Day Eight - "I'm like the weather, dude - I can get real bad, real fast."

Paranoid Park

Gus Van Sant's latest film, adapted from the novel by Blake Nelson, about a teenager (Gabe Nevins) dealing with enormous guilt after an incident near Paranoid Park skate park.

Film of the day and second best film of the festival so far. (I'm not giving up my allegiance to In Search of a Midnight Kiss!) It's also, quite possibly, Gus Van Sant's masterpiece. Ostensibly a story about an aimless Portland teenager named Alex (Gabe Nevins, pictured on the film's remarkable poster, left), whose parents are getting divorced and who spends most of his time skateboarding with his best friend Jared (Jake Miller), which, in turn, is beginning to annoy his girlfriend Jennifer (Taylor Momsen - little Cindy Lou Who from The Grinch, all growed up). One evening, Alex goes to the Big Kids Skate Park (nicknamed Paranoid Park) by himself and has a chance encounter that will change his life. The film is framed as a story or a letter that Alex is writing and early on he says, "No...wait...I forgot...this happened earlier...they said in Creative Writing that my style was bad but I'll get it all down eventually." So the film skips about, chronologically with some scenes repeating or overlapping in the process. The strange thing is that it feels totally seamless and your brain kind of fills in the correct sequence for you as you go along. (This is hard to explain properly unless you've seen the film). It's also beautifully shot, courtesy of master cinematographer Chris Doyle (who also appears briefly as "Uncle Tommy", a key player in Alex's parents' divorce). Every shot in the film is astonishing, but highlights include: the opening shot of Portland Bridge (it's probably not called Portland Bridge but I haven't got time to google it - I welcome corrections from bridge aficionados); a shower scene where Alex is hanging his head so the water cascades off it in multiple streams (that sounds normal but again, you have to see the film); a shot of Alex skateboarding with an open umbrella; a sequence in a skating tunnel with a bright light at the end; shots of bright yellow falling leaves; and close-ups of Alex's unusual face, with his huge eyes but curiously unexpressive mouth. The film also includes some terrific variations on usual teen movie staples, such as a superbly filmed sex scene (Alex's face expressionless throughout, the camera angle hovering tightly over his shoulder the whole time); a break-up scene scored to music, where we can lip-read almost everything Jennifer says; and a conversation with his father (the only scene in which his father appears), where the father is in background of the scene and out of focus the whole time. There's also at least one shot that will make the audience gasp in shock, but to give that away would be churlish. Finally, the film has a spectacular soundtrack with a delightfully eclectic mix of songs and styles that Van Sant uses to terrific effect - for example, one scene has Alex driving around listening to rap music and then there's a quick jump-cut and the soundtrack suddenly switches to classical, which completely changes the scene and yet perfectly complements it at the same time. There's also a surprising amount of incidental music from Fellini movies, notably "Julieta of the Spirits" and "Amarcord". The performances are superb too - Nevins is exceptional, but Momsen ("Oh my God, we totally did it - no, it was fantastic!", Miller and Lauren McKinney (as Macy) are equally good. The blurb says that many of the actors were sourced from MySpace, which much have seemed like a dodgy idea at the time but it's paid huge dividends. Unmissable. Five stars.

Skills Like This

Low-budget indie comedy thriller about a slacker who discovers that he has a talent for robbing banks.

I don't know whether it's just me, but the sound in Screen 1 at the FilmHouse has seemed oddly muted on two occasions now (for both this and "Teeth") and I found myself straining to hear the dialogue both times. I hate that. Anyway, the film itself was very amusing and I liked the poster / badge / sticker campaign (see poster, left). Screenwriter Spencer Berger stars as Max, a failed playwright (the film opens with his hilariously awful production, "The Onion Dance") who suddenly discovers he has a talent for robbing banks. His two best friends (Brian Phelan as Tommy and Gabriel Tigerman as Dave) are horrified and excited, respectively and it's not long before Max is itching to rob somewhere else. However, things are complicated by the fact that he's also romancing the cute bank teller from the first heist, Lucy (Kerry Knuppe). The film had a certain knockabout charm and there were a lot of great lines, most of them delivered by Brian Phelan, who's hilarious as Tommy and the best reason to see the film. The script is pretty good and I liked the way it worked in the Onion Dance monologue at the end - I'm hoping that was a scriptwriter's joke rather than a sincerely meant moment, but it made me smile, anyway. The romance worked well too (Kneppe is very sweet), although Berger's performance teeters on smug at times and he's not always as likeable as the film seems to think he is. Respect to the afro though - I asked the director during the Q&A whether that was his real hair and apparently it was. The film also has a great soundtrack, sourced from local bands. Three stars, but that's a high three, not a low three like Saxon. Oh, and can Marta Martin (who plays Rosa, the cafe waitress) do more films please? Thanks.

Note: "Skills Like This" screened with a very amusing short by Matthew Modine called "I Think I Thought", which is worth looking out for.

Full disclosure II

I had every intention of seeing Auftauchen (aka Breaking the Surface) today but when I got to the screening, a man came out and said that the reels had arrived without labels, so they had someone who'd seen the film in the projection room trying to match up images to their memory of the film but it could all go horribly wrong and if it did, they'd stop the film and reschedule it. I'd already missed the alternative (Ex-Drummer; coming soon) so I stayed, largely because the programme had said that the film had "a rare command of that most awkward of film-making challenges, the sex scene". Sure enough, twenty minutes in, there is an impressively filmed sex scene (by which I mean intense and lots of heavy breathing rather than explicit imagery)...and then, as soon as it finished, the lights went up and the now very sheepish-looking bloke came out and told us that, essentially, we'd had our fun and now had to leave. Some very flustered audience members were giving each other embarrassed looks on the way out and saying, "I feel so cheap..." But, really, this festival is taking the concept of the tease way too far...

Coming soon:Weirdsville, Parting Shot, The Surprise Film: The Kingdom

Day Seven - "You can squeal to Herzog if you want"

Saxon

Low-budget council estate private eye flick, starring Sean Harris as a jailbird investigating his friend's disappearance.

