2004 Foreign, Alternative and Independent Films

There's sexual obsession, and then there's...

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No thanks.

No, David, that was
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I repeat, ick.

Ditto on reading this thread but not participating. It has become more difficult for me lately (time and other issues) to go out of my way to watch indie releases, yet I am an avid reader of this thread, it allows me to decide what do watch when I do get a chance to.

--
H

Incident at Loch Ness -

Let's get something out of the way: This isn't a documentary. Normally, I try to avoid giving too much away, and I'll play cute to try to avoid blabbing plot developments that, truthfully, would only annoy me if I saw them in someone else's. But go that route with Incident of Loch Ness, and you've got a review that's nothing but playing cute, and I don't know how useful that would be.

So, this is a comedy, a satire of the Hollywood machine. It happily blurs fact and ficiton by purporting to be culled from the footage of "Herzog in Wonderland", a film about director Werner Herzog (playing himself, like most of the cast). As this documentary's director John Bailey starts shooting, Herzog is about to start shooting a movie of his own, a documentary called "The Enigma of Loch Ness", where he proposes to examine "the difference between Truth and Fact". Producer Zak Penn, however, doesn't want to leave anything to chance.

The movie does a great build, starting by just tweaking documentary conventions and goofing on Hollywood parties, working its way into cryptozoology and filmmaking itself. The cryptozoologist, Michael Karnow, is particularly funny in his apparent fervor to believe anything, the more ridiculous the better, wanting to be shown the "non-evidence". The rest of the cast of characters have a delightful willingness to be laughed at, whether it's Herzog for being considered crazy, or difficult, or pretentious, or cinematographer Gabriel Beristain and soundman Russell Williams making the shoot difficult with their demands even as the crew shooting the Herzog documentary on digital video apparently is able to do just fine with their digital video cameras. Truth be told, it's the obviously augmented centerfold, Kitana Baker, who comes off as the most down-to-earth and reasonable. And while Herzog is billed as the "star", he is most often the straight man who makes Penn seem even more craven and insane.

And maybe that's part of the point. The audience can come into this movie, not knowing who Herzog is (I personally feel ignorant, considering how many Harvard Film Archive screenings of his work I've passed on) and get a funny mockumentary about the making of a movie gone horribly and hilariously wrong. But the more they look at it, and the more they examine the details, the more facets it reveals. You notice how inflexible even a great filmmaker like Herzog has become over the years, how tied down he is, and how even his choice of subject - the Loch Ness Monster - is a tired cliché that everybody knows by heart, while the new breed is able to adapt, put together a totally different movie than they started out with.

There are a lot of movies that reward close viewing - often, with comedies, it's hidden jokes in the background that emerge. Incident at Loch Ness, though, is a bit more ambitious - it's a very funny comedy that has themes emerge as one examines it more strenuously, that becomes a commentary on its medium and itself. The Zak Penn behind the camera has put together a movie which the Zak Penn in front of the camera couldn't conceive.

I skipped your review because I'm dying to see this movie and don't want it spoiled. Glad to hear some very positive news on it. Unfortunately I don't think it hits Atlanta until late November.

Rick - ¼

Rick O'Lette (Bill Pullman) is a bastard, and not a lovable one, when the movie that bears his name starts. And that's fine. This movie's gleeful amorality is perhaps its best feature, and when the more savory elements of Rick's personality come to the fore, the movie loses a bit of its zing.

But not all. This is, after all, an adaptation of an opera (Rigoletto, if the name isn't a complete giveaway) written by Daniel Handler, also known as Lemony Snicket, and as such features broad storytelling and dark, absurdist humor. There are moments of delightful surrealism, such as when Buck (Dylan Baker), who says he's an old acquaintance of Rick's, introduces himself in a surveillance-themed bar and says he has his own business - and then produces a card that says "BUCK - My Own Business". I'd also love to know exactly what the parallel in the opera is for a couple of Rick's daughter Eve (Agnes Brucker) giggling while engaging in "adult chat" with Duke (Aaron Stanford).

