I liked it. A lot.

IDIOTS AND ANGELS
6/10
The last film of the festival. What a pity that I didn’t enjoy it more, but admittedly, I was very tired and have a cold, so that might have adversely affected my abilities to fully appreciate it. It’s an animation by Bill Plympton, whose film ‘Hair High’ was one of my favourites at MIFF in 2005. I really enjoyed the creativity in this film about a man who grows angel wings, but just couldn’t get into it. I may try again one day if I have the chance, but in the meantime I’ll rate it well based on the excellent animation work and poorly on the story itself.

SOMERS TOWN
8/10
One of my favourite films of the festival. Shane Meadows did last year’s Closing Night film at MIFF, This is England, and also did Dead Man’s Shoes at MIFF 3-4 years ago. I loved both of those films, and this one makes three out of three. It’s a short one, only 75 minutes, and shot in black and white. It’s the story of the friendship between a homeless boy (played by the main actor from This is England, Thomas Turgoose) and a Polish immigrant whose parents are divorced and is taken care of by his working class father. Lots of great moments and beautifully filmed with plenty to keep your eyes interested. Hopefully this will get a cinema release here.

THE WACKNESS
6.5/10
This film had all the ingredients for being fantastic, but for some reason it just didn’t equal the sum of its parts for me. It’s set in NYC in 1993(?) and is about a loner kid who’s just finished high school and is whiling away the summer dealing marijuana to the locals, including a psychiatrist played by Ben Kingsley, who offers him advice in return for some stash. I can’t help but think that it would have been better if they hadn’t tried to set it in the early 90s and just updated the story for today. Maybe I’m missing the point, but the dialogue was distracting, yo. Word.

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES
6/10
This was a documentary, but really, like Morgan Spurlock’s Super Size Me, it’s really just made for entertainment and not for a factual unbiased representation of an event or set of facts. It’s about a guy who’s been dumped by nearly all his girlfriends over the years and sets out to try and find out why. Sorry if it’s a spoiler, but jeez, if you’re an unemployed, dirty lazy guy who plays with action figures and can’t get an erection, what do you expect? There were plenty of funny and cringeworthy moments, but I couldn’t help but think he was playing a part rather than being his true self when talking on film, and a couple of parts just seemed to much like stunts for entertainment rather than being relevant to the story (visit to the bondage mistress and the viagra episode, mainly). Not a terribly film, but I think it could have been better if he’d left the devices for entertainment out, or toned them down at least.

BOY A
7/10
Interesting film about a young man who is about to re-enter society with a new identity after having spent years in a correctional facility for his part in the murder of a girl when he was a child. While he appears to be rehabilitated by the system, others wouldn’t be so quick to forgive and forget, including the press. The film follows his story as he starts in a new town with a new job and starts making new friends. Definitely a well made film, and I thought worth watching based on its creating a protagonist out of a character that would usually be ‘the bad guy’.

A CONFUCIAN CONFUSION
N/A
Walked out. I just couldn’t be bothered trying to get into this film, which appeared to continue to talk about emotion. I am pretty tired generally at the moment, and after 30 minutes the sunshine of outside was more alluring that continuing to watch.

IN SEARCH OF A MIDNIGHT KISS
8/10
This black and white film is about a lonely scriptwriter on New Years Eve whose career is going nowhere and is paranoid about standing at a party at midnight without someone to kiss. His housemates suggest he puts an ad on Craigs List, and the film follows his encounters with the woman who responds. Lots of good laughs in this lowish budget film. Reminiscent of Before Sunrise, so if you liked that, be sure to check it out.

SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO
4/10
I love a good Western and also am quite partial to Japanese films, so was quite looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, not even Quentin Tarantino’s presence in a small role doesn’t save this film. I suspect it’s written with many clever nods to cultural and/or pop references that I know little about, and it just didn’t make sense to me. One of the big flaws with this Japanese Western was that the Japanese actors spoke english in an attempted Western drawl. With their Japanese accents it was extremely hard to understand what was being said a lot of the time. Lots of nice camera work and style, but beyond that I I was lost.