The festival ended almost a week ago, but was a bit too busy to write it up, so here it is. Luckily this year there wasn't any mix up with the tickets so I got to see the ones I wanted.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
Didn't see this at the festival as I had already seen it on DVD before, but as it's in the festival program I'll put the review here. I really like this documentary as it's a brilliant mix of things that make you laugh and cry, mostly at the same time. The similarities to This Is Spinal Tap are very clear, though where Spinal Tap was a mockumentary this is the same thing in real life. And that's the strongest thing about this documentary as the characters are so easy to relate to you can feel their enthusiasm and pain much better than for an actor trying to portray them. I can only hope to have the same burn inside me to follow my dreams when I get 50 as these guys have. Great feel good movie and it kinda made me a fan of Anvil, not because of their music, but because of the people.
85%
Dogtooth (2009)
This one sounded so insane I had to go see it. Quite insane it sure was, certainly not your average Greek family movie. It's a story about a family whose parents are over protective to their almost adult children. The children live in a fenced area and never have any contact to the outside world, except for the son who gets sexual favours from a woman who is paid to do so by the dad. Outside influences start to sneak in and things get ugly. The acting is top notch and the characters are quite interesting to say the least. It's shot in a weird way with the camera just slapped somewhere for the most of the scene, sometimes even cropping off heads and other key parts. First it was kinda annoying, but towards the end it actually started to work great for the mood of the movie. All in all a brilliant movie, very disturbing at parts, but yet quite entertaining too. Best of the festival.
92%
Mother (2009)
Lots of mixup with this one. First they got a print with only German subtitles so they cancelled the screenings. I of course then used my ticket to another movie, but then they got an English subtitled print and had new screenings. Luckily I got it squeezed into my schedule as I was looking forward for this. Joon-ho Bong made the absolutely brilliant crime drama Memories of Murder and the surprisingly good monster movie The Host so needless to say my hopes were up for this one. It's another moody crime mystery, but this time the focus is on a mother trying to save his retarded son from prison for a murder she believes the son is innocent to. Again the pace is slow, but unfortunately where it worked brilliantly on Memories of Murder this time it tends to drag the story a bit too much and I really got a bit bored at times. This movie has it's moments and they are quite strong ones, but they are a bit too far apart so your interest kind of almost fades in between. Towards the end the movie picks up a lot of momentum and is actually very good, but unfortunately getting there takes a bit too much time. All in all better than average crime drama, but could have been in a bit more compact format.
67%
A Woman, a Gun and a Noodle Shop (2009)
Remake of the Coen brothers' Blood Simple, but this time with a Chinese setting. I really like remakes that take the story to a new setting and put some new cultural influneces in it, they are most of the time the nice breath of fresh air to the old story. This one does just that, but unfortunately it's not really a great movie. The characters are just too goofy and go over the top too much. Sure that's common in Asian movies, but for a subtle dark comedy that doesn't fit too well. Also the pace of the movie was off, at points it dragged on a bit too much and then it rushed to go slowly again. The movie looked great and some scenes worked great so it's not a total miss, but unfortunately it's not a hit either.
54%
The Illusionist (2010)
I really liked The Triplets of Belleville so I was really looking forward for this new movie from the same guys. It looked stunning as expected and the mood was perfect. It left me with a nice warm hearted feel. But unfortunately it wasn't brilliant. The story was way too short for the length of the movie and would have worked a lot better as a short movie. Was worth the watch but really didn't leave me wishing for more, so I don't think I'll give it a second try.
60%
The Temptation of St. Tony (2009)
This movie has the best first half of all the movies I saw in this years festival. Brilliantly shot moody dark comedy and lots of those "what the fuck?" moments. Unfortunately it also has the worst end half I've seen in ages. All the comedy is lost and it turns into a surreal boring nonsense that just drags on while you keep wishing it would end. Would love to give it 0 percent, but the beginning half was so brilliant so can't slam it to the ground. Still have to say that the Estonian language sounds quite funny at times.
