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.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
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.
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.
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.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, September 08, 2006
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.
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.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
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.
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.
Friday, September 01, 2006
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
Factotum (USA) 2006 Landmark's Hillcrest Cinema
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