This weekend the new Harry Potter movie will clearly dominate most of the global box office ticket sales. There are more than 4000 theaters booked across North America to show The Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and some theaters have a staggering number of shows per day. For example, in Calgary there are a record number of showtimes in most of the multiplexes:
1) Scotiabank Chinook theater has 19 shows per day through the weekend with 15 in the regular theatres and 4 in the IMAX screen. And Chinook also has 4 midnight shows tonight. Previously, a Hollywood film only had one midnight show on Thursday night but anticipating the crowds, Chinook has booked 4 slots.
2) Empire theatre on Country hills has 17 shows per day from Friday through Sunday. After Sunday, they drop down to the low number of 14 per day.
3) Sunridge Spectrum has 15 per day.
4) Empire 10 in the South has 14 shows per day on the weekend and drops down to 11 after the weekend.
5) Westhills has 12 per day.
6) Crowfoot Crossing has 12 per day.
7) Eau Claire only has 2 per day.
So that means on Friday there are a total of 91 shows of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 throughout the city. That number goes up if one includes the nearby towns which are within 30 minutes driving distance from Calgary. These high number of shows are not only specific to Calgary but can be found in other Canadian cities. Multiplexes from Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver have more than 10+ shows of Harry Potter a day, although two theaters in Greater Toronto standout. The AMC Courtney Park 16 in Mississauga has a jaw dropping 24 shows per day from Friday-Sunday, with 19 in the regular theaters and 5 IMAX shows. But AMC 24 in Whitby goes even further by having 27 shows in a single day (22 regular + 5 IMAX). Whitby's population is only 112,000 but its close proximity to Toronto means that there will be some out of town people driving down to see the film. Also, in Toronto the theaters are starting their shows at 9:30 am but in Calgary we only have shows starting at 11:30 am.
A sampling of some cities across the United States show the same high number of bookings per day, with AMC River East 21 in Chicago showing 27 shows per day and many others from L.A to New York having 10+ shows per day. A theater with a single screen is only able to show 4-5 shows per day due to the film's running time of 2.5 hours. On the other hand, the more the number of screens in a multiplex, the larger the number of shows that multiplex will have.
The film series have a huge following around the world so safe to say, the new film will be deployed on a large scale across the Globe. Also, this is just Part I of the movie. The second part would probably follow a similar booking model and thereby generate more revenue. In this sense, it makes sense for Part I of film to be released in mid-November, before the Christmas season films start getting released so that as many screens can be dedicated to just this one film. At this rate, I am certain that Hollywood and the multiplex theater owners probably never want this franchise to end.
Recent Global Box Office
A quick look at some countries & regional box offices show the reach of Hollywood. As per Boxofficemojo.com, the same few Hollywood titles show up in multiple countries and in some countries/regions, Hollywood easily dominates the top 5. It will be interesting to revisit these charts in a few weeks when a common title will dominate almost all the regions.
note: besides the film title, the number of screens the film showed in is also listed.
Argentina
1 Paranormal Activity 2, 57
2 Saw 3D, 57
3 Due Date, 47
4 The Switch, 36
5 Jackass 3-D, 47
Australia
1 Jackass 3-D, 198
2 The Social Network, 291
3 Skyline, 181
4 Red, 244
5 Life as We Know It, 242
Bahrain
1 Unstoppable, 1
2 The Social Network, 1
3 Eat Pray Love, 1
4 Takers, 1
5 Marmaduke, 1
Bolivia
1 Paranormal Activity 2, 7
2 Due Date, 7
3 Furry Vengeance, 5
4 Garfield's Pet Force, 3
5 Eat Pray Love, 7
Brazil
1 Tropa de Elite 2, 597
2 Red, 207
3 Muita Calma Nessa Hora, 184
4 Saw 3D, 253
5 Due Date, 188
Two Brazilian films show up in the top 5 with Elite Squad 2 managing to show in 597 screens, double the number of screens for the Hollywood films on the list.
China
1 Unstoppable
2 Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
3 Wind Blast
4 Ai chu se (Color Me Love)
5 My Sassy Girl 2
After the top 2 spots are a Hong Kong, Chinese and a Korean-Chinese co-production (My Sassy Girl 2).
East Africa
1 Unstoppable, 8
2 Despicable Me, 3
3 The Social Network, 3
4 Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, 3
5 Charlie St. Cloud, 2
France
1 Potiche, 440
2 Les petits mouchoirs, 629
3 Due Date, 385
4 Saw 3D, 181
5 Unstoppable, 430
It is not surprizing to see French films in the top 2 spots but Hollywood is certainly making up some ground in France.
The Indian box office, obtained from IBOSNetwork.com.
1 Golmaal 3
2 Action Replayy
3 Endhiran - The Robot
4 Due Date
5 Jhootha Hi Sahi
The two Diwali releases Golmaal 3 and Action Replayy still dominate the charts but Due Date has managed to make the top 5. In Northern India, Bollywood films regularly dominate the box-office and despite its best efforts, Hollywood has not been able to make much dent.
Japan
1 SP: The motion picture yabô hen, 394
2 Ghost: In Your Arms Again, 305
3 Despicable Me, 229
4 Eiga Hâto kyacchi Purikyua! Hana no miyako de fasshon shô... desuka!? 163
5 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, 264
A Japanese film is at #1 and there are only 2 Hollywood films in the top 5. Interestingly, the #2 film Ghost: In Your Arms Again is a Korean-Japanese co-production remake of the American film Ghost.
South Korea
1 Boodang Guhrae (Conflict of Interest) 523
2 Red, 331
3 Bad Couple, 366
4 Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, 240
5 Devil, 188
Along with India and Japan, South Korea is another country where the local cinema manages to hold off Hollywood on a regular basis. Although this week, 2 Hollywood films and the American/Australian co-production Legend of the Guardians are in the top 5.
Lebanon
1 Red, 8
2 Megamind, 8
3 Saw 3D, 5
4 Unstoppable, 7
5 Due Date, 7
Malaysia
1 Unstoppable, 85
2 Skyline, 85
3 Megamind, 82
4 The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec, 50
5 Takers, 52
The only non-Hollywood film is Luc Besson's French film The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec at #4 which is playing in 50 screens.
