THANK YOU FOR SMOKING
8/10
Wow! What a great start to the film festival. Had a great time watching Thank You For Smoking which was a tongue in cheek comedy where the protaganist is the american cigarette industry’s main lobbyist. His job is to defend cigarettes and does a great job doing so. It’s a little weird taking the side of the guy who you know is fighting for the wrong side. Lots of familiar faces in this film too; Wiliam H. Macy, Rob Lowe, Robert Duvall, Katie Holmes, etc – will definitely need to be doing some IMDB checks to try and recall where I’ve seen some of them before. Highly recommended, hopefully I havent hit my highlight for the festival in the first film this year :-).

The Melbourne International Film Festival 2006 guide came out yesterday, and so went many hours as I read through, deciding on what to see. There is a fine art involved with much planning. Well, there is for me anyway – others I know just decide on the day and live dangerously. So, the list of films that I currently plan on seeing are on the left hand column now (or soon will be). These might change as I progress, but there looks to be some promising stuff at MIFF this year!

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Hi,

Last year I decided to start a blog as a temporary effort during the Melbourne International Film Festival. I’m really glad I did it – though I suspect it’s not a massive destination site, it’s been a really handy way for me to see what I watched and remember the films I may have otherwise forgot. 2006 will mark the fifth year in a row that I’ve bought a passport ticket to see films. I’m unsure if I’ll make it to as many films this year, but I hope to get through quite a few, and again, intend to do some quick write-ups describing what I did and didn’t like.

I welcome any comments as time progresses. I’ll post the list of films I intend to see as the end of July draws closer. In the meantime, feel free to visit last year’s blog. And, if you plan to attend the festival, don’t forget to their website to buy tickets. Finally, if you have a MIFF related blog of your own, please let me know and I’ll add it to my links section!

cheers,
Mark

One day after MIFF. This will most likely be my final post to this blog, but I’ll keep it on for as long as blogspot allows it for reference to others. All in all, I rate this MIFF quite highly – there were several very good films, but unfortunately no real stand-out excellent one for me.

So, as summary, here are the best film of the festival, voted by me (in alphabetical order), and recommended if you get the opportunity to see them.

Documentaries;
– MURDERBALL
– THE TAKE
– THE WILD BIRDS OF TELEGRAPH HILL

English Language;
– CLEAN
– DEAD MAN’S SHOES
– HAIR HIGH
– LOOK BOTH WAYS
– ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW
– PRIMER
– P.S.

Subtitled;
– 3-IRON
– ABOUT LOVE
– THE AX
– DARK HORSE
– HAWAII, OSLO
– HOUSEWARMING

Seeya next year at MIFF 2006! 🙂 If you’d like to get in touch, drop me a line.