Reprise **
Joachim Trier, 2008
Norway
@ Varsity Theater

I think the sound was turned down on this, although it was a quiet film for the most part anyway. A bit hard to grasp, since the characters don't really develop as we might expect, but that's pretty clearly signalled by the false plotlines introduced, one at the beginning and another near the end. I recall some of the interior scenes as b&w given the bleached color and minimalist monochrome furnishings. Ought to see this again, and just might if it plays long enough.

See also: IMDb | Metacritic

Frownland **
Ronald Bronstein, 2007
US
@ Northwest Film Forum

From when I saw this last September:

Keith (Dore Mann) is obviously something of a caricature, but his misadventures still resonate. He lives somewhere around Greenwich Village or maybe the Lower East Side and sells coupons door to door in Staten Island. He has a ferocious stuttering problem and minimal social skills. His roommate is a complete and total jerk. The film ends on a sour note, but no more sour than the constant tenor of the rest of the picture.

See also: Official website

Vertigo ***
Alfred Hitchcock, 1958
US
@ The Grand Illusion

Excellent. These relationships are all so convoluted and inappropriate that anyone involved on any end of them must be guilty of something. This struck me because so many of Hitchcock's films involve a man wrongly accused, but here even though Scottie is exploited, he exploits others just as much.

Almost every location is memorable (at least that's how it seemed to me seeing this again after five years or so) and the filmmaking pretty fluid. I wonder how red Ernie's restaurant actually is where Scottie first lays eyes on Madeleine. There's a fair amount of color manipulation throughout, but general it looks like the full frame has been processed rather than a single element like the walls around the bar.

At least as suspenseful the second time around, and the end is terrifically climactic.

Particularly during the scene where Madeleine wakes up in Scottie's apartment, I noticed how uncannily some of Terry O'Quinn's mannerisms as Locke on Lost match up with many things James Stewart does here.

See also: IMDb | TCMDb

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind **
Hayao Miyazaki, 1984
Japan
@ Northwest Film Forum

This was sort of weirdly silent (except for voices) near the beginning, though as the action picked up that got less noticeable. It seemed like the characters explained everything really explicitly, but maybe that's necessary in a kid's fantasy movie. It is kind of a complex story. Some of the images are haunting/thrilling, if not as technically impressive as the later stuff. Star Wars influence on a lot of the anachronistic design, maybe?

See also: IMDb

Kung Fu Panda **
Mark Osborne/John Stevenson, 2008
US
@ Regal Meridian w/ Holly

This was great. Holly and I saw it mainly because it fit the free tickets I had, but it's terrifically colorful and a lot of fun. The action was smooth and kinetic and just kept going and going. Obviously it makes a lot of sense, but still nice to hear Seth Rogen getting some voice work. I was a bit disappointed that he (and the rest of the supporting cast) had such minor roles, but solid nonetheless. The 2-D opening was possibly even better, very reminiscent of Samurai Jack.

See also: IMDb | Metacritic

Indiana Jones 4
Steven Spielberg
US
@ Cinerama

There's definitely a point to be made about Harrison Ford's somewhat humorless performance here, although it works when he's playing against Shia LaBeouf. The look of the film though, was gross. Supposedly CG effects weren't heavily used, but there seemed to be a kind nostalgic sheen on everything that looked just a little fake, and a lot of the backgrounds had the look of Lucas' digitally generated sets for the Star Wars prequels. Very distracting when all I wanted was some grit and grime.

I'm considering among a few different projects trying to watch all the Spielberg I've missed over the years (basically all of it) to figure out just why he's so highly lauded, at least among certain people for certain traits. Currently I classify him along with Scorsese and Coppola (and maybe others) under 70's "mavericks" that I find almost entirely uninteresting, although at least Scorsese is one of the few most important and influential cinephiles of his time.

See also: IMDb | Metacritic

The Newton Boys
Richard Linklater, 1998
US
@ home on DVD

This really lacked the charm of most of the rest of Linklater's work. Definitely at the bottom of the barrel for him with School of Rock. Bad News Bears was not at all this lifeless. Linklater was at least involved on the screenplay, although who knows exactly how much of the dialogue he had a hand in. I hope SubUrbia is a bit more worth catching up on.

See also: IMDb

The Tracey Fragments *
Bruce McDonald, 2008
Canada
@ Northwest Film Forum

Solid, and the fragmentation of the screen pretty much worked for me, although not quite like it did for Dan Sallitt. Another viewing might reveal more.

