Review of Ballast (2008) by Barb I — 09 Jun 2008

[color=black]I caught a few advanced screenings whilst in New York (two via the ND/NF festival, one via some weird theme night at the IFC Center), so finally these reviews of mine may have a shred of importance. [/color].

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[color=black][b]Momma's Man [/b][i]THINKFilm [/i]opening August 22, 2008[/color].

[color=black]If you've felt that independent film has gone downhill in the past decade (perhaps too many are pandering to crowdpleasedness, so they can be bought out by Fox Searchlight and released near Oscar Season?) "Momma's Man" has come to the rescue. It's a film that has no name actors (unless you consider Richard Edson a "name," and even though I do, I realize I represent maybe 0.001% of the moviegoing public), no claymation, no time-lapse photography, no Shins songs--really, just a damn good story and damn good performances. It reminded me of the Sundance of the mid-90s, where films like "Swingers," "Spanking the Monkey," and "In the Company of Men" could take compelling concepts and take them seriously, without any of the frills. Most people will bill "Momma's Man" as a comedy, but it really does pack an emotional wallop that stays with you for days. Seek this one out.[/color].

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[color=black][b]Ballast [/b][i]IFC First Take [/i]opening September 5, 2008[/color].

[color=black]I saw "Ballast" the day after "Momma's Man," and maybe it suffered a tad from the comparison. To give it it's due credit, "Ballast" is a solid character study. The able, non-professional actors deliver their improv-filtered lines believably, and the perpetually grayness of the Mississippi Delta compliments a fairly gray story: three people trying to recuperate after a suicide. Narrative-wise, it's a tad clunky--nothing is really spelled out for the audience, which I like, but, in the end, it leaves us on a weird, anti-denouement. Ultimately, while "Ballast" has a lot going for it, (and I mean a lot, though this review is coming across as negative), it's not as memorable as, say, "Chop Shop," a similar film with non-actors in an interesting setting, and a free-form narrative structure.[/color].

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[color=black][b]Fear(s) of the Dark [/b][i]IFC First Take [/i]opening October 31, 2008[/color].

[color=black]"Fear(s) of the Dark" is one of those ever-popular anthology films, this one from comic book artists around the world, telling their own creepy story (primarily in black and white). The sequence by Charles Burns, of "Black Hole" fame, was the most anticipated and the biggest letdown. In stills, his animation is beautiful. When moving, it's creepy and lifeless, much like that movie "Renaissance." The film is framed by a penciled animation from Blutch that's visibly appealing, but not really scary in any way; and an abstract, weird shapes thing from Pierre Disciullo, overlayed with a woman calmly listing her irrational fears. It's outside-thinking, yes, but jarring when juxtaposed with the more traditional horror-shorts. Like most of these anthology films, it's framed in an arbitrary fashion, and I kind of wish they'd just show these films uninterrupted. However, it's well worth it for the last short, by Richard McGuire. It's by far the creepiest story--a burglar traipsing through a haunted house--with the best use of its simplistic black-and-white. All-in-all, "Fear(s) of the Dark" is a nice showcase for animation, with a few show-stopping moments, but little else.[/color].