MARISCOS BEACH
7/10
I’ve seen a couple of great French films this festival, so this one’s getting a 7 because it wasn’t quite as enjoyable as The Ax or Housewarming… It’s a story about a middle aged couple and their two kids, and the goings on during a summer holiday in the chateau where the father spent time in his youth. Had several amusing moments and was nice enough, but I felt the ending was a little too unbelievable given the feel of the rest of the film. Anyway, my mother wasn’t Dutch, so maybe I’m just a bit too uptight about it :-).

GHIBLI: THE MIZAYAKI TEMPLE
5.5/10
With the name Mizayaki in the title, you’d think they’d actually be able to interview the guy. But, apparently he doesn’t like being interviewed, or something… Without it, the whole thing seemed a little less worthwhile, especially as I didn’t really feel like there was much story told by those that they did interview. Fine to watch if it comes on TV, but I wouldn’t pay money to see it at a cinema.

CLEAN
8/10
Very good film – another film dealing with heroin, and similarly to Little Fish (see earlier comments about it), I liked the turns that it took and the story that was told. Nice to have uplifting moments in a film dealing with drugs and their relationship to a rock ‘n roll death.

AMERICAN RULING CLASS
7/10
Firstly, wow, what a Q&A. I haven’t been to (m)any Q&As at MIFF before but I really didn’t think the poor guy standing up the front deserved the caning he got. Some of the people really didn’t give him a fair go imho. There are some flaws in this film which tries to demonstrate a flaw in America’s system, but really, I do think that if a film can try and make people think a little about their lives and their futures, it’s worthwhile. Worth checking out. BTW, to that chick at the front who thought the ending was ‘trite’, I think that’s meant to be the point – it’s why it was referred to as an ‘alternate ending’.

BOMBON – EL PERRO
7.5/10
This was an Argentinian film about an unemployed man in his 50s and what happens when he is given a pedigree dog as thanks for a kindness he performs. I’ve decided that I really like Argentinian films as a general rule. There’s something very special about the relationship this man has with the dog in this film. I think it’s his lack of cynicism or bitterness as well as his accepting of others. In the film he partners with a man who is experienced with pedigree dogs, and I found that his immediate trust towards others was endearing, if not potentially foolish.

PRIMER
7.5/10
I really liked this film, though I’ll admit it went over my head by the end. It’s a sci-fi flick, but what made it very cool was that it didn’t appear to be trying to dumb anything down for the audience’s benefit. Entire conversations (sometimes even overlapping with more than two people) pass between characters discussing their invention with all kinds of jargon mumbo jumbo etc, and it adds a sense of credibility to the film. I imagine it’s what happens when someone who knows little about computers hears a couple of sysadmins chatting about work. Anyway, I really liked the film, though I’ll certainly need a second viewing to try and work out more. Basically it involves a machine with allows the main characters to live the same day twice, though it progresses past this. I’m sure there’s someone who’s figured it out, but I’ll definititely try and catch it again some time. Apparently it was shot on a really low budget, but I didn’t notice that affecting the quality of this film at all. Recommended for geeks :-).

So tired, I can’t be verbose. Another great bunch of films today. I skipped Unknown Pleasures, and from what I hear, I didn’t miss anything….

A BLOODY SPEAR AT MOUNT FUJI
7/10
Great Japanese film, a little hard to follow at points but certainly worth the time and effort.

HOUSEWARMING
8/10
Very enjoyable French comedy about a lovely lawyer who decides to convert the upstairs apartment to join onto her existing one and what goes wrong from there. Amusing and interesting in that it suspends reality from time to time which was unusual… Great cameo at the end too from ‘Mr. Bumblehead’. (I won’t spoil it, but you’ll know who I mean when you see it).

GODZILLA: FINAL WARS
6.5/10
So bad it was good. Best bit was watching Sydney get destroyed, at which point the audience cheered and applauded. Good on ’em! :-). One word summary: Craptacular!

BEYOND OUR KEN
7/10
A mostly enjoyable film about the relationship of a guy and a girl in Hong Kong and how it’s affected when his ex-girlfriend appears. There seems to be a streak in HK films to make a great film and then in the last 15 minutes add so many twists and changes that it feels like they got a whole different team in to make a different film. Maybe this one isn’t quite that bad, but this could have been a little better if they didn’t try so hard to make the ending so full of extra stuff.

THE SWENKAS
6/10
Disappointing. I didn’t really understand the point of the documentary really – I kind of expected more than what was on offer. These South Africans get together every weekend and try and compete against each other to see who has the flashiest outfit. They have some pretty snazzy get-ups without a doubt, but I’m unsure that this constitutes enough material for a full length feature. I snoozed through this – so, either I was disappointed because I missed the good bits, or it wasn’t entertaining enough to keep me awake…

THE AX
7.5/10
Very enjoyable and funny French film about how a man attempts to resolve his unemployment situation after being made redundant and then unable to find work for two years. Quite dark humour given that his solution involves murdering those who he considers his competition in the industry. I’d recommed catching this if it’s on again 🙂

ZOMBIE HONEYMOON
6/10
Low budget but good attempt at a new spin on a zombie flick. I’m not a zombie nut, but this was watchable, despite pretty poor acting, dialogue, etc. Had a few laughs and some well executed gross-out moments, but overall, isn’t a must see unless this kind of flick is really down your line.

UNKNOWN WHITE MALE
7/10
This is a documentary about a very well to do young man who’s lost all his memory. It wasn’t boring but it didn’t overly grab me as much as it might’ve. I guess it’s hard to feel sorry for him because he doesn’t seem to unhappy about the fact it’s happened anymore, and the filmmaker kind of makes you think that he seems like a better guy for it than the one he was before – less sarcastic, cynical and more sensitive. Makes me wonder if someday people will do this by choice – I wouldn’t mind losing some of my cynicism :-).

ONE NIGHT IN MONGKOK
5/10
Relax! Calm Down! Is there a drinking game somewhere for watching HK action films that involves downing a shot every time the word ‘relax’ or ‘calm down’ appears in the subtitles? Does the Chinese language actually have multiple words/phrases for it and the subtitlers just can’t express the nuances of the meaning in any other way? Anyway, I reckon this edgy HK thriller was just about a comedy it was so crap. I suspect it probably is a decent film and that the translation to english let it down… Anyway, lots of violence non-sensical plot twists and the usual from a second rate film. I wasn’t impressed.

HAWAII, OSLO
7.5/10
Might be a little higher than a 7.5 even on this interesting film from Norway. I really liked it a lot. Yeah, it’s my blog, I’ll make the rules, and I’m giving it a 7.9. (see what you can gain from reading the descriptions of these?). It was an interesting story of several lives being lived out in Oslo over a couple of days and how they intersect. I particularly liked the breaks in the films with the use of a kaleidoscope to give your mind a pause before continuing the story. Had a nice sense of humour amongst the drama with a couple of laugh out loud moments. A very good film to end today’s festival adventures!