The 27 Club? More like the snoresville club.

I can’t remember if we were supposed to write one or two blogs on cucalorus, or just talk about two films. Since I already discussed two in the last blog, I’ll just talk about one more. Sound good? That’s what I thought. Anyways, after seeing two films on friday, I decided to see a third one that night because people just wouldn’t shut up about it. Starting a few weeks before cucalorus up until friday night, the buzz on The 27 Club was noteworthy. I decided to get a ticket, and started to get really pumped on the idea of the film. I had been really sick (bedridden sick) on wednesday and thursday, so after that I kind of loaded up on films for the rest of the festival. So I get my ticket, convince about five other people (all but one who were not film majors) to attend this movie and delay any plans of going out until 11:30 when the film was over. I said, oh I think it’ll be great, I explained how stoked everyone is on Erica Dunton, how the film has been well-received thus far, so I wanted to check out her work. Well let me tell you, I was sorely disappointed.

         I mean, the film was okay, but was nothing to anticipate. I thought the story line was contrived, and flatlined for most of the film. Sure it had its moments, like the story line between the rock star’s driver and the runaway girl, which was cute and fun, but had no real ending. As for the main plot line of the film, I get what she was trying to do, but I think it was a bust. There wasn't even any talk of the 27 club so I thought that was an upsetting title, and I think she just used it to get people into seats. The rock star barely had any dialogue the entire film, didn’t open up to anybody or show any major step towards recovery until the last 10 min of the film when he met some homeless guy and suddenly changed. He explained at that time that he had all these drugs, but hadn’t taken anything for the five days he went on this trip. However, the entire film, there were shots of him sitting in his hotel room staring at the drugs and picking up bottle of pills and coke and what not. The way they shot it made me and everyone else I talked to think he was doing the drugs the whole time, but apparently we find out in the end that he didn’t do anything. He also seemed strung out the entire time, but I guess it was supposed to be him going through withdrawal. I felt like everything to do with the film was like that. It made sense in the end, when it should have been shot differently to show it earlier in the film. There was also no real ending. It was every abrupt and lacked any sort of satisfying conclusion. The guy sings with a choir, goes to his best friend’s funeral (which they don’t show hardly any footage and no dialogue if I recall correctly), flies the choir somewhere (I guess the funeral to sing, but I they were already in new york where I thought his funeral was so I don’t know where they were supposed to be flying to), and that was it. Fin. I just think it was a bit amateur as far as filmmaking goes, and had I been making the movie, I would not have released it the way it was.

Looked for Ms. Locklear and found an awesome movie

By far one of my favorite screenings at Cucalorus, Looking for Ms. Locklear had all of the elements of a fun, light-hearted movie anyone could hope for. The film was about these two filmmakers, Rhett and Link, who met in the first grade. They've been best friends ever since the first day of class when they got in trouble, and Ms. Locklear made them stay in from recess. Rather than looking her up with the internet, the pair chose to make a documentary about finding her using face to face contact only. They start at their old elementary school and use word of mouth to figure out their next step until they eventually find Ms. Locklear. I thought the concept for the film was genius, and as for the content, you couldn't write this stuff. 

         There was one guy in the film who was unbelievable, and I loved loved loved the way in which Rhett and Link edited his footage. This guy, I think his name was Clayton, lives in whatever county in North Carolina that Pembroke can be found. During the Q&A session, the two filmmakers explained that everyone they talked to in the county tried to send them his way, so eventually they went knocking on his door. He had a thick country accent and ridiculous facial expression, not to mention some awesome barefoot tap-dancing moves. At one point he mentions that his dog had a litter of ten puppies, so they should hop in the truck, drive around giving the puppies to people and asking if anyone knows a Ms. Locklear. I mean, you really couldn’t write a character like him, and the way they presented him in the film was outstanding. One minute, he’s saying something ridiculous while the audience laughs at his expense, and then the next Clayton surprises you by saying something so personal and honest, leaving you with this beautiful, heartfelt sentiment. I really felt like the film went beyond the humorous and immersed the audience into a these people’s lives, making you care about them and their stories on a much deeper level.

         This documentary was a complete and utter 180 from the one I watched about two hours before on Friday. I went to see Pray the Devil Back to Hell, which was about the women of Liberia banding together to stop the civil war in their country. As you can guess, the mood of the film was not exactly light, and put me in kind of a strange place afterwards. I definitely got a big dose of reality, realizing just how minuscule my problems are on the grand scale, so being able to watch a film like Looking for Ms. Locklear, was a great turnaround for the day. 

         Pray the Devil Back to Hell was truly an inspiring film, though. It’s a documentary about Christian and Muslim women living in Liberia during their last civil war. They band together to force both the current government and the rebels to attend the international peace talks held by the UN. The film follows the women through years of struggle, showing footage of child soldiers, the women’s meetings, the peace talks, etc. I thought it was so interesting how a lot of the older footage (clearly before the filming of the documentary had begun), was visibly shot with a consumer grade camera, keeping its authenticity. Otherwise I probably would have been wondering what was captured in the moment and what was re-shot as a dramatization.

The testimonials of the women leading the movement were also unforgettable. Their stories had such heartache and they lived in such unbelievable terror from both the rebels and the government that it made their victory that much sweeter in the end for themselves and the audience. I didn’t know anything about this film beside the blurb on cucalorus’ website, so for me it was amazing to walk into a film with no expectations, and walk out with a new sense of determination. These women had no power other than the will to change, and they did what no one else had succeeded in before them. Leaders from around the world couldn’t bring these two groups together, and the rebels and the government didn’t care about the people, they just wanted money and power. Without these women, I don’t know if anything would have changed very much in the past few years.