This is the final List! The first part is a ranking of the films I saw. The second is an alphabetical list with my comments on each film. It was a great festival! Many of these films are showing now or available through Netflix or at Scarecrow video. Many more will be coming out in the next year. Search for the ones you’d like to see!
MUST SEE
Anita*****
BREATHING EARTH*****
EPIC*****
FRANCES
HA****
THE LAST SHEPHERD*****
More Than Honey*****
SHORT
TERM 12*****
THE STORIES WE TELL*****
TOUCHY
FEELY*****
THE
WALL*****
THE
WAY WAY BACK****
GREAT
Bling Ring****
THE
DEEP****
KEY
OF LIFE****
THE
PUNK SINGER*****
SOMM****
Unfinished Song****
Wolf
Children****
GOOD
A
Lady in Paris****
POPULAIRE****
Filmistaan****
Full
Circle****
FORBIDDEN VOICES****
Muscle
Shoals****
Ali***
Bitch Hug***
Go Grandriders****
HER AIM IS TRUE****
JUMP***
MIDDLETON***
When I Saw You****
OKAY
C.O.G.***
BWAKAW***
Drug
War**
FUREVER***
OUR
NIXON***
OUT
OF PRINT***
NOT RECOMMENDED
Shadowed**
2013 opinions:
>>>Aayna Ka Bayna***
|
Director:
|
Samit
Kakkad
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Sachin
Khedekar, Amruta Khanvilkar, Ganesh Yadav, Raqesh Vashisth, Vivek Chabuksvar
|
|
Country:
|
India
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
|
|
|
Bollywood full on. An absolutely stupid plot that just
gets more stupid as it goes along until the altogether stupid ending. However, the dancing is great! I mean really, really great. Particularly at the beginning - this
movie is worth seeing to just for the opening number with boys dancing in every
possible environment to truly fabulous music. After that, it’s not so much worth it. If you can get hold of the trailer for
this movie, that’s what you should watch.
France/USA 2012, 74 min
Director: Judith Lit
The woman who created this doc grew up
on a farm in Pennsylvania and now has chosen to move to a small farm in a small
village in France. She became so enamored of her neighbors that she decided to
film them. You can see her love as we explore the lives of these amazingly
diverse villagers and their equally diverse farms. Some bits are horrifying,
some charming. I don't think this film is clear about who it wants to be when
it grows up, it has moments of socio-political commentary about the plight of
the small farmer, and moments of exploratory narrative, but it's mostly a peep
into some lifestyles you might not otherwise have known existed.
USA 2013, 105 min
Director: David Lowery
Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben
Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine
This is a beautifully shot
movie, sumptuous and rich in tone and color. I loved looking at this movie so
much that I didn't really care what happened or where the story went. That's
probably just as well, since the story, for me, was actually quite thin. I'm
not sure i mean that as a criticism, as the smallness of the story presented in
this full, lush setting kind of works. What I didn't enjoy was the inevitable
ending that I've seen far too many times. I was hoping for something at least a
little new and different, but, as I say, this soul filling visual meal is still
well worth it.
>>>Ali***
|
Director:
|
Paco R. Baños
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Nadia de Santiago, Verónica Forqué,
Julián Villagrán, Adrián Lamana, Angy Fernández
|
|
Premiere Status:
|
North America
|
|
Country:
|
Spain
|
Essentially a fluffy movie, it's still
enjoyable for the characters and characterizations of the mother and daughter
and their relationship. There are moving moments and movement and quite a
few very funny bits. Nothing stuck with me, but it's good entertainment.
Anita*****
Country: USA, 2013
|
Director:
|
Freida Lee Mock
|
This is a great, captivating
documentary about Anita Hill - what happened then and where she is now.
As well as being distressing and pause-giving, it is also heartening and
relieving and very informative.
>>>Bitch Hug***
|
Director:
|
Andreas
Öhman
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Linda
Molin, Fanny Ketter, Mathilda von Essen, Adam Lundgren, Fabian Fouren
|
|
Premiere Status:
|
North
American
|
|
Country:
|
Sweden
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
This is a friendship love story that
is almost great. I loved lots of this and particularly loved the
characterizations of the two girls.
The plot line is fun and funny, and really lends itself to an enjoyable
romp that then goes deeper. It
doesn’t get there, though, because the timing is off, too much time spent some
places and not enough in others. It may be the translation that made it bumpy
and uneven, or it just was bumpy and uneven. Still a film to see, though, for the two performances and
their stories, as well as to get a sense of how a young Swedish girl might
perceive New York City.
>>>Bling Ring****
|
Director:
|
Sofia
Coppola
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Emma
Watson, Taissa Farmiga, Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Claire Julien
|
|
Premiere Status:
|
North
America
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
Quite a creepy story that sends you on
a journey thinking about your young adult life and, perhaps, your own young
adult children. I say this because
I talked to quite a few people after this film (the closing night gala of
SIFF), and that’s what people were thinking about. While it’s horrifying to imagine these young people so
completely disconnected from reality and morality, it’s all the more horrifying
to consider that all people that age live at some degree of this non-connectivity. Entertaining with great
acting and brilliant directing, the film, as is true of all of Sofia Coppola’s
films, is a gem.
