Jameson Dublin International Film Festival - JDIFF 2015

Arkaron

I'm gonna see a bit over 10 films, but mostly looking forward to Dead Lands and Sils Maria! Looking at previous Surprise Films, there might be a chance the one from this year will interest me. Let's hope so anyway.

e_e

The Price of Desire was really poor. Glad I only saw it as part of my season ticket and didn't end up paying 20 euro for it.

On the plus side though, the live music played before it was lovely and I guess the festival is only uphill from here!

Catcher7791

If people checked the release calendar,they're very excited about seeing previews,at least one of which opens next Friday.Why not see something else in that slot?

e_e

The majority of what I'm seeing doesn't come out for a few months but I'm still throwing in a few safe bets too I just really want to see.

Plus I'm always catching up on new movies anyway so it's nice to be freeing a slot that would be later in the year instead.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Anyone go to The Water Diviner tonight? Been looking forward to seeing it since last year, interested to hear any opinions? It's all praise on twitter at the moment but they're hardly going to tell Crowe it was rubbish while he's still in the country.

Right Turn Clyde

I have two tickets for a screening in The Lighthouse tomorrow. I bought them separately, but will I be able to sit beside my mate. I don't see any seating info on the ticket.

e_e

Yeah it's free seating.

Decuc500

I enjoyed The Salvation, an effective Danish take on the revenge Western.

99 Homes was slightly melodramatic at times but still an interesting watch.

Right Turn Clyde

e_e wrote: »

Yeah it's free seating.

Great, thanks!

delbertgrady

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Anyone go to The Water Diviner tonight? Been looking forward to seeing it since last year, interested to hear any opinions? It's all praise on twitter at the moment but they're hardly going to tell Crowe it was rubbish while he's still in the country.

I thought it was excellent and I think the reception it got was genuine and not a polite "let's all applaud 'cos the director is here" reaction. The lengthy applause seemed to even rise as it progressed.
Cynics may sneer and accuse him of a pedestrian style of filmmaking, but it is an accomplished debut. More importantly, it is a good (historically important) story, well told. There are solid performances throughout. The script is peppered with subtle humour that never feels forced or incongruous. Crowe's own performance is his best in some time.
He was a very endearing presence, an excellent interviewee, very engaging and candid. He was clearly on a high in the wake of its triumphant reception, and was very relaxed, borne out by his subsequent Late Late Show appearance.
Most people seemed to be awarding it four stars in the voting afterwards. It may yet prove to be among the most popular films of the festival.

e_e

Walked past Savoy on the way to Cineworld around 7:50 last night and there was still a good crowd gathered outside. Glad to hear it went well.

Saw My Life Direct By Nicholas Winding Refn, unlike an amazing documentary like The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness this does feel like more of a glorified DVD extra but if you're one of the deranged few (myself included) who actually liked Only God Forgives it's worth a look. 99 Homes was a pretty engaging drama too, it moved like a thriller despite being essentially a film about landlords.

NachoBusiness

Haven't seen anything so far. Missed out on getting a ticket for The Water Diviner.

Looking forward to Montage of Heck today and From The Dark tonight.

cena

Anyone see the red army doc in cine world last night

Right Turn Clyde

I was ever-so-slightly disappointed by The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. It was too long and my eyes started to feel a bit washed-out from the animation. Yes, it's gorgeous, but it became tiring after 90 minutes and I started to miss the 'weight' of Studio Ghilbi's regular style. I also didn't like the full on fantasy in the final scenes, which felt out of place. However, it's quite funny, particularly at the beginning, and there was some well-placed social-commentary focusing on the bizarre cosmetic practices that women underwent during that period. It's also very striking looking at times, especially during those faster-paced sequences when the style varied.

johnny_ultimate

After being fooled into purchasing a Tale of Princess Kaguya without realising it was out on Friday, needed to add an extra film to make the day off worthwhile. So I took a gamble on Court, and thankfully it hit the spot nicely. An extremely confident debut from Chaitanya Tamhane, this film finds new life in the most hackneyed of genres - the courtroom drama. The trial here, though, is a purposely frustrating one - constantly stopping and starting, technical, and without much dramatic build-up. Instead it serves as a foundation for a probing exploration of contemporary Indian society. Following each of the major characters involved in the case in turn, Court is an insightful yet critical film. It highlights casual prejudices, outdated laws, societal inequalities, cultural decay and a sometimes violent clash between tradition and modernisation.

