The Pop Culture Addict’s Blog

So the 44th New York Film Festival has come and gone. They had the cutest shirt this year. It was long-sleeved for the first time ever I think…gunpowder grey with this neon green writing. I will put up a picture later. [Edit: I put a picture of the front on top and the back below.] Unlike last year when they only sold t-shirts on two nights or something like that, they sold them every night. (Yes, I know I’m blathering on about the t-shirts, but they were cute and getting one each year is a semi-tradition of mine so I like to examine and exclaim over them a bit. Incidentally, there was a tote bag this year, too. But I managed to refrain from getting one as I needed it like the proverbial holeinthehead.) There were 25 films and I think I saw a little under half of them. Overall, it was fun. I wasn’t disappointed by the movies I was anticipating. More on that as I quickly review the past couple of weeks.

OPENING NIGHT

The Queen: I know it is out already so many people of had the chance to see it. It was suprisingly engaging. Helen Mirren is excellent and the whole story had universal themes running throughout. I found it very accessible and thought-provoking about what people expect from a figure-head monarchy and the meaning of propriety, old school vs. new school, the grieving process, Tony Blair and of course, Queen Elizabeth II. I was not that involved with the whole Princess Diana phenomenon aside from appreciating her good works. But it didn’t interfere with my ability to watch this movie and recommend it to almost anyone. Of note, since it was opening night, regular patrons walked the red carpet along with the celebs so as we were walking on it, we heard photographers yelling, Stephen [Frears], stand next to Brian [De Palma]. Present at the screening were Stephen Frears (director), Helen Mirren (the titular Queen), her husband Taylor Hackford (director of Ray), James Cromwell (the movie husband), Michael Sheen (Tony Blair) and Peter Morgan (writer).

The Go Master: This movie based on a real person (a famous Go or chess master in China who studied in Japan) was odd but interesting probably because the person was odd but interesting. It was cool to see that he lived a long life as the movie starts out with real footage of him and his wife then flashes back to his youth. It is incredible he lived so long considering the trials and tribulations of his life including a religious cult. It made me think of this more contemporary movie I saw earlier this year called Canary.

This is from The NY Japan Society site:

Canary (Kanaria)

Film Spring 2006

Saturday, April 8 at 6:30 pm
Thursday, April 13 at 6:15 pm

2004, 132 min., 35mm, color. Written and directed by Akihiko Shiota. With Hoshi Ishida, Mitsuki Tanimura, and Hidetoshi Nishijima. Print courtesy of CINE QUA NON.

Koichi is a defiant 12 year-old, recently rescued from the remnants of an Aum-like cult after it launched an act of terrorism. When the boy’s grandfather adopts Koichi’s beloved younger sister, he escapes from child welfare determined to rescue her. A disturbed teenage girl joins his odyssey as they struggle to come to terms with and break free of their traumatic pasts. Both young actors give wrenching performances as youngsters adrift in Japan.

But I digress. Next movie:

Little Children: This one is also open so I’m sure a number of people have already seen it. My assessment was it wasn’t nearly as good as Election, also based on a book by Tom Perrotta, but it was diverting enough and I laughed a few times. I bet the book was a decent read. I never got around to seeing In the Bedroom, Todd Fields’ big debut, so I can’t really compare his efforts although I have my suspicions. There was a Q&A afterwards with Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson and Todd Fields. Someone else was there but I can’t recall at the moment.

49 Up: This amazing British documentary following a group of kids through adulthood was my favorite movie of the festival. I was really looking forward to seeing the update and it didn’t disappoint. I think I’ve seen every one since 28 Up. It was mind-blowing the first time I saw it. 35 Up was extremely thought-provoking. I liked 42 Up too. Michael Apted was there. Oh, so was Tony, who wanted to be a jockey when he was 7 and is now a cab driver/actor. He was very cute during the Q&A. He is my brother’s favorite because of his enthusiasm and energy. Michael Apted said it was only meant to be a documentary about 7 year olds representing the face of England at the time but it somehow became much more. So he wishes in part there was more diversity in the “cast” but he said at the time, the kids accurately represented a cross-section of England in 1963.

Paprika: This Japanese anime was pretty cool. It was about a machine that enables dreams to be recorded and watched for analysis by the dreamer and others. Then it gets stolen and needs to be found. The dreams were very reminiscent of The Great Yokai War which I saw in the Subway Cinema festival during the summer. Both movies are good and I would recommend them to anyone interested in Japanese anime although The Great Yokai War is not animated. Still, it has that feel to it.

