And now, some brief late night ramblings on my IFFB 2014 screenings so far. If I write "SEE IT!" I mean see it in a theater if you can. Of course, that may not be an option for many people and sadly, many of these films. If that turns out to be the case, please try to see a "SEE IT!" any way you can. =)
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day1.
BENEATH THE HARVEST SKY (Q&A w directors Gita Pullapilly and Aron Gaudet, co-star Aiden Gillen, and soundtrack artist Dustin Hamman)IFFB | website | my ramble
SEE IT! Rambled on it here.
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day2.
FIGHT CHURCH (Q&A w directors Daniel Junge and Bryan Storkel and pastor-fighters Paul Buress and Preston Hocker)
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day2.
FIGHT CHURCH (Q&A w directors Daniel Junge and Bryan Storkel and pastor-fighters Paul Buress and Preston Hocker)
IFFB | website | my ramble
SEE IT! Rambled on it here.
SHORTS G: NARRATIVE (Q&A w "Distance" director Aimee Long)
SEE IT! Rambled on it here.
SHORTS G: NARRATIVE (Q&A w "Distance" director Aimee Long)
"How To Stand Up For Yourself"
IFFB
When a little girl decides how important something is to her, she takes a stand against her mother's rule. Will Mom give in, or follow through with tough love? I can see what the film was going for, but it failed to connect with me.
"Lambing Season"
IFFB
Really enjoyed this one. Bridget enlists her fiance's help to confront her long lost father, whom she's tracked to a sheep farm in Ireland. She approaches her father under false pretenses, planning to learn about him as part of a documentary film crew, without revealing her true identity and relationship to the man. What if for his own reasons, her father has had the same idea?
*SPOILERY* notes to self. Leaving the "resolution" of the film's conflict up to the urgency of nature/a natural event is pretty perfect. Also appreciated that her father tried to hide himself behind the identity of "Father Patrick," for being a father, and for Bridgid's Patrick being a father-to-be.
"The Hero Pose"
IFFB
Also loved this one. A man spends the day with his daughter in their front yard and on their porch while he waits around for prospective buyers of his clunker of a car. The girl, otherwise bored out of her mind, engages Dad in some free flowing conversation that reveals quite a bit about the separated parents and how each has or hasn't moved on. The girl is a horribly irresistible charmer in this.
"Samnang"
IFFB
Love love this. Samnang works the overnight shift as doughnut baker. When he's told to train the boss's sister to do his own job, Samnang is not pleased. It's going to be a long night. We get to see Samnang work his shift once on his own. Kind of magical watching him engaged in the donut making all alone. The next night, we see him "share" the kitchen with his trainee, someone whom he automatically sees as a threat to his job security. The only job he has and one he needs. Attitude and little passive- (and later, active-) aggressive moves mean a lot in this. It's lovely to watch unfold.
Also—doughnuts!
"Distance"
IFFB
A well-realized glimpse of a near future world of high toxic pollution and travel rationing. A great effects team did some solid work, unfortunately, the story wasn't all that compelling to me.
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day3.
THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO (Q&A w director Ian Cheney)
day3.
THE SEARCH FOR GENERAL TSO (Q&A w director Ian Cheney)
IFFB | website
SEE IT! In this documentary, ostensibly about the origin of General Tso's Chicken, an investigation into this apparently ubiquitous American Chinese menu item becomes a surprising and tasty gateway into the history of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. Also, you find out who General Tso is. A deliciously enlightening watch.
FAT (Q&A w director Mark Phinney, cast, and crew)
SEE IT! In this documentary, ostensibly about the origin of General Tso's Chicken, an investigation into this apparently ubiquitous American Chinese menu item becomes a surprising and tasty gateway into the history of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. Also, you find out who General Tso is. A deliciously enlightening watch.
