NYFF recap

There were 28 feature films at the 44th New York Film Festival this year. I was able to make it to twenty. Here is the list of films put in order of my preference with links to my full review:

Pan's Labyrinth (A) Fairytale horror film that explores the destructiveness of a harsh world balanced witht he beauty of an active imagination. Fabulous set design and darkly fantastical story well directed with only the tiniest moment of saccrine sentimentality.

Little Children (A-) Modern suburban fairytale for adults presenting a morale fable for checking our selfish, childish desires with some sense of adult responsibility. Fabulous acting and forceful directing balanced with a whimsical narrative without overt judgement forced from the script.

Mafioso (A-) Wonderful classic, buzarre comedy of errors as a Milanese takes his family home to Sicily only to get caught up in the crazy characters in the village and owing the mob a 'favor' that takes him to New York City. Crazy cast of characters and some wild, absurd moments equal fun.

The Host (B+) Gotta love a monster movie that shows you the moster right up front. Scary set ups and silly moments round out this creature feature so it is fun for the whole family (not toddlers, obviously; it's not Monster's Inc.)

49 Up (B+) Apted captures not only how we grow, live, love and lose throughout our lives but also how class makes a difference in how we acheive. I also serves as a nice reflective piece on the intrusiveness of cameras on personal lives. How often do you have to account for your life? Probably not every seven years.

Offside (B) Simple, amusing story of girls tring to get into a soccer game where their presence is considered not only intrusive but 'dangerous' to Iranian culture and sinsibilities. No overt message is forced in the script or directly but it comes out clear that this game of exclusion is really rather stupid.

Volver (B) Almadovar has fun with the female cast as they juggle their crazy lives and a dead body. Beautiful colors, lovely actresses, and competent directing keep this rather placid script from being boring.

Gardens in Autumn (B-) Goofy romp through Paris through life's ups and downs presented via a disgraced diplomat's movements and incidents. Strange events are balanced with a linear timeline and reoccuring characters to keep the audience guessing while not completely confusing everyone.

The Queen (C+) Television biopic of The Queen of England having a tough time balancing protocol and a sense of duty with her public's need for warmth, comfort, and connection following their loss of the beloved Diana. Helen Mirren gives a commanding performance but the script, directing, and supporting cast lacks the strength to take this beyond the simple cable channel fare. (Photo Credit: Dave Alloca)

Paprika (C+) Overload on pop culture anime dancing in the streets while you try to follow the sci-fi and fiml noir inspired mystery of who is misusing a dream device to play with people's nighmares to destroy the city.

Woman on the Beach (C) A needy director drags his assistant, and his girlfriend, along to a seaside resort to write but his libido gets the better of him as the three wander through a reason for interacting. Slow pacing may bore some but other will find it fun and kooky.

Inland Empire (C) Some movies are about one scene. In this repetative lot of moments and themes already captured, and better presented, in Mulholland Dr., the scene is the act of dying on a Hollywood street surrounded by homeless oracles. (Photo by James Israel/indieWIRE)

Triad Election (C) Watch mainland China try to control Hong-Kong mob movements to a visually beautiful sequence of meetings and hits. Unfortunately the direction is too loose and the script is in need of tighter editing.

The Go Master (C-) Another boring biopic of the Chinese Go master Wu Qingyuan who moved to Japan and survive great turmoil (wars, distracted by a religious cult) and only to have this film presented as if it were as exciting as a snails' race.

Marie Antoinette (D+) Too much dressing and not enough meat (or even salad) make this a condiment mess.

Falling (D+) Women acting like stupid teenagers when they 'reunion' at the wake for a dead teacher.

August Days (D) Mediocre director tries to recapture the moment he was inspired to create - during a camping trip with his brother. He is unable to reign in his own ego - casting himself and his brother in this recreation of a personal moment that should have better been left in the family scrapbook.

Syndromes And A Century (D) Another presonal history better left to family memories but this one is about the director's two parents workgin as doctors before they met - one in rural and one in urban Thailand - and had their sone bored us to death with this one.

Poison Friends (D) Annoying literature Ph.D. candidates bore us with their whiny lives under the influence of a maléfiques friend.

Bamako (F) Drone us to death with the guilt-inducing criticism of Afrikaners on Western counties (U.S.) and insitutes (World Bank) for wreaking destruction on their land and people. On an interesting note, it actually shows how boring typical court hearings are.

Things I skipped or missed:
Reds - I've seen it, it's good, but at 3+ hours I don't have the butt needed to sit through it again.
Our Daily Bread - documentary that seemed preachy in the progrma directory
These Girls - I typically don't like Egyptian films.
Climates - Typically don't like Turkish films
Insiang - Philipine film from 1976, couldn't work it with my schedule.
Belle Toujours - No one can replace Catherine Denuvue, and I tend not to like updates on original romance classics (Before Sunrise & Before Sunset, Scenes From a Marriage & Saraband)
Private Fears In Public Places - Typically I avoid Parisian romantic entanglement films but I may have missed out. Who knows, may have been an Amelie or something from Rhomer?
Knud Rasmussen - I wasn't a huge fan of Fast Runner and a blend of "fiction and documentary, ethnography and myth" didn't sound too interesting to me.

NYFF's Closing Night- Pan's Labyrinth

Well, it is the closing film at the New York Film Festival. Technically this happened on Sunday - October 15th but I got home too late to post. The two weeks seem to have flown by. Highlights tomorrow.

PAN' LABYRINTH
Director: Guillermo del Toro, Country: Spain/Mexico, Release: 2006, Runtime: 112 min.
Hieronymus Bosch meets Hans Christian Anderson

Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) is traveling with her pregnant mother to meet her new father in the countryside of worn-torn 1940s Spain. Spain has yet to join the fighting in World War II. Franco's dictatorship has resisters fighting in the hillsides and mountains. Captain Vidal is the father of Ofelia's unborn half-brother. He rules with an iron fist and blood-thirsty cruelty. Ofelia soon finds herself pulled into the labyrinth nearby where she meets a rather obtuse fawn. He tells her she is the lost soul of the princess and should she pass three tests, she can come back to the underworld kingdom and live forever in happiness. Her first task requires her to travel through the roots of a huge tree and feed an evil toad three magical stones to release the tree from the toad's death-grip. Mud and cockroaches don't stop this brave girl. Her next quest involves entering a world through a door drawn with chalk. The very scary and disturbing creature guarding this world has eyes on a plate. The thing comes to life when children don't behave ... and the results are reminiscent of Goya's Saturn Devouring his Son. As Ofelia struggles to survive in her new world, Mercedes, a servant of Cpt. Vidal, works to help the resistant fighters and her brother hiding in the forests around them. This tale intertwines ideas related to heroicism, resisting political elitism, and old-fashion fairy tales. In this world, nothing is sprakly, reassuring, or certain. Children see and suffer unbearable things, people die, and there are no easy answers and no solutions without sacrifice. Ofelia's story has more similarity to the Hero's Journey than Disney fare. The visuals are stunningly creative, texturally rich, and disturbingly graphic at times. You can hear the whole audience squeem in their chairs when one charater sews up their own face! These are what del Toro called "walk out scenes" where he realizes some won't stay through the moment. But like the leg in the woodchipper in Fargo, del Toro uses distrubing visuals where they are needed. The bruatilty he exposes reflects the unhuman treatment the controling class has inflicted. This film wowed me. It is daring, edgy, and simply fantastic to watch. The subject matter and characters are heandled in a way that no American film would touch - putting a child in real danger is simply not done here. Del Toro has acheived a wonderful balance with only a hint of sentimental, happy-ending sweetness to the story for which I will forgive him. So if you dare, take a walk through this wild world and you just might learn something about imagination, inspiration, and heroics. And it all comes together around a little girl struggling against that pivotal moment when we lose our spirit to the drudgery and limitiations of adult thinking.

