Small thoughts about 18 films 1-9

This is what I saw at TIFF this year (2007), in case you're interested:

1. The Mother of Tears. Asia Argento is a sort-of-hot version of her father. Seeing them stand side-by-side made it more apparent that she is sort of haggard-faced like him, but in four-inch heels her legs are far better than his. I'm commenting on her instead of the movie 'cause the movie was pretty bad. But not bad as in I didn't like it, just really poor ADR throughout, and atrocious dialogue. And the climax was incredibly disappointing.

2. The Man from London. This was the one by Bela Tarr that everyone at Cannes hated. Someday I will tell you about the worst Q&A ever that occurred after this screening, but not today. I quite like the film. I think people didn't like the fact that the plot wasn't strong, or even present, really. This is because the plot is a crime story, and despite that, very little happens. But people expect plot from a crime story. If the subject matter had been love or misery, 12-minute long shots of ship's hulls would be more acceptable I suppose. But I love that the film spent too much time on random tangents - people who had no place in the plot are given enough time to tell their own story through their actions - and how Tarr shows objects (and plays sounds) out of context that become real when presented later. It's fun guessing what it means, like when Owl Magazine used to have extreme close-up pictures that you tried to figure out, and it ended up being a close up of a carpet but you guessed that it was a sweater.

3. Frontiere(s). A French horror film that starts out in the midst of the Paris riots, and ends up as a Nazi Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It had every cliche possible, but somehow it made more sense to me than many similar horror films have in the past. I mean from a motivation point of view. And there were scenes in it that were sufficiently fucked up. I think the director's film Hitman will be worth watching when it comes out.

4. George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead. Yep. This is really good. Opening night of the zombie invasion again, like with Night of the Living Dead, but the social commentary is media, myspace, and the remake of Dawn.

5. Nightwatching. Peter Greenaway made this, and presented it like we were soooo lucky to be able to watch his films. But it was very interesting, without most of his usual tricks. Still plenty of penii shown, but a period piece that made me care about the characters, want to find out the mystery behind Rembrandt's The Night Watch, and revel in the beautiful tableaux he constructed. Martin Freeman (Tim from the Office) plays Rembrandt, and he was very funny, very vulnerable, and very human. Better cast as Rembrandt than as Arthur Dent.

6. Stuck. OMG Mena Suvari is thin. I shouldn't care, but it was strange because she's a pretty major actress I suppose, and she made Midnight Madness feel like a soulless gala because the photographers were smitten. It's entertaining and does a good job at showing how awful people are to other people, even when they are good in other areas of their lives.

7. Margot at the Wedding. What happened between Noah Baumbach and his Mom? I thought I could piece it together from The Squid and the Whale but I guess I wasn't quite there. Nicole Kidman is the fucked up mom in this one, and she shows exactly what not to do when dealing with children. Or people. Or dealing with anything. Or being. God, everyone is so hateful in his films. He makes hugging your children seem manipulative.

8. Sukiyaki Western Django. Quentin Tarrantino acts in this and his performance ISN'T AWFUL!!! Part of me loved the chaos of this film, but another part of me thought it could be a lot better. And I don't know why. Which makes me feel dumb. So, assorted impressions instead: The town sheriff does a good Gollum-styled conversation with himself. The leader of the Genjii (white) has great style and some nice sword-play. Best Akira reference ever. 20 minutes too long, but nothing was really redundant.

9. The Devil's Chair. I was so excited to see what appeared to be Hellraiser style, alternate-demon-filled-world, and was let down. Then there was the Trainspotting/Goodfellas freeze-frame with narration thing. It gave it energy, it removed the usual story-building blahs in a good horror. But it made the whole thing feel hollow. Have you seen Session 9? It wasn't good either, was it? And it had David Caruso.