FAT (Q&A w director Mark Phinney, cast, and crew)
IFFB | facebook
So impressed by this. The lead, Mel Rodriguez, delivers a powerful performance as Ken, a man whose life and relationships seem to fall apart as he comes to grips with with obesity, addiction, depression, and denial. Hard to watch at moments, but appropriately so. The TIFF blurb says it pretty frickin well…
Powered by an utterly fearless, tour-de-force performance by Mel Rodriguez, FAT is a bracingly personal inventory of the indignities of battling obesity. Making his feature directorial debut, comedian Mark Phinney has adapted a series of autobiographical essays into an unflinching portrait of a life consumed by a compulsive and tragically self-destructive relationship with food. Often deeply discomfiting, FAT is also darkly funny, and above all, a film of remarkable emotional honesty.
There are some technical issues that I hope can be fixed, or overlooked, so that this film gets much more exposure.
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day4.
THE CASE AGAINST 8 (Q&A w litigants Sandy Stier and Kris Perry)
So impressed by this. The lead, Mel Rodriguez, delivers a powerful performance as Ken, a man whose life and relationships seem to fall apart as he comes to grips with with obesity, addiction, depression, and denial. Hard to watch at moments, but appropriately so. The TIFF blurb says it pretty frickin well…
Powered by an utterly fearless, tour-de-force performance by Mel Rodriguez, FAT is a bracingly personal inventory of the indignities of battling obesity. Making his feature directorial debut, comedian Mark Phinney has adapted a series of autobiographical essays into an unflinching portrait of a life consumed by a compulsive and tragically self-destructive relationship with food. Often deeply discomfiting, FAT is also darkly funny, and above all, a film of remarkable emotional honesty.
There are some technical issues that I hope can be fixed, or overlooked, so that this film gets much more exposure.
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day4.
THE CASE AGAINST 8 (Q&A w litigants Sandy Stier and Kris Perry)
IFFB | website
SEE IT! A wonderfully crafted documentary following the progress of the case built against Proposition 8 in California, the law which outlawed gay marriage in the state by popular vote. The film follows the case almost from its conception and the formation of its legal team, whose anchorman, Ted Olson, would have been the last person anyone would expect to be asked, much less to agree to join in the lawsuit. He in turn picked a most unlikely partner, David Boies. Do these names mean anything to you? The didn't to me, until placed in the context of news reports from 2000—they were the leaders of opposing counsel in Bush (Olson) v. Gore (Boies). Once the legal minds are committed, we meet the plaintiffs of the case, two couples, one gay, one lesbian, vetted by these lawyers and their team. The film follows all of them over the years it takes to develop, try, and ultimately rule on and against Proposition 8. It's a helluva story and an excellent cinematic telling of it.
WILD CANARIES (Q&A w producer)
SEE IT! A wonderfully crafted documentary following the progress of the case built against Proposition 8 in California, the law which outlawed gay marriage in the state by popular vote. The film follows the case almost from its conception and the formation of its legal team, whose anchorman, Ted Olson, would have been the last person anyone would expect to be asked, much less to agree to join in the lawsuit. He in turn picked a most unlikely partner, David Boies. Do these names mean anything to you? The didn't to me, until placed in the context of news reports from 2000—they were the leaders of opposing counsel in Bush (Olson) v. Gore (Boies). Once the legal minds are committed, we meet the plaintiffs of the case, two couples, one gay, one lesbian, vetted by these lawyers and their team. The film follows all of them over the years it takes to develop, try, and ultimately rule on and against Proposition 8. It's a helluva story and an excellent cinematic telling of it.
WILD CANARIES (Q&A w producer)
IFFB | website
Did not love this. Appreciated a lot of what was going on here, but felt like the movie was a bit schizophrenic. The screwball noir-ness worked not-too-badly, but the relationship bumps just seemed too base and mean-spirited. In general I like when a film doesn't give a damn and defies classification—life doesn't know anything about genres after all—but the change-ups in mood/tone caused by the relationship tangles weren't complementary to the mystery. Gotta say, tho, this film overall is a very interesting different direction compared to GREEN, which screened a few years back at IFFB, from the same writer, director, and stars. Alia Shawkat's role in this totally flashes me back to Maeby Bluth in her Hollywood exec era, heh. I do wish that Kevin Corrigan got more screen time. He was channelling SOMEONE in this, but I couldn't quite put my finger on who. Walken, maybe?