preceded by
LUMP
Faye Jackson, UK, 2006, 12 min.
Simple tale of a young woman who keeps having to have a surgery because a benign fibroid lump keeps reappearing. This unsettling repetative problem turns creepily disturbing during the last graphic scene where she actually becomes 'aware' of what the doctor is actually doing while she is asleep on the operating table. Jackson nicely captures the lack of control one feels at the mercy of the medical system and she taps into fears most women have lurking around in them somewhere.

NYFF - Poison Friends and Marie Antoinette

POISON FRIENDS
Director: Emmanuel Bourdieu, Country: France, Release: 2006, Runtime: 107 min.
Cruel Intentions minus the sex and thrills

Heady intellectual youth fret and fray over whether they are worthy of analyzing literary geniuses in their coursework. Worse yet, their peer and idol, André, bullies them into doubting they should ever write at all. Eloi seems to bathe in André, worshiping him in a destructive way. Eloi even throws out his own novel under the pressure of feeling utterly incompetent. At least Alexandre seems to find an escape from André by changing his major to acting. André soon starts to unravel, disappointing his advisor to the level of failing. He lies to Eloi and others, saying he is off to America to work at Berkeley. If only this were true, thus saving us from an already teadious and pretentious film about the self-absorbed, youthful literati of Paris. Bourdieu never explores the texture and nuances so interesting in nefarious characters. André and all the idiots who flock around him just seem monotonistically haughty and droningly snooty. They all deserve each other and the sick way André treats them and himself. Avoid this obnoxious mess.

DISH: Isn't just awkward when I hate a film but love the director's Q&A? Emmanuel Boudieu was so extremely nice signing my program; he was the only director to add my name and a salutation to his autograph. He truly gave off a caring attitude towards his fans.

preceded by
CHRONICLE OF A JUMP
Zohar Lavi, Israel/USA, 2005, 10 min.
Boring, long sequence of a girlfriend watching her boyfriend contemplate a jump from a reservoir cliff. Interestingly, the only fun part of this film was during the rolling credits. The director finally enjoyed herself by simply putting in clips of many swimmers jumping in their own style from the cliff into the inviting water.

MARIE ANTOINETTE
Director: Sofia Coppola, Country: USA, Release: 2006, Runtime: 123 min.
Masterpiece Theatre costumer designers highjack a few MTV videos

Sofia Coppola is a master at ambiance. In Virgin Suicide she expertly captured suburban girl angst and unsettling teen sexuality in the early 1970s. Her sophmore film, Lost In Translation, the story was soaked in the melancholy humor of Tokyo neon nights and hotel-lonely days. Her new film, Marie Antoinette, has the sumptuous backdrop of Versailles and a foreground filled with pastries and pastel-colored satin gowns. Unfortunately there is no story. A young Marie (Kirsten Dunst) enter the court of Louis XVI, waits for her husband to perform his duties, whiles away her time shopping, eatting, and frolicing with girlfriends until the mob comes to her balcony with torches. Kirsten Dunst is horribly cast as a pouty puff pastry, only emoting a smile and two slumps down ornate palace walls during difficult times. By difficult times, I mean annoying pressure by her mother and brother to get her husband to service her. She brought no zest, bravada, or spark to the film which it soarly needed as it was only a character film. And the rest of the cast, with the small exception of Shirley Henderson, was lackluster as well. Molly Shannon? What was Ms. Coppola thinking? She never found the heart for this story so instead, she gives us a few 1980's New Romantics pop songs, raided BBC's wardrobe closet (literally; watch the credits!), stole Terrence Mallick's shots of wandering in nature, and tied everyone up in more satin than Pink, Christina, Mya, and Lil'Kim combined. Adding a Bow Wow Wow's hit I Want Candy to a shoegasim scene, with a lavender Converse Hi Top in the pile, pushed this over into camp. Too bad none of the other scenes embraced the campy potential of this teen, pop-princess take on Marie. My teeth started aching after three hours of this empty, sugarcoated, meringue mess.

DISH: Sofia looked great, preggers wearing a fabulous black satin pleated babydoll evening dress. She even took time to sign my program as she entered Alice Tully Hall. Kirsten wore a black silk shift with low-cut back and open shoulders. Unfortunately her posture ruined the gown; her sholder tension pulled her neck into her body making her shrink like a turtle. During the Q&A she word a black tuxedo jacket over the dress, hiding the beautiful line of the dress. This dork next to me, who brought his mother to the film, gushed and gushed on how daring, daring, daring (he actually used this word 12 times) this film was. BLECK. He had no question for the panel, only accolades for Sofia. He gushed about how no one in Hollywood would make such a wonderful film. Is he kidding? This is exactly the type of crap Hollywood hopes will be the next Titanic! And while it pains me to say this, at least Titanic had a plot. Wealth and privledge, unearned and flaunted on screne? Has this man never watched any of the reality TV shows of late?

Sofia Coppola compared her version of Marie Antoinette to a punk. Kirsten Dunst saw her protrayal of Marie as a progression from girl to woman. Both these statements do not rung true to what they actually brought to the final film. If Marie were classic punk, we should have more scenes of rebellion and individualish without polishing ones words or exterior to please anyone in the establishment. I think Ms. Coppola may have confused avant garde fashion choices and an "I don't give a shit" attitude with punk. And Ms. Dunst never brings a full arch or shift in demernor to her portrayal of Marie. In one scene of Marie facing the mob under her balcony at Versaille we are suppose to believe she has learned something? Grown into a woman? This is unearned and unmotivated. Nothing in the earlier two hours has given us any reflection that Marie is anything more than a spoiled child. Even when she enjoyed a 'cottage' phase and cut down on her satin gown usage, we never believe such reflected moments, reading from naturalists' writings, that it is anything more than a passing phase, like smoking Clove cigarettes or wearing lace corsets with crucifix jewelry. I think the director and crew were high on fashion, or other things, while making this hazy, unfocused blob.

NYFF - Triad Election

Day 12 at the New York Film Festival.

