Day 2: September 6

Seven movies. SEVEN features in a day. Good, lord, I'm too old for this.

I heard somewhere that the average person sees one to two films a year. I also heard that one of those films is 90% of the time a porn, or a 80's John Hughes film, or both.

I've stopped believing what I hear, of course.

You may be somewhat surprised that it is indeed possible at this blessed event to see seven cinematic expressions in a row. The key is to start early - in this case, 8:45 am, which is a good 3 hours before my normal awake time (hey, this is the internet - the work-from-home-in-your-boxer-shorts generation has come to the fore.) A 11-ish screening follows, then a 4ish, 7ish, 10ish, and, finally, of course, the ubiquitous Midnight Madness screening. If the films would have been just a bit shorter, I could have squeezed in eight. That, however, just may have killed me.

There are a few tips about multi-screening survival that I've shared in previous years - 1) Keep the three subtitled rule, 2) Drink Plenty of Fluids, and 3) Make sure you spend at least 10 minuted in direct sunlight. The second rule is pretty obvious, as the a/c in the theatres does a nice job of dessicating even the most fluid-filled individual. The third rule is the same as for plants, so that your appendages don't fall off and you don't get scurvy, an affliction known to strike at least two journalists a year on the fest circuit. Finally, or, well, firstly, the subtitled rule, the most important - never, ever watch more than three subtitled films in a row. Your brain will seize, and you'll be reading one film, thinking about the last two, anticipating the next, and, boing, you could have a stroke right there in your seat.

Not a pretty sight, I promise you. And the cleaning staff gets really pissed taking out the victims, I assure you.

So, when you're planning on spending your day watching movies, I urge, nay, beg you - pepper your day with at least one film in your native tongue. Your central nervous system will thank you.

Cuban Rafters
Directed by Carles Bosch, Josep M. Domenech

What started out as a 10 minute TV feature turns in to an extremely engrossing, exceptional documentary following the lives of several Cubans who risk everything to reach the states. These geopolitical pawns are a microcosm of all that's right and wrong with both Cuba and America.

Grade: A-

Lost in La Mancha
Directed by Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe

The film that makes you just want to go up to Terry Gilliam and give him a hug.

So, you want to be a director, huh? Got a vision of what you want your film to be, these brilliant ideas of the crane shot from this film, or the dolly shot from that one. Wouldn't it be cool to just give up everything and become a famous Hollywood director? Then your life would be easy, money would flow it, all would be well.

Unless, of course, you want to stay true to that vision. It's especially hard if you are a shit. Terry Gilliam is such a shit. His production company, after all, is named "Poo Poo productions". The man is nothing if not a visionary.

Lost in La Mancha must have started out as one of those fluffy DVD supplements where they interview everyone on set, see a couple key sequences get made, and then edit the beastie down to 22 minutes so that they don't have to pay the "talent" extra as it's covered in their publicity clauses. The film, of course, is much more than that now, a feature length look at what happens when a film goes into the toilet. Like the best voyeurism, you see the flushing happen right before your eyes.

If I didn't know (or think I know) better, I'd have said that God didn't want TG to make this flick. From floods to hail to F16s, there were just a few things stacked against the production. In fine Biblical fashion, the creation took seven days before it was halted, felled by hubris, bad luck and an actor who litterally had a pain in his ass. Go figure.

In the end, I'm left with an immeserable appreciation for how bloody hard 1st A.D.'s work on set, and the crap they've got to deal with. With Gilliam in town to drum up support to remount the film, I can only say it'll make an excellent DVD supplement. As a standalone film, it remains a thoroughly enjoyable flick.

Grade: A

Myazaki's Sprited Away
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Disney has taken and dubbed another Japanese smash hit (highest grossing film ever over there), following up on their success with Princess Mononoke. While no doubt the connection between the Mouse and Anime is shocking to some purists, they really do seem to have done a pretty good job getting the word out to the West about this master of style and vision.

While I enjoyed Mononoke, it felt to me too, well, foreign. The film felt "exotic" with its nature spirits and other elements, and that distracted from the story. No fault of the film, of course, it just didn't really connect with me.

On the other hand, Spirited swept me away. It tells a far more universal tale, without the baggage of simplified budhist nature-loving that coated the narrative of the earlier film. The animation is simply planets beyond what we tend to see churned out from studios on this side of the pond, while Myazaki's trademarked use of cute secondary characters is put to full use.

