I've opened a new thread in the Festival Coverage area concerning the 2009 Miami International Film Festival. Comments of any kind are encouraged. I've opened this thread for that purpose. Posts including commentary on films I manage to catch begin tomorrow (opening day). Enjoy.
Two strong contenders for Best Film in the "World Cinema" category: Khamsa from France and Paper Soldier from Russia. Reviews
Catherine Deneuve travels through devastated Lebanon and the photographer for Warhol's "Interview" magazine returns to Manhattan in these documentaries. Reviews
Great header logo of the festival, Oscar.
And great stills for the film reviews.
Looking forward to reading what's playing in Miami..
"Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd
KHAMSA (very highly rated by the French critics after its October 2008 release): Francois-Guillaume Lorrain in Le Point calles it "a 400 Blows for the 21st Century." Sounds like something that ought to hve been included in the Rendez-Vous this year at Lincoln Center instead of some of the silly stuff like Thompson's CHANGE OF PLANS or Duran Cohen's THE JOY OF SINGING. But at least since it wasn't, we don't overlap.
I WANT TO SEE with Deneuve: Sounds indeed very lacking, hardly more than a vanity piece. Philipped Aractingi's UNDER THE BOMBS (SFIFF 2008) is surely better, if still unsatisfactory.
FACE ADDICT would be a good one to watch in lower Manhattan but certainly not a must. One for three is good, so far, however.
I'm glad you're posting images now, Oacar. Good reviews too, pointing out the pluses and minuses neatly.
Thank you CHRIS and JOHANN for your support of my coverage of the MIFF. I have indeed finally learned how to attach images to my reviews and I'm glad you guys approve. I am still learning how to modify the size of the images. I had a neat one to accompany the Face Addict review but I just couldn't manage to reduce it from its original huge size.
That film, like Chris stated, is not a must. But it's more rewarding than the Deneuve one, which is the one film to avoid so far (that's for you locals and tourists). I'm glad to learn Khamsa was "very highly rated" in France. I watched Didri's Bye-bye at the '96 MIFF and I was quite impressed. His new film sounds like something you've seen before but it's the attention to detail that make it unique and the long, careful pre-production work needed to prepare non-actors to be themselves and ignore the cameras when the shoot starts. Let's not forget the Russian film Paper Soldier which is indebted to a Russian literary tradition of allegory (as pointed out by my colleague P. Scott Cunningham in New Times).
I don't myself have the software to alter sizes of images. You have to reformat them to make them permanent for the site. When I've done that I've had to get somebody to help on it. You've lost one of yours already. You can usually always find another image that's open source and won't go off, even if you can't reformat them. It takes me some time to get images up, but it pays off in the attractiveness of the reviews with them. So don't give up.
Your exhortation is more significant than you think. I just spent about 90 minutes writing reviews and inserting images to them and something happened that caused the work to be irretrievably lost. I'll try again tomorrow. I'm not about to give up.
As for now, I'll tell you a little story that happened to me tonight. I went to the screening of Lisandro Alonso's magnificent LIVERPOOL. Alonso seemed particularly hyper during his introduction, joking loudly about how his brothers find his movies soporific and how we were about to be bored "like the gods". A Q&A was promised following the screening. It got canceled. No reason was offered. About a block from the theater, on the way to my car, I find Alonso leaning against a wall drunk out of his skull. I introduced myself and we joked around for a few minutes. He is a friendly drunk, that's for sure, but after a while he wasn't even trying to make sense so I politely said goodbye. He's here all week presiding over the festival jury, so I should be able to catch him at the hotel headquarters during one or another press conference. He promised we'd talk when he was more up to it. In a way he was acting no different than many who come here to party and have a good time. Still, it was surprising to find him inebriated to such an extent during the sole and well-attended screening of his latest film.
I'm not encouraged by hearing Alonso is a drunk but I loved LOS MUERTOS (SFIFF 2005) and wonder if you've seen all his films.
"Something happening" while you're setting up your content wasn't exactly what I meant about losing stills. I meant image links need to be reset for the site like so, to make them permanent: http://www.filmwurld.com/forums/imag...he_Queen_2.jpg But personally I still have to get somebody else to do that for me.
To avoid long entries getting irretrievably lost as you're speaking of, I suggest you compose them right in the site thread and periodically save them as you go along. That way what you've saved on the site can't be lost. But the image on your thread that had dropped out was the festival logo, and it's back now.
Last edited by Chris Knipp; 03-09-2009 at 06:43 AM.
*I've seen 3 out of 4 Alonso films, but some consider the one I haven't seen (FANTASMA) a mood piece or "featurette" that serves as a companion to LOS MUERTOS. Variety loves the new LIVERPOOL even more than Los Muertos and I might agree. Drunk or not, Alonso is a Master. Only Lucrecia Martel is in his class among practitioners of the Nuevo Cine Argentino. Not that Trapero, Rotter, Burman, etc. lack talent.
*I know about saving. I just forgot to do it late at night after 3 festival films. Can't afford to let that happen again though with school, family, work, festival going and reviewing competing for those finite awake hours. I was pissed. The reviews have been rewritten. Links below.
*The image lost was not the logo but the one for the film PAPER SOLDIER. I found an alternative one that illustrates the film well. Check it out.
*Two very different debuts by Mexican filmmakers: Golden Leopard winner Parque Via and the Jewish-diaspora dramedy Nora's Will.
A drunken master, then, but such masters may not last long. Yes, I know "featurette" is used for FANTASMA but I quoted the enthusiastic comments. I also saw the Variety reviewer was very pleased with LIVERPOOL. I'm not so sure I would compare him to Lucretia Martel after THE HEADLESS WOMAN. I don't like her as well as LOS MUERTOS. I was thinking of Lucretia Martel in connection with UNA SEMANA SOLOS but couldn't think of her name. It is not of the same country but I was very impressed by NOTICIAS LEJANAS (Ricardo Benet, Mexico, 2004), and also from the same SFIFF year, Alicia Scherson's PLAY (Chile 2005). The other Latin American master from the new generations to me is Carlos Reygadas (SILENT LIGHT).
Last edited by Chris Knipp; 03-10-2009 at 08:30 AM.
Extremely favorable reviews of Martel's The Headless Woman and, of course, Alonso's Liverpool are forthcoming. For the time being, how about the new film from the somewhat more conventional Pablo Trapero. It will be released stateside by Strand Releasing under the title Lion's Den and it was Argentina's submission to the 2009 Oscars. Review
Registered User
Great stuff on the festival Oscar. Your work, along with the coverage Chris provided in France, gives legitimacy to our website. Bravo... excellent!
Sorry I haven't commented much lately. Book is coming out soon. I'm working on the cover. Have fun in Miami. Wish I was there.
Colige suspectos semper habitos
Thanks, cinemabon. Correction on "Chris in France": I haven't been in France (though I'd like to have been), but in New York attending the RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA series at Lincoln Center for the fourth year in a row. We know Oscar is in Miami! And in April I'll be in the Bay Area, my home base, to attend the SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATINIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (SFIFF) 2009 . NYC has become my home away from home, though.
Much good luck with the book.
At least we have two legit members.
My posts from planet Grabackle are unacceptable, I know.
You don't have to rub it in cinemabon.
I'm trying. I really am.
Don't hate the player- hate the game!
"Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks