PIFF: Nonstop fun in Provincetown – Play It Again, Tim

You know how sometimes you feel like you need a vacation to recover from a vacation?

That’s what attending Provincetown International Film Festival is like. It’s so much fun, and there’s so much to do, and it’s go, go, go, and even if you take a breather on a bench in front of Town Hall (and, in my case, let the sun leave a burn on my balding pate), it eventually leaves you exhausted – I crashed and slept through the last day – and yet so grateful and alive.

This year’s 28^th annual PIFF is over, having run June 10-14. I caught 11 of the films (two at home the night before the fest started), along with fest regular John Waters’ conversation with this year’s Filmmaker on the Edge award winner Ryan Murphy (“American Horror Story,” “Glee”), and a press luncheon where I got to talk to director Giselle Bonilla (more about her below) and hang out with various media pals.

I also fit in a visit to Tim’s Used Books, lots of great meals (including an amazing Frutti di Mare Pasta special at The Mayflower which ranks as one of the best dishes I’ve ever had in my life), my annual pilgrimage to the old red-brick Norman Mailer house, a walk through Packard Gallery (related to a movie below), and, over a few beers with film critic and Renaissance man Tim Jackson at the Squealing Pig, the last minute of the Knicks’ clincher over the Spurs in the NBA Finals.

Still, there were so many things I missed:

– A preview and discussion of the upcoming Anthony Bourdain biopic, followed by a clam bake that, by all accounts, was amazing.

–  The closing-night “Family Movie,” starring the Bacon family (Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick, and kids Sosie and Travis), who appeared at the screening. (I did catch the family stroll past me on Commercial Street while I was munching on some clams.)

–  Several other films and talks I had planned to see/attend but couldn’t fit in.

Here’s a quick rundown of the 11 films I did see, followed by a few fest highlights.

“When a Witness Recants” (112 minutes). Dawn Porter’s powerful doc tells the story of three Black Baltimore teens wrongly convicted of the murder of another student. It’s a riveting tale of i

njustice, but it becomes much more than a first-rate expose. Toward the end, when, after 36 years in prison, the three friends face one of their accusers, the conversation turns to accountability, taking responsibility for one’s actions even under the most challenging of circumstances. At this point the film shows how some people stand up for their principles while others rationalize cowardice, and the way this unfolds knocks the wind out of you. **** (out of four)

“The Last Critic” (83 minutes). Robert Christgau, one of the first serious rock critics and still going strong decades later in his 80s, is front and center in Matty Wishnow’s in-depth doc about his career, his impact, and his devotion to music and writing. Among other things, it makes you wonder if there’s a point where devotion ends and obsession begins, and whether it matters. It also presents quite a love story, as it captures his life with his wife of more than 50 years, writer Carola Dibbell, who appears his close partner in life, music and writing. ***½

“Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass” (R, 93 minutes). When a comedy is described as “outrageous,” that often turns out to mean loud, obnoxious and painfully unfunny. Here’s an outrageous comedy that works. Zooey Deutch plays a charmingly bubbly Midwestern hairdresser whose fiancé uses his “celebrity sex pass” by hooking up with Jennifer Aniston. Determined to save her relationship by having sex with her celebrity fantasy, Jon Hamm, she heads out to Hollywood in search of him. What follows is a deranged variation of “The Wizard of Oz,” with lots of laughs. Deutch, Hamm and Hamm’s former “Mad Men” co-star, John Slattery, also playing himself, are hilarious. ***½

“Anne Packard: An Artist’s Resolve” (73 minutes). Provincetown artist Anne Packard, now in her 90s, is the subject of Arthur Egeli’s intimate doc about her life, past and present, including her rise in the art world while raising five children as a single mom after her husband left her for a much younger woman. Some of her children hint at family dysfunction (beyond their father leaving) that, unfortunately, goes unexplored. But what’s here serves as an engaging, inside look at a vibrant artist’s personality, life, family and work.  Egeli’s film won the PIFF Audience Award, tying with “Give Me the Ball,” about Billie Jean King, for best documentary feature. ***½

“The Musical” (87 minutes). Giselle Bonilla’s smart, funny comedy stars Will

Brill as a middle-school theater teacher who uses his new student production to take revenge on his ex-girlfriend (Gillian Jacobs) and her new boyfriend, the school’s principal (Rob Lowe). Just about everything in this film works – Lowe is perfect as the unctuous principal, the young actors playing students are comically realistic, the shot compositions and lighting portraying Brill’s character as an evil mastermind are uproarious. The only problem: Brill isn’t very likable here; it’s hard to believe the ex would have gone out with his character in the first place. A more sympathetic antihero could have helped. ***

