A long day at the Egyptian.

Our first film was the biopic Experimenter, starring Peter Sarsgaard as social psychologist Stanley Milgram. It began with his experiments testing the willingness of people to follow orders even if the consequence meant extreme physical pain inflicted on a stranger. It ended with the death of Milgram. It was interestingly filmed, with some scenes shot obviously with the use of green screens. Example, in one sequence where Milgram and his wife visit a mentor at his home, they are not actually in the home, but are on a stage with photos of the home projected around them. Overall, it seemed a bit light-handed in its treatment of an uncomfortable subject – the experiments show, in some respects, how events such as the Holocaust are “allowed” to happen even though in retrospect we all generally agree it was a very bad thing. I thought it interesting that, while the experiment was meant to be performed on the Average Joe, most (if not all) of the subjects were played by recognizable actors. Director Michael Almereyda introduced the film and also did a Q&A afterward. A humorous fellow, he also directed one of my favorite films, Nadja, back in the early ’90s.

A small break for tacos, and then it was back to the theatre for An Evening with Jason Schwartzman. Two comfy-looking chairs and a coffee table were brought up on stage for Schwartzman to be interviewed about his career to date, along with clips from his various films. He seems like a genuinely nice and cool person, which is great to see. After the probably hour-long chat session, the film 7 Chinese Brothers was shown. In some ways, it was the stoner version of Guidance. Not really earth-shattering, but definitely an amusing portrait of a loser dude trying to make the best of his situation. It was filmed in Austin, with Bob Byington at the helm, who also did a short Q&A with Schwartzman after the film.

Experimenter‘s Bechdel rating: FAIL.

7 Chinese Brothers‘ Bechdel rating: FAIL.