See also: IMDb | Dan Sallitt review

Triangle *
Johnnie To/Ringo Lam/Wai Ka-fai, 2008
Hong Kong
@ Cinerama

Johnnie To's segment certainly bore some of his trademarks, and was my favorite of the the three, the funniest as well. I wonder if this was a fun project to work on, because the viewing experience doesn't seem to be enhanced in any way. I suppose it might be useful if the three directors have separate followings who would converge on this omnibus project.

See also: IMDb

La France **
Serge Bozon, 2008
France
@ Pacific Place

Mysterious and explained just the right amount, which is basically none. I found myself puzzling over the suggestion that Camille's search for her husband was equivalent to a search for death. It's possible that I wouldn't be able to get some things with my pretty casual knowledge of French history.

IMDb

Zidane *
Douglas Gordon/Philippe Parreno, 2006
France
@ Northwest Film Forum

A different perspective on soccer. Most of the interest lies in the editing, and perhaps the words and halftime. I wasn't as excited as I'd hoped.

See also: IMDb

Sunrise ***
F.W. Murnau, 1927
US
@ The Triple Door

Expressive and surprisingly nuanced even though the plot seems to be laid out right from the beginning. Has the feel of myth rather than just melodrama.

See also: IMDb

Pierre Rissient: Man of the Cinema ***
Todd McCarthy, 2008
US/France
@ SIFF Cinema

Fascinating, particularly the early years where Rissient is creating a new career for himself to precisely channel his love of cinema.

See also: IMDb

The End
Nikkola Collins, 2008
UK
@ Harvard Exit

The only true disappointment of the festival. One of those experiences in which people with a kind of debased, sour outlook on life try to tell you, "That's just how life is," while simultaneously revealing both their limited purview and obvious artifice of the way in which they are attempting to persuade you of the fact. Ugly, grim, fatalistic, and kind of boring.

See also: Official site

Momma's Man ***
Azazel Jacobs, 2008
US
@ Uptown Cinema

A slow, intermittently depressing meditation on something like a pre-mid-life crisis. It is essentially cinema of duration, in that most of the payoff, both depressing and redemptive, comes from just sitting with the main character and his parents as he awkwardly finds his own way through whatever emotional problems he's facing. I'm guessing whoever brought a whole crowd of high school kids had some other sort of idea about the film beforehand.

See also: IMDb

Still Orangutans ***
Gustavo Spolidoro, 2008
Brazil
@ Pacific Place

At first disorienting, but the accumulating intensity of the contiguous vignettes builds much like a rapid succession of drinks, eventually unleashing its full effect, here pent up until the last moment. Probably less of a city symphony than a catalogue of the wildness of the human spirit, a lingering sub-humanity referred to in the title. Maybe the best thing I've seen this year.

See also: IMDb

Baghead **
Duplass Bros., 2008
US
@ Egyptian Theater

Is Greta Gerwig always going to be this good? __'s chubby brother suggests a kind of smarter, more truly endearing Jon Lovitz, and I think he could be great in big-budget movies. That is, if character actors were really valued and made use of these days. I'm also real excited about Dodecadecathlon.

See also: IMDb

Christopher Columbus: The Enigma **
Manoel de Oliveira, 2008
Portugal
@ SIFF Cinema

I still don't really know why this worked so well for me, but it hit the spot. Almost like something you might catch late at night on PBS, at once baffling and clear in its intentions. Maybe it was just the location photography around Portugal that got me excited.

See also: IMDb

Sparrow **
Johnnie To, 2008
Hong Kong
@ Uptown Cinema

Terminally slight, but oh-so-stylish. Simon Yam almost always has the exact same expression on his face, but he wears it so well. The umbrella sequence almost feel a bit overdramatic, but the city scenes all had such a jaunty flair that it's impossible to come away frowning.

See also: IMDb

Mad Detective *
Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai, 2008
Hong Kong
@ Egyptian Theater

Movies featuring a deluded protagonist almost always feel like a letdown to me, except The Ruling Class in which Jack's delusions jibe exactly with England's insane political culture to form a brutal satire. The opening scene, though, is pretty much timeless.

See also: IMDb

You, The Living **
Roy Andersson, 2008
Sweden
@ Egyptian Theater

Seemed comprehensible from moment to moment, but overall didn't seem to gel into a complete experience.

See also: IMDb

Blind Mountain **
Li Yang, 2008
China
@ Pacific Place

Sort of a long grind, but possibly saved by the thrillingly unexpected and shockingly brief finale.

See also: IMDb

Great Speeches from a Dying World ***
Linas Phillips, 2008
US
@ Harvard Exit

I suspect this would have been almost as good even if I weren't familiar with the city or anyone in the film.

See also: Official site