New Resolution

While I'm not one for resolutions, I've decided to make one. As you can see, I've updated the looks of the blog. I'll also post more. Here's to the new resolution.

Coming To A Theater Near Me

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - Landmark's La Jolla Village

Flags Of Our Fathers - Various

Marie Antoinette - Various

Shortbus - Landmark's Ken Cinema

Naming Names

Here is a list of the films I saw at the Vancouver International Film Festival. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be doing reviews. So here goes.

Klatsassin (Canada) 2006
Out 1: Noli me tangere (France) 1973
Shortbus (USA) 2006
The Host (South Korea) 2006
Dong ( China) 2006
Still Life (China/Hong Kong) 2006
Withered in a Blossming Season (China) 2005
Love for Share (Indonesia) 2006
Opera Jawa (Indonesia) 2006
Tokyo Loop (Japan) 2006
Cain's Descendant (Japan) 2006
Dog Days Dream (Japan) 2006
The Lost Hum (Japan) 2006
Lost in Tokyo (Japan) 2006
Single (Japan) 2006
Sway(Japan) 2006
Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast-Food Grifters (Japan) 2006
The Last Communist (Malaysia) 2006
Rain Dogs (Malaysia) 2006
The Bet Collector (The Philippines) 2006
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (The Philippines) 2006
Todo Todo Teros (The Philippines) 2006
Passable (Singapore/East Timor/UK) 2006
Geo-Lobotomy (South Korea) 2006
No Mercy for the Rude (South Korea) 2006
Do Over (Taiwan) 2006
I Don't Want to Sleep Aone (Taiwan) 2006
My Stinking Kid (Taiwan) 2006
Stories from the North (Thailand) 2006
Syndromes and a Century (Thailand) 2006
Congorama (Canada) 2006
The War Symphonies: Shostakovich Against Stalin (Canada) 1997
Acts of Imagination (Canada) 2006
The Boy Inside (Canada) 2006
La Coupure (Canada) 2006
Un Dimanche a Kigali (Canada) 2006
Manufactured Landscapes (Canada) 2006
Mozartballs (Canada) 2006
Mystic Ball (Canada) 2006
Our Own Private Bin Laden (Canada) 2006
Raised to Be Heroes (Canada) 2006
Radiant City (Canada) 2006
Run Robot Run! (Canada) 2006
Sleeping Dogs (Canada) 2006
Uganda Rising (Canada) 2006
Waban-Aki: People from Where the Sun Rises (Canada) 2006
Family Law (Argentina/Italy/France/Spain) 2006
Ten Canoes (Australia) 2006
Milarepa (Bhutan) 2006
What Is It Worth? (Brazil) 2005
Border Post (Croatia/Slovenia/Bosina/Serbia/Macedonia) 2006
Beauty in Trouble (Czech Republic) 2006
Lunacy (Czech Republic) 2005
The Yacoubian Building (Egypt) 2006
Lights in the Dusk (Finland) 2006
The Elementary Particles (Germany) 2006
Four Windows (Germany) 2005
The Lives of Others (Germany) 2006
Longing (Germany) 2006
Windows on Monday (Germany) 2006
Relatives (Hungary) 2006
Don't Tell (Italy) 2005
The Violin (Mexico) 2006
Heaven's Doors (Morocco) 2006
The Great Bazaar (Mozambique) 2005
Colossal Youth (Portugal) 2006
magic Mirror (Portugal) 2006
12:08 East of Bucharest (Romania) 2006
Garpastum (Russia) 2006
Obaba (Spain/Germany) 2005
A Letter of Fire (Sri Lanka/France) 2005
Lenz (Switerland/Germany) 2006
Vitus (Switzerland) 2005
Climates (Turkey) 2006
Red Road (UK) 2006
Colma: The Musical (USA) 2006
Day Night Day Night (USA) 2006
In Between Days (USA) 2006
Shadows Choose Their Horrors (USA) 2006
A New Day in Old Sana'a (Yemen/UK) 2005
Demented (France) 2006
Friday or Another Day (France/Belguim) 2005
The Page Turner (France) 2006
The Untouchable (France) 2006)
Rampage (Australia) 2005
Our Daily Bread) Austria
East of Paradise (France/USA) 2005
The Epic of Black Gold (France) 2005
The Mao Years (France) 2005
End of an Elephant (Germany) 2006
From Far Away (Germany) 2006
Hamburg Lectures (Germany) 2006
Into Great Silence (Germany/Switzerland) 2005
Last to Know (Germany) 2006
The Net (Germany) 2006
Buddha's Lost Children (Netherlands) 2006
Loop (Norway) 2005
The Mist in the Palm Trees (Spain) 2006
The Railroad All-Stars (Spain) 2006
His Big White Self (UK) 2006
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (UK/Austria/Netherlands) 2006
Unrequited Love (UK) 2006
Absolute Wilson (USA/Germany) 2006
Jonestown: The Life and Death of the People's Temple (USA) 2006
Maquilapolis: City of Factories (USA/Mexico) 2006
Methadonia (USA) 2005
My Country, My Country (USA) 2006
Once in a Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos (USA/UK) 2006
Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosoi (USA) 2006
Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project (USA) 2006
Thin (USA) 2005
A Zen Life: D.T. Suzuki (USA/Japan/UK) 2006
To Play and to Fight (Venezuela) 2005

