Twelve

A unique collaboration of 12 Boston area directors and starring a local ensemble cast of relative unknowns or actors with limited professional experience, the Boston International Film Festival debuted the world premiere of "Twelve" last night at the Somerville Theater.

This eclectic but unified collection of 12 short stories—each about a different month of the year—forms both a love letter both to Boston and an impressive showcase for the area’s burgeoning indie filmmaking scene, said the indie festival's website when I booked my weekend festival tickets.

Last Friday night, I watched three festival films but the highlight was "Phoebe in Wonderland," an amazing drama starring 9-year-old Elle Fanning as a girl with behavioral issues who reluctantly joins her school production of "Alice in Wonderland" and creates a fantasy world to cope with her troubled life. If/when this is distributed nationwide, I'll be back to see it.

The other two films I saw were "Natural Causes," a well-performed though poorly constructed romantic drama that follows a college couple through flirtation, into a relationship, and break-up; and "Nerdcore Rising," a pioneering and humorous documentary in the form of a concert roadtrip with MC Frontalot, the so-called father of nerdcore hip hop, known to nerds and geeks around the country (if not beyond) for inventing raps about nerdy subjects like "Star Wars," PalmPilots, and comic strips.

But back to "Twelve."

Co-producers Scott Masterson and Steve Oare hand-picked 12 directors to shoot a 10-minute short during a different month of 2007. Each director had creative license to explain a story any way he/she wanted.

The films were directed by Scott Masterson, Seanbaker Carter, Andy McCarthy, Garth Donovan, Luke Poling, Noah Lydiard, Megan Summers, Brynmore Williams, Joan Meister, Marc Colucci, Jared Goodman, and Vladmir Minuty.

Individually, the 12 short films were shot in and around Boston and focus on love, friendship, despair, addiction, and violence using elements of comedy, romance, song, and documentary. I liked each film in a different way, but my favorites include:

• "March" - about a serial murderer and the police detective who tracks him down in a very funny way.
  
• "June" - following the inventive exploits of a teenage boy who builds a flying contraption to escape his alcoholic stepmother.
  
• "August" - an educational documentary about bees and the hive sounds they make.
  
• "November" - a jarring look at inner-city youth who live a life of drugs, guns, and violence.

Together, the 12 films are linked by a tree that changes appearance as the months of the year unfold in each successive short film.

My friend Katie and I thankfully bought our tickets in advance, as the premiere sold out for all 900 seats of theater 1. (Due to demand, the festival is showing an encore presentation tonight.) We enjoyed the film from the sixth row of the balcony.

Searching the web, I see that Justin of Lonely Reviewer also attended last night's show, calling it alarmingly cohesive and effective, and that the 12 directors demonstrated a love of filmmaking. These 12 talents behind the film showed that given something as seemingly simple as telling a story in or about a month can be something more than just a simple story about a month.

For comparison, see Erin Trahan's profile earlier this month of "January" director and co-producer Scott Masterson at NewEnglandFilm.com, and last December's story in The Phoenix when Caitlin Curran interviewed "July" director Megan Summers.

Cinematic joy

With film trailers lasting two, three minutes long, and press critiques delving into every little detail, there is a wondrous joy at walking into a movie theatre after only seeing a poster or hearing a whisper of the plot.

The less I know in advance, the more I enjoy the film.

I should know, having watched numerous films in recent weeks at Newburyport's one-screen community theatre, the Screening Room.

Last night, for instance, I was wowed out of my mind with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and was ignored in the Oscar nomination process. Set in Ceausescu's Romania in the late 1980s when abortion was illegal (the original film title is "4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile"), not to mention typically fatal for the women, the film follows two best friends: one who needs an abortion and the other who helps her through it.

But this is not an abortion film so much as it's about the "consciousness" (to borrow a word from Roger Ebert's review, which I read after I watched it) of abortion, with stunning cinematography and visuals, not to mention the lack of any music. Dialogue or the lack of dialogue carry the film.

Dialogue also carries In Bruges, a spell-binding drama and thriller I saw two weeks ago that kept me guessing the plot until the very end. Co-starring Brendan Gleeson, 53, who began professional acting at 34 after teaching high school English for a decade. Bless the man!

Living in Newburyport, and not typically following the blockbuster stadium movie theatres, I fell in love last night when I saw online that the Independent Film Festival returns to Boston later this month, playing shows at the Somerville Theatre, Brattle Theatre, and the Coolidge Corner Theatre.

Judging from simple descriptions on the website, my top three choices are:

• Stuck, a suspense drama with Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea, which plays Saturday, April 26 at 10:15 in Somerville;
  
• Mongol, an Oscar nominee for foreign language film, about Genghis Khan, which plays Sunday, April 27 at 7:00 in Brookline;
  
• Natural Causes, with no big name actors and no big award shows but is about relationships, which plays Friday, April 25 at 10:15 in Somerville.