The write-up for "Saxon" says "Startling UK thriller brings the grit of 70s Hollywood to a messed-up London estate". I tried to count the number of lies in that sentence but I lost count. Apparently, there were a number of walk-outs at the public screening and, based on the expectations raised by that write-up versus the reality of the film, I can't say I blame them. I freely admit it was one of the films I was most looking forward to, just from the brochure. That said, I didn't hate it, although I appear to be in the minority of people I've spoken to. It starts brilliantly: Sean Harris plays Eddie, an ex-con who gets out of jail and promptly gets his eye taken out by loan sharks, owing to the fact that the interest on his £500 loan sky-rocketed while he was in jail. Desperate to keep the other eye, he shows up on the doorstep of his ex, Linda (Sarah Matravers), who still lives on the Saxon council estate, despite her husband Kevin (Paul McNeilly) recently winning a fortune on a TV game show (hosted by a cameoing Henry Kelly). However, Kevin has gone missing, so Eddie turns private eye in return for Linday helping him out with his debts. To be fair, Sean Harris is an excellent actor and he's superb here. There's also strong support from Matravers, McNeilly (their training montage is hilarious) and Michelle Connolly as Jackie, a hairdresser / femme fatale who gives Eddie half a haircut. Apparently the script for the film was widely acclaimed when it showed up on Kevin Spacey's TriggerStreet.com website and it's not hard to see why, as the private eye jokes are very well observed and the film is often very funny. Unfortunately, it falls apart horribly towards the end and it could also have used a) a better director and b) a lot more money. Basically, it looks like something someone knocked up in a couple of afternoons on a council estate with his video camera and some mates. It reminded me a lot of the Aberystwyth novels, which are also a private eye pastiche, only set in Wales. They always fall apart at the end too. Oh hell, I'm feeling generous - three stars, but only just.

The Counterfeiters (Die Fälscher)

German wartime drama, based on a true story, starring Karl Markovics as a Jewish master counterfeiter forced to assist the Nazis with their forging operation whilst interned in a concentration camp.

Film of the day. Thoroughly enjoyable German wartime drama, based on the memoirs of Adolph Burger, although, oddly, the film isn't actually about Burger and he only appears as a supporting character, albeit an essential one. Karl Markovics (who looks like a grumpy Bing Crosby) plays Salomon "Sally" Sorowitsch, a Jewish master counterfeiter who lives a fast life of women, cards and forged cash in Berlin. He's arrested in 1936 and thrown into the Mauthausen concentration camp, where he quickly uses his artistic skills to gain favours by doing portraits of the guards and murals and the like. He's then essentially head-hunted and transferred to the camp of Sachsenhausen where he's put in charge of overseeing Operation Berhard, the largest counterfeiting operation in history. However, their luxury conditions are in stark contrast to the concentration camp just over their adjoining wall and one member of Sally's team, Adolph Burger (August Diehl) resorts to sabotage, which puts Sally in an increasingly difficult position. The performances are superb. Markovics is terrific, in a performance that appears to be emotionally cold on the surface, but is gradually revealed to have hidden depths, primarily through his friendship with a young fellow prisoner from Russia. Diehl is also excellent, nailing Burger's wild-eyed desperation - he looks like he could have stepped out of a 1940s Hollywood film. There's also strong support from Devid Striesow as Superintendent Friedrich Herzog, who's responsible both for Sally's arrest and his later promotion and who turns out to be surprisingly sympathetic. The film's also beautifully shot and contains some superbly suspenseful sequences, such as Herzog gathering the men to tell them about one of their agents trying to cash the first batch of British pounds. Well worth seeing when it gets a general release in a month or so's time. Four stars.


The Interpreter (La Traductrice)

Euro thriller starring Julia Batinova as a young Swiss / Russian woman who becomes involved in the trial of a shady Russian businessman

This was watchable enough but by the end, I felt like some of it had got lost in translation. The rather lovely Julia Batinova (who looks like a cross between Charlotte Church and Linda Cardellini) plays Ira, a 20-something student who was born in Russia but brought to Geneva when she was seven and raised by her mother. When a shady family friend (Sergei Garmash as Oleg) offers Ira a job as the interpreter between a Russian businessman accused of drug-dealing and his Swiss lawyer (Bruno Todeschini), Ira finds herself dragged into some decidedly dodgy political manoeuvrings in the run-up to the trial. At one point it threatens to go a bit Hannibal Lecter, with the businessman (read: gangster) taking an unhealthy interest in Ira and urging her to go back to Russia so she can reconnect with her roots. Okay, I'll admit it. Part of the reason the film annoyed me was because I thought I'd called an early twist and that the gangster would turn out to be her father (Oleg says early on that the gangster has a daughter who "has the same eyes") but that wasn't the case. And frankly, it should have been, as the actual revelation had very little dramatic impact. It's also guilty of a serious bit of father-figure overload - I counted four at one point and she has an affair with one of them. Frankly, it was no surprise to hear the director, Elena Hazanova, confess at the Q & A afterwards that the story was "largely autobiographical". Translation: the thriller elements were secondary to the writer-director working out her daddy issues. That said, it was watchable enough and Batinova will hopefully go on to bigger and better things. Three stars.


Full disclosure I

I also went to see Riza today, a Turkish film about a long-distance truck driver stranded in a remote village. I was prepared for it to be slow-moving, but evidently not prepared enough, because I lasted about 15 minutes before voting with my eyes and deciding to have a nap instead. I think I made the right decision. The description in the brochure said "a film of slow-burning emotional force" and in future I shall give "slow-burning" movies the same wide berth I give to films described as "lyrical tone-poems". Also, the subtitles were the worst I've ever seen, with horrendous spelling mistakes all the way through. Well, all the way through all the bits I was awake for, anyway.

Day Six - "You know, they say even Hitler had friends..."

Stardust

British fantasy adventure based on the novel by Neil Gaiman, about a young man (Charlie Cox) who sets out to capture a fallen star to impress the town beauty and discovers that the star is, in fact, a beautiful woman (Claire Danes).

