Film Festival Circuit 2006

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Grimfarrow
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:35 am
Location: Hong Kong

#51 Post by Grimfarrow » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:07 am

So sad that I'm not attending VIFF this year. It will be the first time in 3 years that I didn't attend...and on Tony Rayns' final year too! What a shame...

Martha
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 8:53 pm
Location: all up in thurr

#52 Post by Martha » Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:37 am

Ok, I haven't posted in about 1000 years, but I'm moved to post my list by the love here for Rescue Dawn. I'm a Herzog maniac and it was one of the films I liked least of the 25ish I saw. I think I'm still depressed about, actually. (All my reviews are here, if anyone cares. Trust me, a link is better than having to listen to me explain my reactions.)

Stuff I loved:
The Lives of Others
Zindane: A 21st Century Portrait
As the Shadow
The Way I Spent the End of the World

Really liked:
Rain Dogs
The Dog Pound
12:08 East of Bucharest
This is England
DarkBlueAlmostBlack
Beauty in Trouble
Lights in the Dusk

Liked:
Prague
Shortbus
The Italian
The Journals of Knud Rasmussen

Disappointing:
Rescue Dawn
The Caiman
Time

Actively Disliked:
One to Another
The Bothersome Man
Born and Bred (after the first 10 minutes)

Doug Cummings
Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2004 2:48 pm
Location: Los Angeles
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#53 Post by Doug Cummings » Wed Sep 27, 2006 11:13 pm

Loved:
Still Life & Dong
Colossal Youth
Hamaca Paraguaya
Climates
Woman on the Beach
Times and Winds
Syndromes and a Century
Offside

Liked:
Wavelengths 2
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone
When the Levees Broke
Bamako
Belle Toujours
Fantasma
Manufactured Landscapes
Khadak (The Colour of Water)
The Pervert's Guide to Cinema
Ten Canoes
12:08 East of Bucharest
Requiem

So-So:
Remembering Arthur
The Missing Star
The Host
Blindsight
Coeurs
Lights in the Dusk

Poor:
Day Night Day Night
Red Road
Roads of Kiarostami

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
Location: Vancouver

#54 Post by franco » Sat Sep 30, 2006 12:34 pm

The screening of Offside last night received the loudest cheers and clappings that I have ever heard. I am tempted to say that it's my favorite film of the year, but I shall wait for the others.

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
Location: Vancouver

#55 Post by franco » Tue Oct 03, 2006 3:55 am

Talking to David Bordwell, Ho Yu-hang, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul made me feel as though I were dreaming. Awesome people! So friendly and approachable. I wonder whether we still get to meet them after Tony's retirement from VIFF.

Grimfarrow, I guess if you were here, you'd be hanging out with them.

I'll join the people who consider Still Life and Syndromes and a Century the two best movies of 2006, although I shall add Rain Dogs to the list as well.

Grimfarrow
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Location: Hong Kong

#56 Post by Grimfarrow » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:10 am

I'm sure Yuhang and Pi Joei are sick of me after Venice anyways ;)

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
Location: Vancouver

#57 Post by franco » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:16 am

If you were here then I'd get your autograph too :D

John Torres was also present. I shall give his first feature Todo Todo Teros a try. He's also quite an awesome chap.

Grimfarrow
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Location: Hong Kong

#58 Post by Grimfarrow » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:19 am

Haha, why? All I am is just a professional schmoozer ;)

But I'm happy to be in the credits of SYNDROMES though!

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
Location: Vancouver

#59 Post by franco » Tue Oct 03, 2006 4:20 am

Gah! I missed that. I guess I wouldn't be doing a good job locating your name anyway, since I don't know what it is :)

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
Location: Vancouver

#60 Post by franco » Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:47 am

Movies I Loved:

Still Life
Offside
Woman on the Beach
Rain Dogs
Syndromes and a Century
Men at Work

Movies I enjoyed:

The Host
Dong
Garpastum
12:08 East of Bucharest
I Don't Want to Sleep Alone

Movies I appreciated:

Big Bang Love, Juvenile A
Old Joy
Hamaca Paraguaya

Disappointment:

Climates

Abomination:

Ten Canoes

Walk-outs:

Colossal Youth
Love for Share
From Afar
Todo Todo Terros
Last edited by franco on Sun Oct 15, 2006 3:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

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John Cope
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 5:40 pm
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#61 Post by John Cope » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:44 am

Okay, franco, you've succeeded in tantalizing me. What motivated you to walk out of Colossal Youth?

