CONTROL
8.5/10
All day yesterday I had Joy Division’s ‘Transmission’ in my head (‘dance! dance! dance! dance! dance to the radio!’). So yeah, I’m a big fan of Joy Division (who aren’t overrated) though admittedly I prefer New Order’s stuff. Anyway I was very much looking forward this this ‘biopic’ about Ian Curtis of Joy Division showing his life from when he was in high school until the eve of Joy Division’s first tour of the USA. And I wasn’t disappointed – this was my fave film of the festival so far. It was filmed well in black and white by Anton Corbjin who has done lots of rock photography in his time. He did that cover of U2’s the Joshua tree for example, though Bono wasn’t in this film – it’s a biopic, not a documentary, you see… That said, Bono was in New Order’s doco ‘NewOrderStory’ where he sang the lyrics to Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ incorrectly. That crazy Bono and his documentary appearances! But I digress… Anton also did work for Depeche Mode, which is how I first heard of him. Anywy, the story itself is quite good and as accurate as a biopic can be apparently. It didn’t paint Ian in a particularly sympathetic light to be honest, but it was an interesting watch. I didn’t realise how young he was when he died – only 23! Not a bad effort for someone so young to do so much that remains in people’s minds and hearts 30+ years later. I can’t say everyone will like this, but if you like JD, it’s a must see.

DAY WATCH
7/10
This is a Russian film, and is the sequel to ‘Night Watch’, a kinda halfway cross between supernatural action scifi type flick. I thought the first one was okay. And this was okay too. A little cheesy in parts and perhaps a degree of ‘cool’ is lost in the translation from Russian. The special effects were great though! Really impressive destruction of buildings, and a very original use of driving skills in one scene particularly. Of particular note were the use of subtitles, which, instead of the usual boring text at bottom had a tendency to animate and change colour to approprtiately describe feelings. I wouldn’t rank it particularly highly on the must see list, but if you’re into stuff like Underworld, and don’t mind a plot that’s a little hard to follow at points, then check it out.

CHILDREN
3/10
Disclaimer: I fell asleep for a few minutes about 15 minutes into this film. This black and white film from Iceland had a couple of good songs in the soundtrack. I think it was Sigur Ros, but didn’t stick around to check the credits. Anyway, it appeared to be about a boy and his (single) mother, his (reformed?) thug father who is trying to re-connect with him, and his friend, an adult with mental issues, who plays the part of a gentle giant of sorts. It was all very confusing, and I found it hard to follow the story – this may have been because of my brief catnap earlier on the film, but ultimately it didn’t grab me, and if I wasn’t sitting two people away from the aisle seat, I’d have left early. (Tip to readers: get an aisle seat, you never know when you’ll want to escape the cinema!). Apparently this is the first of two films – the next called ‘Parents’. Unsure if I’ll bother with the sequel.

INTERVIEW
7.5/10
I enjoyed this small film well enough – It basically is the story of a political journalist (Steve Buscemi) who has been subjected to interviewing a throwaway b-grade bit of fluff (played by Sienna Miller) who in his opinion is best known for who she sleeps with rather than what she does. He doesn’t care for her, doesn’t want to be there and it shows in his lack of preparation for the Interview. It’s a fairly simple film with only two or three locations, and is entertaining. There’s a slight twist towards the end, but it was somewhat predictable, and I found it a bit hard to believe as the evening wears on in the film that they continue to stick around talking to each other when there are points that cause obvious distress to either party. Ultimately, you want them to stay talking to each other and getting through their points, but the likelihood of it happening in real life is somewhat questionable. If you liked ‘Tape’ by Richard Linklater you’ll probably like this too. Worth renting on DVD, but I probably wouldn’t pay full price to see it in a cinema.

EAGLE VS SHARK
7.5/10
Don’t mean to bore you with yet another 7.5/10 rating, but them’s the breaks. This NZ comedy was a great little flick, reminiscent in parts of Napolean Dynamite, but probably a little better. I never got the hype about Napolean Dynamite actually – I enjoyed it and all, but think the cult status it received was probably overdone. Anyway, this film’s about nerdy chick Lily and how she’s got the hots for the nerdy boy Jarrod (One half of New Zealand’s fourth most popular folk-parody duo, Flight of the Conchords). Jarrod’s obviously very self conscious about himself and displays that externally in trying to come off as a winner, when it’s really so obvious that he’s not. A particularly funny scene with Jarrod’s friend Mason acting as the ‘computer hacker’ makes the film worth seeing alone. See it if you like off-beat indie comedies.