Triad Election
Director: Johnnie To, Country: Hong Kong, Release: 2006, Runtime: 92 min.
Hak se wui (Election) with a new player, China

Jimmy (Louis Koo) is working in mainland China trying to close a business deal. Things look good, the backers are happy, and soon this lovely piece of rural landscape will be developed into an industrial complex. He take a moment to climb a nearby hill to share his vision of a future with his wife, longing for a home to look over his creation and a few kids who'll grow up to be lawyers or doctors. Back in Hong Kong, we find out how difficult it will be for Jimmy to reach his dreams. It seems Jimmy is not only involved in the triad (mob), he's tapped to be it's next Chairman (leader). He resists but soon finds himself at the mercy of a mainland China government official. It seems Jimmy was caught bribing a permit bureaucrat to get permission to build his business center and now he needs to maintain his gang connection to do any work in China. So under duress, Jimmy bows to several of the Uncle's wishes and runs for Chairman. Lok, who is just completing his 2 year commitment as Chairman, decides he doesn't want to give up power. Now the streets of Hong Kong turn into a feudal landscape with kidnappings, gun fights, and one rather disturbing scene of torture in a dog kennel. The quest for power turns Jimmy into something he didn't wish to become. And he soon will find out that what he thinks is power is just an allusion. Towards the end of the film, he's looking down again from the China hillside where he hoped to build a home, a future under his terms, but now he realizes he isn't in control. Someone else is pulling the strings of his life now.

Johnny To does a marvelous job using the mob, Jimmy's dreams, and the influence of mainland China on Hong Kong to show how things have changed after the pass-over of 1997. Gangs flourish in this environment and the quest for power can make a man a dog. He isn't without sympathies for the structure of the triad. At least the triad limits its terms and the Chairman is voted on by the Uncles. To contrasts this against China's government in an insightful way. While there is violence, there is surprising restraint in To's use of blood and what is shown on screen. He uses limited cuts to showing brutality and lets action happening just outside the camera frame. But what really stand out is To's ability to use light, dark, and colors in bringing the visual qualities of Hong Kong and China to the story. This accomplishment is more astounding after he discussed his process. To uses no script, no storyboards. He just figures the film out in his head and works each day with cast and crew to produce what he wants from the story. He recognizes this is difficult for the actors. Unfortunately, I think this style might account for a few sequences that aren't as polished as they could be. There are also a few pacing problems that might have been solved with a script reading or a rewrite or two. Overall, however, the results are thrilling and exciting. A fun film for those who like Hong Kong action.

NYFF - Falling

Day 11 at the New York Film Festival. Fabulous summer-like day; can't believe I'm going into a dark theater - must be crazy.

FALLING (FALLEN)
Director: Barbara Albert, Country: Austria, Release: 2006, Runtime: 88 min.
The Big Chill without the zest, soundtrack, or men

Five high school girlfriends return to their hometown for one of their teachers funerals. One is pregnant, one business-like, one is an actress living in Germany, another looks like a drug addict with her daughter in tow, and the last is the only 'normal' one, acting as the glue holding the group together. They wander from the wake to a country fairgrounds to the nightclub-disco Brooklyn to nature and back to the city. Between scenes, we get foreshadowing still shots and revival gospel songs from America. The story doesn't matter as much as the characters. Albert tries to show the difficulties they all are dealing with, watching one get drunk and act stupid on the dance floor, another neglecting her daughter, the pregnant one making-out with a groom on his wedding day, and the others basically coasting through it all. Some will find this interesting and intriguing, watching the women fall through this day to night to dawn. The strong political ideals of their youth are throw into the mix - activist teacher, anti-war protests. Unfortunately the character's actions seem more self-absorbed than spiritual, with the exception of Brigitte. The songs, visuals, and reflective moments point to a desire to portray these women as struggling heroines but I saw them more as stumbling fools. I doubt they would ever learn from their mistakes. The director's style and pace made the characters seemed forced and two-dimensional, as if they were just case-studies and they would never become real. The photography was beautiful but the showy editing distracted from the simplicity of the story. Overall, this film is only for those who love acting and stylized editing; it mainly serves as another example of how an ensemble piece can be approached. Disappointingly flat.

DISH: OK, I avoided the jokes about FALLING asleep, or FALLING over myself trying to escape theatre, but the best use of the title feeling trapped which falling into the dark hole of the theater. As the director explains, the German title FALLEN has a double meaning - it can mean both 'falling' and 'trapped'. Albert and two of the actors were there to answer questions. One of the actors talked about not seeing this as a women's film but a human film about human characters. That is all nice in theory but both the actor and director tapped into a more debatable and relevant point-of-view. They commented that growing up, girls could relate to both female and male characters but men tend to limit their role models to male characters. This is most likely true in the U.S. but if the French can make Three Men and a Cradle, perhaps that assumption is wrong, for at least some sensitive European guys.

Almodovar and Lynch

Day 10 at the New York Film Festival and I'm all set to see films from two of my favorite directors ...

VOLVER
Director: Pedro Almodóvar, Country: Spain, Release: 2006, Runtime: 120 min., Spanish with English subtitles
High Heels gets less Nervous

All the women from the village are at the cemetery dusting off the graves of their loved ones. Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and Sole (Lola Dueñas) stop in on their aunt who is in bad health. Sole feels as if she can smell and feel the presence of their deceased mother (Carmen Maura). On their way out, they stop by to see neighbor, Agustina (Blanca Portillo) and ask if she can look in on their aunt. They head back to Madrid, Raimunda to her husband and daughter, Sole to her hairdressing business. But things get complicated when thier aunt dies, a dead body needs disposing, the ghost of mom returns to help Sole wash hair, and Raimunda takes over her neighbor's restaurant to serve a local film crew Almodóvar ads humor to the secretive habits of rural Spaniards, and the secrets and lies even follow the sisters to Madrid. Trash TV is mocked for it's exploitive intrusion on peoples lives. But the actual lies of the people are somehow forgiven when they atone for their past. In an interesting scene, mom is watching Bellissima, the scene where the father is about to tell the children the story of Pinocchio off screen while the mother sits in her room, removed from the family by her own secrets. At its core, this film is about women reconnecting as a family. Not since the gender drag days of Joan Crawford and Bette Davis has a director enjoyed playing with so many female forms as Almodóvar. He has Raimunda dress her sexy best, her daughter is a fteenagerger, Sole is more librarian, Agustina could easily be mistaken for a man with her shaved head and flat clothing. The men are mere props in this film. Almodóvar loves women and every detail, from their hair to the pattern of their clothes, is carefully selected. In fact, watch for those fabric patterns reappearear in the beautiful closing credits. This is squarely not Almodóvar's best or complex work, but it is a fun and humorous story of Spanish women and the black veil of superstitions that makes the community both lovable and naive.

DISH: The audience was decidedly a mix of women and gay men - typical Almodovar fans. In a frustrating turn of events, Almodovar was not there at the Q&A for the second showing. He was there the previous night but had to return to Spain for some art award given by the King. The four women in the film were there to answer questions but this forced the discussion to acting, the preparation process, and their opinions about working together and with Almodovar. I could care less about these topics. In a bit of irony, Carmen Maura talked quite glowingly of how she and Almodovar work so well together because they connect, even after such a long gap in time since they last worked together (1988). Overhearing two guys leaving the theater discuss this, I learned that diva Maura hadn't talked or communicated at all with Almodovar for 17 years. Rumor was she was furious that he took a drag queen to an awards event for Women of the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown instead of her. Seems like the reality of Maura is similar to the fiction of her character in Volver, better to hide difficult things.

