Film review – Going the Distance (2010)

2 September 2010
Going the Distance: Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore)

Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore)

If Judd Apatow films such as Knocked Up can be credited for introducing romantic-comedy elements into the gross-out comedy genre, then Going the Distance seems to be doing the opposite by delivering strong elements of gross-out humour into a romantic-comedy formula. It may also be the first romantic-comedy to really explore the dynamics of a long-distance relationship in an age where phone and computer technology now allows for such relationships to be better maintained than ever before, but still can’t replace the real thing. And in Going the Distance the real thing is both emotional intimacy and wild sex; satisfying both the fans of romantic and gross-out comedies.

The couple forced to live apart in Going the Distance is Erin (Drew Barrymore) and Garrett (Justin Long). Part of what makes Going the Distance so enjoyable is the chemistry between the pair that makes them a genuinely romantic and sexy on-screen couple. Erin is initially portrayed in a similar way to Mary in There’s Something About Mary in that she’s very much the average guy’s ultimate woman who is not only attractive, fun and into sex but enjoys ‘guy things’ such as arcade games, beer and bongs. Garrett is also initially a little bit too much the ‘conventional guy’ type in that prior to meeting Erin he has commitment issues and can’t read women’s signals. Fortunately, when the sparks do begin to fly between the pair, these broad character traits fade away and they start to resemble a believable couple that you really want the best for.

Going the Distance: Dan (Charlie Day), Box (Jason Sudeikis), Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore)

Dan (Charlie Day), Box (Jason Sudeikis), Garrett (Justin Long) and Erin (Drew Barrymore)

The main problem with Going the Distance is that it peaks early with the courtship between Erin and Garrett, prior to their geographic separation, being the highlight of the film. For the first third of the film it is full of laugh-out-loud humour courtesy of the couple, Garrett’s roommate Dan (Charlie Day) and workmate Box (Jason Sudeikis) providing lots of wickedly funny Aptowesque humour. The scenes with Erin’s family and friends are less successful although Christina Applegate does well as her uptight sister in a role that is very similar to the one Leslie Mann had in Knocked Up. Nevertheless, despite this loss of momentum Going the Distance maintains its charm and smutty humour right through to its pleasingly imperfect resolution.

Going the Distance has attempted a very precarious middle ground in trying to appeal to two difference comedy demographics but overall it works and that’s got a lot to do with how well Long and Barrymore perform. They are both so clearly not prudish in the slightest and that energy is transferred on screen so that you get a sense that the wicked humour shared by the characters reflects that of the performers. It is also refreshing to see a film like this where both the male and female characters have equal status, ambitions and sexual appetites making Going the Distance a truly modern romantic-gross-out-comedy.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


Film review – Tomorrow, When the War Began (2010)

30 August 2010
Tomorrow, When the War Began: Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey)

Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey)

At first glance the film adaptation of author John Marsden’s hugely popular Australian teen fiction novel Tomorrow, When The War Began resembles a cross between Red Dawn and The Breakfast Club. A group of teenagers – including a princess, a bad boy, a jock and a studious kid – go camping and when they return to their country-town homes they discover Australia has been invaded by an unidentified Asian army. However, this film is more than the sum of its parts and scriptwriter Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean, Australia) in his directorial début has delivered a thrilling character-driven action/adventure film.

Beattie handles the action magnificently throughout the film with Ben Nott’s (Daybreakers, Accidents Happen) expert cinematography and the incredibly effective sound design facilitating several thrilling moments. The sheer exhilaration of several key scenes considerably compensates for some of the less plausible elements of the film concerning the remarkable speed in which some of the characters adapt to the situation. The Australian teenage characters display an incredible degree of resourcefulness, clarity and perceptiveness; not to mention aptitude for driving heavy vehicles and handling automatic weapons – even for kids who’ve grown up on a farm.