As well as several nuanced character studies, stylistically the film is confident. Employing long takes - that typically last a beat or two longer than expected - to enhance the flow and detail of scenes, Court is in no rush. But the wide frame is full of life and subtleties that are confidently shot without distracting from what's happening in the scene. It's a rarity we get to see these sort of challenging, accomplished Indian films in a theatrical space, and definitely the sort of pleasant discovery festivals are all about.

e_e

Had a ticket booked for Court but decided to play it very safe and stayed in The Lighthouse for a re-watch of Kingdom of Dreams and Madness. :P

Interestingly there seemed to be more people in Kingdom than Kaguya. I know Kaguya's out in a week but the other film's already available on DVD and iTunes. Guess it was just the rare opportunity to see it on the big screen. Was lovely reliving parts of the film with an audience anyway.

Decuc500

Noah Baumbach's latest While We're Young was a typical charming and funny film from him.
It had some humorous and wry observations about growing older.
I liked the casting of alternative musicians in smaller roles and spotting the pop culture references.
Also you can't beat a montage scene to the music of A Tribe Called Quest!

tunguska

Went to a cinematography Q&A with some lads who worked on Barry Lyndon with Stanley Kubrick. I Dont usually go in for film festivals and fan boy stuff in general, but this was exceptional. Could've listened to those guys tell Kubrick stories all day long.
One strange thing I noticed though was that I've never seen so many Man bags concentrated in any one place before. I was beginning to think I hadnt got the memo or something. Maybe some link between male Kubrick fans and man bags??
Was all set for the rugger at 2:30 but I couldn't resist seeing Barry Lyndon on the big screen plus a Q&A with Ryan o Neal and Jan Harlan. The film looked amazing in screen 1 in the savoy, I think though that Ryan o Neal was off his box on something as he gave some very strange and disjointed answers to pretty straight forward questions. It was funny more than anything though. Jan Harlan came across like a super intelligent and very decent and likeable guy. Great after noon all in all.

delbertgrady

tunguska wrote: »

I think that Ryan O'Neal was off his box on something as he gave some very strange and disjointed answers to pretty straight forward questions.

His Late Late Show appearance was a car crash. He wasn't great at the What's Up, Doc? screening either. The first few answers he gave were ridiculously brief, delivered in a manner that implied he was going to say more, but then just trailing off. It's to Grainne's credit that she managed to keep the questions coming thick and fast in order to keep the whole thing moving. He seemed to have a very short attention span and - as you say - seemed unable to comprehend the simplest of questions.
I also thought they should have moved What's Up, Doc? to Screen Two, as it would have been full. Screen One was fairly sparsely populated, which - considering it was for one of the festival's high profile visitors - was not good.

Right Turn Clyde

e_e wrote: »

Interestingly there seemed to be more people in Kingdom than Kaguya.

Were you sitting toward the front by any chance. I was in the back quarter, stage-left, and there was loads of space. I definitely felt there were more people at Kaguya.

A lovely documentary, and much funnier than I expected. In fact, I wasn't expecting any humour, so it came as a lovely surprise. The camera only occasionally left Miyazaki, and yet he came through it shrouded in even more mystique than before it began. He's fascinating.

tunguska

delbertgrady wrote: »

His Late Late Show appearance was a car crash. He wasn't great at the What's Up, Doc? screening either. The first few answers he gave were ridiculously brief, delivered in a manner that implied he was going to say more, but then just trailing off. It's to Grainne's credit that she managed to keep the questions coming thick and fast in order to keep the whole thing moving. He seemed to have a very short attention span and - as you say - seemed unable to comprehend the simplest of questions.
I also thought they should have moved What's Up, Doc? to Screen Two, as it would have been full. Screen One was fairly sparsely populated, which - considering it was for one of the festival's high profile visitors - was not good.

