When: 6 P.M on Friday, February 19, 2016
Who With: JL and KC
Movie Count: Staying at 14 since this wasn't part of the Roxy membership
Snacks: Drinks at Montgomery Distillery before and dinner at El Cazador after
Reaction: Mavis with an exclamation point is right! What a great lady! I walked in not knowing much but the free HBO opening night of the Big Sky Doc festival has become a very satisfying tradition. Except that one year when we all chickened out of Marina Abramovic : The Artist is Present (which we just watched at home and was pretty interesting and filled a cultural knowledge gap, although still a bit confirming of the weird art fear that prevented us wimps from going in 2012.).But Mavis Staples, my goodness. This doc really let's you get to know her and her Pops as the Staple Singers create their relevancy in the 50s as a family gospel band with Mavis's powerful 13 year old pipes and then blending in the blues and rock as the decades progress. One striking aspect of this family band is that they're such good people. They seem to avoid the dramas of exploitation, exuberant spending, and excess that seem standard in famous family dynamics today. Pops is a visionary and lends their voice to Martin Luther King Jr.'s message early on. His reincarnation as Jeff Tweedy later on in the film seems as fulfilling for the audience as it is for him and Mavis.
Unfortunately, we sat one row behind the absolute worst people. They were using their phones throughout and talked at full volume throughout, practically holding a family meeting, until they were asked to be quiet. They complied by leaving! They left right before an emotional part of the movie, so it worked out. And when the movie was over, we got to repent for all of our judgy-mc-judginess of that group by helping reunite a wallet with it's owner. We're good people, just like Mavis and Pops.
The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is a wonderful Missoula asset set at the time of year when the weather is making you cranky and you need to get you out of your house. It reunites you with endearing Missoulians you haven't seen in a while and makes our isolated town feel a bit more connected to the rest of the world. It brings a buzz of out-of-towners and terrible traffic which also connects us with the real world. And it marks the 9th anniversary of my first date with JL! We were working at Project Vote Smart (Vote Dumb) and came into the big city to see the Ralph Nader doc, "An Unreasonable Man." A perfect nerdish match made in Missoula.
Recommendation: Let’s Go! (well, technically let it come to you because although HBO is not TV, it happens on your TV or TV-like device) | Let it come to you | Let it pass
Next Up: Theeb (foreign film Oscar contender out of Jordan) and The Witness at the doc fest, then The Big Short tomorrow. We need to distract ourselves as much as possible during the house selling project. Want a condo?
No comments:
Post a Comment