Also, what didn't you like about Todo Todo Terros?

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
Location: Vancouver

#62 Post by franco » Fri Oct 13, 2006 2:29 am

John Cope wrote:What motivated you to walk out of Colossal Youth?
Seeing David Bordwell walk out after an hour! :D

On a more serious note, I am definitely not the right audience for Colossal Youth. I talked to David afterwards, and he felt the same way. The subjective reason is that I prefer movies that are less raw, less simplistic, and more visually pleasant.

Pedro mentioned prior to the screening that he intended to make those in front of the camera as important as those behind it. The charm of Colossal Youth is that the actors seem to be acting out their own movie. Nevertheless, there was a huge gap between them and me; it didn't get smaller as the movie progressed, no matter how hard I tried. Eventually I decided there were more fruitful things to do than forcing myself at a spot of discomfort. Actually, I never expected myself to like Colossal Youth due to my lack of interest in slum movies (unless they involve charming prostitutes or Mira Nair's direction).

You shouldn't be tantalized by my juvenile comments, John! People have different tastes and expectations. (Well, I guess we both like L'Intrus)

As for Todo Todo Terros... did you see the movie? What the hell was that!?

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Don Lope de Aguirre
Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:39 pm
Location: London

#63 Post by Don Lope de Aguirre » Sun Oct 22, 2006 4:18 pm

Franco can you, please, explain why Climates was so disappointing (if you can without giving away the plot)?

I was meant to be watching the film tomorrow at the LFF but I can't due to work commitments. I'll now have to wait until February when it's released in the UK... :cry:

This is one of the films I have most been looking forward to. I has got strong reviews and the trailer looks sublime:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG6S0hgE_WE

What was the problem?

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franco
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 7:32 pm
Location: Vancouver

#64 Post by franco » Tue Oct 24, 2006 1:49 am

Sorry for the late reply! Well, I am quite a troll when it comes to constructive criticism, so I procrastinated, out of fear for embarrassment.

Climates is my most anticipated film of the year. Perhaps I mounted so high with my expectation, and the only feasible outcome was to fall low with disappointment.

As you must have read in many places, the first season is absolutely stunning, but then Ceylan executes an abrupt shift in tone and rhythm for the second season. The beautiful mise-en-scene gets replaced by verbal excess and an overwhelming number of shots with people (mostly Ceylan himself) grining at the camera. The contemplative tone is overrun by a sudden and baffling necessity for plot. Nevertheless, the purpose of these deviations becomes clear in the final season, which is probably why some people could forgive the strangeness of the middle section. I, however, can't. The narrative gamble for me simply doesn't pay off.

Like some reviewers wrote, Ceylan tries to portray a universal situation. By doing so, the film becomes overly vague, abstract, and somewhat thoughtless. There's nothing here that we haven't seen before. One could gain more by re-watching La Notte and Eyes Wide Shut. The brief episode with the photographer's wife in Uzak is actually more thoughtful than Climates.

A lot of people claim that this is the best-shot film of the year, but save for the first season, I cannot find anything exciting in the remaining hour. What serviced so much in Uzak looks like recycled film stock here. Finally, there's a blatant homage to Antonioni in the last shot. I am sure it's impressive to some people, but to me, it's "what the fuck!"

Let me know if I should have kept silent.

Doug Cummings
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#65 Post by Doug Cummings » Mon Dec 18, 2006 2:18 pm

I'm not sure why last year's thread is locked, but I thought I'd start a new one for the upcoming fest, Jan 4-15, with 254 films from over 73 countries.

Southern Californians know it's the best festival for world cinema anywhere near Los Angeles; a PDF of planned films can be accessed here.

I must say, I've been writing some of the festival's catalogue descriptions, and unless some very notable titles have been dropped at the last minute, this doesn't seem to be a complete list...at least I hope it's not!