INLAND EMPIRE
Director: David Lynch, Country: France/USA, Release: 2006, Runtime: 168 min.
Mulholland Dr. drives off a Lost Highway

Welcome to the mind of David Lynch. It is a strange and weird place; most folks will feel uncomfortable there. This film has almost all of his signature elements - table lamps, red light, ringing telephones, alleys, a log, white noise, dual identities, homeless people, reflections, living rooms, and a red curtain, but no midget or talking backwards. Instead he adds Polish, a rabbit-headed sitcom family, a train whistle, back-up whore dancers, and AXX oN iN. All the strange and loopy images are tied around Nikki (Laura Dern) as she works on the role of Sue in a film The Blues Skies of Tomorrows. The title may be slightly off but versions of it show up in other places in the film as when an oracle of sorts comforts with the line, "No more Blue Tomorrows". The director of the film (Jeremy Irons) learns from his assistant (the fabulous Harry Dean Stanton) that the film is a remake of a Polish script 47 which was never completed after the actors were murdered. This harks back to an early scene where a Polish neighbor (cheeky Grace Zabriskie) looks into Nikki's tomorrow. Devon/Billy (Justin Theroux) is her leading man but he serves to feed the jealous, sexual side of Nikki/Sue's longings. The film is squarely focused on Nikki and how trauma and choices she's made in her life have affected her and her family. Through the puzzling images and hazy links, one can figure out the gist of her story even if every images can't be explained. Lynch repeats themes of contrast - wealthy and poverty, light and dark, color and black & white, pop dance tunes (Locomotion) and abstract sound. He also returns to the illusionist aspects of film, television, and lip-synching. The reflective properties these have on our lives and our interpretation of what is real is presented very literally. Some say that directors with a signature style are more prone to repeating themselves, giving us basically the same film again and again. If left to his own devices, Lynch has a tendency to do this. This is truly the case with Inland Empire - it started shooting without a script. Lynch would just write each scene as it came to him. The results are too similar to Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Dr.. Blue Velvet and Mulholland Dr. work much better than this loosely woven saga which lasts over 3 hours. With editing, this film could have been tighter and much more intriguing and entertaining. With all the repetition, Inland Empire tends to get redunant in places. This is not a surprise given Lynch's love of dreams. Many ideas are repeated in dreams with shifting objects and forms working their way into the idea the brain is trying to shape. Lynch does the same image shifting in this film but after the third or fourth version, it becomes excessive. No doubt there are strong scenes only a master director can pull off. Some great moments are when the veiled worlds of Nikki/Sue/other? intertwine with time/world shifts viewed through things like a hole burned through silk or a smeared living-room window. Worlds can shift by just walking through a door. A death on the streets of Hollywood is one of the most emotional and engaging scenes Lynch brings to the story. But after the upteenth 'reveal', I was tired. Lynch keeps pulling the rug out from under the audience screaming, "Ah-Ha! You thought that was the reality? You don't know anything." I got tired and bored, like watching a magician do a trick one too many times until the surprise is gone. But Lynch does deliver an interesting ending: one vision seems to give a happy conclusion but seconds later, a cavalcade of characters returns, perhaps alluding to more charades. Lynch groupies will surely like this and drool over every word and image but most would be better off staying on Mulholland Dr.. I'm just hoping someone will give Lynch a script not born from his crowded brain. Perhaps we will then have another chance to get a film as beautiful and poignant as The Elephant Man or The Straight Story.

DISH: Lynch opened the film with a quote I can't find that goes something like this, "We are like the spider. We weave our life like a web and then we move within it. We are like our dreams, moving and shaping ourselves within them." No doubt Lynch has a more interesting dream life than most. Post-film discussion was so interesting mainly due to Lynch's ability to avoid answering most questions outside the technical process. One Lynch-o-phile went on and on about his use of light, images, on and on, but finally after his pontificating for a minute or more, asked a question about the hand drawn flames he added to the clock in the Rabbits scene. "Was that the only shot he used that in?" Lynch's reply was a short, "You're almost correct." One question was related to using digital on this film. Lynch said it was very freeing and enjoyable as it allowed him much more flexibility. Personally I had trouble with the digital quality in places but the majority of the footage looked great. Some shots you can see a Panavision 35mm camera so I wonder if some footage wasn't shot on film. Laura Dern and Justin Theroux seemed to love working with Lynch but it was clear they were left in the dark as to the story's meaning. Justin Theroux was the only one to graciously sign my program after the Q&A. Super nice guy. I had to stalk/wait for Laura Dern and David Lynch outside the hall but both appeared and signed my program :) This is the first time I've tried waiting at the door and it was a strange crowd. I was the only 'girl' and all the other guys looked like guys you'd picture at their computers jacking off to teen porn or participating in role-playing games. Some clearly were there for the money, getting signatures on a plethora of photos, DVDs, and other paraphernalia. I don't think I'll ever be in that sort of scene again .... but that leads to a good question of who else I would stalk for a celebrity signature. Clive Owen, perhaps?

Day 9 at the New York Film Festival

Sleepy, I'm very sleepy. Is it the films or the weather?

PAPRIKA
Director: Satoshi Kon, Country: Japan, Release: 2006, Runtime: 89 min.
Ghost in the Shell meets Nightmare on Elm Street

A cop is getting therapy to help him with a case. Paprika is using the DC mini, a new cerebral device, to tap into his dreams. Then there is the beautiful doctor, Atsuko, running the lab developing the device created by the sumo-sized Tokito. But things go horribly wrong when someone steals the device and taps into many of the character's dreams. Nightmarish results follow and the girls, Paprika and Atsuko, do battle to save the world from a parade of scary dolls, dancing refrigerators, and a huge melting black hole gobbling up the city. The images are stunning and hallucinatory. There are tons of influences on Satoshi Kon's work - imagery from American movies ranging from film noir to Hitchcock to Tarzan adventures. Luckily the camera moves are also used in the animation so the audience never sees a flat, one-dimensional. There is also a great deal of humor, perhaps criticism, around Japan's obsession with kitschy cute - dolls, pop music, and Sailor Moon. Unfortunately the female characters come across like girls, despite the Dr. title and heroine acts, reverting to objects of sexual desire. There are many animated phallic references; in one scene a child turns into a woman by sucking in all that is bad in the male air. Perhaps it is like the madonna/whore complex where Kon tries to combine the qualities of women as savior or sex kitten. The film drags at times over repeated themes. After the tenth cut to the confetti parade or appliances and toys, thoughts drifted to other things, like grocery lists and home chores. Overall, however, it was a lovely ride with some fun and entertaining elements. I won't hold my breath, however, for a hunky male, female fantasy version of Paprika.

