High Noon (Hong Kong)

Not my favorite film in the festival. Sounded pretty good - coming of age story following 7 students through their senior year of high school in Hong Kong. At least good enough to bail out of something else that I wasn't loving hoping to see something better. This one I stayed all the way through - though often kicking myself that I left Action Boys early to see this one. I'm sure there's an audience for this version of High Noon - but it just isn't me.

I suspect that there's always going to be a problem when you try to tell a story of 7 characters - eventually someone will get short changed. In this one I felt like I barely understood any of them - much of the story felt sketched as caricature. Mostly you see them running around like as a loud screaming, joking Lord of the Flies style group of teenagers. No one has sex with a pie - but there are enough of the obligatory stupid things movies teach us that teenagers do - such as horsing around, breaking things, spending time in detention, using drugs, and sending mobile phone sex videos around to the entire student body. Dreams are stifled, self realization is sought, etc. In the end it just felt like a frantic mish-mash of things. By the end when we hit the shocking conclusion I just had been left way behind and didn't much care.

Oh right before I forget - one dating tip from the film to share with the ladies. If you're involved with a guy named "Smoothie" you probably shouldn't expect fidelity to be one of his virtues. Unless perhaps his day job involves the use of a blender.

Action Boys (South Korea)

Oy! - what a day Monday turned out to be. Started out with the solid but bleak Three Monkeys reviewed below. Things went downhill from there. After two disappointing films I decided to bag my planned 7pm flick and head home early. I'm planning to come back for a few more days at the end of the week. Very painful to pull myself away. But as a place to stay in Vancouver costs money coupled with the fact that I haven't figure out how to earn my living seeing movies then back to work I go.

You've probably guessed by now that I didn't particularly love Action Boys. That would be true. But I enjoyed it more than the next film I watched. So everything is relative I suppose.

Action Boys is a documentary that follows a class from a school that trains stunt-men in South Korea. I figured that was pretty much can't miss territory. Watching folks put themselves through grueling training for a dangerous profession seemed interesting in itself. Hearing beforehand that it would also examine the motivations for why people would get into this line of work sounded like it would have some depth as well. Seemed worth a shot.

I should say it's not a horrible movie. It follows the class members around for several years past graduation providing some good information and injecting a good deal of humor. But while I was watching I basically had two problems

• I didn't feel like the film had a natural story telling arch to it. It's possible they were building to something, but it was so highly non-linear that I was never drawn in.
• Often I felt as though the humor was somewhat directed at the participants. Some of them were involved in the film I believe - so it may have been self-deprecating. Even so it seemed I was being asked to laugh more at them than anything else.
  

Overall I did learn a little bit about what stunt-men in South Korea are dealing with - clearly a tough job that many of the folks in the movie take seriously. I'd actually be really interested to know if the same lack of regard for their health extends to bigger movie systems (such as Hollywood). I definitely would have enjoyed a deeper look into the training and our skills they acquire (this is just hinted at). In all fairness though I can't render a final verdict on the film as I just ended up getting bored and leaving a little early to try and catch something better. I stayed around 2/3 of the way through - so if they pulled it out in the end I'd be a bit surprised. But they may have - so take my comments knowing I didn't see it all the way through.

Three Monkeys (Turkey)

Hmmm - not quite how I wanted to start my last morning in Vancouver. Dark, symbolic and sad. A politician hits a pedestrian and then pays his driver to take the fall for him. The driver agrees leaving his wife and teenage son alone while he serves a relatively short prison term. But with him out of the picture the stability of the family is altered, seemingly irrevocably. I was definitely engaged with the film, so to that extent it works well. Visually, it has a stark sepia toned look to it that seems to match the subject matter well. The performances are in line with the material and believable. I can't say I really enjoyed the experience though - it's a super bummer. Not very sophisticated I suppose - but sometimes I don't want to be hit over the head with pain and sorrow no matter how beautiful the film making and acting is. In the film human nature itself seems to come out looking the worse for wear - and in exchange I didn't come away feeling I'd seen some greater truth which would have at least balanced the sadness.

