Hello there, Media Babe here!

For those just coming to visit for the first time, welcome! My name is Mimi, but over the years I have garnered the nickname "Media Babe" for my savvy knowledge of movies, good taste, entertaining re-enactments of movie scenes, and colorful summations. For years I've been told that I should write reviews, so here I am ... ummm, writing reviews! My 'credentials' are that I've loved movies of all kinds ever since I was child during the advent of the VCR, I've been working at Scarecrow Video (the coolest video store on the planet!!) for over ten years, and 2009 marks my seventh year working for the Seattle International Film Festival! Needless to say, I love movies and if you're here, then you probably do too!

My current website needs a DRAMATIC (insert hand to forehead here) makeover, so in the meanwhile I'm directing everyone here which is, quite honestly, where all the current stuff is going on anyways! I'm pretty much exclusively watching SIFF movies right now, with today being Day One of the festival! Yaaaaa-aaaay! I try to keep my reviews as spoiler free as much as possible, though if there is something 'spoilerish' that I just MUST rant/rave about, I will put it behind a cut-tag so as not to ruin anything for you purists out there. :-) Please bear in mind that I try to write reviews as soon as possible after seeing a movie and I don't always catch little grammatical errors due to lack of sleep or lack of time. It's not that I don't care, it's just my brain being full of movie still, or the tap running a bit too fast and messy in my eagerness to get it out on the 'page' as it were. ;-)

Thanks for visiting! I hope that you find my reviews helpful, informative and, most of all, enjoyable to read.

Happy movie watching to you all!!

Last night I went to see the music 'documentary' This Might Get Loud. I should probably preface this with the fact that I am something of a thwarted musician myself. I love music, I love making music, but I don't have the knack for writing it. Musicians who can just make music off the top of their heads is probably about as amazing to me as I am to people who don't know how to draw. But since the love is there, I've discovered that I love watching films about music and musicians. More importantly, I like to see these on the big screen. I don't know if it's because the sound system is so much better than my crappy TV speakers at home, if the size of the people makes it feel more real and immediate, but there is definitely a greater sense of inclusion and 'being there' that I get in the theater versus at home.

This movie is pretty much just fabulous. Three infamous guitarists of different ages, different backgrounds, and different musical temperaments meet to talk about playing guitar, their roots, their inspirations, their styles, and to make music together. Yet despite these differences Jimmy Page (Led Zeppellin), The Edge (U2), and Jack White (White Stripes) still have so much in common. They have the same love for music of all different kinds, the same passion for creating music and sharing it, they have the same struggles and uncertainties, the same question of 'do I make music or do I just play an instrument?', and despite all their differences of style and personality, they come together so easily, respecting each other and jamming with each other.

Jimmy Page is quite beautiful, a clearly happy and contented man who has led the life that he's wanted to, still making music, still appreciating music, filled with a quiet sort of strength and a delight in what he does and still brilliantly talented. His positive, calm energy is quite contagious. I found my lips curling into a smile every time his did. The Edge is a musician who was first all about stripping his music down, making chords pure and honest and then, in later years, about using technology to create complex, overlapping, unique sounds that no guitar on it own could make. Jack White was the dark horse for me in all this (I was unfamiliar with him and his music), and definitely the rebel of the group. Looking like Johnny Depp's younger cousin from Benny & Joon, Jack loves the purity of music; the grittier it is the better. He loves old beat up instruments and played a $150 guitar during the set, compared to Edge and Jimmy's $1,000+ guitars. I have to say that Jack was the one who caught my attention the most. I loved his down-to-earth, slightly sardonic attitude, and his mid-western musical roots and simplicity. Right off the bat he makes a 'guitar' out of a piece of wood, some nails, a wire, a Coke bottle, and some electronic connectors and comments, "Who needs to buy a guitar?" His inspiration comes from the challenges that he sets up for himself. He goes out of his way to make music something that he has to struggle for, whether it's taking a crappy guitar made out of plastic and playing the very heart out of it, or seeking to make music that makes no apologies for its crudeness and simplicity - that in fact wins the audience over because its purity overcomes all flaws.

The selection of these musicians was really quite perfect, each representing an age, a point of development, in an ongoing progression of becoming a musician, creating music, and discovering what it is that you want to make in this world. It is a constant growth that you can see never ends, not even when success and fame have been attained. Watching these three men together, hearing and seeing their stories through photos, old concert footage, and their own words, was a pure delight. It was the most perfect and intimate form of sharing information, like a music jam for the whole audience, where everyone got to be a part of the passion that sparked within and was emitted from each of these incredibly talented musicians. There is no 'might' about it - this movie is great.