Alas, all too soon, we see Rick's human side, as he's shaken by the tongue-lashing (and curse) he receives from Michelle (Sandra Oh), a woman he had berated in an interview in the morning and encountered by chance at night (costing her her job); he also gets sentimental with his daughter about the loss of her mother. It's not that Pullman is bad here - although he does seem out of place in a white-collar role, as usual. The movie just seems to contract a little, not going as completely over-the-top as it had before.

The cast is rather good. This sort of role isn't Pullman's forte, but he handles the back-and-forth well, and when he has to appeared cowed by his much younger boss, he gives off a great sense of embarassment by it. As that boss, Stanford is appropriately weasel-like and pathetic. Dylan Baker, of course, gets the most entertaining bits. It must fun to play the morality-free character.

The story is generally good, and the back-and-forth dialogue is fun, although it occasionally shows its origins. Not having seen Rigoletto, I can't say this for sure, but I'm willing to bet that the company Christmas party at the end was originally some sort of masquerade ball, since the denoument apparently involves someone confusing two characters who can't possibly be mistaken for each other. Considering the research Buck claims to have done on Rick beforehand... well, how hard would a photograph been to procure? A simple picture! Even in this often-surreal movie, Handler and director Curtiss Clayton should have stood back and said, no, people won't buy that. I'm not quite sure what I think

That is, though, a somewhat minor complaint - the movie brings the funny for its first half and the basic story is strong enough to carry the second, even if the details aren't quite as juicy.

---

Tarnation -

I used to joke about how you could predict the documentary Oscars fairly easily because the movie about the Holocaust was a shoo-in. That's not so much the case now, but there is still a tendency to grade documentaries as much on the subject matter as on the actual quality of the film, which is why a film like Tarnation gets much more attention than something like, say, Word Wars. The latter is a much more well-constructed movie, but a look at a family's mental disorders brought upon in part by attempts to treat them is more important than wacky people playing Scrabble.

One of the biggest issues Tarnation has is that its subject (and writer/director/producer/editor), Jonathan Caouette, is an actor by trade and the very first images we see of him, from home movies when he was about nine years old, is of him performing. I don't doubt the veracity of what he's saying, but I can't help but be aware of how much artifice he puts into the telling of his and his mother's story.

Caouette's movie is culled from various sources - family pictures, home movies, recorded messages, video diaries, "underground" films he made as a teenager. He then edited it with iMovie, and he went nuts with that. The effect is strikingly egocentric, in many ways more like an edited blog than an actual movie.

Not that I can completely mock that without hypocrisy - before my blog became "Jay's Movie Blog", it was about my daily life, although that soon fell by the wayside because my life is relatively boring and I never got the knack of thinking of myself as a character - or refering to myself in the third person, which Caouette does in peculiar fashion. We've sat through the opening credits and seen his name four times, and yet all the captions (save, I think, one, which may have been subtitling) refer to "Jonathan".

The quick cutting, captioning, and certain repeated effects tricks serve to help tell the story when there's not necessarily a lot of footage to do so, but the aggressive style of the editing occasionally makes it feel like a ninety-minute short film. The film also seems very staged in the begining and end, which take place in 2002 or 2003. I imagine Caouette had been accumulating this footage for twenty years, but the idea of making it into a movie is of more recent vintage... but early enough that he was more self-conscious about where he put the camera and what he captured. There's a creepy scene toward the end, for instance, where Jonathan's mother Renee Leblanc is dancing around her apartment, acting manic and kind of nuts (she'd been brain-damaged by a lithium overdose), that goes on long enough for me to start wondering what kind of son sees his mother acting like this and makes sure he gets it on tape, rather than putting the camera down and dealing with her.

It looks like Caouette mostly turned out all right, despite what looks like a severe lack of quality parenting he got from his parents and (especially) grandparents. It makes Tarnation an odd little relic, though - it remains almost silent on the morality of what his mother was put through (two years of electroshock as a child and 100 stays in mental hospitals over the years) and winds up being a chronicle of Cauoette's life. There's nothing wrong with that, but the audience may have some expectation of more than just self-examination. Any relevence to the world at large, though, is up to the audience to find.

