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ironymaidenWinter Nomads
sheep! puppies!
ETA: a quiet and gently paced doc about shepherds in Francophone Switzerland that is mesmerizing. it's clear that itinerant sheep grazing is going to disappear as more landowners oppose it, but meanwhile these people are packing their belongings on donkeys and camping out with the sheep herd in the midst of very modern Western Europe. the animals develop as characters in their own right, especially the herd dogs' puppies. i was suprised at how much i liked it and terribly disappointed that the preview i saw crapped out with five minutes to go. (dead hard drive. all my projection fails this year were digital.)
Earthbound
saw this in press previews, public showings start this weekend, recommended. a low-budget gem. if you like the feel of a "Doctor-lite" episode of post-2005 Doctor Who, this is for you.
ETA: unreliable narrator plus twee romance - is our hero really the last of an alien race exiled on earth or is he just endearing but delusional? i went with no expectations and came out quite delighted.
Supercl·sico
Danish comedy set in Argentina on the weekend of River Plate vs Boca Juniors. sad-sack husband goes to convince the soon to be ex to leave her soccer star boyfriend and return to him (instead of signing his divorce papers). the best bits are the 16 year old son falling for a local tour guide and his interactions with her and her family. very little soccer content, but some goodies for people who are familiar with fandom and the international transfer market.
Cousinhood
a buddy film about taking a road trip to deal with a breakup. all about nostalgia for youth and recapturing past glories. definitely a dude movie, but its Spanish milieu gave it extra charm.
Teddy Bear
a Danish film about a shy gentle bodybuilder trying to find a relationship, who ends up looking in Thailand. it was very gently paced and i wasn't expecting his manipulative mother. great performance by non-actor Kim Kold as the bodybuilder; turns out this film won a directing award at Sundance (probably based on getting performances out of a largely amateur cast).
Pink Ribbons, Inc.
doc that treads a fine line of pointing out the problematic nature of cause-based corporate marketing and "awareness" campaigns while being kind to the people who participate. i loved this one. i hope it gains wider audience.
Year of Grace
a comedy set in Barcelona, where an art student gets housing from a sassy senior citizen in exchange for help with her chores. everyone Learned Lessons and Found Themselves, but i still felt like it stayed light and i enjoyed the characters. nice window into the economic situation for young people in Spain.
The Invisible War
devastating doc about rape in the US Military, by the talented Kirby Dick. this is an issue for all who serve, and men have a harder time coming forward when it happens to them. this is an important film.
Animations for Adults
mixed bag this year. unfortunately i remember the ones i disliked better than the ones i liked.
Wrinkles
animated adaptation of a Spanish graphic novel about the denizens of a nursing home. great integration of the real world and the illusions created by the characters' encroaching dementia. had i known how much this film had to do with Alzheimer's, i wouldn't have gone. up to this point i would have said that there is no art about Alzheimer's that i can enjoy. but i'm glad that i saw it, and very glad that it wasn't a live-action adaptation.
Xingu
historical about the creation of Xingu National Park. i went because i recently read The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes, which is about a survey trip with the current administrator of the region. i think it would be great to have seen Xingu first to have the background for the book (which is fascinating stuff, a modern adventure story). the film is a perfectly okay history, but i thought it compressed too much into too little time.
Wonder Women!
it was a doc about Wonder Woman and her relationship with US culture, it was only an hour long, and that hour was unfocused. i still enjoyed it and would watch again on Netflix.
The Law In These Parts
"if we put the territories under Israeli law, then we would have to make them citizens"
i scrawled that in my notebook in the dark as i watched the film, and it is the very heart of the matter. this is a talking heads documentary about the system of law in occupied Palestine. it's an Israeli film, mostly in subtitled Hebrew, interviewing retired military judges and advocates general. really interesting stuff in terms of looking at how you set up a legal system from scratch -- it also makes clear just how disenfranchised Palestinians in the territories are, plus explaining how the Geneva conventions apply to the territories (and how Israel has interpreted them is very interesting). important viewing for law nerds and for anyone interested in Middle East politics.
Game of Werewolves
delightful Spanish comedy-horror film with some fun twists (and a little dog). our hero is a writer who is has been invited to his family's ancestral hometown...unbeknownst to him, as a sacrifice to end a curse. includes an awesome policeman and the best grandparent since Lost Boys.
sheep! puppies!