HOLY CRAP! Okay, so first off, if you have any interest in science fiction this movie is a MUST SEE. And honestly, if you have any interest in really well made, incredibly messed up and intense movies then this movie is a MUST SEE!! What works to its advantage the most is the way that it looks - gritty, dirty, crude, and rough. Despite the aliens, the science fiction aspect of it, it doesn't have an ounce of slickness to it - it looks very real and believable. The attention to detail is astonishing, the story is gripping and intense, and the acting is really quite impressive. I'm not going to give you a sum up of the film, even outline the plot line, because really you're better off going in knowing as little as possible. I did have some issues with some basic core facts that are quickly outlined at the beginning of the film, but are never explained. It's not that I need or even want every detail to be explained, but they are plot points that by the end of the film feel like potential plot holes that force the situation necessary for the film to happen, but potentially cripple the final story by being illogical. I will warn you that this is not a nice film. It is very violent, often quite gross, and there is a lot of squickfulness going on all over the place. I also would recommend taking dramamine before seeing it if you have any problems with motion-sickness. The beginning is all done as a documentary with lots and lots of shaky cam. I found myself breathing quite hard, as if I couldn't get enough oxygen. At first I thought it was because the film was just that intense and gripping (which it is!) but later I realized that my body was trying to fight the nausea that all the shaky camera work was inspiring. Fortunately as the film progresses we move away from documentary mode and enter 'actual events' mode, which brings in a great deal more steady cam. Whew!

It's interesting, because I'm not sure I want to see the movie again. Parts of it were rather hard to watch, both visually and contextually. On the other hand, I can't rightly remember how many times I pumped my fist in the air and softly hissed, "Yeah!" or "Fuck yeah!" or "Sweet!". At least five times. Maybe ten.

Man, I feel like this review really sucks - I want to say more but I just don't want to give anything away and in a way I feel a bit dazed, still processing what I saw and what happened, what worked and what I have questions about. It's a thought provoking film on multiple levels - story, visuals, effects, and character development ... not to mention the oft mentioned parallels to the whole apartheid situation.

Damn. Maybe I'll try again later to write something more coherent.

So I just found out today that the SIFF Screeners are available to be borrowed. Hooray! So I couldn't have done any SIFF movies before now anyways, cause they wouldn't have been available!

I'm toying with the idea of doing a Movie Night this coming Saturday, but I'm not sure. It's going to be a very packed weekend as it is, so I don't know if people would be interested or not. If you are interested in doing a Movie Night this Saturday, June 27th, speak now or forever hold your peace. ;-)

( Here is the list of the screeners, put behind the cut tag because LOOOOOOOOOOONG! I've marked movies that I've already seen in italics, movies I know I'm planning to borrow in bold, just FYI. )

Naturally if I do this, I cannot guarantee what movies I'll be able to grab, but I'll do my best. I was thinking that I would announce 4 or 5 potential films and then make another announcement when I've actually got the movies in hand.

So if you're interested in doing some movies this weekend, let me know! And if you have any in particular that you're interested in seeing, also let me know. :-)

Did you miss some of the movies this year at SIFF? You must have, because there were more than could be seen no matter how many movies and press screenings you attended! Per usual, Scarecrow has a lovely assortment of them now available for your viewing pleasure. Per usual, if the movie is only available in some odd format, it will be duly noted. Support your local video store! Three cheers for Scarecrow Video!! :-)

The Admiral
The Adventures of Robin Hood
Le Amiche
The Bear
Beast Stalker
La Cienaga
Cliente (aka French Gigolo) (Code 2)
The Conversation
The Country Teacher
Daytime Drinking (Code 3)
Il Divo (Code 2)
Dodsworth
Eldorado
In Your Absence
Forever Enthralled
The Great Race
Hansel & Gretel (Code 3)
Kabei - Our Mother (Code 2)
Katia's Sister (Code 2)
Miao Miao
Mother's at the Hairdressers
North Face (Code 2)
Nurse, Fighter, Boy
Once Upon a Time in the West
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies (PAL Code 2)
Quiet Chaos
Sniper
So Long at the Fair (PAL Code 2)
Spring Breakdown
Bruce Springsteen
Still Walking (Code 2)
Summer Hours (Code 2)
Sunset Boulevard
Tears of April (Code 2)
The Third Man
This Charming Girl (Code 3)
Wallace & Gromit - Master of Loaf and Death (Code 2)
Warlords (Code 3)
West of Pluto
White Night Wedding (PAL)
Woman Under the Influence
Yes, I can See Dead People (Code 3)

SIFF is OVER! WHAAAA-AAAAA-AAAA!