I wasn't planning on posting everything boutique-ish from the Boston Fantastic Film Festival here, but what's the interest? It's all in the blog or on eFilmCritic, but those of course aren't indexed here. Anyway, this is one playing the festival that actually is (barely) making its way into the boutique houses (and has just grabbed the #1 spot on my 2004 Film List:

Infernal Affairs -

I'll admit it - the first time I heard the name "Infernal Affairs", I thought it was going to be a movie about demons possessing cops or something like that. I did know better by the time it played at the Boston Fantastic Film Festival - it's a crime movie, and one of the best you'll have a chance to see.

The concept is deliciously simple - in 1992, an up-and-coming crime boss has several of the younger members of his gang with clean records enroll in the police academy. At the same time, one of the more promising students at the academy is apparently tossed out, but is in fact being sent undercover with the triads; only two people know about this mission. Flash-forward ten years, and now Lau (Andy Lau) is a rising star in the Hong Kong vice squad, and Yan (Tony Leung) is burning out as a triad soldier, still undercover even though the original mission was to be for three years. As luck would have it, Lau is working under SP Wong (Anthony Wong), the man who sent Yan undercover, while Yan is the right-hand man of Sam (Eric Tsang), the gangster who sent Lau to the police academy.

Things come to a head when, during a meeting with Sam's Thai suppliers that Wong has targeted for a bust, both sides are able to anticipate the others' moves too quickly. Both Sam and Wong realize they've got a mole in their teams, and they know that the other guy knows. So it's a race, and both moles will be pressed into service to help find the identity of their opposite number.

Infernal Affairs isn't John Woo flashy, it's not filled with a whole lot of crazy gun or martial arts battles, and though it gets you inside the characters' heads, it never loses sight of its purpose: To create a desperate need to know what's going to happen next. The screenplay is a suspense machine as four very capable opponents square off, with every new discovery bringing a plot twist that sends it off in a new direction. It's like watching a game of chess where both sides can move at the same time.

This is a sure-handed movie, with good performances turned in by all the principal actors, along with likable supporting turns by Kelly Chen as a psychiatrist Yan becomes smitten with and Sammi Cheng as Lau's girlfriend, a novelist writing a story about a man with multiple personalities. The script by Felix Chong and Siu Fai Mak is pretty tight (though you might wonder why a man in a compromised unit would be promoted to Internal Affairs), and the direction by Siu and Wai Keung Lau is up to the same standard. The movie zips forward relentlessly, barely even slowing down for that Hong Kong movie tradition, the flashback-laden music video.

Infernal Affairs is, quite simply, a fantastic crime drama, one of the best in years. Miramax is allegedly giving it a theatrical release, as they try to figure out how to get revenue from the original without inviting too many comparisons when they release a Martin Scorcese/Matt Damon/Leonardo DiCaprio remake in a couple years. If you get the chance to see it, pounce.

Code 46

Tim Robbins character William is Lost in Code 46 Violation after a couple of sexual encounters with Maria mother of Grace. She performs movements of freedom for those willing to risk their lives to travel without question. Robins utilizes technology by accepting a virus of empathy to help him weed out violators, which it does but he is unable to portray this through his character effectively, unlike Gary Oldman in the Professional. Robbins attempt was repetitive and sad to see, tell me something about yourself anything he spouted, then guess what? He spits out the answer, oh boy. Maria was fine but she was just there to be Tim’s sexual indiscretion. The cities were unimpressive and overall settings seemed pretty dull. Panhandlers are always a nice touch, not. Tim’s family life is out of place and shown with little emotion, especially for a person with such a virus. Didn’t see any coworkers or real command structure in his job or society. Huge gaps in the story left me not caring very much for the quick sad ending.

Memory altering has got to be the hottest way to get your movie approved nowadays.

I am more disappointed with this type of movie because it evokes sparks of interest that ultimately fizzle into the abyss of movie crap.

