siff day 14
Jun. 6th, 2008 11:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaideni just made it to the last press preview of the day.
Visioneers
glad i got an aisle seat. this looked like a Kafkaesque workplace comedy (where remaining minutes of productivity are announced regularly and offscreen there is an epidemic of people exploding from unhappiness) but after the first fifteen minutes we left the office and it went off the rails. i gave it about 45 minutes and walked. congratulations, first of 2008!
i got some coffee, chocolate bars, and sudafed before the next film. time well spent.
A Secret
between Elderhostel and French students, the place was packed. (for some reason, at the Uptown i end up hearing other passholders bitch loudly. this time it was indignation at all the seats set aside for the students and how early they let them in. i thought the house management was very smooth and the kids (very well-behaved) were off on the sides, not in what i consider prime real estate. sometimes i want to apologize to the ticket holders and the house staff. we're not all jerks, i swear.) the French cultural attaché from the consulate in San Francisco was there to introduce the film and welcomed the students in French. i was pleased to understand it all.
i liked the film. it's about a boy learning what happened to his parents during WWII, told in flashbacks. it was gently paced (and what was up with the dog in the present?), but i appreciated the build of tension between the leads, done with glances and tiny touches. yet another imaginary friend, and more Mathieu Almaric.
Brick Lane
a Bangladeshi woman moves to London through an arranged marriage, pines for a glowing memory of home, and eventually realizes that she belongs in London. i have to assume there was something lost in the transition from novel to film. i felt like motivations were muddled and there was a lot more telling than showing. my issues with the film are mostly spoilers, and are probably issues with the novel. it looks pretty.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
i was dreading this one a little: it's a real life version of This is Spinal Tap. it could be brilliant, or it could be hideously cruel. hooray, it's brilliant. Anvil is a real Canadian heavy metal band who were rising stars in the early 80s and somehow never quite made it. (included in talking head praise for the band's early work are Lars Ulrich, Slash, and Scott Ian.) they're still playing. yes, often we laugh at them. but ultimately i had to love them for their indomitable spirit, and this is a great story of all the artists who toil on at the edges against all odds. it's excellent, and it plays again tonight. YouTube of Anvil performing Metal On Metal in 1983
Visioneers
glad i got an aisle seat. this looked like a Kafkaesque workplace comedy (where remaining minutes of productivity are announced regularly and offscreen there is an epidemic of people exploding from unhappiness) but after the first fifteen minutes we left the office and it went off the rails. i gave it about 45 minutes and walked. congratulations, first of 2008!
i got some coffee, chocolate bars, and sudafed before the next film. time well spent.
A Secret
between Elderhostel and French students, the place was packed. (for some reason, at the Uptown i end up hearing other passholders bitch loudly. this time it was indignation at all the seats set aside for the students and how early they let them in. i thought the house management was very smooth and the kids (very well-behaved) were off on the sides, not in what i consider prime real estate. sometimes i want to apologize to the ticket holders and the house staff. we're not all jerks, i swear.) the French cultural attaché from the consulate in San Francisco was there to introduce the film and welcomed the students in French. i was pleased to understand it all.
i liked the film. it's about a boy learning what happened to his parents during WWII, told in flashbacks. it was gently paced (and what was up with the dog in the present?), but i appreciated the build of tension between the leads, done with glances and tiny touches. yet another imaginary friend, and more Mathieu Almaric.
Brick Lane
a Bangladeshi woman moves to London through an arranged marriage, pines for a glowing memory of home, and eventually realizes that she belongs in London. i have to assume there was something lost in the transition from novel to film. i felt like motivations were muddled and there was a lot more telling than showing. my issues with the film are mostly spoilers, and are probably issues with the novel. it looks pretty.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
i was dreading this one a little: it's a real life version of This is Spinal Tap. it could be brilliant, or it could be hideously cruel. hooray, it's brilliant. Anvil is a real Canadian heavy metal band who were rising stars in the early 80s and somehow never quite made it. (included in talking head praise for the band's early work are Lars Ulrich, Slash, and Scott Ian.) they're still playing. yes, often we laugh at them. but ultimately i had to love them for their indomitable spirit, and this is a great story of all the artists who toil on at the edges against all odds. it's excellent, and it plays again tonight. YouTube of Anvil performing Metal On Metal in 1983