I am bummed. Bum, bum, bummed. There is the Best of SIFF next weekend but, sadly, it's not much of what I consider the 'best' of SIFF. :/ There's a few films I might check out, but not a whole lot. Details of what will be showing can be found here, though it's a bit buggy at the moment.

I managed to break my record this year by a much higher margin than expected. 79 films last year, 93 films this year. I guess that means I'll need to aim for 100 next year? Scary.

Right now I'm mostly trying to decide whether or not to go to the Staff Wrap party which starts in 2 minutes and runs till dawn. I'm awake, but not really sure if I want to go. In the past I have found that I hardly know anyone who is there and end up feeling kinda bored and out of my element. I'm just not a big 'party' person, I don't drink, and as such I feel a bit like the odd-woman out under such circumstances. Hmmmmm. On the other hand, I kinda feel like if I don't go, I'm not being a team player or something weird like that. Not that anyone probably actually cares though, right? It would be nice to bring someone with me, but the one person I thought would like to go needed sleep. A bummah, but more than reasonable for someone who actually has to work the next morning.

Waffle, waffle, waffle. The coin tells me to go (flipped it three times) but apathy is telling me to stay.

Sorry more short reviews! I would have waited till tomorrow morning to write them, but there is one movie that you need to know about ASAP! So here they are. :-)

North - A wickedly subtle and funny dark comedy about an ex-skier who suffers from depression and anxiety that despite these conditions goes on a off-the-road road trip through frozen wastelands to visit his ex-wife and son. Brilliant use of music, silence, with deliciously dry and deadpan acting and humor. Highly recommended.

Forever Enthralled - Lavish, epic, period, and pretty dang fabulous. The movie is quite long, but I was well entertained for the full length of it. Beautiful costumes, some really incredible acting and the Peking Opera is, in a word, fascinating. Men playing women! Women playing men! Fascinating look at the history of the time as well, which I have only recently been learning about.

Fifty Dead Men Walking - Wow. This film is FABULOUS. Haven't decided yet if I think it is the best film of the festival, but it is easily in the top four or five. It is based on the true story of Martin, an Irishman who chooses to infiltrate the IRA and spy on them from the inside in the hopes of saving lives. This decision does not come easily, stands in the face of his community and family, and throughout he struggles with the role he has chosen to play, whether it is right or wrong. The film is dramatic, arresting, engaging, and incredibly intense. Most of all, though, it feels very real, very true to the times, the situation, with every detail lovingly and carefully attended to in order to make the film as authentic as possible. The cinematography is perfect, with a subtle sense of artistic menace and tension that never becomes greater than the story being told or taking center stage to the action. The accents are at times hard to understand (more a problem with the theater's sound system I think) but it does not interfere in your ability to understand what is going on. Jim Sturgess' and Ben Kingsley's performances are nothing short of brilliant. I cannot recommend this film enough. It is so good that I am actually thinking of seeing the second showing of it on Sunday. Be sure that you don't miss it!!

Il Divo - Starts off great! Stylish cinematography, excellent use of music and editing, fascinating character, a theatrical presentation of his story with affected lighting and composition - but it doesn't manage to grow from there. Having a greater knowledge of the politics would probably have helped, but as it is character after character is introduced and there is talking, talking, talking all throughout the middle, but a dramatic dearth of the action from the beginning, save when they show you the same shots over again, but with far less cleverly designed impact. It started off as a solid 4 and dwindled down to a 3. What a pity. Still, I'm glad that I saw it.

I just noticed that the review I put up for the Closing NIght film, OSS 117: Lost in Rio got removed from the SIFF website. Wu oh. Hopefully I'm not in trouble with the film festival now. I had debated on whether or not I should have put up a review ... guess I made the wrong choice there. :/

I'm am full of the sleepy, so just some real quickies which I'll flesh out later.

Kimjonglia - Interesting documentary that pitted brutally tragic interviews with North Korean refugees with snippets of North Korean propoganda films, images, and events. I felt it really could have used some fleshing out, but the director seemed to want to really focus down on the experiences of the escapees. Would make a good double feature with State of Mind, which does a much better job of showing how most North Korean's view their country and their lives.

Swimsuit Issue - Totally funny and charming film about a bunch of guys who turn a bachelor party joke into a serious bid for men's synchronized swimming at the World Cup in Berlin. Though it was pretty predictable most of the time, it was full of wry, good-natured humor and made me laugh lots and feel good. Not brilliant or wickedly clever, but a solidly enjoyable film.

Well SIFF is almost over and my feelings are very mixed. Part of me is grateful, been feeling very burnt out, and part of me is sad, because, well MOVIES! I LOVE MOVIES! What's a girl to do?