OBVIOUS CHILD
Did not love this. Appreciated a lot of what was going on here, but felt like the movie was a bit schizophrenic. The screwball noir-ness worked not-too-badly, but the relationship bumps just seemed too base and mean-spirited. In general I like when a film doesn't give a damn and defies classification—life doesn't know anything about genres after all—but the change-ups in mood/tone caused by the relationship tangles weren't complementary to the mystery. Gotta say, tho, this film overall is a very interesting different direction compared to GREEN, which screened a few years back at IFFB, from the same writer, director, and stars. Alia Shawkat's role in this totally flashes me back to Maeby Bluth in her Hollywood exec era, heh. I do wish that Kevin Corrigan got more screen time. He was channelling SOMEONE in this, but I couldn't quite put my finger on who. Walken, maybe?
OBVIOUS CHILD
IFFB | website
SEE IT! Love love this. Hilarious, thoughtful, rude, and sweet romantic comedy featuring fierce and lovely Jenny Slate as a 27 year-old Brooklyn comedian who gets dumped, fired, and pregnant just in time for Valentine's Day. Written and directed by Gillian Robespierre. Until this film, I knew Slate only as John-Ralphio's sister (and hilariously nightmarish girlfriend of Tom Haverford) on PARKS & REC. From now on, I will be paying attention to everything these two women have done and do.
SEE IT! Love love this. Hilarious, thoughtful, rude, and sweet romantic comedy featuring fierce and lovely Jenny Slate as a 27 year-old Brooklyn comedian who gets dumped, fired, and pregnant just in time for Valentine's Day. Written and directed by Gillian Robespierre. Until this film, I knew Slate only as John-Ralphio's sister (and hilariously nightmarish girlfriend of Tom Haverford) on PARKS & REC. From now on, I will be paying attention to everything these two women have done and do.
*SPOILERY* notes to self. Peefarter!
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day5.
9-MAN (Q&A w director Ursula Liang, editor, and three players)
IFFB | website
SEE IT! (esp. if you dig volleyball!) Would make a great double feature w GENERAL TSO!.Excellent documentary that follows several teams of Chinese 9-man volleyball players over the course of a year, from try-outs to nationals. Along the way, we encounter the generations of Chinese immigrants and American born Chinese who have taken up the sport and why it means so much to their communities and culture. Also features some impressive highlights of tournament play. =)
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day5.
9-MAN (Q&A w director Ursula Liang, editor, and three players)
IFFB | website
SEE IT! (esp. if you dig volleyball!) Would make a great double feature w GENERAL TSO!.Excellent documentary that follows several teams of Chinese 9-man volleyball players over the course of a year, from try-outs to nationals. Along the way, we encounter the generations of Chinese immigrants and American born Chinese who have taken up the sport and why it means so much to their communities and culture. Also features some impressive highlights of tournament play. =)
*SPOILERY* notes to self. Ontario Canadians (I think?) have no problem using the word "oriental" to describe people of Asian descent.
KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER
IFFB | website
I enjoyed it, but it's a tough recommend to everyone. Sad and dark but nice to look at. When a Japanese office lady discovers a VHS tape of the movie FARGO apparently hidden in a seaside cave, she takes the Coen Brothers at their word and believes the events of the film to be true. She becomes obsessed with the notion that the money that Steve Buscemi's Carl Showalter buries in the North Dakota snow is still there.
The ending may not be the most satisfying (no wood chipper?!), but sadly, it does seem correct. I would have appreciated some more fish-out-of-water/cross-cultural encounters and maybe a little less bleak-ness, hard as that may be to come by in the Dakota/Minnesota wilds.