D

Goodbye, Dragon Inn - ½

There have been a great number of films about the process of making movies, focusing on the studio politics and the fiery personalities of the filmmakers. Relatively few, though, have focused on the places where we see movies - the movie theaters which take on personalities of their own. Certainly, there are fewer of those now, as more people get their movies on video or in newly-built multiplexes.

This film may not resonate as well for people who don't get as attached to theaters as I do; I worked at a now-shut-down theater in college, and I always try to note the theater before the reviews in my blog, because I think that the environment does make a difference. The screening at the Brattle included the theater's directors and a few others who had worked in small theaters. We were able to note all the little things about this type of theater that Goodbye Dragon Inn gets right - the strange architecture that sometimes requires you to climb one set of stairs and then down another to get between two rooms on the same level, the sweltering heat of the projection room, or how painfully understaffed the theater can be when things are heading downhill.

Additionally, this is a Tsai Ming-liang film - actually featuring the same movie theater as his What Time Is It There? - which may make it tough sledding for some. Though short - just a bit over eighty minutes long - it can seem longer, as Tsai tneds to hold certain static shots for what seems like an eternity. Excepting the soundtrack from Dragon Inn on the screen, there are less than ten lines of dialogue in the film, in two exchanges, the first of which doesn't occur until halfway through the movie.

I still recommend the movie. Tsai's static compositions are chosen with purpose, and there's enough on the screen to study, and holding the camera on an ordinary or banal scene for an almost painful period serves to magnify the humor value of something unusual happening. And despite the lack of words, there are some characters you get to know very well.

Take, for instance, the woman played by Chen Shiang-chyi, working the ticket counter and as the usher. She's got a metal brace on her leg, which means those familiar with Tsai will sardonically note that those static scenes of someone walking across a room will take even longer. But it also makes her a human representation of the theater itself - she's damaged, but still beautiful, even if she is taken for granted by the projectionist she clearly pines for (frequent Tsai Ming-liang collaborator Lee Kang-sheng), just as the city of Taipei has ignored the Fa-So Grand Theater.

The theater is on its last night, showing Dragon Inn to a mere double handful of people, many of whom are more interested in cruising than actually watching the movie. It seemed a little odd to me, as this part was outside my experience as both a theatergoer and employee. Other bits will be more universal, like the guy who sits down in the seat right next to you despite there being eight hundred other empty seats in the theater. There's also an older gentleman watching the movie, and as we cut between the theater and Dragon Inn, we see that he is one of the actors from that 1966 movie, and he's mourning his lost youth along with how his movies, which once filled theaters, are now playing to an almost empty and indifferent house.

Goodbye Dragon Inn is sad and melancholy, but also beautiful. It's a love letter to the old movie houses in all their imperfect glory. Not everyone is attached to these old theaters with their accumulated history, or to Tsai Ming-liang's ultra-minimalist mood pieces, but for those of us who are, a movie like Goodbye Dragon Inn is extremely worthwhile.

Huh... After updating the index, it's odd that Code 46 would tie Control Room and Touching The Void for most-commented-on movie in the thread. Not just because it's not getting particularly good marks, but indie science fiction doesn't have a history of getting great distribution (witness the almost-invisible The Final Cut or Robot Stories without Greg Pak making an appearance).

I really can't wait for Edwin to see Goodbye Dragon Inn, though, considering what he thought of What Time Is It There? Even less happens (we're almost talking Gerry-like amounts of plot), but it's strangely fulfilling.

Briefly on some of the movies that fit under this thread that I like.

Robot Stores has an additional element that no one has mentioned in this thread--it's characters are basically all asian. In the segment that deals with the old artist, the film even shows a sexualized asian man, which is remarkable considering how marginalized we as a group have been represented on screen. I personally find this last segment also the most intriguing in exploring personal choices in the face of new technology.

I'm not as high on Infernal Affairs as Jason is mainly because of the female characters. They feel like afterthoughts in the movie. Worse is that the women writing the story about multiple personalities: it's heavy handed and obvious. The film feels like a Michael Mann movie (a good thing), it is great to look at, and the tension is good.