Well, one thing I'm going to do is do the SIFF IS DEAD, LONG LIVE SIFF! parties where I will show as many SIFF screeners for films that I missed and wanted to see that I can. VOTE EARLY, VOTE OFTEN! for any films that you are specifically interested in seeing again or for the first time!

The second thing I'll be doing is watching a large number of Magic Realism movies as a favor to Mr. Magic Realism (Bruce Taylor) who runs a Magic Realism website that is woefully behind in its movie reviews. If anyone is interested in seeing Magic Realism movies, let me know and I'll make them Movie Parties as well. :-)

SIFF is also going to be doing a Best of Fest event from June 19th-21st. No announcements yet as to what will be playing, but this could be a great chance to see some movies that I missed on the big screen. Yay!

And then of course there is just a lot of general movie catching up to do. In looking at what iS playing around I want to see Up of course, Sunshine Cleaning, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, Night at the Museum 2 - Electric Boogaloo, Rudo Y Cursi, and others I'm sure.

Craziness. Okay, catch you guys later. :)

News: For those who missed out on Departures, it is currently playing at the Seven Gables theater ... just FYI. :-) It's a great movie, I highly recommend seeing it if you haven't already. Heck, I may very well go see it again. They've finally announced the TBA movies and while two of them really took me by surprise, I thought Marcello Marcello at the Cinerama was an excellent choice. If you like charming, sweet, romantic, warm-hearted comedies with the gorgeous setting of Italy, well, then you should see this movie. Nothing particularly deep or astonishing, but an exceedingly well-made, well paced film that is a delight in every way.

Changes: I picked up work on Friday (siiiiiiigh) so my schedule for that day is now slightly changed ...

Here is my schedule for the last three days of SIFF. I fear the ending of the festival. Part of me will be grateful that the madness is over, part of me will be very sad, and part of me will likely go into shock and then massive withdraw. Ugh. That won't be fun. But in the meanwhile ....

Friday, June 12th

* American Primitive - Egyptian - 7:00
* Swimsuit Issue - Egyptian - 9:30

Saturday, June 13th

* Afghan Star - SIFF Cinema - 11:00
or
* North - Uptown - 11:00 (more likely North, as I could use something funny for a change)
* Forever Enthralled - Cinerama - 3:00
* Fifty Dead Men Walking - Uptown - 6:30
* Il Divo - Cinerama - 9:15

Sunday, June 14th

* Home - SIFF Cinema - 1:00
? Kaifeck Murder - Harvard Exit - 4:30
or if I don't see it on Friday ...
? Pain in the Ass - Uptown - 4:30
* Troubled Water - Uptown - 7:00
? The Overbrook Brothers - Pacific Place - 9:15 (I think it sounds stupid and awful, but it has all 5's for reviews ... hmmmmmm)
or
? Manhole Children - SIFF Cinema - 9:00
or
? Summer - Uptown - 9:30
or maybe I won't see anything at all and go to the Closing Night party ... or maybe I'll go see something like Up. ;-) As you can see, I'm not deeply excited by any of the choices really ...

Not a very inspiring final weekend, I must say. Seems like most of the really good movies happened in the first week and half this year.

My most excellent Venue Manager Wathana just brought me chocolates from the W! Dilettante chocolates if I'm guessing right! YAY! Sooooooo delicious!

Nothing important to say really. I'm working on transferring reviews to the SIFF site and fleshing out some of the picos and I finished fleshing out Day, ummm, Day 17? Something like that. You can find it here if you're interested. ;-)

And yes, yet again, no regular screenings for me today, only press screenings! Oooh la la!

Hachiko: A Dog's Tale - This movie is just about a simple as you can possibly get. There is no depth here. NONE! What there is emotionalism. Lots and LOTS of emotionalism. The cynics out there will likely find it ridiculously sentimental and scoff at its almost syrupy non-story. You sentimental sops out there (and here I am, raising my hand and showing my membership card) are going to want to bring Kleenex. Lots and LOTS of Kleenex. Cause you're gonna cry. Like, a lot. I did! Sobbed like a baby! This movie doesn't just pull on your heartstrings, it rips them out of your chest and tosses them on the ground and then stomps on them a whole bunch. Sadly though, there doesn't seem to be any actual ... plot. When the movie starts it's pretty much all about the OMG! SLAIN! BY! CUTENESS! But what little bits might actually be plotty and meaningful (Why is the wife so reluctant for her husband to adopt this dog? What was the story with 'Luke'?) are left unexplored entirely, and the rest of the characters involved seem to have very simple, almost two-dimensional lives where nothing except the ordinary and expected seems to happen. The dog is naturally wonderful and charming, but I was surprised at how little the humans did for the dog once it begins its daily vigil for his master. It seemed, in many ways, very peculiar and unrealistic. Whereupon I discovered that this true story never took place in America, but instead in Japan back in 1924! This places the story in a far more appropriate cultural context, one that really doesn't quite ring true for an American setting. This film is based on the 1987 Japanese film called Hachikō Monogatari which I really think I'd like to see now, just to compare the differences. It's sweet, it's a beautiful if at times painfully sad story, and there is some playful filming going on (the perspective of Hachi, for example, is filmed in near black & white) but mostly it's just a film to make you go "Awwwwww-wwwww!"