Nigeria
1 Unstoppable, 3
2 Takers, 8
3 Machete, 6
4 Golmaal 3, 1
5 Despicable Me, 4
The absence of Nigerian films is not surprizing as the local Nollywood films are sold only as DVDs (pirated and legal). Also, Bollywood films are pretty popular in Nigeria so that explains why Golmaal 3 is at #4.
Peru
1 Paranormal Activity 2, 40
2 Hachiko: A Dog's Story, 22
3 Avatar: Special Edition, 7
4 Jackass 3-D, 10
5 Life as We Know It, 26
Russia
1 Skyline, 891
2 Megamind, 711
3 Due Date, 543
4 Easy A, 272
5 Brestskaya krepost, 542
The Russian war drama Brestskaya krepost is in its second week and still hanging in the top 5. Also, it is showing on 542 screens, just one screen short of Due Date. But Skyline and Megamind clearly have the upper hand on the number of screens in Russia. The end of the cold war is proving to be a good thing for Hollywood.
Singapore
1 Megamind, 57
2 Unstoppable, 29
3 Red, 25
4 Due Date, 27
5 The Social Network, 20
It is not surprizing to see Hollywood rule here as well because the array of shopping malls around Singapore also contain shiny multiplexes.
Thailand
1 Skyline, 171
2 Nam Phee Nong Sayong Kwan, 66
3 Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage, 25
4 Due Date, 45
5 Fan Mai, 55
While Skyline dominates the screens, it is nice to see two Thai films in the top 5. The biggest surprize is to see Sammy's Adventure, a Belgian animated film at #3. This film won't probably open in UK and the US until early 2011.
Supply/Demand & the Hollywood/Multiplex model
There is a large demand for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, going by the advance tickets sold already. In Calgary, almost all the Thursday midnight shows are already sold out and most of the Friday evening shows are gone too. So if there are millions of people who want to see this film around the world, then the theaters are merely catering to the masses.
On the other hand, only large Hollywood studios have the deep pockets to create enough prints for the large number of multiplex screens around the world. In the last decade, a huge number of multiplexes have opened up around the world, including North America. These multiplexes need films to pack the people in and large Hollywood studios are able to provide the necessary product. Plus, since a studio can distribute multiple prints, it makes it easier for a theater owner to deal with a single representative from a large studio and co-ordinate the mass deployment of a film.
In India, Bollywood replaces Hollywood as that large studio entity. Key Bollywood films flood the multiplex screens throughout the year. The two recent Diwali films being an example and back in Feburary, it was My Name is Khan that dominated the multiplex. There were hourly shows of My Name is Khan at almost every multiplex in New Delhi and it was a struggle to see anything but Karan Johar's new film. For example, I wanted to see Ishqiya but there was only a single show of the film in two multiplexes in South Delhi -- one show was at 10:25 am and the other show at 9:40 pm. The mass flooding of the multiplex market allowed My Name is Khan to be deemed a success after the opening weekend but one could find empty theaters around New Delhi just a few days after the film opened. In a sense, it was a waste to have the same movie playing everywhere when there wasn't a demand.
In some cases, the demand for a film may exist but in other cases, the big studios try to manufacture demand by having multiple shows of their films. The studios believe if there are few options given to the public, then there is a good chance that people will walk into one of their movies. But I do believe that at the end of the day, multiplex theater owners will show whatever they believe will make them the most money. For example, in December 2008 only one multiplex (Eau Claire) in Calgary showed Slumdog Millionaire. The film put up amazing attendance numbers and as the film continued to gather awards, other multiplexes in the city started showing the film. By the end of January 2009, all the 7 multiplexes in the city where showing the film.
While majority of the multiplexes in North America follow the herd by booking whatever Hollywood dishes out, there are some examples of multiplexes that take the initiative and show atleast 1-2 different titles away from the regular Hollywood pack. The Eau Claire Cineplex in Calgary being such a multiplex. It regularly reserves one screen for an indie/documentary/alternate title on most weeks. Currently, it is showing Inside Job on a single screen, the same as the new Harry Potter film. Last year, Eau Claire was the only multiplex in the city to show both parts of Steven Soderbergh's Che. Also, for the last few years the Calgary International Film Festival has been able to use two of the theater's six screens for the entire 10 day festival duration.
Pop = want now, Art = wait forever
Popular films by its nature have to be seen right away. So if people don't get to see the advance screening or midnight show of the newest studio film, they will try to watch it on the first day or the first weekend. Everyone wants to see the film right now.
On the other hand, cinephiles are used to waiting a few years to see foreign/indie films. The difference in the distribution model clearly makes the wait seem painful. But foreign/indie films have to follow the festival circuit first to gather some attention before the theatres will come calling. Slumdog Millionaire is such an example. If the film had not won the audience award at The Toronto International Film Festival, then I don't think it would have gotten the momentum that it did. That award and word of mouth suddenly made it a must see film, just like a regular Hollywood film.
I know about the popular vs cinephile difference quite well because more than a decade ago I belonged to the popular cinema crowd. I used to line up every friday evening to see the newest Hollywood or Bollywood film. But I eventually crossed over to the cinephile line. I still visit the popular lines every now and then, but not as regularly as I used to. I would really like the "want now" model to be applied to some foreign films but as it turns out, there aren't enough cinephiles standing in my city's lines to warrant the local theaters to book those foreign films. Thankfully, the three art house theaters in the city have not given up and are still doing their best to carry on. The Uptown is showing the fully restored Metropolis tonight and The Plaza has a new Spanish Cinema Film Festival running from tonight until Monday. Also, Fair Game finally opens in the city, naturally in Eau Claire along with at Chinook. So there are some diverse cinematic options this weekend as opposed to only Harry.. but don’t tell that to Hollywood otherwise they might eliminate the limited non-studio options left to people.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
2011 Copa America Film & Book Festival
An updated summary of the books and films selected for the 2011 Copa America Spotlight in lieu of the recently made draw for the South American soccer tournament:
Group A: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia
Group B: Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela
Group C: Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Peru
** Note: Costa Rica have officially replaced Japan at the Copa. However, I will still have a book and film representing Japan.