I suspect if you're willing to go out with friends and analyze this one there will be a lot to discuss. Especially because at times they through what seems to be "bonus" symbolism into the mix - perhaps to provide something in the way of back story or motivation. If nothing else you can spend a bunch of time trying to place which parts suggest each of the title's monkeys (see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil).

Pre-film trailer watch:
VIFF '08 continues to impress with the pre-film trailers. For one thing they're going with simplicity vs. volume. In contrast this year with SIFF there were some films with 6+ things before the film started - with at best one being interesting. I love SIFF - it's a mild criticism and probably the only one I had from the 2008 festival. But even against sterner competition the VIFF's trailers are very good. There's also a decent number of them - I caught three new ones in the last 24 hrs. No one wants to seem the same opening bit all day long. So far all have been pretty funny. The three new case studies describing folks they're glad are in attendance:

• person on the rush line - especially the one that doesn't quite make it in.
• the person who sort of got taken to something outside their comfort zone, for example by an "internet date" who'd rather be at a light romantic comedy featuring some charming fellow from England.
  
• probably my personal favorite - the fan who deeply analyzes each film and finds meaning beyond what the director knew was there. Especially when it comes to the color Mauve.

As in each previous one - they all end with "We're glad you're here..." - which just seems like a super welcoming message for a festival. Still looking to find these online so I can share.

Revanche (Austria)

Sort of liked this while I was watching it but after a night's sleep I'm a little less excited about it. Nothing really wrong with it but the coincidence ridden story was maybe a little too clever for me. At this point I'd say I liked it but didn't fall in love.

Several interwoven stories spool out side by side. A ex-con working in a brothel falls in love with a prostitute. Needing money he decides to rob a bank. She comes along for the ride. His father lives on a farm in the countryside trying to get by even as age makes working there harder and harder. Meanwhile a police officer and his wife try to have a baby. Life happens and everyone is impacted in some way. Probably enough - anything else will hurt the viewing. Well put together and solid performances. Just never really grabbed me hard.

The Witch of the West Is Dead (Japan)

Simple but effective coming of age story via Japan. You may find it a little too simple or predictable. But it worked for me, mostly by virtue of the environment they created and the performances.

A seventh grade girl suddenly decides she no longer wants to attend school. We see her parents are living apart due to work but beyond that the reasons for the school issue are unclear. She's sent off to visit with her grandmother in the country. There she sheds her city ways to learn about rural living - and receives basic training in being a witch. Though the lessons taught seem a lot more about being strong in her convictions and staying focused in life than turning people into toads.

Makes a nice pairing with Still Walking if you can see them near each other in time. Buy some strawberry jam before you go though. By films end you're going to be craving it.

Apology of an Economic Hitman (Greece)

It's probably not a good sign that I spent most of this movie thinking, "is economic hitman the right phrase or would loan shark be more accurate?". I'd seen the book this is based on and almost picked it up several times. I can't comment on the book - but I didn't especially like the film.

The narrator of this documentary tells his story of being an agent of the extended US government to manipulate developing resource rich companies into being coerced in line with corporate/national interests. The basic premise is interesting, developing countries are tricked into taking loans from the World Bank they cannot pay. When the debt is out of control they can be easily manipulated in exchange for reductions. A few at the top get rich and the people suffer. Rulers who resist are deposed or assassinated.

Unfortunately, the level of detail was low and an interesting film experience was sacrificed for him to basically say the same thing over and over. The info on what he actually did was almost as detailed in the theories batted around by characters in the movie Barcelona. And a weak Iraq war movie was sort of tacked on for good measure. Many better to see on that sorry mess.

Maybe read the book - but unless you're a very light follower of world events I don't think you'll learn that much from this film. After watching it I am curious what percentage of World Bank loans get paid back. One of the many things they sort of allude to but never follow up on in the film.

All Inclusive (Mexico)

Ran into this film mainly due to merits in it's ability to fit between two other films. I'm glad I did as I really enjoyed this film - as conventional and predictable as it was. Sometimes you just need something simple and nice.