Every Little Step - If you loved A Chorus Line, then you need to see this movie. If you love musicals, you need to see this movie. If you have any interest or curiosity in how musicals and theater is made, how the audition process works, and just what it means to be a dancer, a singer, a performer, this is definitely a movie to see. Ironically I have never seen A Chorus Line in person. I've sung many of the songs, I saw the movie, but I never had the chance to see it live. This is almost better than that though - it's seeing the actual chorus line process for A Chorus Line. It was fascinating to meet the different people involved, from those who created the original to those trying out for the revival. It was a surprise to me just how much work was involved paring down from and open casting call of thousands to just 16 parts, the process taking eight months in total. It was intriguing to see how different performers approached the characters differently, finding the ones that seemed perfect to you and then waiting to see if the directors and creators would make the same choices or not. The most powerful moment of the film however was the audition process for the character of John, whose story is one of the most intense and emotional. Actor after actor was tried, all of them falling far short of the necessary performance and then there was Jason Tam. OMG. His performance is nothing short of extraordinary, the panel of judges brought to tears as I was. Just ... wow. It's a really great film, if the topic is of interest to you, with wonderful archival footage and photographs and a real up-close and personal look at the creation of this groundbreaking musical.

No regular screenings yesterday, but I did see three press screenings!

Unmistaken Child - Though slow and at times long, this is a gentle and fascinating film about the search for a reincarnated Lama taken on by his assistant and long-term companion monk. I applaud the filmmakers for allowing the story to tell itself, for placing no bias, judgment, or opinions upon the situation, the people, or their beliefs. The young monk is nervous at the responsibility being placed upon him because he is not a Buddha, and as such he does not think he will be capable of recognizing a Buddha, being a higher spiritual being than he is. It is a interesting and complex search, based on divination, intuition and object recognition. It reminds me of a teacher I had from Nigeria who when questioned about the Yoruba religion and why people believed in it replied, "If it didn't work, then people why would people believe?" Clearly the Buddhist beliefs regarding reincarnation work; whether truly through the divine or through determination and faith creating a reality is up to the viewer to decide for themselves. A very simple film, a very simple story, but still I found it quite captivating. Just make sure you're not too sleepy when you start watching it. I noticed that I was feeling very dozy once it was over.

In Your Absence - This movie is very beautiful and lush, with long lingering shots over sun glazed fields and hills, dramatically spiced with red and white flowers, drowning in oceans of purple-blue flowers, with lovingly upward glances into wind ruffled tree branches. Sadly pretty landscapes do not make for a quality film. Only the characters of Pablo and the stranger can act in this movie it seems and the story that they are forced to slog through is long, tedious, and obvious. Even more annoying, it's one of those movies where only a ridiculous line of coincidences leads up to its traumatic and "shocking" end ... which didn't shock me at all. It only managed to bore and irritate me. Much of the film is also just stupid. People making stupid choices, doing stupid things, so much so that you just want to smack them all on the head. People being petty, people being nasty, and naturally the two fairly decent people in the tale take the brunt of the damage of it. It also goes absolutely nowhere, with a beginning and matching ending that you think is going to be somehow meaningful but in the end only serves as an ugly and pointless framework to the actual story being told. Yawwwwwwwwwwn!

Buddenbrooks - If you like lavish historical pieces, filled with exquisitely beautiful costumes, a decent if slightly dysfunctional family, high drama told through a layer of subduing manners, and an examination of a family over time and three generations, then you've come to the right movie. It's perfectly excellent in every way that it needs to be, but it didn't quite win over my heart. This is mostly because there are so many characters involved, with no one being the main focus of the teller of the story, you don't get to know anyone terribly well. This is unfortunate but inevitable when you try to take a massive and complicated story and fit it into two hours ... well, two hours and twenty minutes. Something has to go by the wayside and often it is a deep sense of who the characters are. That said, the actors do an excellent job of making each of their characters accessible and distinctive, each with their own problems, viewpoints, and sense of duty. I just found myself wanting to know something more. I also wanted to know more about certain characters who disappear only to return quite dramatically changed, like the brother Christian. You sense that there is a story there in and of itself, something that perhaps happened to him, that is never revealed thus making it difficult for you to empathize with his wild ways. Sister Toni is probably the most accessible to the audience, her sacrifices and disappointments many, yet her spirit remains strong. In the end a very pretty film to watch with many interesting, if not particularly fascinating or exciting, things going on, but it doesn't have quite the depth I would like nor did it touch my heart and make me feel for this once great family dwindling into decline.

