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Shitcago
USA 2015
produced by Nick Alonzo for Onion Film Productions
directed by Nick Alonzo
starring Jeremiah Aviles, Gregory Garibay, Ariana Romero, Isaias F. Torres-Alonzo, Jose Nietes, Noah Alonzo, David Garcia, Christian Herrera, Michael O'Hara Whalen, Ramona Vega, Ben Medina, Jenell Valtierra, Veronica Ayala, Mario Anthony, William Mendez, Alicia Zavala, Robert Haynes, Kurt Tarpley, Nick Alonzo, Kaharie Charles
concept by Nick Alonzo, music by Sal Plascencia, Harper College Jazz Lab, Seiichi Nagai, Angelina Gurrola, Rick Garcia, Mario Anthony, Ghosts With Hats
review by Mike Haberfelner
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An unnamed Chicago college student (Jeremiah Aviles), who seems to be a
loner by choice, tries to make it through the day, just living his life,
minding his own business, and nothing else - but it seems like nobody in
the god-forsaken city is willing to let him, be it a
graffiti-"artist" (Gregory Garibay) who complains to our hero
for spraying over his shitty tag, be it a pervert (David Garcia) watching
porn in the library on the computer next to him, be it a wannabe art
expert (Ben Medina) giving him his detailed (if pointless) interpretation
of a random painting in a museum, be is a wanna-be rapper (Mario Anthony)
who has chosen him as his sole audience at a subway station, that guy
(William Mendez) who draws penises on post-it notes and then posts them
everywhere including on ouf hero, the self-declared food critic (Kurt
Tarpley) who takes exception on our loner's way of eating hot dogs with
ketchup, and of course that drunk guy (Kanarie Charles) who needs to let
the loner know how homophobic he is, even if our nameless one didn't show
the slightest signs of being interested in him - or even that he's
homosexual at all - and that's just a small sample ... Now you
have to understand one thing up front, Shitcago doesn't follow a
traditional narrative form - sure, all the things described above do take
place over the course of a day (or at least the movie suggests it), but
there is no actual narrative structure to it, no three acts or anything
here. But that doesn't really hurt the movie, it's not a story movie to
begin with, rather a cinematic poem about Chicago as such, one with its
sad but also comedic moments, one that lives from its isolated situations
and dialogue rather than its overall story arc, and that's kept alive by
exhilerating performances and great black-and-white photography really
capturing the essence of the city (also its poorer, less touristy parts)
and showing great creativity in making mundane pictures interesting. Sure,
arthouse film lovers will be reminded of the films of Jim Jarmusch and
Richard Linklater ... but not for long, as the film quickly shows a charm
all of its own ...
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