Izzy Gets the Fuck Across Town - interview with director Christian Papierniak: Let them just exist

I recently saw a really great and funny movie. Izzy Gets The F*ck Across town, directed by Christian Papierniak, is an indie movie about a riot grrrl trying to get “across” town in time to stop her ex before he marries someone else. It has an unusually fresh and punk-ish feeling to it that I particularly enjoyed and that I find great to see on big screen these days. I could even say in a way it took me back to my twenties and made me reminiscent in the best possible way. But even for those who have not lived through a part of their life that is similar to the story they are watching, I truly believe they will find a lot of entertainment in this movie throughout. 

So for those of you who would like to know more about the movie and the process of creating it, here is an interview with the director as Christian was kind enough to answer my many questions.

Sit back, and enjoy this piece that clearly showcases a true love and passion for film, filmmaking, and creativity. Oh and in case you have yet to see the movie, do not reveal the spoiler protected part, we talk about the ending there a lot. I mean it.

Dear Parents: I salute you! (Day 1)

I was appointed as a temporary guardian to my Auntie's two dogs. Nobody else was available to take care of them for the 4 days while she would be gone. Believe me, I asked around. A LOT. But since the dogs happen to live in the house where my mother is currently recovering from an injury that resulted in a broken shoulder and I was helping her already, it was a logical choice. 

I was given a few "simple" rules, like what time one dog needs to get his medicine (god damn early in the morning), and that the little one is deaf and epileptic and the other one is old and disobedient so I have to take that into account. Oh and one will only shit when you are looking at it. Don't ask me why, but it is a real thing apparently. But otherwise they are "both lovely" I was told, and "you are going to have a great time". Yeah. No. So that  didn't happen. I am a sucker and the dogs are like one deaf toddler and one demented and bratty teenager. If having kids is anything like this, then count me out people. Or rather: I admire greatly anyone who takes care of anything this or more demanding and challenging on daily bases. You are the real MVPs people! Cause this is how it went for me:

Review: 20th Century Women - a rare piece of subtle art [9/10 A.S.]

1. 20th Century Women was a delightful surprise for me. I didn’t really want to go see it. The title didn’t appeal to me - who wants to watch a movie titled whatever- women? After the horror of "The Women" and the much, much better but still not very enjoyable Certain Women, I felt like I had it with whatever-women movies. Plus the description: "a single mom parents her teenage son along with two young women who help her " made me worry even more. And then I saw the name Greta Gerwig. Miss Gerwig usually makes me feel really irritated with movies she is in, since I find her performance insufferable. Not for a lack of talent, she certainly is a very talented lady, but something about her usual manners rubs me to wrong way. And its hard to say why. Maybe it is because more often than not she is cast as somewhat neurotic (and to me one-dimensional, therefore uninteresting) basket case. And I was afraid it was going to be the same this time around.

2. Well I couldn’t have been more wrong. On everything. The movie broke the spell of whatever-women flicks being bad. The description of the plot, while accurate, cannot communicate the beauty of the film and the depth of the characters portrayed in it. So: don’t be put off by it, there is no need. And no, you do not need to be a woman or a feminist, to enjoy the movie.  It’s a "normal" coming of age film. While the movie does mention the word “feminism“ quite often, it is not a "feminist" movie (certainly not in the misused scary way), and what’s more important - it can make fun of itself, its female protagonists and even feminism. A quality that, I find, the real-life examples of feminists often seem to lack. 

Review: DNA Lounge - San Francisco [10/10 A.S.]

1. A couple of weeks ago my work brought me to San Francisco for a few days. As it happenes, I had only one free evening, so it was a tough choice on what to do in this spectacularly interesting city. In the end,  based upon a recommendation from a fellow human being I decided to spend my free time in a club called  the DNA Lounge.

2. It’s an establishment owned by Jamie Zawinski. Name I was told I should look up. I did. As a person that struggles to use computers for things other than sending emails at work, watching Netflix after work and brainless meandering around on the internet in between, I wasn’t able to do the "aaaw" in a way I presume I was expected to do, but I totally believe my good attempt at it was deserving.

Suicide Squad: Ben Affleck's chin double tells all [4,5/10 A.S.]

1. I was hired to be Ben Affleck’s chin double. You know, in his new movie.  When he is in the Batman costume and all you can see from him is his chin. Thats me! It makes sense, because why would the producer pay a famous actor big bucks to be there, if he can get the same shot for much cheaper. I mean I don’t work for scale, but you know, compared to Big Ben, I take pocket money. And I get it. After all, the one thing I have going for me is the Ben Affleck look-alike chin. I never really did well in school or achieved anything worth mentioning, but when I was discovered, it kinda changed my life. Now I have a 3 year contract to stand-in for Ben's chin whenever needed! And life is sweet.

