Ivory Tower

I wanted to see Ivory Tower because I admire Chilly Gonzales and his music. Especially his album with the same name is one of my favorites of his. I know a bit about Gonzales' philosophy concerning music, he is above all a pop-man, he enjoys the structure of pop-songs and adds his genius to it. He expresses his philosophy perfectly in this movie. It's just like any stereotypical Hollywood sports movie and he mocks this genre perfectly: The way they play chess has nothing to do with reality and the characters are extremely stereotypical. Thad, the sports jock and maniac; Hershel, the outsider with talent; Marsha, the girlfriend etc. I found the acting by Gonzales, considering that this was his first movie, just great. Tiga Sontag was absolutely hilarious and did a great job, as well. I also liked how some actors were complete amateurs, which gave the movie a certain charm. So, if you like parodies, some light humour and good music this movie is for you.

First and foremost, the star of this independent film is Chilly Gonzales. If you do not know who he is or what he does, I implore you to look him up first. His piano pop elevated the atmosphere of the film to an incredible level, and even if you have no care for the substance of the film itself, watch this film for the music alone.

And that substance is a Canadian Napoleon Dynamite-esque romp. Two brothers - Thaddeus and Herschel, compete in a battle of ideologies ("Chess is hate" and "Chess is love") over a mutually loved woman, Marsha. The spoils of the war known as chess are won by Herschel originally, which soon drives him into a spiral and causes him to lose his girlfriend, Marsha. The unrelenting rules of the game are then adopted by Thaddeus, who also succumbs to the game.

The film marries Gonzales's two apparent loves: music and chess. Specifically, "jazz chess" is a bright allusion to jazz itself, as a musical genre bending the well-defined structures of previous musical paradigms. The new style of how to play the game is seen as blasphemous, and Gonzales reminds us of the success associated with seeing things in a new light.

The quirky character of the film lends itself well; however, the execution was subpar. One must be cautious viewing any low-budget independent film, as the direction and film editing are off-putting. Likewise, Gonzales has moments of acting clarity...and other moments not. However, overall, Ivory Tower freely makes fun of itself and has fun doing so. If the viewers can appreciate the quirkiness, then they too might just be able to join in on the fun.

Checkmate. Checkmate. Checkmate.