Below are some of the highlights from Days 4-6 at SXSW
The Dog – 4 out of 5
More than 40 years after the real-life bank robbery that inspired Dog Day Afternoon comes a documentary about the bank robber that was played by Al Pacino in the movie. It’s a fascinating portrait that uses archival and recent interviews with the subject, his mother, the transsexual that motivated John Wojtowicz, and many others. He’s a great character for a documentary and this also turns into an interesting look at the gay rights movement in the late ’60s and ’70s.
Wicker Kittens – 3.5 out of 5
Wicker Kittens is a cute little documentary about a jigsaw puzzle competition. The director followed three teams and the organizer of the competition as they prepared and competed. The teams take the competition seriously but the movie is a pretty lighthearted look at the competition and there are lots of fun moments. For those who are into jigsaw puzzles, there are also good tips on how to improve your game. While I liked this, I’d recommend The King of Kong (Donkey Kong competitors) and Spellbound (spelling bee) for those looking for an offbeat movie about competition.
Fort Tilden – 3.5 out of 5
Fort Tilden won the Grand Jury Prize for feature narrative. This is a drama/comedy about two female friends deciding to spend a day at the beach. They run into problems going to, at and returning from the beach, and their friendship is tested. All these problems lead to revelations about their struggles to become responsible adults.
The Great invisible – 4 out of 5
This film won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary Feature. This explores the problems that led to the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the sad state of the impact to people’s lives several years after the accident. This is definitely worth seeing.
The Raid 2 – 4 out of 5
If you like kick-ass action, this is the movie for you! The hero of the original Raid goes undercover for non-stop, bone-crushing , death-defying Indonesian action.