AFI Dallas Fest

Had a chance to go out and see some movies at the AFI Fest in Dallas on Tuesday. The first up was a documentary on the font Helvetica. Yes, that's right a documentary on a font. I found it to be quite entertaining and informative while somewhat inspiring as well. The documentary kind of challenged you creatively as you were watching it to either agree with those pro or con Helvetica. I thought it did a great job of showing how in less than a decade how one font has almost dominated the globe. The interviews were very interesting although a bit short on a few of the subjects. Be interesting to get the dvd to see what else was in the mix before the final cut. A really fresh subject for a documentary. My wife Amy really enjoyed seeing a doc on what she does every day and how frustrating designing and deciding on the right font to use in her work.



The next stop was going from "Helvetica" at the Magnolia to seeing "Living and Dying" at the Angelika. This film is directed by my buddy Jon Keeyes, the hardest working filmmaker in Texas. I'm guessing this is probably his biggest budget film to date, and I was excited to see the film after reading the script so long ago. I saw a lot of cast and crew from "Seventy-8" there so it was great to catch up and talk to everyone. Jon looked a bit nervous before the screening, so I didn't bother him. In fact I don't know if he knew Amy and were there until after it was over. So anyway onto the movie. First off it was a 35mm. print which I though looked great. The movie is about a band of bank robbers that are trapped in a cafe that happens to inhabit two crazy killers while the cops are trying to get in. So its a Rio Bravo/The Thing/Assault on Precinct 13 type of deal here. Jon did a great job with this movie. The budget yes is small but he got some name actors in here like Edward Furlong, Bai Ling, and Michael Madsen.

I thought the performances were pretty good. There were some questionable casting choices in a few spots, but knowing the behind the scenes drama, I know there was not a lot Jon could do about it. There are a few plot points that are unresolved towards the end, but at that point you don't really care too much. I'm sure it bothers Jon to no end, but its a fun movie, its not a deep message movie, its a caper flick. So its all about that more than anything. The rape scene in the film seems out of place to me. And it's not so much how its shot or how long it is, but its more about the tone of that scene in connection with the rest of the movie. And after the screening, Jon informed as to why the scene drags like it does. Let's just say the money peeps needed some longer nudity...and don't we all sometimes.

But more over I was probably watching technical aspects more than anything since after a while I realized I had read this way back and forgot, and then it all came back to me, so i focused more on the tech aspects. Man Jon my man you have really raised your bar here. I thought the look of the movie was really impressive. The colors in the cafe are excellent and I liked your handheld camera feel in there too. Inside the police area it felt very static and procedural which was good. I thought framing wise you really hit the mark. I loved all your compositions with all the characters you had to deal with. Really nice. I like when i can leave a film and remember a shot or two like a photographic still the next day. And I remembered several here. I think this film will go far in showing studios what Jon can do and the potential he has for bigger budgets in the future. The film opens in Europe next week and will show on HBO sometime here in the future. Way to go Jon! Click HERE to see the Living and Dying trailer...You can also read Jon's blog by clicking HERE