an actual human, this film has tons of personality. And
that personality is never afraid to splatter itself all over every inch of the
frame.
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