Books
Argentina: Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
Brazil: Zero by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão
Bolivia: Aurora by Giancarla de Quiroga
Chile: The Secret Holy War of Santiago De Chile by Marco Antonio de la Parra
Colombia: The Armies by Evelio Rosero
Costa Rica: Cocori by Joaquin Guteierrez
Ecuador: The Ecuador Reader, edited by Carlos De La Torre, ***
Japan: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Mexico: The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela
Paraguay: I, The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos
Peru: Conversations in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
Uruguay: Body Snatcher by Juan Carlos Onetti, ***
Venezuela: Chronicles of a Nomad by A.A. Alvarez
*** Note (May 9, 2011): these two were new replacement entries after English translated copies of the following two original choices were not readily available.
Ecuador: Huasipungo by Jorge Icaza
Uruguay: The Shipyard by Juan Carlos Onetti
Films
Argentina: Crane World (1999, Pablo Trapero)
Bolivia: Cocalero (2007, Alejandro Landes)
Brazil: Black God White Devil (1964, Glauber Rocha)
Chile: Tony Manero (2008, Pablo Larraín)
Colombia: Crab Trap (2009, Oscar Ruiz Navia)
Costa Rica: Cold Water of the Sea (2010, Paz Fabrega)
Ecuador: Cronicas (2004, Sebastián Cordero)
Japan: Tokyo Sonata (2008, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Mexico: Duck Season (2004, Fernando Eimbcke)
Paraguay: Noche Adentro (2009, Pablo Lamar, 17 min)
Peru: Milk of Sorrow (2009, Claudia Llosa)
Uruguay: A Useful Life (2010, Federico Veiroj)
Venezuela: El Don (2006, José Ramón Novoa)
[Update May 9, 2011]
Substitute / Bonus Films
I will be watching an additional number of South American films to compliment some of the above titles. This will mean at most one title from each country.
Argentina: Lion's Den (2008, Pablo Trapero)
Colombia: The Wind Journeys (2009, Ciro Guerra)
Ecuador: Ratas, ratones, rateros (1999, Sebastián Cordero)
Paraguay: I Hear Your Scream (2008, Pablo Lamar, 11 min)
Peru: Madeinusa (2006, Claudia Llosa)
Venezuela: Araya (1959, Margot Benacerraf)
Two films for Ecuador have been added courtesy of Michael C. and Pacze Moj.
The three countries missing films are Ecuador, Paraguay and Japan. There are no shortage of Japanese titles but it is the Paraguayan entry that will most likely be the last title to be picked. The one readily available Paraguayan film is Paraguayan Hammock but I already used that for the 2010 World Cup Movie Festival so I want to pick a new Paraguayan film but currently nothing appears to be on the horizon. If I am still stuck for a title come June 2011, then I will go with Paraguayan Hammock.
All entries should be judged prior to the soccer tournament's kick-off on July 1, 2011. So that means all books have to be read and all films have to be seen by June 30, 2011.
Group A: Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Bolivia
Group B: Brazil, Paraguay, Ecuador, Venezuela
Group C: Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Peru
** Note: Costa Rica have officially replaced Japan at the Copa. However, I will still have a book and film representing Japan.
Books
Argentina: Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar
Brazil: Zero by Ignácio de Loyola Brandão
Bolivia: Aurora by Giancarla de Quiroga
Chile: The Secret Holy War of Santiago De Chile by Marco Antonio de la Parra
Colombia: The Armies by Evelio Rosero
Costa Rica: Cocori by Joaquin Guteierrez
Ecuador: The Ecuador Reader, edited by Carlos De La Torre, ***
Japan: Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Mexico: The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela
Paraguay: I, The Supreme by Augusto Roa Bastos
Peru: Conversations in the Cathedral by Mario Vargas Llosa
Uruguay: Body Snatcher by Juan Carlos Onetti, ***
Venezuela: Chronicles of a Nomad by A.A. Alvarez
*** Note (May 9, 2011): these two were new replacement entries after English translated copies of the following two original choices were not readily available.
Ecuador: Huasipungo by Jorge Icaza
Uruguay: The Shipyard by Juan Carlos Onetti
Films
Argentina: Crane World (1999, Pablo Trapero)
Bolivia: Cocalero (2007, Alejandro Landes)
Brazil: Black God White Devil (1964, Glauber Rocha)
Chile: Tony Manero (2008, Pablo Larraín)
Colombia: Crab Trap (2009, Oscar Ruiz Navia)
Costa Rica: Cold Water of the Sea (2010, Paz Fabrega)
Ecuador: Cronicas (2004, Sebastián Cordero)
Japan: Tokyo Sonata (2008, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Mexico: Duck Season (2004, Fernando Eimbcke)
Paraguay: Noche Adentro (2009, Pablo Lamar, 17 min)
Peru: Milk of Sorrow (2009, Claudia Llosa)
Uruguay: A Useful Life (2010, Federico Veiroj)
Venezuela: El Don (2006, José Ramón Novoa)
[Update May 9, 2011]
Substitute / Bonus Films
I will be watching an additional number of South American films to compliment some of the above titles. This will mean at most one title from each country.
Argentina: Lion's Den (2008, Pablo Trapero)
Colombia: The Wind Journeys (2009, Ciro Guerra)
Ecuador: Ratas, ratones, rateros (1999, Sebastián Cordero)
Paraguay: I Hear Your Scream (2008, Pablo Lamar, 11 min)
Peru: Madeinusa (2006, Claudia Llosa)
Venezuela: Araya (1959, Margot Benacerraf)
Two films for Ecuador have been added courtesy of Michael C. and Pacze Moj.
The three countries missing films are Ecuador, Paraguay and Japan. There are no shortage of Japanese titles but it is the Paraguayan entry that will most likely be the last title to be picked. The one readily available Paraguayan film is Paraguayan Hammock but I already used that for the 2010 World Cup Movie Festival so I want to pick a new Paraguayan film but currently nothing appears to be on the horizon. If I am still stuck for a title come June 2011, then I will go with Paraguayan Hammock.
All entries should be judged prior to the soccer tournament's kick-off on July 1, 2011. So that means all books have to be read and all films have to be seen by June 30, 2011.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Spotlight on Dassin
After I encountered Jules Dassin’s magnificent heist film Rififi a few years ago, I was puzzled as to why I had not heard about him previously. Surely, a director capable of making such a fine film deserved to be held in high regard. But why the silence regarding his name?
Maybe one reason why I didn't hear much of Dassin was because there was a time when he was blacklisted in the United States. On the other hand, the positive comments found in a 2008 retrospective indicate that he was appreciated by quite a few critics, so maybe I somehow was looking in the wrong places when praises of his films were handed out.
