NZFF '11: Week Two

I haven't been too many films this week but the ones I saw were worthwhile:

Martha Marcy May Marlene - found this disturbing indie drama effectively grueling. If nothing else, it boasts an amazing performance from Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sis of the Olsen Twins, that'll definitely put her on the One-To-Watch-in-the-Future map. She plays a former member of a creepy cult who leaves the compound and tries to get her life back on track living with her older sister, but yeah, it's not easy, seeing as she's pretty pretty screwed up. The Blue Valentine-style flashback-vs-present day structure maybe a bit too studied at times for my liking, but director Sean Durkin has made an impressively assured debut feature that knows how to unsettle the viewer without being too in-your-face about it. Also, John Hawkes (Deadwood, Winter's Bone): skin-crawling.

Le Quattro Volte - The most relaxing film of the fest yet, this endearing, calming little pic looks at the cycle of life-and-death in various forms (human, animal, mineral) in a rural Italian village. Standout scene featuring a dog being a bit of a jerk is one of the most incredible things I've seen in cinema all year. Oh and the goats... SO MANY GOATS. And their trance-inducing ringing bells. Contemplative, beautiful.

The Turin Horse - Taking its inspiration from a moment in German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's life that apparently caused his mental breakdown, revered Hungarian filmmaker Bela Tarr's last film sent at least 12 people walking out of the theatre, and unsurprisingly so, as it's easily one of the more difficult works screening at NZFF this year (appropriately, in the "Go Slow" section). If you're not familiar with Tarr's works, it's torturous - the slowest, most depressing and desolate cinema you can imagine where nothing happens for 2.5 hours. But get into "the zone" - as you would with a Tarkovsky film or something - and the thing just works away at your soul and mind with its searing, bleak imagery and grinding, repetitive score, and when the lights come up and you sorta see everything in a different light... The awesomely minimalist trailer:



Stray stuff:

• How about dem coughers? Out in full force as usual.
• The focus during Le Quattro Volte at the Civic was particularly shonky. In fact there've reportedly been a lot of tech issues this year, which is a shame.
  
• Check out the daily diary reviews by our very own Steve at 3 News Entertainment.
• Still to see: Sleeping Beauty, Melancholia, Wild River, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.
• Heading over to Melbourne next Wednesday so will catch a few festival films there too.
  

10 Pixar Themes Played by 1-Man Band

A truly wonderful tribute to Pixar's music... played entirely by 1 person! File under: best thing you'll see all day.

Harry Potter as a Teen Comedy

Brilliantly done!



(via Total Film)

Trailer: Drive

Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive is probably my most anticipated film of the year thus far; it's a real bummer that it's not out until November here, and only playing at the Wellington Film Fest. I actually considered catching it in on the closing night of the Melbourne Film Fest when I'm there next week but tickets are a 100 smackeroos!! The film, an "existential heist movie" about a stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for the mob, received great reviews since playing at Cannes, and Refn picked up Best Director prize too. Without further ado, here's the damn fine-looking red-band trailer... man, what a cast: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Albert Brooks, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks...

Secret LOST Video: "The Marbled Rye" (SPOILERS)

This one's strictly for fans of LOST who've seen all 6 seasons of the show, i.e. it's very spoilery so stop here if you've haven't finished the series. A little background on the video: showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse appeared to be engaged in a verbal spat on twitter last week over evidence that the show had been planned all along, but it was just a little tease leading up to their presentation of this jokey clip at Comic Con 2011. Shot on Disney's back lot a few weeks ago by regular LOST director Jack Bender, it shows Jacob (Mark Pellgrino) and Man-in-Black (Titus Welliver) overwatching Jack (Matthew Fox) and Locke (Terry O'Quinn) having a deep moment in the first season finale "Exodus", then bursting into an amusing argument takes potshots at the show's mythology. More proof that it's really the show that'll never die; dang, I miss it.

Trailer: The Grandmasters

It could be argued that we don't exactly need another a movie about Bruce Lee's mentor, Ip Man, what with no less than 3 Ip Man-related films released in the space of the last few years: Wilson Yip's Ip Man and Ip Man 2, and Herman Yau's Ip Man: The Legend is Born. But I'm still hanging out for The Grandmasters, Wong Kar-wai's take on the kung fu master. Wong's undeniable, distinctly stylish stamp could bring something fresh to the plate, if not narrative-wise, then at least visually and texturally. And things look damn promising in this clip featuring black-clad Tony Leung Chiu Wai dishing out some good ol' whoopass in the rain in gorgeous slow-mo...

NZFF '11 So Far....

The NZFF kicked off about a week ago - here's a quick report of what I've seen:

Submarine - I can't fully review this Quirky Coming-of-Age Indie since it's been embargoed so I'm just gonna say it didn't really do it for me and was a bit of deflating way to start off the festival. It does have its ardent fans though.

The Tree of Life - it's been a looong wait for this, and while I can't say regretted seeing this at the Civic, Terrence Malick's latest opus failed to connect with me on most levels. It's as beautiful to look at as they come, and I'm generally a fan of his previous films, but something about The Tree of Life felt off to me, like the work of a director who's too close to his material to see it for what it is: a gigantic mess that only he can make sense of. I had a good nap...

The Last Circus - this nutty, completely over-the-top black comedy from Alex de la Iglesia is nothing like Sam Fuller's The Big Red One as described in the write-up (sorry Ant), though it does share some of the carny wildness of Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre. But Iglesia isn't so much an "artiste" in the sense that Jodorowsky is, he's looser and aesthetically rougher around the edges and more interested in going for our jugular. The last act falls apart - you start caring less and less about the characters - but until then, it's demented pulpy fun.

Take Shelter - if you've seen Bug, you know Michael Shannon really knows how BUG THE HELL OUT. He's the best in the biz at this kinda thing, and in Jeff Nichols' unnerving psychological drama, he's utterly riveting to watch. Performance of the year, maybe. Felt like a horror film to me in the same way Todd Haynes' Safe or Lodge Kerrigan's Clean, Shaven and Keane are: uncompromising, bone-chilling portraits of human anxieties and madness. Loved how restrained Nichols handles all the weird stuff.

Meek's Cutoff - Kelly Reichardt's western is very much in same minimalist, meandering vein as her other films like Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy. Very, very little happens, but the grueling passage of these 19th century settlers sticks with ya as it goes along (and long after too). Beautifully shot in Academy ratio, it's the vibe-out movie I've been waiting for all year. Reichardt sure loves her campfire scenes.

Stray observations/thoughts/complaints about things:

• There was a big reel change fail at Meek's Cutoff where we could pretty much see the film soundtrack strip slipping out of the gate. Also at the screening: a lady who said "You go, girl!" or "good girl!" when Michelle Williams pulled out a rifle (cringe), and the guy who sat in the very centre front row (the theatre was fairly empty)... what the hell dude. Are you really enjoying the view?
  
• What's up with who people who bring books into the theatre to read before the film starts? Is the book so good you can't put it down until after the film? The light's so dim in there you're going to ruin your eyes.
• I was told off by an usher for walking too loudly down the steps of the Civic in the Stalls area. "Shhh, they can hear you inside", she snapped. Seriously...