That weekend in Newburyport is a literary festival, which I'll be volunteering at. I don't know my assigned shift yet, but it's fair to say I'd be able to see any of the nighttime films. Tickets are not on sale yet, or at least weren't yesterday.

Paparazzi night of the year

I can't accurately say my TV is on in the background as it sits some 10 feet in front of me. If anything, it's in the foreground.

In either case, I have the E! Network on, half-watching the red carpet affair as actors and musicians make their way into the Academy Award show.

Granted, I watched less movies in the theatre last year than years' past, but who are some of these people? And what's with Ryan Seacrest interviewing people and not Melissa Rivers? Did she switch networks? When did The Rock revert back to Dwayne Johnson?

Looking again at the Oscar nominees, I really need to get out to the movies more. I saw "In the Valley of Elah" (Tommy Lee Jones for Best Actor), "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (Makeup & Visual Effects), "3:10 to Yuma" (Musical score), and "Lars and the Real Girl" (Original Screenplay).

Everything else is on my, err, list of films to see. Based on what wins tonight, they'll likely return to the theatres and I'll get out for affordable matinees.

He's back!

I think with the exception of the shark in JAWS and E.T., I've only made a couple of movies where I can put the silhouette of the leading character up on the screen. Just the silhouette and people will immediately know where that came from.

Or so says Steven Spielberg in the beginning of the latest video at the official Indiana Jones website, in advance of the May 2008 release of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

Can you believe Harrison Ford has only acted in 15 films since 1989's "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade?" He was ready to reprise his trademark silhouette for a long time. The delay, which I blogged about on Clark University's VAX bulletin board system in the early 1990s, was mainly due to George Lucas and those three Star Wars films, not to mention Spielberg's numerous films in the works. (Spielberg is still working on projects, including Jurassic Park 4 and Transformers 2 next year alone.)

I'm psyched to see this film. I remember oohing and aahing over the then-unknown status of an Indy 4 film in college. I'm sad to see John Rhys-Davies not in the cast, but for all I know he may cameo.

Over the 3-day coming weekend, I'll plan to see the theatrical trailer, wondering how much will be actual footage and how much flashy words.

Follies, Interrupted

Frederick Wiseman, according to the Museum of Broadcast Communications, is "arguably the most important American documentary filmmaker of the past three decades."

I'm not an expert on documentary films, but I've seen a fair number of them and I've never seen a Wiseman production. Clearly, I'm behind the times.

Wiseman's first film, "Titicut Follies," shot on location in 1967 at the former Bridgewater State Hospital, was banned from general release by the Massachusetts Supreme Court and was only allowed distribution in 1993. Supposedly, the film is only available to view for educational purposes; and costs $400 to rent the reels, as it's not available on DVD. I'd like to see it.

I bring this up, as "Girl, Interrupted" is airing on AMC, based on Susanna Kayson's time at the Claymoore Institute. I realize Claymoore is a far cry from Bridgewater, and the 1999 film is more about entertainment, social workers, and psychological drama than depression and the so-called criminally insane, but if for no other reason, I'd like to see Titicut to see what life was really like in Bridgewater.

To Act In a Sequel, or Not. That Is the Question.

As one thing always leads to another, especially with today's blossoming Web 2.0 interactivity, Chris Wilson predicted this summer's movie releases, which got me asking who are the highest-paid actors? Forbes came to the rescue.

If I hadn't seen the "Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End" (which I enjoyed) late Thursday night or parts of "Waterworld" (which was semi-entertaining) yesterday, I wouldn't have cared who the best paid actors are, but Johnny Depp has acted in a few sequels, and the TV commentator for "Waterworld" said Kevin Costner refuses to commit to sequels. So, I looked up him and his peers.

Some top actors, such as Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt, Renee Zellweger, Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry, and Angelina Jolie have acted in sequels, whereas folks like Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, and Jim Carrey join Costner in sequel-less performances.

Boston University's BSL facility just like in the movies

Adapted from Michael Crichton's novel of the same name, The Andromeda Strain was written by the author when he attended Harvard Medical School and is a semi-accurate description of the necessary precautions when dealing with biohazards.

The film is set in the U.S. Southwest in 1971 when all but two inhabitants of a small New Mexico town are killed when a satellite crashes to earth. The satellite, scientists learn, is carrying a deadly extraterrestrial pathogen. The scientists whisk the satellite and the survivors to an underground facility to determine the nature of the virus.

According to epidemiologist and chief medical officer for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Dr. Alfred DeMaria, who I heard speak last fall before the cinematic presentation at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, the film's underground facility is no different than the BioSafety Level 4 facility that Boston University is currently constructing. The only difference? The BU facility lacks a nuclear security system.