BREATHING EARTH*****
Germany
|
Director:
|
Thomas Riedelsheimer
|
It's a very precious thing, a film
about art. You must hold it gently and humbly with limitless honesty. You
must be able to present the topic and the artist's ideas exactly as the artist
being depicted might. I know this, because this film does all that and it's of
the best I've ever seen. So beautifully shot, it comes just short of taking
your breath away, choosing, instead, to inspire long slow intakes of breath.
Like wafting wind, sometimes flipping quickly this way and then that, other
times passing straight and true and then slowing and resting finally on the
open and amused eyes of a child.
BWAKAW***
|
Director:
|
Jun Robles Lana
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Eddie Garcia, Rez Cortez, Armida
Siguion Reyna, Gardo Versoza, Alan Paule
|
|
Country:
|
Philippines
|
So sad. I know this story needs to be
told, but I truly feel complete with stories about people who are left
wrenchingly alone because of their sexuality. This one starts sad, makes some
pretense at humor and then ends even sadder. Beautifully shot, even more beautifully
acted by its lead actor, it's a story that should have had its day. Selfish, I
know.
C.O.G.***
|
Director:
|
Kyle Patrick Alvarez
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Jonathan Groff, Denis O'Hare, Corey
Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
A disappointingly depressing and
cynical story. I know that's the way David Sedaris writes his stories, but they
don't come off quite so charmlessly when he tells them. It's still
worth watching for the performances, and it was also a tad bit nostalgic for me
as I dropped out of college to go pick apples as well.
Chile, 2013, 98 min
Director: Sebastián Silva
Cast: Michael Cera, Gaby Hoffmann,
Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva
Interesting combining of characters in
this decidedly American film from Chile. Michael Cera continues his
career playing a neurotic, disassociated irritant, so I had to quickly dismiss
him as a gnat (stole that from Bernadette* for whom I will always be grateful).
The 3 young Chilean men are lovely and charming, each in their own way,
and Gaby Hoffmann is a delightful (though sometimes equally irritating)
specimen. You'll remember her as the little girl with a fateful hotdog in
Field of Dreams. She threw herself into this role, and I felt she almost
got there. The camera did truly love her and I am praying she continues
her work as an actor, just so I can keep watching her and marveling at her
loveliness and bravery.
THE
DEEP****
Iceland/Norway, 2012, 95 min
Director: Baltasar Kormákur
Cast: Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, Jóhann G.
Jóhannsson, Björn Thors,Theódór Júlíusson, Þorbjörg Helga Þorgilsdóttir
This film is stunningly shot and a
very real feeling slice of one man’s life. I enjoyed the experience very
much. I’ve never seen a film from Iceland that wasn’t bleak and cold. This
certainly didn’t change the cold part of that trend for me, but there was
something very warm coming from the filmmaker that spread across the screen. I
think, also, that it just took cold and bleak so far, you had to squeeze your
own eyes and fists, as the hero of this film does, and find your way to something
solid and huge and amazing and whatever else the opposite of bleak is. Watching
this, just like the islanders in this film dig themselves out from under
fathoms of black ash, you travel from the dark to the light.
Drug
War**
|
Country:
|
Hong Kong , 2012
|
|
|
|
|
Language:
|
Mandarin, Cantonese
|
|
Director:
|
Johnny To
|
As you might expect from Johnnie To
(or even just from the title), this is a shoot-em-up movie with lots of blood
and death. Given that, however, the movie is actually quite compelling
with a plotline that works and keeps you wondering how in the world things are
going to end up. I give it the low rating simply because I don’t really
enjoy blood baths, but I came close to enjoying this one…
EPIC*****
USA
|
Director:
|
Chris Wedge
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Voices of: Amanda Seyfried, Josh
Hutcherson, Beyoncé Knowles, Christoph Waltz
|
I remember the audience gasping at the
beauty and imagination of the scenes at the beginning of Avatar. This happens
often in this delightful, animated adventure as well. Additionally, however,
are charming chucklings and belly laughs. In many ways this film goes where
Avatar should have gone. Though there are still, disappointingly, bad guys and
good guys, at least the bad guys make a little bit of sense in this natural
world and are definitely not vanquished through mere violent reaction, as they
are in Avatar. Go see this, sit back and enjoy the sheer beauty,
innovation, creativity, warmth and humanity of this best of the best
film.
|
Director:
|
Benjamin Renner, Stephane Aubier,
Vincent Patar
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Pauline Brunner, Anne-Marie Loop,
Lambert Wilson
|
|
Country:
|
France
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
An animated charmer. Great drawings.
