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SXSW Review: Elektra Luxx

By Kevin Kelly (Subscribe to Kevin Kelly's posts), Posted Mar 23rd 2010 7:38PM
Filed under: Comedy, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports, Reviews, SXSW Film Festival, Cinematical


Writer director Sebastian Gutierrez premiered his film Women in Trouble at SXSW last year, and now he's back with Elektra Luxx, which picks up one month after that film ended. Thankfully, you don't have to have seen Women in Trouble to appreciate Elektra Luxx, although it sure helps. Especially because it's a fantastic movie with an off-the-wall sensibility and great performances, and will eventually be the first installment of a trilogy. Here, we'll help you out with a crash course (which doesn't let you off the hook, go find this movie).

Brief summary: Porn star Elektra Luxx (Carla Gugino) finds out she's pregnant, by her sometime rock star boyfriend Nick Chapel (Josh Brolin) who has just died while having sex with flight attendant Cora (Marley Shelton) on an airplane. Meanwhile, porn up and comer Holly Rocket (Adrianne Palicki) is struggling with a crush on her best friend Bambi (Emmanuelle Chriqui), and from time to time we see sex blogger Burt Rodriguez (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) comment via video on Elektra Luxx and her legendary career.

That's just to get you up to speed, and there's a lot more in the movie. So go seek it out on DVD or Blu-ray. For you lucky ones who have seen Women in Trouble, or if you just want to hear about the fantastic Elektra Luxx, beyond the break you can delve into a lot more.
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SXSW Review: When I Rise

By Kevin Kelly (Subscribe to Kevin Kelly's posts), Posted Mar 22nd 2010 6:50PM
Filed under: Documentary, SXSW, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports, Reviews, SXSW Film Festival, Cinematical


Most Texans probably aren't familiar with the story of Barbara Smith Conrad, the mezzo-soprano opera singer who was famously barred from performing in a University of Texas production simply because of the color of her skin. The 1957 incident drew the attention of national press and famously attracted the attention and support of people like Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier, but was seemingly swept under the rug and forgotten about shortly thereafter. It's certainly something I never heard about when I was a student at that very school in the 1990s.

Racism and Texas are frequently paired together in the conventional wisdom, but the liberal bubble that Austin resides in seems sacrosanct in a way that surely wouldn't allow something like this to happen. Which is exactly what makes Mat Hames' beautiful film so surprising, yet it doesn't take anything away from the pure bravado and pride exhibited by Conrad both during the event, and throughout the rest of her continuing life. When I Rise is a very powerful film about one woman, her resolve, and her talent.
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SXSW Interview: Director Bernard Rose on 'Mr. Nice'

By Kevin Kelly (Subscribe to Kevin Kelly's posts), Posted Mar 21st 2010 11:03AM
Filed under: Cinematical


Director Bernard Rose has a variety of films on his resume. He's directed everything from Immortal Beloved to Anna Karenina to Candyman to Ivans XTC, taking him from large Hollywood films to his own indie efforts, and Mr. Nice falls somewhere inbetween. It's a film based on the real-world exploits of Howard Marks, a UK folk hero known for importing massive amounts of marijuana into the country.

The film is just as eclectic as its director, who uses several different film stocks, camera, aspect ratios, and a lot of historical stock footage in the movie. We spoke with him at SXSW about the genesis of the film, Rhys Ifans and his portrayal of Marks, and his possible return to horror with his next film. Head on after the break for the full interview.5
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Interview: Cherie Currie on 'The Runaways'

By Kevin Kelly (Subscribe to Kevin Kelly's posts), Posted Mar 20th 2010 1:03PM
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrity Interviews, Cinematical


According to her, Cherie Currie is currently living on cloud nine. She has Dakota Fanning playing her in The Runaways, which is all about her early days in rock and roll, and she also rocks artistic carvings with a motorized blade as Chainsaw Chick. That's a long way since being the young girl who lost her innocence at a very early age. The Runaways exists because of the memoir Neon Angel she wrote, and while the movie doesn't exactly tell the true story, she's happy with the results.

