COMPUTER CHESS

(Andrew Bujalski, 2013)

Where Bujalski got this particular mix of comedy, disturbing sci-fi and complex, finely wrought retro drama from seems deeply mysterious. At times it resembles the mumblecore material with which he made his name - awkward social situations filled with inarticulate and geeky individuals - only here they are specifically captured in a particular time and place.
That would be sometime in the early 1980s at a Computer Chess convention in a hotel, where programmers and chess players have gathered to pit man against machine in a series of contests. We learn about the conflicts, problems and obsessions of these people as the film progresses and their convention is thrown into relief by the event they find themselves sharing the hotel with; a cultish group of New Age couples led by an African guru, who may or may not be swingers...
The deadpan character comedy is an ever-present here, but it frequently edges into the surreal, and the material grows more ambitious into the third act, with Bujalski experimenting with both form and content as his themes of our relationship with technology and its relationship with us are explored in some challenging ways. Odd tangents sprout when you least expect them, there is one abrupt change of film stock, and some of the lengthy conversations between characters might seem a tad overlong.
The film looks unique - shot on period-specific Sony video cameras in the greyest black and white imaginable, it has an instant period atmosphere and texture, and the performances by a cast of mostly unknowns are nicely naturalistic and full of authentic-seeming nerd mannerisms.
It is an odd, original, consistently fascinating work, and a huge stride forward for Bujalski.

COLD WEATHER

(Aaron Katz, 2010)

It starts off as "mumblecore".
That's a meaningless label, really, a movement that never was. Lets say that it starts off as a slightly arty, beautifully observed, naturalistic Generation Y comedy-drama. Some of the dialogue is improvised, but that just serves to make a couple of exchanges more obscure, offhand and banal than they would be in a more conventionally-conceived film, and that makes it feel more like real life. Nothing major happens. Scenes amiably stroll past without significantly advancing any sort of plot, and that is a pleasure in such a well-directed, nicely acted film. We are introduced to characters and observe the subtle dynamics between them, even if we're not always aware of the significance of these moments.
Then, in two scenes it all changes. Suddenly the film we're watching is a mystery. Never quite a thriller, though it does accrue an unexpectedly gripping quality by the last fifteen minutes or so. But very definitely a mystery, with our protagonist now the hero and the earlier references to Sherlock Holmes suddenly making perfect sense.
This fusion of genre with drama isn't attempted all that often; it seems that filmmakers fear confusing audience expectations or, worse, making something a distributor won't know how to sell, and so most films fit nicely and predictably inside one narrow genre or another. Not Katz's fascinating, lovely third feature, which is a pleasure from start to finish and confirms him as one of the more interesting and accomplished young Directors in American Cinema. Full of beautiful imagery - stark, chilly cityscapes were a feature of his last film, Quiet City, and they are equally well-used here - quietly funny and always believable, Cold Weather is the kind of film that gets missed by far too many people.