The story is original and lovely with a somewhat pat ending, of course, but it
takes many creative and unexpected turns to get there.
|
Director:
|
Riley Morton
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Rick Steves, Alison Holcomb, Pete
Holmes, Vivian McPeak, Doug Hiatt
|
|
Premiere Status:
|
World
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
As someone who voted yes, I was taken
by surprise that there was conflict around Initiative 502 in 2012 for
legalizing the use of marijuana. Not the conflict between those who think
it should be legalized and those who don't, but those who think the initiative
won't result in legalizing the drug and could make things tougher in the short
run. Interesting and compelling footage and head-talking make this an
important film, rather than a funny one (ha ha, those silly potheads).
Just to understand the processes and compromises involved in trying to
get a whole country-full of people to agree on something that seems pretty
obvious.
|
Director:
|
Paolo
Virzi
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Luca
Marinelli, Thony, Micol Azzurro, Claudio Pallitto, Stefania Felicoli
|
|
Country:
|
Italy
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
A transcendent love story about a
couple trying to have children. Charming, poignant, and satisfying. The
performances by the two leads in this one take it over the top. I'd recommend
this one to anyone.
>>>Filmistaan****
|
Director:
|
Nitin Kakkar
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Sharib Hashmi, Inaamulhaq, Kumud
Mishra, Gopal Dutt, Sanjay Mehta
|
|
Country:
|
India
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
The main character in this film is
just as charming as can be and keeps you involved from the beginning. As
the film progressed, it pulled me in and had me very much rooting for the two
men trying to break out of their prisons. It is very much a love story
between these two, and it is not an easy story, despite its comedic affect.
For a brief introduction into cultural issues and a tiny, mostly humorous
peek at some of the ideological conflicts between India and Pakistan this is a
crack between the bricks.
>>>Full
Circle****
|
Director:
|
Zhang Yang
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Huanshan Xu, Tianming Wu, Li Bin,
Bingyan Yan
|
|
Country:
|
China
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
I think some people might find this
movie off-putting because of the potentially exploitive use of the elderly
as cutesy or a joke's butt end, however, sticking with this one is well worth
it, in my opinion. Particularly for the brilliantly creative skits this group
of people perform in the course of their story. Those images are staying very
pleasantly with me.
FORBIDDEN VOICES****
|
Director:
|
Barbara Miller
|
|
Country:
|
Switzerland
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
|
|
|
This is a very informative and hopeful
documentary about three women from three different countries with oppressive
governments who are making a difference through blogging. It combines well with
the other two documentaries about the Internet from this year's SIFF, Terms and
Conditions May Apply and
Out of Print, as a third,
positive spin since these two are rather dire.
FRANCES
HA****
USA, 2012, 86 min
Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner
I found myself quite choked up at the
end of this film, I’m guessing because it really was a heartbreaking story of
friendship love. We leave so little room for this relationship in our culture,
yet it is the richest and most diverse connection we have. That said, really
this is mainly a movie about a quirky, slow to mature young woman who you kind
of like and often find quite irritating. I’m still thinking about her, though…
Some fun cameos, some uncredited, so I can’t tell you who they are, but will,
instead remember in the middle of the night tonight. One that is credited is
Grace Gummer in a lovely, bitchy role – another of Meryl Streep’s talented
children.
FUREVER***
USA 2013, 80 min
Director: Amy Finkel
This film doesn't pull any
punches as it presents the various ways people have chosen to preserve their
deceased pets. Amazingly, for me, good arguments are made for most of
these choices, though it is still apparent that the filmmaker is not convinced
any of the more extreme choices are a good idea. It's interesting and
thorough, a very good documentary, and proves itself so by pushing a number of
buttons. It's not high on my list because, in the end, it's pretty hard to
watch and doesn't really edify despite the difficult imagery. An interesting
side note for those of us Seattle lesbians of a certain age, Pepper Schwartz,
UW sociologist who researched, among other things, lesbian sexuality in the 70s
(some of her conclusions still controversial), is used extensively in this film
as an expert on human-pet relations. Not sure how she got the gig, but
there you have it...
Canada
|
Director:
|
Yung Chang
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Narrator: Bill Pullman
|
|
|
|
I spent this whole movie salivating. I
even noticed my mouth moving in concert with the various fruit lovers in this
film as they took their slow, luscious bites of the pulpy, mysterious interiors
of just-picked wonders. I hoped no one could see me in that dark theatre.
So, food porn, for sure. Then there's the politics and the informative
aspect of this documentary about people out to preserve exotic fruit. So much
to learn about this movement. This film is a great start. We follow a number of
different groups, besides hearing from folks at a rare fruit convention, there’s
another group in LA led by Bill Pullman pulling together experts and friends to
create a neighborhood orchard, then some botonists attempting to preserve
various tropical fruits through grafting, recognizing that small villages in
rain forests aren't going to necessarily be motivated to save the last of a
particularly rare mango tree, another, a banana farmer in Central America
working with genetics to create more variety in the marketable banana.
