REEL Indie Film Festival
IndieWEEK in Toronto, Canada celebrated it’s tenth anniversary by including seven movies in the lineup under the Reel Indie Film Fest. From music videos, to shorts, to feature length documentaries, there was a big spread between the serious and the lighthearted, with something for every indie music and film lover.
The Legend of Jimi Lazer
The Legend of Jimi Lazer, directed by Mann Munoz, wonBest Adventure Film at the 2013Manhattan Film Festival and was shown duringIndieWEEK in Toronto at the 2013Reel Indie Film Festival. Jimi Lazer, a struggling musician, makes a deal. A guitar to make him bigger than Hendrix, at the cost of his first born. Nearly 30 years later, and he is completely forgotten, living in the middle of nowhere, the band has broken up and there is a lot of bitterness on all sides. Then his old manager has a dream, a vision, of Jimi and his band on stage with the Man in Black. They have three days to reassemble the old band and take one last shot at fame and glory. Dark forces are gathering to stop them, and not everything is as it seems.
PartBlues Brothers, partScott Pilgrim, it’s difficult to dislikeThe Legend of Jimi Lazer. At times, the budget shows, and some of the acting is a little questionable, but it’s got a lot of heart. Running the gamut of music urban legends (like the 27 club, and Robert Johnson at the crossroads) with a kickass soundtrack, there’s always something happening.Mann Munozkeeps the story constantly ticking along at a merry pace, rarely rushing but never slowing.
The cast is largely made of unknowns, but they all acquit themselves well, especiallyRobbie Beniuk as the title character andPatrick J. Mitchellas Freedom, the priest/manager who sets the plot in motion and acts as the Jiminy Cricket, keeping Jimi and the rest on the straight and narrow. As said before, the inexperience shows from time to time, but everyone at least tries and the love and care given to the script and music makes it shine.
Highly recommended.
http://www.cubecity.org/jimilazer_mff.htm
http://www.cubecity.org/pdf/presskit_ljlweb2.pdf @RIFF_toronto, @TheNYFF #riffto,
Donal O’Connor
Musicwood
Musicwood is a documentary by musicians and makers of acoustic guitars that has captured the imagination of audiences over the past few months since its international premiere in London, England. It features a stellar musical lineup includingthe Antlers andYo La Tengo.
It all started when the makers of acoustic guitars in the US discovered that there might shortly be no trees to supply the sprucewood need to make the guitars. A group of guitar manufacturers,Bob Taylor,Chris Martin andDave Berryman of the famedGibson Guitars, led by the award winning directorMaxine Trump (winner of theBDA for her work withBBC America), set out to answer that question. Their search lead them to Alaska, and astonishing facts about what was happening to one of the last vast old growth forest in America, theTombas National Forest of Alaska.
In a whirlwind of evolving media, it’s nice to know
that one thing remains constant: ideas.
Who is at the forefront of the potent ideas manifest in film, gaming, music and design?The fans and the fanatics are finding out at myETVmedia.com. We invite you to join theparty. With exclusive industry access, myetvmedia.com brings you the latest on exclusivefestivals, films, actors, artists and of course, ideas.
Follow the ideas, feel the energy.
Moira Romano
founder & editor
ETV Newsletter