What Mark Saw

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!

THE WILD BIRDS OF TELEGRAPH HILL
8/10
The hits keep on coming at this year’s MIFF – this is a lovely documentary about a sweet natured man in San Francisco who for over five years studied and became friends with a flock of parrots. Aside from the fact that he admits it during the film, you can tell that he has a real love for these animals and you walk out feeling glad that you’ve found out about his story. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll stand up and cheer. Okay, well maybe not the last of those three, but his story sucks you in and the result is that you just feel a little better about the world. It won’t be the most important documentary you ever see, but it will make you feel good.

DAYS AND HOURS
not rated
I walked out. I’ll admit, I got into the cinema, had a choc top and then my eyelids started to droop 10 minutes into this film and I drifted in and out for the hour that I was there, so I can’t fairly judge it, and won’t – One of the hardest things about a subtitled film is that you can’t rest your eyes and listen for a couple of minutes. If there was a story, I really didn’t catch onto it. Would love to hear what others thought. Maybe I missed a gem, but I suspect not, given that I saw a couple of other people leave before I did.

On a separate note, I got a note from a gentleman named Tim Chuma today who is also doing a blog on his take of the festival – I’ve added a link to his site on the links column on the left there, so do check it out!