MD Film Fest 2009 Picks: Skizz Cyzyk

Thursday May 7 -  Sunday May 10
11TH ANNUAL MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL
The Charles Theater. 1711 N. Charles St.
"Station North" Baltimore.

Each year, the MobTown Shank is fortunate to get picks from the Maryland Film Fest programmers - a list of personal favorites - to help guide our way through all there is to see over the several days chock full o' cinematic goodness.

This year we'll present these picks in 2 installments.

Part 1 is a list of picks from Eric Allen Hatch (which we ran yesterday).

Part 2 is a list of picks from Skizz Cyzyk.

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As usual, my picks are coming from Skizz, private citizen, and not Skizz, employee of the Maryland Film Festival.  Professionally, I should be recommending EVERYTHING in the festival, but I’m not very professional. Plus I haven’t seen everything in the festival, so I can only recommend films I’ve actually watched. To keep these picks simple, I’m not going to go into too much detail about what these films are about.  Instead, please go to the website and read the descriptions.

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF LITTLE DIZZLE
I thought this director’s earlier short films were brilliant, so I was already prepared to like his feature debut.  Not only did I like it, I LOVED IT!  Funny, weird, cool, visually dazzling. 

STINGRAY SAM
I can use the same words to describe Stingray Sam, the latest from the folks who gave us The American Astronaut, one of my favorite films of the decade, and this new film is just as good.  Hmmmm, pregnant men feature prominently in the storylines of both films.

If you want to see some interesting comedies, there are three obvious choices. First, You Might As Well Live has been getting some John Waters comparisons. Punching the Clown stars Henry Philips, a musician I’ve heard a few times on Dr. Demento.  He plays himself, and his songs are pretty funny. And The Overbrook Brothers is equal parts drama/dark comedy, despite getting compared to the Farrelly Brothers. 

MODERN LOVE IS AUTOMATIC
There is another dark comedy, Modern Love Is Automatic, which is VERY dark, but not in the expected way.  It’s just an odd, low-key film that is hard to describe. 

ST. NICK
Another low-key film is St. Nick, but it’s not a comedy. It’s a charming, artfully made narrative feature.
  
For anyone who misses MicroCineFest, see the above-mentioned Stingray Sam, but also check out Craig Baldwin’s latest feature, Mock Up On Mu. 

LIGHTNING SALAD MOVING PICTURE
Two other features, Lightning Salad Moving Picture and Teplitz: The Tyranny of a Paradox, are certainly not for everyone, but would be right at home at MicroCineFest. 
  
Likewise, the shorts program Return to the Planet of WTF has some pretty cool, off-beat shorts in it.  There is some similar fare in the comedic These People Have Issues shorts program and the experimental-ish This Is Your Brain On Shorts program.
 
Speaking of shorts, Don Hertzfeldt and Bill Plympton have new ones in the Animated Shorts program.  Several local film teachers have work in the Avant-Garde Shorts program.  The Worlds Past and Future shorts program includes a bunch of sci-fi shorts.

ROCATERRANIA
For documentaries, I found both Rocaterrania and Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo fascinating.  Both have interesting subject matter and a lot of amazing stuff to look at. 

BEETLE QUEEN CONQUERS TOKYO

NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD
Same with Not Quite Hollywood, except the stuff to look at in that doc is TONS of clips from cool Australian exploitation flicks. I also enjoyed Invisible Girlfriend, Strongman, Bonecrusher, and Homegrown.

INVISIBLE GIRLFRIEND

STRONGMAN

And don’t forget the special screenings. This year’s 3-D film is Inferno. 

MAN WITH A MOVIE CAMERA
The silent film with live music will be Man With A Movie Camera – the music provided by the Alloy Orchestra (featuring Roger Miller from Mission of Burma). 


There are a couple guest hosts this year, including Fugazi’s Ian MacKaye, who has picked a documentary, Nina Simone: La Legende.


LOVE SONGS
John Waters has picked Love Songs.


WORLD'S GREATEST DAD
Bobcat Goldthwait will host the Opening Night shorts program, as well as a screening of his latest feature, World’s Greatest Dad. Barry Levinson will host a screening of his latest, PoliWood. 

THE HURT LOCKER
And the Closing Night film is Kathryn Bigelow’s brand new, The Hurt Locker.

Again, go to the website and read more about these films.

-Skizz Cyzyk

Comments

[Mike White]

IS that the right trailer for Inferno?

[Benn]

It was not. Fixed now, thanks. But that one looked like it would work in 3D too. Ha.

[Mike White]

K. You had my hopes up there -- though I'm still looking forward to the *other* Inferno.