Lots to know and learn, but mostly to scoop out and put in your mouth and
roll it around and swallow.
|
Director:
|
Silvio Soldini
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Pierfrancesco Favino, Claudia
Gerini, Alba Rohrwacher, Luca Zingaretti, Valerio Mastandrea
|
|
|
|
|
Country:
|
Italy
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
|
|
|
A sweet Italian comedy that gets
sweeter as it goes, but never crosses the line into schmaltz. Epitomizes the
feel-good film with a couple of quirks all its own. Another of this director's
films, "Bread and Tulips", is one I remember well as an equally sweet
and endearing portrayal of regular people engaged in their lives in a most compelling
way. I don't love the title of this which is references a statue in an
Italian city square who waxes poetic throughout the film. The Italian
title, The Commander and the Stork, captures the mood a bit better for me.
>>>Go Grandriders****
|
Director:
|
Tien-hau
Hua
|
|
Country:
|
Taiwan
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
|
Running Time:
|
75
minutes
|
|
Producer:
|
Yi-ying
Lin, Ben Tsiang, Xenia Chang
|
This film is a great deal like Full
Circle also shown at SIFF this year.
Some old folks decide to hit the road. In this case, however, it’s in Taiwan and the people are
real. What they’re doing is riding
around the entire island over the course of ten days on motor scooters. Poignant and fun.
>>>The Girl With 9
Wigs****
|
Director:
|
Marc
Rothemund
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Lisa
Tomaschewsky, Karoline Teska, David Rott, Maike Bollow, Peter Prager
|
|
Premiere Status:
|
North
America
|
|
Country:
|
Germany
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
You would think this would just be a
grueling experience, watching someone go through 32 weeks of chemo, but it’s
not. It’s utterly compelling. It may be because the main character is
so beautiful, I know that’s part of it, but the story, itself was just enough
unique and intimate, that it took me somewhere I hadn’t yet been, particularly
when it comes to stories about cancer.
When it was over, I thought, well, that was amazing. Of course, it only worked because the
woman who played the girl with 9 wigs was perfectly cast and could pull off
baldness and every one of those wigs with aplomb. When that actress came up to the stage afterward alongside
the real woman that the story is about (and who wrote it), and I saw that she
had the same aplomb, I was extra blown away. This is another one, by the way, in which I preferred the
original title – this one was:
Today I am Blonde.
HER AIM IS TRUE****
|
Country:
|
USA , 2013
|
|
|
|
|
Director:
|
Karen Whitehead
|
|
|
|
The subject of this documentary, Jini
Dellaccio, an amazing and intrepid musician and photographer who changed the
look and feel of rock photography from the early 60s through today, is what
makes this film a must-see. The film, itself, however, definitely leaves
you wanting more. Based on the conversation the producer/director and her
editor (shared at the screening I went to in which the editor said that during
editing she continually helped the director focus back on Ms. Dellaccio, I was
under the impression that there was an unlimited amount of archival data
available, both about the groups she photographed as well as about her own
history and portfolio. However, once the completely satisfying first half
of the film involving the fascinating arc Ms. Dellaccio’s life, the film then
seems to only focus on a few of the album covers and musicians she photographed
and keeps reshowing those pictures to the point that it feels there really
isn’t much material to work with at all. I would like to have seen either
more on the groups or more on Ms. Dellaccio. Unfortunately, I got
neither.
>>>The Improvement Club****
|
Director:
|
Dayna
Hanson
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Dayna
Hanson, Paul Matthew Moore, Jessie Smith, Wade Madsen, Dave Proscia, Pol
Rosenthal, Maggie Brown, Jim Kent, Peggy Piacenza
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
A deeply local and personal film about
putting on a show, created by and with the troupe that actually did put on the
show here in the Northwest. The
extremes they go to in order to get a chance to do their thing are hilarious
and marvelously over the top. Very
enjoyable and fun.
JUMP***
Ireland/United Kingdom, 2012, 88 min
Director: Kieron J. Walsh
Cast: Martin McCann, Nichola Burley,
Richard Dormer, Ciaran McMenamin, Charlene McKenna, Valene Kane, Lalor Roddy
Enjoyable, somewhat heavy puzzle
movie. There've been others of these and they're always fun. Difficult to
pull off though, making sure we get it when we rewind time and then go forward
and when we see how each of the complicated intersects make sense. This one is
pulled off well and is often quite funny. Light on the character work, but
that's not the point.
KEY
OF LIFE****
Japan
|
Director:
|
Kenji Uchida
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Masato Sakai, Teruyuki Kagawa, Ryôko
Hirosue
|
|
|
|
This is just all kinds of fun.
Sometimes it's difficult to trust that a comedy for another culture is
going to satisfy, or even make you laugh. This one pulls it off. It's
funny, poignant and has some lovely twists. As is true for audiences in
most mistaken identity farces, you spend a good portion of the movie very
concerned about how things are going to turn out. This one makes it seem
hopeless and impossible for all the characters involved, yet somehow things
untwist and play out happily and satisfyingly. Great fun.
A
Lady in Paris****
|
Country:
|
Estonia , 2012
|
|
|
|
|
Language:
|
French, Estonian
|
|
Director:
|
Ilmar Raag
|
|
|
|
I really enjoyed the premise of this
one: a woman who originally came to Paris from Estonia, long ago and who is now
quite open sexually and sensually is having to deal with issues around aging
and a new, unwanted helper who has just arrived from Estonia and quite closed
down sexually and sensually. It’s beautifully and subtly played by the
stars of the film, most notably by Jeanne Moreau in fine form.