Dogville is the first von Trier movie that I feel like the female suffering is warranted under the story. I like both Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark a lot, but still feel the trials that Watson and Bjork go through is maddening. But Grace's suffering in Dogville feels a little different because there is a philosophical question behind it. Von Trier may have wanted to make an allegory strictly on America, but he has in fact posed a greater discussion than this country. Among the three films of his, I like this one the most, and feel that this is Kidman's best performance in her career.

The Motorcycle Diaries is more of a coming of age story than a historical biopic. Under Bernal's performance, the idealism of Guevara in the picture is not hard to understand, whatever one's political leanings are. And the film doesn't make much of a political statement; it's more humanism than left or right.

I loved/liked Touching the Void, Maria Full of Grace, Control Room, and Before Sunset, but what was written already covers my opinion.

The funny thing is, I seem to remember Pak mentioning in one of his Q&As that Sab Shimano was a late-in-the-game recasting of someone who wasn't asian - although one that worked out quite well.

I didn't raise the subject that much because I didn't find it terribly relevent outside of being a demographic quirk, although I suppose that quirk is, in and of itself, significant (it would have been great if Pak had been able to get it a wider release and get some of the publicity Harold & Kumar got). I do think that Pak did very well in making a very mainstream movie that holds up without mention of the cast's ehtinicities, but also (apparently) seemed very true to the asian folks in the audience, judging by the Q&As.

Would love to see Goodbye Dragon Inn as I'm a pretty big fan of Tsai but haven't had an opportunity to do so. The art house circuit has slowed down around here with not much I've been interested in seeing. There was a French suspense film called Red Light that I really wanted to see but it didn't hang around long and my schedule didn't work out.

I suppose I should go see I Heart Huckabees and The Motorcycle Diaries, but I can't get up much enthusiasm for either. I may just wait for the DVD's.

I'm betting that you will like Huckabees, Brook.

wrong thread

I was pleased that The Motorcycle Diaries chose to focus on "two lives running parallel" for a while, rather than take on Guevara's life as a whole. Bernal (as Guevara) and de la Serna (as Granado) play off each other extremely well, and their journey together is enjoyable in all aspects, comedic, dramatic, and scenic.

The film stalls once they get to San Pablo, spending far too much time on a heavy-handed (we're talking Spike Lee heavy-handed) exposition of Guevara's increasing resolve to correct the injustices against his fellow men. It's comparable to the sequence with the French in Apocalypse Now: Redux; while interesting in its own right, it grinds the film about the journey to a halt. As a result, the actual ending of the film seems a bit rushed, although cramming the farewell, the coda, and a collage (reminiscent of Lee's Bamboozled) into the last five minutes doesn't help.

The performances and scenery are stellar, although the white subtitles occasionally disappear in outdoor scenes. The film is very well-balanced until the duo reach San Pablo; this "third act" by no means ruins the film, but it is a disruption. Still, The Motorcycle Diaries will easily make my Top Ten of 2004.

Oh, lets not go there.

Due to a recent move, I haven't seen that much in the theaters nor on DVD either. Still trying to get settled. But I have partially updated the current list of films in the first post.

Like Brook, Motorcycle Diaries has been playing here for two weeks now but it is not really a must-see for me at this point. Maybe I'll see something else this weekend.

~Edwin

I don't have Edwin's excuse, but like him I've had other demands on my time lately. I can, however, recommend Primer (Jason's earlier review nicely summed up what makes this an interesting film), Sideways (the best "serious" comedy I've seen all year) and Vera Drake, which is an exceptional drama.

Being Julia is fun if you like stories about theater people (I always do) and can enjoy it for Annette Bening's performance (which is the chief reason to see it). Stage Beauty I enjoyed but can't recommend; the cast is very good (except for Claire Danes, who has an impossible role), but the story is a mish-mash of elements, too many of them recycled from Shakespeare in Love where they were better used.

M.