Yeah he was exactly the same for the Barry Lyndon Q&A. He'd start talking, then trail off or just finish what he was saying abruptly leaving some very awkward silences. There's a scene in Barry Lyndon where marrisa Berenson and ryan o Neal have to experience some really deep emotions to properly convey grief. They're both brilliant in that scene and someone asked him how he managed to convey grief so authentically? His answer was truly bizarre. He told a story about monkeys in a zoo close to where they were filming, and how they gave them bananas in order to placate them and keep them quiet?????? Cue very awkward silence and everyone just scratching their heads. Fair play to Lenny Abrahams, he realised very quickly that Ryan wasn't really with it and he did his best to keep things rolling.
It was strange though, he was either being deliberately awkward and difficult or he's just plain off his head.

cailinoBAC

I saw Red Army on Friday, which I thought was fantastic and just on my way home from Phoenix. I came out of Phoenix thinking it was good, as long as you suspend your disbelief (think very much along the lines of Vertigo) but the more I think about it now, the more I like it. And the last scene was just amazing. If it comes to the cinemas for a proper run I might go see it again. (My husband wanted to see it but I was going with a gang of girls, so it's a good excuse!).
I'm going to see Meet me in Montenegro tomorrow. I enjoyed In Search of a Midnight Kiss a few years ago and I love all these Before Sunrise-ish films.

delbertgrady

Listen Up Philip was great. It inevitably owes a massive debt to Woody Allen with its New York setting, jazz tinged score (at times redolent of David Shire's minimalist 1970s work) and an effective, omnipotent narration from Eric Bogosian, but it equally owes as much to Noah Baumbach's intimate claustrophobia. Not since The Squid and the Whale have such utterly unlikeable characters been so damn entertaining. Terrific performances from Jason Schwartzmann and Elisabeth Moss (one sequence sees Moss silently run through a sequence of emotions in a truly impressive piece of screen acting) and Jonathan Pryce is pitch perfect.
However, the screening was far from full, continuing a trend that seems to be the case a lot this year.

johnny_ultimate

If you haven't seen The Color Wheel but liked Listen Up Philip, make sure to check it out. The latter is a slicker, funnier film, but the former is darker, stranger and ultimately more powerful. Perry is a really interesting voice who is subverting and challenging common indie tropes head-on. Looking forward to his next film, especially since he has teamed up with Elisabeth Moss again who was LUP's MVP - and it's that film we'd be watching if JDIFF wasn't operating on a sort of filmic jet lag

e_e

Right Turn Clyde wrote: »

Were you sitting toward the front by any chance. I was in the back quarter, stage-left, and there was loads of space. I definitely felt there were more people at Kaguya.

A lovely documentary, and much funnier than I expected. In fact, I wasn't expecting any humour, so it came as a lovely surprise. The camera only occasionally left Miyazaki, and yet he came through it shrouded in even more mystique than before it began. He's fascinating.

Yeah I was near the front and there was a good crowd occupying that part.

Agreed on the humor. I love how chill everyone is and you can see how that creative environment manifests in the movies.

e_e

Had a somewhat exhausting 4 film marathon today ending with The Road Within which I might have been less charitable too if I didn't just need some light entertainment after the complete bitterness (in a good way) of Listen Up Philip. Still it seemed to be trying far too hard to be the big indie crowdpleaser like Juno or Little Miss Sunshine. You can see the dramatic beats from a mile away and the characters rarely grow beyond just being a collection of quirks, the whole film borders on the patronizing.