39%
Life During Wartime (2009)
A sequel to Happiness and Welcome to the Dollhouse. The cast is different but the characters are the same so it makes it a bit hard to follow unless you have the other two in clear memory. So better watch them before seeing this. I didn't and it got a bit confusing at points. Liked the other two a lot and was looking forward for seeing this one too, but unfortunately this was kind of a miss. Didn't really bring anything new to the table and felt like kind of a pointless sequel. As a stand alone movie it's quite bad, as a sequel it's kind of pointless. Maybe if you watch all three in a row it would work better, but now it just didn't.
45%
(Untitled) (2009)
Wasn't planning on going to see this one, but decided to go as I had some spare time. Well not really sure was it worth it. It left me with nothing at all but still it kept me entertained through it. Some quite funny and witty remarks towards the art scene, but nothing out of the ordinary. All in all just barely worth the watch if you're into arts in any way, the rest can skip this.
42%
The Snow Queen (2010)
Another Estonian movie. The less you know about this movie the better it works. Unfortunately I read the description from the festival brochure and it pretty much told everything that happened in this movie. The mood in this one was brilliant and that mystical feel would have worked so much better had I not known what it was about. Was worth the watch and kept my interest up even though I knew the "twist".
63%
The Eclipse (2009)
At start I was kind of lost in this one as it had German subtitles and they spoke with an Irish accent, so didn't really understand at the beginning. Luckily the accent went a bit more understandable so it didn't matter. The "horror" it had was just cheap scares and really no tension building at all. So it wasn't scary enough to be a good ghost story. But it didn't have enough depth to be a good drama either. So it was just a mix of both without really being anything. But it wasn't a crappy movie by any means, it was quite entertaining and worth the watch.
60%
How I Ended This Summer (2010)
You don't see a movie with only two characters that often, so this was a nice change. It had a nice mood and it was beautifully shot with the scenery almost being another character. The tensions between the old traditional man and the young guy were quite good, though at parts the younger man seemed a bit too stupid and naive. Then again I think it was the plan from the beginning to really have those two world views colliding. At parts the movie could have been a bit faster, but the slow pace mostly worked for the good of the film. Well worth the watch and most likely will give it another watch later.
79%
Cell 211 (2009)
Oh this was a positive surprise. Wasn't planning on going to see this one but went as I had some spare time. I'm sure glad I did. One of the best prison movies I've seen in a very long time. Intense and smart movie that dodges the usual plot holes quite well and even manages to be quite thought provoking. Sure there are some smaller details that didn't really work but all in all a great movie and I'm sure to get it in my collection.
87%
The Killer Inside Me (2010)
As you probably know I love film noir so this went to my most wanted list when I saw the trailer. First of all the thing that bugged me the most, Casey Affleck. I really don't like his "acting", if you can even call it that. But being bad, he still somehow seemed to fit the role quite well and at points even seemed to give out a good performance. The mood and the story are spot on brilliant. It's also quite beautifully shot and quite entertaining, at parts even a bit shocking. Maybe the cast could have been a bit better, but the rest worked like a well oiled machine.
82%
City of Life and Death (2009)
One of the most striking war movies I've seen in a long while. And one of the best anti war movies I've ever seen. A story that needs to be told made into a great movie. Can't really say anything else. A must see for everyone. Even though I gave this 95 percent, it's not the best of the festival. Flawed ranking system I know. This is one of those movies that you need to see and you will most likely watch again in the future, so it deserves a brilliant score, but it doesn't deserve the best of the festival. The best movie of the festival is of course something that takes you completely off guard and wipes the floor with your expectations leaving you wondering what just hit you? This was predictable, you knew what to expect. It's striking and thought provoking for sure, but it's also somehow safe but not in a bad way. Any way you look at it, it's a brilliant movie about a story that needs to be told and thus a definite must see.
95%
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Closing film of the festival. Heard a lot of good from this movie so I had my hopes up a bit too much I guess as it didn't really deliver. It was a nice movie with a good mood to it, but as it tries to be a bit deeper look into the human life it really is a bit too shallow and that's where it fails. It was well made and the cast was quite ok. Some scenes were quite nicely done with a bit of camera tricks and CGI, so there was plenty to keep you entertained. But in the end it really didn't bring anything new to the table. Worth watching once.
70%
All in all a great festival once again and managed to see a wide variety of movies. Will be there again next year, that's for sure.
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