The first time I saw a mumblecore film, I was at the Woodstock Film Festival’s venue in Rhinebeck, New York. The film I really wanted to see was Stuart Samuel’s documentary Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (an excellent film if you get a chance). The bus to Rhinebeck from Poughkeepsie was on a weekend schedule and, long story short; I ended up getting to the venue extremely early. If you couldn’t guess, the screening of Midnight Movies started at midnight. The movie screening before it was called Dance Party USA. This Aaron Katz-directed film follows teenagers in the days leading up to and following a Fourth of July house party. Dance Party USA is one of the seminal films in the mumblecore movement. I hadn’t seen anything quite like it. The footage is all shot digitally, made using low-tech camera and lighting equipment. Dance Party USA feels like it has no script and relies heavily on the improvisation of non-professional actors. For young filmmakers, one of the most disparaging things a parent or anyone who doesn’t understand the process can tell you is to just “go make a movie like they do on YouTube.” That night, Dance Party USA helped me see the bridge between amateur viral videos and the cinema. Mumblecore is truly do-it-yourself filmmaking. Buoyed by the festival success of films such as Baghead, The Puffy Chair, and Dance Party USA, mumblecore has become a film movement to pay attention to, despite its divergence from mainstream conventions. Lynn Shelton’s Humpday is the latest mumblecore offering.Humpday tells the story of two heterosexual friends, Ben (Mark Duplass) and Andrew (Joshua Leonard), who, after years of separation post-college, decide to reunite. Andrew, a failed artist and a seasoned traveler comes to stay with Ben, a family man devoted to his wife, Anna (Alycia Delmore). One night, when Ben and Andrew end up at a party thrown by some very open minded artists and free spirits, they both have a bit to drink and, due to misplaced macho pride, they decide to make a porn film for an upcoming adult film festival. The catch is that they will be having sex with each other in the film. They drunkenly decide to explore what porn has never ventured to ask: what if two straight men and recently reunited friends get together to make a gay porn film? In the days following the party, neither Ben nor Andrew wants to back down from making the movie. Andrew insists that Ben’s life is too safe and Ben thinks Andrew is not only completely lost but also close-minded. The film builds and builds until both men are in a hotel room, with their clothes off, wondering whether they should go through with the film.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Watch Online Humpday Hollywood Movie Review Preview Cast Crew
8:16 AM
Juli frera
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