SYNDROMES AND CENTURY
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul: Thailand, Release: 2006, Runtime: 95 min.
The Kingdom after a lobotomy

A rural doctor is managing patients and her male suitors in her daily life. She asks questions like "Do you like triangles, squares, or circles?" and" What does DDT stand for?" when evaluating her clients. One suitor is a soldier, another an orchid grower. Scenes shift to a parallel world in the city where a young male doctor treats patients in a large hospital full of halls and industrial objects. He asks the same questions the female doctor asked of her patients. Another symmetry appears when the same monks come to the city for treatment and give a gift of medicinal root to the male doctor, but to cure something else, more male? A woman gets a bottle of hooch out of a prosthetic leg to drink before her TV interview. A boy being treated for carbon monoxide plays with a tennis racket in the hospital halls. A strange vented tube starts sucking in fog from an empty room, camera holding on it's black hole intake for over a minute. All these strange scenes typically have droning, white-noise soundtracks with a few exceptions - a singer and guitar player performing, people doing aerobics in the park. All the elements sound for something invigoratingly bizarre and interesting but the lengthy shots and numbing pace and matching sound tests the audience's patience and many people gave up, walking out. Unlike Lynch's strange scenes, Weerasethakul's work is so disjointed and impossible to link with other pieces in the film, it comes across as gimmicky and overly artsy in a cerebral way. The score and sounds are, however, very interesting choices. Overall, the film is boring and catatonic. I recommend avoiding this dud.


THE HOST
Director: Bong Joon-ho, Country: South Korea, Release: 2006, Runtime: 119 min.
Alien meets Godzilla

An American lab director orders a Korean subordinate to dump formaldehyde into the drain, leading directly to the Han River.* The subordinate complies. Two fisherman notice a strange little fish with a weird mutation - but it gets away. A family run kiosk business serves toasted squid to families sunning themselves on the shores on the Han River. A strange dark object is scene dropping from the bridge into the water. They throw things at it, as if feeding Koi, but it disappears again. A quick camera pan and WHAM! the dang-ugly creature is running down the shoreline smashing things up and gobbling people here and thar. The family is fragmented and the young daughter gets snatched up by the monster. All think she's dead. The U.S. military gets involved, preparing for a virus that they believe the host creature is carrying. The family gets a cell call from the girl and they escape quarantine to look for her. The crazy story is lightened with campy humor and darkened with some harsh criticism of U.S. intrusion (using Agent Yellow to decontaminate the area). The monster is shot in both creepy shadows, close-ups, and in full frame, swinging and running as if some mutant tadpole with T-Rex strength. The very disturbing mouth looks like some strange morphing of the plant in Little Shop of Horrors and something a gynecologist might see. The film has been a huge hit in Korean and parts of Asia. It makes for a good midnighter but lacks consistent quality to be either a cult classic or ageless monster flick. Still, if you like a good monster scare, The Host delivers pure escapism, joy, and jumps.

* reportedly based on a true incident

Day 8 NYFF - Offside

I'm getting too old to go to 9 pm films.

OFFSIDE
Director: Jafar Panahi, Country: Iran, Release: 2006, Runtime: 93 min.
Norma Rae meets Bend It Like Beckham?

Girls like soccer, whether it is kids in the U.S. following in Mia Hamm's shadow or girls in Iran hoping their team makes it to the World Cup. In Iran, however, there is the added thrill, or difficulty, for the girls since they aren't allowed into sports stadiums for fear they will hear men cursing. Several other lame reasons are given about why it women are banned from the event but the essential tension is created - how will they get in and what happens to those caught. Dressed as boys, several girls get part way into the stadium only to be caught and held just outside of viewing the pitch. Their frustration and that of the young soldiers charged with watching them is palpable and funny. When one soldier fashions a mask from a face poster of a player for one of the girls to wear when walking to the bathroom, no one could hold in the laughter at the comedic results. I remember the thrill of trying to sneak into clubs before I was of legal age. These girls are just as sneaky, but more daring. Some of them look so much like young boys one wonders how the guards caught them .. and how many are sitting in the stands unnoticed.

Refreshingly straightforward, the film simply explores the absurdity of some of the Iranian policies towards women. Perhaps the lighthearted and honest approach with Offside was too easy to relate to and understand unlike Panahi's more symbolic and abstruse film White Balloon. The former has been censored in Iran. What would they do with footage of the Women's World Cup team's shirt-waving victory in 1999? Grab a niece, sister, or mom who doesn't mind reading subtitles and enjoy Offside to make up for the lost rial at the Persian box office.

preceded by
FOURTEEN
Director: Nicole Barnette, USA, 2005, 7 min.
"A young woman and her family prepare to celebrate a milestone."
This film starts off softly, with beautiful shots of gifts tied with bows, a woman preparing a cake, and early morning preparations for the celebration. Slowly we see something is not right, - the downward, sad look of the mother, a glance at a reflective quote on the wall. The audience slowly figures out what is happening and a gasp is heard under the collective breath. Superb short film with a decidedly feminine and disturbing touch.

Day 7 at NYFF - 49 Up

Most artsy-fartsy film buffs will rave about how they love, love, love documentaries. "They're so real, so much more engaging than fiction." This is bollocks in my opinion. It's all in the editing. I find the many documentaries boring, unfocused, pedantic, or unimaginative. I guess this comes from the difficult challenge inherent in all documentaries - how to you create tension, mystery, suspense, or interest 'hook' to keep the audience engaged. I've suffered through 'creative process' documentaries, family exposés, and idol-worship promotional films. Luckily there are great documentaries that are out there like Spellbound, The Heart of the Game, and Sherman's March. Film festivals and smart distributors fortunately are able to filter out the bad from the good so most theatrically released documentariess tend to be better than the plethora of fiction.

The only 'series' documentary I've seen luckily is worthy of distribution and it all started with a British television program World In Action. It was a program that looked at the differences and similarities between seven year old children in very different systems - privledged prep school, public school, private school, and a children's home. Michael Apted was a young director at the time who fortunately saw the bigger story - what would happen to the group of children years into their future? Based on the Jesuit proverb, "Give me the child for the first seven years, and I'll give you the man," Apted decided to update the story of these kids every seven years with his Up series and in 2005 we have 49Up.

49 UP
Director: Michael Apted, Country: United Kingdom, Release: 2006, Runtime: 135 min.
Realitytelelvisionn without the forced manipulation

Black and white archival footage of children playing on a playground open this spectrum look at the lives of a dozen of the subjects. We get to see a cockney taxi driver, a librarian, a barrister, a math teacher, a scientist living in America, and many other normal butinterestingg people. Apted does a wonderful job intermixing old footage from earlier years with current updates on how the 'kids' are today. If you have seen earlier documentaries, you will enjoy learning how Tony's marriage and family is doing, where Nick is, and if Neil, a rather rambling guy who has been homeless off and on, is doing O.K.. In a pleasant surprise, Symon, missing from 42 Up, returns for this film. But if you haven't seen the earlier works, Apted carefully gives you enough footage from the past so you won't be lost just watching 49 Up by itself.