NachoBusiness

Not overly impressed with anything I've seen so far, but here are my thoughts on what I've seen so far

Montage of Heck:
Loved it but it was all soured by the fact that it ignored large chunks off Cobain's life. Important chunks. It just felt unfinished. Cobain meeting Novoselic wasn't dealt with and in fact the first time we see him with Cobain was rehearsing with Grohl on drums, totally ignoring that Grohl wasn't even in Nirvana when they released their debut album. Tbh I could forgive that but the ending was a nonsense. We had interview snippets throughout the documentary with Novoselic and Kurt's family, step family, ex girlfriend etc, but yet when we got to Kurt OD'ing in Rome, suddenly the interviews stop and all we get from here on is Love's opinion on why he was in the state he was and the news on screen that one month later he took his life. No comment from his family or Novoselic about how they felt on hearing about the news of either event, the OD or the death itself. I know other docus have touched on much of that but this was the only authorized one and so one would expect this to be a massive part of any story being told about the man. As I say, just felt unfinished and no issue at all with what they did show, in fact I really enjoyed it.

While We're Young:
It just felt flat for me and thought there was zero chemistry between the Stiller and Watts. Just didn't care about these characters all much tbh. Not that the essence of the story was not interesting, it was, or that some of the scenes were not funny, they were, just that overall it felt disjointed, jarring almost.

Listen Up Philip:
Loved it, then got bored a little, loved it again for a while, bored again and not sure how I felt about it when it ended. Kinda happy I think. Allen inspired obviously, but the characters no where near as fleshed out or interesting as even a recent Allen film, let alone one his classics. Worth watching though and some very clever and witty dialogue. Just not nearly enough of it.

The Road Within:
Really wanted to like this and enjoyed watching it but again it really just felt a little flat to me. One to many easy outs taken to be fair and when that happens it takes you right out of a film. I get that the director didn't want to make a gloomy, gritty, slit-your-wrists film but I don't think she would have had to in order to give the film more realism. It's likable though and I'm sure it will find an audience who will appreciate it and it deserves to, as it's certainly better than most of the crap aimed at young adults these days.

delbertgrady

I went to see Cinderella on Saturday night, figuring - correctly - that while it goes on general release this Friday, it would be well worth attending a Kenneth Branagh Q&A. Clearly, there was a lot of love in the room for him and the film, but very much like The Water Diviner the previous night, the enthusiastic response to the film was genuine.
Shot in anamorphic widescreen, with costumes by Sandy Powell and production design by Dante Ferretti (both deservedly repeatedly namechecked in the Q&A), it's a fun, traditional take on the tale, with an endearing central performance by Lily James.
Anyone looking for some sort of postmodern angle on a fairytale will need to reach for their Rob Reiner DVD instead. As a retelling for modern audiences, it lacks the self-referential approach of The Princess Bride (or indeed, the irreverence of Shrek), and it also avoids any sort of continuation of Disney's Tangled/Brave/Frozen "feisty heroine", with Ella's kindness and courage her only weapons.
As such, it's very traditional on the one hand, and while this film could never be described as dark (apparently, early scripts were considerably so), it is not nearly as saccharine as earlier retellings, such as the perennial bank holiday guilty pleasure, The Slipper and the Rose. Branagh's version - while referencing the 1950 animated feature with versions of Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes in the closing credits - is refreshingly song-free.
The new film also takes place in an interesting multicultural world that's midway between being rooted in a sort of alternative Europe and an exclusively imagined kingdom, which coupled with a refreshing hybrid of CGI and location shooting, makes it visually interesting; impressive without appearing excessively contrived.
My only minor grievance was Richard Madden as Kit (the Prince Charming of the piece), who seemed a bit anonymous to me. I suspect this isn't so much his fault as the fact that he's up against Cate Blanchett (born to play the wicked stepmother, and clearly delighting in doing so) and Helena Bonham Carter (doubling as narrator), who almost steals the show as Ella's fairy godmother, in a brief but crucial role.

Arkaron

So far:

The Salvation - efficient take on the revenge story in a Western setting. Beautifully directed, although the cinematography isn't very pleasing and the director used too much CGI. Great performances.

Princess Kaguya - loved it! Went expecting to be disappointed but it was gorgeous and very powerful.