A family in Mexico heads out on vacation to a resort. They're not more dysfunctional that other movie families. Nevertheless there are issues to be worked out. A period of spiritual and emotional growth ensues. It sounds like something coming out of Hollywood - and in most ways it is. Beautiful scenery, good actors and a non-downer of a storyline made this work for me.

Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

An animated journey through a man's memory of his first-hand experiences as a Israeli soldier in the first Lebanon war through the period of the massacre refugee camps. It's a striking piece of visual filmmaking that pulls you in from the first moment. Probably destined to be compared with Persepolis this film is far more effective as a work of visual art. However, I was more mentally involved with Persepolis. Possibly because the story of a young girl growing up in Iran is easier to get involved with (in a positive emotional sense) than a man's journey to uncover buried memories witnessing and being involved with wartime atrocities (even if somewhat indirectly). Bashir is extremely well done and I recommend it - mostly for the craft displayed. While interesting and of course extremely sad and devastating I'm not sure it treads new ground in the war story sense.

JCVD (France)

The best Jean-Claude Van Damme movie since Bloodsport - or arguably the first serious film by the actor (to my knowledge). Very different than what one might expect from him. Meant entirely in a good way.

This isn't another martial arts fest from an aging star. Instead he uses his troubled personal life as fodder for a fictional story casting himself, as himself in the starring role. In the middle of a child custody dispute the former star takes a vacation to Belgium to take a break from current financial problems and other personal demons. Walking into a post office he's caught up in a robbery where the police believe he's the perpetrator. Much of the film goes on to have a very "Dog Day Afternoon" feel to it.

There's lots of in-jokes to enjoy along with a surprisingly strong performance from JCVD himself (acting in his native French). The film's cinematography has a nice art-house sort of look to it, it's well acted, engaging and often very fun. So there's really no reason not to go. Unless you're looking for an action movie - which this really isn't. Excepting the opening shot which manages to be both technically very impressive and funny at the same time.

Tricks (Poland)

A not quite coming of age story about a young boy (somewhere shy of ten it seems) trying to manipulate the winds of fortune to bring his father back into their lives. Set in a small town in Poland it starts off with the boy spotting someone he believes to be his long gone dad. He and his sister live with the mother - but it seems the sister serves as his mother much of the time. Unfortunately he's too young to remember the father only having an older (and defaced) picture to work off of. As his sister attempts to better their situation, studying looking for a job, etc. the boy works to solve the mystery of tricking fates into giving his family good fortune and reuniting the family. In the meantime he tries to tag along on his sister's dates as he befriends the boyfriend.

Well paced, pleasant characters and nicely varied take on a familiar(ish) theme made this a real pleasure for me. Even though I sort of had to learn Polish on the fly to follow along (explanation below). I'd definitely recommend this enjoyable film. No great revelations about the universe but something to get into while you travel virtually to another place for two hours.

Theater note - Granville Theater - number 6 really should be avoided if possible for subtitled films. At the very least you need to choose seats with care. It's one of those venues without adequate slope to the room. So if you're even a few rows behind someone tall (or fidgety) it's going to be hard to read the subtitles. Something very obvious as the movie starts and there's literally a wave of people starting from the front and moving backwards as folks straighten up and try to see. Funny for a second until you realize you can't read them either.

Still Walking (Japan)

Ah - this is what a festival is supposed to feel like. There's actually not a lot I want to say about this simple little picture. The less you know the better it is.

A son returns home to his aging parents on the anniversary of his brother's death. Along with him is his new wife and her son. There's drama of course, but with a lowercase d - very understated but often far more powerful than the volume it's expressed at. According to the festival guide it's what would be called a "home drama" in Japan. In this case it's just a solid - well acted movie following a family through a challenging 24 hours. Some funny moments, some sad but a very real feeling experience. All this while still managing to look like a true film vs. the reality show look that too often accompanies the "small" film on the festival circuit.

I'm hoping this is a positive sign for the next day or so. I'd had a run of decent but not great - so it's really cool to see something I totally enjoyed and can recommend.

Speaking of recommend. If you're reading this and haven't already go buy tickets for Sita Sings the Blues (and give Cherry Blossoms - Hanami a try too). Sita's unlikely to come back and last I heard DVD was even looking doubtful. I've yet to meet anyone who's seen it who wasn't impressed.

