In Production

J.P. Allen and the landscape of love

J.P. Allen and Janis DeLucia Allen trumpeted their love of words and ideas when they named their indie-film company Coffee and Language Productions nearly a decade ago. Five features later, their respect for the text hasn’t wavered, even as they’ve expanded their repertoire of cinematic techniques. Blending 16mm and digital video, color and black-and-white, the duo probes the volatile landscape of personal relationships. Their latest, Sex and Imagining, is a two-character piece thick with dialogue and psychological undercurrents, shot in a handful of locations. In a jump-cut, switch-the-channel world, this material might seem best suited for the stage, but J.P. Allen demurs. “I would never compare my work to Ingmar Bergman’s,” he says with a hearty chuckle, “but look at the text of his screenplays. They’re incredibly dense.”

topics: actors, bay area, directors, diy, sex

Beyond Words

Comedy that sticks

Another summer, another cavalcade of summer comedies to grab us up, spin us around, rush the world backward and leave us tottering at the end of the ride. The best of these will graze the source of great comedy, leaving a lasting glow. But most will, by August, have slid from consciousness like so many candy wrappers trampled underfoot. So: What’s the key to comedy that sticks with us, despite perhaps an overblown story line or how lost and low-down the characters seem at the time?

topics: actors, authors, bay area, comedy, screenwriting, sex

Beyond Words

Comedy that sticks

Another summer, another cavalcade of summer comedies to grab us up, spin us around, rush the world backward and leave us tottering at the end of the ride. The best of these will graze the source of great comedy, leaving a lasting glow. But most will, by August, have slid from consciousness like so many candy wrappers trampled underfoot. So: What’s the key to comedy that sticks with us, despite perhaps an overblown story line or how lost and low-down the characters seem at the time?

topics: actors, authors, bay area, comedy, screenwriting, sex

Review

The suburbs swing to the '60s in "Viva"

When you ponder the great films of the 1960s, what comes to mind? Maybe Bonnie & Clyde, Easy Rider, Blow-Up, 2001? Yes, yes, all very nice.

But when I’m jonesing for something that really exposes the shocking truth about that "turbulent decade," I head straight for anything that’s got "suburb" in the title. Can’t think of any such things? You are not alone, but for shame! anyway. Nothing mixes high camp and dated social relevance quite like the softcore smut of the "Swinging" Sixties, particularly those efforts centering on bored housewives and cheating spouses.

topics: genre films, reviews, sex