SXSW: Day 9 (Final Day)

I get up today feeling better than any of the SXSW days. Still, I don't get out and about until 2 - and that's just to the theatre two-and-a-half blocks from my apartment. There I go to see Derailroaded with a mid-sized crowd. What convinced me to see the movie was that it was supposed to be about a guy who was in with Zappa - I thought it to mean that it was about a guy who was in Zappa's band or was some sort of confidant of Zappa's. I also wasn't interested in any of the other movies playing at the time.

I basically went into Derailroaded blind, and was introduced to Larry "Wild Man" Fischer, a novelty act based around a guy who has a lot of mental problems. It follows Larry around as he goes about his daily routines and such, living with an elderly relative. I generally love novelty acts, especially those built around the insane, but I didn't find Larry's act all that great. Larry basically screams and makes up 40-second songs. I couldn't help but to compare him to Wesley Willis and the lackluster documentary "Wesley Willis: I am the Daddy of Rock'n'Roll". I kept asking why Fischer's act didn't appeal to me - eventually it dawned on me. The footage from the early 80's and today was nearly identical in the movie - the Wild Man doesn't have much of a catalog. The songs he was doing then, he's doing now. The doc has a bunch of interviews with people who all claim to care deeply for Larry - Barnes and Barnes ( did the song, "Fish Heads"), Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), and Weird Al Yankovic , and Dr. Demento. As these people spoke about Fischer, I wished that the doc was about them. Any one of these people would make for a fascinating documentary, and they aren't camera-shy.

As I watched, I eventually became very troubled by Fischer's plight. All these people claimed to care for Fischer, but nobody ever tried to make him take his medicine. If they mentioned that they made attempts but he refused, I could've been ok with that. But nobody says that they even tried. None of these people let Fischer live with him or tried to take care of him. They just let him come and go as he pleases when he obviously has problems. (Wesley Willis often lived with his friends who forced him to take his medicine) Eventually Fischer disappears for three months and returns emaciated and sickly looking, he doesn't say too much about where he's been except that he's been sleeping in ditches and rarely eating. For the first time do his friends talk about getting him help. Eventually he does begin taking his medicine (For the first time in 40 years) and we're presented with the big side effect - "he lost the pep". The filmmaker wanted this to be a big tragic event, that we're supposed to pitty him now. I don't feel that way. Instead I see a man who needed help finally gets help. Perhaps now he can take care of himself, or at least stick around for a while.

After that, it was a hop, skip, jump and flat out run to get to Mutual Appreciation at the Paramount in time. It was very much worth it. Mutual Appreciate is from Andrew Bujalski whose other movie "Funny Ha ha!" hits limited distribution at the end of April. Mutual Appreciation is a sprawl of a story. A musician comes to New York, hangs out with his friend for a while, some stuff happens. That's about it. Instead it's more about the way people relate to each other. The dialogue is straight of of real life - uh's and ums, stutters and stops. Visually it looks like an old Cassavetes film - grainy black and white with an imperfect focus - I loved it. Mutual Appreciation looks at a bunch of moments in real life, letting you laugh as you relate - it's kind of a comedy, but the jokes are subtle to the point of being barely there. Right up my alley. MA looks at hanging out in the apartment of somebody you've just met and the awkwardness of the situation. Honesty of relationships, doing favors, a lot of carefully-observed life is put into this movie and just ever-so-slightly skewed to make the observation of it hilarious only because you've lived it. Great stuff.

A little bit of a down time later and I'm at Steven Tobolowsky's Birthday Party. Tobolowsky is an actor who has been in a lot of things, but never is the lead guy or the draw. He's the familiar face that you see everywhere. Ned Briarson in Groundhog day, if that helps. Anyways, it turns out the guy is a magnificent story teller. He goes and tells stories of his life rich with detail and passion. It's pretty amazing how you can be sucked into his stories. He's got some pretty great ones too - from being held hostage to being threatened by a dolphin. He tells them so well that you absolutely believe him from post to post. The movie is most similar to a Spalding Grey piece only modernized. Instead of a desk with an oversized book, Tobolowsky hangs out at home with some friends, or talks to the camera while making some sausages. Easy, laid back. The movie is a wonderful watch, I can only guess what will happen to it.

From that movie it was off to... nowhere. The movies that were available I had already seen or wasn't interested in. An abrupt end to a good thing.
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