Catching up on SIFF
May. 19th, 2019 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaidenRunning with Beto
documentary about this guy who ran for senate in Texas as a Democrat and lost by a smaller amount than usual. (he's running for president now, i assume because he had money left over and people outside of Texas liked him.) it's done well enough, but i feel like this was a swing and a miss since the story is just that he tried real hard. meh. it will be on HBO soon.
The Woman Who Loves Giraffes
super-awesome doc about the woman who wrote The Book on giraffes. just an all-around great story about a Canadian woman who went to South Africa alone and did ground-breaking field research on giraffes, did a bunch of fighting for the rights of women in academia, and wrote a pile of books. great period stuff, great giraffe info, great biography. highlights include an excited zookeeper chatting away while his arm is shoulder-deep in a giraffe vagina holding an ultrasound wand, and a wild giraffe noticing that it's being followed by a drone. it's delightful, my favorite thing so far.
Brittany Runs A Marathon
one of those i watched it because i had time movies that turned out to be worth seeing. based on a true story, a woman who doesn't have her shit together is told that she has health issues that would improve with exercise. (really, while the doctor did the dreaded "you should lose weight" speech, it was "you can be healthy at any size but your numbers aren't healthy".) the gym costs money, so she tries running. it's rather nuanced about the experience of losing weight, about living while fat, and about how being fat isn't really the problem. it surprised me more often than not, and i laughed more than i cringed. worth seeing. it's an Amazon Studios film, so it will appear on Prime.
Eastern Memories
documentary: these Finnish dudes took the memoirs of truly amazing Finnish linguist G.J. Ramstedt as a map to travel around Asia, playing his comments over modern footage of the places he traveled (mostly Mongolia and Japan). probably my favorite juxtaposition was him talking about Mongolians having cultural reasons to avoid digging holes over footage of modern Mongolian strip mines. (warning it also includes a graphic goat butchering scene.) in spite of the fascinating subject matter, the film was often dreamy and had droning music that would have put me to sleep had it been later in the festival when i get truly exhausted. directors were there and were completely adorable. man, i want an English language book about Ramstedt to read.
documentary about this guy who ran for senate in Texas as a Democrat and lost by a smaller amount than usual. (he's running for president now, i assume because he had money left over and people outside of Texas liked him.) it's done well enough, but i feel like this was a swing and a miss since the story is just that he tried real hard. meh. it will be on HBO soon.
The Woman Who Loves Giraffes
super-awesome doc about the woman who wrote The Book on giraffes. just an all-around great story about a Canadian woman who went to South Africa alone and did ground-breaking field research on giraffes, did a bunch of fighting for the rights of women in academia, and wrote a pile of books. great period stuff, great giraffe info, great biography. highlights include an excited zookeeper chatting away while his arm is shoulder-deep in a giraffe vagina holding an ultrasound wand, and a wild giraffe noticing that it's being followed by a drone. it's delightful, my favorite thing so far.
Brittany Runs A Marathon
one of those i watched it because i had time movies that turned out to be worth seeing. based on a true story, a woman who doesn't have her shit together is told that she has health issues that would improve with exercise. (really, while the doctor did the dreaded "you should lose weight" speech, it was "you can be healthy at any size but your numbers aren't healthy".) the gym costs money, so she tries running. it's rather nuanced about the experience of losing weight, about living while fat, and about how being fat isn't really the problem. it surprised me more often than not, and i laughed more than i cringed. worth seeing. it's an Amazon Studios film, so it will appear on Prime.
Eastern Memories
documentary: these Finnish dudes took the memoirs of truly amazing Finnish linguist G.J. Ramstedt as a map to travel around Asia, playing his comments over modern footage of the places he traveled (mostly Mongolia and Japan). probably my favorite juxtaposition was him talking about Mongolians having cultural reasons to avoid digging holes over footage of modern Mongolian strip mines. (warning it also includes a graphic goat butchering scene.) in spite of the fascinating subject matter, the film was often dreamy and had droning music that would have put me to sleep had it been later in the festival when i get truly exhausted. directors were there and were completely adorable. man, i want an English language book about Ramstedt to read.
