aGLIFF Polari 2012 Dispatch: Day of the Fire Tassels

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Satan's Angel

I only spent one day at aGLIFF Polari this year, due to whatever cruddy crud I contracted halfway through Fantastic Fest. (All I can say is that no germs better try attacking me during AFF.) Anyway, on the last day of the festival (last Sunday) I headed downtown to watch a web series and a documentary for my taste of aGLIFF. Polari. Eventually I'll get the name right.

Actually, aGLIFF Polari had at least one cute bumper showing before the movies to explain the name change. PJ Raval was in the bumper I saw on Sunday, thus confirming Don's theory that PJ Was Everywhere this year. Here's the embedded video if you want to watch it yourself.

My first movie was at Stateside, and can I digress here briefly to say how much I enjoy watching movies at Stateside? Parking issues aside, it's a great venue for moviegoing. The seats are comfy, the picture and sound are good, and they have Twizzlers. You can't ask for more than that.

Anyway, my first movie wasn't actually a movie -- it was a condensed version of a local web series called Once You Leave that was shot in Central Texas. This is the first time aGLIFF Polari has screened a web series, we learned in the introduction. Writer/director Nate Locklear explained that the full 12-episode series of Once You Leave would take too long to show all at once, so he and co-creator/star Kayla Olson put together a few of their favorite episodes plus some connecting material from other episodes so we wouldn't be lost. 

Once You Leave is about young Kayla Marshall (Olson), who returns from two years in Africa with the Peace Corps to reunite with her girlfriend Rachel, only to discover that Rachel is dead. Kayla has no real home and few ties -- she won't return to her abusive mother, so she decides to take a road trip to find her dad. I'm guessing from what I watched that each episode centers around a new encounter for Kayla, whether it's Rachel's brother, a free-and-easy hitchhiker, a dance party, and so forth as she travels through the South.

I don't watch many web series and I was impressed with the quality of the lead performances, the cinematography and the music. You can watch all the episodes of Once You Leave via the series website.

After a short break, I walked over to Alamo Drafthouse Ritz for the enticingly titled documentary Satan's Angel: Queen of the Fire Tassels. I love the phrase "Queen of the Fire Tassels" and am trying to find a way to use it in conversation more often. So far, no luck.

Satan's Angel is a profile of Angel Walker, a legendary burlesque dancer. She really does do the thing with the fire tassels, by the way ... and she's old enough to be your grandma (and to have dated Clint Eastwood and Bobby Darin). Most of the narrative is in her own words, from a series of interviews, with still photos from her early days and video from her more recent performances. Angel was a nice Catholic girl who discovered she liked making a career of taking her clothes off and dancing. And now she's a fiery but charming older woman, living with her partner, Vic.

The movie includes interviews from other dancing legends, like Kitten Natividad, as well as younger burlesque queens with delightful names like Cinnamon Britches, Miss Kitty Baby and Big Fanni Anni. There's also a focus on Angel's longtime relationship with her partner, Vic.

Satan's Angel was lively and fun, due primarily to Angel's rather sparky personality -- in one of the first scenes, the interviewer asks her what her real name is and gets a "None of your damn business." I was only disappointed at the small audience, which filled maybe a quarter of the larger Ritz theater. Austin has an active burlesque scene and I wondered if any of those groups were aware of the screening. The movie deserved a larger audience, and perhaps a few live burlesque performers. Perhaps an encore is in order?