The fourth day of SXSW Film Festival kicked off with a special screening of the new documentary The Director and The Jedi, which is being released with the Blu-Ray home release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Mark’s hesitance with the evolution of the character and poignant scenes with Carrie Fisher proved highlights of the 90 minute documentary, while director Rian Johnson and Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill joined fans for the screening, shedding some additional light on the making of the film.
Though perhaps it was The Last O.G that dominated the festival for the Monday. The new episodic series by Tracy Morgan, John Carcieri and Jordan Peele made a huge impact at the Paramount Theatre, filling the historic theatre with a mix of enthusiastic laughter, thoughtful analysis and touching inspiration – a rare blend that spoke to how layered the comedy-drama is.
The plot is fairly simple, Tray is sent to prison for on drug charges, and upon his release 15 years later finds it incredibly hard to adapt and wrap his head around modernity and gentrification. You’ve got your typical, intensely watchable Morgan as his best, then you’ve got Tiffany Haddish stealing almost every scene as Tray’s once-girlfriend. Haddish, who is now ranked as one of the most popular comedians in the world, certainly impressed both on-screen and during her Q&A where she gave advice so deep and thoughtful to a young aspiring comedian that tears started flowing and hugs were soon shared.
Later in the day, Vera Farmiga attended the world premiere of her new film Boundaries accompanied by director Shana Feste, and a number of films had their first encore screenings. This included Ghost Stories, which was the big Midnighter of the day, scaring the absolute hell out of the late-night crowd with a vintage-minded British horror vibe carefully crafted by Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson, as a kind of “four movies in one” anthology and love letter to hardcore genre fans.
Stay tuned to The Iris for more from SXSW!
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