I've seen the trailer for Primer several times and it looks interesting but hasn't opened yet. Sideways is a must see for me but also hasn't opened here. Vera Drake opened on Friday but when I go out I like to see 2-for-1 and the theater where it's playing doesn't have another movie I want to see.

If I go this weekend it will be to see Saw, not Huckabees or Diaries.

Sideways

Sideways - ½ (out of four, recommended with reservations)

Sideways is an extremely well made, film. The writing is excellent, the characters actually work, the cinematography perfectly matches the mood and atmosphere of the piece, and it's never really boring. Everything clicks really well.

It just didn't pack a huge appeal for me. IN fact it's almost an identical reaction to Garden State. Both are films I can easily see why they are so well loved, I can even see their quality and reasons I should really like them. But something about morose main characters learning to live just isn't a story genre that has much relevance to me. It's a great message and all, but just not my bag baby.

That said Paul Giametti, Virginia Madsen, and Sandra Oh are absolutely fabulous in every one of their scenes. Thomas Hayden Church has, like, watched too much Jeff Lebowski dude. That's harsh, and he gave a really wonderful performance, he does an outstanding job of making you loath and despise his character.

I guess I'm just too much of a romantic sucker, but this is like the first act to a story stretched out to fill the whole film. I like romantic comedies, and I think that the film is just getting going when it ends. ON the other hand I can completely understand and accept why it ends where it does, it works perfectly for the film, I just have issues with this type of story it seems.

I really wanted to love this film, I'm a food nut, I could very easily become a wine fanatic, this has so many things in it that should really appeal to me, but just don't.

Also I wonder why it is that we get the respectful closed door for the middle class wanna be bourgeosie main characters but its okay to see the redneck fat people going at it? That's totally unfair, btw, but I sense the same sort of backhanded casual almost subconscious derision of the joe-six-pack-non-elite people of the world that turned me off About Schmidt.

Payne says a lot of things that I think have value and are worthwhile, but there seemed to be so little point to them, and I can't recall any of the specifics that worked for me during the film. And I don't really have any desire to see the film again.

But cineastes should get a kick out of it, and a lot will probably really love it, but I've just enough populist tastes that the end result of the film was very mixed for me--this is, more or less, a film where taste is a metaphor for life, it's all about taste.

Adam

Like his past movies they are a little slow, much like our own lives. Not that they are disappointing.

The Machinist

Christian Bale's body is the most harrowing special effect in this film. Bale reportedly lost 63 pounds for the role, and he's an unsettling sight. His character, Trevor Reznik, hasn't slept for a year, and the film is told entirely from Trevor's hallucinatory point of view. Anyone familiar with the tricks of subjective narrative will spot some of the gimmicks immediately, but that doesn't make the film any less interesting, because the filmmakers hold back a few key pieces of the puzzle until late in the game. While you're trying to work out what's real and what's imaginary, you can enjoy the film's visual texture, with its bleached-out, almost black-and-white pallette and its bizarre locations (the film was shot in Barcelona, so it doesn't look like every other film you've ever seen).

Bale is excellent as a man who is literally disintegrating before everyone's eyes, and he's well supported by a cast that includes co-workers Michael Ironside, Larry Gilliard, Jr. (late of The Wire) and Reg E. Cathey; Anna Massey (as a landlady); Jennifer Jason Leigh (as yet another hooker); and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón as Maria, the waitress at Trevor's favorite diner. When Maria invites Trevor to accompany her and her son to an amusement park, he ends up on a haunted house ride like nothing you've ever experienced. And who is the big fellow Ivan (John Sharian) who keeps appearing and vanishing mysteriously?

The director, Brad Anderson, is working in the same grim vein as in Session 9, but I think this is a better film. The script by Scott Kosar may use a few overly familiar elements, but Anderson wisely doesn't overplay them. He mostly trusts his leading man to deliver the goods, and Bale keeps your interest even after all has been revealed. The final shot reminded me of a famous one from Hitchcock, who I think would have approved.

M.