2. So there I am, on the set of Suicide Squad. David Ayer, the director, is talking to that lady from The Help and Doubt. Later I learn her name is Viola Davis. What a nice and kind woman! She noticed my chin right away, and called me Chinfleck. And it stuck. I found it endearing. But there she is, being told by the director to call Robocop a pussy! And a bitch! You don’t call the Robocop a bitch!  Joel Kinnaman,  the actor who plays Rick Flag, is a nice guy and all, but I tell you: he did not like it one bit, that Viola called him a bitch. You know what I say? I say: time are a changin', buddy! Her character, Ammanda Waller, is one strict boss in the movie! A bit too one dimensional, for my taste, but hey, she was commited to it!

Warcraft - through the eyes of a non-gaming movie-goer [3/10 A.S.]

1. First things first. I have never played Warcraft and even more: I have never been exposed to any information about it, other than the one episode on the Big Bang Theory where Penny turns out to be somewhat addicted to it for a while. Also, I feel I should mention my favorite computer game was Tetris and I never progressed beyond that with games.  I also suffer from a mild case of ADHD. Alright?

2. Now that we cleared that, I want to say I have nothing against gaming and can recall other movies based on video games that I enjoyed. To name a few: Resident Evil, Max Payne, Final Fantasy, Need for Speed or even Hitman: Agent 47. And I liked The Lord of The Rings and am an avid fan of the Warcrarft director Duncan Jones. I loved Moon and enjoyed Source Code a lot. But Warcraft confused me and couldn’t keep me entertained at the same time.

3. Because the level of my confusion and boredom was so big, I decided to show you just how bad it was (for a non-gamer). And I wrote this review without having googled or discussed the plot and all the things that I may have missed or just misunderstood. I slept on it, though, because yesterday right after the movie I'd have probably given it an even lower score. To be clear: I knew what I was getting into and all I really expected or wanted from the movie was to be somewhat entertained for 2 hours, while I chew on my unbuttered popcorn and drink my diet coke. I wanted this fun-looking, impressive-budget-and-great director-having live-action movie to do it's one job - take me out of the everyday reality and have me focus on good & evil fighting it out. I am not reaching for the stars here people. I managed to enjoy Jack and Jill, and Dungeon and Dragons, for crying out loud. I can be very forgiving.

Adam Sandler - The Do Over Tour [10/10 A.S.]

1. Whenever I feel kinda sad or down or whatever, I just wanna pop in an Adam Sandler Movie. I love him. He has always made me laugh. I like just about all of his movies and have always felt comfort in watching them. If it is Saturday night and if I wanna watch something fun, I'm gonna watch an Adam Sandler movie. I am looking at Adam Sandler and thinking: God, I wanna get a piece of that. I wanna learn from that dude. Now, for those who were just thinking: "oh gee you can't tell a good movie from shit, if you say that." - you know what? Those first six lines were not my words, even though I can for sure and happily sign off on it too. But these words were actually said by Paul Thomas Anderson when being quizzed by Roger Egbert on "why the hell would you work with Adam Sandler". 

Criminal - a criminally bad movie [3/10 A.S.]

1. Criminal is one pretty awful movie. What else do you need to know? Originally the lead role was supposed to go to Nicolas Cage. Who turned it down. Do I really need to say more? How bad does a movie have to be for Cage to turn it down? Well bad enough to beat his last five awful movies, apparently. And it is.

2. The story goes something like this: an elite CIA operative who suffers fatal injury during his pursuit of an anarchistic terrorist who is -(wait for it) threatening the world peace - has his mind transferred into the brain of the world’s most dangerous and psychopathic criminal. Enter Kevin Costner, doing his best impression of Michal Richards on steroids. Why does the CIA need the memories of the agent in the psycho's brain? Because apparently that’s the only way to extract the mightily important information about the whereabouts of a sought-after hacker and a wormhole program that allows for bypassing "any and all" safeguards around the use of any nuclear weapons (wait for it again) in the world. Gee. Why aim so low? 

3. As the inconsistent and shallow "story" unravels, you may wonder: how come a talented director + talented cast doesn’t equal a good or at least enjoyable movie?  You may stuff your face with more popcorn or make out with the pretty girl next to you, but it still won't make the Criminal experience much better, I am afraid. Unless the girl next to you is really hot and willing to do some filthy stuff. In which case why waste the time you have together on watching Kevin Costner struggle as the uninterestingly portrayed and criminally insane Jericho Stewart? Beats me.