THE MAN FROM MO’ WAX ★★★
Interesting documentary about James Lavelle, the man who created Mo’ Wax Records and who’s a member of Unkle. It was shot over many years, so was it was interesting to see how it tracked his career from highs to lows and then to (hopefully) redemption. Last year there was a great documentary about Colin Hay from Men at Work, and it covered how he had to deal with going from one of the biggest bands in the world to a more humble career, and I can’t help but compare it to this one. I feel like Colin’s better adjusted to the change, and James isn’t quite ready to let go of what might be the best years that are behind him. Worth watching, especially if you were into the sound at the time.

FRANK AND LOLA ★★☆
Another 2016 MIFF film that could have been so much better if it had used its potential. A love story of sorts about two people in Las Vegas. The man is a chef, the woman a recent college graduate in fashion design. Both are slightly damaged people, but not incredibly so. Unfortunately there are times where the reaction to events and behaviour exhibited just don’t seem to be in line with the characters we are presented with, so it feels a bit off. The casting was also a bit odd. I’m not saying these two people wouldn’t be in a relationship in the real world (who’s to say?), but it didn’t seem likely to me.

THE FOREST FOR THE TREES ★★☆ 

I wasn’t aware till after I’d seen this that it was the first film by the director of previously reviewed film Toni Erdmann. This was a watchable film (though the copy shown was pretty terrible, it looked like a low resolution digital video with a lot of blockyness, and transferred from a scratchy quality film). It’s about a young somewhat shy and meek teacher trying to make a new start in a new town following a breakup with her boyfriend. Most of the film I felt sympathy for her as she anxiously tried to make friends and succeed as a teacher in a classroom where she was unable to command order or respect. By the end, I was less so, wishing for the story to take a turn that demonstrated her making some positive change. If you need to see a Maren Ade film at this MIFF, I’d still pick this over Toni Erdmann.

WEINER ★★★☆

A telling tale of what’s wrong with American politics. (Or America? Or politics in general?). This follows Anthony Weiner’s attempt to run for mayor of New York City in 2013 following his sexting scandal that cost him his job as member of the House of Representatives. The access provided was pretty amazing, and the film was very entertaining.

THITHI (unrated)
A film about a 101 year old man dying and how his family plans for the ‘thithi’ ceremony. Fell asleep about 15 mins and left about an hour in. Nothing particularly negative or positive to offer on this one.

DON’T CALL ME SON ★★

Might be that I’m hitting a wall but I walked out. The story is about a boy who discovers his mother actually stole him as a baby and what happens as he gets to know his biological family. At a point around halfway through seeing daylight felt like a better option than remaining in the theatre.

ZERO DAYS ★★

Oh, Alex Gibney, I think I’m ready to give up on you and your ‘documentaries’. This two hour film talks about the Stuxnet virus and its history, as well as looking to the future. Alex has done a film about Julian Assange which was more editorial than fact. He did one about Steve Jobs which was more imagination/outright incorrect factually, and for this one, he introduces someone from the NSA whose identity had been protected at the beginning as his sole source of fact (since no one else would talk about it, other than the antivirus vendors who stand to benefit by scaring people into buying their product). Then at the end, reveals that this person doesn’t actually exist but is representative of an amalgamation of statements he got from people. I’m disappointed. He does documentaries about topics that are interesting to me (and which I often have knowledge of), but they just seem to be twisted, biased, and sometimes outright incorrect. 

THE HANDMAIDEN ★★★☆

This is the first film I’ve seen by South Korean director Park Chan-wook, and it was great! The story was interesting enough to let the over two hour film go by without concern, and nicely made. There was some pretty strong erotic scenes if that floats your boat, and a bit of gruesome moments too. Very well executed telling of a story about two con artists trying to take advantage of a rich recluse woman. There are twists, some which I guessed and others that I was pleasantly surprised by.

THINGS TO COME ★★★

The first of two films in a row starring Isabelle Huppert. This was a nice enough drama about a philosophy teacher and her experiences both with her family and her professional career.

ELLE ★★★☆

Wow. It shows Isabelle Huppert’s diversity in her performance here vs the previous film (above). There’s so many reasons not to like this film; it’s violent, and the ethical/moral compass of many of the characters is entirely missing; it’s certainly hard to feel empathy towards the lead. But, it was a good watch nonetheless. It’s about a woman who’s father committed an atrocious massacre in her presence as a young child. She’s now an adult, running a game studio, and the story starts with a violent rape scene and how she goes about dealing with it. Certainly there are uncomfortable moments but it also has some comedic moments and overall, I’d recommend it.

KEDI ★★★☆
A very enjoyable documentary about the street cats of Istanbul and those who care for them. They generally don’t have owners, but they do have people who help care for them. Nicely shot, often at cat-height, and refreshing in that it was pretty much all uplifting stories. I’ve owned cats in the past, and it made me miss them. Looking forward to seeing this again some day with my kids.

A MONSTER WITH A THOUSAND HEADS ★★★☆
I don’t like dealing with large organisations that senselessly muck you around, and this Mexican film was for the people who feel the same way. I’m not sure that I’d quite go as far as the wife of a cancer-stricken husband who is desperately trying to get medical assistance, but it was well made and had a good pace. I’d have liked a little more development of the back-story, as things get rolling pretty quickly and we know she’s angry, but I think perhaps a little more on the actions taken by the insurance company might have helped build more empathy for the wife.