You can tell this invasive process takes its toll on the subjects. Apted lets each person's update end with a reflection on how filming has affected them. Jackie really lets into Apted, harshly criticizing him for the fact his filming and hiseditingg are manipulative and she is not happy about how she's come across in past films. A tense dialog is exchanged between artist and subject and it is refreshing to have that honesty included. What really shines in the film is the shared challenges they all face - marriages, children, careers, starting over, finding happiness, and learning to appreciate themselves. Theresiliencee of the human spirit is evident in most of the stories and it is so hopeful to see many look more at ease with themselves as they've grown older. At times the film runs long but it must be difficult to condense 49 years oftwelvee peoples lives into one feature film. Apted nicely ends with contrasting shots - them playing as seven year old kids and them enjoying their current life. It is the most hopeful of the Up films and a wonderful tribute to the beauty of life, loves, family, and experiences.

Trivia: Charles, who has refused to participate in the Up series after 21 Up is a documentary film maker; this fact has truly irked Michael Apted.

Strange fun in Gardens

GARDENS IN AUTUMN
Director: Otar Iosseliani, Country: France, in French with English subtitles, Release: 2006, Runtime: 116 min.

Jacques Tati meets After Hours

The first scene opens on a group of old men all of differing shaped and sizes. They mill about looking at coffins and three seem to be arguing over the same one. The story, if you can call it that, starts to develop around a diplomat, Vincent, making his rounds to ceremonies, signing things, arguing with his spendthrift wife, signing his own resignation letter after crowd protests, and spending the majority of the film bouncing from one absurdist moment to another reconnecting with characters is his life. There are girlfriends - one who kicks him out, another who cleans him up, another who takes him to the hospital. All give him versions of shoes, one being a pair of rollerblades. He runs into priests on bicycles and goes drinking with them in a bar with fun drawings being filled in on the walls. He visits his mother, played by a man, to get keys to the family flat. The flat is runneth over with Afrikan squatters. On and on the strange yet seemingly normal situations and crossed paths keep occurring. Some elements keep repeating - playing music, pictures of animals, a caged tucan, a live leopard, and getting hit on the head. Strange as this all sounds, it is rather fun getting pulled along this serpentine path. Most of the dialog is superfluous in this very animate journey. The frivolous sequences are the most fun and an old guy dressed as granny always gets me to laugh. It tending to drag towards the end but I had fun trying to figure out some of the commentary. There is the obvious reference to the corruption of the elite controlling class. And gender and cultural differences are constant companions throughout but some shots are just fun or funny without trying to see any deeper meaning in it. The humor is dryer than typical character rambles and much more unpredictable than American sitcoms. Too many forced funny lines and overt pratfalls can kill the moment; Iosseliani steers clear of those. Again and again we slowly get bits of color and characters in Vincent's life, just like the characters on the walls of the bar. Would you want to paint over those characters, those moments, those colors? Better yet, keep alive these memories of a life-journey worth living.

NYFF - Bamako

It is back-to-the-work-week so I'm limiting my film viewing to one per night. Tonight's film crates a difficult dilemma for a reviewer - when are your critiquing the story and message and when are you critiquing the film? I try to focus on the film itself - the characters, pacing, shots, production values, dialog, music, and all the other countless details to work in concert, with proper direction, to yield an entertaining and engaging experience. When the subject matter is political, socially relevant, morally ambiguous, or morally righteous, the reviewer is in a dangerous position of being misunderstood when their review of the film conflicts with the message of the film. For reference, I would never wish to convey that the Nazi Party and Hitler's manifesto was worthy of pursuit but Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will is truly glorious and for its genre (propaganda), it is the apex for this cinema style from which all other films are judged. Occasionally I might enjoy a film's politics (The Contender) but not the film (too overproduced and preachy). Why this prelude? ....

BAMAKO
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako, Country: Mali/France, Release: 2006, Runtime: 115 min.
White Balloon meets Louis Farrakahn

A local community decides to have a trial in a small courtyard space in Mali. Many locals take their place at the podium to give witness about how bad the International Monetary Fund, The World Bank, and other international agencies have exploited their country leaving them with poverty, AIDS, malaria, and no ability to fund their social programs. This court scene is contrasted with intermittent footage of locals as they move through their daily lives. Abderrahmane Sissako directs this film with symbolic action, objects, and commentary on class systems. It reminded me of Buñuel without the payoff or humor at the end. Between these town scenes theplaintiffs, defense, and witnesses all speak with heavy, overly verbose speeches, more like monologues, that are so stuffed withillustrativee vocabulary that I was dozing off as if I were back in church hearing another droning lecture. This showmanship truly detracts for all the messages and statistics that are repetitively thrown at the audience. Add a strange Western sequence where Danny Glover and other non-African shoot it up in the street as if in a Joh Ford film. There are two scenes that are rather engaging and emotional, perhaps by contrast since both are singing sequences where the characters are 'crying' at the plight of their lives and their country. One scene has a peasant singing in his southern dialect while walking amongst the court crowd where he was originally prevented from giving testimony - his song and the reaction of from the crowd is movng - no need for words. The other scene is a lounge singer also singing but with tears and sorrowful sound as if she lost her lover; this shot reminded me of a scene in David Lynch's Mullholland Dr.. Unfortunately these glimmers are lost in the drool, dogmatic, repetitive pattern of the film. One feels numb and drowsy afer the moral lashing being given to westerners, particularly the U.S.. For those who just can't get enough guilt over how we've exploited third world countries, go at it. For everyone else, skip this lecture.

preceded by
INNOCENCE
Arnaud Gautier, France, 2005, 11 min.
Two little girls, faces hidden behind goggles and a mask, struggle in a war-scarred landscape fighting over a loaf of bread. Theimageryy isapocalypticc graphic novel inspired and the dream-like sequence of events is captivating.

Day 3 of the NYFF

Today was a full film day at the New York Film Festival. While some may say, "Egad!" this is rather light compared to midnighter weekend days at SIFF when I could get in seven films in one day! I think that is my record.

AUGUST DAYS
Director: Marc Recha , Country: Spain, Release: 2006, Runtime: 93 min.
Travel journal to sleep by

This hybrid of diary documentary and retrospective musings by Marc Recha can be both soothing, slightly ominous, but unfortunately mostly boring. Recha attempts to recapture the cathartic summer trip he took with his brother David in the Catalana region of Spain in August Days. We follow a series of vignettes as the brothers, playing themselves, move from one lake reservoir to a park to a river area. Recha shows off his technical ability to mix all sorts of techniques, blending minimalistic dialog, voiceover, photo montages, and a heavy overuse of nature and window-traveling shots. After about the sixth framing of wind rustling leave or grass I was almost sleeping. Getting inspired and overcoming writers block is a well-trod theme and one could argue that this is a new take on it. I did, however, like the shots and droning white noise used when filming the man-made structures as they impose themselves on the water. And the curious in me why he included a scene of himself walking naked down a dirt road with a bag tied to his penis. Ah, those naked-loving Europeans! I prefer less technical bravado and more story, especially if all that production value has the same results as a good lullaby.

