A couple more films

Mystery Team was amazing. It's written, produced, and acted by Derrick Comedy, which is a group of five kids that met at NYU and worked in the same comedy sketch group. They started making short videos online, that gained so much viewership and popularity, they decided to do a full-length feature, and landed in Sundance; further proof Sundance really is fostering new, young, filmmakers, not just hosting the dog and pony show for those already famous. Mystery Team made me laugh, the entire audience laughed; and I think it represented a new style of comedy, different from predictable tv sitcoms, more clever than blockbuster holiday comedies; it was original and fresh, and had wonderful characters. The humor style was geeky and sophisticated at the same time. Afterward, during the talkback, someone in the audience asked, "When can I get this on DVD?!" The response was, "When someone in this audience picks it up for distribution." I also found I was sitting right in the middle of the production crew, one guy on my left, three to my right, who all did the taping and editing, etc. None were much older than college students.

Then this morning I saw Lulu and Jimi, a German film, a scandalous love story set in Germany in the 1950's, which was fantastical, colorful, highly stylized, and filled with Rock and Roll. It had some dark undertones, but I really enjoyed it. I got a couple extra tickets for my Australian roommates, so they came along too. Ray Fearon (Jimi) spoke after the film, and was so charming and fun to listen to. We proceeded to act like fawning fans do, and got our photo taken with him. I went back into work after that, and the day went quickly.

More films tomorrow, and more updates later.