The Filmic 5: Meet You At The Rivoli Edition

Your Weekly Film Superlatives By Critic and Film Scholar Jack Hanley

I. Film That Is Making Me Happy This Week

Like its obvious spiritual predecessors Pinky and the Brain, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and The Adventures of Pete & Pete, NIRVANA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE understands that one of civilization's most reliable comedic engines is watching two flawed but earnest underdogs dedicate every ounce of their passion, creativity, and remaining life expectancy toward achieving a goal of almost Herculean insignificance.

The setup is simple: two best friends in Toronto trapped in time, place, and underachievement employ blockbuster narrative stakes (and the film BACK TO THE FUTURE) in pursuit of the singular dream of getting their band a show.

But what begins as a deliriously affectionate DIY homage to the analog aesthetic and visual grammar of 90s cinema gradually reveals itself as something far more earnest: a meditation on both friendship and the beautiful and necessary self-delusion that underpins ALL artistic ambition. Matt and Jay are not merely willing to inconvenience themselves for their dream...they are willing to suffer for it, sacrifice for it, and, if circumstances demand, die for it.

And while I haven't laughed out loud this much in any film this year, the joke is never on them. Their absurd quest of idiocy becomes an unexpectedly moving ode to passion, enthusiasm, and the increasingly irrational modern act of caring deeply about something the rest of the world has deemed ridiculous. I just may be a sappy Gen X'er shouting at clouds here, but in an era so increasingly defined by cynicism, irony, and strategic detachment, there is something almost revolutionary about watching a heroic celebration of two people commit themselves so completely to a dream everyone (including themselves) surely knows is impossible.

I found myself utterly charmed by this scrappy little indie, which left me nostalgic not only for my youth, but for a cinematic era when we still believed our childhood dreams warranted this level of devotion, sacrifice, and absurdity. I'll see you all at the Rivoli.

II. Podcast That Is Making Me Patriotic This Week

In honor of America's birthday, the Pop Culture Happy Hour kids recently made their picks for the pieces of pop culture that best capture the American Dream. (And for the record, Aisha Harris is absolutely correct: it is The Wire.) Listen to the episode HERE.

The exercise got me thinking: what are the films (for better or worse) that most remind ME of America? Not the "best" American films. Not the most patriotic. Not even necessarily my favorites. The films that somehow FEEL like America and her various competing myths.

Here are some of my picks.

III. Curation I'm Excited To Explore This Week

Co-presented by IndieCollect and IFC Center, “Declaration of Independents!” is a 9-day salute to indie filmmakers who asserted their creative freedom during a formative era of American independent cinema. Showcasing 20 films (four in new restorations from IndieCollect) spanning the years 1979-89, from daring narratives to boundary-pushing documentaries, the series spotlights artists who re-shaped cinema, revealing America through an independent lens. Check out the list here.

I absolutely adore this list...it may be the closest thing the aspiring cinephile will find to a foundational syllabus on the birth of modern American independent cinema. And check out my take (along with my co-host Scott Aigner) on BORN IN FLAMES on our Blindspotting: A Film Discovery podcast.

IV. Cinephile Revelation That Made Me Cry This Week

The real emotional center of Billy Eichner's closet video WASN'T one of his selections at all (and they were great), but his moving recollection of watching MY BEAUTIFUL LAUNDRETTE with his family as a child and discovering that cinema could be recognition as much as revelation and the reminder that the movies that matter most often find us long before we have the language to explain why.

V. My 5 Best Films of The Year (So Far...)

Jack Hanley is a film scholar, podcaster, and critic based in Boulder, CO. He is a programmer with the Chicago Underground Film Festival, Slamdance's Indies Awards, and the Boulder International Film Festival. He is one-half of Blindspotting: A Film Discovery Podcast, founder of the Reel Horrors Short Film Festival, and a member of the Denver Film Critics Society. Find him at Kinophilia on Medium and at HanleyOnFilm.com