Elliot (Will Dennis), is an entrepreneur who is strictly by-the-book. His days are scheduled by the minute. He took a chance and gave up a career as a consultant to develop an ice cream delivery app in which users literally scream their orders into their phones. Needless to say, it’s not going well.
Kimmie (Kelsea Bauman) is a wannabe stand-up comedian who is nothing if not a free spirit. By day she works at a bakery and by night as a cam girl. Kimmie meets Elliot when she buys his van. While they say opposites attract, perhaps Kimmie and Elliot are too far apart on the spectrum and when Elliot makes a move on Kimmie, she turns him down.Â
But that changes soon when Kimmie’s boss has to close down the shop due to a rat infestation, she tries to sell the van back to Elliot. However, Elliot desperately needs the money for his app. What ensues is one long first date in the form of the road trip to New Orleans to sell the van.Â
Filmmaker Will Dennis’ Vanilla is a sweet and quirky comedy about being true to yourself. Elliot and Kimmie are well-defined characters. Kimmie is stand-offish, always trying to protect herself from being too vulnerable. Elliot is just too nice for his own good. Dennis, who directed, wrote and starred in the film, finds many ways to work ice cream into the plot. There are some quirks I found to be a bit too ridiculous including the storyline with Elliot’s mom and the I Scream for Ice Cream app. With that said, Vanilla has a lot of charm and is a tasty treat for summer.
Vanilla is available today on VOD from Gravitas Ventures.
Mike Pinkney (himself) is a wannabe filmmaker living in a rat-infested apartment in Hollywood. By day he works at a dog grooming salon run by a groomer who is a bit too into his job. By night he works on his craft, developing an idea for an all-cat remake of Carrie. He meets Cora (Sonja Kinski) Mickey Rourke’s daughter’s assistant and the two hit it off. They go on a first date that seems to be building momentum. But little does he know that she’s allergic to cats. Between the rats and the cats, Mike’s world is spiraling out of control.Â
“I live in Hollywood. I moved here to make movies. But instead I groom dogs.”
She’s Allergic to Cats is a lo-fi, out of its gourd, tragicomedy. Written and directed by Michael Reich, this film is semi-autobiographical, self-funded and Reich’s feature film debut. Reich has directed several short films as well as music videos for bands such as My Chemical Romance, The Shins and Ryan Adams. According to the official press release, the film was “shot in 4K on Red Cameras and run through DVD players, MiniDV, and VHS tapes” giving it a unique, lo-fi visual style.
Audiences who love weird and wacky films will want to check this one out. You really have to have a bit of patience with this one and just go with the flow. Pinkney is a perfect fit for playing the oddball hero. The scenes with Kinski (daughter of Nastassja Kinski) add a horror movie element to the film. She’s quite mesmerizing in her portrayal of Cora. I was hypnotized by that one extended shot of Kinski holding an old DVD copy of Congo (1995). I love that this film, which is awful but a pivotal film of my youth, gets its own small storyline.
She’s Allergic to Cats originally premiered in 2016. It is now available on VOD from Amazon Prime and iTunes.
The War in Afghanistan is the longest war in American history. While the war itself began in 2001, a direct response to the September 11th attacks, the conflict between the two nations had been building up for many years. The U.S. government had a vested interest in a nation that saw its golden age slip away in the 1970s with the Islamic Revolution and the Soviet occupation. The U.S. stepped in to help the Afghans defeat the Soviets. Doing so proved to be a big mistake. This left Afghanistan with a wealth of armament and money and left to their own devices the country resulting in chaos and an ensuing civil war. Internal strife in the nation led to the creation of the Taliban, led by Osama Bin Laden, which grew in power over the years and ultimately culminated in a war that is still going on today.Â
“History teaches that aggression unopposed becomes a contagious disease.”
