A collection of my idiosyncratic thoughts & film reviews. I find spending time sitting in the dark watching far too many films back to back a deeply relaxing experience.
International, Indy, Hollywood, Vampires - I have very flexible tastes...
Now I'm nearly 100% sure Blogger ate my posts. It's bad enough Outlook at work decided it hated me. But now this ...
Wow - I'd thought I'd actually written some notes on this one. I saw this a while back. Someone at the Vancouver festival thought it was very strong and wondered if the writer/director had another film in him. He'd felt this effort was so personal there might not be another story. Performances were good, but the story didn't really interest me that much. Tough kids growing up in a tough life. The one who escaped making peace with his past. Not bad if you're in the mood for that sort of thing. I suspect it's a better book.
Saw it - generally liked it. I think I saw 50% coming most of the way but the second twist did get me. Plus as opposed to certain other magician flicks this year I didn't spend the whole time bothered by the accented English of characters who shouldn't have been speaking English in the first place.
A documentary about American punk rock between 1980-86. I saw this film a week or so ago and enjoyed it. But I'm not sure the average viewer would have the same experience. As a pretty active fan of this music from around 1985 into the 90's I was already familiar with most of the bands. I didn't feel the film really told a deep story about that time and how the music fits into the larger picture of what's heard today. Though truth be told maybe their isn't a terribly deep story to tell. The filmmakers have lots of interviews with many many of the members of the early hardcore punk bands. And lots of pretty good footage from the 80's to go with. I think the best part of the film is the amount of time devoted to the Bad Brains one of the best bands of that era. Of all the hardcore bands Bad Brains always struck me as the most musically talented and this film really does do them justice. Though I would have liked a bit more to understand what the members were doing today. Overall worth the money I paid. If you hear what it's about and get excited you'll probably like the flick. If you're curious it's not a bad window. Just be sure to checkout 7-Seconds after you see the film - they're a bit slighted in terms of screen time. :-)
The Yacoubian Building (Egypt) is a big budget soap saga set in todays Egypt. It follows the goings on of residents of an old apartment building in Cairo. The tenants range from the rich (and of course decadent) to the poorer ones who inhabit the roof. The breadth of this film is really imprssive as it follows the search of quite varied characters for what they are missing in life. There's some mention in the program guide as to how there's a movement in the Egyptian parliment to censor the film. When you hear that without seeing it you correctly get the impression that it's because the film touches on topics taboo in the region. But without knowing more you'll miss the fact that Egypt is portrayed as a full fledged modern
Sodom and Gomorrah. We're talking the full package; rape (of both genders), forced abortion, torture, terrorism, drug dealing, prostitution, political corruption, murder, and. cheesy male dye jobs. That's not even counting the out of control sexual harrassment. The most (maybe only) sympathetic character.is a young woman who is unable to find a job where she can go for a day without being groped.
I'm assuming this is all intended as an indictment of Egyptian society - and if so it's a powerfull one. Unfortunately the positive times referred to with a strong sense of nostalgia seem unlikely to have been a true golden era. Returning to them hardly seems like a functional plan for the future.
All said and done this is a very interesting and engaging film. It's almost 3 hours long and the time is well used. Between the interesting characters and the "I can't believe they just did that" feeling you'll have every ten minutes it's quite a ride. There are some moments that feel a little uncomfortably stereotyped (for example the recruiting of a character into a life of reluctant homosexuality via a bottle or two of wine). But still worth seeing. I know a lot of folks who put this as their favorite film. I'm not sure it's that high for me - definitely in the top 10 though.
BTW - after writing the post above I came across some links related to the film. Here's a NPR Story about the making of the film. Of course you can also buy the book at Amazon.com.
Here's a quick cut at my ten favorites from VIFF '06. It's not in any particular order. Of course since I didn't see everything there's a good chance I missed some other truly great stuff. Tomorrow I hope to round up the summaries of shows I watched - I think only Yacoubian Building is left. OK - all done with my Vancouver '06 festival experience. Still have one more summay to post. In the next few days I plan to publish a personal top 5 best-in-fest list.