THE LAST SHEPHERD*****
Italy
|
Director:
|
Marco Bonfanti
|
Here's what I wrote down in my notes
when this movie ended: His eyes. The screen filled with a sea of sheep, their
heads white capping down the highways toward Milan. Fantastic soundtrack. Just
when it starts seeming too long, a very sweet, even though (or maybe because
of), staged ending. I don't really want to say much more. Go see this.
It's a documentary about a shepherd.
>>>Love is in the Air****
|
Director:
|
Alexandre
Castagnetti
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Ludivine
Sagnier, Nicolas Bedos, Jonathan Cohen, Arnaud Ducret, Brigitte Catillon
|
|
Premiere Status:
|
North
America
|
|
Country:
|
France
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
I preferred the French title: Love and Turbulence. This is another fluff piece that is
absolutely worth it. I always
pronounce loudly that formulaic film is not a bad thing, you just have to be
sure to use the structure well and do something wonderful with it. Like Haiku! This film uses the romantic comedy formula right and does
something wonderful with it. Pure
entertainment, great fun, and you get to see LOTS of Paris.
MIDDLETON***
USA
|
Director:
|
Adam Rodgers
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Vera Farmiga, Andy Garcia, Taissa
Farmiga, Spencer Lofranco,Tom Skerritt, Peter Riegert
|
A fine romantic comedy with scenes
that work and scenes that don't. Cringe worthy clichés are mitigated by moments
of truly wonderful filmmaking. The actors are all great, though
often as uneven as the film, with some very fun cameos.
>>>More Than Honey*****
|
Director:
|
Markus Imhoof
|
|
Country:
|
Germany
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
|
Running Time:
|
90 minutes
|
|
Producer:
|
Pierre-Alain Meier, Markus Imhoof,
Thomas Kufus, Helmut Grasser
|
This is my favorite documentary of the
festival. The photography alone makes it a cut way above the norm, but
the evolution from issue of the honey bee's decimated population and the
possible and hopeful resolution of that take it all the way to the top of my
list. Right away, because of this amazing photography and special
effects, we are pulled deeply and intimately into the lives of honeybees. Once
there, I must warn those of you who are sensitive, we experience horrendous and
perhaps necessary choices on the parts of human husbandry that are pretty hard
to watch. Once there, in that place of hopelessness and destitution, we are
brought around to what might be happening naturally and possible human
intervention to resolve the plight of our (I mean their) declining population.
USA
director Joss Whedon, cast
Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion, and Clark Gregg
Oh this is just so much fun!
Shot in 12 days and presented in black and white with the actors speaking
Shakespeare’s words as they are written, it shouldn't be so light and airy, but
it very much is. Perfect. Hilarious takes, physical comedy, wry,
perfect line delivery and love. For those of us who adore Joss Whedon,
it's just another perfect blending of cast and story. If you adore
Shakespeare, this one is as good a version as you can get. If you don't
belong to any of these fan clubs, you'll still love it, because it's
infectious. It takes about two minutes to get used to the language and to
forget you're not seeing color and to stop thinking about the fact that all the
scenes take place in Mr. Whedon's house (well, you don't stop thinking about
that, but it doesn't distract). Go see this one.
>>>Muscle
Shoals****
|
Country:
|
USA , 2013
|
|
Running time:
|
102 minutes
|
|
Language:
|
English
|
|
Director:
|
Greg Camalier
|
|
|
|
Music lovers and music history buffs
should enjoy this rich bowlful of performances, conflict, and lore from a small
Alabama village that made its mark. You don't have to be a buff, however to be
simply impressed with the story-telling skills of this filmmaker. Clearly he
had a massive archive collection, which seems to make the difference between a
good documentary and a great one. However, he also made the choice to include
the story of the town, itself and the river as the metaphor and holder of
spirit it very much is.
OUR
NIXON***
USA, 2013, 85 min
Director: Penny Lane
My political views were shaped from
Watergate, so I wondered, as I watched this, how younger folks would experience
it. Funny? Horrifying? It doesn’t go as deep as the Pentagon Papers, nor as
complete as listening to the many tapes surprisingly never erased from Nixon’s
vaults, instead it just fluffs around the top of a few of the major players in
the strange interplay during Nixon’s presidency using their own videography
from the time and playing some of the taped conversations over these. Revealing
a kind of revelry that turns very sour and a creepy retelling of the Emperor’s
New Clothes.
OUT
OF PRINT***
|
Director:
|
Vivienne Roumani
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Narrated by: Meryl Streep
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
I would have been more satisfied with
this documentary had I not stayed to listen to the director's commentary. To
me, the conclusion of the film is that the digitizing of books isn't any
different from other changes that have happened to the written word and our
desire to share and partake of it. No worries - those of us who love to read
and those who love to write will continue to do so, despite the changes in
the tools. We as a culture would benefit from value shifts that cause more
people to be interested and engaged and able to think outside the box. Reading
and the other arts provide this. Seems like a good message. I certainly agree
with it. Apparently, this wasn't the message. Actually, we're going down the
tubes and can't stand to spend more than a few seconds reading a tweet.