*SPOILERY* notes to self. Bunzo! A beautiful shot of Kumiko at twilight, trudging thru a snow covered clearing in the woods, in her motel blanket poncho, looking like an arrowhead against the white ground, dark trees a thick band on the horizon, darkening sky above her. When Kumiko discovers the VHS tape of FARGO at the start of the film, she has been led there by a map. I'm not certain if it's a map of her own creation (she makes one to guide her FARGO quest) or something that she acquired somehow. There really is only one way this can end, but I hoped for a CITY SLICKERS sorta explanation of a kind-of-actual FARGO treasure, buried in the snow and ice beside a random stretch of North Dakota road. Y'know, part of a live-the-movie FARGO tour dealio? Alas, not to be. It turns out that the "true story" card lifted from FARGO and used at the opening of KUMIKO also applies more accurately to KUMIKO than FARGO. A young Japanese woman did in fact die in the snow on what several people believed was a quest for the FARGO McGuffin. The true true story is even sadder…
GOD HELP THE GIRL
IFFB | website
SEE IT! (esp. if you like musicals!) Horribly adorable. Like SHORT TERM TWELVE meets LINDA, LINDA, LINDA… kinda sorta. So, yeah, I might be a sucker for youthy angst/right-of-passage stories on film, and if you're gonna create a musical around such a story, and set it in Ireland, whose music could be more fitting than Stuart Murdock's? He's the lead singer of Belle & Sebastian, his/their music is featured in the film and he wrote and directed. The story is pretty simple…
Young woman trying to find herself runs away to Glasgow hoping to break into music by getting a song played on a popular radio show. There she befriends a philosophical folksy guitar player and his ingenue student. Of course, they decide to form a band (altho whether it needs a name is not a forgone conclusion… Hrm, there's a name, eh?). And—Wacky musical fun ensues! The result: some very lovely musical candy with more than a few sweet comedic turns and great laughs.
KUMIKO, THE TREASURE HUNTER
IFFB | website
I enjoyed it, but it's a tough recommend to everyone. Sad and dark but nice to look at. When a Japanese office lady discovers a VHS tape of the movie FARGO apparently hidden in a seaside cave, she takes the Coen Brothers at their word and believes the events of the film to be true. She becomes obsessed with the notion that the money that Steve Buscemi's Carl Showalter buries in the North Dakota snow is still there.
The ending may not be the most satisfying (no wood chipper?!), but sadly, it does seem correct. I would have appreciated some more fish-out-of-water/cross-cultural encounters and maybe a little less bleak-ness, hard as that may be to come by in the Dakota/Minnesota wilds.
*SPOILERY* notes to self. Bunzo! A beautiful shot of Kumiko at twilight, trudging thru a snow covered clearing in the woods, in her motel blanket poncho, looking like an arrowhead against the white ground, dark trees a thick band on the horizon, darkening sky above her. When Kumiko discovers the VHS tape of FARGO at the start of the film, she has been led there by a map. I'm not certain if it's a map of her own creation (she makes one to guide her FARGO quest) or something that she acquired somehow. There really is only one way this can end, but I hoped for a CITY SLICKERS sorta explanation of a kind-of-actual FARGO treasure, buried in the snow and ice beside a random stretch of North Dakota road. Y'know, part of a live-the-movie FARGO tour dealio? Alas, not to be. It turns out that the "true story" card lifted from FARGO and used at the opening of KUMIKO also applies more accurately to KUMIKO than FARGO. A young Japanese woman did in fact die in the snow on what several people believed was a quest for the FARGO McGuffin. The true true story is even sadder…
GOD HELP THE GIRL
IFFB | website
SEE IT! (esp. if you like musicals!) Horribly adorable. Like SHORT TERM TWELVE meets LINDA, LINDA, LINDA… kinda sorta. So, yeah, I might be a sucker for youthy angst/right-of-passage stories on film, and if you're gonna create a musical around such a story, and set it in Ireland, whose music could be more fitting than Stuart Murdock's? He's the lead singer of Belle & Sebastian, his/their music is featured in the film and he wrote and directed. The story is pretty simple…
Young woman trying to find herself runs away to Glasgow hoping to break into music by getting a song played on a popular radio show. There she befriends a philosophical folksy guitar player and his ingenue student. Of course, they decide to form a band (altho whether it needs a name is not a forgone conclusion… Hrm, there's a name, eh?). And—Wacky musical fun ensues! The result: some very lovely musical candy with more than a few sweet comedic turns and great laughs.
*SPOILERY* notes to self. I dig the pyramid that the doctor or whoever-she-was drew up for Eve. It was about how to build a life. When you get to the higher levels, if they break down, the ones below them will catch you. And if you try to skip the lower ones, to try for the top, if you don't make it, you fall hard. Elegant.
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Keep on screenin on~
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