SIFF screenings are coming fast and furious. Here's some films to see or to avoid. Check the free program guide at box offices or Starbucks for show times and dates. Thursday 16 May is OPENING NIGHT!
SHORT TERM 12---a very low budget US film about a young woman who counsels at a home for disturbed teens. She has plenty of problems of her own, but she has a pretty good head and handle on them. Engrossing and surprisingly well acted, dealing sensitively and intelligently with a variety of issues, mostly abuse and abandonment. GRADE-----A-
AFTER WINTER, SPRING---French documentary about a year in the life of small farms and the farmers trying to deal with environment issues and modern challenges. GRADE-----B-
WHAT MAISIE KNEW--US film with amazing performances by the entire cast, especially Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan as self absorbed parents going through a nasty divorce, shuttling their 6 year old daughter (a fascinating Onata Aprile) insensitively between themselves and various new younger spouses---and this is mostly all from the child's POV! GRADE-----B+
DIRTY WARS---US documentary about covert wars sponsored by the US government without concern for human rights, featuring investigative reporting by Jeremy Scahill. Thoughtful, low key and effective. GRADE-----B+
PIT STOP---Low budget drama of several small town Texas gay men searching for love--it starts slow and dull (probably like life itself) but builds to an effective and moving finale. GRADE----B-
UNA NOCHE---Lively Cuban film showing relationship between twin brother and sister and the man who comes between them, as they prepare to escape Havana for Miami via the 90 miles of ocean on a raft. Sexy and easy to watch, though the busy camera work is annoying at times. GRADE---B
MISTAKEN FOR STRANGERS---Supposedly about a musical tour of the band THE NATIONAL, the film becomes more a vanity production about the film maker brother of the band's lead singer Matt Berninger. Director Tom Berninger is self indulgent, sometimes incompetent and often annoying, but there's a strange fascination here, especially when the film explores family relationships. It's a love it or hate it proposition, and I wish it had more music! GRADE-----C+
LASTING----Feels like an everlasting psycho drama of young love from Poland. The affair starts out well, but turns to dithering and hysteria and who cares by the end. GRADE------C
CAMION--French Canadian film is well made, but slow and plodding. Nap time. GRADE---C+
FIVE DANCES---Lots of dance and music makes this small indie film palatable--five dancers become involved with each other--centering on a very young male dancer "coming out." GRADE----B
CONCUSSION--Wealthy, suburban, lesbian housewife becomes a prostitute after a baseball smacks her head. This is played completely straight (no pun) without any humor or satire. Watchable, but I was hoping for some satire or comedy or punch. GRADE-----B
GOLTZIUS AND THE PELICAN COMPANY---Peter Greenaway is up to his old tricks, with eye popping sets, costumes and sexual shenanigans. Lots and lots of sexual talk and full frontal nudity, enjoyable for it's audacity and provocative themes and dialogue and photography. GRADE------B
PAPADOPOULOS & SONS---When a rich business man loses his fortune in a market downturn, he is forced to start over with his eccentric estranged brother in a fish and chips cafe, much to the chagrin of his three children. It's supposedly a comedy, but the film turns into a fish out of water drama about learning to love life, and it moves carefully (and slowly) to it's moving conclusion--- likable characters, but not much of a surprise here. GRADE----B-
YOUTH--Poignant French film about a young 20 year old girl trying to deal with university, her first love with a new found boy friend, and the impending death of her father. GRADE-----B-
AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS--An odd title for a moody, stylish film about a young woman trying to raise a daughter by herself, while her lover is imprisoned. Tension mounts when he escapes and tries to contact her. A good cast (Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Keith Carradine) in a curious film that raises a lot of unanswered questions. GRADE-----B-
AUGUSTINE--French period drama about a young woman's (sexual)"hysteria" and treatment by doctor in a hospital filled with women, run by all male doctors. It is a slick production, raising a number of questions and comments afterward. GRADE----B
THE SPECTACULAR NOW--Modest US film about a good girl who meets up with a bad party boy in high school and they fall in love. The two leads are excellent (Miles Teller and Shailene Woodley) as is the rest of the cast. It captures the challenges of a senior year, the expectations and disappointments, and the struggle to live life in your own way without being poorly influenced. GRADE-------B+
ANITA---Well made US documentary about the shocking Anita Hill vs Clarence Thomas Senate hearings in 1991, and the effect that had on Anita Hill's life and the powerful influence she has had in the discussions of sexual harassment since then. GRADE------A-
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