Day 8: September 15

A taxi day, with minutes to spare between screenings. Schlepped down to the Paramount to catch Turturro's musical. He was quite amiable at the Q&A, and I was pleased to count of another member of the Lebowski cast who I have thanked personally for that film.

At the Tommy Chong screening I asked a question to the director that resulted in the longest answer I've ever received, an epic, 25 minute response that ranged from discussion of Ashcroft to the feud between Chong's wife and his daughter Rae Dawn Chong. Impressive.

I had literally minutes to spare between Frankie and Sympathy, and luckily made it down to the latter. Say what you will, as long as you get a good seat on the orchestra level the Elgin is a pretty magnificent place to see a flick.

Managed to stay awake for the Miike children's flick (!!!), and a cab home to wake up early for tomorrow's Gromit fun. All told, I went pretty much straight from 10 in the morn to 2:30am with barely enough wiggle room to catch a breath, let alone find time for dinner.

Romance and Cigarettes
Directed by: John Turturro

Grade: B-

Gandolfini singing, Sarandon serenading, Walken dancing to "Delilah" in a Coen Brothers' production, what could go wrong? Well, the stories a bit flat, and while I dig the hybrid of drama and musical, it did seem a bit forced at times. The star of the show is clearly the ravishing Kate Winslett, absolutely ravishing as she filthfully plooks Tony Soprano to the sound of vitriolic cussing. The afterglow of her picking at her teeth while eating fried chicken is the piece de resistance. On a related note, she has really nice breasts.

Those aside, the rest of the film is just a little bit, uh, flat. For lack of a better response, I simply, generally, wanted it to be better.

a/k/a Tommy Chong
Directed by: Josh Gilbert

Grade: B

Thank God that Mr. Gilbert listened to those around him: Rather than some rambling, pro-pot film, this flick actually does a pretty good job of documenting the issues surrounding Chong's arrest, and the obvious intention by the Ashcroft justice department to bring down an icon of the debauched 70s. More contentious elements such as the relationship between Chong and his former comedy partner are gracefully brushed over, with the focus firmly set on the man's current struggles with his trial, prison, and his subsequent involvement in the activist movements. A film that's better because it so clearly could have been quite a mess, a fascinating story of the nefarious work of the post-9/11 justice department waging a cultural war in America.

Mavericks: Nick Park

As part of the dialogues series, Nick Park of Aardman fame sat down and chatted about his career. Unfortunately, poor Mr. Park seems a bit introverted for this sort of thing, and with the absence of an abundance of clips, the evening was a bit of a dud. Spoilers for tomorrows W&G film proved to be fun, and the actual claymation puppets that were brought out were fun to see.

Frankie
Directed by: Fabienne Berthaud

Grade: C-

Apparently the life of an aging supermodel ain't what it's cracked up to be. Hardly a mess, this film still feels mighty forced, and the needless back-and-forth of the flashback structure does little to improve the movie. Not a disaster, but not good either.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
Directed by: Chan-Wook Park

Grade: A-

Last year's Old Boy took many fests by storm. This third part of Park's trilogy focuses on a woman who's imprisoned in order to save her infant from kidnappers. She spends years on a complicated plan that is meant to gain vengeance for her.

The story is delightfully multilayered, the look stylish, and the horror component top notch. Best of all, while a quieter, more subdued film than Old Boy, this one is littered with dark humour that keeps the mood away from being artificially somber. A great, fun flick.

The Great Yokai War
Directed by: Takashi Miike

Grade: C+

A silly, trippy children's movie (ha!) from the maker of Ichi the Killer. Yokai are traditional spirits, and when a child is selected as the Kiran rider he's thrust into a world of manic sprites and fairy creatures.

While this may sound Narnia-esque, the birth of the half-human, half-calf screeching about the doom of man some two minutes in should give you an idea of the style. Still, turtlemen that make Gamera references to hot water nymphettes does little to make this a great flick. Still, it's just twisted enough to be worth a look.