Films for Friday, 28th

Saw a couple more films on friday. Here they are:

Animation Shorts Programme 1 - This programme consisted of about 10 shorts, I think. Most were actually quite good. There is the usual Australian primary school effort that seems to find its way in each year (well, at least the last couple anyway), a really cool Japanese animation from the guys who did Garakuta last year or the year before... (The new one is called Funny Pets and is worth a look in itself)

Bubble - This film is about a group of low-wage workers in a doll factory. Well, 3 of them mainly and the complex love triangle that develops between them. A fairly slow film, its well shot, and the actors do a really good job of their parts. A shame it was such a slow moving film, otherwise I would have really liked it... (I didn't mind it, though...)

2:37 - This film is the opening night film at MIFF. They didn't announce the film until it started running, as an attempt to get people to watch it with an open mind, I guess. The other possibility is that I think maybe a lot of people wouldn't have gone if they knew what it was. Its the kind of film though that requires you to leave your preconceptions at the door, because its a wonderfully strong film, which is a real suprise for an Austalian film. Its kind of about teenage suicide, but not really. Its more about I guess self-imposed social isolation and the effects that it can have. All of the major cast have issues that they are trying to deal with (and in most cases, I guess making a really big mess of them) all the while unable to see that any of the others are going through their own issues - which of course only serves to make matters worse. A brilliant film worth seeing if you possibly can.

Catching up on films...

Hey guys,

Sorry, has been a few busy days watching films. Heres what I've seen so far and a bit of what I thought about it:

Thursday 27th:
Election 2 - Fairly brutal Hong Kong gangster film. Was quite well done, for a change. I have seen the original one, and actually prefer this one. The first film focused more on the aftermath of the election, where are this one focuses more on the "campaigning" for an election. It also hints to an interesting (and quite scary) connection between the Chinese government and the triads. Now I have no doubt that they have an influence in parts, but if its along the lines of this film, it would have quite an impact.

This film is not yet rated - This is a documentary on the MPAA. Basically, noone knows who rates the films you see, at least not in the US. Ratings, a voluntary system in the US, were brought about by a desire to keep the US government out of it. The result is, of course, a system designed to keep everyone from being able to put any measure of accountability to it. This film attempted to locate and identify exactly what goes on, who makes the decisions and how those decisions are made. The result essentially proves that whilst not outrightly defined as censorship, its sufficiently similar to have the same effect.

Melbourne Film Festival

Hey all,

Its Melbourne Film Festival time again, which means noone sees me for 2 1/2 weeks while I go seeing lots of films ;)

I have a list of 40 films... Heres the first few days worth:

Thursday 27th: 7pm - Election, 9pm - This film is not yet rated
Friday 28th: 5pm - Animation shorts, 7pm - Bubble, 9pm - screening of opening night film
Saturday 29th: 11am - 9 square meters for two, 1pm - Tokyo Express 06, 3pm - A scanner darkly, 5pm - Sa-Kwa, 7pm - Invisible Waves, 9pm - Thankyou for Smoking, 11pm - McDull the alumni
Sunday 30th: 1pm - The Goddess, 3pm - A hero's journey, 5pm TV Junkie

More to come...