THE OPPOSITE OF SEX

Saturday, May 23, 1998

I got mail from S---, whom I had dinner with the other night. He had written an account of the evening as if he had a web journal of his own (which he doesn't, as far as I know). Very interesting reading! If he gives permission, I'll post selected portions.

I was of two minds this morning as to which of two movies to see: a documentary about some men (HIV+ and AIDs patients) who formed a team for a sailboat race, or a Japanese animated film that has been picked up and redubbed by Disney. I got to the plaza between the Broadway Performance Hall and the Egyptian Theater and found that the families with kids were being directed across the street to the Egyptian. Someone had wisely decided to switch the theaters because of larger than anticipated demand for the animated film.

So I decided on the animated film. I walked in and saw A---, my platinum pass holding festival buddy. He had just realized that they had switched theaters! The Broadway has good signs on the doors, but not the Egyptian! But he wasn't averse to seeing the Japanese film, since the movie we wanted to see afterwards was also at the Egyptian.

Kiki's Delivery Service
This movie far surpassed my expectations! It's a Japanese animated film, from 1989, which has now been picked up and redubbed by Disney. This led to cheers and boos during the short speech from the Disney guy who was there. The Anime fans were out in force. The movie was beautifully drawn and animated. It was a good story about a young witch who has left home to begin her training. Evidently witch training in the generic European country depicted in the movie is an entirely self-directed process. A young witch leaves home after her thirteenth birthday, flying off to an unknown city and setting up as the resident witch. I liked that Kiki had to solve her problems herself! If I'd known this would be so good, I'd have brought my older nephew at least.

Rashomon
I'd never seen this Kurosawa classic before. Toshiro Mifune was great as the bandit. I did doze off for a few minutes here and there; the combination of long silences and a warm theater tends to do that to me.

A--- and a few other festival buddies walked down Broadway to the next show, getting dinner on the way at a newish Indian restaurant. I had a very good tandoori chicken salad! We were looking forward to the next show, Mr. Jealousy, because we had enjoyed the director's first feature a few years ago. This earlier movie, Kicking and Screaming, was part of the Secret Festival, as far as we can recall, but since Darryl, the festival director, named it from the stage before tonight's screening, the secrecy decree on that movie is apparently lifted. It was about guys who took a long time to finish college. Thus the title; they had to be dragged "kicking and screaming" into the adult world.

Mr. Jealousy
Eric Stoltz and Annabella Sciorra star in this urban comedy, written and directed by Noah Baumbach. Very funny! Stoltz is obsessed with the former boyfriends of the woman he is currently dating. He even goes so far as to join the therapy group of a now-famous writer, using another friend's name and talking about the friend's life problems as if they were his own. The whole thing is Seinfeld-esque and Allen-esque, which is fine by me since I like both!

We left before the questions after the show, because we needed to get back to the Egyptian. Too bad! I'd have liked to hear what Baumbach had to say! A--- didn't care for my joke that a good nickname for someone with the last name "Baumbach" would be "Boom-boom." Rumor had it that one of the stars of the next movie, Christina Ricci, would be at the screening. Rumor was wrong. But the movie was great!

The Opposite of Sex
Yeah! Highly recommended. This comedy with a dark side had Martin Donovan, always one of my favorites, along with Lisa Kudrow, Christina Ricci, and Lyle Lovett. Ricci is fantastic as a Lolita-type that narrates the movie. I've always liked her, ever since Mermaids! This was the first feature written and directed by Don Roos.