Boy am I ever losing steam. Urge to write reviews is pretty much nil at the moment, but still I will press on! Press! Press! My apologies if they, well, stink. Yesterday was Day 19, skipped press screenings in the morning which apparently was too bad - I heard that Home and North were both good. Siiiiiiigh. Ah well, you win some you lose some. I did manage to see three films yesterday, and two of them were not the ones I was planning on! Surprise!!

Poppy Shakespeare - This film is good but ... confusing. For one, while it is in English I found the British accents difficult to understand about 30-40% of the time, which means that I surely missed important things. For the other, the story is told from the perspective of the admittedly (literally and figuratively) insane and as such one begins to wonder what is true and what is delusion! This creates a viewing experience that is curious and intriguing, but also a trifle frustrating as you, the viewer, want to know what the truth is. While the perspective of the inmates does, tragically, fit the facts of the story best, some of said theories are difficult to swallow and, if true, outright horrific and unforgivable. N has been a lifelong mental patient and currently is enrolled at an outpatient clinic where she must spend her weekdays with the other inmates and therapists. A breath of fresh, and outraged, air blows in one day in the form of Poppy Shakespeare, a gorgeous woman full of confidence and fury as she insists that she is perfectly sane. And thus the uncertainty begins. Poppy does, indeed, seem completely normal and sane and yet you are not sure if there is something that perhaps is hidden, that you the viewer doesn't know yet. N, assigned to assist Poppy, does her best to help the newcomer, but all Poppy wants to do is get out of this place. Ironically, though, she doesn't have the means. For some reason (which I find utterly bemusing) there is no one for her to talk to about why she is there in the first place. She can't afford a lawyer, and the one lawyer who represents such people cannot help her because she doesn't receive Mad money (I kid you not) with which to cover his fees. However, if she fills out the application stating that she is insane then she can get Mad money and hire him to prove that she's ... not insane. Insane, no? And as Kurt Vonnegut said, "Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be." It's an interesting movie, an unusual movie, a funny movie, and a tragic movie. But most of all it is striking because it is one of the few movies that will force you to think. At times it's a bit of a slow and rough ride, but overall well made.

The Girl from Monaco - From seeing the trailer, I had a theory of what this film was going to be about. I was wrong. What is unfortunate is that the movie that I imagined was better than the movie shown. Siiiiigh. What could have been, and should have been, a clever, wicked, and twisty tale of deceit, revenge, and manipulation was nothing more than an airy affair with a peculiar, and somewhat inexplicable, twist. A lawyer defending a woman who has committed a brutal murder is assigned a bodyguard for his protection, supposedly against the questionable family members of the victim. While in Monaco at the trial he meets and falls for a beautiful local weather girl, despite the warnings of his bodyguard against doing so. What follows though is a painful romance of two ill-matched individuals of which the lawyer can't bring himself to quit what he knows is a bad habit. The film is funny, and the lawyer is played with great charm and sweet sort of befuddlement that makes him a most winning character. But the story is just so much less than it could have been and the ending makes, in my humble opinion, little sense. I can understand why the lawyer might feel responsible, and thus makes the choice that he does, but there were clearly other choices, other solutions, available (especially to one versed in the law) that he doesn't seem to take into account, and that just baffled me. It was fun, but it could have been, and should have been, so much more than it was.

The Dark Harbor - This film is not really dark ... more kinda gray. It starts off with great promise of being a charming, slightly surreal, playful little romantic comedy and then someone must have said, "But hey! This movie is called Dark Harbor ... we need some darkness!" Siiiiiigh. I always find it really annoying when someone starts off making one kind of story and then changes it to another, especially when the other story actually ruins the experience of the film. All the whimsical humor and charm pretty much washes down the waterway, vanishing into nothing. A fisherman in a small village full of fishermen desperate for wives is willing to do just about anything for a wife ... and then suddenly there is a complete family hiding in his cupboards. The film is very quiet, but that works for it, the humor often subtle and more about timing and expressions than words.

I think I'm reaching a burning out point right about now. I've had the time to write reviews - skipped all the press screenings today just so I could stay home and chill out and get stuff done around the house. But I just don't feel like writing up reviews today. I'll be working tomorrow, so perhaps I will feel up to writing reviews then between box office rushes. EDIT - finally filled these reviews out!