Regardless of the reasons, I wanted to do a mini spotlight and pay tribute to a director who crafted a film like Rififi. So a few featured films:
Brute Force (1947)
The Naked City (1948)
The Law (1959)
Phaedra (1962)
Topkapi (1964)
The 5 films cover a range of topics and show Dassin's versatility. Brute Force is an engaging and detailed look at prison life, The Naked City is a noirish film about a murder investigation, The Law is a fascinating look at the way of life in a small Italian town, Phaedra is a Greek tragedy about a passionate affair and Topkapi is a playful heist film.
Heist but with some humour
Topkapi sets itself apart from Rififi with its humour and overall playful tone. Yet, it still manages to spend a good amount of time depicting the robbery planning. At the film's start, the heist planner lays out the 3 cardinal rules of theft:
"Plan meticulously, execute cleanly and don't get caught before, during or after."
Another requirement for the heist is that it should only involve amateurs with no criminal record so that after the robbery, when the police round up the usual suspects or criminals on their watch list, no one will come looking for the amateurs.
Topkapi was made almost 4 decades before Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven yet the two films share a bond regarding the planning and execution:
1) Just like Ocean’s Eleven, there are no guns used in Topkapi. The initial plan in Topkapi did require a gun and ammunition but once the Turkish border security and police discover the gun, then the plan is altered to be carried out without any arms.
2) Both films go about assembling a team with defined roles for each member, including an acrobat. The team in Topkapi consists of only 6 people but each person knows their role.
3) In both films, the team is lead by a duo. In Topkapi it is a male-female combination whereas in Ocean's Eleven Danny Ocean and Rusty lead the pack.
Also, Topkapi features an engaging hanging rope robbery sequence presented with no background music, thereby increasing the crime’s tension. This scene clearly appears to have inspired the Ethan Hunt rope scene in Mission Impossible.
The city..oh the city
New York City is a key character of The Naked City and the film starts and ends with overhead shots of the city. There is a narrator to guide the audience and inform us that the film’s story is just one of the 8 million tales that exist in the city.
Dassin's film focuses on the policemen who try to solve a murder. There are detailed discussions about the suspects and eventually a series of clues allow a valid trail to be chased down. But it is not easy to find a suspect in a city with many possible leads. As one policeman tells another that their suspect could be any one of the half million males that match the description. The story certainly benefits from being set in a time when neighbours knew each other and could therefore assist in solving a crime. For example, in one scene a policeman goes to a neighbourhood and asks the children if they know a boxer who plays the harmonica. They are able to point the inspector towards the right building. Such a quick identification would not be possible in a modern day North American city because of the isolation that exists in downtown condos/apartments and even in the suburbs.
Pacze Moj has an excellent write-up about The Naked City.
Overview
While I relished watching all 5 films, The Law is probably my favourite because of the attention to detail regarding the small Italian town setting. In a sense, the closeness of the characters who live across from each other and know about other's affairs is an extension of The Naked City in which people were known by their name and occupation and were not just statistics. The Law also benefits from having Gina Lollobrigida play the sensuous Marietta, a female that is the object of desire of every male in town. The film also has Marcello Mastroianni playing a quiet, shy man and Yves Montand playing the opposite character of Matteo Brigante, a man who wants to rule the town and have his way with any woman, Marietta included ofcourse.
Dassin managed to turn his exile into a positive aspect by expanding his directorial skills to incorporate European art house and popular ingredients into his films. As a result, he could comfortably make a film in France, Greece, Italy or Turkey and still manage to capture the essence of each city or town as if he was still back in the US.
Incidentally, Hollywood too might be rediscovering Dassin as a remake of Rififi is on the cards.
By the numbers
Two of the 5 films seen in this spotlight were made before Dassin's exile from the US in 1953.
Three films are with the Greek actress Melina Mercouri who married Dassin in 1966.
Topkapi is the only color film out of the 5.
The Law is the only non-English film out of the selections.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Watching Carlos in Canada
So do you want to see the new Olivier Assayas film Carlos?
Do you live in Toronto or Vancouver?
If your answer is no, then you are not privileged enough to see this film in movie theatres. The rest of Canada does not matter as currently only Toronto & Vancouver have had the benefit of showcasing this movie outside of their film festivals.
If the film does open in a few more select Canadian cities, it will more likely be spring or summer of 2011, closer to a year since the film first made headlines when it premiered at Cannes in May 2010.
So what is a Canadian film lover to do?
Simple. Order the film from Amazon.co.uk
The film is in PAL but most Canadian/North American film lovers need to have a PAL DVD player anyway as that is an essential requirement to be able to legally watch most foreign films.
A lot of time and energy is wasted on whether film criticism is dead, whether film viewing is only relevant if seen in a movie theater or whether online film bloggers are putting critics out of a job. No one seems to be paying attention to the bigger issue that the current North American film distribution model is broken. There are great films being made in the world yet most people in North America won't get to see most of them. Certain foreign films will show only once or twice at a local North American film festival and some might play at an art house/indie theatre or at a cinematheque before disappearing for good. Some might not even see a North American DVD release. One way to see a good number of these foreign films is to fly around the world to various film festivals. But that is just not a feasible option.
I truly believe if more quality films are regularly shown in North American movie theatres, then film criticism would be even more alive than ever before. But in the current situation, multiplexes across Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver are showing mostly the same films. As a result, film criticism is restricted to just a few titles. Do we need 30+ writers analyzing The Social Network? No!
Incredibly this same film in multiple venue model dominates the US and parts of UK. It is baffling that in this day and age when there are more choices of films than ever before, the selection at a regular movie theatre is quite limited. But thankfully, the DVD and the online world provides a very useful option.
[Update, Nov 13, 2010]
The Regina Public Library Film Theatre is showing Carlos On Nov 27 & 28. The shorter film version is showing as opposed to the longer 5.5 hour version but still it is incredible to see another Canadian city get this film.
Do you live in Toronto or Vancouver?
If your answer is no, then you are not privileged enough to see this film in movie theatres. The rest of Canada does not matter as currently only Toronto & Vancouver have had the benefit of showcasing this movie outside of their film festivals.
If the film does open in a few more select Canadian cities, it will more likely be spring or summer of 2011, closer to a year since the film first made headlines when it premiered at Cannes in May 2010.