Blink (Philippines)

I'm sure every write-up will include the opening quote which zips by at lightening speed, "If you don't want to be used, if you don't want to be duped ... don't ever blink!" I suppose this may have been the motivation behind the Sarah Palin doctrine exhibited so famously in her first VP track interview. But then again maybe not.

With the adrenaline (and pumped up music) of a thriller mixed with Manila slum melodrama and a dash of gratuitous sex thrown in (both straight and homo-erotic) they manage to cram a lot into just 70 minutes. Way better from a watchability perspective than the last similar film I saw Slingshot it still manages to have a lot in common. The theme that low level crime is nothing against the impact of high level corruption, strong family ties and a tendency to have every conversation at the level 11.

The main character is a hustler/con man scratching out a living via petty crime. He's caring for his younger sister who's having eye problems. Forced to come into big money fast he's forced to choose between his sister and his extended friends criminal ways.

This wasn't bad at all and did provide an interesting look into a different place and peoples. An amazing film - maybe not. But not really bad at all. Sorry - sometimes things just kind of come up in the middle like that...

The Good the Bad the Weird (South Korea)

This offbeat take on the classic western was my last film of the night. Unfortunately since I'd gotten up before 5 to make the drive to Vancouver the lack of sleep started to catch up with me during this late showing. So there was definitely a period where I was zoning in and out.

The obvious comparison for me on this film beyond the classic of the similar title (being one with limited Western knowledge) is with the recent Japanese tribute/mashup Wild West Sukiyaki Django (reviewed previously in this blog). The Korean film plays it considerably straighter. The "plot" involves a highly sought after treasure map. It's repeatedly stolen resulting in a string of bandits chasing each other. All being chased by a bounty hunter. There's a fair amount of over the top (and often played for camp) gun play. One of the tweaks here is that anachronisms seem to be to order of the day with technologies popping up where it's not entirely clear they fit the period. But it's all in good fun and the parts I were awake for were really enjoyable. Unless I missed it in the few moments I was tuned out it suffers from what (for me at least) often hurts this type of Western movie - lack of an interesting story. There's a lot of style and fun running and gun-slinging - all that is really well done. But by the end I felt as though I'd watched a performance more than a story.

It hits a specific cinema pleasure spot effectively. So as I believe I wrote for Sukiyaki Django, if Westerns are your cup of tea I'd suggest checking this out. From what I could tell from the audience reaction they'd agree with me on that one.

SIFF 2008 vs. VIFF 2008 - Day 1

Well - since I'm stuck waiting on another long line I thought I'd jot down a few thoughts about the two film fests I've frequented this year.

Today's categories:

Pre-film trailers - this round goes to VIFF. It's not even close given the 2008 SIFF trailer theme - "New". It basically just consisted of taking clips from past festival films and superimposing a "New" logo in strategic but not terribly interesting places. On the other hand the VIFF per-film intros are actually pretty darn funny. The theme is "we're glad your here." Each one sets up some "hero" of the film festival in a humorous way - for example the person who asks the first question of a director, the folks who are determined enough to sit in the first row, and last but not least the poor guy designated to get there and save a bunch of seats for friends. I'm going to look for these trailers online to see if I can link to them or post them here.

Waiting on lines - SIFF hands down. OK - maybe that's because I buy a higher end pass there that requires practically zero line waiting. Even so I think it's worse in Vancouver. Passholders wait once to choose their movies (actually twice, once in the morning once in the afternoon). Then if the movie is busy they make you wait on line again to get in. Lines can be fun up to a point if you're standing with interesting people - after that point it's a serious drag.

I'm back typing up all my notes. I also saw The Good The Bad The Weird (Korea) - but I need to get some sleep so that's going to have to wait.

Charly (France)

Coming of age story of 14 year old barely verbal slacker who runs away from home and meets an slightly older order obsessed teen prostitute. I had high expectations - and even once it started with cold feeling digital photography (not my favorite) I held out some hope. But I just couldn't really get into the story or the characters. The woman playing the slightly older prostitute does a good job but overall I was underwhelmed.