Tomorrow, When the War Began: Kevin Holmes (Lincoln Lewis), Homer Yannos (Deniz Akdeniz) and Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey)

Kevin Holmes (Lincoln Lewis), Homer Yannos (Deniz Akdeniz) and Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey)

The emotional journey that the characters go on is completely genuine and engaging, and that level of ‘reality’ is far more interesting. The group dynamics are convincing and the young cast do an excellent job fleshing out their characters.  In particular, the main character Ellie Linton is a fantastic action hero, acted with charismatic conviction by former Neighbours regular Caitlin Stasey. It’s just a pity that these naturally attractive actors have unnecessarily good hair and model-like make-up throughout the entire film so that when they start getting dishevelled and roughed-up, they look more like they’ve adopted Derek Zoolander’s ‘Derelicte’ look.

The major issue with Tomorrow, When the War Began is the representation of the Asian invaders. There is a scene where one character states that it doesn’t matter who the invaders are or what country they have come from – the point is that they have invaded Australia and that’s all the characters and the audience need to know. (There is even an acknowledgement that Australia has been invaded once before.) But if the invaders are merely plot devices without political implications then why represent them as being so specifically one particular race? Why not make them completely nondescript? In the extremely unlikely scenario that Australia is ever invaded then those invaders would probably be from a nearby country (most of which are Asian) but this is not a realistic film so maintaining that ‘authenticity’ is not necessary. Evoking Australian cultural anxieties over the fear of a specifically Asian invasion without addressing the issues that it raises is problematic and a little bit careless.

Nagging concerns about the questionable subtext aside, Tomorrow, When the War Began is an intelligent blockbuster that holds its own with most of Hollywood’s recent output. Hopefully it will be popular enough to generate a franchise based on the rest of the books in Marsden’s series but with the future films showing perhaps a little more grittiness and definitely a little less naivety in how it represents the invaders.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


Film review – The Ghost Writer (2010)

27 August 2010
The Ghost Writer: Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) and The Ghost (Ewan McGregor)

Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) and The Ghost (Ewan McGregor)

Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) is a controversial former British Prime Minister who in order to complete his autobiography requires the assistance of a skilled ghost writer, especially since his last one died mysteriously. Enter the unnamed writer (Ewan McGregor) who is flown to Lang’s remote, wind-swept, compound-like island home. As the writer attempts to learn about Lang, some very disturbing secrets start to surface, forcing the writer to reassess his loyalties as choosing the wrong side may jeopardise his life.

This political thriller is a return to the more straightforward genre filmmaking that director Roman Polanski has previously indulged in with successful films like Frantic and less successful films such as The Ninth Gate. For the most part it is an atmospheric and intriguing film but it does suffer from a slightly naff ending and some very stodgy dialogue. Also, the acting at times comes dangerous close to being wooden. Nevertheless, mystery fans will find plenty to enjoy about The Ghost Writer and Polanski does an excellent job evoking an increasing sense of paranoia and danger. The very final shot is certainly as skilfully composed as anything he has done before.

Originally appeared in The Big Issue, No. 361, 2010

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


Film review – The Killer Inside Me (2010)

24 August 2010
The Killer Inside Me: Lou Ford (Casey Affleck)

Lou Ford (Casey Affleck)

Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) is a Texas deputy sheriff in a small country town in the 1950s. On the surface Lou seems like a pillar of virtue. He describes himself as ‘a man and a gentleman’, he doesn’t like carrying a gun and he loves his schoolteacher girlfriend Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson). However, Lou is also having an intense sadomasochistic sexual relationship with prostitute Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba) and has Oedipal issues that are more extreme than usual, even for a film noir protagonist. He is also a delusional psychopath who kills people for reasons that he largely has to invent for himself after the event.

Adapted from the novel by Jim Thompson, The Killer Inside Me is the latest film by the highly talented and prolific English director Michael Winterbottom (Genova, A Mighty Heart). It is best described as a ‘country noir,’ resembling films like Lone Star and especially No Country For Old Men for its brutal existentialism. It is also a deeply psychological film that takes the audience further and further into Lou’s mind so that the film ends in a way where we are not too sure what is real anymore and what is part of Lou’s deranged perception of reality. In this way The Killer Inside Me also evokes Orson Welles’s The Lady From Shanghai and a very powerful visual motif from the film’s conclusion is also highly suggestive of Robert Aldrich’s Kiss Me Deadly and David Lynch’s Lost Highway.