So what is a Canadian film lover to do?
Simple. Order the film from Amazon.co.uk
The film is in PAL but most Canadian/North American film lovers need to have a PAL DVD player anyway as that is an essential requirement to be able to legally watch most foreign films.
A lot of time and energy is wasted on whether film criticism is dead, whether film viewing is only relevant if seen in a movie theater or whether online film bloggers are putting critics out of a job. No one seems to be paying attention to the bigger issue that the current North American film distribution model is broken. There are great films being made in the world yet most people in North America won't get to see most of them. Certain foreign films will show only once or twice at a local North American film festival and some might play at an art house/indie theatre or at a cinematheque before disappearing for good. Some might not even see a North American DVD release. One way to see a good number of these foreign films is to fly around the world to various film festivals. But that is just not a feasible option.
I truly believe if more quality films are regularly shown in North American movie theatres, then film criticism would be even more alive than ever before. But in the current situation, multiplexes across Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver are showing mostly the same films. As a result, film criticism is restricted to just a few titles. Do we need 30+ writers analyzing The Social Network? No!
Incredibly this same film in multiple venue model dominates the US and parts of UK. It is baffling that in this day and age when there are more choices of films than ever before, the selection at a regular movie theatre is quite limited. But thankfully, the DVD and the online world provides a very useful option.
[Update, Nov 13, 2010]
The Regina Public Library Film Theatre is showing Carlos On Nov 27 & 28. The shorter film version is showing as opposed to the longer 5.5 hour version but still it is incredible to see another Canadian city get this film.
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Spotlight on Godard
Every cinephile crosses paths with a Godard film sooner rather than later in their cinematic journey. The only difference is that some follow a more linear journey through Godard's films than others. This variant is not always down to choice as cinephiles who have lived through the 1960's had the unique ability to soak in fresh Godard reels as they arrived but those joining the cinephilia belt in the 1990's had to make do with whatever films they could find. For example, my Godard journey followed the unusual path of first seeing his 1965 film Alphaville followed by Ro.Go.Pa.G (1963) before finally hitting Breathless (1960) and then jumping all the way to In Praise of Love (2001) before working backwards through Contempt (1963), Band of Outsiders (1964) and Week End (1967).
There is so much written material about Godard's films that one can sometimes have the mistaken belief of being familiar with his films even though they have not seen the work. I was surprized to discover that I had only seen 7 of his films even though I could name atleast 20 of his films off the top of my head. Also, the few titles I had seen were very early in my film viewing days as I saw most of the films on VHS tapes. So it was time for me to treat myself to some Godard as a means of catch-up. Also, I hoped that seeing some of his older films might come in handy before I tackled his latest work Film socialisme.
Un Femme di Femme (1961)
My Life to Live (1962)
Le Petit Soldat (1963)
Pierrot Le Fou (1965)
La Chinoise (1967)
Detective (1985)
Of the six films, my favourite would be My Life to Live, a devastating yet beautiful work with a mesmerizing pool hall sequence.
La Chinoise, Le Petit Soldat and Pierrot Le Fou make an interesting political triple bill.
Even though Le Petit Soldat and Detective are separated by more than two decades, they share a common thread about a mistaken killing related to a character reading a hotel room number upside down. In Le Petit Soldat, it is a two digit number but in Detective it is a three digit room number as 666 & 999 are mistaken.
There is so much written material about Godard's films that one can sometimes have the mistaken belief of being familiar with his films even though they have not seen the work. I was surprized to discover that I had only seen 7 of his films even though I could name atleast 20 of his films off the top of my head. Also, the few titles I had seen were very early in my film viewing days as I saw most of the films on VHS tapes. So it was time for me to treat myself to some Godard as a means of catch-up. Also, I hoped that seeing some of his older films might come in handy before I tackled his latest work Film socialisme.
Un Femme di Femme (1961)
My Life to Live (1962)
Le Petit Soldat (1963)
Pierrot Le Fou (1965)
La Chinoise (1967)
Detective (1985)
Of the six films, my favourite would be My Life to Live, a devastating yet beautiful work with a mesmerizing pool hall sequence.
La Chinoise, Le Petit Soldat and Pierrot Le Fou make an interesting political triple bill.
Even though Le Petit Soldat and Detective are separated by more than two decades, they share a common thread about a mistaken killing related to a character reading a hotel room number upside down. In Le Petit Soldat, it is a two digit number but in Detective it is a three digit room number as 666 & 999 are mistaken.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
A remarkable hat-trick
Denis Villeneuve's Incendies has completed an amazing hat-trick of best film awards on the film festival circuit. After winning best Canadian feature at Toronto (TIFF) and Calgary (CIFF), the film has now been crowned as top Canadian film at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).
It is indeed a worthy honor as Incendies is a well crafted film that packs a wicked emotional kick. The film is best seen without knowing the story before hand thereby letting the work reveal itself in small doses. Hopefully, the awards make it easier for Canadians to see this film in cinemas throughout the country and also paves the path for foreign distribution.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Chinese Cinema
The only requirement for a spotlight on recent Chinese cinema was that the selections should be mostly documentaries. With that in mind, I put down Wang Bing immediately as I had wanted to see his works for almost 2 years now. I slowly opened the gates to allow 2 non documentaries to flow through but one of these films, Oxhide, blurs the line between documentary and fiction. The only true narrative film Sun Spots has minimal dialogue and plenty of long takes so it felt right at home with the other films which offered plenty of contemplative moments.
Film List
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003, Wang Bing)
Oxhide (2005, Jiayin Liu)
He Fengming: A Chinese Memoir (2007, Wang Bing)
Crime and Punishment (2007, Zhao Liang)
Sun Spots (2009, Heng Yang)
Wang Bing
I was first alerted to Wang Bing's potential via a magnificent article by Robert Koehler in Cinema Scope. Koehler asks of Wang Bing's first film West of the Tracks: "is there a more sublime debut in recent history?"
I cannot answer that question as I still have many recent debut features to go through but I can assert that his 2003 film is indeed a "sublime debut". The film, divided in three parts, is shot in North Eastern China and requires an investment of 9 hours from its viewers but it rewards those patient viewers with plenty of riches. I like to label his film as a pure documentary where the camera patiently records everything in sight and allows viewers to listen in to all the daily noises while leaving plenty of room for them to draw their own conclusions.
