Screen Picks

Adams on Film

by Sam Adams

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What Is It? (Fri.-Sat., Feb. 16-17, 9 p.m., Sun., Feb. 18, noon, $25, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Cherry Hill, N.J.) There's a certain look that comes into people's eyes when they see Crispin Glover. It's not quite adulation — more like disbelief. There was plenty of stargazing at Sundance this year, but nothing quite like the stunned incredulity with which people approached Glover, as if they couldn't quite believe he was standing there in front of them. It's one thing to be a star, another to freak people out by the fact of your corporeal existence.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about Glover is how, well, normal he seems once you get close enough to touch him. With no lighting designer handy to emphasize the hollows in his cheeks, Glover speaks softly and quietly, with only a trace of the nasal drawl he amps up for his movie roles. No matter how odd his words, they sound perfectly rational coming out of his mouth, which of course only makes what he's saying more unnerving.

Glover was at Sundance to premiere It Is Fine! Everything Is Fine, the second part in an as-yet uncompleted trilogy, but it's the first film in the series, What Is It?, that brings him to the Monster Mania convention in Cherry Hill this weekend. Featuring a cast composed largely of actors with Down syndrome and set partly in an infernal dreamworld populated by naked women wearing animal heads, What Is It? is, by all accounts, something of a tough slog. (Apparently wary of bootleggers, Glover does not provide screeners.) But reviews have been stronger for "The Big Slide Show," the hourlong live performance that precedes the film, which features Glover narrating stills from a series of children's books. (The admission price includes film, slide show and one free autograph; required admission to the convention is an extra $15-$20.)

Although Glover has described the movie's transgressions as a reaction to the leveling effects of corporate culture, he says his initial idea was simply to make a movie with actors with Down syndrome. He does not elaborate; that this is anything but a simple idea seems genuinely not to have occurred to him. "There was a corporate entity who became interested in funding it," Glover recalls, "but they were ultimately concerned by the idea of funding a movie with the majority of characters played by actors with Down syndrome," especially since the characters themselves do not have the condition. "I came to realize that the way the corporations were reacting was a kind of censorship, and I really should delve into those areas that would not normally be delved into by the corporate entities who distribute and finance film."

It is Fine! Everything Is Fine, the second film in the trilogy, is a more personal affair, which Glover describes as "Steven C. Stewart's reaction to his entire life." What Is It? also began Glover's collaboration with Stewart, the writer and star of It Is Fine!, an actor with severe cerebral palsy who died shortly after filming was completed. As in What Is It?, much of the dialogue in It Is Fine! is rendered nearly unintelligible by Stewart's physical impairments, but the movie does not apologize for Stewart's difficulty in speaking, nor indeed for the violent and pornographic nature of his self-starring fantasies. "In the ideal situation, I would have proved my point with Part I, and in Part II, I feel like there shouldn't be any kind of question about it, and yes, everyone should be interested in this kind of psychology," Glover says. Still, he knew that Stewart's film would be tough for some audiences to swallow, and so he tried to pave the way with the trilogy's first installment. Although the films are linked only in theme, Glover says the graphic sexuality in What Is It? is, in part, included to foreshadow the X-rated climax of It Is Fine!

Although his personal projects continue to take him further outside the mainstream, Glover still keeps a foot in both worlds; What Is It? was financed with his Charlie's Angels paycheck, and he plans to use the blizzard of publicity surrounding the November release of Beowulf, in which he plays the part of Grendel, to launch the nationwide tour of It Is Fine! "It's actually working," he says. "I feel like I can at least continue to make smaller-budget films and recoup. I would like to make even smaller-budgeted films, and maybe even go into profit, or make films that are easier, but still go into interesting realms. The graphic sexuality in both of these films is really there because of Steve. I would like to make a film that doesn't have that."

Man Push Cart (Thu., Feb. 15, 7 p.m., free, University of Pennsylvania, Logan Hall, Room 402) The Iranian-American director Ramin Bahrani presents a screening of his 2006 film, a vivid portrait of a Pakistani immigrant selling bagels and coffee on the streets of New York who turns out to have been a sizable pop music star in his home country. Presenting an abundantly filmed city from an entirely new angle is no mean feat, but Bahrani convincingly conjures an other America that hides in plain sight.

Precious Places (Thu., Feb. 15, 7 p.m., free, International House, 3701 Chestnut St.) Culminating its three-year venture, Scribe Video Center presents the final dozen videos in its community-history project, documenting locales from Fishtown's Palmer Cemetery to Mill Creek's Muslim community. Discussion and reception follow.

Nuggets: Celluloid Artyfacts of Sixties Rock (Fri., Feb. 16, 8 p.m., $6, Moore College of Art & Design, 20th and Race sts. ) Rock nerds should go nuts for Secret Cinema's evening of rare and little-seen film clips, hosted by renowned garage-rock archivist (and Patti Smith guitarist) Lenny Kaye. Highlights include vintage performances from The Standells, The Chocolate Watchband, The Seeds and The Zombies, with Nazz lead singer Stewkey presenting his personal 16mm print of the promo film for "Open My Eyes."

(sam@citypaper.net)