Eventually, even that will be a problem. Never mind Harry Potter - mentioned in
the movie. Forget the abundance and availability of the written word as it's
never been seen before - also noted. Now I don't know what to think. See this
without the filmmaker and enjoy the varied and optimistic points of view
presented.
United Kingdom 2012, 105 min
Director: Marcus Markou
Cast: Stephen Dillane, Georges
Corraface, Georgia Groome, Selina Cadell, Ed Stoppard
I was planning to love this, but just
couldn't. It's very sweet and that's the problem. The formula is set quite
clearly as stuffy brother forced to get his hands dirty and carefree brother
forced to grow up. This is a wonderful formula, seen in many great comedies,
the always enjoyable Sabrina, for example. The brothers start out
in what looks like these conflictive states, but really turn out to already be
where they need to end up. So the plot moves from A to B (thanks Dorothy Parker).
This lack of movement results in nothing compelling and no reason to be drawn
in. The acting is great, the movie is well cast and of course, the music
is wonderful as one might expect from a comedy about a Greek family, so
go for these reasons.
|
Director:
|
Sophie
Fiennes
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Slavoj
Zizek
|
|
Country:
|
United
Kingdom
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
Slovaj Zizek is a renowned
sociologist/philosopher who speaks eloquently for a living. He and the director Sophie Fiennes
(sister to Ralph and Joseph), had already created a huge examination of film
history called A Pervert’s Guide to Cinema. This is their sequel.
Much less huge and more focused, it’s an enjoyable chunk of time wherein
you listen to Zizek wax on about film and its relationship with religion and
other forms of ideology, explaining, of course, what that term means. The humor and film references make it
fun, yet aren’t just there for the entertainment factor. They serve, also, to
drive all the way home interesting perspectives and points. It’s like the very best college lecture
ever.
POPULAIRE****
France
|
Director:
|
Régis Roinsard
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Romain Duris, Déborah François,
Bérénice Bejo, Shaun Benson, Mélanie Bernier, Miou-Miou
|
This is a wonderful, sherbet colored
homage to edgeless romantic comedies of the late 50s. It did such a good
job of this, it made me think fondly of many a Doris Day film. Of course, this
was French, so there was also a pretty steamy sex scene that Doris would never
have agreed to... My only complaint is that the male romantic lead always
has the same expression on his face, and it's not a very attractive one.
Perhaps that's on purpose so the audience can keep its distance and not get too
deeply involved in the inane and plot. Inane it is, and strangely charming and
strangely refreshing. Interesting sociologically, this film really seems to get
what these movies were about. A fun romp.
THE
PUNK SINGER*****
|
Director:
|
Sini Anderson
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, Kathi
Wilcox, Johanna Fateman, Kim Gordon, Adam Horovitz, Carrie Brownstein, JD
Samson, Corin Tucker, Allison Wolfe, Joan Jett
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
An astute and rich documentary filled
to the brim with history, music, and story. I was pretty much unaware of
the Riot Grrrl movement, other than knowing the name. I am now full up
with facts and feelings about it. I'm also astounded at the bravery and
vulnerability of this movie's subject, Kathleen Hanna. You will be
as well. Go see this one.
>>>Ripples of Desire****
|
Director:
|
Zero Chou
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Michelle
Chen, Ivy Chen, Jerry Yen, Simon Yam, Joseph Cheng
|
|
Premiere Status:
|
North
America
|
|
Country:
|
Taiwan
|
A grand opera of a Chinese folk
tale. Not as many dismemberings as
can usually be found in this type of film, but there are some, for sure, though
there’s not near enough sword play and dance combat as you might have
wanted. There’s a bit of humor in
the sprawling and multi-linear plotlines, but nothing ends well and no one
really gets what he or she wants.
This should be expected from such a story, of course. Nonetheless, this is a marvelous
eye-feast, sumptuous and rich with sinister evil and pure innocence,
irretrievable tragedy and abiding heroism. Hard to beat, really.
>>>Shadowed**
|
Director:
|
Joey Johnson
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Sean Nelson, Conner Marx, Erwin
Galan, Tara Simmons, David Hogan, Alison Monda, Sean Nelson
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
This one didn't get there for me. The
plot was somewhat predictable, yet implausible. The characters were
undeveloped and therefore quite irritating for those of us insulted by
stereotypes. Still, there was some intrigue and some good moments, and it was
shot here, so it gets 2 stars.
|
Director:
|
Abigail Child
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Eileen Ryan, Nick Wilding, Aurelia
d'Antonio, Richard Wittman
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
I found this art film far too irritating
to my senses to sit all the way through, though I stayed longer than half the
movie. Too many high pitched, strident sounds and split screens for me. The
story might have been interesting, it was, after all, about Mary Shelly, the
novelist and her husband, the poet, but it was presented more like a soap
opera, attempting to shock with the free love and infidelity of their lives,
without setting us into the 19th century so we could experience it with eyes
from that time.