The first part (Rust) is almost 4 hours long and is the pick of the bunch. The camera moves freely and shows the workers in their everyday factory surrounding and captures them as they go about their daily tasks or takes a peak into the workers break area and locker room. As a result, the film allows us to get to know each person a bit better thereby adding depth to each person's personality. We understand their views a bit better and are not surprized to see them behave the way they do. Also, Wang Bing smartly places his camera either at table height or at eye level, thereby giving the impression that the viewer is either seated at the worker’s table or is standing in one corner of the room looking at the different people walking in and out.
Part II: Remnants moves the camera away from the factories into the worker's residential quarters. Since the factories are in the process of going bankrupt and shutting down, the workers will have to be relocated as their factory provided houses will be torn down. Watching a neighbourhood in the process of destruction feels similar to Costa's In Vanda's Room which captured the demolition of the Fontainhas slums. The one difference between In Vanda’s Room and West of the Tracks is that while Costa confined himself mostly to just one room, Wang Bing wanders through multiple alleys and homes giving us a more complete picture and impact of the destruction. We also get to see the laid off worker's kids and observe how their lives will be altered by the factory shutdowns. Part III: Rail perfectly ties the film together with its comparatively brief 2 hour running time. We get to board the railcars and are introduced to the workers that drive the trains to and from the factories. This final segment allows us to piece together all the lives that are dependent on the factories existence giving us a full sense of impact the plant shutdowns will have on the nearby surroundings.
A truly impressive debut film that works hard to give a complete picture of the factories and workers that once kept an economy moving!!
Wang Bing completely switches gears with Fengming. The film’s opening shot follows He Fengming up to her apartment through a snowy pathway. The initial sequence feels like a shot straight out of West of the Tracks. However, once the camera enters the apartment, it stays stationary for almost the next 3 hours and does not leave the apartment. There are almost no close-ups for at least the first hour of the film and the camera only slightly moves back and forth a few times during the film's duration. The stationary camera might have been a handicap but He Fengming's story is so powerful and engaging that one soon forgets the boundary between the screen and He Fengming. The viewer is like a guest seated in her apartment listening to her tragic story in complete detail. This guest perspective is emphasized by two examples -- bathroom break and the sunset. When He Fengming has to take a bathroom break, the camera stays stationary giving the impression that the seated viewer is indeed patiently waiting for her to return. During the first hour, the sun slowly sets and darkness gradually starts to make its way into the apartment, only for He Fengming to get up and turn on the light before proceeding with the story. These two examples appear to take place in real time and only add to the illusion that the viewer is listening to the story in one continuous evening.
The Spotlight almost turned into a one man show with 12+ hours of film by Wang Bing and a further two films (Coal Mine and the short film Brutality Factory) up for inclusion but I decided to put off a separate spotlight on the director until I viewed his first fictional film The Ditch which premiered at Venice and TIFF and is currently playing in Montreal. Ofcourse, I would like to see his 14 hour documentary A Journey of Crude Oil but a DVD release is surely out of question, or is it? Over to IFFR to see if their Tiger Release DVD label will oblige.
Still staying in North Eastern China..snow and law
Police enforce laws. Citizens break laws.
Sounds simple enough. But what if the laws aren't fair? What if the laws impede people's everyday lives? These are some of the questions that pop up in Crime and Punishment as Zhao Liang's camera observes the everyday routines of the border police as they try to enforce laws, arrest and question thieves/criminals/law violators. Sometimes the criminals do not cooperate and that leads to usage of force by the officers. On two occasions, the camera was asked to be turned off after a beating started and the audience can easily guess what happened next. The camera spends enough time observing each arrested individual and that method allows one to question if the arrested person is guilty or innocent. In one case, we get an example of a person, Old man Wang, who clearly knows that he has violated the law but is trying his level best to find any wiggle room that he can.
The movie has shades of the fascinating documentary Checkpoint which showed that sometimes the job of enforcing laws isn't that clear cut. Checkpoint showed that if there are laws which disrupt people's lives and make it difficult for individuals to move about, then surely there will be situations where people will either break the law or not respect the law altogether. Crime and Punishment picks up on this idea and shows that if the law is not going to be respected, then there will be cases where police officers enforcing the law will be abused. Abusing police seems to be the first and most accessible step in defying the law. Yet, those abusing the police can end up making lives difficult for themselves especially if the police officers retaliate thereby leading the troubled citizens down a horrible cycle of crime and punishment.
At the end of the credits in Crime and Punishment one of the people thanked is Wang Bing. It wouldn't be surprizing if two directors exchanged notes as both of them shot their first films in the North Eastern part of China.
Restricting space vs opening up space / darkness vs bright light
Oxhide
Jiayin Liu's remarkable tactic of shooting in a darkened confined space perfectly illustrates the living conditions in her parent’s apartment. The restricted camera angles depict the tiny size of the apartment while the lack of lighting indicate that her parents don’t have enough money for electricity or that they don’t get running power for long durations. It is a fascinating experiment to illustrate lack of physical space by squeezing out space in front of the camera thereby invoking a disorienting claustrophobic effect in the viewer.
After a while, the family’s situation is apparent and we learn enough about the dynamics in the household. Oxhide shares a cinematic space with Pedro Costa’s In Vanda’s Room. In both cases, the directors form a solo crew and carefully control their environment and only feed us information in pieces (be it is visual or audio) as per their choices. However, Costa was restricted in his choices because he only had a few hours to shoot in the slum every day. Whereas, Jiayin Liu was not as restricted yet chose to be. Also, Costa had no choice but to shoot in a darkened and restricted space but he was able to get some light for his shots by using broken mirrors and other objects as reflectors because he wanted his character’s faces to be visible. On the other hand, Jiayin Liu wants us to get a sense of her parents living situation and does not want much light to filter in the frame.
Oxhide gives out bits of information to the viewer in tiny increments and that makes for a satisfying conclusion when all the pieces are put together after carefully listening in to all conversations.
Sun Spots
In a complete contrast to Oxhide, Heng Yang opens up space in front of the camera in his second feature Sun Spots. His camera stays still and absorbs everything in front of the brightly lit settings. Slowly, objects and humans enter the frame and gradually leave but the camera stays still. There are no pans and no cuts during each fixed shot.
