| Documentary Review: Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill by Jacobson
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Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is really a good documentary about these cherry-headed parrots that this guy in San Francisco adopted. This movie is hard to describe. I had heard about it and thought it had gone to video, but found it playing out at the 4 Star in the Avenues, an old theater that usually plays foreign flicks. But, it is really a good movie.
This guy, Mark Bittner, had made friends with these parrots that were not native to California. The parrots were probably bought and released or escaped but had become a flock. Mark was not the one who bought or released the parrots. Mark, who looked after them, had long hair, was really intelligent, and had a good singing voice.
Mark originally came to San Francisco to be a musician and had been in San Francisco for 28 years. He had never held a job and started living in this little place which was like a servant's quarters close to North Beach with hills, stairways to the stairs(meaning high)-very fascinating. The landlords' simply let him stay because of the parrots for years. People seemed not to charge him for anything. Quite a kind of sweet story.
How does this happen? Who is this guy? What about these parrots? In modern San Francisco, how? This whole situation is zany like the City! Anyway, like I said, this is a sweet story.
Mark eventually is evicted in a nice way as the landlords are renovating. Mark says he is not going to cut his long hair until he gets a girlfriend. The last scene Mark is getting a haircut. He has a girl. You guessed it: his girl is the one who made the video. Davis Guadalupe Jacobson
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| Movie Review: JuneBug-A Movie about the South by Dan Foster
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Saw another one of my weird movies yesterday, JuneBug, a movie about the South, relatively speaking, and a movie of subtleties. Overall, made by a bunch of Yankees who don't get the South; while, on the other hand, they do. I know that statement sounds ambiguous, but this is the movie you understand and you don't. Like I said, subtleties.
The story line was about this very sophisticated gal, Madeline, who ran an art gallery in Chicago. Madeline meets a guy from North Carolina, George, who comes into her gallery and marries him in two weeks. When they head south, they have been married six months; they have an incredible amount of sex- I'm thinking about hours; sounds great to me! Replay this over and over in my head. I would expect nothing less from a young troop from NC than lots of sex. Anyway, they come south, not just to see his family but for the wife's business; she is trying to sign this southern artist; his stuff looks like junk; but to her, she sees great potential. The artist is this quirky, older guy who paints a lot of penises-amazing.
Madeline is introduced to George's family and it is like an alien world. Many of the stereotypical Southern nuances, as I like to call them, are present: the religion, the homogenous groupings, Church-going and socials. The young preacher prays over the couple and, George, Madeline's husband, sings beautifully, "Softly and Tenderly," at a Church social. The sophisticated wife, a Chicagoan, is mesmerized. She didn't even know he could sing and is simply blown away by it all. She doesn't verbalize it, but you see it in her face.
The predominant character could be Allison, in a sense: young, naive. She is married to Johnny, George's brother, who stayed behind and is sullen, angry, and feels trapped. Allison is this motor mouth, cute as a button, and nine months pregnant. Madeline, the sophisticated wife, spends lots of times looking and inwardly shaking her head.
There's some drama around the artist; and Johnny, George's brother, develops honest affection for Madeline. Allison seems oblivious; she ends up losing her baby and grieves intensely.
When you come out of the movie, you think to yourself, "What was this movie about?" And yet, you are still thinking about it days later. Wait for the video and then see a couple of weird movies and call it, Weird Movie Night. How's that?
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