Among the highlights: an archival screening of Marketa Lazarova, Tian Zhuangzhuang's The Go Master, and some of my TIFF favs: Bamako, Ten Canoes, Offside, Hamaca Paraguaya, Belle Toujours, and Woman on the Beach. Any other recommendations?
Last edited by Doug Cummings on Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:57 pm, edited 2 times in total.

acquarello
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#66 Post by acquarello » Mon Dec 18, 2006 3:48 pm

Definitely recommend Sisters in Law, Madeinusa, and Quixotic (Honor de Cavelleria). I just saw the latter this past Friday and it's definitely making my top ten list. It's pretty slow though (like Sharunas Bartas speed), so some people are really, really going to hate it. I'm a bit miffed that they cancelled The Education of the Fairies last minute at Spanish Cinema Now. It stars Irène Jacob and Ricardo Darín (of Nine Queens and El Aura) and might be worth a look.

The other festival staples, I'm assuming you're already familiar with or have already seen at TIFF (Tian's The Go Master is okay, not outstanding, very Hou-ish). I hated, hated, hated Marc Recha's August Days (Umm...did I mention that I hated it? :))

Doug Cummings
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#67 Post by Doug Cummings » Mon Dec 18, 2006 4:28 pm

That's too bad about the Tian, I had my hopes stoked.

Thanks for the heads up on Quixotic, acquarello; actually, I had read your recent coverage, so I looked for Honor de Cavelleria but didn't notice its alternate title!

acquarello
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#68 Post by acquarello » Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:47 pm

Yeah, the film is "inspired" by Don Quixote rather than a straight adaptation of it, so I guess someone in the English translation department was trying to be clever. That's why I'm sticking with the Torino title. :)

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kinjitsu
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#69 Post by kinjitsu » Thu Dec 28, 2006 10:54 pm


fred
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#70 Post by fred » Fri Dec 29, 2006 12:58 am

acquarello wrote:(Tian's The Go Master is okay, not outstanding, very Hou-ish)

This didn't knock me out in a single viewing, but I nevertheless think that this is an ungenerous assessment. Hou-ish in the oblique and elliptical approach to history perhaps, but not in many other aspects. I'd say this is well worth anyone's time and I look forward to eventually revisiting it.

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Michael Kerpan
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#71 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:08 am

The films from Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan all seem promising.

I've only seen a few -- "the Banquet" is worth seeing visuallly -- but dramatically never worked (for me). "I thought "Curse of the golden Flower" was magnificent (in a good way). "Woman on the Beach" is Hong's most (easily) lovable movie to date.

I'm dying to see at least half a dozen of the films being shown...

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Dylan
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:28 pm

#72 Post by Dylan » Fri Dec 29, 2006 2:23 am

My list of 2006 films I wanted to see was already over 20, but now it just tripled. This is an overwhelming, terribly promising line-up...almost every film here sparks my interest. If anybody attending this has or will start a blog (or if anybody knows anybody keeping a blog on this festival) please post, I'd love to hear thoughts on any of these.

Doug Cummings
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#73 Post by Doug Cummings » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:17 pm

I'm hoping to blog at Filmjourney.org, Dylan. And I'm still open to specific suggestions!

On my short list:

Allegro
August Days
Quixotic
Longing
Black Book
Legend of Time
Sway
The Go Master
Invisible Waves
To Get to Heaven You First Have to Die
Marketa Lazarova

Doug Cummings
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#74 Post by Doug Cummings » Sat Dec 30, 2006 2:30 pm

Oh, and I'd ordinarily try to catch Madeinusa and Men at Work, but they're both imminent Film Movement releases. Acquarello, why did you hate August Days so much? It sounds so promising!

portnoy
Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 11:03 am

#75 Post by portnoy » Sat Dec 30, 2006 4:05 pm

strongly, STRONGLY recommended: Julia Loktev's DAY NIGHT DAY NIGHT - part Dreyer, part Lodge Kerrigan, and one of the most important debut American features in years. A completely overwhelming experience.

also recommended: Ten Canoes, The Lives of Others, and for fun, Christopher Smith's Severance is one of the best slasher flicks I've seen in a long time

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