Don Wood Movies
- 2009
Like a real-life version of Fitzcarraldo, Sisu: The Death of Tom Sukanen dramatizes the true story of a mad inventor who built a massive steamship in the landlocked Saskatchewan prairie during the depths of the Great Depression with the hopes of sailing back to his native Finland. Writer-director Chrystene Ells infuses the live-action drama with scenes of surrealistic animation to underscore Sukanen's descent into divine madness. ~ Sandra Bencic, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Don Wood
- 2008
A woman searching for her parents goes on an unexpected journey of self-discovery in this comedy-drama with music from filmmaker H.P. Mendoza. Bethesda (L.A. Renigen) never knew her mother when she was growing up; she was adopted by a family on the East Coast as a baby and has grown up wanting to know the truth about her birth parents. After a visit to the Philippines in search of her cultural identity, Bethesda has come to San Francisco, where she was born, in search of her mother. Bethesda, who is a performance artist, rents a room in a loft complex in San Francisco's Castro district, where she strikes up a fast friendship with a number of fellow artists living there. While Bethesda finds support and understanding from her new friends, she resents being regarded as a "fag hag," since the lion's share of her new pals are gay. However, as Bethesda is immersed in San Francisco's gay community and art scene, she begin to develop a greater understanding of herself and her identity that has a powerful impact on her work. Also starring Mike Curtis, E.S. Park and Theresa Navarro, Fruit Fly includes a handful of musical numbers featuring original songs by writer and director Mendoza; the film won the Audience Award at the 2009 San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- L.A. Renigen
Machines fight for control of a world destroyed by man in this ultra-low-budget sci-fi saga from filmmaker James Felix McKenney. A global war has left the surface of the Earth uninhabitable, and the few humans who have lived through the conflict have been driven underground in order to survive. The Girl (Christine Spencer) lives in a subterranean bunker that she shares with several rattletrap robots of her own design. The Girl occupies herself by watching old videotapes of a scientist who was her friend and mentor before the apocalypse, but lately she has other things on her mind. Another survivor (Brenda Cooney) has established a robot army, and is using the machines to lay claim to the remains of the Earth. As the Girl constructs her own mechanical security force, she discovers the Enemy Leader has a dangerous surprise in his arsenal -- the ability to turn the Girl's robot friends against her. The ranting scientist in Automatons is played by Angus Scrimm, best known to horror film buffs as "the Tall Man" from the Phantasm franchise. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laree Love, Don Wood, (more)
The horror film The Off Season features a young couple who decide to spend their winter in an old hotel in Maine, seeing as they could stay there inexpensively. It turns out that their room, number 13, contains the evil ghosts of people who were murdered there. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
