RATS & CATS
8/10
Wonderful Australian comedy, and truly Australian. This film follows a magazine journalist who is assigned to cover a ‘where are they now’ story about an Australian actor who had been growing in popularity in the 90s, but then disappeared out of the industry altogether. This leads the journo to a small country town where the ex-actor is a bit of a lost soul, and seems to be pursuing several (sometimes conflicting) paths. The film dragged a bit in some points, and some more closure on a few of the sub-plots might have been nice, but overall this was champagne comedy. One thing I liked too was the naming of some of the characters based on who they were (which I assume wasn’t accidental). For example, the prosititute in the film’s name is Cin (i.e., ‘Sin’ short for Cindy). One of the characters that the actor played in his 90s heyday was a priest who was intimate with a young girl and his name was ‘Father Roger’. Then the most obvious one is Teddy, who… well, you can find out why his name is Teddy if you watch the film. The humour is somewhat Late Show/The Castle-like, but with a darker edge. Be sure to check out this great local flick.

DOCUMENTARY SHORT PROGRAMME
6/10
A set of shorts, so hard to review as a whole. As can be expected, some were good, some weren’t. Highlights were ‘Transformers: The Art of Circuit Bending’ and ‘Spitfire 944’ about an American pilot who crash landed a spitfire during WW2. Lowlight was ‘Sleep City’ which was several 5-10 shots of empty streets in a town somewhere in Spain (I think – there was no narrative/interview/vocal/textual element to this ‘documentary’ by which to tell).

LINDA LINDA LINDA
7/10
Cute Japanese film about some girls in high school who suddenly need to find a new singer for the band before their big premiere show at a school fair. The film is named after song they sing, and let me tell you, the chorus is still stuck in my head nearly 24 hours later.

THE WILD BLUE YONDER
7/10
I had my doubt about this, but after having short naps in the previous two sessions followed by dinner and a coffee, I decided at the last minute to get one more film in. It was actually pretty good! The film consists of an ‘alien’ (who looks like one of us, and is played by the same actor who plays the doctor in the c*cks*ckingly great tv show Deadwood interspersed with stock footage. The alien guy would describe the state of the story for us, and then portions of stock footage with music would demonstrate the story (sometimes well, sometimes requiring a bit of imagination). Makes for a cheap sci fi flick, eh? It was mostly pretty interesting though and had a good few humourous moments. It dragged a bit towards the end, at which point I was getting a bit tired and hoping that the underwater (err, I mean liquid helium atmosphere) shots would move along a bit.

DARKON
7/10
Every year the festival seems to have a documentary that features some freaks of nature who are passionate about something unusual. In previous years we’ve had the opportunity to laugh at people who enter eating competitions or build stock cars for racing on weekends. This year the eye is turned on some residents of Maryland who every second weekend gather in fields or forests to do live representations of role playing games. Predictably enough, the participants are those that seem socially awkward in real life, who were probably loners at school. The interesting thing is how much they get out of their shells when they’re playing this game. Ultimately the message here is that in their real lives they’re not getting what they crave (power, confidence, adventure), so they use this fantasy world as a substitute. Hopefully they will begin to learn that they can function in the real world more if they give it a try – especially as the game increasingly simulates the real world as some characters strive for acceptance or power. The documentary wasn’t bad and was entertaining enough – however, it would have been nice if the filmmakers had spent a bit more time on the background and history of how this thing started.

GRBAVICA
8/10
This is a Bosnian film about a single mother’s trials and tribulations trying to collect 200 euros in order to send her daughter on a school trip. I almost didn’t catch this as I’ve seen a couple of Bosnian films at previous festivals which I didn’t like, but this one was highly regarded by a friend. And it will possibly will be my surprise hit for the festival. While it’s a drama there are many touching moments and a degree of humour which is used to show that even in dark times, there’s humanity that continues to shine through. This was the last session of this film for the festival, but I recommend trying to see if it you get the chance.

A LITTLE TRIP TO HEAVEN
6/10
My rating for this is possibly unfair/harsh. I’m not sure though. I had a hard time following the plot in this film and really, it wasn’t till afterwards that I was able to piece together what had been going on. I suspect that I must have vagued out at a critical point near the beginning of the film and therefore was trying to play catch up for the rest of it. This is a very coen brothers like film (think fargo) which revolves around a nice enough woman who’s unsavoury brother is trying to commit large scale insurance fraud. The initial scene is quite horrific and very well done though. One other point was that it was hard to understand some of the dialogue, especially from Forrest Whittaker who was playing his part with a strong (Minnesotan?) accent

TOUGH ENOUGH
7.5/10
This was a good film, great job done by the young actor who played the lead. The film is based on the life of a young guy (around 15) who’s mum is a bit of a floozy, mooching off her boyfriend at the time and not really making a way for herself in the world. When a doctor kicks her (and her son out) they drop down a couple of notches in accommodation and suburb. The story shows how the boy makes his way in the new environment, initially being bullied until he starts associating with a local crime figure. This could easily have been a bad film, but it really was enjoyable, not pushing too far towards melodrama. I particularly liked an early scene when the boy arrives at his new school – the director really managed to transfer to the big screen the feelings of starting somewhere new where everyone is a stranger.

FUNNY HA-HA
4/10
I mean, you know, it’s not… Umm, you know, i mean… the acting and scripting and editing is… you know. I mean, it’s not good. it’s umm bad. you know? i mean, yeah… Imagine watching/listening to dialogue like that for a couple of hours with poor acting and you’ll get the drift. Some people watch horror movies just to get scared. People who are enthralled by uncomfortable/awkward conversations will like it a little more. This is the first film by the director of Mutual Appreciation, which I’m also going to at MIFF – let’s hope he’s improved for that one.

AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
9/10
Another documentary about the state of the world and how it’s going to hell in a hand basket, this time in relation to global warming. You’d think that we’ve had enough of these over the past few years, but this one was freaking great. It had enough statistics and fact to ensure that you didn’t necessarily become swayed by emotive outpourings. It was well made and cut together to provide a high level of interest and enterainment – Al Gore is a great speaker. And, it actually told us what we can do to make a difference – and it’s not that hard. A must see – I’m calling my electricity company this week to convert to green energy. Check out the website at http://www.climatecrisis.net/ to see what you can do.

PUSHER
6.5/10
When this Danish film was released in the mid-90s it was very well received. It wasn’t an awful film but given I never saw it till now, it just feels a bit run of the mill – think pulp fiction/lock stock/etc, except without the polish of those films. The main issue for me really was that I didn’t feel sympathy for the (anti)hero in the film. I wasn’t really rooting for him. Worth a look if you like drug/mob type flicks.

AL FRANKEN: GOD SPOKE
6/10
My first film at the Greater Union. I really dislike that cinema. Anyway, this was a watchable film, but was really directionless. It’s about Al Franken the Saturday Night Live comedian and his political leanings/activity. I wasn’t really sure what the point that was trying to be made was, and I suspect the filmmakers didn’t know either. If you’re a big fan of Al Franken, maybe it’d be more interesting, as it seems to be a mish-mash of things that he was involved with leading up to the last US election. You can see that he’s passionate about the politics of the country and may be more closely involved in the political system in the future. I suppose another factor is that that the US elections that this film leads up to were nearly two years ago, so what it’s meant to be doing for us in 2006 is another point to consider. Probably worth a look if it shows up on TV.