Vanilla – The Movie Gourmet

I’ve already seen over twenty offerings from Cinequest 2019, and here are my initial recommendations. As usual, I focus on the world and US premieres. Follow the links for full reviews, images and trailers. I’ve also included some tips for making the most of the Cinequest experience under “Hacking Cinequest”.

FEEL GOOD

Clownvets: In this documentary, famed hospital clown Patch Adams heals the PTSD of US combat veterans by ministering to neglected souls in the third world. I am generally not a fan of warmhearted movies, but Clownvets moved even me. I expect Clownvets to be the Feel Good hit of this year’s Cinequest and to win the Audience Award. World premiere and Patch Adams himself is expected to attend.

INDIE

- Auggie : In this brilliant indie, augmented reality produces addictive temptation. Great performance by Richard Kind. World premiere.

THRILLER

Mine 9: This is Cinequest’s best thriller, a gripping, smart and remarkably authentic mine rescue cliffhanger. World premiere.

WORLD CINEMA

Hier: In this brilliantly original and trippy thriller, an executive takes what he thinks will be a quick trip to Morocco, but becomes entangled in a series of mysteries. He becomes a detective but doesn’t fully understand what he is looking for in his own past. North American premiere.
A Shelter Among the Clouds: In this beautiful and unhurried Albanian drama, a simple man regards human behavior. North American premiere.
Little Histories: The premise of this inventive Venezuelan anthology is that sometimes the great events of history affect – and even change – our lives. And sometimes those events are merely the backdrop to our own personal dramas. World premiere.

SCIENCE FICTION

Last Sunrise: In this edge-of-your-seat Chinese sci-fi thriller, we’re in a super-hi tech future, powered almost totally by solar energy – until our Sun dies. North American premiere.

Kelsea Bauman-Murphy and appendage in VANILLA

COMEDY

Vanilla: There’s an odd couple and a road trip, but the portrait of two characters who have trapped themselves in poses elevates this very smart comedy. World premiere.

Franz Rogowski in TRANSIT. Courtesy of Music Box Films

TWO I HAVEN’T SEEN YET

Transit: The latest from director Christian Petzold, the master filmmaker of Barbara and Phoenix. This time, Petzold brings us an escape story that takes place in WW II, but the movie is shot in modern Europe.
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote: The festival’s closing night film is Terry Gilliam’s finally successful attempt to put Don Quixote on film and stars Adam Driver and Jonathan Pryce. Gilliam was the American member of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, the one behind the surreal animation. The trippiness of Brazil, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Twelve Monkeys and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus all sprang from Gilliam’s imagination. The Movie Gourmet usually doesn’t assign homework, but I recommend the 2002 documentary Lost in La Mancha, about Gilliam’s apparently cursed 2002 attempt to film Don Quixote, available to stream on Amazon and iTunes.

TELEVISION

Taboo: Many will cringe at the promise of this Belgian reality show: a humorist spends time with four dying people and then hosts an entire audience full of terminally ill people for his stand-up comedy show – about their situation. It’s surprisingly empathetic and touching.

DOCUMENTARY

Travel Ban: Make America Laugh Again: Besides, Clownvets, I recommend this serious documentary with some hilarious comedy. Comedians confront the misunderstanding, bigotry and hatred faced by Americans who are Muslim and by Americans whose families come from the Middle East. World premiere.

CLASSIC MOVIE EXPERIENCE

The silent Steamboat Bill, Jr. with Buster Keaton will be projected in a period movie palace, the California Theatre, accompanied by world-renowned Dennis James on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ.

BEFORE IT’S IN THEATERS – SEE IT HERE FIRST

Several Cinequest films already are planned for theatrical release later this year. I haven’t seen them yet, but you can see them first at Cinequest: Sometimes Always Never, Freaks, Hotel Mumbai, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, The Hummingbird Project, Peterloo, The Public, Teen Spirit, The Third Wife, Transit, The Chaperone, The Wedding Guest and Woman at War.

HACKING CINEQUEST

Cinequest retains its Downtown San Jose vibe, with concurrent screenings at the 1122-seat California, the 550-seat Hammer and the 257-seat 3Below, all within 1600 feet of the VIP lounge at The Continental Bar. There will still be satellite viewing in Redwood City.

At Cinequest, you can get a festival pass for as little as $165, and you can get individual tickets as well. The express pass for an additional tax-deductible $100 is a fantastic deal – you get to skip to the front of the lines!

Take a look at the entire program, the schedule and the passes and tickets. (If you want to support Silicon Valley’s most important cinema event while skipping the lines, the tax-deductible $100 donation for Express Line Access is an awesome deal.)

As usual, I’ll be covering Cinequest rigorously with features and movie recommendations. I usually screen (and write about) over thirty films from around the world. Bookmark my Cinequest 2019 page, with links to all my coverage. Follow me on Twitter for the latest.

In the winning comedy Vanilla, Elliot (Will Dennis) is stuck in a regimented life of coding software, emerging from his apartment only for gym workouts and food. Kimmie (Kelsea Bauman-Murphy) is a kookie free spirit, but she’s stuck, too, unable to fulfill her aspiration to become a stand-up comic. Events conspire to lead the two into a three-day road trip from New York to New Orleans. Kimmie pitches it to Elliot as a date. But Elliot really sees the chance to reconnect in New Orleans with his ex-girlfriend Samantha, for whom he still pining. What could go wrong?

We have an odd couple on the road, so funny stuff happens – and this is a funny movie. Naturally, the audience is waiting for the two to jump into bed together. But Vanilla is fundamentally a portrait of these two people, both comfortable in their ruts. Elliot is posing as an entrepreneur, and Kimmie is posing as a comedian-in-the-making; something is going to have to shake up these two so each can grow. Kimmie seems utterly intrepid, but we learn that she can be paralyzed by self-consciousness, just like Elliot.

Vanilla is written and directed by its star, Will Dennis, in his first feature film. It’s an impressive debut, rich in character-driven humor.

Dennis understands not to linger on a gag; (Yorgos Lanthimos should pay close attention to this). Dennis has Elliot try to eat a beignet in a bayou tour boat; it only works because it’s the briefest of gags. There’s a montage of bad would-be comics at an open mic night that is brilliant in its understanding of why they think they’re funny and why they’re not. Dennis also works in a random encounter with America’s most earnest fish store guy (Lowell Landes). And “Anyone ever tell you that you have a Natalie Portman thing going on?” becomes a very funny come-on line.

Dennis is very good as Elliot, subtly capturing his unease, judginess and pathetic obsession with Samantha. Bauman-Murphy makes Kimmie’s kookiness, which could easily be annoying, lovable.

Jo Firestone is perfect as Elliot’s ex Samantha. Firestone shows us a glimpse of why Elliot would fall for her, and then a massive dose of why she’s bad for him. Let’s just say that I recognized Samantha (as a friend’s ex-girlfriend, not mine).

The satisfying ending of Vanilla is authentic, true to the characters and NOT what would be expected from a run-of-the-mill rom com.

Cinequest hosts the world premiere of Vanilla, where Silicon Valley audiences will appreciate Elliot’s delusion that his clunky app will go viral – if only users would spend enough time learning it.

CINEQUEST 2019: festival preview

VANILLA: rich in character-driven humor