All Sorts (2021 | USA | 93 minutes | J. Rick Castaneda)
What a weird and wonderful SIFF discovery. It’s like “Better Off Ted” meets Fight Club meets Being John Malkovich. Diego (Eli Vargas) gets a job at a data-focused business by his ability to type at a brisk 55 wpm. He has a desk calendar that makes no sense and it’s like a week before he gets his computer. He also crushes on his officemate June (Greena Park), who turns out to be a prodigy in the weirdly competitive high speed filing. The boss, Vasquez (Luis Deveze), made me laugh every time he was on screen. He was so wacky and off the wall, but I would hate to work with him. So far, he’s been my favorite comic relief at SIFF, and Lord knows I needed it.
Potato Dreams of America (2021 | USA | 96 minutes | Wes Hurley)
Call this another weird and wonderful movie in the NW Connections program. This offbeat comedy is a quasi-autobiographical tale of how Hurley finds his way to Seattle from Russia. There are lots of people from the Seattle arts scene that you’ll recognize and the host of “Cupcake Wars” is cast as Jesus. There were some hilarious moments, without giving too much, one involves karaoke and the other is a montage. The less I say, the better.
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street (2021 | USA | 107 minutes | Marilyn Agrelo)
When you try to condense the entire history of “Sesame Street” into a single, 107 minute documentary, there’s going to be a lot that gets left out. I was a little disappointed to not see the names of legendary puppeteers like Kermit Love and Jerry Nelson mentioned until the closing credits.. Honestly, though, I won’t be satisfied until Ken Burns makes a multi-part series for PBS on the life and times of my favorite “Sesame Street” muppet, Count von Count. But there are plenty of wonderful moments captured behind the scenes of the most beloved children’s television programs. On the plus side, I did not get a headache, which means that this history didn’t cover any time recent enough to showcase that annoying fucker Elmo.
Super Frenchie (2020 | USA | 77 minutes | Chase Ogden)
Matthias Geraud is a Frenchman who moved to the US to continue his passion of base jumping. He has balls of steel and really intense eyes and likes to say things like “Fear of death is no reason not to do something you’re passionate about.” (Counterpoint: is too.) Chase Ogden’s documentary is ostensibly about Geraud trying to find the balance between his love for jumping off cliffs and his responsibilities as a father and husband. The GoPro footage of his jumps, though, are the real draw here. They’re awesome. Here’s my hackish attempt to get my name on the poster: “Fans of Free Solo should look no further for their next cinematic adrenaline rush.”
Too Late (2021 | USA | 80 minutes | DW Thomas)
Violet Fields (Alyssa Limperis) is a comedy booker in LA that has a monster as a boss (Ron Lynch), not just that he expects her to be at his beck and call at all hours of the day (though he does that), but also because he expects her to find unknown comedians (who will be unmissed) for him to feast on their bodies. That’s barely tolerable until a young, handsome comedian from the midwest (Will Weldon) comes to LA and Violet develops feelings for him while Bob Devore, her boss also has plans for him. There are plenty of laughs in this gross-out horror movie, and plenty of familiar faces (Fred Armisen, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Brooks Wheelan).
Keep up with us during the festival on Twitter (@thesunbreak) and follow all of our ongoing coverage via our SIFF 2021 page.