My first day at the 2010 SXSW Film Festival almost didn’t happen. Despite being at the Philadelphia airport two hours ahead of scheduled departure for Houston (before connecting to Austin), and despite boarding on time, my flight didn’t arrive into Houston on time. Nope, late by about 45 minutes… which meant I missed my connecting flight.
Continental Airlines, being the caring airline that they are, informed me that, after missing my connecting flight, there was no way I’d be able to get on another flight until Saturday evening, but that they’d let me fly standby in the meantime (turns out they’d oversold EVERY flight to Austin). Stuck at the airport with little options, I took some Twitter advice from critic Scott Weinberg and rented a car, driving from Houston to Austin, much to the chagrin of my wallet. As I dropped off my rent-a-car three hours later, I met up with Don Lewis at the airport, and we assaulted SXSW proper. Which is to say, we got our badges, got some grub and then went to see Harmony Korine’s latest, “Trash Humpers.” The flick is like a found VHS of old people behaving weird.
And, straight-up, “Trash Humpers” involves tons of trash humping. It’s the kind of film that… well, I don’t know if I’d call it a film. I don’t know that I’d call it art either. It’s one of those things where… is it art or a film because Harmony Korine made it, or because it stands on its own merits? Outside of a film festival, would this film ever be seen by anybody? Should it be seen by anybody? What “value,” if any, does it have? I’ve got video of Don’s take directly after screening, and when I can upload it, I will.
After “Trash Humpers,” we made our way to the opening night party for “Kick A*s” at Buffalo Billiards. I not only got a flying c**k keychain, I also snagged a signed “Kick A*s” poster and found myself involved in an intense flurry of foosball battles, as I was recruited for my defensive prowess… which wasn’t really there. See, by the time foosball was involved, I was about five beers and one Irish car bomb into my evening. If I played well, it’s more due to a lack of motor skills, perhaps failing athletically upwards, than anything else.
I saw Trash Humpers at Toronto International Film Fest and I agree with your assessment. If it didn’t have Harmony Korine’s name on it, film fests would have laughed and flushed it down the toilet. If it had a more coherent narrative I would have dug it (some moments were cool), but it really seemed like he just wandered around with a video camera, slapped the footage together, and announced that he made a film. The pointless montage of his cat, a few street lamps, and a fire hydrant was the last straw – at that point, I knew that I really hated the film.
What a twisted but hilarious intro to the festival! Your video sounds far more intriguing then the actual fest, so far. I can’t wait to see it! When will you be seeing the experimental shorts? I want to hear all about
“Erasing David”!