What I Found: Little Films on a Little Budget Which I Now Heart

Last night, being the traditional night of holding a wake for the dead year, I ended up on my small-ish couch, keeping vigil via video.

I had intended to close the year with The Birdcage, but Netflix cut off its streaming so I turned *ahem* pirate *ahem* and had to allow time to, um- collect the film before its watching.

So I busied myself with the films that Netflix hadn’t cut from streaming and stumbled upon two delightful, charming, fresh and just plain sweet films: Unicorn City and Alter Egos.

 

http://www.unicorncity.com/ 

http://alteregosmovie.com/

I’m still trying to find information on these films – find their back story that is. (Ha! You’ll get that pun once you watch Unicorn City). Neither were Sundance, as far as I can tell, which is puzzling considering that Unicorn City was filmed in SLC.

Side note: even though the Sundance Film Festival descends upon Utah every January and is probably what puts us on the map, not many movies are filmed in Northern Utah. So it’s just bizarre to watch a film and be able to say, “Hey! That’s Hastur’s! I’ve shopped there many-a-time!” and “Hey! That’s Yoshi’s! I’ve eaten there many-a-time!” and finally, to be able to recognize those distant shots of the city like the back of your hand.

Things I do know:

• Unicorn City has ties to Napoleon Dynamite. The writer/director worked as the Storyboard Director on N.D.
• Alter Egos has an impressive list of “Official Selections” from various filmed festivals, but Sundance is not one of them. Again, puzzling.
• The two main characters of Alter Egos also worked together with the same writer/director, Jordan Galland, on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead.
• Alter Egos is from Kevin Smith's production company. Bonus points!

That’s about it. But that’s ok. While I love to trace the cinema breadcrumbs through IMDB and the interweb at large, it has its limits.

Unicorn City weaseled its way into my heart almost immediately. Tabletop gamer, Voss, struggles to keep his guild together while fighting off a scheming rival and land a big-boy job at a gaming company. He concocts a plan to prove to his guild, the company he’s interviewing with, and maybe even himself, that he is capable of leadership. He creates a utopian society in the mountains of the Wasatch, named Unicorn City, where he can lead the group peaceably and his guild can truly live out their character’s lives in full-on LARPing style.

U.C. also has fun and original score, which I might have to track down on the iTunes so I can jam out to dodecahedral dice songs. You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.

This movie achieves a level of sweetness I think only low budget, big heart films can. It’s not encumbered by competing visual elements and you’re not distracted by recognizable actors. It certainly holds a special place for gamers, but I think it’s relatable regardless of your hobby. And, the actors are in their character costumes for most of the film, so you get this kind of awesomeness:

Admit it. Now you’re interested.

Alter Egos is wry and equally unencumbered by big budget flash and shine. Skilled storytelling and graceful cinematography makes this film feel bigger than it is. It’s full of unexpected humor and spot-on acting.

These are two films I’ll end up owning, I just know it. Perhaps a belated Christmas gift to moi. 

Last night was a success. As far as party-of-one things go. I also made some first-ever New Year’s resolutions, but I’m not telling.