ETA: a quiet and gently paced doc about shepherds in Francophone Switzerland that is mesmerizing. it's clear that itinerant sheep grazing is going to disappear as more landowners oppose it, but meanwhile these people are packing their belongings on donkeys and camping out with the sheep herd in the midst of very modern Western Europe. the animals develop as characters in their own right, especially the herd dogs' puppies. i was suprised at how much i liked it and terribly disappointed that the preview i saw crapped out with five minutes to go. (dead hard drive. all my projection fails this year were digital.)
Earthbound
saw this in press previews, public showings start this weekend, recommended. a low-budget gem. if you like the feel of a "Doctor-lite" episode of post-2005 Doctor Who, this is for you.
ETA: unreliable narrator plus twee romance - is our hero really the last of an alien race exiled on earth or is he just endearing but delusional? i went with no expectations and came out quite delighted.
Supercl·sico
Danish comedy set in Argentina on the weekend of River Plate vs Boca Juniors. sad-sack husband goes to convince the soon to be ex to leave her soccer star boyfriend and return to him (instead of signing his divorce papers). the best bits are the 16 year old son falling for a local tour guide and his interactions with her and her family. very little soccer content, but some goodies for people who are familiar with fandom and the international transfer market.
Cousinhood
a buddy film about taking a road trip to deal with a breakup. all about nostalgia for youth and recapturing past glories. definitely a dude movie, but its Spanish milieu gave it extra charm.
Teddy Bear
a Danish film about a shy gentle bodybuilder trying to find a relationship, who ends up looking in Thailand. it was very gently paced and i wasn't expecting his manipulative mother. great performance by non-actor Kim Kold as the bodybuilder; turns out this film won a directing award at Sundance (probably based on getting performances out of a largely amateur cast).
Pink Ribbons, Inc.
doc that treads a fine line of pointing out the problematic nature of cause-based corporate marketing and "awareness" campaigns while being kind to the people who participate. i loved this one. i hope it gains wider audience.
Year of Grace
a comedy set in Barcelona, where an art student gets housing from a sassy senior citizen in exchange for help with her chores. everyone Learned Lessons and Found Themselves, but i still felt like it stayed light and i enjoyed the characters. nice window into the economic situation for young people in Spain.
The Invisible War
devastating doc about rape in the US Military, by the talented Kirby Dick. this is an issue for all who serve, and men have a harder time coming forward when it happens to them. this is an important film.
Animations for Adults
mixed bag this year. unfortunately i remember the ones i disliked better than the ones i liked.
Wrinkles
animated adaptation of a Spanish graphic novel about the denizens of a nursing home. great integration of the real world and the illusions created by the characters' encroaching dementia. had i known how much this film had to do with Alzheimer's, i wouldn't have gone. up to this point i would have said that there is no art about Alzheimer's that i can enjoy. but i'm glad that i saw it, and very glad that it wasn't a live-action adaptation.
Xingu
historical about the creation of Xingu National Park. i went because i recently read The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes, which is about a survey trip with the current administrator of the region. i think it would be great to have seen Xingu first to have the background for the book (which is fascinating stuff, a modern adventure story). the film is a perfectly okay history, but i thought it compressed too much into too little time.
Wonder Women!
it was a doc about Wonder Woman and her relationship with US culture, it was only an hour long, and that hour was unfocused. i still enjoyed it and would watch again on Netflix.
The Law In These Parts
"if we put the territories under Israeli law, then we would have to make them citizens"
i scrawled that in my notebook in the dark as i watched the film, and it is the very heart of the matter. this is a talking heads documentary about the system of law in occupied Palestine. it's an Israeli film, mostly in subtitled Hebrew, interviewing retired military judges and advocates general. really interesting stuff in terms of looking at how you set up a legal system from scratch -- it also makes clear just how disenfranchised Palestinians in the territories are, plus explaining how the Geneva conventions apply to the territories (and how Israel has interpreted them is very interesting). important viewing for law nerds and for anyone interested in Middle East politics.
Game of Werewolves
delightful Spanish comedy-horror film with some fun twists (and a little dog). our hero is a writer who is has been invited to his family's ancestral hometown...unbeknownst to him, as a sacrifice to end a curse. includes an awesome policeman and the best grandparent since Lost Boys.