I ended up changing my mind yesterday as passholders recommended two different films to me very highly - The Secret and The Necessities of Life. Had been planning to see The End of the Line which is also apparently very good, but with all the end of the world, destruction of the ocean documentaries I've seen already I felt okay skipping that one to see on DVD and checking out one of these other films instead. Good choice!

The Necessities of Life - Really lovely, touching, and beautiful film all about a Inuk Inuit being taken away from his wife and daughters during the 1940's because he has tuberculosis, only to end up trapped in a sanatorium with no one who understands him and no one to talk to. As his depression reaches suicidal levels, a compassionate nurse manages to find an Inuk boy who likewise has tuberculosis and has him transferred so the two can keep each other company. Delicate, striking, sweet, tragic, and touching this film is a very gentle exploration of human nature, differing cultures, and the value and importance of human connection. It's a fascinating look at racism, differences in cultures and beliefs, and how people can reach past their differences to find a common ground.

Flame & Citron - Very long, very dark (visually and contextually), and layered story about two infamous patriots struggling against Nazi occupation of Denmark. The film started off great, got slow and a bit cumbersome in the middle, and then picked up dramatically once again toward the end. A compelling and fascinating look at how even those who might be considered the 'good guys' are often just covering their own asses and worried about their personal bottom line. It raises in a very powerful way the question of "Who can you really trust?" as our two patriots struggle between what they are told to do and what they believe is right. Lines between good and bad, turncoat versus double-agent become blurred making the truth something that is nebulous at best sometimes. I particularly liked Flame, the actor both dashingly handsome with his bright red hair and wonderfully bold and dynamic in his persona and performance. Citron is a little harder to get a hold on and his arduous and awkward relationship with his family tends to drag the film down, even if it is contextually important. My one complaint would be that while it is made clear, during the film and at the end, that Flame and Citron were great war heroes, the exact nature of extent of their successes is left unclear. We only see them on a few assignments and it is never said exactly how many collaborators and enemies they actually killed in all or what other acts of heroism they might have performed for their country. One of the most delightful moments, however, is when the story comes full circle from the voice over during the beginning of the film, these words suddenly imbued with much greater personal importance, a particularly powerful sucker punch to the emotional gut.

Well I ended up working on Sunday and only seeing one movie which, unfortunately for me, turned out to be totally NOT my cup of tea.

World's Greatest Dad - For me this is another misnamed film, one that I would like to call World's Worst Movie except for the fact that it wasn't that awful, I have certainly seen far worse movies, but it is such a fun play on the original title. I'm also sure that many people not just liked it, but really liked it. I know of at least one person who did. I recognize that this film was unappealing to me for purely personal reasons. So why, might you ask, did I find this film so distasteful? Well let's see, it starts off with a totally pathetic father and his utterly worthless porn-obsessed son who is beyond disgusting. Think Cartman from South Park and then take away his better qualities and there you go. Heck, if that was my son I think I would have either beaten the crap out of him or disowned him. The father is pretty much an inoffensive loser, with no friends, endlessly rejected manuscripts, teaching an unpopular poetry class. Then disaster strikes this pathetic pair and a series of lies are born, turning a tragedy into treasure. At first the lies are understandable, trying to protect perhaps the reputation of his son and/or himself. But they spiral out of control as everyone in the school, most of whom are fairly annoying and unlikeable people, decide that they want a piece of this angst pie for themselves. It's a film about liars and users, sycophants and manipulators, and I have no interest in those sorts of people or stories. Sure, there were moments that were funny, points where I laughed and enjoyed myself, but I disliked nearly everyone in the film and had absolutely no respect for the father figure. During the screening the bulb in the projector went out, and I nearly got up and left right then, utterly uninterested in watching this house of cards go down with a huge crash when lies stacked upon lies finally became too heavy to hold up their own weight any more. The only kudos I can give it is that in the end the father at least realizes what I had known all along and there is an awkward, but respectable, moment of redemption.

For those who might care, Day 16 reviews are finally full-fledged and can be found here.

I'm working a fair amount this week, so I won't see anything playing regularly on either Wednesday or Thursday, though I should be catching some press screenings. It's a very odd week, full of very iffy movies for me. Hopefully some of them will be good.