EDIT: Since writing the above, I've read several negative reviews of this film where the chief complaint seems to be that Bale's weight loss is somehow offensive in light of world hunger. It's a pretty banal argument. Actors routinely put themselves through various discomforts in the pursuit of a particular effect; it's a tradition that goes back to Lon Chaney (and probably beyond), and it's got nothing to do with whether the end product is any good. Adrien Brody similarly starved himself for The Pianist, and he and the director got Oscars. Is the difference that The Pianist involved an Important Historical Subject, while The Machinist is a "mere" thriller?

Enduring Love

I was all set to dismiss this film from its trailer, which made it look like yet another of the imagined-alter-ego films. I was wrong. Joe and Jed, the characters played respectively by Daniel Craig and Rhys Ifans, are distinct people, and they inhabit a strange film that I found creepy and engrossing but that could just as easily send viewers screaming from the theater. A lot depends on one's tolerance for irrational behavior from movie characters, because there's plenty on display here.

Joe is a college professor (of literature, I think, although it's never clear) who lives with a sculptor named Claire (Samantha Morton). Joe and Claire are having a picnic in a deserted field when an out-of-control hot air balloon appears out of nowhere. Joe and several other men become involved in a rescue attempt with a tragic outcome. One of the other men is Jed, who emerges from the experience fixated on Joe.

To call Jed a stalker would be accurate but insufficient. His behavior may be the most overtly crazed, but both Joe and Claire are gradually revealed as troubled people in the ways they respond to Jed and to each other under Jed's repeated attentions. The film employs all the cliches of the stalker/slasher genre (the unexpected visits and phone calls, the shrine that the stalker builds to his object of desire, the photograph of the competition, Claire, with the eyes cut out), but they don't play as they usually do, because the film doesn't gives us the usual endangered hero and heroine we're supposed to care for and worry about.

The director, Roger Michell, seems to be attracted to stories about people an audience probably won't like. It was apparent in Changing Lanes; it was even more pronounced in The Mother (also starring Daniel Craig); and it will probably limit the audience for this film, where Joe and Claire become less likeable as their peril increases. But the film raises serious questions about love and devotion, a subject on which we see Joe giving somewhat facile lectures to his class. One of the film's ironies is that Jed's obsession with Joe turns out to be more resilient than the attachment between Joe and Claire, both of whom have a tendency to push away other people (they are routinely isolated in the widescreen frame). Though the film provides a conventional plot resolution, emotionally it remains open-ended. By the end you have to wonder whose love will endure. If you see it, be sure to stay after the credits begin to roll.

M.

I went and forgot about this thread again and posted mySideways Review as a new thread. Thought I'd link here for discussion as well, since that thread may eventually be changed to a review thread.

Adam

Adam, if you'd rather have your Sideways review incorporated here, just send me a PM. It's not clear how widely the film will be released. Lacking the star power of a Nicholson, it'll need major awards buzz to attract much box office.

EDIT: Now merged at Adam's request.

M.

Here are my lumped rankings from the New York Film Festival:

Must See

Bad Education (Pedro Almodóvar) – Almodóvar's most structurally complex film to date, not as perfectly sustained throughout as All About My Mother, but better realized than Talk to Her. The plot reminds me a little of Law of Desire.

Kings and Queen (Arnaud Desplechin) – In a similar vein as My Sex Life…or How I Got into an Argument, modulates effortlessly between comedy and tragedy. Quintessential Desplechin.

The Tenth District Court: Moments of Trial (Raymond Depardon) – Depardon's film are always richly observed and refreshingly unprejudiced, and this is no exception; it's alternately funny, sad, and provocative.

Saraband (Ingmar Bergman) – Closer to Bergman's chamber films than his later television works, almost claustrophobic in its intimacy, but also compassionate without being maudlin or sentimental. Reminds me a lot of Autumn Sonata.

Very Good

The World (Jia Zhang-ke) – Jia's most visually polished film to date, funny and poignant. Not immediately relevant as Unknown Pleasures or Platform, but still astutely observed.

Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembene) – More muted than Sembene's earlier films, but socially relevant, impassioned, and still provocative. Sembene's most accessible film to date.

