UNO
7/10
I had fairly high hopes for this film after seeing ‘Hawaii, Oslo’, and then noticing that one of the actors (who was also Johnny Vang in the film of that name a year or two at MIFF, and which I really enjoyed) wrote and directed this one. I was a little disappointed. There wasn’t anything particularly bad about the film, and it was certainly watchable, but it wasn’t really my style I guess. It’s about a guy who works in a gym that is dealing in steroids. He tries to do the right thing by people generally, but sometimes he needs to prioritise the needs of one ove another causing conflict. A somewhat depressing film.

WHAT ALICE FOUND
6.5/10
This year’s MIFF seems to have an unofficial theme of being the year of the promiscuous teen. This film is a cautionary tale of why you shouldn’t use your middle finger on a highway. Or, something. It was an okay, but not great tale of a girl who is a little lost and what happens when she’s rescued by a couple of good samaritans who happens to be pimp/whore/husband/wife. Some of the acting was pretty awful, but it was cool to hear an American accent rarely found in film – the teenage girl was from massachusetts where they pronounce ‘car’ like ‘kah’. (reminds me of the simpsons episode where the cook is forced to ‘say chowdah!’. Missable.

LOOK BOTH WAYS
7.5/10
An Australian film that was better than I expected – I thought it would be all about a train wreck and how the survivors found new meaning in their lives. There was a train wreck, but it didnt directly relate to any of the main characters, all of who had their own issues to deal with. It was a nice film, set in a Sydney suburb, was well paced and different enough to recommend, with short animated sequences interspersed throughout. Ultimately while I liked it, it didn’t change my life enough for me to consider it a must-see film. But, it’s certainly worth a look.

ABOUT LOVE
8/10
A nice set of three short romantic stories set in different asian cities, done by three different directors. I really enjoyed this one – as can be expected in a movie like this, some of the stories are better than the others. I liked the first better than the second two but the ‘worst’ were still most enjoyable.

PRETTY PERSUATION
7/10
This would’ve been a great film if Heathers, Wild Things and Jawbreaker didn’t exist. As it is, it’s a bit of all of these three films (and probably a couple of others too). The film is good enough though, despite covering several themes and ideas that have been done before. Special mention should be made of James Woods who did a great job in his role.

CRAZY LEGS CONTI: ZEN AND THE ART OF COMPETITIVE EATING
7.5/10
A documentary about a guy who decides to pursue a life as a professional competitive eater. Americans, huh? This was a great bit of fluff with plenty of amusing bits. You have to hand it to the guy though – he really is passionate about his career as a ‘professional sports-person’, and is quite a likable guy. To think that the world champ hotdog eater can down a hotdog every 15 seconds for 12 minutes straight is stomach turning.

MADE IN SHEFFIELD
7.5/10
This doco was about the sheffield scene of the late 70s/early 80s, and since walking out, I’ve had Human League and ABC songs in my head :-). If you weren’t into the bands, this probably wouldn’t be too interesting, but I have my share of Human League, ABC, Cabaret Voltaire, Heaven 17, Clock DVA, etc records, all who were covered, so I liked it. It was interesting to see the various key figures being interviewed in the 2000s – from The Extras who seemed quite embarrasingly sad, to Artery who I’d never heard of but seemed to be taking their queues from Joy Division. The guy from ‘2.3’ was great too. I’d have liked it if they had a bit at the end telling us what they were all doing nowadays.

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!