The Killer Inside Me: Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba)

Joyce Lakeland (Jessica Alba)

The scenes depicting extreme violence against women have been, and will most likely continue to be, the main focal point for many people. This is a pity as there is a lot more to The Killer Inside Me. However the scenes do contain an undeniable power that is impossible not to address, shot as they are in a sickening, graphic, realistic and intimate way. The combination of make-up, cinematography and gut churning sound effects is designed to make the audience feel complete horror and disgust. Casey Affleck’s performance adds to the impact as he is so chillingly calm, restrained and even slightly playful.

These scenes are not voyeuristic exercises in cruelty as they function instead as confronting representations of the true impact of violence, especially when fuelled by the type of extreme paranoid misogyny that possesses Affleck’s character. Post Silence of the Lambs, cinematic serial killers and mass murderers have tended to become transgressive anti-heroes. By making the violence in The Killer Inside Me so revolting and unpalatable, Winterbottom confronts us with our own tendency to become complicit with onscreen violence, in a way that is not too dissimilar to Gaspar Noé Irréversible and both versions of Michael Haneke’s Funny Games.

The Killer Inside Me: Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) and Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson)

Lou Ford (Casey Affleck) and Amy Stanton (Kate Hudson)

The Killer Inside Me is going to attract plenty of detractors not only for its graphic content but also for its pace and bizarre ending. However, it is a slow, atmospheric and simmering film where the tension is maintained effectively through a dread for what may happen next. This is compelling and challenging cinema, punctuated with genuinely shocking moments, by a director and a cast of actors who are right at the top of their game. The content and the unconventional form that this film eventually takes does not make it easy viewing but Winterbottom is a director worth placing your trust in and viewers who are ready to go with him will be immensely rewarded.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


Film reviews – Nobody’s Perfect (2008) & See What I’m Saying (2010)

21 August 2010

The 2010 Other Film Festival, screening in Melbourne from Wednesday 25 to Sunday 29 August at Melbourne Museum, is a festival focusing on people with disabilities. I’ve been fortunate to preview two excellent documentaries that are highly recommended:

Nobody’s Perfect

Nobody's Perfect: Kim Morton

Kim Morton

German filmmaker Niko von Glasow was born with malformed arms due to the side effects of thalidomide, a sedative prescribed to pregnant women in the late 1950s. Von Glasow’s film documents the process of putting together a nude photo shoot for himself and eleven other thalidomide affected people, many of who talk about their negative experiences being starred at. By taking part in the professionally produced and exhibited photo shoot, these people not only familiarises the onlooker with their condition but they also empowering themselves by setting the agenda under which they are looked at.

Von Glasow delves into the lives and motivations behind the various participants and uncovers various feelings of frustration, bitterness and anger. However, what makes Nobody’s Perfect such a strong film is the tremendous energy and humour that dominates. Von Glasow encourages everybody to be extremely frank about issues such as insecurity, guilt, depression and self-doubt, and he is certainly extremely frank himself. The results are frequently very wicked observations and self-deprecating humour. Nobody’s Perfect is a film that succeeds on many levels as while it is partially an awareness-raising film it is also tremendously fun and that’s mainly due to the eclectic bunch of people who reveal themselves physically and emotionally.

Read more reviews at MRQE


See What I’m Saying

See What I'm Saying: CJ Jones, Robert DeMayo, TL Forsberg and Bob Hiltermann

CJ Jones, Robert DeMayo, TL Forsberg and Bob Hiltermann

Hilari Scarl’s documentary follows four hearing impaired performers. There’s the popular deaf comic CJ Jones who wants mainstream recognition, struggling actor Robert DeMayo and Bob Hiltermann, the drummer in the deaf rock band Beethoven’s Nightmare. The most interesting story is that of TL Forsberg, a goth rock singer/songwriter whose relatively high level of hearing means that she struggles for acceptance within some aspects of the deaf community.

It is always fascinating having an insight into what makes people with an urge to perform tick, especially when you get to see how they juggle their artistic temperaments with the realities of everyday life. You certainly get a strong sense of this dynamic in See What I’m Saying across the four stories but you also get the added element of seeing the particular challenges that is faced by hearing impaired people. Scarl’s film also provides a wonderful insight into deaf culture so that See What I’m Saying is very much an inspirational and celebratory film. Jones, DeMayo, Hiltermann and Forsberg are all tremendously charismatic and talented performers, and you really get a sense of both their disappointments but also their triumphs.