For some reason the other galas have received much more of a trumpeting than "Stardust" (perhaps because the distributors are rumoured to have banned the cast from attending the festival), but this turned out to be an absolute delight from start to finish. Charlie Cox (who could have a big, Hugh Grant-style career ahead of him if his performance here is any guide) plays Tristan Thorn, who ventures through the Forbidden Wall in search of a fallen star, with which to win the hand of the town beauty (Sienna Miller). However, Tristan is unprepared for what he finds: the star is in fact a beautiful woman (Claire Danes) and, what's more, she's none too pleased with being handed over as a present. That's the least of her problems, however - she's also being pursued by an evil witch (Michelle Pfeiffer, enjoying herself enormously) who wants to eat her heart in order to stay young and beautiful, plus two rival princes (Mark Strong and Jason Flemyng) are on her trail because of a necklace that brought her down to earth. On top of all that, there's the small mystery of Tristan's mother to contend with. Considering the huge number of characters and sub-plots, director Matthew Vaughn (aka Mr Claudia Schiffer, who reputedly persuaded Vaughn to do the film after reading Neil Gaiman's novel while pregnant) and screenwriter Jane Goldman (aka Mrs Jonathan Ross) do a remarkable job of keeping each plot strand moving. The action / fantasy sequences are enjoyable (the spells fight is better than anything in the Harry Potter movies) and the cast are terrific, especially Robert DeNiro, who has a fabulous part as the Dreaded Pirate (by reputation, at least), Captain Shakespeare. Danes and Cox make a great screen couple - they have real chemistry together which, literally, lights up the screen. The film is also extremely funny - there are several hilarious lines and many wonderful sight gags (e.g. Michelle's witch aging a little more every time she uses magic; the various killed-off princes -including Julian Rhind-Tutt and Adam Buxton- tagging along as ghosts). Also, this is a film that finally understands that audiences want only two things from a Ricky Gervais cameo: 1) to see him shut up, and 2) to see him get killed. Happily, this delivers both. Four stars.

Crazy Love

Documentary about the relationship between Burt Pugach and Linda Riss, who eventually married, despite the fact that Pugach had served 14 years for hiring thugs to throw acid in Linda's face, after she rejected him.

There is only one possible reaction to a viewing of "Crazy Love", and that's: "Man, that is Fucked. Up." It's a remarkable documentary that tells an even more remarkable story. Linda Riss was a stunningly beautiful girl in the late 1950s, until her jilted ex-boyfriend Burt Pugach (pronounced "Poo-gash", pronunciation-fans) hired some thugs to throw lye in her face, permanently disfiguring her and leaving her with almost total blindness. (To add further colour to the story, Linda only split with Burth because she found out about his wife and child!) At any rate, that's just the beginning of the story. While in jail, Burt bombards Linda with love-letters. Then, after serving 14 years (during which he studied law and even got convictions overturned for his fellow inmates), Burt gets out of jail and goes on TV, proposing to Linda and asking her to forgive him. And she accepts. And they're still married. The documentary basically allows Burt and Linda to tell the stories in their own words, via interviews conducted both separately and together. There are also interviews with Burt's friends (one of whom seems like a particularly unsavoury piece of work), Linda's friends, Burt and Linda's biographer and Burt's ex-secretary, with whom he also had an affair. Like the tabloid sensation that the story was in its time (both in the 50s and then in the 70s when they got married), the story is lurid, compelling and utterly fascinating. It's also heart-breakingly sad - Linda looked like a cross between Gloria Grahame, Susan Hayward and Anne Bancroft in her youth and Burt robbed her of her sense of self. The director (Dan Klores) spices things up with a terrific soundtrack and several photographs, home movie extacts and period news reports etc. The really interesting thing is when you finally get to watch Burt and Linda as they are now: she seems extremely controlling (basically, she's a terrible nag) and as the footage we're watching hammers that home, Linda's voice on the soundtrack says, "Basically, I figured that was the best punishment..." Klores was there for a Q&A afterwards, at which he revealed that he thought both Burt and Linda were narcissists who thrived on publicity (something the film doesn't really make clear) and that the only question that Burt wouldn't answer was whether or not he'd had homosexual experiences in prison. Oh, and the photo is of the wildly inappropriate strawberry lollies given away at the screening. You've got to love Tartan. Four stars.

Teeth

American indie horror flick, about a girl who discovers that she has sharp teeth in her vagina...with predictably gory results.

This was a lot of fun, although the recording levels made the film difficult to hear at times. Jess Weixler plays clean-cut teenager Dawn, a leading light in her school's Promise-Keepers movement, regularly urging her fellow students not to have sex until they're married. However, when her new crush attempts to date rape her, Dawn discovers that she has sharp teeth in her vagina and she's driven to a spot of self-exploration and self-discovery. (No prizes for guessing what happens when she goes to the gynaecologist). Meanwhile, her ne'er-do-well half-brother Brad (John Hensley from "Nip/Tuck", playing an equally fucked-up character) is dealing with his own issues, following a traumatic 'I'll show you mine if you show me yours' incident with Dawn when they were young. "Teeth" reminded me a lot of "Ginger Snaps", because both are teen horror pics that use physical anomalies (werewolves / vaginal teeth) as metaphors for emerging womanhood / puberty etc, plus the leads in both films get gradually, almost imperceptibly hotter on a scene-by-scene basis until they're drop-dead gorgeous by the end. It's also very, very funny in places and much credit is due to the production's special effects team, particularly in regard to the...um...prosthetics. There are also nods to Cronenberg and various high school movies and if the audience reaction was anything to go by (alternate and sometimes simultaneous bouts of cheers -the girls-, winces -the boys-, laughs, shrieks and "Ewwww!"s), this should be a big word-of-mouth hit. Four stars.

Day Five - "We were trying to pop this cow for like half an hour..."

LYNCH

Documentary, of sorts, in which the film-makers hang around with David Lynch while he prepares for INLAND EMPIRE.