From the Dark - hahahahahaha.

The Dead Lands - well executed Maori epic, with a lesser budget than its big brother Apocalypto and less directing maestra, but very nice to watch and interesting for the cultural depictions.

doubledown

I was lucky enough to see Barry Lyndon with in The Savoy 1 on Saturday, followed by a Q&A with Ryan O'Neal and producer Jan Harlan. To say I loved the film is a vast understatement.

It was the only Kubrick film (besides Lolita) that I had never seen before but it's now one of my favourites. The story. The setting. The cinematography. The framing. The lighting. The performances. The narration. The dialogue. The music. Everything was just so precise. These are all things we have some to expect from Kubrick over the years but one thing in particular surprised me - just how funny the film was. And also, it packed one hell of an emotional wallop. People often accuse Kubrick of being distant and impersonal but Barry Lyndon is the perfect counter-argument to that.

You could genuinely sense how enthralled the entire audience was (some had seen it before, others had not)

And despite its length (184 minutes, with an intermission) I was never bored for a second. It captivated me in a way a film hasn't done in a long time and it has already cemented a place in my top 20 after just one viewing.

Simply exquisite. If you have never seen it and you love Kubrick then I urge you to seek it out.

On a related note, iTunes have a great deal right now - 7 HD Kubrick films for only €34.99, including Barry Lyndon.

delbertgrady

Interestingly, as of this afternoon (Monday), tickets are still available for the Surprise Film, which traditionally was the first to sell out. Clearly, its lustre has worn off over the last number of years, given that the quality of films has generally been dire. I'm pretty sure it was remarked on this very forum a few years ago that it was time to put it out of its misery.

8-10

Anybody interested in seeing When Animals Dream at 8.15 in Cineworld tonight?

Bought tickets but now can't go last minute, happy to pass on the tickets for free if anyone can make it. (2 tickets)

PM me with an email address and I'll send on the .pdf ticket

8-10

8-10 wrote: »

Anybody interested in seeing When Animals Dream at 8.15 in Cineworld tonight?

Bought tickets but now can't go last minute, happy to pass on the tickets for free if anyone can make it. (2 tickets)

PM me with an email address and I'll send on the .pdf ticket

No takers, oh well!

NachoBusiness

8-10 wrote: »

No takers, oh well!

Nevermind, thought that counts.. fair play.
Was at the Lock, Stock screening myself. Nick Moran seems sound enough. Engaging and happy to yap away with anecdotes. Had no idea the pretty boy image bothered him so much.

Was my first time seeing Lock, Stocksince '98 believe it or not and have to say, I enjoyed it more this time. Hasn't aged too badly at all. Had forgotten most of the twists and turns of the plot. Good night. Nice whiskey as ever.

So will there be a Toyata Cult Film Club? And if so, instead of Whiskey, what will we be getting in place of free drinks?

Decuc500

I saw The Connection on Sunday night. It was a very engaging French crime movie centered around the operation to take down the 'French Connection' drug gang in Marseilles in the 70's. A worthy addition to recent excellent French crime films like Mesrine and A Prophet. Good Q&A with the director afterwards.

The Town That Dreaded Sundown was a stylishly filmed slasher movie but maybe a strange choice to show at jdiff. Not many people in attendance.

I'm not sure how I felt about Black Coal, Thin Ice. It was quite a slow moving detective movie with some startingly good scenes but I have to admit I was confused towards the end. Still worth seeing.

e_e

The Fool Although I admire its anger to some extent my god this film was tedious, heavy-handed and extremely preachy . Almost came back on the film's side at the end as it seemed to moving in a more humanist direction but ****ing hell that ending was cynical miserablist bull****.

Blind The best new experience I've had at the festival so far and really turned the day around after the misery porn of The Fool. It's a psychological drama about a woman's experience of blindness that also happens to be playful, enigmatic, imaginative and just surprisingly fun and engaging overall. It's on release in the IFI from Friday and I really can't recommend it highly enough.