Read more reviews at MRQE

Nobody’s Perfect screens at the Other Film Festival on Saturday 28 August 2010 and See What I’m Saying screens the day before on Friday 27 August 2010.

As for other films screening at the festival, Josh Nelson from Philmology has recommended The Sunshine Boy and Rita to me and Tara Judah’s preview of the festival at Liminal Vision also contains several great recommendations.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share


Film review – The Expendables (2010)

17 August 2010
The Expendables: Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone)

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone)

The very first kill in The Expendables is a Somali pirate having his entire torso blown to pieces after one of the muscular good guys shoots him with an explosive round. Welcome to The Expendables – an excessively violent and excessively silly throwback to 1980s action films. Co-written, directed and starring Sylvester Stallone, who is clearly now fully embracing his almost parodic action-star persona, The Expendables is ludicrous fun. The characters are an elite team of mercenaries who are tasked with overthrowing a South American dictatorship. In order to avoid any political readings, the dictatorship is being propped up by American investment (boo capitalism) but the investor is an ex-CIA man (boo manipulative government agencies).

The cast of new and old action stars (OK, mostly old) include the core team of Stallone with Jet Li and Jason Statham. While Li doesn’t get to shine nearly as much as he should considering his extraordinary pre-Hollywood roles in Hong Kong martial arts classics, Stallone and Statham bring plenty of tough guy charisma to their roles. Eric Roberts also appears and has a wonderful time as a scenery-chewing bad guy, Mickey Rourke is in there to provide some ‘serious acting’ moments and Dolph Lundgren is also in the mix, possibly to make everybody else’s acting look good by comparison.

The Expendables: Tool (Mickey Rourke) and Barney (Sylvester Stallone)

Tool (Mickey Rourke) and Barney (Sylvester Stallone)

There are also a couple of female characters for the boys to save and fall in love with to remind audiences, in a slightly over-compensatory way, that despite the muscle-rippling, sweaty, intense male-bonding throughout the film, these guys are 100% heterosexual. No really – they are.

While hardly essential viewing, The Expendables does work as a guilty pleasure because it does feel so much like a 1980s boys-own B-grade action film. It operates as a loving homage to a bygone era of filmmaking and while it never out rightly makes fun of itself, it doesn’t take itself too seriously either. It also mostly works better than the similarly plotted The A-Team because its shorter running time and simplicity means that it never feels laboured. Plus, unlike The A-Team, which peaked early, The Expendables saves the best stuff for the end. Both films have similar regressive values but The Expendables, with its cartoonish violence and grotesque hyper masculine bodies, is so clearly a tough guy fantasy film that it really is impossible to take seriously on any level.

The Expendables: Lee Christmas (Jason Statham)

Lee Christmas (Jason Statham)

If you believe that being able to leave your brain at the cinema door is something to be proud of then you may regard The Expendables as a masterpiece. However, if you are a little bit more discerning but are nevertheless happy to appreciate a film simply for what it is then chances are you will find something to enjoy about The Expendables in all its ultra-cheesy glory. It’s a pity that a lot of the blood and destruction is clearly CGIed but otherwise watching The Expendables is like watching professional wrestling but with guns, knives and a whole lot of death.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


Film review – Splice (2009)

16 August 2010

SpliceYou know that you’re in for a wild ride when the film begins with a point-of-view shot of a genetically synthesised organism being born in the world. The ‘parents’ of this manufactured life form are Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley) and Clive Nicoli (Adrian Brody), a hipster scientist couple widely celebrated for their research in gene splicing. When their work is threatened they covertly cross the forbidden ethical and legal barrier to include human DNA in one of their experiments. The result is the creation of a new creature they name Dren. As she rapidly grows, matures and goes through puberty, Elsa and Clive are confronted with their conflicting ideas of her as an experiment, a surrogate child and a sexually aware being.

Splice is not a David Cronenberg film but it comes closer to capturing the sensibility of Cronenberg’s films from the mid-1970s to the late 1990s than anything Cronenberg himself has done in the past decade. From Shivers to The Fly to eXistenZ, the films of the Canadian auteur have explored ideas of science kick-starting evolution, sexual transgressions and bodily horror with a distinctive flair for visceral gore and pitch-black humour. All of these elements flourish in writer/director Vincenzo Natali’s Splice; a glorious blend of science-fiction, horror, melodrama and psycho-sexual thriller.

