Now that we’ve got the non-festival films out of the way let’s talk about what I’ve seen so far at SXSW. I wish I could do full posts on each of these films but I just don’t have the time right now. Perhaps I will down the road but here goes:

We Were Dangerous

I was a little nervous going into We Were Dangerous that it would be too intense for my taste (especially as the start to the festival) but it actually balances its competing tones quite well.

I don’t know if it is based on a true story but it is about a group of New Zealand teens in 1954 that are sent to a reform camp run by a cruel and sadistic matron. Eventually they plot their escape and the whole thing becomes quite thrilling and empowering.

All the girls are great and their chemistry feels natural and lived-in. Rima Te Wiata is unbelievable as the matron. There are so many times when I thought she was going to break and show some humanity and then she would double down on her cruelty. It is a very well calibrated performance- one could call her the New Zealand Nurse Ratched!

We Were Dangerous was a strong start to the festival, and I highly recommend checking it out when you get a chance.

8 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Whatever It Takes

The title Whatever It Takes doesn’t really sell the wild story of this documentary well. It should be called Stalked by Ebay or something like that. Anyway, it tells the story of an internet blogging couple who begin getting stalked by angry commenters online but it goes beyond online. They receive bizarre packages like cockroaches and a pigs head and are followed around their town. It was crazy and as the investigators start looking into it they find it goes way high up the Ebay chain of command.

I don’t know if we needed the complete lesson on the history of Ebay. going back to the 90s but when it is focused on the investigation it is gripping and as someone who has faced much milder internet-based violence I related to it quite strongly. People hide behind a screen and it can be terrifying.

7 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Diane Warren: Relentless-

Last year I had the privilege of covering the red carpet for the Disney Plus show A Small Light at SXSW and I was hoping to have a similar experience this year but at first no opportunities came up. Then yesterday I got a surprise chance to cover the new documentary about song writer Diane Warren and I raced over to the venue in record time!

If you didn’t know Diane Warren is a song writer who has written some of the biggest pop hits of the last 30 years and she has been nominated for Oscars 15 times without a win (she has an honorary Oscar but no competitive.) I am working on the red carpet coverage video as we speak but it was a cool experience to get to meet Diane and she said my question was a good one (I’m not a trained journalist so that felt good!)

Anyway, the documentary Diane Warren: Relentless is a serviceable biodoc about her life and unlikely journey to become a hit-maker. I like these kind of Behind the Music style documentaries so I enjoyed it. However, I was surprised how focused on the Oscars she was and how the movie having an original song felt like a bit of a cheap ploy for her to finally win. Things like that have to happen organically. If it feels forced she will be less likely to win but this doc was entertaining enough for music and movie fans.

6 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Monkey Man

Next up we have the world premiere of the new action film starring (and directed/written) by Dev Patel called Monkey Man. I am probably the only person in that audience who hasn’t seen any of the John Wick movies so this isn’t exactly a genre of movies I’m super familiar with. However, I still found this to be a well made and exciting action movie.

I’ve been a big fan of Dev Patel for a long time and he is so charismatic and strong her in the lead. He said his goal was to be an underdog on a mission and he succeeds with this goal. There is almost never a moment where it doesn’t feel like his character is outmatched by his opponents but he keeps going. He was clearly influenced by The Raid but this had more mythology and story attached to it with the myth of the Monkeyman giving him confidence to go after the crooked people who killed his Mother.

Monkey Man is very well shot with long kinetic action sequences that are very exciting. I do wish from time to time he had widened the shots to give more scope to the fights but I’m sure especially action fans will have a blast with this movie. I also loved his use of color and creative camera techniques to tell the story. If you’re an action fan I highly recommend this one.

7 out of 10

Smile Worthy

The Fall Guy

Now for an action movie I did not like we have The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. I was very excited to see this film. In fact, it was my most anticipated movie of 2024. Perhaps my expectations were too high but the trailer really sold me on their chemistry and I was hopeful for a new action romance in the vein of Knight and Day or Romancing the Stone. Sadly it did not deliver on this potential and I left extremely disappointed.

The main problem with the movie is director David Leitch gives little purpose to much of the action he throws at us for nearly 2 hours (it felt much longer than that.) This makes it feel like we are seeing a stuntman highlight reel rather than an actual movie and I can do that on youtube for a couple of minutes of my time not hours.

The other big mistake is the movie is sold on its rom-com elements but then Leitch separates Blunt and Gosling for most of the movie! It makes all the mindless inane action dividing them feel all the more frustrating because they do have good chemistry- if only they were actually together on screen more!

Again I wanted to like The Fall Guy but instead I left bored and underwhelmed. What a disappointment!

4 out of 10

Frown Worthy

So there we have it. That’s SXSW so far! I hope the rest of the festival has more gems hidden in there. I will make sure to tell you about them in my next update.

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