Slamdance Film Festival Reviews: New Jack, We Are Living Things, Telos or Bust

By: Joseph Perry (Twitter - Uphill Both Ways Podcast)

New Jack

Codirectors Danny Lee and Noah Lee take an intimate look at the life of the late professional wrestler Jerome “New Jack” Young in their documentary New Jack. Filmed mostly during 2019 at Young’s home and on the road for indie wrestling card appearances before his death in 2021, the film is a candid warts-and-all look at his life and career. The film takes a more personal approach than a sensational one, so those looking for a shock-doc style will want to look elsewhere. New Jack opens with shots of the grappler preparing for a match interspersed with highlights from his ECW run, as Lou Reed’s “Pale Blue Eyes” plays. 

With a few exceptions, such as wrestlers talking before their matches or Young’s wife speaking, the voice most often heard is that of New Jack. He reminisces about being a bounty hunter after college, and then selling drugs until he gave it up when one of his friends was sentenced to 25 years in prison. As the youngest of 5 children with an age gap between him and his older siblings, he tells of how “ I just basically grew up on my own,” his hate for his mother, and the violent relationship between his parents. He also discusses how the 2002 XPW scaffold match with Vic Grimes caused long-term injuries that he still suffered from years later, after taking a bump during the match.

He recalls cutting a promo to make white fans irate in Smoky Mountain Wrestling as requested by Jim Cornette, and racism that he and tag team partner Mustafa encountered in the South. 

The Lees bring a non-judgemental perspective to New Jack, neither trying to glorify or downplay Young’s highly controversial career in the ring, nor to paint a certain picture of the man. They let their subject do the talking, resulting in a documentary that peeks behind the curtain at the man behind one of professional wrestling’s most contentious figures.

We Are Living Things

A shared obsession with UFOs and alien abductions ultimately brings two immigrants in the United States together, though their path toward that togetherness is a most unusual and jarring one. Director Antonio Tibaldi’s We Are Living Things is much more drama than science fiction or speculative fiction cinema, but the deep-seated need to know whether something is visiting from among the stars is a major element of the film. 

Solomon (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) is given a space in which to live at his place of employment, provided that he takes down the antenna set-up he has constructed to try to pick up signs of alien life. While on a call to repair a bathroom sink, he sees some items that hint that apartment resident Chuyao (Xingchen Lyu) is also interested in extraterrestrial life. He follows her to her work at a manicure shop and learns of her darker work at night, and tries to coax her into following their shared interest together. Danger follows as Solomon puts their lives at risk, but obsessions are not easily given up on. 

With touching, subtly nuanced performances from its two leads, Tibaldi balances his film on a razor-thin line between hope and heartache as his protagonists struggle to find answers to their enigmatic questions while trying to survive on the fringes of American society. We Are Living Things is a stunning work that defies genre categorization as it examines the frailty of humanity and the quest for something more.

Telos or Bust

Director Brad Abrahams’ documentary short Telos or Bust gives an interesting overview of some of the beliefs that residents of Mt. Shasta, California hold toward the mythical, mystical mountain after which their small city is named. A guru, a channeler, a historian, and a scientist are among the interview subjects who discuss their beliefs in or skepticism toward such ideas as ascended masters, fabled inner-Earth civilizations, lost continents, the power of crystals, and UFOs. 

Abrahams lets the interviewees speak for themselves without editorial comment. Some admit that their beliefs sound strange, while others are wholeheartedly invested. Telos or Bust doesn’t try to win over any new converts; rather, it does a nice job of documenting the area’s alternative beliefs and modern mythologies and folklore.

New Jack, We Are Living Things, and Telos or Bust screen as part of Slamdance, which presents its 28th edition in a virtual format running from January 27 to February 6, 2022. An all-access virtual pass includes accessible on-demand streaming for the duration of the festival and costs just $10. For more information, visit https://slamdance.com/.

Joseph Perry is one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast (whenitwascool.com/up-hill-both-ways-podcast/). He also writes for the film websites Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com), Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), and Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom). 

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