SUBURRA ★★
An Italian mafia film that promised to be high action. I love mafia films (Godfather, Goodfellas, etc), so I was looking forward to this. I guess it had action, but this was painful to watch. All the characters were completely unlikeable, and other than everyone just being assholes to each other, it didn’t really feel like there was a story to tell amongst the constance violence.
GIRL ASLEEP ★★
Australian film that seemed to suffer an identity crisis. Couldn’t figure out it if it was a Wes Anderson film, Donnie Darko, or Muriel’s Wedding/Strictly Ballroom. Volume was way up too loud (said the old man) for this session, too. I dunno, it just seemed to be trying too hard, and relying on original techniques that had already been done to tell a story of a girl starting at a new school and the friend she makes there.
LO AND BEHOLD, REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD ★★★★
Werner Herzog has a knack for making just about anything interesting and engaging. I’m pretty interested in the Internet having worked in the industry (or associated ones) for many years, so my anticipation on this was very high. I’m pleased that the expectations were met. It offered several slices of information about the Internet ranging from interviews with people who helped create it, the future it may hold, commentary on the social impact, and some of the darker sides to it. A must see.
JULIETA ★★★★
Yep, it was a 100% great MIFF day as the second film was also one of my festival highlights. Directed by Pedro Almodóvar, (whose films I probably should have seen a lot more of than I have), the story tells of a Spanish teacher and goes into the history of how she met her daughter’s father, and follows through to show how her daughter came to ex-communicate her later in life. Really enjoyed this.
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.