Here's the final list,
- Do Over
- No. 2
- Single
- Woman on the Beach
- Men at Work
- Dog Days Dream
- Son of Man
- The Page Turner
- The Elementary Particles
- Buddha's Lost Children
- Mystic Ball
- Beauty in Trouble
- Dans Paris
- Everything's Gone Green
- Border Post
- Renaissance
- The Valet
- The Lives of Others
- Le Petit Lieutenant
- The Trials of Darryl Hunt
- Family Law
- From Afar
- Footsteps
- Cheech
- Mount Pleasant
- The Yacoubian Building
Mt. Pleasant (Canada) was my last minute replacement for the near unwatchable Cheech. That Cheech film actually gets worse the more I think about it. Mt. Pleasant tells intersecting stories of three couples in the title neighborhood. More importantly it's a cautionary tale about not buying too early in a neighborhood undergoing gentrification. That last part might be more my take than the film maker's intent.
Let's run the stats on the three couples. One's a pair of heroin addicts with the boyfriend pimping his 16 year old girlfriend. Next up is the couple with the painfully cute daughter who just moved into the neighborhood. Within the first few minutes she manages to find a discarded syringe in their yard and injects her "sick" doll. Rounding things out is the well off couple with the husband who sells real estate. In addition also seems to have a taste for underage prostitutes. But at least they're not unfunny suicidal prostitutes in a bad black comedy. To round out the character he gets the standard issue wife who keeps trying to get their 13 year old depressed somewhat goth daughter to dress more 'sexy.' Do I see you nodding your head? Good then you've got the picture.
Anyway... From the descriptions above I think you know 90% of what's required to form an informed attendance choice. The acting is serviceable. It's obviously not going to be the feel good movie of the summer. Given that it wouldn't be on the top of my must see list. On the other hand, Lifetime networks would probably raise their standards considerably with a purchase of the TV rights.
Just goes to show you. Not all Canadian cinema has to be quirky. ;-)
Cheech (Canada) has no relation to Chong. Though if you've read my earlier postings it seems the pair might find Vancouver an attractive destination. At first when I saw the description I really did think it was that Cheech. Mr. Chong has a movie that was at both Palm Springs and Seattle in the last year. I figured this was just building on that momentum. Sadly I was very disappointed. Cheech and Chong would have been way better. I just walked out to see if I could catch something watchable. Learning for the day - movies with Cheech in the title and pot smoking iguanas = funny. Movies with Cheech in the title feauturing suicidal prostitutes and pimps with motivational tapes = not funny. Not funny (or interesting) at all.
Footsteps (India) tells the story of three generations making their way in a changing country. It follows two families and the relationships between all the members. The first family consists of a professional woman in her late twenties and her aging father. The second is a couple with a young daughter who've recently moved back to India from the US. The families are tied together by the friendship of the young girl and the older father. Pleasant all around though I didn't feel I learned as much as I would have hoped about the generational dynamics. That said I liked it and find it a nice change to see a non-musical Indian film.
From Afar (Iran) was surprising. I don't think I've seen anything else quite this high concept from that country. There are three segments populated by the same actors. At least one has a story in a story. I'm actually confused as to what the overall picture was supposed to make up. On the other hand none of the story segments really captured my interest enough to worry too muxh about it. The director was in attendance. Unfortunately I didn't have time before my next screening to stick around to hear some explanation. As it stands I think I wouldn't rushing out to find it.
Family Law (Argentina) is not one of the newest crop of David Kelly wanabee legal dramas. Actually it could be - sounds awfully familiar. Thankfully this is much better. Story of a son settling down, looking at how to spend his life and his relationship to his father. And of course coming to terms with being a father - it's that kind of flick. Both are lawyers with very different styles. Perlman the younger is a professor with little real world experience. Perlman Sr. is a bit of a legal "man of the people" and operates on the fuzzier edges of justice. One of his professional witness's is discussed throughout the film. Seems the fellow is renowned for his ability to have witnessed every accident in the city. Even while simultaneosly testifying in other trials. Fairly lighthearted and fun I sort of enjoyed it. The main character is quirky and likeable ("aren't we paying the kindergarden so we don't have to do these things all the time?"). Turns out even the non-Canadian films are quirky in a Canadian festival. Worth seeing if it's around - but maybe not the sort of thing that needs to be intently sought out.