Essential viewing for David Lynch fans, this would make an excellent extra for the "INLAND EMPIRE" DVD, even if it never actually tells you anything about Lynch's work. Basically, a couple of unnamed film-makers (the directors are credited, stupidly, as "blackANDwhite") follow David Lynch around with handheld, mostly black-and-white cameras, recording him during candid moments, rather than adopting a more direct interview-to-camera approach. They seem to have been granted fairly comprehensive access during the pre-production and shooting stages of "INLAND EMPIRE", so there are some intriguing shots of Lynch rehearsing with Laura Dern, for example. Other than that, we get a series of anecdotes, we watch Lynch record video messages for davidlynch.com members (you're almost sure to sign up after seeing this), we see him at work and we follow him around as he indulges in his hobby of photographing old factories (apparently he has taken over 1400 photos of Polish factories alone). The directors have a real eye for imagery too - there's a beautiful shot of Lynch where his white suit and grey hair are brightly lit but the rest of his face is in total darkness. However, as watchable as the film is, it is frustrating that we don't get more of a sense of what makes Lynch tick - at one point he all but admits that he makes his films up as he goes along, which seems annoyingly disingenuous. Worth seeing though, especially if you're a fan. Three stars.

W∆Z

Trashy thriller starring Stellan Skarsgard and Melissa George as two cops on the trail of a killer who carves a weird algebraic formula into each new victim.

The title is meant to be 'W Delta (∆) Zed' (or "Zee"), but everyone is calling it "WAZ", which is, of course, hugely amusing for all the wrong reasons. Stellan Skarsgard plays a grizzled cop in what is meant to be New York. His new partner is Detective Helen Westcott (Melissa George), who, frankly, doesn't seem cut out for this police work lark, given the fact that she can barely question a thug without her hand shaking. They're on the trail of a killer who carves part of a strange algebraic equation into the body of each new victim and as the corpses pile up, Skarsgard realises that the deaths might have something to do with a horrific gang rape case several years before. (If you pay attention to the credits you'll quickly work out who the killer is, though the film is nice enough to leave the cast list to the end). W∆Z is extremely trashy and it has its fair share of unforgiveable moments (a shot of the mutilated body of a cute child seems included just to inject a bit of shock value) but the climax has a certain balls-to-the-wall chutzpah about it, even if you can see the main twist coming a mile away. (An early shot should have been cut because it gives too much away). Skarsgard is good value as ever but Melissa George really is a Patsy Kensit for our times and is, as usual, horribly miscast. (It would be fine if her nervousness and unsuitability was incorporated into the plot but it isn't). There's also good support from Ashley Walters (as Skarsgard's informer) and an amusing cameo from Paul Kaye ("Fuck the monkey! The monkey's nothing!") as a creepy scientist. However, the film also features yet another terrible performance from Tom Hardy (see also "Cape Wrath" and "Scenes of a Sexual Nature"), who I've yet to see deliver his lines without mumbling incoherently. Also -and I think I speak for most right-thinking film-goers here- I've had just about enough of torture in movies recently. Having said that, director Tom Shankland is actually fairly coy about the torture scenes on display here (certainly compared with the recent likes of "Paradise Lost" and "Hostel Part II") and, ironically, the climax is weaker as a result. A bit of a mixed bag then, but worth seeing on balance, especially if you're a fan of trashy thrillers. Three stars.

I Served The King Of England

Wartime Czech drama, adapted from the acclaimed novel by Bohumil Hrabal and directed by Jiri Menzel.

Film of the day. After serving 14 years and 9 months of his 15 year sentence, Jan Dite (Oldrich Kaiser) gets out of jail and reflects on the events that led to his imprisonment. We then see flashbacks with Dite (now played by Ivan Barnev) working as a waiter in various hotels as he works towards his dream of becoming a millionaire. However, his life takes an unexpected turn when he falls in love with a Nazi (Julia Jentsch), causing him to turn a blind eye to the fate of his fellow Czechs. There are echoes here of films such as "Life is Beautiful" (clownish physical comedy; the Holocaust; the Nazi occupation) and "Black Book" (picaresque wartime adventures; frequent nudity; more Nazis) but the film has a certain Czech charm all its own. The segments with Dite as an older man are less successful, but the flashback scenes are wonderful and Barnev is a delightful physical comedian (there's a hint of Chaplin in the restaurant scenes). It's also very funny and surprisingly erotic in places (in a tasteful way, not a Paul Verhoeven-type way), thanks to Dite's frequently indulged habit of adorning beautiful naked ladies with whatever comes to hand (e.g. flowers, fruit, money etc). Casting the "Aryan breeding facility" sequence must have been fun too. Four stars.

Day Four - "I for one am certainly going to continue to raise a little hell."

Sugarhouse

British thriller starring Steven Mackintosh as a man trying to buy a stolen gun from a crackhead (Ashley Walters).

This wasn't quite as bad as I'd feared but it wasn't particularly good either. It's directed by Gary Love and adapted by Dominic Leyton from his own play. Steven Mackintosh plays Tom (who for some reason turns out to actually be called Horatio), a middle-class businessman who is trying to buy an "item" from a twitchy crackhead named "D" (Ashley Walters). The item, naturally, turns out to be a gun but there's a slight problem. D has nicked the gun from local nutter Hoodwink (Andy Serkis) and he wants it back. Essentially the film is a non-stop mish-mash of secrets and lies, interspersed with violent beatings. There are a couple of twists, but neither of them are remotely surprising. Mackintosh is fine and you have to admire Walters' commitment - his crackhead make-up is very impressive - but Serkis' character is such a caricature of RAGE that he's never remotely scary and you just end up laughing at him. Given that the film revolves around a gun, it's not too much of a spoiler to say that the gun goes off at some point and that when it does, the accompanying effect is the best thing in the film. Watchable but nothing special. Two stars.


The New Man (Den Nya Manniskan

Swedish film about a young girl (Julia Hogberg) who is locked up in an institution to await enforced sterilisation by the state.

Film of the day, no contest. This is very much like Sweden's version of "The Magdalene Sisters", because as recently as 1976, young women who were either promiscuous or came from poor families or who were considered to be mentally or physically ill were taken from their families and put into institutions to await enforced sterilisation (via what the doctor refers to as "tubular occlusion") by the state. The film centres on a young girl named Gertrud (Julia Hogberg), who comes from a very large, very poor family and is taken away when she's just a teenager. (It wasn't too clear exactly when because a projectionist fuck-up meant that the second line of the subtitles wasn't visible for a full five minutes - seriously, what kind of retarded fucking projectionist doesn't ensure the subtitles are visible? I ask you.) Gertrud forms various relationships with the other girls at the school, including angry Jenny (Lo Kauppi), who agrees to stay in the institution because it's the only way to ever see her son; Astrid (Ellen Mattsson), who believes she has epilepsy; overweight, child-like Alba (Ann-Sofi Nurmi), who believes she's pregnant; and beautiful Lisa (Anna Littorin), who agrees to the operation because she dreams of promised job in a lawyer's house, without quite realising what that job might entail. In addition, Gertrud forms relationships with both the attractive young groundsman, Axel (Christoffer Svenson) and the kindly head nurse, Solbritt (Maria Lundqvist), whose character narrates the film. The performances are excellent (Hogberg looks a lot like someone I know, which was a bit weird), the characters are superbly drawn and the film is extremely moving in places. Like "The Magdalene Sisters" it'll also make you very angry indeed. Four stars.


