Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle: Hallucinatory fun at Sundance

Posted by Nathan Andersen on Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 5:58 PM

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The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle

The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
  • The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle

Kaye Breeman
  • Kaye Breeman

I've just left the theater after seeing the Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, and would go to sleep, however I'm too... well... excited. This film was great, not that "great" even comes close. Odd. Puzzling. Emphatic. Ambiguous. Invigorating. Hilarious. Unique. Well, I guess those are closer. But seriously, at what other time in your life could you feel your stomach churn with empathy, or anything at all for that matter, for a man sitting on his kitchen counter staring into the sink at a little blue fish that has recently exploded out of his butt?! This is one of the many feats that director David Russo accomplishes with this film. You are drawn to investigate emotions, implications, and ideas in a story so far-fetched and unrealistic, and yet are so entirely immersed that you hardly have time to doubt.

The film starts when Dory, a strangely religious man, loses his temper at his cubicle job and subsequently loses his job as well. After a fruitless job search, he falls in with a group of misfits that work at Spiffy Jiffy's Janitorial Service. Late at night, while blasting heavy metal music over the loud speakers, the team cleans, investigates, and sometimes fornicates in the office building. However, this all gets messy when a product testing company decides to use them as guinea pigs for their new product: cookies that emulate oven freshness by warming in your mouth (because god forbid you actually bake your own cookies!). The cookies have some strange side effects though, including being completely addictive, inducing hallucinations and extreme sodium consumption, and quasi-pregnancies that result in the birth of a small blue fish.

World's Greatest Dad

Lizzy Kirkham
  • Lizzy Kirkham

Yesterday was probably one of my best days here since the day we got here. Actually, to be totally honest, everyday has been great. But yesterday I got to meet Robin Williams, my childhood hero and my all time favorite actor, tied of course by Jim Carrey (whose movie I believe I missed). Before I knew it, I was shaking like I never have before in my life, and yet I was able to talk with him about my favorite movie of his, "Hook" as well as his entire career. He was an extremely down-to-earth man, even though he was being rushed out of the theatre as we talked.

Robin Williams and director Bobcat Goldthwait, taken by Lizzy Kirkham
  • Robin Williams and director Bobcat Goldthwait, taken by Lizzy Kirkham

I went to the world premiere of "World's Greatest Dad" which was expected to be amazing without a doubt, especially with a director like Bobcat Goldthwait. One of the people in the Q&A section actually described the film as a "bipolar comedy" because you are laughing one minute at the ridiculousness of the characters and their dialogue, and then crying over the actions and reactions of actions which happen not even 5 minutes later. Bobcat himself said he was honestly surprised with the audience, because we all laughed and cried at the correct parts. Even Robin Williams was in tears at the end of the film.

Adventureland

Aprille Brooker
  • Aprille Brooker

Two years ago Greg Mottola got his big break by directing Superbad. A film that many people fell in love with. A film that can be watched over and over and only become funnier. Believe me, I know, and so does my father. At my house, Superbad is probably played at least once a month, if not once a week, usually in the depths of the night. It is easy for me to feel a strong connection with the characters; it is an accurate representation of my generation and what it’s like to be a senior in high school these days. However, I don’t feel that it is necessary to be young in order to find the film humorous. Mottola does this exact thing with his new film Adventureland.

Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg in Adventureland
  • Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg in Adventureland

Set in 1987, Brennan has just graduated from college and his summer dreams are smashed when his father is de-promoted, and his fund to europe disappears. He is forced into getting a job in order to save for Columbia graduate school. The only position he can find is as game guider at the amusement park, Adventureland. The job becomes the smack-in-the-face Brennan needs in order to prepare himself for the real world.

I was surprised by actors used for the love interest. The chemistry seems a little far-fetched at the beginning. Once the characters' personalities come through the relationship begins to work and make sense. Jesse Eisenberg does an incredible job that matches his amazing performance in The Squid and the Whale. With the release of Twlight and other films such as SpeakFierce People, and Into the WildKristen Stewart has been a rising star for some time now. Without Bill HaderRyan Reynolds and Martin Starr the film would never worked the way it does. I was constantly laughing. If I had remembered my inhaler, I would have been using it from laughing so hard.

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Comments (3)

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I made the Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, and let me tell you it is the MOST ignored film at Sundance. Not in terms of attendance (it sells out), but in media and industry attention. They simply will not come to see it. Thank you for the blog review; if there's any hope for the film it's with people (actual humans!) like you. Thanks for doing your job!

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Posted by davidavid on January 22, 2009 at 11:10 AM

Thanks for the comment, David - if you check out our website at www.eckerd.edu/sundance you'll find that Kaye is not the only person on our crew to have loved your film. It is easily the film that received the highest praise from my group - several students raved about it, both online and off. Maybe that's a clue to a place you'd find a very appreciative audience for the film: on college film circuits...

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Posted by nanderson on January 29, 2009 at 5:50 PM

Check out my review of "The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle" for Paste Magazine here: http://mdunaway.wordpress.com/2009/02/08/sundance-narrative-film-roundup-for-paste-magazine/ .

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Posted by Michael on February 8, 2009 at 10:10 PM
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