Take this as a sequel to my piece that ran two days ago, “Retreating From The Elephant,” about the dismal state of the independent American cinema. Here we look at the hard-yet-uplifting sophomore feature “Millennium Bugs” by Alejandro Montoya Marín, his version of a 2000s feel-good comedy. The devil works hard, but Alejandro works harder. As long as I’ve known Alejandro, some ten years, he’s been working to get his next movie made, always the next movie. He cares about his past work, sometimes to the point of madness, and his persistence moved me. If only I had his determination, I might have been somebody. We all might.
Alejandro is a true independent, trying desperately and frequently succeeding, to keep the train rolling, to get eyes on his work, to provoke something in critics, journalists, festivals, and distributors. Alejandro could teach a class on guerrilla marketing and ignoring what an economist might tell him about the health of an investment. He’s detailed the frustrating meetings, the misery and loneliness of fundraising, and yet he remains undeterred. He was the one who suggested I start a crowdfunding campaign for my new film. Turns out he was right, and he gave me and my movie a stay of execution. I owe him a lot. I’m hoping this goes a little way toward repaying the favor.
His first film, “Monday,” was a little action comedy that sizzled with purpose. His latest, “The Unexpecteds,” is the all-too-relatable story of someone who got caught up in a get-rich-quick scheme, whose dreams were bigger than their means. It’s a movie bursting with inventiveness and heart, eager to become something greater than itself, a movie whose message is its means and medium. A film about trying to make a film, if only in a roundabout way.
But it’s this film that most fills me with joy among his too-small oeuvre. A story of fending off adulthood, no matter what your clock tells you. The best time to become your best self is yesterday, but tomorrow will do, if it must. A really fun scrappy picture, with real heart and a killer soundtrack, this is independent cinema.
