I'd have to go back and check, but this might be the only time I've seen two different films from the same director at the film festival. The man is Werner Herzog. The first film was 2007's Encounters at the End of the World, about the Antarctic ice floes, and the second is this year's Cave of Forgotten Dreams, about the unbelievable Chauvet cave paintings at Lascaux, France, which are widely believed to be the oldest form of rock art, or any kind of pictorials, ever discovered.
It's absolutely fascinating, these depictions on the cave walls of the earliest animal species, and even some representations of human figures, including a sexualized woman. As the 16th film of the festival, it always presents an unique challenge to A) stay awake and B) enjoy the film. In this case, I was able to B, but almost couldn't A during some of the more expository parts. Especially during the long scene where the woman with the soothing voice took us through the different sections of the cave. It makes me yawn just thinking about it, and not in ennui, but in calm. I'm excited to see it again, and to enjoy it again, and increase my knowledge of this paleontological marvel.
Score: 9/10
Friday, August 12, 2011
#171 - L'inferno (1911)
Every year, the TCFF always seems to have one old gem play at the State Theatre at noon on Saturday, with some sort of accompanying musicians. A couple years ago, we saw Metropolis with a live orchestra performing the score (really amazing) and this year, we were witness to one of Italy's first feature-length films, L'inferno, based on Dante's Divine Comedy, with an accompanying organist. He was very good, but gave a very Skeletons of Quinto-esque expository speech before the movie began. (Fans of A Mighty Wind will possibly get that reference.) The movie itself was fine, amazing for its time, no doubt, but pretty cheesy by today's standards.
I saw the movie with Dan and he mentioned that it was strange how some of the men got loincloths and others didn't. There didn't seem to be a reason behind who/why. Oh well. In addition, IMDb tells me that this was the first film to show male full frontal nudity, and the next time it happened was almost 60 years later, in the infamous wrestling men scene in the adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love. It was also the first movie to be shown in its entirety without intermission in the US. The organist told us this, and mentioned as well that it made a great deal of money in its day. Really a landmark piece.
This one is tough to score given the 100 years difference, but in cases like this, I have to lean toward how revolutionary this was (in addition to my enjoyment level).
Score: 8/10
I saw the movie with Dan and he mentioned that it was strange how some of the men got loincloths and others didn't. There didn't seem to be a reason behind who/why. Oh well. In addition, IMDb tells me that this was the first film to show male full frontal nudity, and the next time it happened was almost 60 years later, in the infamous wrestling men scene in the adaptation of D.H. Lawrence's Women in Love. It was also the first movie to be shown in its entirety without intermission in the US. The organist told us this, and mentioned as well that it made a great deal of money in its day. Really a landmark piece.
This one is tough to score given the 100 years difference, but in cases like this, I have to lean toward how revolutionary this was (in addition to my enjoyment level).
Score: 8/10
#170 - Trollhunter (2010)
A Norwegian mockumentary about a... guess.
A Blair Witch-style college documentary three-person film team follows a man who they think is poaching bears, but is, in "reality", the best field worker for the TSS (Troll Security Service), a secret government organization to rid the country of its trolls.
It's a funny premise (I especially like the part in the movie where the man is hunting the troll who lives under the bridge) and I enjoyed the whimsy (yes, whimsy) that accompanies all the actual trollhunting and trolldisposing. I would have enjoyed this movie a lot more had it not been a midnight showing of the 14th movie I saw at the fest this year. Its faux-documentary style worked against it in ways, as though I were watching a very late-late news report. But that being said, I enjoyed it very much, and it certainly falls at least in the middle of the pack of Midnight Movies at the State.
Score: 7.0/10
A Blair Witch-style college documentary three-person film team follows a man who they think is poaching bears, but is, in "reality", the best field worker for the TSS (Troll Security Service), a secret government organization to rid the country of its trolls.
It's a funny premise (I especially like the part in the movie where the man is hunting the troll who lives under the bridge) and I enjoyed the whimsy (yes, whimsy) that accompanies all the actual trollhunting and trolldisposing. I would have enjoyed this movie a lot more had it not been a midnight showing of the 14th movie I saw at the fest this year. Its faux-documentary style worked against it in ways, as though I were watching a very late-late news report. But that being said, I enjoyed it very much, and it certainly falls at least in the middle of the pack of Midnight Movies at the State.
Score: 7.0/10
#169 - Largo Winch (2008)
An action movie that's a combined effort of France and Belgium starring an attractive man and Kristin Scott Thomas? I'll give it a shot.
And, thankfully, it was about exactly as I expected. A not-too-complicated business plot emerges when a tycoon dies with no known heir, but aha, there is a surprise! An adopted son who can be found to take over the company? You don't say.
Action, action, action, subplot, subplot, subplot. And it all wraps up really nicely at the end.
And there's going to be a sequel?! Yes, please.
Score: 8/10
And, thankfully, it was about exactly as I expected. A not-too-complicated business plot emerges when a tycoon dies with no known heir, but aha, there is a surprise! An adopted son who can be found to take over the company? You don't say.
Action, action, action, subplot, subplot, subplot. And it all wraps up really nicely at the end.
And there's going to be a sequel?! Yes, please.
Score: 8/10
#168 - Rid of Me (2011)
Unfortunately, this decent idea with potential ranks among the least successful movies I have ever seen at the festival. The tagline of the film "Kids can be mean...adults can be meaner" somewhat hints at the plot. When Mitch and Meris move back to Mitch's old town where all his old friends live, milquetoast Meris is unable to coalesce with the group (and, to the movie's discredit, we are never able to see what Mitch saw in Meris prior to their moving back) and when Mitch inevitably leaves her for his old life (and old girlfriend), Meris spirals downward (then, also inevitably, back upward) with the help of a couple new friends.
But it all kinda sucks. And the acting was mostly terrible. And there was a serious age discrepancy between Mitch/Meris and all of his "high school friends". And lots of other things went wrong. But no one hated it more than Dan.
Score: 2.5/10
But it all kinda sucks. And the acting was mostly terrible. And there was a serious age discrepancy between Mitch/Meris and all of his "high school friends". And lots of other things went wrong. But no one hated it more than Dan.
Score: 2.5/10
#167 - Rabies (2010)
Today, I will be posting the remainder of the film festival movies from last week.
First on the block is an Israeli "serial killer" flick about four friends who get lost on the way to a tennis tournament and hit a young man who's just escaped from the woods with their car. The thing is: he is actually injured from a bear trap (presumably laid by the serial killer) and his sister is actually in the arms of a serial killer. But when the serial killer gets hit with a tranquilizer dart, the game isn't over, because everyone starts dying, anyway.
Unfortunately, even though the idea is pretty neat, it's carried out very unevenly. Too many different kinds of circumstances leading to a mishmash of deaths, some interesting, some over-conceived, and some completely random. In a long tradition of excellent midnight horror shows, this one falls near the bottom.
Score: 5/10
First on the block is an Israeli "serial killer" flick about four friends who get lost on the way to a tennis tournament and hit a young man who's just escaped from the woods with their car. The thing is: he is actually injured from a bear trap (presumably laid by the serial killer) and his sister is actually in the arms of a serial killer. But when the serial killer gets hit with a tranquilizer dart, the game isn't over, because everyone starts dying, anyway.
Unfortunately, even though the idea is pretty neat, it's carried out very unevenly. Too many different kinds of circumstances leading to a mishmash of deaths, some interesting, some over-conceived, and some completely random. In a long tradition of excellent midnight horror shows, this one falls near the bottom.
Score: 5/10
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