Splice: Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley)

Elsa Kast (Sarah Polley)

Previously best known for his 1997 low budget science-fiction thriller Cube, in Splice Natali demonstrates how well he can work with big budgets, known actors and challenging material. Splice is at times genuinely frightening with early scenes evoking the unknown terror of Ridley Scott’s original Alien film. The uncanny strangeness of the infant Dren also strongly recalls the nightmarish ‘baby’ in David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The concept of mechanically reproduced life and the film’s perverse representation of ‘child birth’ are confronting and taboo breaking, and in Splice Natali does everything that he can to make the audience squirm, tremble and laugh in a mixture of disgust, dread and wicked delight.

Underpinning the stylish production values and moments of shock are strong characters and engaging writing. What holds your attention throughout Splice is the changing sympathies you constantly have for Elsa, Clive and Dren as they all constantly shift from positions of being the aggressors to being the victims. Splice is science-fiction/horror at its best, underpinning its daring moments of bodily horror and sexual anxieties with flawed characters to care about and moral issues to wrestle with.

Originally appeared in The Big Issue, No. 360, 2010

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


DVD review – Mother (2009), Region 4, Madman

15 August 2010
Mother (Kim Hye-ja)

Mother (Kim Hye-ja)

From South Korea, Mother is a stylish and extremely impressive “wrong man” murder mystery. Do-joon (Won Bin) is a sweet natured, mentally handicapped young man who is accused of murder based on circumstantial evidence. Do-joon’s doting mother becomes fixated on finding the real killer to prove her son’s innocence so she starts her own investigation, unveiling all sorts of sordid details about their small town community.

Director Bong Joon-ho’s previous film was the monster movie The Host, which very playfully toyed with its generic conventions without becoming overly self-aware. Mother is more focused than The Host, operating as a strong genre film even though Bong skilfully undermines many of the murder mystery conventions. With its clever play on audience expectations and sympathies there are some completely unexpected twists and turns.

At the heart of Mother is Kim Hye-ja’s lead performance as Do-joon’s mother. Her incredible love and devotion for Do-joon is both touching and sad. Her singular drive to protect him is what drives this film resulting in a heavily ironic and clever examination of guilt and culpability. Beautifully shot and consistently entertaining, Mother is a film that you should not let slip under your radar.

Originally appeared in The Big Issue, No. 360, 2010

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


Film review – Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

11 August 2010
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera)

Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera)

Edgar Wright’s latest film, an adaptation of the acclaimed Scott Pilgrim comic series, is a hyperactive blend of indi cinema storyline, computer game logic and comic book aesthetics. It is slick, fast paced, self-reflexive and so full of cultural references that you’ll probably need several viewings in order to pick everything up.  It could have been a mess of epic proportions but Wright, who previously made Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, has made Scott Pilgrim vs. the World one of the most energetic and fun films of the year.

Scott Pilgrim is a 22-year-old Canadian slacker whose life is transformed when he meets and falls in love with Ramona Flowers, an American girl trying to make a new start. Unfortunately for Scott, Ramona comes with more baggage than anticipated in the form of seven evil exes who are determined to fight him to the death.  Within the world of the film these fight scenes take the form of elaborate and over-the-top combat scenes like the ones from computer games. The various exes are like the end-of-level bosses who have special powers and abilities that Scott must find a way to overcome. Not only is this gaming approach an exciting stylistic device but it is also used as a simple yet effective metaphor for Scott having to find his inner strength in order to win Ramona’s love.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera)

Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera)

The other distinctive stylistic device present in this film is its comic book aesthetic. While Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is not the first comic book adaptation to replicate the look and form of comics, it is the first one to take it as far as it does. Even the editing cuts dramatically from scene to scene to convey the sudden change in time and space that you get moving from one panel of a comic to another. Far from being a series of alienating jump cuts, this style is remarkably fluid and contributes to making it such a fast paced film that you can completely surrender to.