In Sun Spots, the breathtaking background of mountains/rivers provides a peaceful, calm setting while the characters saunter into the frame. The gangster and love triangle story is also a fascinating experiment about how a lot can be conveyed with as little as possible. The dialogues are sparse yet the character's body language depicts enough of their behavior to follow the chain of events. Finally, the decision to shoot in HD gives the film a beautiful richer than life quality.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was an immensely enjoyable spotlight with all 5 works falling neatly into the contemplative cinema category. Each work requires an investment from the viewer and also leaves plenty of fodder for the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
Film List
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2003, Wang Bing)
Oxhide (2005, Jiayin Liu)
He Fengming: A Chinese Memoir (2007, Wang Bing)
Crime and Punishment (2007, Zhao Liang)
Sun Spots (2009, Heng Yang)
Wang Bing
I was first alerted to Wang Bing's potential via a magnificent article by Robert Koehler in Cinema Scope. Koehler asks of Wang Bing's first film West of the Tracks: "is there a more sublime debut in recent history?"
I cannot answer that question as I still have many recent debut features to go through but I can assert that his 2003 film is indeed a "sublime debut". The film, divided in three parts, is shot in North Eastern China and requires an investment of 9 hours from its viewers but it rewards those patient viewers with plenty of riches. I like to label his film as a pure documentary where the camera patiently records everything in sight and allows viewers to listen in to all the daily noises while leaving plenty of room for them to draw their own conclusions.
The first part (Rust) is almost 4 hours long and is the pick of the bunch. The camera moves freely and shows the workers in their everyday factory surrounding and captures them as they go about their daily tasks or takes a peak into the workers break area and locker room. As a result, the film allows us to get to know each person a bit better thereby adding depth to each person's personality. We understand their views a bit better and are not surprized to see them behave the way they do. Also, Wang Bing smartly places his camera either at table height or at eye level, thereby giving the impression that the viewer is either seated at the worker’s table or is standing in one corner of the room looking at the different people walking in and out.
Part II: Remnants moves the camera away from the factories into the worker's residential quarters. Since the factories are in the process of going bankrupt and shutting down, the workers will have to be relocated as their factory provided houses will be torn down. Watching a neighbourhood in the process of destruction feels similar to Costa's In Vanda's Room which captured the demolition of the Fontainhas slums. The one difference between In Vanda’s Room and West of the Tracks is that while Costa confined himself mostly to just one room, Wang Bing wanders through multiple alleys and homes giving us a more complete picture and impact of the destruction. We also get to see the laid off worker's kids and observe how their lives will be altered by the factory shutdowns. Part III: Rail perfectly ties the film together with its comparatively brief 2 hour running time. We get to board the railcars and are introduced to the workers that drive the trains to and from the factories. This final segment allows us to piece together all the lives that are dependent on the factories existence giving us a full sense of impact the plant shutdowns will have on the nearby surroundings.
A truly impressive debut film that works hard to give a complete picture of the factories and workers that once kept an economy moving!!
Wang Bing completely switches gears with Fengming. The film’s opening shot follows He Fengming up to her apartment through a snowy pathway. The initial sequence feels like a shot straight out of West of the Tracks. However, once the camera enters the apartment, it stays stationary for almost the next 3 hours and does not leave the apartment. There are almost no close-ups for at least the first hour of the film and the camera only slightly moves back and forth a few times during the film's duration. The stationary camera might have been a handicap but He Fengming's story is so powerful and engaging that one soon forgets the boundary between the screen and He Fengming. The viewer is like a guest seated in her apartment listening to her tragic story in complete detail. This guest perspective is emphasized by two examples -- bathroom break and the sunset. When He Fengming has to take a bathroom break, the camera stays stationary giving the impression that the seated viewer is indeed patiently waiting for her to return. During the first hour, the sun slowly sets and darkness gradually starts to make its way into the apartment, only for He Fengming to get up and turn on the light before proceeding with the story. These two examples appear to take place in real time and only add to the illusion that the viewer is listening to the story in one continuous evening.
The Spotlight almost turned into a one man show with 12+ hours of film by Wang Bing and a further two films (Coal Mine and the short film Brutality Factory) up for inclusion but I decided to put off a separate spotlight on the director until I viewed his first fictional film The Ditch which premiered at Venice and TIFF and is currently playing in Montreal. Ofcourse, I would like to see his 14 hour documentary A Journey of Crude Oil but a DVD release is surely out of question, or is it? Over to IFFR to see if their Tiger Release DVD label will oblige.
Still staying in North Eastern China..snow and law
Police enforce laws. Citizens break laws.
Sounds simple enough. But what if the laws aren't fair? What if the laws impede people's everyday lives? These are some of the questions that pop up in Crime and Punishment as Zhao Liang's camera observes the everyday routines of the border police as they try to enforce laws, arrest and question thieves/criminals/law violators. Sometimes the criminals do not cooperate and that leads to usage of force by the officers. On two occasions, the camera was asked to be turned off after a beating started and the audience can easily guess what happened next. The camera spends enough time observing each arrested individual and that method allows one to question if the arrested person is guilty or innocent. In one case, we get an example of a person, Old man Wang, who clearly knows that he has violated the law but is trying his level best to find any wiggle room that he can.
The movie has shades of the fascinating documentary Checkpoint which showed that sometimes the job of enforcing laws isn't that clear cut. Checkpoint showed that if there are laws which disrupt people's lives and make it difficult for individuals to move about, then surely there will be situations where people will either break the law or not respect the law altogether. Crime and Punishment picks up on this idea and shows that if the law is not going to be respected, then there will be cases where police officers enforcing the law will be abused. Abusing police seems to be the first and most accessible step in defying the law. Yet, those abusing the police can end up making lives difficult for themselves especially if the police officers retaliate thereby leading the troubled citizens down a horrible cycle of crime and punishment.
At the end of the credits in Crime and Punishment one of the people thanked is Wang Bing. It wouldn't be surprizing if two directors exchanged notes as both of them shot their first films in the North Eastern part of China.
Restricting space vs opening up space / darkness vs bright light
Oxhide
Jiayin Liu's remarkable tactic of shooting in a darkened confined space perfectly illustrates the living conditions in her parent’s apartment. The restricted camera angles depict the tiny size of the apartment while the lack of lighting indicate that her parents don’t have enough money for electricity or that they don’t get running power for long durations. It is a fascinating experiment to illustrate lack of physical space by squeezing out space in front of the camera thereby invoking a disorienting claustrophobic effect in the viewer.