LITTLE CHILDREN
Director: Todd Field , Country: USA, Release: 2006, Runtime: 136 min.
Wisteria Lane meets The Safety of Objects

Little Children opens with clocks and Hummel figurines. Field is careful to get little details like this right so you quickly feel and related to all the characters in this riveting ensemble melodrama based on the book by Tom Perotta. Quickly we are exposed to many intriguing folks in the suburban surrounding of a typical American community where family values and neighborhood judgments are quickly and brutally bandied about. There is the pack of supermoms who reign over the playground. Sarah (Kate Winslet) unfortunately doesn't quiet seem to fit in with this crowd, unable to achieve either perfect parenting skills or a true attachment to her own child. Then there is the Prom King, Brad (Patrick Wilson), the sexy dad who brings his son to the playground and becomes a fantasy ideal for mom pack. His wife (Jennifer Connelly) seems perfect, but Brad seems stuck in his lack of career aspirations. Then there is Larry (Noah Emmerich), a retired cop with pent up anger, Ronnie (Jackie Earl Haley), the ex-con who likes exposing himself to children, his mother (Phyllis Somerville), and several other imperfect souls who struggle to rise above their urges, anger, lust, and other disturbing and exhilaration emotion they confront. While one could vicariously watch some characters give into their secret longing and narcissistic ways, Fields and Perotta smartly pull out the larger traits we have as a country - the hypocrisy, judgementalism, selfishness, need for gratification, and our insatiable longing for more. Choices are all around them but more often than not, the secrets behind closed doors take precedent over doing the right thing. Fields shows great sensitivity in portraying flawed people with sympathy. Sarah's infidelity and detachment as a mother seem relatable and understandable. Brad's longing to stay youthful forever is understandable as we seem him happy on the football field or watching the skateboarding teens. And remarkably, even Ronnie, the very scary-looking guy with the predilection to public exposure becomes sympathetic through the eyes of his mother. All this heady drama is wonderfully buoyed with the searing comedic insights, particularly with the narrative voice-over (Will Lyman of Frontline fame) tells us what is unsaid in the character's minds. There is a fine balance with keeping the good elements of childhood without giving into the immature and self-indulgent cravings. This reminded me of lyrics in an Everything but the Girl song:

You spend four nights a week now looking for your inner child.
What you gonna say when you find him?
Suppose you don't like him or he doesn't like you?
Suppose once you wake him up he won't go back to bed and wants to stay up late watching TV?

There is a big difference in being child-like and childish. Field so marvelously balances the complex struggles in daily life, balancing fantasy with reality, while adding humor as we peek behind closed doors at the secrets we all suppress. His film In The Bedroom showed how he can truly capture the intimacy with his cast and he delivers this again in Little Children but with more finesse given the challenges of intertwining so many storylines and characters. The results are riveting and entertaining.

THE GO MASTER
Director: Tian Zhuangzhuang, Country: China/Japan, Release: 2006, Runtime: 104 min.
Bobby Fisher on quaaludes

Wu Qingyuan in Chinese but moved to Japan to become the master Go champion of the mid 20th century. This film takes us through the chronological events that affect his life including the war with China, bouts with T.B., the bombing of Hiroshima, joining a Jiko sect that becomes too cultish for comfort, and an accident that affected his ability to play later in life. Sadly the film jumps too abruptly at times and no attempt is made to capture the essence and thrill of what makes Go such an important part of his life and the lives of the Japanese.

preceded by
THE DAY I DIED / EL DIA QUE MORI
Maryam Keshavarz, Argentina/USA, 2005, 15 minutes
Young director Keshavarz shows great promise with this short but ultimately the story was overshadowed with avant-garde musings. Two girls move about their summer days roaming grassy fields, looking up at swaying tree branches, and swimming. They run into the twin brother of one of the girls. He carries a recorder around his neck so we are subjected to the strange dialog coming from the speaker box. While some of these props come across as intriguing in a David Lynch sort of way, overall they pull away from the central concept of transition from child to adolescent teen and the result leaves no room for enjoyment or response, just mild amusement at the few items of absurdity.

WOMAN ON THE BEACH
Director: Hong Sang-soo, Country: South Korea, Release: 2006, Runtime: 127 min.
Sake, sushi, women, and writer's block

Unlike much of the action and gore films being exported from South Korea (which I love), Hong Sang-soo's film Woman On The Beach is a fresh view on how creative men like to find their muse to push their work forward. But as with most cases, the muse is disposable and romantic entanglements are likely to occur. Director Kim heads to the west coast to find some solitude and inspiration when writing his next script. His assistant brings along his girlfriend and a triangular relationship pushes them into some funny and forceful situations. But when the assistant and girl leave, Kim is left to his wanderlust and more difficulties arise when the girlfriend returns. While other directors have tackled this subject with comedy (Woody Allen) or dramatically (Pollock), Hong Sang-soo reflect with Korean pacing and reflection which includes heavy doses of drinking sake and suppressing jealous thoughts. Fortunately drinking, jealousy, men rationalizing bad behavior, and many other characteristics are relatable in every culture. So what do you do when you get stuck? The final scene will give you an answer - look for help from others.

preceded by
A LITTLE BIT UNDER THE WEATHER/LES MATINS
Annick Raoul, France, 2005, 10 min.
A fun, frolic romp through the mind of a timpani player as he tries to get his memories and brainwaves back in synch. He keeps falling asleep, dropping his mallets, loosing his girl, getting yelled at by a bartender, stuck at a toll booth, and various other strange, odd, and comical conditions. My favorite short in the festival thus-far. Of course it helps to have Simon Abkarian in the cast.

Mafioso at NYFF

One of the great privileges of attending good film festivals is the chance to see archival prints on the big screen, with great audiences, usually seeing a new or clean print. Even better, sometimes I come across a little gem of a film I hadn't seen before. Such is the case with the fabulous Italian film Mafioso showing this afternoon at NYFF.

MAFIOSO
Director: Alberto Lattuada
Country: Italy, Release: 1962, Runtime: 99

Antonio Badalamenti (Alberto Sordi) is a detailed and dedicated floor-efficiency employee at a Milan auto metalworks plant. He has traded in his bonus for twelve days of vacation. He's anxious to take his wife and two daughters to his hometown in Sicily. He hasn't been home in over four years. But before he gathers up his family for the trip, he promises to carry a package for his boss to the local patriarch in his town, Don Vicenzo (Ugo Attanasio). When arriving in Sicily, he introduces his Northern, blonde wife, Marta, (Norma Bengell) to the cavalcade of local characters representing Southern Italy. The town has every cliched persona including the black clad nonas and zias, hairy lipped sisters, and wiry old men still scrappy to fight.