Essentially an Alice tale, mixed up with the bathouse tradition that differs greatly from, say, the San Fransico iteration, Spirited transports you with its charm and astonishing visual style. Seamless blending of new and old techniques, beautifully rendered characters and visuals, the film is an animated masterpiece and demands to be seen by many.

Miyazaki has created a complete, complex world with this film, and it's certainly a magical journey. Very, very good entertainment.

Grade: A

Rabbit Proof Fence
Directed by Phillip Noyce

This haunting little film tells the story of three aboriginal girls who leave their captors and travel across the land. It's a complex, political film about a troubling time in Australian history that continues to have resonance today. While not entirely satisfying, the story is told with enough patience and care that it remains rewarding.


Child performances are allways a deal breaker, but Noyce coaxes great range and rage from his child stars. As they trek across the vast land, the camera never gets in the way of focussing its energies on the protagnonists.

Equally effective are the "bad guys", situtated appropriately within their time and place, they never suffer from being two dimmensional. Kenneth Brenagh's performace is top notch, and his (misguided) pasion provides a compelling indictment of the well-minded policies of the Autralian government.


Special mention must be made of Peter Gabriel's soundtrack. Like his previous scores Passion and Birdy, his score contains snippets of his other tracks from various albums. The music does much to reinforce the story, and really is quite lovely.
Grade: B

Bad Guy
Directed by Kim ki Duk

Ever since I stumbled into his Isle, I've been hooked onto this South Korean's cinematic vision. This film eschews brutal violence against animals for violence against souls. It's the everyday, run-of-the mill supernatural love story between a pimp and his coerced and kidnapped whore worker. Special mention for the loving vomit-on-the-arm moment, a first to my knowledge.

It's impossible to recommend this film to a general audience, but I would think that the bleery-eyed viewers like me who populate the fest at times like this would eat a film like this up. The imagery is haunting, the story complex an in surprising ways (like the Isleresonating with feminist ideology. A quirky, Stockholm Syndrome-meets-Rebel Without a Cause, the film in a brave way explores time, love, and why the good girls sometimes are drawn to the bad guys.

Grade: A-

Gerry
Directed by Gus Van Sant

Are you or are you not a film geek? It's OK if you're not, many perfectly happy and healthy people just don't care that much for movies, for what makes flicks good or bad - they just want to enjoy the film. There's nothing critically or aesthetically wrong with this, of course.

Then there are the film geeks, we who just dig when things are shaken up, experiments made. We're more patient with indulgent crap than most, and will sit through very long takes knowing that there's method to the madness.

Gerry, in all ways, is a film geek film. Not for mass consumption, perhaps, but nonetheless a potent expression for those that like this sort of thing. It's a challenging, almost arogant film that's nonetheless beautiful for its simplicity. It shows first hand the banality of horror, the subtlety by which lives can go to shit for no real good reason, and how redemption sometimes means just a few more feet before choosing to give up. Damon and Affleck (this time Casey, a far better choice for this film) make for a good, challenging piece.

What's going to be hillarious, however, is trying to sell this film. How do you cut a three minute trailer when the film's entire aesthetic foundation is built upon ten minute takes? I don't envy the studio that has picked up the "latest film from the maker of Good Will Hunting", but it's nice to see these guys still pushing the envelope open a little more.

Grade: B+

Spun
Directed by Jonas Åkerlund

Much has been written about the influence of MTV and music video in general on contemporary cinema. From Spike Jones and David Fincher to McG, video directors are now making features injected with the energy and chutzpah honed on doing 3 minute commercials for songs.

Spun is the latest example from one of the bad boys of video making. Åkerlund's vid for Prodigy's "Smack your Bitch Up" (a song utilized, of course, in McG's Charlie's Angels), banned from most video stations, garnered him enough attention to attract up and coming (Jason Schwartzman) and down and dirty (Mickey Rourke) talent to his tale of youth, apathy, and Crystal Meth.

Spun spins like a music vid, lots of quick cuts, funny little shakes, close up of the pupils when the drug gets snorted. It's been done before, and much better, in films from Requiem for a Dream to Trainspotting and even Pulp Fiction. However, none of those films had Jason Schwartzman handcuffing a stripper to a bed with duct tape on her mouth and eyes for four days while he's on a speed binge. It's the opposite of his cuddly Rushmore character, and a brave career move.

The mix of a fast pace, animated moments, and the always nuts Rourke makes for an entertaining MM flick. At the least, it kept me wide awake, and after all the films of the last few days, the though of taking a pill to stay awake seemed strangely inviting.

Grade: B