The story itself is rather slight with Scott and Ramona playing fairly typical indi film characters with him being the slightly awkward nice guy and her being the mysterious, quirky unobtainable girl. However, the film’s humour and energy overcome any danger of the film feeling overly familiar in any way. Michael Cera as Scott doesn’t exactly play against type but his performance is still enough of a departure from his very distinctive roles in films such as Juno and Superbad. Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Die Hard 4.0 and Death Proof) has a wonderful onscreen presence and while sparks don’t really fly between the pair as much as they probably should, they are still a likeable enough onscreen couple.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the WorldJust as Gremlins 2: The New Batch, the Wayne’s World films and The Simpsons introduced a new style of self-aware post-modern comedy, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World feels like the beginning of a new form of super self-reflexive cinema that relies on not just the audience’s knowledge of film and television but also other forms of media. The way it sets up and then sustains its internal logic and distinctive style is a remarkable achievement. It is also a consistently entertaining film from beginning to end.

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share

Read more reviews at MRQE


MIFF 2010 Wrap Up

9 August 2010
Enter the Void

Enter the Void

As another Melbourne International Film Festival closes I’m left with mixed feelings. It is admittedly somewhat of a relief to no longer be dashing from session to session every day, not getting enough sleep, not eating properly and drinking way too much caffeine. On the other hand, I do feel sad that it’s all over as it is wonderful to indulge in 2 and a half weeks of doing what I love the most – seeing films, writing about films and talking about films to other passionate cinephiles. It was also a thrill to be one the jury members for the short films awards this year. Being just a very small part of the festival in that way was a real privilege.

I was overall extremely impressed with the way the festival was run and I don’t believe that there were any mishaps (or miffhaps?) that were not understandable considering the immense logistics behind putting on a festival like this. Sure, there will sometimes be delays and projection problems  but this year everything seemed to be rectified and managed quickly and competently. Having proper breaks between sessions was also wonderful. My only wish is that you could exchange tickets online or at least over the phone without paying an addition charge on top of the exchange fee. It would also be great (but perhaps unrealistic I admit) to create a system where you don’t get charged for cancelling a session but instead only get charged for replacing a session. That way tickets would be freed up when people decide to skip a screening completely.

Son of Babylon

Son of Babylon

My goodness – bless the MIFF volunteers who do such an incredible job with a love of the festival being their main motivation. Having worked professionally on another cultural festival, I am fully aware of how hard volunteers work and that they can sometimes be under-appreciated. Fortunately the general public seemed to be pretty well behaved this year and I only witnessed one temper tantrum, which was so absurd it was actually quite funny (looking at you man who declared that the whole country was apparently incompetent because you had to wait an extra 20 minutes to see a film).

So, onto the films themselves, first with a list of my top 10 favourite films that screening during the festival:

Enter the Void (Gaspar Noé, 2009)
Son of Babylon (Mohamed Al Daradji, 2009)
The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom, 2010)
I Love You Phillip Morris (Glenn Ficarra and John Reque, 2009)
Splice (Vincenzo Natali, 2009)
Lourdes (Jessica Hausner, 2010)
Boy (Taika Waititi, 2010)
The Messenger (Oren Moverman, 2010)
The Illusionist (L’illusionniste, Sylvain Chomet, 2010)
Poetry (Shi, Lee Chang-dong, 2010)

World on a Wire

World on a Wire

I would also like to mention that the final film I saw at the festival, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, was a tremendous amount of fun and I’m glad I finished the festival with such an exhilarating film. I also thoroughly enjoyed the three retrospective screenings I went to, which were Psycho with the live orchestra, Joe Dante’s Homecoming and Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s World on a Wire.