President Jimmy Carter
Photo Credit: SHOWTIME
Directed by Greg Barker, The Longest War is a detailed exploration of the U.S. government involvement with Afghanistan from 1979 to the present day. Interview subjects include former CIA officials, war correspondents, Afghanistan experts and nationals. Barker’s documentary is comprehensive and informative and offers some hard-hitting revelations. This film leaves no stone unturned in the quest educate its viewers about Afghanistan and U.S. relations.Â
The Longest War recently premiered on SHOWTIME. It is currently available to stream or to watch on the channel. Visit the official website for more information.
While the 2020 SXSW Film Festival was canceled the films still live on. Recently SXSW announced their collaboration with Amazon Prime for an online film festival. They are currently in the process of allowing filmmakers to opt-in or opt-out and will host the festival at the end of April. As someone who refuses to use Amazon Prime, I was happy to see that you don’t have to have the service to attend the festival. It’s free to the public and all you need is an Amazon account.
Something that did not get as much fanfare was SXSW’s other collaboration with MailChimp which is hosting SXSW short films on their website. MailChimp Presents SXSW 2020 Shorts #SupportheShorts offers a variety of short films that would have been screened at the film festival. The categories include: Animated (7), Documentary (11), Made in Texas (8), Midnight (8), Narrative (15), Texas High School (15). It’s not clear how long these shorts will be available to view online. I hope it will be long term. Because I had press pass for the festival I was able to view many of these shorts ahead of time. Three of them I reviewed on this site.Â
If you love short films as much as I do and want to know which SXSW shorts to watch, here are some recommendations:
A short Czechian drama about a middle-aged man whose curiosity got the better of him as he finds himself hired for a mystery job. Amazing build-up and cinematography.
An overwhelmed mom vomits lego blocks. Sounds crazy right? The overall theme of finding time for oneself really struck a chord with me. Don’t let the whacky concept turn you away from this one!
In the 1980s/1990s there was a noticeable lack of Asian-American characters and those that existed were stereotypes. Claudia Kishi of The Babysitters Club books was a noticeable exception. A group of Asian-American artists and creators discuss the character’s impact.
A retro style documentary with highly stylized re-enactments. Features a former sex worker describing her experience with escort message board review culture.
Two exchange students from Iceland and Spain have a summer affair in Germany. What starts off as a meaningless fling blossoms into something much deeper.
Perfect viewing for our quarantine culture. A woman calls up her new love interest for a sexy Facetime session. But things don’t turn out quite how she expected them to.
A riveting documentary short about an ex-convict who starts a fight club to encourage youths to take out their battles in a boxing ring. His efforts help reduce needless violence and eventual incarceration.
Rachel (Lynn Chen), Erika (Ayako Fujitani) and Yea-Ming (Yea-Ming Chen) have one thing in common: Goh Nakamura. All three women have romantic ties to the singer-songwriter. Rachel lives a cushy life with her wealthy caucasian husband. His marital indiscretions sour the relationship and Rachel rekindles her feelings for her childhood friend. Erika is a professor and Goh’s ex-wife. They have a daughter together, Sachiko (Ayami Riley Tomine), and the two are reunited when Erika makes arrangements for her father’s funeral. Yea-Ming is a free spirit. Like Goh, she’s a singer-songwriter. She’s been trying for years to make it in the music business and she gets some inspiration from Goh when he’s back in town.
I Will Make You Mine is a beautifully sensitive and lyrical film. It explores the deep emotional bonds of the past and how they can be reignited years later. The film was written, produced and directed by Lynn Chen who also stars as Rachel. It was shot in black-and-white and is Chen’s debut as a screenwriter and director of a feature film. Music is an important part of the film and both Goh Nakamura and Yea-Ming Chen (who play versions of themselves) perform. Yea-Ming sings a beautiful rendition of the title song and the credits roll with Goh performing a touching acoustic number.
“The feeling I most want to share with I Will Make You Mine is hope. Hope that it’s not too late to be the person you dreamed you would be.”
Lynn Chen
I Will Make You Mine was set to have its world premiere at the 2020 SXSW Film Festival. Gravitas Ventures is releasing the film on demand and digital on May 26th. You can pre-order the film on iTunes.