The Trials of Darryl Hunt (US) will just make you angry. 19+ years for a rape and murder he didn't commit. Two trials you'd call "unbelieveable" in a fictional book or movie. Eventually exonerated which by the end seems more like dumb luck then expected outcome given all the hard work people put in to free him. It's one thing to see these cases on 60 minutes or read them in the paper. It's another to see them in a form where the film maker has enough time to truly show the testimony, etc. When you see it laid out in detail it's very hard to argue that inflamed emotions and racism weren't the cause of delayed justice for Hunt and the victim. Even a lame effort with this material would make your blood boil. This documentary is well put together and tells the sad story in a compelling way.
Le Petit Lieutenant (France) is a police story set in Paris. More accurately it's a story about police officers. There aren't car chases or a real mystery. Instead it follows a recent police recruit and an older woman returning to work and struggling with alcohol. I liked it - but maybe didn't love it. All the emotional tones seemed muted in some way. Perhaps the point - there seemed to be intent of showing the daily grind of police. I believe I missed it at earlier opportunities so I'm glad I caught up with it.
The Lives of Others (Germany) is set in the early to mid 80's in East Germany. It focuses on a couple (an actress and a director) along with the Statsi (secret police) who are watching them. Adding additional intrigue is that the main reason for the investigation is a high ranking official who covets the actress and wants her director boyfriend out of the picture. Not that the boyfriend keeps the official from coercing what he wants from her so she can avoid a blacklist. There's quite a lot more in this saga of a film but I think it's better to know less than more before seeing it. Watch it one should as it's strongly acted, very easy to watch and very powerful. The choices people were forced to make and the impact even on their interrogators was truly fascinating. The time just flew by. Definitely one of my favorite films in Vancouver so far.
The Valet (France) is just a hoot. A rich married businessman gets caught by a tabloid photographer with his supermodel girlfriend. A valet walking by ends up in the photo. Businessman tries to pass of the valet as the true boyfriend of the model by hiring him to play the role. The valet's new live-in supermodel girlfriend is a surprise to all. Hilarity ensues...Really. No one but the French can get such a laugh out of setting a women's hair on fire. Good stuff.
Renaissance (France, Luxembourg, UK) is one of them newfangled looking animation movies along the lines of "A Scanner Darkly." Meaning it appears real actors are first filmed and then used as a frame by frame template for the animation. It's a film noir type thriller about the cop (operating outside the bounds of procedure - of course) against the shadowy super corporation (who have cool invisiblity suits). The "story" involves tracking down who kidnapped a genetics researcher and why. The real reason is to produce wicked cool looking animation. The film is mostly black and white. Most of the time there doesn't even appear to be gray used. Picture a comic book type drawing shaded entirely with black ink. And cool it does look (better than scanner darkly to my uninformed eyes). Surprisingly the story is pretty engaging while watching. Not sure it's really going to hold up to analysis after the film. Definitely something to see for the style more than the substance.
Just got out of Border Post (Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia). It was very good. It's billed as a bittersweet comedy - and I suppose that's not completely off. I actually saw it more as a drama. Set in 1987 it follows a group of soldiers about 4 years before the breakup of Yugoslavia. None of them really want to be there and they're stuck in a remote outpost on the Albanian border. Their oft-drunk commander fakes an escalation of tension with
Albania. He needs to buy a few weeks for his medical condition to clear up before going home to his wife. Meanwhile the younger soldiers find ways to occupy their time - not fully understanding some of the risks theyre taking. The tension does get ratcheted up throughout the film as everyone gets in deeper than they can really handle. Throughout there are plenty of clues as to the ethnic tensions right below the surface that spilled out in later years to tragic consequences.