God's Puzzle (Japan)

Sure - you probably know that rock and roll can save your soul but did you know that properly applied it can prevent the destruction of the universe? With an odd melding of quantum physics, music theory and slapstick comedy this film has everything short of the kitchen sink. Not sure it really holds together that well but it sure goes for broke - and sometime you've just got to respect that. Though if they'd maybe trimmed 30 minutes I'd likely respect it more.

The movie starts us out with the basic setup. Twin brothers taking different paths in life. One a wanna be rock star who's a bit less than disciplined in his job as an apprentice sushi chef. The other's a grad student in physics. Throw in a female physic wunderkind with a bit less than stellar social skills. Of course one twin has to impersonate the other in grad school and occasional hilarity crossed with a mish-mash of new age sounding physics ensues. Though it kept occurring to me that these were some pretty dim physics grad students if they couldn't tell the sushi chef from the true student in actual conversation.

It's a bit too wacky to really give more background on. I didn't really love it but it had a few visual moments I enjoyed. Not the weakest film of the day but still a bit short of a recommendation on this one.

Secret Museums (Belgium)

I recently had the chance to attend a short talk by one of the folks who made the documentary "Bigger Stronger Faster." It's an extremely well done documentary that both teaches, challenges and entertains. At the talk I learned two things that stuck with me,

- Some film makers express themselves better on screen than when talking about their work in person. ;-)

- In his view a good documentary is made up of three key pieces, an interesting subject, unique access into that subculture and a human aspect to the story.

I thought his view of a good documentary rang true. Today sitting through Secret Museums it came back to me in a big way. The film is about secret and/or purposefully hidden collections of erotic works - in a variety of modalities (written, painted, sculpted, etc). So the interesting part he'd seem to have coming out of the gate, unfortunately it's only mildly involved in the teaching and human interest parts. The special access to the subculture of obsessed erotic art collectors seemed sketchy at best.

Part of the problem is that beyond the fact that artistic folks through the ages produced works of erotica and that conditions existed to suppress the work there's not much being taught. I wasn't particularly surprised about that - maybe that's just me?

The filmmaker points out that even in today's world much of this art is under covers of some kind. Here he makes one of the more entertaining points of the film by contrasting the alleged hiding of erotica work from the Victorian era by the British Museum. As he pans the camera to bring the museum into frame it lingers on the London habit of advertising prostitutes with racy photos in phone booths. How it asks can a country so open oppose a little bit in the way of painted erotica. Sorry, I was just yawning there - hope you couldn't tell.

There's brief mention of the semi dysfunction that comes with intensive collecting in many cases. But frankly, there's more depth given the topic in GhostWorld than here.

There are some interesting facts here such as the recollection of an interviewee of the Vatican's extensive boxed collection of each marble phallus cut from church statues. Both overall it's neither really that interesting, racy, or fun. I seems like you'd want one of the three at the very least here.

Hansel and Gretel (Korea)

Started off the Vancouver film festival with this beautifully shot, creepy take on the story of the same name. A man trying to stay on the less involved side of the responsibility divide is driving along while talking to his pregnant girlfriend. He swerves to avoid an obstacle and flips his car off the road. There he's helped by a girl who leads him deeper into the woods where her parents live.

They're a trippy bunch living a life that seems entirely too revolved around their kids short term enjoyment - picture cake and cookies for dinner. The Alice in Wonderland feel continues for a bit. When he tries to leave things take a turn to the decidedly odd. Caught in a sort of forested Bermuda triangle he tries to find his way out...

It's got an impressive visual feel and it definitely had me on the edge of my seat at times and guessing. It's not a gore-fest (good from my view) and I don't think it should be giving most folks nightmares. It's not going to be in my faves for the year - but it didn't suck and sometimes that's enough for a start.

Religulous

Bill Maher sets off to expose what he views as on of the critical problems facing the world - faith. Or to paraphrase him - unquestioning belief in something illogical is not a virtue. It's a movie done with humor but it's point is deadly serious. Is it a documentary, a comedy, a political attack an opportunity for Maher to smoke dope onscreen - yes on all counts. You'll laugh, but I doubt you're going to walk out feeling very positive about the universe. It's an odd discordance.