Run, Granny, Run

Documentary about 94-year-old Doris "Granny D" Haddock, who ran for Senate opposite incumbent Republican candidate Judd Gregg in 2004.

Enjoyable documentary about the remarkable Doris "Granny D" Haddock, a 94-year-old woman who ran for Senate in New Hampshire in 2004. She'd previously garnered some media attention by walking across the country (aged 89) to raise awareness about the implications of special interest groups and corporations contributing to political campaigns. Then, in 2004, the Democratic candidate in New Hampshire unexpectedly dropped out of the race, creating a last-minute vacancy, so Granny D agreed to stand against the two-time incumbent Republican candidate Judd Gregg, despite having no money for a political campaign. The film basically follows her around the campaign trail as she -literally- walks around New Hampshire trying to raise money. Granny D herself comments on the film on occasions, which doesn't quite work as it comes across as a little disingenuous (e.g. "Oh no, how did I get myself into this?" etc) Better value are the interviews with her son, who tirelessly helps with her campaign and her equally patient campaign manager. (Their not-so-dedicated fundraising manager is fired about halfway through and you'll want to boo her). Granny D's story is compelling enough in itself but the film will also make you angry as hell at a) the sheer ignorance of the American voting public and b) the blatant hypocrisy of politicians - the Democrats in particular basically hang Granny D out to dry. There is, however, a wonderful sequence where she has to debate Judd Gregg on live television and the film is worth seeing for that alone. Hell, it's probably on YouTube. Three stars, but that's a high three rather than a low three.


A Casa de Alice (Alice's House)

Documentary-style Brazilian drama about the various secrets and lies that bubble to the surface in a middle-aged woman's family.

Engaging documentary-style film that moves slowly but gradually gets under your skin. Alice (Carla Ribas) is a middle-aged woman married to Lindomar. Alice works as a manicurist and they live in a house with their three teenaged sons and Alice's mother, who is slowly going blind. However, it's the grandmother who sees everything, such as explicit photographs of a young woman (one of Alice's friends) that fall out of the pockets of both the husband and one of the sons while she's doing the laundry and also one of the sons getting out of the car of an older man. Meanwhile, Alice discovers that the husband of one of her wealthy clients is actually her childhood sweetheart and as her marriage seems to be failing in the bedroom department, she contemplates an affair. Director Chico Teixeira comes from a documentary background and his fly-on-the-wall approach works beautifully, observing tiny details that really get to you (e.g. the grandmother, having just found out about the husband's affair, joins Alice on the balcony with a look in her eyes and...says nothing). The film is filled with great scenes and the Ribas is astonishing in the lead role. Terrific final shot too. Four stars.

Day Three - "And that's when I knew that there could be such a thing as Art in the cinema..."

A Mighty Heart

Michael Winterbottom's procedural drama based on the kidnapping of journalist Daniel Pearl, starring Angelina Jolie.

Full disclosure: I was suffering a bit this morning, so perhaps it's fair to say that I wasn't really in the mood for this. As a result, I nearly nodded off a few times, to the point where I actually missed the final caption about Angelina's character at the end. Based on the kidnapping and (SPOILER for anyone who doesn't read newspapers) eventual beheading of political journalist Daniel Pearl (Dan Futterman), the film concentrates on the efforts of the US (represented by sinister character actor Will Patton, which doesn't bode well) and Pakistani authorities to track down those responsible for the kidnapping before it's too late. Angelina Jolie plays Daniel's pregnant wife, Mariane, herself a political journalist, who tries to keep a level head throughout the ordeal. Essentially the film is a procedural drama, shot in a hand-held documentary style - literally all we see of Daniel after his kidnapping is his image in the photos released by the kidnappers. Jolie's performance is superb and she embues Mariane with extraordinary reserves of strength and courage: the speech where she defends what Daniel was doing ("With the greatest respect, sir, that is exactly the business of a journalist") is pure Oscar-clip material. Unfortunately, the film just isn't that exciting, not least because of its horribly unhappy ending. In addition...and unfortunately there's no sensitive way of saying this but...well...you do feel kind of cheated for not getting to see "the video". Basically, I wanted to see Dan Futterman's head come off. There, I said it. Also, the title is never explained (presumably it applies to Mariane) and that kind of thing always annoys me. Three stars.

Coming soon...

The Witnesses (Les Temoins)

French drama starring Emmanuelle Beart, about a young male hustler in 1984, whose various romantic liaisons are complicated when he contracts a new mystery virus.

Directed by Andrew Techine, this is an enjoyable, oddly old-fashioned French drama, from its blocky, bright red opening credits to its 1980s setting and subject matter. Emmanuelle Beart (still sporting a little too much of a Trout Pout for my liking) plays a struggling author who's just had her first child and is having difficulties adjusting. (At one point a friend discovers the baby crying downstairs while she wrestles with writer's block with ear-muffs on upstairs). Her husband, Mehdi (Sami Bouajila) is a no-nonsense cop, intent on cleaning up the red-light districts. Meanwhile, Sarah’s friend Adrien (Michel Blanc) falls for cocky young hustler Manu (Johan Liberau), a young man he met while cruising in a park. However, when Adrien takes Manu to Sarah’s beach house for the weekend, Manu falls for Mehdi and the two begin an affair. The first half of the film is extremely strong – the performances are good, the characters are well drawn and the story is interesting. However, once Manu contracts “the virus”, it becomes a little anti-climactic. You think that either Mehdi or Sarah are going to get AIDS as well but for some reason the film cops out of that decision and gives them both the all-clear. There’s also no dramatic revelation with the affair itself, as Sarah doesn’t seem remotely shocked that Mehdi swings both ways. In fact it’s Adrien who feels betrayed and he wasn’t even sleeping with Manu. Still, rather this than disease-of-the-week style Hollywood melodramatics and any film where Emmanuelle Beart repeatedly takes her clothes off can’t be all bad. Three stars.