VIFF Screenings Playing Catchup

What Is It Worth (Brazil) 2006

Obada (Spain/Germany) 2006

Uganda Rising (Canada) 2006

The Blossoming Of Maximo Oliveros (Philippines) 2006

Vitus (Switzerland) 2006

The Great Bazaar (Mozambique) 2006

Milarepa (Bhutan) 2006

Love For Share ( Indonesia) 2006

The Host (South Korea) 2006

Waban-Aki: People From Where The Sun Rises (Canada) 2006

No Mercy For The Rude (South Korea) 2006

Raised To Be Heroes (Canada) 2006

Loop (Norway) 2006

Beauty In Trouble (Czech Republic) 2006


What Is It Worth is a hilarious mean-spirited look at race relations in Brazil.

Obaba is an interesting look at the collective memory of a Basque region town and how a city girl comes to find her way.


Uganda Rising is crap. African bloodshed is not my fault.

The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros is story about a 12 year old cross-dresser whose family are thieves and the fact that he falls in love with the local police officer. Hard realities are learned.


Vitus is a little like "Little Man Tate". Bruno Ganz is wonderful as the grandfather.


The Great Bazaar is about a little boy who gets his money stolen while going to the market and how he earns is back so he can go home with flour that is mother told him to buy. Enchanting.


Milarepa is a biopic of the 11th century poet monk considered Buddhism's most revered saint. Good but overly long.


Love For Share is about Muslim polygamy in Indonesia. Three interconnecting stories.


The Host is summer blockbuster fun.


Waban-Aki is about the filmmaker return to her village.


No Mercy For The Rude is about a mute killer who will only kill rude people. Fun and funny, serious and sad.


Raised To Be Heroes is about refuseniks in the Israel Defense Force.


Loop is a documentary about 5 men who indulge their obsessions every chance they get. Entertaining.


Beauty In Trouble is who finds and ex-pat Czech who "solves" all of her family problems. Over the top.


Okay, I've finished up everything from the press screenings. Tomorrow the VIFF starts and it could take me some time to comment on everything I see. Be patient.

VIFF Screenings Day 7

Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos (USA/UK) 2006

Run Robot Run! (Canada) 2006

Sleeping Dogs (Canada) 2006


Once In A Lifetime is about the rise and fall of the New York Cosmos and the NASL. Entertaining.


Run Robot Run is about a futuristic office worker who loses his job to a robot. Enough said.


Sleeping Dogs is about a blind diabetic who escapes from a hospital to save his dog. This is about familial responsibilities. Excellent.

VIFF Screenings Day 6

Relatives (Hungary) 2006

To Play And To Fight (Venezuela) 2006

Acts Of Imagination (Canada) 2006

The Railroad All-Stars (Spain) 2006


Relatives is a film by Istvan Szabo about how power corrupts. A new attorney general is voted into a small Hungarian town. Everyone becomes a "relative" and he is unable to do his new job of cleaning up the town. Overly slick.


To Play And To Fight is a documentary about the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra System. Very informative. Orchestras are in every town in Venezuela. Uplifting.


Acts of Imagination is about a brother and sister who have emigrated from Ukraine. Are our memories true?


The Railroad All-Stars is a documentary about Guatemalan prostitutes who form a soccer team to fight for their rights. Overly long.

VIFF Screenings Day 5

Methadonia (USA) 2006

Four Windows (Germany) 2006

Rising Son: The Legend of Skateboarder Christian Hosia (USA) 2006


Methodonia is a documentary about a group of methadone addicts in New York City. Their struggles staying off drugs and trying to stay clean. These are hardcore cases. Interesting.


Four Windows is about a German family. We really don't know much about our families. Scary, beautiful.


Rising Son is about the rise, fall, and rise of skateboarder Christian Hosoi. Interesting story. There is hope out there.

VIFF Screenings Day 4

The War Symphonies: Shostavkovich Against Stalin (Canada) 1997

Mozartballs (Canada) 2006

Our Own Private Bin Laden (USA) 2006

Rampage (Australia) 2006


The War Symphonies are Dmitri Shostakovich's symphonies four to nine which he wrote as an attack against Joseph Stalin. Excellent in how it showed Shostakovich's life and hearing the symphonies being played. Beautiful.


