The long silence ends

5/22/10

TVOR has really dropped the ball these past few months. She did attend the Sundance and Palm Springs festivals--and saw tons of movies--but decided to wait until people might actually have a chance to see them before posting her comments. In retrospect, perhaps that was not the best plan. She did see a few interesting films in her local theaters, especially A Prophet and Mother, but all in all, it was a less than inspiring winter for moviegoers.

Now it is time for the silence to end. The Seattle International Film Festival, TVOR's hometown extravaganza, opened on May 20th, and her movie-going life as well as her blogging frequency will be picking up. If you're not in Seattle, she apologizes, but don't worry. A number of these films will get released at some point, and many will eventually make their way to DVD.

TVOR's first full day of the festival had a couple of gems in it, and she recommends seeing these in later screenings:

Castaway on the Moon--see it, see it, see it. Sweet and wonderful.

Soul Kitchen--another good Fatih Akin film (and TVOR does like her Fatih Akin films), lighter than his past two, a comedy with some heart.

Because of her festival travels and some time spent in SIFF press screenings, TVOR saw a number of SIFF films before the festival started. Here, briefly, is her take on them, in no particular order (sorry about that):

Bilal’s Stand
Done on a very low budget and a little rough around the edges, this family/coming of age story has a lot of heart, clever graphics, and is a nice little flick. Made by a very young filmmaker, who substituted creativity and community involvement for dollars.

Bran Nue Dae
Australian musical that may make you want to be an aborigine. Entertaining but not spectacular.

Double Take
TVOR missed this at Sundance but caught a good chunk of it at a gallery in New York last year. It was enough to convince her to see it in its entirety at SIFF.

The Dry Land
Ernest, pretty well put-together and acted, but not great movie about Iraq war veterans.

I Am Love
Beautiful, but there’s no there there. Even Tilda Swinton can’t make this film interesting. To be fair, though, a lot of people liked this film, so maybe it’s just TVOR.

Nowhere Boy
Polished, well-done biopic about John Lennon’s early years with wonderful performances by Kristin Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff.

Restrepo
The closest you’re likely to get to life in a U.S. Army unit in Afghanistan. Very powerful, see it.

Winter’s Bone
Very good—definitely one to see, a highlight of my Sundance.

Undertow
Beautifully filmed, it doesn’t entirely work, but sort of does. Interesting idea.

My Year Without Sex
Not as good as this director’s earlier film Look Both Ways, TVOR still liked this one.

Mugabe and the White African
Perhaps not the best-made film, but definitely one to see. Fascinating subject matter.

Reverse
This was one of TVOR’s favorites at Palm Springs. You don’t really know where you’re going until you’re there. Great final scene, with wonderful use of music.

Altiplano
Beautiful, but not really TVOR’s style.

I Killed My Mother
Very good first feature by a young French Canadian filmmaker who wrote, directed and starred in it.

The Topp Twins
A must see! And the actual twins will be at SIFF! A film for everybody—gay, straight, male, female, yodelers and non-yodelers.

Hipsters
This Russian musical is a feast for the eyes and a total hoot.

The French Kissers
Kids being kids in France. Well done, but it made TVOR glad she doesn’t have to be young again.

Excited
Way better than it sounds, TVOR actually liked this one. The people in it are intelligent!

Letters to Father Jacob
Pretty predictable, but less goopy than you might fear.

The Concert
TVOR supposes that this one is uplifting, but she found it so preposterous she couldn’t get into the film at all.

Skeletons
Prepare to be confused for a while as you sort out what’s going on, but if you’re like TVOR, you’ll enjoy the way it plays out.

Amer
No, no, no. A very long 75 minutes, an homage to/parody of a genre of film TVOR has no intention of ever seeing an actual example of.

When We Leave
Very powerful story of a woman caught between two cultures. Flawed, but worth seeing.

Skateland
American youth in the early 80’s. TVOR didn’t think this was very well done and didn’t really care about anybody in it. Bad hair, clothing, and music were heavily featured, of course.

Ondine
TVOR had hoped for more from Neil Jordan but it was not to be.

Countdown to Zero
Nothing new here.

Southern District
This is definitely worth seeing, a wonderful Bolivian film (and how many of those have you seen?). It’s about class and race and social change and human beings.