SXSW 2009 Festival Genius

Cassie England - July 1st, 2009

As a new regular feature we’ll be highlighting some of the top feature films at our partner festivals, as rated & reviewed by  festivalgoers using B-Side Festival Genius software.

For today’s post we’ll take a look back to the Atlanta and Newport Beach film festivals, which took place in April, at a few highlights from each.

Atlanta Film Festival

Living Is Winning (4.7/5 stars) - Directed by Linda Burns. Featured review by user dolphine: “Excellent photography, inspirational, motivational. A wonderful blend of real life humor and reality drama. The honest pace of the film pulls you into the characters and reveals a powerful insight into the driving force of an athlete who comes to terms with the preciousness of life.”

Paolo (4.7/5 stars) - Directed by Andrea Franco. Featured review by user alfredoeditor: “I found the characters and story to be quite engaging. It’s good to see young filmmakers taking risks to help educate people about diversity in an entertaining fashion. A great achievement in its own right.”

Newport Beach Film Festival

Into Temptation (4.5/5 stars) - Directed by Patrick Coyle, starring Jeremy Sisto and Kristin Chenoweth. Featured review by user Annastasia: “Absolute wonder of a film. I’m tired of celebrities and superheroes. These characters bring to light the complex internal struggles for them in their often over-looked and undervalued professions. This film has irreverent humor, suspense and awe-inspiring sparks..it has it all and it is a masterpiece.”

Made in China (4.5/5 stars) - Directed by Judi Krant. Featured review by user topurpledogs: “This is a fantastic movie…neigh…dare i say it, this is a GINORMOUS movie. It’s both entertaining and informative making it INFORMERTAINING. Entertaining because it is so damn funny and informative because you just never knew the need for such a “humorous domestic hygiene” product.”

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Cassie England - June 29th, 2009

Throughout history, American film has raised the bar in a broad spectrum of elements, including technology, performance, style, innovation and experimentation. While filmmakers all across the globe continue to stun audiences with incredible cinematic masterpieces, the primary focus of ACEFEST is on American-made works. Now in its third year and held July 10th & 11th in Tribeca Cinemas, NYC, ACEFEST provides a nurturing forum for domestic film and video, magnifying the focus on this country’s creative voice.

One highlight of this year’s program is the documentary My Big Break, in which director Tony Zierra turns the camera on his four actor roommates (including Wes Bentley from American Beauty), exploring from a unique vantage point what it’s really like to become famous. Also in this year’s lineup is Joe Leonard’s How I Got Lost, a road trip tale about a pair of friends who decide to leave New York and head for nowhere. Check out the ACEFEST schedule online.

Festivals starting next week include:

Notting Hill Film Festival (July 10-15)

All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival (July 11)

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Cassie England - June 25th, 2009

CineVegas and SILVERDOCS recently wrapped up, and B-Side was there to take in the action. Here are some of the top-rated features from each festival:

CineVegas

500 Days Of Summer (4.5/5 stars) - Directed by Marc Webb, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel. Featured review by AarNicCab: “I absolutely loved this film. The script was very deft and witty, and the performances of the entire cast were top notch. An utterly charming and refreshing story that was well shot, well directed, nicely paced and all around lovely to watch. Any film about relationships that allows you to leave the theater smiling gets a thumbs up from me.”

Moon (4.5/5 stars) - Directed by Duncan Jones, starring Sam Rockwell. Featured review by user RubyRedTootsies: “This is a MUST SEE MOVIE!!!! Excellent! I love Sci-Fi and was happy that I didn’t figure out the ending in the first 15 minutes. In fact, you don’t see THIS ending coming! And it leaves an opportunity open for a sequel, which I’m as happy about as I was for “The Matrix”. Great job to everyone involved! I can’t wait for “Mute” to come out.”

SILVERDOCS

Best Worst Movie (4.5/5 stars) - Directed by Michael Paul Stephenson. Featured review by user reel37: “Let me say that I’ve never seen Troll 2 or heard about the Troll 2 phenomenon, so I was a bit hesitant to see this film and had no clue what to expect. I saw it on Friday in a jam-packed, standing room only theater and I haven’t stopped smiling about this film. This film really surprised me and is one the best films I’ve seen all year! A fascinating look at “celebrity”, filmmaking and the line between fame and infamy…Don’t be fooled, you DON’T have to see Troll 2 to enjoy this film. I’m calling it right now… this film is going to be a hit!”

The Philosopher Kings (4.5/5 stars) - Directed by Patrick Shen. Featured review by user nfgseth01: “This documentary beautifully weaved the stories of eight custodians together. It gives a voice to the usually unseen janitor and presents us with a chance to really take a second look at people we normally walk right past. I felt this film presented its message in a subtle way - allowing us to draw our own conclusions about life and the way we view other people.”

Did you attend SILVERDOCS or CineVegas? Share your genius by rating & reviewing the films you saw. Go back to the festival site and login or register to rate films on a scale of 1 to 5 stars (5 being the best). Click here to go to CineVegas. Click here to go to SILVERDOCS.

Attending the Los Angeles Film Festival this year? B-Side has put together a Festival Genius site for you! Share your genius by rating & reviewing the films you see at LAFF. Click here for the unofficial schedule.

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