Monday the 8th

* The End of the Line - Pacific Place - 5:00
? Kanchivaram - Uptown - 7:00
* Flame & Citron - Uptown - 9:30

Tuesday the 9th

? Fruit Fly - SIFF Cinema - 4:40
or
? Poppy Shakespeare - Harvard Exit - 4:30
* Alisa's Birthday - Pac Place - 7:00
* The Dark Harbor - Harvard Exit - 9:30

Friday the 12th

* The Girl from Monaco - Pac Place - 1:30
* What's On Your Plate? - Pac Place - 4:00
? No idea what to see here - nothing really appeals much
* Swimsuit Issue - Egyptian - 9:30

I saw World's Greatest Dad today. Boy did that ever stink. Totally NOT my cup of tea.

Okay, so it's 2 in the morning and I'm actually thinking of trying to catch an 11 am film tomorrow, which pretty much means that sleep has to happen NOW, so it's pico review time! Per usual, these will get upgraded to full reviews when I get the chance, most likely tomorrow evening. :-)

Black - This replacement for Mesrine is, in short, a wild ride. Part crazy heist gone wrong film and part supernatural voodoo magic film it pretty much just goes all over the map and then some. I really liked it while I was watching it, it just picked me up and rushed me along like a runaway river rafting expedition. In retrospect, however, I recognize that it is riddled with flaws. Some people who wanted just the heist film or something more cohesive were less than impressed. There could have been a better connection between the two concepts, I have to agree. It's a bit like two different movies in one film. They probably would have done better if they had made it either purely a caper film (which is the predominant and strongest plot line) or integrated the supernatural aspects more thoroughly throughout, such that each plot was strengthened, rather than weakened by the other. I really don't think I can describe the film better than SIFF did so I'm just going to quote what they wrote here. It's what made me see this film after all. ;)

"A funky riff on the theme music from 2001: A Space Odyssey opens Black, a new crime thriller from France. The catchy redux leads to a bank robbery that goes quickly awry, a maniacal, island-dwelling millionaire who’s slowly turning into a snake, a volatile and crazy Russian general, witches, witch doctors, bare Nubian breasts, gunfire, machete-wielding wrestlers, and two antiheroes imbued with cat powers who dress up like the members of an African Kiss tribute band."

Melodrama Habibi - This was another replacement film, one which had already shown twice in the festival. Personally, I was having a hard time understanding why they showed it twice to begin with, let alone a third time. Surely they had an actually good movie that they could have shown again?? It tells the story of a washed up singer, a one-hit wonder, who now works in a hotel. His career is shot, his voice is shot, and his love-life is shot. A rich woman in Lebanon, however, remembers him dearly and for her birthday her husband brings this singer over to perform. But then random and rather pointless events occur - said wife is 'accidentally' kidnapped, her manicurist ends up having to babysit said singer (whose song also a profound effect on her life), and said singer claims that he never ever played in Lebanon in the first place and it, in short, a total wet blanket. The film is random and illogical, funny in brief bursts but more often just sort of tedious and pointless, and while his trip reinvigorates all of the main characters, you just don't really care for the most part. What a disappointment.

Black Dynamite - This was pure black gold! Both an homage and a spoof of blaxploitation films, it runs the gamut from amazing to ludicrous and is pretty much hilarious all the way through. A total funktastic blast! I do have to say that I liked it best when it was more of an homage, with loving attention paid to every detail from the clothes, the music, the dialog, the characters, the kung-fu (Oh God, yes, the kung-fu), and most hilarious of all the on purpose low-budget film styling and blunders, like boom mikes showing, car chases with rear projection, repeated special effects, and continuity errors galore. When Black Dynamite's little brother is killed fighting drugs on the street, he takes up the cause of trying to clean out the smack that the white man has been polluting his community with. But he realizes over time that things are for more insidious than that and that if he is going to save his fellow black man from a fate worse than death, he is going to have to take it all the way up to the top! The end of the film as I said becomes more parody, which wasn't as funny to me as the rest, but once the ideas and sources of what they were specifically parodying was made clear, I could understand where they were going with it and why. I still think that it goes too far and reduces the over-all excellence of the film, but it was still ten pounds of fun in a five pound bag. The film has been picked up by Sony, so keep your eyes out for it!

So a number of people have been telling me that I write really well and that they enjoy my movie reviews. This is getting me thinking that maybe I should take a stab at doing this semi-professionally. I've had this thought often over the years, but low self-esteem, modesty, and a lack of knowledge as to how one goes about doing such a thing have kept me from trying.

But now I'm seriously thinking of trying and seeing what happens.

What seems logical to me is to start by looking into some of the local free papers and seeing if they would be interested in having me write for them, most likely for free at first, but perhaps over time for money? The Stranger and The Seattle Weekly naturally come to mind first, but I'm wondering if anyone has any other papers they would recommend or other suggestions on what might be the best way to go about this?

Thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions. :-)