SHORTS: two must-sees - Walking the Dogs and Ouverture
SHORT
TERM 12*****
USA 2013, 96 min
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton
Cast: Brie Larson, John Gallagher Jr.,
Kaitlyn Dever, Rami Malek, Keith Stanfield
This is one of my favorites. Charming,
heart-warming, frightening, satisfying and full of hope, this is a small and
enjoyable film that should have been a complete downer, yet was anything but. I
had the advantage of viewing this with my friend Paulette who has worked at a
facility like the one depicted here, and she assured me that there really were
amazing people like the characters in this movie. This made me feel free
to imagine horrible childhoods and awful, untenable situations as changeable.
A strong script with mostly realized and complex characters and an
equally strong cast put this one over the top for me.
SOMM****
|
Country:
|
USA , 2012
|
|
|
|
|
Language:
|
English, French,
Italian, German
|
|
Director:
|
Jason Wise
|
|
|
|
A highly suspenseful and enjoyable doc
about a handful of men, all friends, who are studying for and then taking the
Master Sommelier test. The test, apparently, is very, very difficult to
pass and we see, in the course of the film, why that is so.
Wonderful. Lots of wine. Plenty of emotion.
THE STORIES WE TELL*****
Canada
Director: Sarah Polley.
I keep talking to people about this
one, and keep saying "Sarah Polley is a GENIUS", and keep thinking
when I write this down that I just won't be able to put that vocal inflection
into my written commentary. So try to imagine me saying that quoted
portion. Here's the thing. Ms. Polley, a gifted director with
"Away from her" and "Take This Waltz" already under her
belt, decides to film her family and some revelations that have occurred about
her own origins. Then she peels off a layer and shows us what that meant
to her family and how they felt about being filmed, and then she peels off
another layer and shows us how things were 30 some years ago and how people
looked and how they acted and how things happened, and then she peels another
layer off and then another, and finally, and most importantly, she pulls all
the layers off. How she can go so deep, and why she would when she had a
good enough story to begin with, is also explained by what the people say to
her as she films them. She gets the whole thing in all its depth, through
multiple, brilliant techniques, that she then reveals to us, and we get to go
in there with her. Just genius. This one is a must-see.
Ireland/United Kingdom 2012, 100 min
Director: Nick Ryan
This is another documentary with a
definite slant, this time for the story that wasn't told in the media about the
heroics of one of the climbers of K2 in 2008 and the questionable behavior of
others. Since this side of the story wasn't told, this movie matters, but
the slant ended up getting in the way of the experience for me, especially as
the story winds itself to the tragic end. Still, it's a nail-biter and clarifies,
yet again, the incredible drive mountain climbers have and the incredible,
variable obstacles to reaching the top of mountains.
|
Director:
|
Cullen Hoback
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
With: Danah Boyd, Doug Rushkoff,
Margaret Atwood, Mark Zuckerberg, Moby
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
This is a must see for everyone. Not
that knowing how extensive our lack of privacy is today will change that fact,
but more of us having the level of information and awareness that this very
thorough film offers may make a difference in times to come in terms of how our
personal information is used. That is the power we have to wield and it's
everything.
TOUCHY
FEELY*****
|
Director:
|
Lynn Shelton
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney,
Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
I can't help but love everything that
Lynn Shelton creates. Whatever it is about her films, they vibrate at
exactly the right frequency for my sensibilities. It's gratifying then,
to see her become very popular and sought-after. It's also a relief that
this fame has in no way depleted her energy or tainted her unique work.
Touchy Feely is a wonderful, pleasant movie. Though she makes
little use of the adlibbed performances of her previous films, her
characters continue to be quirky and real and her actors able to fully embody
their complexity. This one is a particular love song to Seattle.
Those of you who follow the local music scene here will love Tomo
Nakayama's soul stirring performance. Energy workers, particularly energy
workers who are dentists (Paul R - that's you), will also feel treated by this
film. This is really a very simple story yet contains moments where each
of the actors give their all and leave you quite breathless - either because
you are laughing loudly, or hurting to your depth.
|
Director:
|
Bill Siegel
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
|
|
|
Informative and compelling documentary
that focuses on the fighter and the fights, but not the bouts. Dives right in
to the complicated morass of the black American Muslim movement of the 60s
and dovetails nicely with The Warmth of Other Suns which I'm currently
reading with my book group and which chronicles the evolutionary migration
North of Southern African Americans in response to Jim Crow
oppression.
Australia
|
Director:
|
Anne Fontaine
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier
Samuel, James Frechevile
|
Gorgeous women and gorgeous men.
