The final weekend of SIFF I saw some fine cinematic treats, and a couple of duds........
GRADE A
CALVARY--Irish film about a priest in a small Irish town who gets a death threat stating he will be killed in one week's time because of the sexual abuse the (hidden) confessor claims he received as a child years ago from another priest. During the next week we see the priest visit a number of his parishioners, all of whom have serious issues in their life with religion or other problems, like a banker who is under investigation from the government, a mechanic whose wife is sleeping around town, a bitter burned out doctor who has seen too much blood, a gay sheriff who likes to entertain a wild rent boy, an embittered older novelist who seems bent on suicide, and several others. Each may have a reason to want to kill the priest. The film plays like a murder mystery crossed with a mortality play, and the writing sounds like a superior David Mamet project. It is an excellent production in all respects.
GRADE B+
BABADOOK--A superior Australian film about a horror book for kids that seems to come alive in the minds of the child and the single mother. The film builds steady suspense, the actors are very effective, and the story progresses in a logical and quite believable fashion, so that when the horror is actually glimpsed, it seems perfectly horrifying.
KEEP ON KEEPING ON--A surprisingly effective documentary about jazz legend Clark Terry, who was a teacher to Quincy Jones, and now in his late 80's becomes a mentor to rising blind pianist Justin Kauflin.
GRADE B
FINDING FELA--Documentary about Nigerian musician and poet and activist Fela Kuti, who in the mid-1970s fought against the repressive government and became something of a martyr to his world wide fans. For those unfamiliar with Fela's work, this is an eye opener. For those who have seen the play FELA that has played around the country in the past year or two, like myself, the film is somewhat repetitious, as about half the film is showing large segments of the musical play, then filling in the segments with biographical information, some of which is included in the play itself.
Still, it is an exhaustive, epic telling, and deserves to be seen.
GRADE B-
THE BREACH--Interesting U.S. documentary that starts out criticizing the thousands of dams that block salmon spawning causing salmon numbers to fall dramatically, but then focuses on the Pebble Mine controversy in Bristol Bay Alaska, and in spite of the emotional, and worthwhile issue, the film becomes rather didactic. It starts to feel like more like a political tract, which causes the viewer to loose interest. The film is supposed to be unfinished, but it looked pretty good to me.
GRADE C-
IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE--Norwegian film about a teen girl who accidentally causes the death of one man and the maiming of another. When she gets out of prison after 8 years (she doesn't look like she aged a day!) she struggles to get to know her daughter but becomes involved with people from her past that are still up to no good. It was hard to feel much sympathy for her because she makes so many BAD DECISIONS that some of us were rooting for her to take a bullet and end this stupid drama. I really disliked this one.
____________
Not officially part of SIFF, but I had a couple hours with nothing to see, so I slipped into NEIGHBORS, a new unlikely Hollywood film with Seth Rogan as a loud mouthed guppy who is married and has a new baby and new house. Moving in next door is a noisy fraternity and a rivalry gets started between the houses that turns nasty and malicious, not to mention completely unbelievable. I don't know of a decent neighborhood that would put up with the noise and antics of a frat house in the first place (BIG party every night!!!!), and the unfunny shenanigans seemed to border on the criminal. ( Part of the problem is that I've seen the previews at least 10 times, and they show all the biggest sight gags, so any element of surprise was lost). Rogan and Rose Byrne, who plays the wife, both are playing to the rafters from the start, and have to where to go--there hysteria gets tedious fast. A mostly shirtless Zak Efron has fun playing the leader of the frat, but the supporting cast has little to do. GRADE----D+
-------------------------------------------------________________________-------------------------------------
BEST OF SIFF 2014
Here are my favorites---details in earlier blogs above. I'll write more about them if and when they have an opening......
Here's the top 20--------
GRADE A
STILL LIFE
CALVARY
THE CASE AGAINST 8
TANGERINES
LIFE FEELS GOOD
VENUS IN FUR
THE 100 YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED
CLASS ENEMY
SAM AND AMIRA
BOUND: AFRICAN VS AFRICAN AMERICAN
GRADE B+
ATTILA MARCEL
BABADOOK
OBVIOUS CHILD
KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON
MEDEAS
INTERNET'S OWN BOY
TOM AT THE FARM
MUSE OF FIRE
LUCKY THEM
DIFRET
The next group were also rated B+ and certainly deserve to be seen...
STANDING ASIDE WATCHING, TO BE TAKAI, LAND OF STORMS, OF HORSES AND MEN,
LILTING, EASTERN BOYS, SALVATION ARMY, THE DUNE, LIVING IS EASY WITH EYES CLOSED, and BEGIN AGAIN.
There are another 30 some films in my SIFF blogs that were rated B- or better, and those are also recommended.
------------------------------------
Voted on by audience members as top films for the Golden Space Needle Awards were BOYHOOD (I missed this one but it opens for a run next month) KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON, LIFE FEELS GOOD, 10000KM, MARMATO and BELLE & SEBASTIEN. More details and runner-up info is at siff.net.
------------
The FOOL SERIOUS AWARDS which are voted on by full-series pass holders (serious movie buffs, of which I am a member) were----
the top 10 in order--
LIFE FEELS GOOD
TANGERINES
CALVARY
STILL LIFE
100 YEAR OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED
"Secret Festival #1"
IDA
BURNING BUSH
BOYHOOD
IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE
Documentary--ALIVE INSIDE: A STORY OF MUSIC AND MEMORY
Archival--THE SERVANT
Director--BOYHOOD
Cinematography--MEDEAS
Script--VENUS IN FUR
Music--KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON
Actor--Dawid Ogrodnik--LIFE FEELS GOOD
Actress--Emmanuelle Seigner--VENUS IN FUR
Guilty Pleasure--INTRAMURAL
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment