Great Directors: James Westby

Last year I was lucky enough to see the amazing Tiny Furniture at the Traverse City Film Festival. This year when I was planning out my festival watch-list I came across a film called Rid of Me that looked like a quirky, little, indie film. I was hoping I would get lucky twice and get to see a really good movie before it came to the local art-house theatre. Well as much as I loved Tiny Furniture, which everyone should still see, James Westby’s Rid of Me blew it away. You can read my review of Rid of Me here.

Auteur ***

The Auteur directed by James Westby (2008)

Melik Malkasian (Scotty Pelk from Film Geek) plays acclaimed porno director Arturo Domingo in indie director James Westby’s The Auteur. Domingo is being honored at a pornography convention in Portland, Oregon, long after his popularity has plummeted, following a falling-out with his star actor Frank E. Normo.

Film Geek ****

Film Geek directed by James Westby (2005)

This film may have hit a bit too close to home for me. Scotty Pelk is an encyclopedia of film. His entire life revolves around movies, he works at a video store, in which he annoys his co-workers, the customers and his boss, he writes his own reviews and essays on his website, and his apartment is floor to ceiling in movies and movie posters.

Source Code ****

Source Code directed by Duncan Jones (2011)

The second feature film from Duncan Jones, son of rock legend David Bowie, following 2009s awesome Moon, is another inventive science fiction film with plenty of twists and turns. Actually there are quite a few surprises which make this film difficult to review.