He makes some good points with respect to the recent faith not fact based approaches to foreign policy (and policy in general) that have made up more than their fair share of recent US government actions (though apparently those same folks draw the line on dogmatic financial policy when the US is in the figurative foxhole). It's hard not to give it some thought when he makes Scientology seem a bit far fetched but then asks you to consider how much more unreasonable it's precepts really are compared with established religions.

If you mind a little doubt with your faith you probably will survive the experience. I can't really say it's an amazing movie, and I'm not sure it'll change many minds. But I don't think that's what it's meant for. Maher is pretty upfront that the less religious should treat the movie as a call exercise political power with the same zeal as any religious group.

This is one where you sort of get what you expect - so watch the trailer and make up your own mind. Bill would likely encourage the use of your critical faculties any chance you get. :-)

This is playing at the Vancouver International Film Festival this week and then opening in the US later in October (I believe).

The Lucky Ones

Three wounded soldiers meet on the way back to the US from Germany. Two are on leave and one is an older reservists finishing his tour. Through a series of movie like events they find themselves on a cross country drive from NYC to Las Vegas. Of course they talk, overcome hurdles, bond, and help each other grow. Given the cliched sound of this I went in expecting there was a risk it could be pretty bad. Shockingly though the film is actually pretty good. All the characters are well acted and things aren't all neatly pieced together for the audience. It's not a happy film - but it was pretty interesting while I was watching it. It's not cinematic genius but it's was a good way to spend a rainy Saturday morning. Big thanks to SIFF for providing the free screening to supporters.

Of course having anything at all to do with the Iraq war means it'll probably bomb at the box office - but you've got to admire folk's effort to keep trying on this theme.

Humboldt County

Boring story of a guy who escapes his life for a summer, running away from an impending life in medicine to hang out in the marijuana growing area of Humboldt county California. This isn't Cheech and Chong (or Harold and Kumar) territory. It's a fairly serious film - though not really that engaging. The main character is likely doing the right thing (he comes across as a dreadful physician) and seemingly numb to life's events. He meets a woman for a one night stand and ends up the next morning driving to her parent's house in the country. He gets left there and without motivation to go home he ends up staying and bonding with the family. Turns out they're also refugees from the big city and love the quite, independent lifestyle they've got. Plus they do seem to enjoy their pot...

For a much more informative article on America's least talked about big cash crop this article from the New Yorker is a lot more informative and interesting.

Sorry - I could go on to explain what I didn't really love about this movie. But it doesn't really seem worth the effort. Some beautiful photography and a cute kid. But nothing here that I can recommend running out to see.

Towelhead (Take 2)

It took a while but I finally got to see Towelhead all the way through. I went to a press screening of the film during SIFF - but technical problems ended it about halfway. While much of my original writeup still applies I won't bore you with a full recap of the events. Those of you having an extremely boring day at the office can indulge in the full history here.

First off - watch the trailer. It's not altogether inaccurate, but it makes the movie come across as a lot lighter than it really is. So if it's a bit too much for you in the trailer, you're likely going to walk out of the film (which is a trend that has happened at both screenings I attended). The film is intended at least partially as satire (I believe) and there are some directly comic moments. But it's far creepier and darker than the preview below makes it out. A lot of reviews compare it with American Beauty - but I don't think the cringes per minute are nearly as high in that film.

In short it's a coming of age story of a 13 year old US born girl of Lebanese descent growing up in Texas around the time of the first gulf war. She's trying to figure out who she is and how to deal with her emerging sexuality. Which of course is precisely the wrong time to run into Aaron Eakhart in a film.

Now that I've seen the entire film I feel as though I should have a strong recommendation one way or the other. I'm glad to have seen it - that part I don't regret. There are some very engaging performances and the look of the Texan suburbs on-screen was very well done. But how I feel about the film overall is something I haven't quite settled on yet. So for now I think I'll add it to my list of films I'm glad to have seen and leave it at that. Though I keep thinking I would have really loved it with the same characters but a less dark (but still coming of age) storyline. But I suppose that would have made it a different film - certainly not one based on the book of the same name.

