By Maraithe Thomas, News correspondent
Movie lovers have four days left to relish in the indie oddities screening at the Brattle Theatre for Boston’s 11th annual Underground Film Festival. These struck us as worth a look.
‘9 to 5:’ Days in Porn’
‘9 to 5′ is a documentary about the adult-entertainment industry, focusing on the lives of 10 of its participants:’ a girl who drops out of college to be a porn star; a married couple that performs, directs and produces hardcore films; and a housewife who is revered in the industry for her extreme sex scenes. The film delves into what drives those who have sex for the cameras, and how it affects their lives, in and out of the industry. Structured like an episodic movie during the course of a year, by the end, the stories of each subject have been weaved together to illustrate their lives.
‘Modern Love is Automatic’
This film tells the story of a woman who breaks free from the monotony of everyday life, as Lorraine Schultz (Melodie Sisk), a nurse in a doctor’s office, begins her liberation from daily routines by embarking on a secret life as a dominatrix. Her life transitions from riding the bus, getting coffee and reading magazines to sketchy motel rooms, whips and chains. The film explores the moral ambiguity behind being a dominatrix and how it relates to the daily grind, while centering around the relationship between Lorraine, her roommate, Adrian (Maggie Ross), and her increasingly distant boyfriend, Mitch (Carlos Bustamante).
‘I Think We’re Alone Now’
This feature documentary profiles two obsessive fans of ’80s pop star Tiffany. One is a 50-year-old man named Jeff, against whom Tiffany has a restraining order, and the other is a 35-year-old transgendered person named Kelly. Members of the media, and Tiffany’s fan community, have labeled the two as stalkers, but this film aims to uncover what lurks behind their seemingly obsessive personalities. In the trailer, Jeff declares that not only are he and Tiffany in love with each other, but that he would be happy to have Tiffany’s ‘fingernail, toenail, lock of hair, scab or skin from a blister.’ Awesome.
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‘Anywhere, USA’
An autobiography told in three parts, ‘Anywhere, USA,’ is a comedy of manners that explores a view of the American dream drawn from the director’s own experiences as an immigrant in the United States. The story is told through a woman in a trailer park who beats her husband once a week, an 8-year-old girl’ and a man of privilege who has a manicured lawn and an abundance of Kobe beef steaks. The tryptic of subtly related stories illustrate three corresponding themes at the heart of the film:’ penance, loss and ignorance. Most of the actors are non-professionals, but according to the movie’s website, Quentin Tarantino liked it a lot.
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‘Bad Biology’
Alright. Based on the trailer, this movie is a little disturbing, really awesome and, even more, X-rated. We’re talking a character who has a vagina as a face, and a scene in which a girl appears to be having an orgasm in a bathtub, then suddenly, there’s a little fetus in the tub with her. ‘Bad Biology’ is a dark horror-comedy, and one of the most anticipated films at BUFF this year, with characters identified as ‘Crack Head 2,’ ‘Pool Player’s Homie’ and ‘Junkyard Slut.”