CENTERPIECE

Volver: I actually couldn’t see this because I had tickets to see Gomez who I loved. I didn’t really know their music but my friend who has willingly been converted to Sondre Lerche and Tammany Hall, among others, by me, said I would like them and asked if I wanted to go with her. So I did. But my fellow PCA’s who attended Volver in my stead said it was great. Penelope Cruz was there along with the always talkative and excitable Pedro Almodovar.

The Host: This movie was a runaway hit in Korea so of course I was curious to see what the hubbub was all about. It was good. Not great. But strong in entertainment value. There was some inexplicable stuff that happened. Yes, it is a horror movie of sorts with gory, gruesome scenes. But there were some plot points that didn’t quite make sense to me. Still, it was interesting and political in an obvious but worth thinking about way. Surprisingly, the director was not in attendance. The one actor from NYC introduced the film…Paul Lazar. He had one scene but he shared that he enjoyed the experience greatly and had no idea the movie was going to be such a hit.

Inland Empire: I think David Lynch is releasing this movie with his own money. It is an incredible work. It was truly a film festival piece. I felt like I was dreaming the entire time. Laura Dern was amazing. David Lynch wrote the movie as he went along and Laura Dern said it was like real life when you wake up in the morning and you don’t quite know what’s to come. Justin Theroux was interesting, too. He and David Lynch must get along well. What a drastic contrast to Alias and Charlie’s Angels doing Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire must be for him. It was completely sold out and the crowd was enthralled. These were card-carrying members of DavidLynch.com, David Lynch’s members only site.

Triad Election: This was actually one of the stronger movies in the festival. I was surprised at how artful it was because I was expecting a more traditional HK action movie. Instead, it was more like Kurosawa meets Miike. Johnny To was there and he said it was a not so thinly veiled commentary on the relationship between HK and Mainland China in particular since the handoff in 1997. Louis Koo was pretty darn charismatic. It was interesting to see Simon Yam playing one of the “old guys.”

These Girls: This was probably my least favorite out of the films I saw. The subject matter of runaway teenaged girls in Cairo was fascinating in itself but the actual documentary didn’t ring true to me. Not to belittle the cause. I think the footage was not molded in a particularly cohesive or compelling manner. But I liked the filmmaker and thought she was sincere in her vision.

Marie Antoinette: Kirsten Dunst was the stand out in this movie. She carried the role of Marie Antoinette from age 14 to 38 (yes, a young-looking 38) convincingly. This was also very artful. The visuals were stunning. They filmed a fair portion of the movie in Versailles. Jason Schwartzman did a good job with a difficult role. He was hilarious on Conan talking about the French kids. And I didn’t realize he gained a good 20-30lbs to play this part. The contemporary music worked fine. I realized I was waiting to hear the lyrics but for the most part, she (Sofia Coppola) used the instrumental parts of songs to convey the tone and underlying emotions of the scenes. Sofia Coppola has a fine eye and ear. This is definitely not accessible in the same way Lost in Translation was, which I really adored. But it is a unique visual experience. Check out the soundtrack at amazon.

CLOSING NIGHT

Pan’s Labyrinth: This fantasy/horror/historical drama by Guillermo del Toro was a highly unusual choice for closing night I thought. But it was more or less sold out (it was in Avery Fisher which has a capacity of about 2500 versus Alice Tully which is much smaller) and it was a very good film. The little girl who stars in the movie was in attendance. She was really good. The movie could be interpreted as an allegory, or as something that helped the little girl get through difficult times or as real. I like the last option because I hate to think of the creatures as not being real. And the fairytale is more palatable than the alternative. I hope I didn’t give away too much. But it was a strange combination of fantasy and realistic drama. Guillermo del Toro introduced the film saying when he showed Cronos (or was it The Devil’s Backbone?) at the NYFF many years ago, he had the pleasure of watching Buck Henry walk out. So he said, per his usual m.o., he put in a number of “walk out” moments but he hoped we’d stay and we did.

So that’s that. Another year, another NYFF. I also fit in a few non-festival movies like The Departed (better than the original HK movie Infernal Affairs which I liked but found on the obtuse side) and other stuff I will mention at a later date if it seems relevant. A friend said it seems like in my blog, I focus primarily on music and the occasional film festival. I have an explanation for this which I will write sometime. But I really do love all aspects of pop culture and have now pared down my tv viewing schedule to less than 24 shows which is virtually impossible to follow. I’m sticking with 20 for now. Seriously. Next time I’ll tell you which ones if I can remember them all.

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