I Served the King of England (Czech Republic)

Weird little movie that follows the adventures of rather self-involved waiter through his rise in the food service industry in Prague in the period before and after WW-II. He's focused with laser like attention on becoming a millionaire. I sort of liked it albeit perhaps not quite as much as some of the recent reviews.

The film starts out with the protagonist getting out of prison. We're informed that he was sentenced to 15 years but "only" did 14 years and 9 months (or so - I don't quite recall). Then it recaps the story starting from his youth and traveling forward to explain how he ended up in prison. The story also darts back occasionally to the present day where the waiter to be is living out his later days in the out of the way country location he's been sent to live.

The movie gives an interesting view of history to someone not so familiar with the events in the Czech Republic. With respect to the direct story, it's about a waiter just "lucks" his way up the capitalist food chain throughout the film, eying the decadent millionaires he serves with envy. He seems to fall ass backwards into money and women at every turn. He's very, very oblivious to the world events around him - even when the Nazi's take over (followed by the Communists). There's an occasional break in his inwards focus, but it's so prevalent that it's a hard character to like. There are some situations where I found myself wondering if he truly didn't notice, or if he thought it was in his interest to ignore events. For example his Nazi wife who keeps moving his head so she can have a clear view of the poster of Hitler on the wall while they're making love. By movies end his views have changed some - but in my viewing the post-prison portion was a much lesser piece of the film.

It's often described as a comedy. For me at least it wasn't the laugh out loud sort - at least not very often. I smiled and I watched with interest the great photography and the Chaplin inspired performance of the lead. Nothing really bad here - it's interesting to look at and to think a bit on afterwards. But it just didn't quite grab me. That said it's probably one of the better films I've seen in the last few weeks.

Two small cautions. First off - there's a lot of elaborate looking food preparations all beautifully shot - so you'll want to avoid going in hungry. Second, if this sort of thing bothers you there's a fair amount of female nudity. I suppose third - if you're looking to avoid nudity mixed with food this also might not be your film. It seems the pervy millionaires of Prague tended to be disproportionately focused on eating with and sometimes feeding beautiful naked women. Perhaps that's changed with the advent of Viagra.

Burn After Reading

I know how it is, I really do. First you saw the trailer. You're thinking - "Wow - Looks amazing. Can't wait to see this film." Sure trailers can sometimes be pretty deceiving. But you're still thinking this thing has got to rock. I mean come on, how can you miss? For example,

What a cast...
George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton - and a ton of other recognizable faces.

Great concept...
Ex-CIA man's top-secret memoirs are found in a gym locker room and two employees try to sell them to the highest bidder in order to finance her plastic surgery makeover. Clooney as the US marshall sleeping with everyone in sight, Malkovich as the analyst and enough quirky roles to cover everyone you can think of short of Harvey Keitel.

Not to mention the directors you figure can pull it off...
The Coen Brothers - possibly back in fun mode. Or at least reducing the count of those shot in the head over the course of the film.

Sigh... Well right on one count - the number of folks shot in the head is somewhat reduced. Now if only that was enough to make a great film. A better reviewer than I might be able to really nail what's wrong here. The NY Times describes it as missing "heart" - in a lot of ways that does sum it up nicely. But something is definitely off.

Yep - the movie looks snazzy. The amazing cast is clearly pretty jazzed to be there. For example Pitt is having a blast as the dimwitted personal trainer. At first I was thinking I could get can get past negatives such as Clooney's partial return to the bizarre accent of O Brother, Where Art Thou? (worked there - not sure I get it here). But eventually I started to realize I wasn't really laughing and I was just spending my time watching dumb people and waiting for something interesting to happen. If that sounds a bit too much like real life, join the club.