Mozartballs is about 4 individuals that are truly fans of Mozart. Interesting, but strange characters.


Our Own Private Bin Laden tries to figure out how we got Bin Laden against. There is no news like old news.


Rampage is about an African-American family from Miami and the struggles that they go through. One of the ones is murdered during the filming of the documentary. It also shows how the filmmaker is trying to help the family. Overly loooong.

VIFF Screenings Day 3

Colma: The Musical (USA) 2006

A Zen Life-D. T. Suzuki (USA/Japan/UK) 2006

The Boy Inside (Canada) 2006

Flesh (Canada) 2006



Colma: The Musical was charming. I dislike the word "charming", but for this film it's a compliment. Colma is a bedroom community of San Francisco that is home to most of the cemeteries in San Francisco. It's the story of 3 recent high school graduates that are having a hard time figuring out what they want to do. The music is great. It's also hilarious.


A Zen Life-D.T. Suzuki is a documentary about D. T. Suzuki who brought Zen to the West. Basic and ordinary film.


The Boy Inside is about a 12 year old boy who has Asperger's syndrome. Asperger's is similar to Autism. It follows him and his family through a very trying year has he tries to fit in at school.


Flesh is attempts to explore the parallels between the treatment of animals and women. Don't worry, I still eat meat.

VIFF Screenings Day 2

Un Dimanche A Kigali (Canada) 2006

My Country, My Country (USA) 2006

The Mist In The Palm Trees (Spain) 2006


Un Dimache A Kigali did it's job. It made me feel responsible for the genocide in Rwanda. It's not my fault, but it is the United States, Canada and Europe's fault for not doing enough.


My Country, My Country is a documentary are the runup to the Iraq Elections of 2005. Excellent. Follows an Iraqi family, an Australian security firm and others. Doesn't try to make up your mind for you.


The Mist In The Palm Trees is a "found" footage film about a mysterious Spanish physicist who worked on the Manhattan Project. Very Interesting.

VIFF Screenings Day 1

Mystic Ball (Canada) 2006

Tierney Gearon: The Mother Project (USA) 2006

His Big White Self (UK) 2006


Mystic Ball is about the "sport" of chinlone. It's kind of like hackasack, but with a bamboo ball 3/4 the size of a soccer ball. Chinlone is more spiritual than sport. You don't play against anyone and there are no winners and losers. The end of the film said it all: it's about love.


Tierney Gearon is a documentary about an American photographer who has been taking pictures of her bipolar and schizophrenic mother. The photos are therapy.


His Big White Self is another provocation by Nick Broomfield, the British Michael Moore. About the South African Nazi party leader Eugene Terreblanche. A sort of sequel to his earlier film The Leader, His driver and the Driver's Wife. I've become tired of Nick Broomfield.

Fall Has Fallen (Or My Annual Foray To Vancouver)

I'm off to Vancouver with a side trip to San Antonio. I plan on writing about most of the films that I see at VIFF. I've got the preview guide and I look forward to seeing films from Europe and East Asia with a smattering from Latin America and Africa. I'll stay away from most films from the U.S. and Canada. So off to Vancouver I go.

Coming To A Theater Near Me

Pedro Almodovar Retrospective (Spain) Landmark's Ken Cinema

Factotum (USA) 2006 Landmark's Hillcrest Cinema

Coming To A Theater Near Me

Little Miss Sunshine - Landmark's Hillcrest Cinema, AMC's La Jolla 12

Quinceanera - Landmark's La Jolla Village Cinema, AMC's Fashion Valley 18

Coming To A Theater Near Me

Azumi (Japan) - Landmark's Ken Cinema

Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story Of The New York Cosmos (U.S.) - Landmark's Hillcrest Cinema

Shadowboxer (U.S.) - Pacific Theater's Gaslamp 15

Vengeance Is Mine

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (South Korea) 2002

Old Boy (South Korea) 2003

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (South Korea) 2005

Park Chan-Wook has tailored a beautiful, violent revenge trilogy. The basic story behind all three is the main character as been wronged. Hell hath no fury like South Korean's wronged. Don't upset them or they will make you pay.

Singing To The Choir

An Inconvenient Truth (USA) 2006

Who Killed The Electric Car? (USA) 2006

Maybe it's, preaching to the converted. Depending on who you are and what your political beliefs are, these two documentaries are the best thing since sliced bread or they are pieces of crap. So the question becomes, where are documentaries that refute the information provided in both of them? Where O where are you?

