This is what I saw during this week of press screenings, in order of quality.
DON'T THINK TWICE--USA--Writer, director and cast member Mike Birbiglia creates another fast, smart comedy--a couple years back came SLEEPWALK WITH ME--a sprightly if inconsequential comedy. This one was much funnier, faster, and smarter as it tells the story of a New York City improv troupe which is falling apart due to different members leaving for other opportunities.
GRADE--------B+
WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD MEN GONE--Denmark---When it first started, I was annoyed that nearly all the men were mean, abusive, SOB's. When Sofia and her half sister leave home, the tone changes dramatically as they try to relate to her broken, ex-military biological father with varying degrees of success. If you can get past the first 30 minutes, then the rest of the film is quite empowering for them and the audience. GRADE-------B+
ICE AND THE SKY---France--A technically challenging documentary about explorer and glaciologist Claude Lorius who explores the Antarctica for nearly 50 years, and proves conclusively that CO2 greatly changes the weather on the planet because of his work with deep ice. GRADE----B
HIGH SUN--Croatia/Serbia--Three separate stories take place over a 30 year period, one set during the conflict in Croatia in 1992, the second set just after the war during a time of reconstruction, and the third in a modern 2002, showing the lasting effects of war. Interestingly the same actors portray the characters in each section, and at first I thought they could all be the same characters--it would be logical, but they are not. The theme is different kinds of love, patience and loyalty. Intriguing and at times moving. GRADE-------B
DEMON--Poland/Israel--The bride groom becomes possessed by a spirit of the past in this intriguing, chilling, dramatic and symbolic wedding story that is filled with imagery and themes of the holocaust that might have needed a better third act. Many questions are raised but few answered, yet this leisurely Eastern European film is quite engrossing, filled with dancing, booze and a great leading man performance. GRADE-----B
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN: THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES--France--Gorgeous looking family film about a boy and his big white shaggy dog, who set out to find a friend lost in a plane crash in the mountains during a forest fire!!!! Nothing spectacular, but easy to watch. GRADE-----B-
BUGS--Denmark--Two chefs explore the world in search of new sustainable food for the masses, namely BUGS. There is humor and a squeamish factor that keeps you entertained, but the film feels like it is missing a big moment. GRADE------B-
CARNAGE PARK--USA--Low budget midnighter delivers the gross thrills and violence that would keep anyone awake, and I found it vividly engrossing, if distasteful at times. I was not bored. But the last 20 minutes has the heroine in a dark, dark tunnel with the camera whirling around, which is very disappointing. It you like this sort of thing, it's not bad. GRADE-------B-
KEDI--Turkey--Cats, Istanbul, cats and more cats. For cat lovers, what's not to love. Not really a documentary, but more of a pleasant to watch meditation on cat life in the ancient city. GRADE-------B-
TICKLED--New Zealand--You might think that this is a documentary of the tickling fetish. You would be wrong. A documentary film maker finds that this industry is a cover for a dark, abusive, powerful predator, and although the film could loose about 10 minutes, it is a fascinating story. GRADE----------B-
RARA---Chile/Argentina---An important topic (children being raised by a lesbian couple--the biological father is trying to gain custody out of the blue!) is given a lack luster treatment, in this emotionally obscure and dramatically distant film. Big disappointment. GRADE--------C
THE FREE WORLD--USA--Recently released ex-con becomes involved with an abused woman against all logic! Nicely acted, but it moves at snails pace, and so many bad choices are made that it's hard to feel much empathy for these desperate characters. GRADE------C-
PLEASE SEE EARLIER BLOGS FOR MORE SIFF FILM REVIEWS!
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Squeezed in two Bette Davis classics on DVD this week.
NOW VOYAGER 1942--Excellent example of quality "woman's picture" melodrama, with Davis in fine form as dowdy repressed spinster dominated by her controlling mother. Claude Rains is a doctor who brings her out of her shell and sends her on a 6 month cruise (complete with stylish new wardrobe!), where she meets and falls for married man Paul Henreid, who is stuck in a loveless marriage. Realizing she can't have him, she selflessly becomes a surrogate mother for Henreid's depressed child, who reminds her of herself when she was a young teen. It does seem a bit long, but Davis is fascinating in every scene, and the film contains a memorable music score by Max Steiner (which won the Oscar) and contains a number of classic scenes, including the dual lighting of two cigarettes by Henreid, who then hands one to Davis, and the most famous line, "Don't ask for the moon, we have the stars!" Based on a novel by Olive Higgins Prouty, who also wrote STELLA DALLAS. GRADE--------A-
THE LITTLE FOXES 1941--The very fine stage play by Lillian Helllman is transformed into a very effective film, with Davis playing a true viper, a woman so eagar for wealth she's willing to trample on her two brothers, her daughter, and her own husband. It's a chilling study of greed that seems even more true today---think Koch brothers and Trump. There are many fine actors on display here (including Herbert Marshall, Teresa Wright, Dan Duryea, Patricia Collinge, etc. and they all have some great scenes), so she can't really steal the whole film, but the dialogue is the real star. GRADE----A-
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