Maybe I’m easily pleased but not easily enraptured as every film gets the same rating today. Overall a pretty good day

COMRADES IN DREAMS
7.5/10
This was a documentary about cinema owners in unusual/unlikely places. It would cycle between four different cinemas and their respective owners, talking not just about cinema necessarily but the lives of those who run them. One was in Africa where three men run an outdoor cinema with the hope of one day owning their own. You could see how passionate these guys were, even at the expense of a decent work/life balance. Another was in India where a 25 year old man runs a cinema in a large tent that goes from town to town. His dream is to have a proper cinema – oh, and to find a wife. Peggy is an American who runs a cinema in a small town somewhere in the USA, and appears to be using the cinema to escape from loneliness and boredom. And finally there was the woman from North Korea – this was a little disturbing in that her whole persona on screen looked forced. She was always smiling (but not naturally) and would always try and lead conversations into the hard work that needs to be done for the good of the ‘collective’ – Either she’s really drinking the kool-aid or she was so mindful of her government that she didn’t want to put a foot wrong when talking about the glory of North Korea and how showing films helped build a better nation, etc. Worth checking if it shows up on SBS.

YEAR OF THE DOG
7.5/10
I walked into this session knowing the name of the film, but not having remembered anything more about it. I was expecting an asian sub-titled film, but immediately remembered at opening credits that this was an American comedy starring Molly Shannon (from Saturday Night Live). However, this wasn’t a run of the mill summer vehicle, but a more intense look at a woman who is a dog-lady (think cat-lady but with dogs). It’s an interesting story of how she deals with grief and her relationships with a variety of interesting characters that are a part of her life. Having several relatively serious moments, I think it did a good job keeping a sensible balance between overboard/unlikely situations while maintaining several amusing scenes, usually from her brother & sister-in-law.

LIGHTS IN THE DUSK
7.5/10
This film was about a security guard with hopes and dreams for a better future who’s path is obstructed by manipulation of others. It was very beautifully filmed with vivid colours and shadows – several times I was impressed by the imagery used for what might have otherwise been considered a simple shot (like sitting in a cafe). It had an almost timeless feel to it. It was a pleasure to sit through and if it weren’t for a couple of niggly points with the character, this would have been my top film at MIFF so far. The problem really comes down the lead character – he has hopes and dreams, and can be seen to try and attempt realising them – however, he is also manipulated, and when that happens, seems to do very little to attempt to stop it. I thought these were conflicting characteristics, which confused me. Nevertheless, it was worth seeing and I’ll have to try and track down some of the Aki Kaurismäki’s other films (none of which I’ve seen, but include ‘The Man Without a Past’, ‘Drifting Clouds’ and ‘Leningrad Cowboys’.

SNOW ANGELS
7.5/10
This is a canadian drama filmed in Halifax (but am unsure if it was set there). Definitely not an uplifting film, but I really liked it. Shot in a snowy town it tells the story of relationships between several interconnected people, largely between a separated couple who have a small daughter, both of whom seem to have lost their way and don’t appear to be managing well at getting back on track. I found it interesting how prevalant guns in the home were in this one – it’s not something I associate with the typical canadian home. Good to see Kate Beckinsale choosing a decent film for a pleasant change after several poor choices in many of her recent roles.

I missed the first film I’d intended to see today, ‘Glue’ from Argentina. If you went, let me know what you thought of it. I added an extra film at the end, though, so still on track to see way too many films in a short period of time.

TIMES AND WINDS
5/10
This Turkish film is set in a village, and is a slow film showing the life of three young guys who are old enough to be gaining responsibilities. I was disappointed, but it’s not necessarily a bad film, it just wasn’t for me. Several long and drawn out shots of scenery, watched kids walk down the alleyways of the villages so many times, that it began to feel like you knew the layout of the roads like a local, and maybe that was the point. Ultimately though, it didn’t really talk to me, but I’m glad I got to see a snapshot of what life might be like for Turkish villagers.

TEETH
7/10
An american comedy horror about a teenage girl who’s taken a vow of chastity, and lucky for her, cause she’s got teeth down there in her whatswhosits. Lots of good sarcastic humour, and some fairly explicitly gross scenes for effect there too. Was nice to see Moles from Electric Dreams (aka the recluse from Twin Peaks) getting a visible role. I think it was a bit that just about every male character in this film is portrayed as a sex-hungry asshole who apparently can’t help but violate the lead character. But, it’s not exactly a documentary and isn’t there to win high art awards. Worth catching if you like your comedy with a bit of bite. (ha, ha).

JOE STRUMMER: THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN
7/10
So Joe Strummer is this guy who was in a band called The Clash who did that song “Rock the Casbah”. Okay, maybe that’s obvious to some, but not all. I like the Clash well enough, but like the Ramones, I think they’re a bit overrated. I know that everyone’ll be spitting their teas out at that, but I can appreciate their music, and enjoy listening to it, but I’m not about to base my entire wardrobe around it. Anyway, this film started off on slightly shaky footing – I was getting a pretty lacklustre impression of Joe, but around 1/3 of the way in it grabbed hold and had me till the end. And that’s not too bad for a 2+ hour music doco about a musician that I’m only casually interested in. Why, oh why did they need to let Bono in on this thing though? I’ve just gone through IMDB to try and count the number of music documentaries he’s been in that weren’t about U2, and I believe it’s .. oh look, I got up to 16 and we’re only up to 2002. Geez Bono, do you honestly love all these various people, or are you so in love with the camera you’ll say anything for a bit of screen time? Anyway, back to this documentary – definitely worth seeing if you like Joe’s work. Probably worth seeing if you like music docos.