Everyone's Gone Green (Canada) was my lead off today. It was a tough call though against a Japanese film that also sounded good. The movie was written directly for the screen by Douglas Coupland whose books I usually enjoy - even as they get weirder over time. :-). How can you not like the author who titled a book, "All Families are Psychotic"? The film is set in Coupland"s native Vancouver (as are several of his recent books). The main character is your typical slacker troubled by whether he should grow up and chase the money. Everyone around him is chasing the easy money. Even his folks get in on it with a scheme recycled from Jpod. Judging from his focus on grow-labs, the head shops here (not to mention the dintinctive herbal scent in the streets around town) Vancouver has a different take on drug laws. The collection of schemes is entertaining - who knew you could launder money through the lottery.
I'd call this film sort of Coupland light. Nothing overly deep. Likeable performances across the board. I smiled a lot, laughed on occasion and wanted the guy to get the girl. If you liked the books this is probably a safe bet. If you pick up the itch to learn Mandarin ("the language of the future") so much the better.
Finished off Sunday night with Dans Paris (France). Hmmm - how to describe? Shouldn't have jinxed myself on this one - 4 strong in a row was too much to hope for. Two brothers, their father and relationships. One of the brothers wasn't quite as lovable as I think I was expected to find him. Nice hair though. ;-)
Nothing horrible here. I thought I understood what was going on - just not sure why it's a movie. I felt as though there was 45 minutes of story left somewhere. I've heard others with really good things to say - and the performance was totally sold out. If I find someone who loved it I'll probably update with their explanation.
Beauty in Trouble (Czech Republic) follows the ups and downs of a woman, her two kids and their extended family. It has several of the actors (and possibly the director) froma Czech film I really liked at this year's Seattle Film Festival. The family is down on their luck do to flood damage to their home. The husband is running a chop-shop and everyone's a bit of a character. I thought it was well done and held my attention for sure (read worth a rental at the very least) . Things get worse, then perhaps better depending on your viewpoint. As one of the characters observes, the view sometimes depends on the cost. Wow - three for three so far today. I'm almost afraid to go to a fourth screening. ;-)
Mystic Ball (Canada) a documentary that show us that those hippies in the quad with the hacky-sac might have been up to something after all. Also that they suck worse than you thought. Turns out the entire nation of Myanmar is better - way better. It's made by a man who ran across someone kicking a weird looking ball around in a park. He became intrigued - perhaps a bit obsessed. Learned the name of the game - Chinlone the national sport of Myanmar and followed it's trail until he learned to play and became a bit of a celebrity regular there.
Chinlone is a team sport - without scoring, direct competition, or judging. Play is evaluated by viewers based on both the success in keeping the ball in the air and which the style with which one does so. The ball looks about the size of a softball and is made of loosely woven rattan. This is the sort of film that truly takes you into a world you'd be very unlikely to even know existed without it's help. The narrative makes much of the spiritual nature of the sport wherein players often reach a meditative state of pure focus. But it's watching the truly skilled players starting halfway through the film that really caught my attention.
I'd recommend checking this out if given a chance. One thing I wish I thought to suggest to the filmmaker afterwards - an internet site at the end where one could purchase the balls. After this movie I almost guarantee you'll be curious enough to pick one up.
Buddha's Lost Children (Netherlands) opens with a quote - "Living is an art that must be learned" and then goes on to give quite a lesson by example. It's a documentary about a former professional Thai boxer turned Buddhist monk. He ministers to the villagers of what appear to be some of the poorest parts of Thailand. Simultaneously he runs an orphanage of sorts for the lost children of the surrounding communities. Some stay for a few months to a year often at the request of their parents. Others grow up there. They heal, are educated and well fed (many for the first time). They all learn to care for a horse as they should themselves. It's really well done, giving the feeling of being there and getting a real feel for what he's doing. There's a riveting portion where they together nurse a seriously injured horse during a long trip.