We spoke to Cherie at Sundance this year, and she went into detail about an early childhood tragedy that pushed her into the world of rock, what it was like working with Dakota, why she wields a chainsaw, and her real relationship with Joan Jett. Read on for the full interview just after the break.
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Rhys Ifans Has a Bizarre Take on Being in 'Harry Potter'

By Kevin Kelly (Subscribe to Kevin Kelly's posts), Posted Mar 20th 2010 12:02PM
Filed under: Newsstand, Movie News, Cinematical


Rhys Ifans will be playing Luna Lovegood's father Xenophilius in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and we asked him what it was like joining that world while talking to him at SXSW for his latest film Mr. Nice. He had a rather unique analogy for the honor of being cast in the series, which you can read below or listen to the audio at the bottom of the post.

Cinematical: Speaking of Harry Potter, was that a weird world to step into?

Rhys Ifans: No, it wasn't. It was a rite of passage, in a way. There is no way in English culture that I would be rewarded for my endeavors. I am a bad boy from beginning to end. So, as an actor, being in Harry Potter, you get your stripes. As shallow as it sounds...

That doesn't really sound shallow at all.

It is a beautiful ... I'm really touched. I was really touched to participate in a ... what is a trilogy six times?

I don't even know if there is a word for it.

No. Whatever. I am just happy to have been a participant in the telling of that story. I am really touched. Harry Potter is an amazing brand. I am, you know, really touched. It is like getting a f**king medal. And I am a renegade. It is good. This is not an egotistical thing, but it is like, I guess, Johnny Rotten gets to f**k Lady Di in the tunnel, before she dies.

SXSW Interview: Rhys Ifans of 'Mr. Nice'

By Kevin Kelly (Subscribe to Kevin Kelly's posts), Posted Mar 19th 2010 10:18PM
Filed under: SXSW, Interviews, Celebrity Interviews, SXSW Film Festival, Cinematical


Most American audiences know Rhys Ifans from his role as Spike in Notting Hill or will know him after seeing him as Ivan Schrank in the upcoming Greenberg. But he's also been stretching his legs dramatically, both on the screen and the stage, and he's playing real-life marijuana mogul Howard Marks in Mr. Nice, which premiered this week during SXSW. Ifans was a fan of Marks' before he'd even written the first autobiographical book that the film is based on, and according to him they entered a "pirate's contract" in which Marks had agreed to let him portray him if they ever made a film.

Remarkably, that actually ended up happening. We spoke with Rhys at SXSW about stepping into the role of a real life folk hero (or just hero if you ask Ifans), and he told us about the production, what it's like being an artisan, and why he continually tries to scare himself as an actor. Read on after the break for the full interview.
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Interview: Joan Jett on 'The Runaways'

By Kevin Kelly (Subscribe to Kevin Kelly's posts), Posted Mar 19th 2010 8:03PM
Filed under: Interviews, Celebrity Interviews, Cinematical


Joan Jett may sing "I Love Rock 'n' Roll," but the real message of her life story is that she lived rock and roll, and still does every day. She has a brand new Greatest Hits album available through her Blackheart Records, she's constantly touring with the Blackhearts, and she even has her own iPhone app. But you're seeing her on this side of success. The Runaways is a movie about Jett before she became famous, how she had to fight to make her own opportunities, and how she was told that girls shouldn't play electric guitar.

Although Kristen Stewart portrays Joan Jett in the film, Jett was frequently on set giving her directions. She's very happy with the end result of both Stewart's performance and the story the film tells. We spoke to Jett at Sundance this year, where she managed to exude enthusiasm for the film, while also quietly being one of the coolest people in town. Seriously, rock and roll seeps out of her pores. Read on through for the full interview.
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