Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

Everyone's Matt Fentiman
and Mark Hildreth

This was the first weekend of the Philadelphia Film Festival, and The Gryphon and I being movie buffs, we viewed several movies.

Since our first movie on Saturday didn't start until the evening, we had time to run some personal errands. After breakfast at the local diner, we shopped around for a refrigerator, since we'll need one in the new apartment.

We settled on a Haier model in Best Buy, but when we tried to order it, they had so many back orders that they weren't allowed to take another order.

We stopped in Home Depot for a couple minor things. First, we needed a clip to attach our shower head to the shower rod that encircles the old-fashioned bath tub. We couldn't find anything, even with help from the floor staff. We'll have to seek advice from some friends about that.

In addition, we were seeking a towel rack for the bathroom that would be easy to install. Most required drilling, and it's a tile wall so we'll have to examine the bathroom more carefully and decide what option to pursue there. Perhaps we'll end up with a towel rack that hangs over the back of the door.

By then, I was starting to get a bit lightheaded from all the running around without much water, so we stopped in the grocery store to pick up some salads at the salad bar. We took them home to my place and spent a little time with my dog, Una, before leaving for the evening's showing.

We left early enough to get dinner first. Since our first movie was at The Prince movie theater, we decided to eat at the nearby Olive Garden. The Gryphon got in line at the restaurant and I picked up our tickets at Will Call.

The Olive Garden was fairly busy. We sat at the bar and had some drinks while we waited. They gave me a huge amount of pasta, and I had most of it boxed up. We stopped by the car and dropped it off before the film.

Our first film was Everyone, written and directed by Bill Marchant. This was a low budget film was Marchant's debut, and it was an ambitious undertaking: weaving several stories together, all centered around the commitment ceremony of a gay couple, one of whom is getting cold feet. The film started out slow and could have used some editing.

The beginning of the script felt stilted, and I wasn't sure at first if it was the actors or the script, but they became more convincing in their roles as the movie progressed, so I think it must have been the script.

The one standout actor in this film was Brendan Fletcher, who plays a street punk who gets invited to the ceremony by the mother of one of the grooms, since she needs him to carry a box of decorations for her. He was natural in every scene he was in and stole the scene in each one. A quick search of IMdB reveals that he's worked pretty consistently for the past 10 years. I would definitely say he's a face to watch.

Mark Hildreth, who plays one half of the gay couple, has also had a lot of work. He did particularly well conveying the rapid shifts in mood experienced by someone who begins to panic as his big day arrives.

Afterwards, the director participated in a question and answer session, so we got to hear a bit about how the film was made. He had only spent about $23,000 on it, which meant that he'd already made money on it, having taken it to 13 film festivals. You have to admire him for making the film happen.

I asked him whether he found it difficult to blend comedy with drama. He revealed that his favorite directors include Woody Allen, Robert Altman, P.T. Anderson, so he was trying to make a film that linked different stories.

He has potential, though the dramatic moments often had more impact than the humor. He did get the audience laughing at points, and thinking, which I'm sure is what he intended to accomplish.

Our last film of the evening was across town at Ritz East, Survive Style 5+, a Japanese film directed by Gen Sekiguchi. That film was absolutely great, successfully weaving together five different plot lines, with an adept pacing brought about through skillful editing.

A dark comedy that is visually colorful, the imaginative film blends elements of martial arts movies with low comedy and family films.

It follows the interlocking plot lines of a husband who keeps trying to kill his indestructible wife; three young, bungling burglars; an Australian hit man and his interpreter; a driven advertising executive and her self-involved hypnotist lover; and a businessman and his nuclear family whose attendance at the hypnotist's performance changes their life.

Although the film is a dark comedy, it was surprisingly gentle and touching at times. Each plot line involves some violence but also some form of redemption, as nearly every character learns important lessons about love, coping, and relationships.

I loved the fresh visual style and the fast-paced editing. The acting was great, especially when you consider how many different types of emotions these actors often had to play. Even the silliest story lines involved real human moments. Of course, many of them have been in a range of other types of movies, some of which The Gryphon and I have seen, such as the romance, Josee the Tiger and the Fish and the samurai movie, Zatôichi.

More Musings on the 2005 Philadelphia Film Fest:

April 12, 2005 - Short and Sweet

April 18, 2005 - A Different View

April 19, 2005 - Last of the Fest

Musings on the 2004 Philadelphia Film Fest:

April 12, 2004 - Indulging in Film

April 19, 2004 - Beyond Tragic Consequences

Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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