Black Coal, Thin Ice Beautifully shot murder mystery that takes a really tricksy and somewhat baffling narrative turn in its final third and ends up all the more intriguing and memorable for it. One hell of a final scene too. Actually would have made a good double bill with Dearest as they're both mysteries set in modern China that wander off track in haunting and thought-provoking ways. This is the more playful of the two though.

e_e

Just read that the first cut of Black Coal Thin Ice was 210 minutes long, honestly would watch it in a heartbeat just to really try to get to the bottom of what the film was attempting to do in its final third.

homerun_homer

I saw Montage of Heck on Saturday and while I agree with the sentiments above with what it leaves out, I can also see why this may not have been as important to the film-makers and what they'd intended the film to be about. It goes about taking Kurt Cobain from myth and legend levels, the sad face on a poster on a wall, back to being human. The film isn't about Nirvana, but the man and all his flaws. I've read many books about him and the band and I feel this is the most honest and human portrayal of him.

The first half is amazing and the second half can make for some difficult watching, with the footage of him and Courtney out of it and looking like idiots. It was disappointing that it didn't take any time to focus on his death at the end but I think this was a film about his life, warts and all, not to focus on his death.

johnny_ultimate

Just watched half an hour of Horse Money with out of sync audio. Everybody was trying to figure out if it was on purpose. Apparently it wasn't.

Basically arthouse cinema in a nutshell.

e_e

I'm actually certain now that Screen 2 is haunted by the ghost of a dead projectionist. I almost never have technical issues with the films I see but it's happened twice so far now. Went to see Kill List there a few years back and after 3 attempts without sound the usher said (echoing Johnny's line about arthouse cinema in a nutshell) "Err this is our first showing of the film and we actually don't know if it's meant to have sound". :pac:

Turned out to be kind of a blessing in disguise though because the hour long Q&A was pretty interesting and a lot more in-depth than what we would have gotten otherwise. The questions were strong (especially since all the people asking had knowledge of Costa's work or just cinema in general) and his answers were lucid and thoughtful. The evening wasn't a total loss at least.

johnny_ultimate

Yeah the Q&A started awkwardly (I'd imagine partially because Costa was translating in his own head as he want along) but it did turn into one of the better ones I've sat through. Slow but thoughtful and illuminating answers - would have been more insightful had we seen the actual film (which seemed extremely interesting from the 30 minutes we saw!) but hey for sure wasn't a total bust. Oddly enough, the super visual lag did actually conjure up a very weird and engaging atmosphere during some sequences! Was frustrating that it was that screening affected by a glitch since it was the one timeslot I was torn over, but hey. Fingers crossed they can figure out another screening, and hopefully at a time I can attend

Also saw Tu Dors Nicole tonight, which was nothing groundbreaking but thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless. Follows a French-Canadian woman in her early twenties (well played by Julianne Côté) who has a 'free gaff' while her parents are away, as she, her brother and their friends drift aimlessly through the summer. It's been compared with Frances Ha, what with its simple but effective black & white photography and its aimless, frustrated protagonist. But it has its own mood too, and is a solid, understated character study. Wasn't entirely sold on some of the quirkier flourishes - a young boy with the voice of a middle-aged man was amusing but almost seemed like it belonged in another film at times - but they didn't majorly get in the way. Otherwise avoided many familiar 'indie movie' and mumblecore tropes for something more considered, and while it won't set any worlds alight it's a rarely less than pleasant and engaging little film.

Decuc500

The Tribe

Certainly a different concept, a film set in a deaf school with the actors using sign language and no subtitles to help us understand exactly what's being communicated.
The plot concerns the criminal activities of the kids and follows a new pupil getting involved in the muggings, robberies and pimping.
Technically the film was superb with impressive scenes composed of long takes and the deaf actors did an excellent job.
This was also a paricularly bleak film with the grim surroundings and explicit nature of the action quite wearying after two plus hours.
This is certainly uncompromising and challenging cinema.