“Cotton Fever” (89 minutes). Kyle Gallner and Sosie Bacon star in Daniel Blake Schwartz’s knowing drama about several drug addicts on the streets of Chelsea, Massachusetts, and the bonds they form as they struggle to survive. Gritty (as you might expect) and unflinching, the film effectively depicts the desperation, frustration and hopelessness of addicts, even as they cling together with hopes for a better future. ***

“See You When I See You” (101 minutes). A family deals with the suicide of the youngest daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) in director Jay Duplass’ heartfelt drama, based on a true story. Cooper Raiff (“Cha Cha Real Smooth”) plays the brother who found the body and suffers from PTSD, with David Duchovny and Hope Davis as the parents, and Lucy Boynton as the older sister. ***

“Power Ballad” (R, 98 minutes). Irish director John Carney (“Sing Street,” ‘Once”) returns with this light comedy about a singer-guitarist (the reliably charming Paul Rudd) in a wedding band whose song is stolen by a former boy-band star (Nick Jonas) and turned into a monster hit. The film is often silly and contrived, but its heart is in the right place, as it considers, among other things, how a song can be extremely personal yet universal. ***

“Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders” (85 minutes). In 1980, director William Friedkin made a lurid thriller starring Al Pacino as a cop who goes undercover in New York’s gay leather-bar scene to catch a serial killer. Here, director Jeffrey Schwarz explores the intense LGBTQ+ protests that took place while “Cruising” was still filming and the context under which the film was made, including the real-life case on which it was based. ***

“Maddie’s Secret” (98 minutes). Writer-director John Early combines campy laughs with surprising sincerity in this satire in which he plays the title character, a dishwasher turned popular food influencer who has an eating disorder. Spoofing everything from issue-oriented TV movies to “Girl, Interrupted,” the film lacks the emotional punch for which it seems to aim, but Kate Berlant and Vanessa Bayer are funny in support. **½

“I Want Your Sex” (R, 90 minutes). The latest from Gregg Araki (“The Doom Generation,” “Nowhere”) comes across as an updated variation of Ken Russell’s (superior) 1984 thriller about sexual fantasy and exploration, “Crimes of Passion.” Here, Olivia Wilde plays a trendy artist, known for the eroticism in her work, who draws a new employee (Cooper Hoffman of “Licorice Pizza”) into a Dom/Sub relationship. A bit too heavy-handed (ha-ha), though Wilde and Hoffman are excellent. **½

Giselle Bonilla

One of the best things about festivals is they afford critics and other moviegoers the chance to talk to filmmakers about their work. After the Friday night screening of ‘The Musical,” director Bonilla appeared onstage for a Q-and-A and clearly won over the audience with her wit and charm. Among other things, she talked about how the film project was about to fall through when she met with Rob Lowe, who not only agreed to take a role in the movie but became a producer. She also gave her thoughts on a key element of the comedy, saying with infectious cheer: “I think everybody at one time or another is driven by spite.”

I spoke with her the next afternoon at a press luncheon.

The Los Angeles native, a first-generation Mexican American, is making her feature film directorial debut with “The Musical.”  Now 31, she earned her bachelor’s at New York University and then spent some years bartending before getting her MFA at the American Film Institute, where she made several award-winning shorts. (At some point during that time she dated an oyster farmer from Orleans for around four years.)

When I mentioned that her “real-life” experience outside of school bartending would likely be an asset to her as a filmmaker, Bonilla laughed. “I spent the last 10 years being broke and building character, and I’m all ‘charactered up,’” she said. “I would like to make movies now.”

She added that “The Musical” is set to open in theaters Sept. 28. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

John Waters

“Hairspray” director Waters is a fixture at the festival, where he interviews the Filmmaker on the Edge award recipient each year. He’s always good for some great lines during these conversations, and this year, when he spoke with Ryan Murphy, was no exception.

My favorite came when serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, the subject of one of Murphy’s shows, “Monster,” came up. Dahmer was known for luring his victims to his apartment, then killing, dismembering and eating them.

Waters, in Dahmer’s defense: “He was fine until you said, ‘I’ll be going now.’”

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** Click here for  Tim Miller’s previous movie columns for Cape Cod Wave **

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Tim Miller is co-president of the Boston Society of Film Critics and a Tomatometer-approved critic. He teaches film and journalism at Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable. You can contact Tim at [email protected]. Or you can ignore him completely.