XXY

Argentinian drama about a teenage hermaphrodite who's being pressured to decide whether she wants to live as a woman or a man.

This was easily the best film of the day. It also won the Critics Week Grand Prize at Cannes, fact-fans. Ines Efron stars as Alex, a 15-year-old hermaphrodite whose parents (including Ricardo Darin from “Nine Queens”) have dealt with her condition by exiling the family to a remote island. However, now that Alex is approaching adulthood she’s being pressured to decide whether she wants to live as a man or a woman. To that end, her mother invites some friends from Argentina to stay with them, one of whom just happens to be a surgeon who specialises in gender reassignment surgery. They also bring their teenage son Alvaro (Germain Palacios), who doesn’t know anything about Alex’s condition but soon finds out the hard way. So to speak. Impressively directed by Lucia Puenzo, “XXY” is beautifully shot and features a stunning central performance from Efron. Darin is superb too, as is Palacios, who has an amusing line in gormless charm. There are several excellent scenes, including a couple of surprises and a number of real heart-breakers towards the end. There’s also a weird fish imagery thing going on (Darin’s character is actually named “Kraken”) which I didn’t really understand. Also, this must be the day for feeling slightly cheated, but it’s a shame the production didn’t spring for a prosthetic effect (if you see what I mean and I think you do), particularly as it plays such an important part in the film. Four stars.


The Waiting Room

British romantic comedy about two characters whose lives are transformed by a chance meeting.

This enjoyable, low-key British romcom opens with a couple, Anna (Anne-Marie Duff) and George (Rupert Graves) hurrying home with their two kids, sticking the telly on and then rushing upstairs to have sex. All very well, except you then find out that they’re actually having an affair and that George is married to Jemma (the lovely Zoe Telford) and lives next door (one of the kids is his, Anna’s a single parent). Meanwhile, care worker Steven (Ralf Little – or rather Ralf Not-So-Little as his all-too-frequent nude scenes kept insisting) is having doubts about his own long-term relationship and when he briefly meets Anna at Wandsworth Station, neither of them can get the other out of their minds. This is a nicely acted, very sweet little British romcom, even if you’re in no doubt whatsoever as to how it’s going to end. That said, it really must be Day Of The Cop-outs today, because even this film denies you the Affair Revelation scene. It’s also slightly inconsistent in that Jemma is repeatedly horrible to George and yet suddenly she’s the one upset about their relationship. It’s also hard to reconcile the happiness of the opening scene, given the enormity of the affair they’re embarking on and especially given Jemma’s subsequent relationship with Anna. Still, it’s very sweet and very watchable and there’s strong support from Frank Finley (as a patient who brings Anna and Stephen together) and from Phyllida Law, who breathes new life into the elderly-dying-patient-with-words-of-wisdom cliché. Nice use of Wandsworth, too. Three stars.


John Waters: This Filthy World

Filmed version of John Waters' solo show, in which "the Pope of Trash" discusses his life, his films and whatever else comes to mind.

Directed by Jeff Garlin (of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” fame), whose direction basically consists of pointing the camera at John Waters while he’s on stage and occasionally cutting to an uncomfortable-looking college audience. This is basically Waters’ own solo show and he’s frequently hilarious, whether delivering a brilliantly obscene punchline to a routine about Michael Jackson (I would have made that today’s quote but I didn’t write it down), discussing deviant sexual practices (trust me, you don’t want to know what “blossoming” is), talking about his film career (his favourite of his own films is, surprisingly, “Female Trouble”) or ruminating on Hollywood (e.g. wondering why Charlize Theron never thanked Aileen Wuornos in her Oscar acceptance speech). There’s not that much else to say about this, really, other than that the show is thoroughly enjoyable and I laughed out loud several times. Four stars.

John Waters Q & A

Unfortunately, the promised 45 minute Q & A was something of a disappointment, owing to a rather rowdy audience (they actually started whistling at one point) and some fairly dull questions, though at least we didn’t get the usual “How do you find funding for your movies?” question. Waters wrapped the Q & A up himself, so I suspect he wasn’t really enjoying it and the tedious pink-haired fuckwit who wouldn’t shut up certainly didn’t help matters. The best part was when he talked about his friendship with and respect for Andy Warhol and speculated on what Warhol would be doing if he were alive today.

Rubbish pictures:

Day Two - "I'm taking the routine and injecting industrial quantities of shazoom".

Joshua

Mainstream thriller about a young boy in New York who turns out to be EVIL! Or is he?

This is a little bit like a lame 21st Century version of "The Omen", only it's not nearly scary enough. Sam Rockwell and Vera Farmiga (two of my favourite actors, both of whom deserve better than this) play Brad and Abby, two wealthy New York parents who have just had their second child. Unfortunately, this doesn't sit too well with their first child, 10-year-old Joshua (Jacob Kogan, pictured) and soon the percentage of household accidents is on the increase. Will Brad realise what Joshua's up to before it's too late? The Omen references come thick and fast - at one point Joshua is even dressed in Damien's high white-collared shirt ensemble. There are a couple of suspenseful scenes and the acting is pretty decent too. Kogan is extremely creepy (where on earth did they find him?) and Michael McKean is on hand to provide a tiny bit of light relief as Brad's unsympathetic boss ("You idiot! Never beat up your kid in a crowded park on the weekend!") Unfortunately, though it's well made and well acted, director George Ratliff doesn't always get the tone right and sometimes it's hard not to burst out laughing. Unintentionally amusing highlights include: a dopey Abby cutting her feet on glass and smearing the blood on her leg while telling Joshua about a lovely pair of sexy red boots she used to own; Brad blatantly ignoring the warning signs like dead guinea pigs and stuffed toys being slashed open to perform Egytpian rituals; Grandma having a bit of an accident with some stairs; and the final twist, which is both hilarious and borderline offensive and if you don't want to know what it is then LOOK AWAY NOW. Still here? Okay then. Basically, it turns out that Joshua effectively gets rid of both of his parents because he wants to spend more time with his Gay Uncle Ned (played by Dallas Roberts), the suggestion being that musically gifted, sensitive Joshua may have tendencies in that direction himself. It starts well but it isn't nearly scary enough. If you want a movie about EVIL children, rent the little-seen (at least over here - it's well-known in the States) "The Bad Seed" instead. Two stars.