Lattuada keeps the humor and local charm alive as he slowly brings in a more distressing element of mob danger. Don Vincenzo soon has his eye on sharp-shooting Antonio for a 'job' he has in mind. But even when the family yanks Antonio into their plans, the director keeps some brief moments of humor to prevent the film from despair. Sordi's face easily moves from jokester to childlike love to scared patsy.

The film themes of North vs. South and honest men vs. the Mafia still resonates today. Northerners still feel like Sicilians are draining the wealth from the industrial and prosperous north with their unemployed youth and the underhanded Dons. Southerners still think of modern northerners as stuck-up and reserved. Perhaps if they took Antonio's advice to his wife to give the relationship some time to get to know each other, Italians would become just a little less distrustful of each other.

This spirited film has charm, allowing one to laugh at the strongest of stereotypes representing the complexity of Italy. Mafioso also pulls in the stronger, but never preachy, message of how getting caught up in 'family' business can haunt you, probably for life. Just watch out for the kiss on the lips.

Mafioso will be re-release in the U.S. in January 2007

Q&A afterward
Lattuada's wife and actress, Carla Del Poggio, was present to take questions after the film. She was one talkative Italian, animated and verbose. Luckily the interpreter was very thorough and took notes to keep up. She was able to wax nostalgically about the two composers who worked on the film - Piero Piccioni and Nino Rota- who each brought jazz/moderninity and classical compositions to the two worlds of Mafioso. Humorously, Del Poggio knew some English since she corrected the translator when he described some of the music as classical when she was articulating lyricism. On and on she talked about her husband's eclectic work, collaboration with Dino De Laurentiis and Sordi. Her father played Don Vicenzo but his dialect had to be dubbed over with Sicilian accent. She was a joy of chatter but I feel a bit slighted since she only signed one person's program before raising her nose high and walking to the exit. And I'm an autograph stalker at film festivals - as long as the restraining orders keep getting lost in the courts.


preceded by
JIMMY BLUE
Joseph Infantolino, USA, 2006, 15 min.
A pathetic New York borough thug gets high in the bathroom while his child waits in the hallway and his wife walks about catatonic. He has a gambling problem and has to rough up his bookie's clientele to make-up for past debts. One call send him to a strip club to smack an old girlfriend about for payment's past due. While the camera work is fancy and the acting suitable, the film falls short of providing anything worth telling again. Sure, the editor has some fun with all the cuts but beyond the technical showmanship on rather low production costs, this film could use a punch or two to bring it to life.

New York Film Festival Opens

Notes from the 2007 New York Film Festival
Mel Peffers

Well, I’ve now been living in New York for over a year, I've decided to really enjoy NYFF. I miss Seattle and my crazy Fool friends. While I didn't get to SIFF this year, I still fondly recall the years of sleep-deprived days trying to squash every movie I could manage into my waking hours. Fortunately having a SIFF Series Pass allowed me to see tons of great films I may otherwise have never seen. Unfortunately, after about film fifty I found myself nodding off during some of the longer days living in dark theaters. The NYFF is SIFF-lite, without the passholder crazy-fun. Miss all my Fool friends; you're never passholes to me :)

This is my second year at NYFF. Frustratingly, I’m forced to pre-order tickets for individual films – no ‘series pass’ options. Last year I picked several films to see – Capote, Cache, Good Night. I was just starting my new job and unfortunately some travel hitches resulted in me missing several films. This year I drooled over the pre-order list, albeit it a small selection compared to the SIFF catalog; heck, they can mail the selection list and order form in a simple envelope! Regardless, this film junkie will happily be stealing away into the dark this year with Lynch, Almodovar, Sofia Coppola, Michael Apted’s “49 Up”, and the South Korean horror film “The Host”. While NYFF will never be as all consuming as SIFF, I think I’ll enjoy the experience and without O.D.ing. But if anyone sees me dozing through my fourth film-of-the-day on Sunday (Woman on The Beach), just smack me with the tiny festival program. I only have 'til October 15th to take it all in. Ah, I can smell the celluloid now! Dang, digital is harder to sniff.

The Queen
Tonight’s 44th New York Film Festival kicked off with The Queen (Stephen Frears). Helen Mirren does a superb job playing Queen Elizabeth in the two months surrounding the time in England after Princess Diana’s death. Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) was winning over the British people as a young, vibrant Prime Minister for the people. The Queen was struggling in her ivory castle mentality still squarely living in the age where tradition and keeping up stoic appearance were highly valued. While Frears tries to push the story into something engaging and interesting, there just isn’t enough there to warrant anything more than a Movie Of The Week for E! or Lifetime television. The script and director tried to work two main angles. There is the theme about the difficulties of ruling styles - traditional vs. modern - and this theme is shoved down you throght. In scene after scene we see the Queen in her stately castles, roaming the extensive grounds, greeting bowing guests, and moving around servants who scurry about with more obedience than her Corgis. By ontrast we see Blair eatting at home with his kids and wife, plopped on the comfy coucch, and preparing to clean the dirty dishes. Does a P.M. seriously do these sorts of things? The Queen firmly stands by the motto of showing strength with guarded privacy while Blair seeks popularity and connection with his public. The film also over-explores the dynamics of how the press and the public can push rulers into tough and difficult positions. Unfortunately the death of Diana seems like a gimmicky way to bring out these themes in microcosm. Seriously, I just can’t watch the video clip montages of Diana and the mourners going to excess (how many flowers do dead people need?) without thinking how stupid they all are. Obsession over a cause-celeb just seems pathetic to me but Frears treats them, and the ensuing political pandering, with too much reverence. What happened to the wilder director who gave us My Beautiful Launderette? There is only one scenario where there is any emotive, deeper-than-surface connection to the lead character; it takes place in solitude and commune with the nature of her country estate. Remove this element and all you have is a simplistic attempt to forgive those who have the difficult task of trying to please and serve the public at the same time. Helen Mirren is superb in the lead role – guaranteed nomination for an Academy Award. She’s supported with an excellent cast with the glaring exception of James Cromwell as Prince Phillip. "That'll do, Pig."

Scene Review: Frears was there along with the writer, Mirren, and Cromwell, all dressed formally. They paraded out like cattle at a 4H/FFA viewing, not only for the audience but also in the paparazzi chute. Mirren was dressed in a very lovely empire waist silver gown with black webbed straps to accent the bustline. Too bad it was cut so long she had to carry it with both hands to walk anywhere. The result was that it made her look a bit like a giant Hershey's Kiss. She did a nice Queen wave. Frears was dressed formally but with fabu Converse tennies in red! At least his feet are still daring and wild.

preceded by
South of Ten
Liza Johnson, USA, 2006, 10 min.
Insignificant but nicely filmed montage of folks in New Orleans roaming through the rubble post-Katrina. The back-and-forth POV to subject shots gets dull about 2 minutes into it and the pattern just repeats.

FYI - for non-southerners, I-10 is THE route from California to Florida. Tons of memories driving the Eastern section from Texas to Florida to see our cousins. Ah, the days of jellyfish stings at the beach near Mobile, the crawfish boils, and oyster po-boys! Don't miss the mosquitos but do miss the key lime pie.