Ray Pride

More so than in recent years, CUFF seems to be exhibiting its experimental side, while not ignoring gore, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Highlights in the next few days include Michael Dowse's mullet-rific Canadian headbanger mock-doc, "FUBAR," (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition) which I expected, after its 2002 Sundance showings, would get some sort of U.S. distribution, but its gross charms seem to have been lost on buyers. Luis Fernandez de la Reguera's "Rockets Redglare" captures a slice of a lost New York era through its portrait of the late actor, comic, bodyguard and drug dealer to Sid Vicious and Jean Michel Basquiat. Adrianne Jorge and Tamy Ojala's "Truck" is a likable mass of quirks as the two filmmakers crisscross the country meeting American truckers, both male and female. Jennifer Reeder's "Tiny Plastic Rainbow" is a dryly humorous and ultimately deeply sad video feature about what it's like to sleepwalk through another medicated Midwestern day. Scott Peterson's "Scrabylon" follows tournament Scrabble players, and it seems like an indicator of the sort of increasingly specialized documentary subjects we're going to be seeing more of, with filmmakers hoping to suggest the universal through things that are very particular. Blue Hadaegh and Grover Babcock's "A Certain Kind of Death" has haunted me for months, with its up-close look at what happens to Los Angelenos unfortunate enough to die without next of kin. "It's a Maddin, Maddin World," a compilation of short films and videos by Winnipeg artists other than Guy Maddin, is sweetly peculiar and very Midwestern Canadian. Jeff Erbach's "Soft Like Me," a perverse reimagining of the sort of imagery you'd find in David Lynch or in Philip Ridley's little-seen "The Reflecting Skin," may be the most barbarous myth of the bunch. There's also some nutty doodles from the Royal Art Lodge, done up by filmmaker deco dawson, which make the most of smeary images and man-size puppets that will not go away. (Full disclosure: I'm involved with two shorts programmed by the festival, one as director, one as an actor.)

The Tenth Chicago Underground Film Festival continues through Tuesday at the Landmark Century.

(2003-08-27)

Also by Ray Pride

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(2003-08-20)

Alienation
The technology is there, but are the audiences?
(2003-08-20)

Running time
Indie, underground, commercial... 1915-2003
(2003-08-20)

Short Runs
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(2003-08-20)

Tip of the Week
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Act your rage
(2003-08-13)

Educational Eden
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Tip of the Week
(2003-08-05)

Short Runs
(2003-08-05)

L.A. confidence
(2003-08-05)

Tip of the Week
(2003-07-30)

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