My full list of films seen at the festival is as follows:

Air Doll (Kûki ningyô, Hirokazu Koreeda, 2009) ✭✭✭✩
Alamar (Pedro González-Rubio, 2009) ✭✭✭✩
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (Jessica Oreck, 2009) ✭✭✩
Bibliothèque Pascal (Szabolcs Hajdu, 2010) ✭✭✭✭
Boy (Taika Waititi, 2010) ✭✭✭✭
Brotherhood (Broderskab, Nicholo Donato, 2009) ✭✭✭
Caterpillar (Kyatapirâ, Kôji Wakamatsu, 2010) ✭✭
Despicable Me (Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud, 2010) ✭✭✭
Dreamland (Ivan Sen, 2009) ✭✭✭
Enter the Void (Gaspar Noé, 2009) ✭✭✭✭✩
Exodus – Burnt by the Sun 2 (Utomlyonnye solntsem 2, Nikita Mikhalkov, 2010) ✭✩
Four Lions (Christopher Morris, 2009) ✭✭✭
The Ghost Writer (Roman Polanski, 2010) ✭✭✭✩
Homecoming (Joe Dante, 2005) ✭✭✭✭
The Housemaid (Hanyo, Im Sang-soo, 2010) ✭✭✭
The Hunter (Rafi Pitts, 2010) ✭✭✩
I Killed My Mother (J’ai tué ma mère, Xavier Dolan, 2009) ✭✭✭✩
I Love You Phillip Morris (Glenn Ficarra and John Reque, 2009) ✭✭✭✭✩
The Illusionist (L’illusionniste, Sylvain Chomet, 2010) ✭✭✭✭
The Killer Inside Me (Michael Winterbottom, 2010) ✭✭✭✭✩
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee (Shane Meadows, 2009) ✭✭
Leap Year (Año bisiesto, Michael Rowe, 2010) ✭✭
Lebanon (Samuel Maoz, 2009) ✭✭✭
Lourdes (Jessica Hausner, 2010) ✭✭✭✭
The Messenger (Oren Moverman, 2010) ✭✭✭✭
The Myth of the American Sleepover (David Robert Mitchell, 2009) ✭✭✩
Poetry (Shi, Lee Chang-dong, 2010) ✭✭✭✭
Psycho (Alfred Hitchock, 1960) ✭✭✭✭✭
Red Hill (Patrick Hughes, 2010) ✭✭✭
The Robber (Der Räuber, Benjamin Heisenberg, 2010) ✭✭✭
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Edgar Wright) ✭✭✭✭
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (Mat Whitecross, 2010) ✭✭✭
Son of Babylon (Mohamed Al Daradji, 2009) ✭✭✭✭✩
The Special Relationship (Richard Loncraine, 2010) ✭✭✭✩
Splice (Vincenzo Natali, 2009) ✭✭✭✭✩
Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam (Omar Majeed, 2009) ✭✭✭✩
Tetro (Francis Ford Coppola, 2009) ✭✭✭
The Tree (Julie Bertucelli, 2010) ✭✭✭✩
The Trotsky (Jacob Tierney, 2009) ✭✭✭✩
The Wedding Party (Amanda Jane, 2010) ✭✭
Welcome to the Rileys (Jake Scott, 2010) ✭✭✭✩
Wild Target (Jonathan Lynn, 2010) ✭✭✭
Winter’s Bone (Debra Granik, 2010) ✭✭✭✩
World on a Wire (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1973) ✭✭✭✭
World’s Greatest Dad (Bobcat Goldthwait, 2009) ✭✭✭✭

I Love You Phillip Morris

I Love You Phillip Morris

Finally, MIFF this year was extremely sociable and I had a great time drinking and chatting with friends between sessions and making new friends while waiting for the curtains to part. I should really have done this much sooner but below is a shout-out to some of the other places online where MIFF has been discussed and digested. This list is be no means exhaustive and I apologise if I’ve left you off but I wanted to focus on people whom I actually spent time with in person in various queues, cinemas and the festival lounge. So, thanks to the following people for enriching my MIFF experience both online and in person:

Tara Judah at Liminal Vision
Cerise Howard at A Little Lie Down
Richard Watts at A Man About Town
Lee Zachariah (a.k.a. Latauro) at Ain’t It Cool News
Luke Buckmaster at Cinetology
David O’Connell at Screen Fanatic

That’s it for another year! Please feel free to list your blog/website in the comments if you’ve also covered MIFF and escaped my radar. Also, please feel free to share your MIFF highlights and maybe on this occasion it would be good to maintain the MIFF afterglow by just focusing on the films that you can share the love for.

Cheers
Thomas

PS It’s pronounced “FASS-bin-der” not “Fass-BIND-er”!

© Thomas Caldwell, 2010

Bookmark and Share