Meet Me in Montenegro

Alex Holdridge's new film is a charming and funny low budget comedy and it was nice to sit back and enjoy it after experiencing The Tribe.

delbertgrady

e_e wrote: »

... after three attempts without sound the usher said, "Err this is our first showing of the film and we actually don't know if it's meant to have sound". :pac:

That's ridiculous. Everything used to be checked, so it wasn't unusual to have a projectionist (or two) having to endure the latest Rob Schneider vehicle on a Tuesday lunchtime, just to check it was okay (the print, not the film, obviously). Are those days completely gone now that a cartridge has replaced 35mm?
I have to say, Cineworld are the worst culprits for not having sound up for the start of films.

As for The Tribe, I got an e-mail from the Lighthouse yesterday offering me a free ticket.
That's a regrettable development when when they're literally giving tickets away.

johnny_ultimate

A Girl Who Walks Home at Night is the best Iranian-American romantic western vampire noir (and I'm leaving out a few genres there) I've seen, albeit the best by default. With influences ranging from Rebel Without a Cause to Jim Jarmusch, it's a freewheeling, hyperstylish film that marks an assured debut from Ana Lily Amirpour. The black & white cinematography is mostly gorgeous and atmospheric (although in the first scenes the digital sheen is obvious), with the lighting in many different scenes beautifully impressionistic and dynamic. The lighting also factors into the film's one vampire, clad in a chador and stalking prey on her skateboard at night. 'The Girl' is an interesting take on one of cinema's most familiar monsters, with a working moral compass that sets her apart from your usual undead threat.

With very obvious social and political depths to the idea of an Iranian chador-wearing vampire with a preference for male victims who have mistreated women in some ways, some of the film's themes are however pretty blurry. And the film's dawdling pace works to its advantage and disadvantage at times. Nonetheless, it's never less than endearingly slick, and it throws all manner of tropes and influences into a blender and ends up with something strange and singular. And there's a handful of very memorable scenes - notably two or three wordless scenes between the two leads, usually cleverly scored with some contemporary pop-rock - that do a lot to counter minor frustrations elsewhere.

Also saw Kebab and Horoscope earlier, which honestly I thought was a whole lot of nothing - its deadpan stylings vaguely reminiscent of Kurismaki or Anderrson but without much in the way of confident delivery. Felt overlong even at less than 80 minutes, and a few chuckles were the only real reward in a film that fell well wide of the mark it was clearly aiming for.

e_e

They've been repeating some of the movies in The Lighthouse in the afternoon these past 3 days and I'm really left scratching my head at their choice here. Free Fall was an interesting watch I guess but nothing too remarkable and the other 2 (The Dinner and The Fool) were fairly forgettable to me. Seems like there's so much other great stuff in the program they could have shown instead.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Just watching some rumours float about on Twitter about what the secret film will be. Current belief seems to be the new Fast & Furious film.

Decuc500

Saw Force Majeure tonight. I loved it. Really funny and stunning to look at. A real crowd pleaser.

Also saw Heaven Knows What, an impressive low budget New York addiction movie. Very gritty in an early Abel Ferrara sort of way.

Last nights The Dark Horse was good too but the real standout was the performance by Cliff Curtis as a mentally ill former chess prodigy. Really one of the best performances I've seen in a long time.

e_e

Ruben Östlund played the audience beautifully with Force Majeure. Loved how it mined comedy gold out of typical art film techniques like long takes, protracted silences and periods of inactivity. Loved the moment where

the drone randomly flew into shot

cutting the tension with a knife and cracking everybody up.

Film of the fest so far for me.

Bozo Skeleton

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Just watching some rumours float about on Twitter about what the secret film will be. Current belief seems to be the new Fast & Furious film.

Oh ffs, I hope not. I go to the Surprise Film every year, it's almost like a ritual. Most years it's a disappointment now that I think of it. Though I enjoyed Muppets Most Wanted last year.

e_e

Hoping it's that tbh but with it being 140 minutes long and Sound of Music screening at half 7 I'm doubtful.