LA VERONICA – ★★

If you want to watch a film about a woman who wants to be a lipstick brand ambassador more than anything else, and willing to pretty much sacrifice anything to do so, then I guess maybe this movie is for you. While it was interestingly filmed, with the lead in the centre of the frame throughout, it wasn’t enough to make up for the lack of character development or depth to keep me interested.

FRESHMAN YEAR (aka “Shithouse”) – ★★★☆

Pretty amazing film given that it was screen-written, directed, co-edited, and acted by Cooper Raiff who’s in his early 20s as far as I can tell. In the first minute I feared that I was going to be subjected to a mumblecore bore, but it quickly turned around. It’s about a freshman who’s having trouble adjusting to his first year of college, and has some resemblance to ‘Before Sunrise’. If I could have changed one thing, I would have ended it five minutes sooner than it did and cut the epilogue out. But I am looking forward to seeing what he does next.

COME BACK ANYTIME – ★★★★

Documentary about a small Ramen noodle shop in Tokyo that has been running for decades. Mainly staffed by one man and his wife, it’s an interesting film that explores the shop, as well as the customers, and some of the something or other, I don’t know.

WE ARE THE THOUSAND – ★★★★

Documentary about the efforts by residents of a small town in Italy who want to encourage the Foo Fighters to play a show for them. They do so by amassing 1,000 musicians together to play a Foo Fighter song and post it on YouTube to make the request. Well made, a nice short-ish length in time, and plenty of good feelings throughout. Whether you like the Foo Fighters or not, Dave Grohl seems like one of the most decent human beings in rock, and it shows here.

TOPSIDE – ★★★☆

Low-budget drama around a mother who lives with her daughter in the tunnels underneath the NY subway system, and what happens when they are cleared out. Particularly good performances and well filmed, but a difficult, gritty watch of poverty, drug addiction and homelessness.

WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY – ★★★

A long relax-paced film loosely about a couple who meet, agree to go on a date, but are changed into different people overnight. Will they find each other? Over two and a half hours, we see lots of beautifully shot scenes and go on many tangents. Hollywood would never make this film, but it was interesting to see the city, Kutaisi. I was glad to see this streamed via MIFF Play rather than in the cinema, as I started a pleasant afternoon doze halfway through. As it’s sub-titled, normally that would have been the end for me. It’s also the kind of film that makes MIFF what it is for me – a chance to journey and see the world from my home town.

SET! – ★★★☆

Fairly harmless but entertaining documentary about people who compete for best set table (also referred to as ‘tablescaping’) at county fairs. It’s evident that if you can think of a niche there will be people who are intensely into it. Well edited, did a good job of showing the true colours of the participants, many who aren’t pleasant humans. But conversely, competitors like Tim show the opposite and he steals the show.

CODA – ★★★☆

CODA (Children of Deaf Adults) is about the daughter of deaf parents. She can hear and this form explores her struggles between being true to her passion of singing, against the responsibility to her family who need her. There were a few plot points that seemed to be conveniently settled without explanation, but overall it was an enjoyable film with a good message around people with disability. The school recital scene was my favourite part.