Unaligned Films

Unaligned because they don’t have regular distribution…they’re independent. Ted got tickets to the California Independent Film Festival, which was held this weekend in Livermore. He got free tickets because he did the voice for the awards show, and the promo videos on their website as well. You know, the voice that comes on and says the name of the films in each category? Yeah, that was Ted. Cool, huh? Anyway, we spent Saturday watching Independent films that felt much more professional than that sounds. We started with a series of shorts, films that are about 15 – 20 minutes long. We saw 3 shorts, and they were all quite dark and somewhat disturbing. If you’re interested in seeing clips from the films, you can find them all on this page. The three we saw were Son, Stolen Youth, and Terres Noires (there’s no clip for Terres Noires).

We then went to lunch, and came back in time to see The Flyboys, which was a wonderful family film made for only 2 million dollars. Because it was made on such a small budget, it took many years to make the film…the filming was done when the main actors were 12, and now they’re in college.

The Flyboys (not to be confused with the 2006 film, Flyboys) is about two young boys who find themselves stowed away on an airplane owned by gangsters, and through the trials and challenges they face, they find the depths of their friendship, and the depths of their characters.

Watching the film, it’s hard to believe that it was made on such a small budget. It looked to me like a full budget, Hollywood film, with some well known actors, and some unknowns. There was a Q & A session after the film, in which we heard from the director, the cinematographer, and one of the boy actors (who has grown a lot in the 7 years since the movie was filmed!). You could tell that this film was a real labor of love for the director, who also co-wrote the story with his brother.

The Flyboys (you can see a clip here…there’s nothing on youtube yet) will be coming out this summer, though because they don’t have a studio behind them, it will be on a very limited release. If it comes to your area, I highly recommend it. It was a lot of fun, and had the audience cheering at the end. I believe, also, that it won the ‘best picture’ award at the film festival.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0BQVhT3v6Q[/youtube]

The next film we saw was Alice Upside Down, which was a tween comedy about a young girl, Alice, who is trying to find her way in the world without her mother, who has died 6 years before the story takes place. Her father (Luke Perry – Crap I’m old!) moves the family to a new town where he has purchased a music store. Alice starts school, and tries to find a female role model to help her become the smart, cool, confident person she imagines her mother to have been. This movie also didn’t fit my preconceived notion of what an ‘independent’ film would be. It seemed typical Hollywood to me, not so much quirky or different than what you would find in the multiplex. Unlike “The Flyboys“, however, I didn’t enjoy this film. It felt like I was stuck in a theater, watching a made for TV movie on the Disney Channel. The actors were fine, the story was OK, but the writing wasn’t really compelling, and the situations were stupid. I couldn’t wait to get out of there, so we didn’t stay for the Q & A with the actors. Two things I did like about the movie…Alice’s hair looked like a real 11 year-old’s hair would look. Messy and disheveled most of the time. And when she tries to set up her single, 42 year old dad with her single, 27 year old drama teacher, they are appropriately embarrassed and not the least bit interested in each other. As Luke Perry says to his daughter, “I’m 15 years older than she is…we have nothing in common.” Not that May/December romances never happen, but so often in real life, it’s easier to find common ground with someone in your own age group. My recommendation? If this film comes to your neighborhood this summer, skip it. If your tween HAS to see it, (mine didn’t like it, either), send her/him in with a friend, and see something better in the next theater over.

But do go see The Flyboys if you get the chance. Really.