made in china Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Welcome to the second episode of The Cinematical Roundtable, our latest podcast here at the site, where we'll speak with writers and readers alike about the latest in film offerings. Joining us this round is James Rocchi, formerly of Cinematical and currently of MSN Movies and countless other outlets, as we tackle several of the more independent titles that graced us with their presence at this year's SXSW Film Festival.

Again, please bear with the overwhelming ambiance of the International House of Pancakes (a South By staple, and not always by choice). In the weeks to come, the podcast will actually be produced in much more conducive conditions, but when in Austin, keeping it weird is the name of the game. With that in mind, your feedback is appreciated, and feel free to spread the word. Preferably the word 'podcast'. And 'Cinematical'. Yeah, that is two words, what of it?

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St. Patrick's Day at SXSW meant a sea of green t-shirts on the backs of attendees and big smiles on the faces of the jury and audience award-winners, announced in the evening.

Awards: The Documentary Feature Competition jury awarded their prize to 45365, director Bill Ross' examination of a small town in Ohio, with honorable mention to Aron Gaudet's The Way We Get By, which our own Eugene Novikov described as "a lovely, uncondescending look at three lives enriched by kindness."

Judi Krant's Made in China took home the Narrative Feature Competition award; the film follows a novelty toy inventor from East Texas who travels to China to get his invention made. Scott Teems' That Evening Sun received a "Special Jury Award for Best Ensemble Cast." Hal Holbrook plays a displaced Tennessee farmer drawn into a grudge match with an old foe. The cast includes Ray McKinnon, Mia Wasikowska, Walton Goggins, and Carrie Preston.

Audience Award winners included Jennifer Steinman's Motherland (Emerging Visions), an account of six women from the US who travel to rural South Africa to help children in need; Geralyn Pezanoski's MINE (Documentary Feature), which accumulates power as the bonds between human and animal are put to the test by Hurricane Katrina and its disastrous aftermath; and That Evening Sun (Narrative Feature).

Cinematical Coverage: In Observe and Report, Seth Rogen gives "a lead performance that could change a whole lot of minds," says Scott Weinberg. "This is an aggressively unpredictable dark comedy." Will Goss notes: "Some of the actors in the legendarily awful Troll 2 still leave it off their resumes," while others have come to embrace it. "It's this curious development that makes the documentary Best Worst Movie such an effortlessly interesting watch."

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Cinematical has received this exclusive image from Made in China, which will enjoy its premiere in the competition section at this year's South by Southwest Film Festival. From the synopsis:

"Slinkys, Pet Rocks and Ant Farms are just some of the novelty items behind a great Novelty Inventor. Co-written and directed by Judi Krant (in her directorial debut), MADE IN CHINA is a comedy about one such inventor, Johnson (Jackson Kuehn), a self-styled novelty inventor from a small town in East Texas, who is determined to bring his big idea - "a humorous domestic hygiene product" - to the world. Johnson's journey takes him to the Mecca of the novelty world: China, where anything is possible and everything has its price. Lost in the backstreets of Shanghai, Johnson discovers that it takes more than a million dollar idea to make it to the big time. It takes guts, determination, and a fist full of sneezing powder. MADE IN CHINA also stars Dan Sumpter and Syna Zhang."



Those interested in watching Made in China while out at SXSW can catch it on the following days:

• Premiere – Sunday, March 15th at 11:00am – Alamo Ritz 1
• 2nd Public Screening – Monday, March 16th at 11:30am – Alamo Lamar 2
• 3rd Public Screening – Thursday, March 19th at 6:00pm – Alamo Ritz 2

And, of course, stay tuned to Cinematical for complete coverage of this year's SXSW Film Festival.