Although Sunday's lineup at the Philadelphia Film Festival didn't carry as much notability as Saturday's, there were still plenty of intriguing titles floating around the city. I found myself at both afternoon screenings at the Prince Music Theater once again. This time, I was screening a collection of Don Hertzfeldt's short films known as The Everything Will Be Okay Trilogy and Philadelphia's own Shane Bissett and his first feature length film This Time Tomorrow. Being the first time I've ever seen the work on animation guru Don Hertzfeldt, I was left somewhat perplexed and mystified by his creation. One day later and I'm still left mulling over how I felt about The Everything Will Be Okay Trilogy. It's definitely not a collection I would recommend to just anyone, but the clever display of animation certainly has a niche in the film community. As for Temple Grad Shane Bissett's movie This Time Tomorrow, I would preface by saying that I commend any young filmmaker's courage to put themselves and their work out there for the masses. With Bissett's feature there were aspects I enjoyed and others that I didn't. He does an admirable job at developing his characters, smaller ones included. On the other hand, I felt the film's plot was overly superficial with almost no subplots or side stories to work with. What you see is what you get. And as a result, the 80+ minute picture unravels slowly and ultimately loses the audience's attention in between its brighter moments. However, kudos to Mr Bissett and the release of his first full length feature. Hopefully the young filmmaker will return to his hometown festival in the future with a stronger and more fully developed piece of work that better represents his talented vision.
After taking a moment to regroup from the pair of films, I exited the VIP Lounge and headed to Jonathan Lisecki's Gayby at the Ritz East Theatre. Clearly my favorite film of the day, Gayby follows Jenn (played by Jenn Harris) and her best friend Matt (played by Matthew Wilkas), who happens to be homosexual. But when Jenn decides that being single and living in the city is getting her nowhere, she proposes an idea to Matt and the best friends decide to have a baby together. However, an untimely one night stand leaves Jenn uncertain if Matt is the father of the child or not. Laugh out loud funny and over the top in the vein of 1999's But I'm a Cheerleader, Gayby survives on its jokes alone. Although extremely likable, Lisecki's characters never break through the one-dimensional barrier and give us someone to really attach ourselves to. Yet, the jokes run rampant enough to get you through this well paced comedy that's enjoyable to watch.
A Look At Today:
On my schedule for tonight are Antonio Campos' Simon Killer and Mikael Hafstrom's Shanghai.
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