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.