Event

THE GOOD TIMES KID - Chicago Underground Film Festival

THE GOODTIMESKID

Azazel Jacobs, Feature 35mm 77:00 2007 Chicago Premiere

"THE GOODTIMESKID has a whimsy, a passion, a sophistication and, above all, a vigor thats mostly drained out of Amerindie cinema over the last decade or so." Andrew OHehir, Salon.com

"Very rough, very funny, with sensibilities derived equally from Chaplin, Jim Jarmush, and the Gang of Four." The Boston Globe

Jacobs (NOBODY NEEDS TO KNOW, CUFF 2003), son of avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs, draws on influences from Jarmusch to his own father, but has an original voice, clear and resonant. He uses subtle shifts in sound and music, a voyeuristic camera and unexpected narrative jump cuts to create a unique vision of the people inhabiting the engaging universe he and his cohorts have created." Shaz Bennett, AFI FEST 2005

THE GOODTIMESKID has an exceedingly simple premise: there are two men with the same name, and theres a girl, and theres a promise that has to be fulfilled. Perhaps because there are so few responsibilities to the plot, the film is instantly engaging. Its gritty enough, and many of the events are banal enough to be almost be one of those mumblecore films you keep hearing about, but unlike that micro-genre theres a sweetness and a lightness in THE GOODTIMESKID rarely seen in anything not intended for family audiences. Perhaps the most wonderful thing about this film is related to Jacobs own one-line synopsis for the film: a story about stolen love and stolen identities shot on stolen film. Yes, stolen film. If this is true, then I say thank God for 35mm, and thank God for people silly enough or brave enough to steal it! This film looks absolutely beautiful! Chloe Connelly, Chicago Underground Film Festival