So the Film Fesitval finished on Sunday night, and I guess we watched the last movie, otherwise I don’t know why that guy was standing in front of the screen being boring and thanking people for their support before it started…
That last movie, Broken Flowers, with Bill Murray, was probably the best movie we saw, now it’s not like we went to everything, but frankly I’ve got better things to do with my time – a lot of the movies in the festival programme just didn’t look very interesting to me.
It’s the story of Don Johnston (no, Johnston, with a ‘t’), an aging lothario who is surprised one morning — the same morning his girlfriend leaves him, frustrated that he doesn’t want to marry and have kids — with a letter claiming to be from an old flame, telling him that their affair from 20 years earlier produced a son, who has left home to find his father.
Anyway, there is no name on the letter, but his excellent neighbour, who is obviously very keen on mystery novels, gets on the case and sets him up — really — for a journey around all of his girlfriends from around the same time.
It’s hilarious. And cool.
My favourite character aside from Don & Winston, was the lovely young lady in the florists, she was… Lovely?
Funniest, and most naked, would have to be Lolita. She was awesome. Awww yeah.
Third favourite character… Tough, but I’d say it would have to be Don’s tracksuits. You’ll see.
I guess this one is going to be in either wide release, or at least at the Rialto, so I reckon you should go see it.
Now, on Saturday afternoon we also went to the animation showcase ‘Animation Now!’, and it was pretty much the same as it always is, by which I mean there was a bunch of rubbish, but a couple of real gems.
The standouts:
Dialog, from the UK , which is about Mr Scientist who makes a tiny little town full of tiny little people. I didn’t think this was the right presentation for the story though, I think it would have made a good interactice piece.
Insomnia, from Latvia, this one was really really good, I thought. The story of a man getting some milk for his cat, before he sleeps with her, after she, er, turns into his wife. Really nice pacing, super good.
Populi, from USA, completely strange and cool. The animators construct a funny little man in a variety of ways – wood, paintings, welded steel rods, copper, etc, and send him on travels around the place, spinning and rotating and having a great time. You’ve got to see it — and possibly on the big screen — to understand how well this goes.
The very best, in my humble opinion, was:
Little Things, also from the UK, in my head I think of this one as ‘the days’, and it’s just… wait, I’ve used too many booster words already. Just take it from me, Little Things works, it tells a series of stories, ties them all together, and blows everyone up. Very fun.
The one I’m not really going to talk about:
Ryan, from Canada, this one won an Oscar last year, and I downloaded and watched a copy then. Sure it’s good, what do you want me to say?