Yesterday I watched the 2005 indie flick Film Geek, and I can’t get it out of my head. Not that it was some grand masterpiece of pure cinematic genius, but it was actually much better than I expected. It’s a low-budget film set and made in Portland, OR (some was shot in Vancouver, WA) about a guy who knows almost everything about film and very little about anything else. He has virtually no social skills and gets fired from his video store clerk job because he annoys the customers. This leads him on a sort of journey of self-discovery, as well as different sites around town. Portland is just as much a character in this film as any of the people.

What surprised me is how well this movie was put together and the quality of the acting. With such a sensational lead character, a small-time film like this can really go over the top, and be in serious need of an editor. But this film was very effective. I watched it on Netflix instant watching, and I will probably watch it again someday.

So, recently I decided to watch the old FOX TV series The Lone Gunmen, a decidedly more silly spin-off from The X-Files. I’ve got through 10 of the 13 episodes and two crazy coincidences have shown themselves.

One, in the pilot episode, original airdate 4 March 2001: A hijacked airliner was being piloted into the World Trade Center in NYC.

Two, in episode ten, original airdate 27 April 2001: Some top secret software was about to be handed over to some unscrupulous people. When it is discovered by the Gunmen what the software was for (a radar cloaking system), one of them says something to the effect of “Saddam Hussein could put this on a Cessna and fly it right into the Whitehouse.”

Perhaps this is why the series was canceled before a second season could begin in the fall.

Or maybe it was just a dumb show.

Wednesday was my final film for SIFF 2008. Italian film The Girl by the Lake is a modern day murder mystery set in and around Udine, a town northeast of Venice, close to the Austrian and Slovenian borders. This means nothing, really, except great scenery. It’s a classic whodunnit, with a myterious victim, a town where everyone knows everyone’s business, and a curmudgeonly inspector. Aside from the woman next to me who reeked of pot, this film was a very nice end to my festival.

Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame is a new film by Hana Makhmalbaf, the youngest of a family of Iranian filmmakers. She directed the film, which was written by her mother, when she was 18 or 19. The film is set in the foothills of Afghanistan where the giant statues of Buddha were destroyed by the Taliban. It is about a very young girl’s attempt one day to go to school and all the obstacles she faces in doing so. It can be frustrating at times. For example, she tries to sell some eggs in the market in order to buy a notebook for school. The sequence is inordinately long - perhaps on purpose it takes a little bit longer than what is necessary to make the point. For a large part of the movie, the little girl is hounded by the boys as they play their game emulating the adults, the Taliban. This is no slick production, but considering most of the actors are very young children it is not a bad effort.

Sunday’s movie was The Great Buck Howard about a law school dropout played by Colin Hanks and his experience working for a has-been “mentalist” played by John Malkovich. Hanks’ character is partially based on writer Sean McGinly’s own past dropping out of law school to become a writer and getting a job as personal assistant to The Amazing Kreskin, upon which Malkovich’s Buck Howard is based. Malkovich does a marvelous caricature of the magician carrying on past his prime. And while that storyline kept me interested, I never quite figured out the point of the film. It was about Hanks’ character, this was made clear by the narrative voice over by Hanks. But there were no dyamics with his character, there was no “aha!” moment.

Tom Hanks, whose company produced the film, is on screen for a few minutes as the younger Hanks’ father.

Writer/director Sean McGinly was on hand afterward for a short Q&A. This is where I learned that he also made the extremely low-budget film Two Days, starring Paul Rudd as a failed Los Angeles actor preparing to commit suicide, and by far a better film this new one.

Friday night found me third in line with Manuel and Toni for the midnight showing of Bruce La Bruce’s Otto: or, Up With Dead People. Mr. La Bruce, who was in attendance, describes the film as a melancholy gay zombie movie. There was blood and guts galore, and how can we be sure the zombies really are gay unless we see them have sex? Actually, the title character Otto was the only “real” zombie, but there was plenty of gay zombie sex nonetheless. La Bruce wanted to make a film about an outsider who ironically was the ultimate conformist. There was a bit too much philosophising on the part of Medea Yarn, who was making the film-in-film Up With Dead People. However, the overall was entertaining.

Saturday afternoon was time to see Choke, the film adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel about a sex addict who “earns” money by choking in restaurants. A pretty faithful adaptation if memory serves correctly, the only thing that really detracted was the young couple behind me who talked during the entire film. (The guy had a habit of repeating the last two words of the sentences that particularly moved him in the film.) It’s difficult to judge this film having read and enjoyed the book. Some of the comments I’ve read online express outrage that it was done as a comedy, and to that I say I feel bad for anyone who read the book and couldn’t laugh. However, I don’t know what Palahniuk would say to that. Sam Rockwell in the lead does a great job as usual, as does Angelica Huston as his clinically demented mother. Brad William Henke plays his best friend, and I’ve decided that if he weren’t seven inches too tall, Henke would be perfect as the title character of Jim Knipfel’s Noogie’s Time to Shine. That is, in the event it is also adapted for film.

TZ joined me for a showing of Good Food, a documentary highlighting organic and sustainable farms of the Pacific Northwest. There were some shots of beautiful produce and some fuzzy-wuzzy cattle, but it wasn’t a cinematic feast. The filmmakers had farmers and a few ranchers explain why they were organic, how they were doing it, and their relationships with their customers. All very interesting. But as far as film making goes, it left quite a bit to be desired, and came across as extremely amateurish. Yet, the two people who made it have apparently been making documentary films for a couple decades. I suppose to them the message is more important than the delivery. Our conclusion, though, is that, sadly, this film is preaching to the converted. The chance that someone who doesn’t already know the benefits of organic, sustainable, local farming, someone who isn’t already incorporating those values into their lives, the chance is very slim that they’ll see this film.

After the film and its Q&A session, TZ and I headed to Moe Bar to experience the SIFF Lounge. I am pretty sure we were the only people there who had attended a festival film.

After a short-but-sweet volunteer shift at KEXP’s summer pledge drive, I headed downtown for movie number one.

Savage Grace stars Julianne Moore and Stephen Dillane as the heir to the Bakelite fortune and his wife. The Baekeland’s have a child, Tony, in 1940s New York City. As they subsequently traverse around Europe, young Tony becomes Mommy’s precious boy and virtually her sole companion. This is much to the detriment of all three family members. What happens between Tony and Mommy is “not normal”, but it happens quite beautifully. The locations, the costumes, the actors - all beautiful. Based on a true story.

Movie number two was the sensationally-titled Young People Fucking. This Canadian film focuses on five couples as they each navigate through a night of, well, fucking. Each with their own set of circumstances that, despite the title, are relatable to the modern sexual world at large. Funny and genuine, this film was actually a lot better than I expected. Of course I was half-way expecting some godawful drivel along the lines of London, so I was very pleasantly surprised.

Right now I should be at the Uptown watching Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World, a documentary shot in Antarctica. However, I’ve decided to stay home to be sad and cranky. My Netflix Player was delivered today, left on the doorstep of my office, according to the online tracking results. When I went to my office, however, it was not to be found. I’ve called FedEx twice and just got off the phone with Roku/Netflix customer service - who said I’m not the first to call about such circumstances - but that won’t make my Player magically appear in my living room. I am sad sad sad and mad mad mad. Poop.