Hamlet 2

Steve Coogan is fucking hilarious, and if you have no idea who he is, you have no business saying you love movies. Or comedy. Or being at the Sundance Film Festival. Sound pretentious? Probably so. Do I give a shit? Nay, sir. Nay.

But I digress. Steve Coogan stars in Hamlet 2, a movie about a washed up actor who becomes a washed up high school drama teacher who dares to write a sequel to Shakespeare's original play in order to save the drama department from a lethal budget cutback. The movie also stars Catherine Keener as Coogan's wife, David Arquette as Gary, the couple's housemate, and Elisabeth Shue as Elisabeth Shue.

I love this movie, but I especially love the first third. That's when some of the funniest shit that I've ever seen on screen occurs. This includes basically everything that Catherine Keener says and every time Coogan is on roller skates, which is often. Pam Brady's dialogue is completely hilarious. There are too many awesome quotable lines to remember, which is why I can't wait to see the movie again.

It's always a tricky tight rope act when you've got a story within a story, such as the fictional play Hamlet 2 within the movie. If the fake story within the story sucks, a section of your movie automatically sucks too. I'm happy to report that the Hamlet 2 performed by the West Mesa Drama Department is alive and kicking. It's totally entertaining and just as sweet to watch as the rest of the movie.

Just a side note: if you don't know who Steve Coogan is, don't ask questions during the Q/A of the movie he stars in. And don't ever let that question be, "Where did you find that guy? I've never seen him before."

Sundance Review - Anywhere, USA

Anywhere, USA is the most original film I've seen at Sundance this year. It's the first and only film by Venezuelan born director and writer Chusy Haney-Jardine, a resident of the fine city of Asheville, North Carolina. The finished product is a wild, homemade labor of love involving Chusy's entire family and community. His writing partner is his wife, Jennifer MacDonald. The film stars their daughter, Perla Haney-Jardine, the only professional actor in the movie. The film was shot in their hometown of Asheville, and the filmmakers found people to act in their project mostly from various trips to the local Wal-Mart.

The movie is split into three parts: Penance, Loss, and Ignorance.

Each part is a different story involving different characters, although some characters pop up in two or even all three. Penance is a piece of gossip told over the course of an afternoon spent at the tanning bed, a tale of redneck romance gone awry over a pistachio nut.

Al-Quaeda, of course, is involved.

Loss, what Chusy describes as the heart of the movie and my favorite by far, coincidentally, is the story of an eight-year-old (played by Chusy's daughter) experiencing a crisis of faith after accidentally consuming half a pan of pot brownies. Perla Haney-Jardine's performance as Pearl is wonderful, as I hoped it would be since she is a professional little actress, after all. I was quite pleasantly surprised by the acting chops demonstrated by Jeremiah Brennan, who plays Pearl's uncle and caretaker. Their final scene together is incredibly moving and the high point of the entire film.

Ignorance takes place in the close-minded world of an upper-class family man who has a dinner time epiphany: he doesn't actually know any black people. He then takes his family on a neat little adventure into the stupidity of the well-intentioned.

Chusy claims the film is autobiographical. All the things depicted in it are highly personal, he says, and somehow represent people or events from his life. It's one hell of an absurd, patchwork quilt of an autobiography. Chusy also edited the movie in his garage back in Asheville.

I found Anywhere, USA technically very proficient--Chusy definitely knows how to make a film. Although the cast is amazing to look at, their overall lack of acting skills hurt the film for me. Like if I was on a road trip and just happened to stop in Asheville for a pee break, I too would be fascinated walking around Chusy's Wal-Mart, but it's not as if I would want to go watch a community theater production starring the barefoot clientele after I refuel.