Razzle Dazzle: A Journey Into Dance

Australian mockumentary starring Ben Miller and Jane Hall as the heads of two rival dance troupes who go head-to-head in the annual Sanosafe Troupe Spectacular.

The words "Australian", "mockumentary", "dance troupe" and "Ben Miller" should tell you everything you need to know about "Razzle Dazzle" and I mean that in a good way. Miller plays Mr Jonathan, leader of the Jazzketeers dance troupe, whose controversial, politically motivated dance routines (e.g. the Kyoto Protocol Shuffle) have often stood in the way of his success at dance competitions, especially now that there's competition from the rigidly traditional school run by Miss Elizabeth (Jane Hall). As the annual Sanosafe Troupe Spectacular approaches, Mr Jonathan is counting on his routine about oppressed Afghanistan women to win the day, but will it be enough to swing the judges? The film also focuses on the relationship between pushy mother extraordinaire (Tara Morice) and her daughter Tenille (Shayni Notelovitz), as well as Barbara (Denise Roberts), a foster mother who keeps returning her charges when it turns out that they lack dancing talent. As mockumentaries go, "Razzle Dazzle" is pretty funny but there's nothing here you haven't seen before. The characters are well written, the performances are great and there are some extremely funny lines ("She's got a lot in store - she's an Ikea of talent"), but it doesn't do anything you're not expecting. Three stars.


Control

Anton Corbijn's biopic about Ian Curtis, starring newcomer Sam Riley and Samantha Morton.

Acclaimed photographer Anton Corbijn's feature debut is a terrific biopic of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis (Sam Riley), who committed suicide at the age of 23 in 1980. Shot in gorgeous black and white, the film often recalls the kitchen sink dramas of the 1960s. Riley is sensational as Curtis, beautifully capturing his electric stage presence but also his agonising private conflicts, such as his struggles with epilepsy and his love for two women: his wife, Debbie (Samantha Morton), who he married at a very young age, and Belgian strumpet-slash-groupie Annik Honore (Alexandra Maria Lara), who became his sort of on-tour mistress. The script, based on Debbie's book, is superb, particularly in the smaller details, such as Curtis' day job at the Labour Exchange, where he tries to help people with disabilities find work ("I. DON'T. LIKE. HOTDOGS!") There's also terrific, colourful support from Tony Kebbell as wisecracking manager Rob Gretton ("Where's your money? It's in my fuck off pocket") and Craig Parkinson as Tony Wilson, who does well to step out of the shadow of Steve Coogan's earlier performance. It goes without saying that the soundtrack's brilliant too. It also made me want to rewatch "24 Hour Party People" (with which this would make a great double-bill) as soon as possible. Five stars and yet another instant entry into my Best of the Fest list.

Opening Night Party

The opening night party this year was in conjunction with Hallam Foe (review to follow at some point), which meant it was decorated with David Shrigley artwork (pictured right) and there were lots of topless barmen with stag head-dresses wandering around. It also meant that Franz Ferdinand (who contribute to the film's excellent soundtrack) played a four-song accoustic set. I videoed one of the songs and hopefully will be able to embed it below. Fingers crossed. Apparently John Waters was there, but I didn't see him, unfortunately. I did see Dylan Moran, Tilda Swinton (looking spectacular in a silver jackety thing) and Ewan Bremner but I didn't speak to them. I briefly spoke to Jamie Bell (pictured) and Jamie Sives (who I've interviewed before) but the highlight of the party, for me, was a) the little pots of lamb stew, b) the chocolate mousse desserts and c) the fact that Guinness was one of the sponsors. I've spent the last seven years begging anyone who would listen for them to make Guinness one of the sponsors so, clearly, someone finally listened. Result. Paying for it now, mind.



Franz Ferdinand playing at the Festival launch party

Day One – “What the hell are we all doing? Why are none of us setting ourselves on fire?”

The Hottest State

Ethan Hawke’s second feature as a director, based on his own novel about a New York-based slacker (Mark Webber) getting his heart broken.

I didn’t mind this at all at the time, but then I saw "In Search of a Midnight Kiss" (see below) straight afterwards and it blew this out of the water. Mark Webber plays William, a Texas-born slacker trying to make it as an actor in New York. When he meets aspiring singer Sara (Catalina Sandeno Moreno) in a bar, he thinks he’s found the girl of his dreams but he’s destined for heartbreak. The main thing I learned from The Hottest State is that Ethan Hawke must be a very neurotic chap indeed, given to over-analysing every tiny aspect of a past relationship failure in a haze of nostalgia-induced misery. And who amongst us hasn’t done that? Webber’s actually pretty good, even if you occasionally want to slap him. Moreno is good too, but she suddenly becomes an utter bitch for no reason and we never find out why. This is, admittedly, sort of the point, but it’s still frustrating and it turns you against her character, which doesn’t feel right. There’s also good support from Michelle Williams (as one of William’s ex-girlfriends who still likes him) and especially from both Laura Linney (as his no-nonsense mother) and Hawke himself as William’s Texas-based father, whose absence from William’s life may go some way to explaining his issues. To be fair, there are some good scenes. I liked the brief, well-edited “time passing” montage, illustrated by changing movie marquees (Splendour in the Grass, The Last Picture Show and Paris, Texas, which tells you pretty much everything). Other highlights include: Sara singing (the film could have used more of this), prompting William to proudly exclaim, “That’s my jacket!”; an excruciating scene that perfectly captures the agony of multiple unanswered phonecalls (when you just know they’re listening but not picking up); and the understated porch scene where William finally meets up with his father (“Seeing you here today says a hell of a lot about you”). There are some great lines of dialogue too. Having said that, the film has more than its fair share of angsty and pretentious moments and it’s not quite as profound as it thinks it is. Oh, and if anyone does end up seeing it, could they please explain the first sex scene to me? Did they have sex then or not? The dialogue was muffled but he later tells his friend they didn’t have sex (it becomes kind of a plot point later on) and it sure looked like they were having sex to me. Basically, the sweetest part of the whole film is when he thanks Dead Poets co-stars Robert Sean Leonard and Josh Charles in the closing credits. Three stars, but that’s being generous.



