Dames Fogarty
If you have an interest in Hollywood: see this movie. More over, if you have an interest in life: see this movie! A small and intimate gathering with a man ( spoiler alert) who has changed favorite beers from Budweiser to Heineken.S.T. believes in birthday magic. He just happens to be an accomplished actor who tells a story with panache, who can make it happen himself. He's obviously gregarious and a listener as much as a speaker; but we get a night at home with Steven Tobolowsky, his wife, and friends, edited to show his skill as a master story teller. Seriously, Homer would have had a run for his money asked to compete against S.T. A master storyteller he is indeed. The eponymous birthday boy regales us, as his guests , with not a moment of mean spirit, not a scintilla of bitchiness, and keeps us riveted for the entire film. It's just a relaxed affair, with the family house as the set, yet you've not seen anything quite like this before. Watch out for appearances by WC Field's least favored co-stars in some delightful moments, too.In all: a delight.
markQUEUE
This film was my personal favorite at the Jacksonville Film Festival. While it doesn't hit you with action or effects, the mental images painted through the words of Tobolowsky had me laughing one minute and with tears in my eyes the next.Tobolowsky may be the best story-teller of which I've had the privilege of listening. We're invited into a dinner party on his birthday where he entertains us by sharing some of the things that he's encountered during his life. I'd find it hard to believe that there isn't a little something for everyone in this film. I really hope it gets picked up and released. This is one I would love to have in my collection.
NJtoTX
Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party is another of the rare series of opportunities to listen to a master storyteller. Director, cameraman, and friend of Stephen's, Robert Brinkmann, knows that this will be a tough sell to distributors. Yet it shouldn't.Imagine attending a party where there is one guy who's had such an unusual life and been thrown into amazing life situations (such as having a gun to his head in a 7-11 for close to an hour while SWAT teams gathered outside). Not only that, the guy can tell the story and move his body as if he's back there. You become privileged to be a listener. That's what happens in ST's Birthday Party. The most fun is when he tells about the list he faxed in to Buzz magazine to demonstrate why he is one of the 100 "coolest people," such as being honored by monks in Thailand by being beaten with sticks.There are a few liberties taken with the party itself. It took several days to film. Some of the younger friends attending are Robert's, not Steven's friends. Several takes were filmed a few times, but the first take always was the one used. And, well, it wasn't actually Steven's birthday. But the stories are all true. And the dolphins that showed up while they filmed at the beach actually did show up then.Unfortunately for me, there was one young blonde guest whom I could not take my eyes off. I guess that comes with the territory of being at a very good party. You won't want to miss this one.
machinelanguage
Discovered this film yesterday at SXSW. It's funny, it's poignant, and very engaging. Reminiscent of MY DINNER WITH ANDRE and some of Spalding Grey's work, it's basically a series of unscripted monologues, stories form his life, delivered by this great character actor, as we follow him around on his birthday. It's not so much movie business memoir as it is the life story of an interesting guy with an interesting job.Quietly, it's a film about mortality and the fragility of our place in the world. Stephen is a very accomplished storyteller, unpretentious and engaging. I left surprised at how affected I was. I hope this film gets a release... see it if it's near you.
AD
