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Awful news. Laggies and Touchy Feely were terrific examples of the kind of small indies that are so hard to get right

The Narrator Returns wrote: Sat May 16, 2020 7:09 pm Lynn Shelton

Recently she was dating and living with Marc Maron, and they were working on a film together.

Both of these are just terrible.

This is almost too much at once. Willard was the peak of his generation of character actors who gave such warm performances, and I’ve always adored Shelton. Your Sister’s Sister is a film that has stayed with me as among the best of that string of indies that refused to be pinned down as mumblecore, redefining what a chamber drama can be with a magical, honest touch. What a sad day.

mfunk9786 wrote: Sat May 16, 2020 7:22 pm

The Narrator Returns wrote: Sat May 16, 2020 7:09 pm Lynn Shelton

Recently she was dating and living with Marc Maron, and they were working on a film together.

He was superb in her underseen Sword of Trust.

The Narrator Returns wrote: Sat May 16, 2020 7:09 pm Lynn Shelton

I’m gutted. I met her a few times, and interviewed her once for my mumblecore book...this one is going to affect a lot of people deeply. She was loved by many.

Wow, I really got into her films over the previous summer and she seemed so close to breaking through in a serious way. Definitely one of the most talented mumblecorers with such a tremendous wit. It felt like just a matter of her being more prolific for me to feel comfortable calling her a favorite. Now that won't happen.

Director Lynn Shelton.

Awful. Was just listening to her and Maron on The Best Show.

She's on Facebook, and her page has now been converted into a memorial site.

I remember in the extras for Laggies, Jeff Garlin talks effusively about how everyone in the cast was willing to do anything to work with Shelton and I was struck (in a way that has always remained in my memory tied to the film) with how, in contrast to the usual EPK floweriness, I believed he was wholly sincere in his praise

Maron reuploaded their interview from 2015. The intro is heartbreaking, understandably so obviously, with him describing what happened.

flyonthewall2983 wrote: Mon May 18, 2020 8:50 am Maron reuploaded their interview from 2015. The intro is heartbreaking, understandably so obviously, with him describing what happened.

Thanks for mentioning this, yes the intro is absolutely devastating. It's also a beautiful tribute. I'm awestruck at how he has documentation of their very first encounter, which is a priceless relic out of many couples' dreams but which people never actually have.

therewillbeblus wrote: Mon May 18, 2020 1:32 pm

flyonthewall2983 wrote: Mon May 18, 2020 8:50 am Maron reuploaded their interview from 2015. The intro is heartbreaking, understandably so obviously, with him describing what happened.

Thanks for mentioning this, yes the intro is absolutely devastating. It's also a beautiful tribute. I'm awestruck at how he has documentation of their very first encounter, which is a priceless relic out of many couples' dreams but which people never actually have.

It's so raw and sincere and overwhelming, there is more after the interview too. It sounds like they were really, not just in retrospect, deeply in love with each other.

As someone with anemia, I would like to echo this terrible reminder that it's no joke, and that if you feel unusual or tired or like you can't get a handle on your day in and day out stamina, please go get medical attention. It might seem frivolous, but it really isn't. Can be the difference between being here and not being here.

I finally caught up with Laggies, which was excellent (I haven’t seen Andrea Seigel’s follow up writing job, but she’s one to watch). Shelton’s talents in the few I’ve seen are on full display here, drawing warm funny moments out of real life dramatics. The first act is some of the funniest interplay and visual humor in recent memory, and I love how the film avoids expected beats of ‘problems’ by treating the characters as fully dimensional people. Instead of letting secrets brew they call each other on their shit immediately and work through them without any heavy-handedness. A very mature lens for a film about the (honest) juvenile aspects of adulthood.

I'm really surprised (though I have no idea why) at how good Outside In is, again with Shelton treating her characters as complex people who are allowed to be conflicted and behave abnormally without shaming them. There is so much going on here that shouldn't work, and the plot itself had me rolling my eyes, but the cozy limitations of what we define as engagement are cast aside for the need to follow one's gut and ignite connection. The story provides this platform in placing ourselves in Jay Duplass' shoes, who exists outside of his milieu's boundaries simply based on his situation, and these constraints give an ironic sense of freedom subtly comforting an audience into accepting the peculiar dramatics. I'm unfamiliar with Jay as an actor (I like his brother a lot), but he's terrific here. The film isn't one of Shelton's best, but worth seeing for anyone else who is revisiting her works now to see the unique humanist eye she brought to indie cinema regardless of genre.

I also watched Your Sister's Sister again and I forgot how the film moved beyond the first act, which to me imitated late-night drunken exchanges perfectly. The house has such a lived-in feel, a personality of its own to cradle the actors' authentic auras. It's no surprise that this takes a bizarre trajectory, where characters wind up half-accepting themselves while embracing their collective situation of imperfections in togetherness, and the dramatic leaps may be too much for some, but I still love the honesty and think it's one of her best films.