It's truly amazing to watch. You almost have to walk out questioning your life's path. But don't worry for most of us that will all too soon pass.
Elementary Particles (Germany) was the fifth and final film of the day. Thanks to it I got to end things off batting over 500 for the day. Phew... Half brothers seek out love and purpose in their own ways. One's not sure the sex has a purpose the other is unclear there's any other purpose in life. Based on a novel I haven't read. Not sure I'll run out and get it but it made a perfectly good film. Great 60's soundtrack to boot.
This post isn't really going to work until I get hunt up some photo to illustrate the point. But this morning I realized that all the young, male Japanese directors I've seen recently are wearing a uniform of sorts. It's not so much the clothes - though they all seem to be shopping in the same hipster district. But it's more from the neck up - same haircut and most strikingly same glasses. Thick black frames along the lines of someone - I'm thinking Elvis Costello. Will try and find photos of some of these guys but I'm pretty sure about this inane observation.
The Page Turner (France) was a lot of fun. Nothing completely new or shocking but a solid, quiet, guilty pleasure sort of psychological revenge fantasy. Not a drop of blood spilled. Actually just a little bit but he's the one person in the film that actually deserved what he got. If you've ever wondered how badly piano lessons can screw up a kid this is the film for you. Though if you just want the answer - turns out they can screw up the right kid quite a lot.
I decided to cut bait on the technically challenged theater after the last film. They told me they'd still be at least 30 minutes behind. Too bad Betelnut looked interesting. I do hope they get everything sorted out. As a placeholder I made a run for the only movie open - Son of Man. A re-telling/imagining of the life of Jesus in modern Africa. The film is from South Africa. Oh - also sort of a musical. The production values were very high and it was definitely different. It makes some pretty strong political statement. Some of which I agreed with, some were very complex issues reduced to a complaint but no great alternatives.
Can't say I was really grabbed. Definitely a point on the score of films I normally never would have seen. For that I'm glad I went instead of taking a break at Starbucks.
Next up was "Dog Days Dream" along with two shorts. Plus lots and lots of technical problems for no additional charge. These things happen with so many films flying around. But at some point it became a little laughable. First we were let in pretty late due to technical problems they wanted to fix before they started. Then when we were let in the first short didn't quite work. All in all there was a lot of waiting. When the films started I wondered a bit (still do) whether I should have bailed before they started. First short was depressing and not really interesting, at least to me. Second one was interesting only in that I was wondering how the photography was done (I have to check more - think I figured it out). It's actual content made we think it's what "Laser Floyd" must be like.
Then the main feature. First off - the closing theme music was a definite highlight. The story just didn't grab me. I always have a problem if I can't really find something compelling about the characters as written. I'm not mortified I went - but I suspect the alternative I skipped would have been better. Too bad - it's been a while since I was disappointed by a Japanese film at a festival.
I think it's supposed to be a coming of age, love conquers all crossed with Sid and Nancy. I sort of saw where it was going pretty early and to quote one of the great unsung films of 2005 - the juice wasn't worth the squeeze.
Just noticed while I'm sitting here that Vancouver has skweegee guys. For those not familiar these are folks who ostensibly "clean" your windshield in exchange for a "donation." It was a pretty common road hazard in NYC in the 80's (I'm sure they have their own website now ;-)). They often didn't easily take no for an answer. Not to mention the quality of service issues.
Mostly driven out of NY to the best of my knowledge the business model seems to have migrated to Canada.
Before I came up here (1st timer) I'd heard a lot of Vancouver is very clean and very "European" comments. Can't speak to the European feel - though apparently they've got a lot of Starbucks there. With respect to clean it doesn't really look that different to me than other American cities such as NY and Seattle. Maybe I'm getting this all wrong - for example maybe the guys cleaning windows are more polite and actually do a good job?