To be clear - it's not unrelenting badness. It definitely finishes strong with J.K. Simmons in what to me was the best part of the film. I've been told some critics didn't like the end - but for me the conclusion is a positive payoff (and not because I was anxious to leave). There's ton of the Coen brother's signature quirk ranging from weird characters to George Clooney's DIY project destined for a nomination in the category, "most unexpected use of Home Depot materials". Sometimes things do work - just not often enough. Ultimately the movie just felt flat and I was never truly into it. I laughed, but rarely hard. There was a lot of parts where I just felt I was having an out of body experience.

At the same time I can't say something like avoid this at all costs. Just try to tamp down your expectations a bit. You'll be glad you did.

Update: I did notice many people were laughing quite a bit at the screening - perhaps the Seattle Times reviewer was one of them.

Screening notes: I saw this on Thurs night ahead of the Friday wide release courtesy of The Warren Report. Generally I try to avoid wide release films on free previews that aren't coming directly from the Seattle Film folks. The audiences don't tend to be as focused on the movie vs. (for example) their conversation or getting free babysitting for their kids. For example this screening had a row of elementary school aged students and a bunch of super annoying talkers. I think I need to remind myself as to why "free isn't always a good deal" and catch these wider releases a bit later and at a carefully selected time of my choosing.

Vancouver International Film Festival 2008

Well, today I broke down and did it - purchased a pass for the 2008 Vancouver International Film Festival. A couple of years ago I went there for 5 days with the (sadly no longer with us) SIFF a-go-go program. Last year I thought about it but didn't pull the trigger. This year I decided to just give it a shot. I'm not sure how much time I'll really be able to spend in Vancouver - but I figure this will force me to sort that out. Guess I'm going to be going through hotel and other housing options for the next week. I've already discovered that scheduled train travel options between Seattle and Vancouver are even sparser than I would have thought. Hopefully there will be some better surprises awaiting me in my investigation.

I spent part of the day scrolling through the Vancouver festival website and reading through their sneak preview doc. Looks like there's some really interesting stuff to see. I'm putting together a rough list and hopefully I'll be able to find some days where options cluster together so I can make 1 or 2 concerted trips up there during the festival. If anyone has some recommendations on what to see (or not) they'd be much appreciated via the comments section or via the email contact here.

Of course there's always some overlap between festivals and this year is no exception. Some pics for VIFF-08 I've already seen this year and I can recommend are below. You can pretty easily search the blog for the reviews at the time I watched 'em if you'd like more details.

- Sita Sings the Blues - not to be missed. Singing, dancing, wisecracking fun. I know you're thinking, it's animated with jazz, and characters are blue? But in the immortal words of a much less strange seeming Tom Cruise sometimes you've just got to say what the... Ballast (slow for some, but for me a very rewarding film)
- Cherry Blossoms - Hanami - Absolutely fabulous film. Well deserved winner of the Golden Space Needle award for SIFF 2008. One of the top few films at this year's Seattle Festival.
- Captain Abu Raed (much liked film at SIFF - I thought it was pretty reasonable but perhaps not as great as others viewed it)
- The Girl by the Lake - Pretty solid police procedural
- Let the Right One In - absolutely super fun cross between a coming of age and vampire flick. Try not to miss it if that sounds even a little appealing.
Momma's Man - Read the review. At the time I liked it - but it's a bit of a downer.
The Secret of the Grain - One of my top 5 films at SIFF 2008. Lots of folks seemed to think it was a bit on the long side. But I loved practically every minute of it.
The Song of Sparrows - A man chases a runaway ostrich and that's not even the best part. OK - maybe I'm lying about that - it's hard to top an ostrich chase. But I was happy to have seen the film anyway - it's far from the slapstick comedy I just made it sound like.

And then those I liked "less"
- Sparrow - Super stylized story of warring pickpockets. It had it's charmed but it wasn't a must see for me. Don't get it confused with the Iranian film The Song of Sparrows above.
- Sonetaula - Sometimes a movie feels very long, sometimes it is very long. This was both. The total dialog might have seemed stretched it this was a short. Some interesting cinematography if I recall but do drink some extra coffee going in.
- Under the Bombs - Not quite to my taste. I may have ranted a bit during my earlier writeup on it so I'm going to take a more subtle approach here.