Good (worth seeing)

House of Flying Daggers (Zhang Yimou) – Beautifully shot, but even more vacuous in narratove than Hero.

Café Lumière (Hou Hsiao Hsien) – Also beautifully shot and works on Hou's familiar themes of alienation and estrangement. Not so much a "take" on Ozu as much as it is using familiar Ozu themes in a way that's distinctly Hou. Flawed, but interesting.

Keane (Lodge Kerrigan) – Reminds me a bit of Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's The Son in shot construction and theme. Not as accomplished as Clean Shaven, but still taut and compelling.

The Holy Girl (Lucrecia Martel) – Organic and narratively unfocused, but very well composed film and occasionally funny. Loosely centered on an adolescent girl who is "interfered upon" by a hotel guest. From the director of La Cienaga.

Vera Drake (Mike Leigh) – Raw and very accomplished film that follows in the tradition of Leigh's earlier, socially incisive films.

Mixed

The Rolling Family (Pablo Trapero) – Organic, slice-of-life dramedy on an extended family taking an RV ride together across Argentina for a family wedding. Just as incisive - and as grating - as being on a family road trip in a station wagon.

A few brief comments on films seen at the Hawaii International Film Festival:

Gettin' Square

David Wenham absolutely steals the film as Spit, a drug addict in a perpetual daze sincerely trying to "get square". Wenham has such range, and Faramir will never cross your mind as he ambles around in flip flops, flees in tiny briefs and has a hilariously memorable courtroom scene. An entertaining tale of ex-cons and crosses.

Rewind

A quietly charming Korean romantic comedy about a video rental store clerk. Trying to live a simple life after his breakup, he finds some intrigue through his customers and the mysterious love notes which appear in the video return box.

Breaking News

Johnnie To has directed some entertaining action films like "Fulltime Killer" and "The Mission", but here, the continuous bullet action can't disguise the paper thin characterizations and absurd plot. Kelly Chen's character is beyond annoying.

The Lost Embrace

While this Argentinean entry for the Academy Awards about a young Jewish man searching for his identity features some colorful characters, it was a somewhat tedious journey to the heart of the matter.

Cutie Honey

This live action version of a manga series reminded me of "Kikaida" -- very cheesy, with the same level of "special effects" and hokey villains. Eriko Sato is very cute and endearing as the inept office girl who transforms into "Cutie Honey", but a little goes a long way. I did get a kick out of her gorging on musubis to make her transformation, however.

Low Life (aka Raging Years)

An engrossing, but violent Korean gangster drama with an unfortunately abrupt conclusion.

Goddess of Mercy

Quite an interesting story of a young policewoman's involvement with 3 men and the consequences. It's non-linear storytelling seems to have confused some in the audience.

Heaven's Bookstore

As this story goes, human beings have 100 years of life. If one should die at 50, he will spend 50 years in heaven before being reborn. Occasionally, a soul who has not yet died will be brought to heaven for some life-altering lessons and experiences. A lovely Japanese film with vague undertones of "Heaven Can Wait".

Natural City

While I enjoyed some of the ideas and visuals, this Korean film felt quite derivative of other sci-fi films.

Sound of Colors

A romantic comedy without much charm, save for some nice chemistry between the leads.

Great take on Breaking News Elizabeth. I found the DVD as a rental a short while ago (just before it was shown at the Toronto Filmfest) and didn't really think a whole lot about it. Not that I disliked it, I just didn't think about it...And yeah, Kelly Chen took up valuable space on the screen.

Grabbed PTU as well. It was better, but still didn't overly excite me. You're not the first I hear say both Fulltime Killer and The Mission are much more fun. I'll try 'em out.

Vozvrashcheniye(The Return) Dir:Andrej Zvjagincev Looks like it could be realy worth a look.I ordered a r2 copy from the uk and will give my thoughts on it when i get my hot little hands on it.
Here are some links with info on it.
http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscuro/films/return/return.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376968/

It is an enigmatic, often mesmerizing film, I never got around to writing anything substantial about. Still my 2nd favorite of the year. Hope you enjoy.