Hello! My face is UP HERE!!

Traverse City Film Festival

This weekend Chad and I went to the 2nd Annual Traverse City Film Festival in Traverse City, Michigan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traverse_City). The Film Festival is put on by Michael Moore and is a very unique compilation of independent movies. Needless to say, we had a blast! This was easily one of the coolest things I've ever done. First of all, Traverse City is one of the most conservative cities in the state and Michael Moore has had a lot of trouble getting in there and doing what he wanted to do. Last year was the first one and they had over 50,000 people attend, which is amazing because the city is relatively small.

This was our first year attending and after our short time there, I want to go back every year. We've been to the Toronto Film Festival which is a much bigger festival but this one was better in my opinion because everything was very laid back, the movies were more than just your garden variety blockbusters, they actually had substance and the people all around us were amazing. Midwesterners in general have a reputation for being really nice people, but being from metro Detroit, we don't see that very much, people around us tend to be more closed off and suspicious, I know I am. Metro-Detroiters have a definite "don't fuck with me" vibe when it somes to strangers. "Up north"* in Traverse the people were so outgoing and friendly, we met several other couples and had long conversations with them about movies and politics. Everywhere we went we saw complete strangers talking to each other like they've been friends for years. We ate dinner on a patio at this restaurant and there were four other couples around us and we were all talking. It was crazy!

It was a great experience because this year they were honoring the 50 years of Stanley Kubrick films, it was the only complete retrospective of Kubrick films anywhere in the country. On saturday we saw "Full Metal Jacket", it was my first time seeing this movie and now I understand why it is a classic. It really moved me through all my emotions from rage to sadness and to humor. Matthew Modine was in attendance, he introduced the movie and then did a Q&A after the movie. I dont think that man has aged ever he looks exactly the same. After the Q&A we went to the bookstore next door and Matthew Modine spoke again and did a book signing for his "Full Metal Jacket Diary". It was very intimate with only about 30 people in attendance. He is hands down one of the coolest celebrities. He was very open and you could tell from the stories he told that he is one of the good guys. And one of the very funniest things happened during that book signing, but I'll get to that another time. Let's just say, Matthew Modine worked with Mel Gibson a long time ago and he had a lot of stories about that.

After the book signing, we had time for a quick meal and then we went to see "A Clockwork Orange", with Malcolm McDowell in attendance. Malcolm McDowell is a riot, he introduced the movie and then sang "singin in the rain" before leaving to put his 2 year old son to bed. He told some great stories and kept the audience in stitches. He seems like the kind of guy you'd want to have a drink with and just listen to him tell stories all night long. Anyways, once again I had never seen this movie, which is strange because I'm a HUGE movie buff and this is considered one of the all time greats and its Chad's favorite as well as Michael Moore's. It was awesome, another movie where I ran the gambit of emotions. I think that was one of Kubrick's unique talents, he could draw you into a movie quicker than anyone else and during those 2+ hours of the movie you feel like you are living with the characters. Amazing! After the movie, there was another Q&A but because it was a little after 1 am and we had already, walked along the beach, driven for 2 hours and watched 2 movies we were spent.

Sunday morning we got up early and went to a panel discussion with Michael Moore, Matthew Modine, Malcolm McDowell & Jann Harlan (Kubricks' brother in law & executive producer of all his movies) on "The Genius of Stanley Kubrick". There were about 75-85 people in the audience and for about 2 hours, they all told stories about filming with Kubrick and about his life in general. And at the end, Jann Harlan brought a special video of Kubrick accepting an award in London before his death that only people in attendance at that award show have seen. It was a great way to end our weekend to see a genius who was notoriously shy and uncomfortable in front of the camera give an excellent acceptance speech and talk about making movies that took chances and made changes.

After that we left and spent the next 4+ hours driving home. All and all it was a great trip and a great experience. The celebrities we saw were all very laid back and normal. We saw Malcolm McDowell walking down the street with his wife and infant son and it was surreal because it was just him and us on the street. Very cool. After seeing these great classic movies it made me realize that very few movies these days push the envelope like Kubrick did in all his movies. The "blockbuster" movies are all sanitized and watered down and if you want to see a real movie with substance you need to see independent films and even some of them are becoming more and more watered down. Why is it that today's cinema isn't near as controversial as it was in the 70s and 80s. Midnight Cowboy was a fantastic movie about a man who made money by having sex with other men and it came out in 1969 but Brokeback Mountain is considered controversial? Why are all the movies that are coming out these days about things that have no meaning? Why are there less and less directors, actors and producers pushing to make changes and say something with their movies? These are the movies I want to see and I want my future children to see, not watered down crap that cant say the word "fuck" or show a woman's breast because that's too racy. Fuck that! I wish I had the talent, the money or whatever it would take to be able to make movies that need to be made in today's world. I wish more people did. :(

I didn't mean to sound like a downer. I do think that there are some filmmakers that are willing to take chances but not enough and those that do are not celebrated the way they should be.


*"Up north" - In michigan, it is common slang to say "we're going up north" this means anywhere in north of you in michigan and everyone goes up north at least once in the summer.

posted by Stephanie @ 6:11 AM