SUNDANCE 2014: PING PONG SUMMER

Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) and Teddy (Myles Massey) in Ping Pong Summer.

 

Miracle wimp

 

By John Esther

 

Perhaps the most conventional film screened at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the third feature film from writer-director Michael Tully (Cocaine Angel; Septien) relays an all-too familiar story about a young teenage boy who goes through a transformation during one summer vacation at the beach.

 

Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) is an awkward 13-year-old boy into rap music, popping and breakdancing. He is not very good at it, but that does not stop him from working his moves on a regular basis. Rad is also not very good at table tennis, but that does not stop him from walking around with a ping pong paddle. Maybe because it matches his red parachute pants?

 

Like every year, Rad, his parents (John Hannah and Lea Thompson), and his "too cool to have fun" older sister, Michelle (Helena May Seabrook), are vacationing at Ocean City, Maryland. Since dad's state trooper budget has been stretched a little thin, the Miracle's accommodations are not as nice as usual. Michelle complains whereas Rad could care less. Rad is so rad.

 

Eager to get out and see the sights, it is not long before Rad meets his summer sidekick, Teddy (Myles Massey); the popular, yet messed up, girl of the neighborhood, Stacy Summers (Emmi Shockley); the rich bully, Lyle Ace (Joseph McCaughtry); and the bully's doting sidekick, Dale (Andy Riddle). Later will come that eccentric mentor who will show Rad the winning ways of table tennis, (SPiN co-owner Susan Sarandon).  

In between and beyond, the story moves along in its predictable manner where Rad and Teddy will fight and then bromance; Stacy will face her dilemma between bad boy Lyle and nice boy Rad before choosing our protagonist; the classic showdown between hero and anti-hero with its comforting conclusion; and even Michelle will learn to crack a smile.

Despite the rudimentary storyline (and awful soundtrack), there are few extraordinary aspects to the film. First is the performance by Andy Riddle, who delivers the film's best lines perfectly (It was reminiscent of Mark Wahlberg in The Departed, yet on a smaller level). Riddle's performance is all the more notable when compared to the other young performers in the film. Then there is Wyatt Garfield's cinematography, which captures the atmosphere of the place and time quite well. Other highlights include a young teenager's seemingly random dive, climb and smile; a hilarious moment from Casey Kasem doing a song dedication; and Sarandon guzzling a big old mug of beer.

Hardly a groundbreaking cinematic experience, Ping Pong Summer is more suited for a springtime home rental than catching it at the theaters.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2013: HELLAWARE

A scene from Hellaware.

Nada dada

By Don Simpson

When Lexie (Kate Lyn Sheil) breaks up with Nate (Keith Poulson) for an untalented pastel artist in pigtails, Nate decides to try to [re]discover himself as an artist. Drowning in a world of “incestuous New York City socialite shit” where untalented hacks are deemed successful by the highbrow elite, Nate must find a way to carve out his own niche.

By cocaine-fueled happenstance, Nate stumbles upon a no-budget rap-rock video by Young Torture Killaz, a group of high school kids from rural Delaware. With outsider art still very much en vogue, Nate travels to Delaware to photograph the band in their natural element. In a half-hearted attempt to legitimize the endeavor, he approaches the excursion like an ethnographic study, striving to immerse himself into their culture.

Nate’s friend Bernadette (Sophia Takal) hesitantly goes along for the ride. Unlike her incredibly naive friend who thinks high school kids can do no harm, Bernadette is rightfully frightened about venturing into the basement hangout of a bunch of drug-addled teens donning psychotic clown make-up who have penned such violently shocking songs as “I’ll Cut Yo Dick Off.” Functioning as the film’s voice of reason, Bernadette sees right through Nate’s intentions even if Nate remains totally oblivious to everything that he is doing.

Distracted by the potential fame that a solo show could quickly provide him, Nate quickly evolves into just another selfish, pretentious and condescending New York City artist. Human relationships no longer matter to him since a successful show will provide him with all of the love and attention that he needs. As he sees it, everything hinges on this one show and establishing himself as an artist is much more important than any friendship.

Writer-director Michael Bilandic's Hellaware teeters the fine line between satire and caricatures, poking fun at art culture and white rap-rock, specifically the significant role that shock value has taken in the creative industry. Visual art and music focus so much on inciting a reaction and judgment rather than promoting creativity and talent. Even more embarrassing is the tendency in creative industries to reward bad art for being so bad it’s good.