Now we're getting somewhere! Just watched "Men at Work" from Iran. Basically it's an hour and a half spent watching men obsess about a giant rock. In case you're thinking you can watch men doing that in almost any movie, think again. First off - I spelled rock correctly - no typos there. Second, this is a really interesting and entertaining film which I think will satisfy a broader audience than those who might normally be drawn to Iranian films that reach North America. It opens with a group of upper middle-class and middle-age men driving down a winding mountain road on the way back from a ski trip. Along one of the bends in the road, at the edge of the cliff they encounter a large phallic rock jutting out of the ground. Perhaps inevitably they decide they decide it would be fun to push it over the edge (come on - wouldn't you?). Of course more easily said than done. Their efforts,and those of the various men, women and donkeys that wander by, makes up the rest of the film.
Beyond the perhaps less than subtle rock is a good amount of allegory about life in general and most likely one lived in Iran. I'll leave that to smarter folks to decipher for the time being.
So far this is definitely best of fest material for me. I can't see anything having a shot of knocking it out of a top 5 ranking in the next few days.
Yeah, yeah, yeah - I know I can't spell. I learned to type with the time I probaby should have used to work on spelling. Come to think of it I can't type too well either. Fine - and I suck at geography. I'm a walking, talkin' caricature of America's public schools. Turns out though that judicious use of Google let's you sneak by on most those "important" topics.
Spell checking is what computers have always been for (even before their current role in bringing porn to the masses) . Which someone forgot to tell the folks at RIM who make the BlackBerry. Amongst it's plethora of amazing features somehow spell checking got lost. It would almost make sense if they tried to sell it to you - but they don't seem to. There are some third-party choices but I've yet to install one.
All of this is a long winded way to say that readers may see a bunch of mistakes. :-)
I saw "Woman on the Beach" as my last film yesterday. I found it enjoyable - laugh out loud funny at many points. Almost worth seeing for the discussion about the perceived unfairness of the reception "unattractive" Korean women get in Europe. But I'm not sure it's going to stick in my mind as a "must see." The film is Korean and I recognize at least the male lead from something. At first I thought it was Host & Guest but now I'm thinking maybe not. I'll have to check imdb when I get a chance. Interestingly enough the main character in last night's movie was a universally impressed "film director" and I believe Host & Guest that lead for a film critic. Seems Korean society has some reverance for folks in film. Though perhaps it's just the part of Korean society that makes films. The director character here leverages his job to goof around and mainly meet girls. What starts out funny ended up leaving me having some pretty negative feelings about the characters ability to say practically anything to end fights brought about by his sleeping around. Which I believe was as intended. I think the flick is actually growing on me more as I write. Hopefully this review will drive some more traffic from Korean film fans. Since the Host & Guest writeup they've been some of the most avid readers of the site. It's like I'm that guy with the show about the talking car, except not in Germany ;-)
BTW - on that topic KITT got not one but two mentions in "Do Over" yesterday. So Mr. David H's classic has some serious reach.
Today I started attending the 25th annual Vancouver International Film Festival. First film was- "Do Over". It was OK - started and ended stronger than the middle. Maybe a longer review later. From Taiwan with the director, actress and it seems a bunch of their friends in attendance. I'm at "no 2" because I couldn't get into my 1st choice.
I think their system is a little wacky. Since they give out the evening passholder tickets at 5 you really can't see an afternoon film unless you're willing to put the evening in jeopardy. Well at least I think I understand how it works. Maybe it'll grow on me. All I can say though at the moment is that this is no Palm Springs. :-)
OK - finally better luck. Single was pretty good. Looked like zero budget but kept my attention. In the intro the director said something to the effect, "there's no highs, no lows, nothing really happens - I hope you don't leave before the end." I can't really see walking of this one. If nothing else there's no character endlessly saying "you and your brothers will cook a pig." It doesn't seem that annoying I know - but just picture it being blurted out every 5 minutes.
Walked out of No. 2 in order to get in line for evening tickets. That film was really not for me - enough about cooking the damn pig. The main character just wouldn't let it go. Anyway - 45 minutes in and I really was only mildly interested in one character. Sometimes you've just gotta know when to walk away. Hopefully I'll have more luck tonight. So far it's not been the best start.