Coming To A Theater Near Me

La Luna De Avellaneda - UltraStar Hazard Center

Lady Vengenance - Landmark Ken Cinema

The Heart of the Game - Landmark Hillcrest Cinema

The Summer Of My Discontent

I know. It should be the winter of my discontent. Expectations, or it should be unreasonable expectations. I expect "good" film in the summer. I expect film that will make me think. Film that will make me happy, sad, angry, mad. I haven't got that. I've gotten film that sucks unless it was made before 1980 or it was made from another country other than the U. S. I know, I'm asking a lot. I realize that American film is about "making" money. I get this way each summer because I'm looking forward to my holiday. The Vancouver International Film Festival. Now that I've ranted, I feel better. Not about American film, but about that fact that I still have hope. At least I think I do.

Coming To A Theater Near Me

Clerks II - wide

Who Killed the Electric Car? - Landmark's Hillcrest Cinema

Wassup Rockers - Landmark's Hillcrest Cinema

Two Sides of the Same Coin

A Scanner Darkly (USA) 2006

Princess Raccoon (Japan) 2005

Drugs are bad. Love is good. "A Scanner Darkly" is Richard Linkleter's cautionary tale of the Philip K. Dick novel.

"Princess Raccoon" from Senjun Suzuki is the musical that he was finally allowed to make. Based mostly on a Japanese folk tale is part Shakespeare, part Hatfield and McCoy, part Bollywood musical. He threw everything into this. He gave us 4 different endings. Funny.

The Fall Of Fujimori, Part Dos (Ni) (Two)

Our friends at PBS have setup a website in conjuction with the showing of "The Fall Of Fujimori" on PBS. It's http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/falloffujimori/

Secret Cinema

Secret Cinema is good. Suprise, surprise surprise. Every other Sunday Evening. Check out my links.

Coming To A Theater Near Me

Strangers With Candy - Landmark's Ken Cinema
A Scanner Darkly - Landmark's Hillcrest Cinema and La Jolla Village Cinema

He Said, She Said

State of Fear (US/Peru) 2005 English, Spanish (With English Subtitles)

The Fall of Fujimori (US) 2005 English, Shanish (With English Subtitles)

The Road To Guantanamo (UK) 2006 English



It's a matter of he says, she says. "State of Fear" is about the rise and fall of Alberto Fujimori from the point of view of a view middle and upper class citizens of Peru. They tell how much they loved Fujimori until he went "overboard" in taking the personal liberties of Peruvians away. It goes over the major events of Peru during Fujimori's time as president.

"The Fall of Fujimori" is from the point of view of President Fujimori. As he tells us, he did everything he did for the sake of Peru. He's not a murderer or corrupt.

The story of the "Tipton 3". Detailed and graphic view of their vacation and soon to be marriage of one of them. Like normal young men, they don't keep up on current events. September 11th had just happened and it was time for a marriage, so they go back to Pakistan to get married. They do the tourist thing and decide to visit Afghanistan. The get captured by the Northern Alliance and get turned over to the U. S. They are then sent to Guantoanmo and it takes 2 years for the U. S. to figure out that they are just 3 lads from Tipton.

What a glorious world we live in.

Army of Shadows (France) 1969

Action. Who needs action. Jean-Pierre Melville doesn't. This dark story of the French Resistance during WWII is paced. The story of a small group of fighters who go about the mundane existance of day-to-day life. The choices they make are not happy choices, but the make them in order to stay alive and keep fighting. There is no glory for these fighters. Beautiful yet sad. No one likes the choices they have to make, but they make them anyway in order to keep on fighting. Lino Ventura and Simone Signoret highlight a wonderful cast that shines.

Coming To A Theater Near Me

The Road to Guantanamo - Landmark's Ken Cinema
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man - Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas
12 and Holding - Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas
Lemming - Landmark's La Jolla Village Cinemas
The Fall of Fujimori - Sunday Only San Diego Downtown Public Library

The Hard Part

The hard part has begun. I now have to come up with something. In the beginning, I'll write about the films I see. My tastes in film is varied. It's easier to talk about what I don't like as opposed to what I like. I dislike greatly anything Hollywood, but I'll watch Indiewood on a case by case basis. I dislike Bollywood musicals and horror (though I will watch some Asian Horror). I'll watch just about anything from any country outside of the U.S. I like foreign film because they concentrate on script and character. I dislike Hollywood because they use special effects to hide script problems. Hollywood spends to much to make movies. They pay actors too much. My problem is not with the actors, but with the studios. I attend the Vancouver International Film Festival each year and I try to attend local film festivals hear in San Diego. I've attended the San Diego Latino Film Festival as time has permitted. This year I'll try to attend the San Diego Asian Film Festival, but I'm not sure as it starts just before I return from Vancouver. Hopefully this will help in understanding my film tastes.

This is it

After thinking about this for sometime, I've decided to start a blog. It will be mostly about film, but I write about whatever I feel like writing about.