Should be wonderfully titillating as these women sleep with each other's
sons. Because both boys have known both women since they were born, and because
i have raised children in a non-traditional family structure, I can only define
what they are doing as incest, and just can't enjoy it. The film, itself, sort
of points out how destructive these actions can be, but, like the mothers, just
can't seem to stop itself. By that take, then, this is really just
semi-pornographic, and if that's the case, then I'd rather have seen Robin Wright
sleeping with Naomi Watts, so there.
>>>Unfinished Song****
|
Director:
|
Paul Andrew Williams
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Terence Stamp, Vanessa Redgrave,
Gemma Arterton, Christopher Eccleston
|
|
Country:
|
United Kingdom
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
With Vanessa Redgrave and Terrance
Stamp at its helm, there can be no apologies that this one is a weeper.
Sweet and unobtrusive, it's a pleasant entertainment. I have to
admit it took me a few minutes into the film to get over the fact that my
favorite Doctor Who was playing the son. But that's just me…
THE
WALL*****
Austria 2012, 108 min
Director: Julian Pölsler
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Ulrike Beimpold,
Karlheinz Hackl, Wolfgang M. Bauer
This is a movie that provokes an inner
journey. It is intense, sometimes difficult to watch and deeply beautiful. The
wall works very well as a metaphor and quickly becomes unimportant as ideas of
humanity and connectedness take and overwhelm. In these explorations, performed
by a woman suddenly alone and the animals she takes on and befriends, it
looks like this is a mood piece. You certainly know quite early on that
there will be some loss to contend with, but there is also poignant and challenging
action and plot twists you don't see coming. In the end, this could be one of
my favorite movies of the festival.
THE
WAY WAY BACK****
|
Director:
|
Jim Rash, Nat Faxon
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison
Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph
|
|
Country:
|
USA
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
This movie kept reminding me of one I
saw when I was younger called Meatballs starring Bill Murray. Then I read
somewhere that it was an homage to such coming-of-age films from that earlier
era, so there you have it. Even though it harkens back, I found it a bit
better than those films, a tiny bit less sexist, quite a bit more funny and
much more poignant. It's got a great cast of course, Toni Collette, Steve
Carrel, Alison Janney, for starters, and lots of bite amid the sweetness. Fun
and satisfying.
USA 2012, 93 min
Director: Scott McGehee, David
Siegel
Cast: Julianne Moore, Steve Coogan,
Onata Aprile, Alexander Skarsgård, Joanna Vanderham
It's a fun film, well acted with a
predictable, though outrageous outcome. it's quite charmingly romantic
and the little girl is cute as a button, but really, for me, it is mostly a
horror story. By being set from the point of view of this very believable
child character, the film lets us know how completely vulnerable children are
in their worlds and how easily mistreated even through the best of intentions
(which are quite rare here). That's hard to watch, and so, since the movie
really ends up as a romantic comedy, I'm not sure the balance works.
>>>When I Saw You****
|
Director:
|
Annemarie
Jacir
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Mahmoud
Asfa, Ruba Blal, Saleh Bakri, Ali Elayan, Firas Taybeh
|
|
Country:
|
Palestine
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
The device of presenting the tragedy
of war from the viewpoint of a child is one that works brilliantly more times
than not. Where we might not
otherwise look, we must. Here, it
is a lovely and soft story in an ugly moment in mid-east history, the Six day
war. We follow a young, very
independent boy as he insistently attempts to find his way back to the home he
is a refugee from. His mother and
a group of insurgents involve themselves in his journey. We who watch know very well things
don’t turn out at all well for these people, but we must watch. It is a wonder and a pleasure how much
beauty and warmth are squeezed from this dusty, dry and hopeless landscape.
>>>Wolf
Children****
|
Director:
|
Mamoru Hosoda
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Voices of: Aoi Miyazaki, Takao
Osawa, Huru Kuroki
|
|
Country:
|
Japan
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
If you adore big-eyed Japanese
animation, this one is lovely. There are a few moments that give one pause
(as they involve bestiality), and it goes a little long, but I enjoyed the
story and loved the experience of watching two little children grow up and
choose their destinies. There are moments that are wonderfully endearing,
particularly involving the children shifting between human and wolf (baby and
puppy, really), that have stayed with me.
|
Director:
|
Isabelle Coixet
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Javier Cámara, Candela Peña
|
|
|
|
|
Country:
|
Spain
|
|
Year:
|
2013
|
|
|
|
A grueling talkie wherein a separated
couple tries to work out the tragedy they share and the rift it created between
them. Bleakly filmed, with incredibly brilliant acting, and not really
enough of a catharsis to make it worth it for me.
|
Director:
|
Justine
Malle
|
|
Principal Cast:
|
Esther
Garrel, Didier Bezace, Emile Bertherat, Lucia Sanchez
|
|
Country:
|
France
|
|
Year:
|
2012
|
A tedious and unpleasant film that
seems to be relying on the fact that it is directed and written by the daughter
of Louis Malle, rather than attempting to prove skill beyond it. The casting is probably the most
problematic, its star not able to produce real tears, nor garner any real
sympathy from the audience. Next
in line is the script, again, not really designed to bring us in to the story,
but to keep us at a distance.