In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Indie relationship drama about an L.A.-based slacker (Scoot McNairy) who places an online personal ad on New Year’s Eve.

This was absolutely wonderful and if I see another film even half as good as this I’ll be very happy indeed. As it is, this has shot straight into my Best of the Festival list. Shot entirely in crisp black and white, the film opens on the morning of New Year’s Eve, with lonely, L.A.-based slacker Wilson (the delightfully named Scoot McNairy, who looks a little like Casey Affleck) photo-shopping his roommate’s girlfriend and then getting caught while…er…using the picture. Luckily his roommate Jacob (Brian McGuire) and his girlfriend Min (Katy Luong) see the funny side and persuade Wilson to place an online personal ad. Wilson’s still depressed about breaking up with his ex-girlfriend in order to come out to L.A. so he decides to give it a go and places an ad which reads “Misanthrope seeks Misanthrope”. He winds up on a date with Vivian (Sara Simmonds), a beautiful, bossy and decidedly full of herself wannabe actress, who warns him that if he doesn’t come up to scratch she’ll call someone else at 6 o’clock because there’s no way she’s spending New Year’s Eve with some loser. The rest of the film basically follows them on an extended ramble around Los Angeles as they bicker, flirt and get to know each other. The two leads are wonderful and it just goes to show you that all you really need for a romcom are two talented, likeable actors and a great script. It’s hard to convey just why this is so great, but what I liked about it was the entirely believable evolution of their relationship, particularly the way in which Vivian gradually lets her guard down. (Wilson himself is also a lot sweeter than the opening scene suggests). The film is packed with lovely little scenes, several great lines and a genuinely heart-breaking moment towards the end that comes out of nowehere (answering machines play a part here too). On top of everything else, it’s very funny, the supporting cast are great, the black and white photography looks gorgeous and it’s a real novelty to see a film set in L.A that involves so much walking (although, admittedly, they do take the subway a couple of times). As an aside, I had an argument afterwards about whether or not In Search of a Midnight Kiss could be said to belong to the emerging “mumblecore” movement. I argued that it could and I invite Mumblecore Experts to persuade me otherwise. Five stars and the first genuinely unmissable film of the festival so far.


Extra bit

So, only two films today. It would have been three, but a last-minute rescheduling meant that In Search of a Midnight Kiss clashed with the third film I’d lined up (Solitary Fragments). It turned out for the best because, unusually for me, I really didn’t want to see anything else after In Search of a Midnight Kiss, because it was so good and I wanted to let it sink in.

Festival films I’ve already seen in London

I’m planning to review as many of these as possible as and when their screenings come up.

Hallam Foe (opening night film)
Ratatouille
And When Did You Last See Your Father?
Sparkle
The Legacy
Once
The Serpent
Breach
Death Proof
Knocked Up
Year of the Dog
Rocket Science
Two Days In Paris (closing night film)

Edinburgh Film Festival 2007

Well, I made it up in one piece, despite not getting any sleep at all the night before. I even managed to reunite with my quiz team (well, a quiz team who have adopted me) from last year and defend our title at the FilmHouse Film Quiz. We were handicapped with a minus six point start and we still won by six points. So that was nice.

Unusually, there are no press screenings today, so I'm going to spend the day going through the programme and sorting out a screening schedule. (I usually do that on the train up but a) I didn't have a table seat and b) I was too tired). However, I've already seen a large number of the gala screenings this year (including Hallam Foe, Death Proof, Two Days In Paris, Once, The Year of the Dog and so on - full list to follow after programme scrutiny) so instead of doing my usual thing of ignoring them, I'm going to review them as if I'd seen them here, if you see what I mean. I imagine this will play merry hell with my annual numbers game, so I think that's going to take a back seat this year. My only real goal is to see enough films so that I've seen one for every day of the year so far and I'm currently 50 or so behind. I won't keep that tally here though as it was too confusing in 2005 (see below).

Goals for this year? Only one: to meet and hopefully interview John Waters...

Some notes about last year

It wouldn't be fair to just leave last year unfinished without a few notes, so here are a few things about last year's EIFF.

I ended up seeing 60 films in 10 days, which seemed appropriate as it was the 60th festival. I had the option to see a couple more but stopped at 60 because of the 60 years / 60 films thing.

The top ten films I saw at the Festival last year were:

1) Jindabyne
2) Air Guitar Nation
3) Sherrybaby
4) Twelve and Holding (which got a blink-and-you'll-miss-it release)
5) The Aura (still unreleased)
6) One Fine Day (still unreleased)
7) The Ring Finger (still unreleased)
8) Neo Ned (still unreleased)
9) Summer '04 (still unreleased)
10) The Right of the Weakest (still unreleased)

Special mentions to: The Host, London to Brighton, Brothers of the Head, The Treatment, loudQUIETloud (which went straight to DVD), Stephanie Daley, The Lost and Art School Confidential.

Highlight of the festival: Meeting J.K. Rowling at the "Driving Lessons" tea party and chatting for about 20 minutes. At the same party I also chatted to John Hurt and Harry Shearer, Rupert Grint set his t-shirt on fire (by accident) and Julie Walters hugged me by mistake. So that was fun.

Party of the festival: The two "Aireoke" (like Karaoke but with Air Guitar) parties for Air Guitar Nation. The first one was good but the second one was even better. If I ever go to an Aireoke Party again I am definitely doing "Duelling Banjos".

Another Apology

Talk about an Ode to Procrastination. I’ve put off finishing off last year’s Edinburgh Blog for an entire year now and here we are at Edinburgh time again. Shocking. I am, literally, crimson with shame. Still, onwards and upwards. I hereby solemnly swear to complete this year’s blog if it kills me.

Okay, so I reposted the apology from last year. But THIS year is going to be different, oh yes. Just wait and see.

"Hmmm. When the bloody hell is he going to get around to finishing last year's blog?"