After a while, the family’s situation is apparent and we learn enough about the dynamics in the household. Oxhide shares a cinematic space with Pedro Costa’s In Vanda’s Room. In both cases, the directors form a solo crew and carefully control their environment and only feed us information in pieces (be it is visual or audio) as per their choices. However, Costa was restricted in his choices because he only had a few hours to shoot in the slum every day. Whereas, Jiayin Liu was not as restricted yet chose to be. Also, Costa had no choice but to shoot in a darkened and restricted space but he was able to get some light for his shots by using broken mirrors and other objects as reflectors because he wanted his character’s faces to be visible. On the other hand, Jiayin Liu wants us to get a sense of her parents living situation and does not want much light to filter in the frame.
Oxhide gives out bits of information to the viewer in tiny increments and that makes for a satisfying conclusion when all the pieces are put together after carefully listening in to all conversations.
Sun Spots
In a complete contrast to Oxhide, Heng Yang opens up space in front of the camera in his second feature Sun Spots. His camera stays still and absorbs everything in front of the brightly lit settings. Slowly, objects and humans enter the frame and gradually leave but the camera stays still. There are no pans and no cuts during each fixed shot.
In Sun Spots, the breathtaking background of mountains/rivers provides a peaceful, calm setting while the characters saunter into the frame. The gangster and love triangle story is also a fascinating experiment about how a lot can be conveyed with as little as possible. The dialogues are sparse yet the character's body language depicts enough of their behavior to follow the chain of events. Finally, the decision to shoot in HD gives the film a beautiful richer than life quality.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this was an immensely enjoyable spotlight with all 5 works falling neatly into the contemplative cinema category. Each work requires an investment from the viewer and also leaves plenty of fodder for the viewer to draw their own conclusions.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
CIFF 2010, Sept 23-Oct 3
Another wonderful film festival edition comes to an end!! I am very happy with the quality of films shown and even more delighted that I managed to achieve a few personal targets at this year's festival.
1) Gala duck broken
Previously, I always missed out on attending any of the gala films. But this time around, I attended 3 gala films -- the opening gala (Score: A Hockey Musical), black carpet gala (I Spit on Your Grave) and the closing gala (The Last Rites of Ransom Pride).
2) Everyday is film day
Finally I managed to watch at least one film on all the festival days. That is 11 straight days of film watching including the Gala premier on Sept 23.
3) Striking 30
I had wanted to reach the target of seeing 30 films for a few years now but for a variety of reasons, I was never able to come close. Thankfully this year I was able to meet the target of 30 and then promptly went home after the 30th film ended and skipped out on #31 because I was plain exhausted. The tally of 30 easily surpasses my previous feeble total of 22 set in both 2006 & 2009.
4) The plan stays strong
As soon as the lineup was announced, my shortlist featured 19 titles that I wanted to see. As it turned out, it was only possible for me to see 18 of those titles due to a timing clash with two films (The Light Thief vs Snow and Ashes). But in the end, I managed to see all the 18 titles from that list.
30 Films
Score: A Hockey Musical (2010, Canada, Michael McGowan)
The Illusionist (2010, UK/France, Sylvain Chomet)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz Pedersen)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Happy Poet (2010, USA, Paul Gordon)
A Screaming Man (2010, Chad/Belgium/France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2010, Mexico/USA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez)
Small Town Murder Songs (2010, Canada, Ed Gass-Donnelly)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Simple Rhythm (2010, Canada, Tess Girard)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage (2010, Canada, George Mihalka)
A Film Unfinished (2010, Israel/Germany, Yael Hersonski)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
I Spit on Your Grave (2010, USA, Steven R. Monroe)
Red White & Blue (2010, USA, Simon Rumley)
A Place Called Los Pereyra (2009, Canada/Argentina, Andrés Livov-Macklin)
Journey’s End (2010, Canada, Jean-François Caissy)
Valhalla Rising (2010, Denmark/UK, Nicolas Winding Refn)
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2010, Canada, Tiller Russell)
Mutant Girls Squad (2010, Japan, Noboru Iguchi/Yoshihiro Nishimura/Tak Sakaguchi)
A Brand New Life (2009, France/South Korea, Ounie Lecomte)
I Am Not Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi)
The Light Thief (2010, Kyrgyzstan co-production, Aktan Abdykalykov)
New Low (2010, USA, Adam Bowers)
Words on pause
A lot of the films deserve longer write-ups but those comments will have to wait for another day as I am still trying to cope with return to normalcy post film festival. The films that really stood out from the last 4 days were Uncle Boonmee.., I Spit on Your Grave, Valhalla Rising and The Light Thief. Three of these films will most likely join Certified Copy, The Illusionist, Incendies, A Screaming Man, Heartbeats, Curling and Nora's Will as the 10 best films seen during the festival.
Overall, these 10 quality films still fall short when compared to the amazing quartet of this year’s Maverick films Manuel di Ribera, The Intern, R and The Robber. It may be hard to believe but I found Manuel di Ribera superior to Uncle Boonmee even though most likely no one will hear or even see Manuel di Ribera.
Number crunching
I saw 16 films during the first 7 days and 14 films over the last 4. That is just way too many films considering that I didn't take any days off from work during the festival. Reaching 30+ films at CIFF is much harder to do than at TIFF, VIFF or Rotterdam because on average CIFF only has 2-3 films on weekdays unlike the 5-7 films that show ever day at TIFF, VIFF and IFFR. CIFF only has 2 evening shows on Monday/Tuesday and 3 shows from Wed-Friday as the midnight feature slot is added. On weekends, one can watch 5-7 movies at CIFF. So that means, one has to watch a healthy dose of 4-5 films on the weekends along with at least 2 films on weekdays to make their target of 30 films at CIFF. That leaves very few free slots and requires a proper discipline. Whereas one can easily make 30 at TIFF, VIFF and Rotterdam in under a week. For example, I saw 24 films in just 5 days at VIFF 2007.
A few years ago, CIFF experimented with some afternoon shows (4 pm) but those extra shows have not happened for the last 2 editions. This year, CIFF did add 1-2 free afternoon screenings (12 pm & 2 pm) on weekdays plus there was an additional 4:45 pm show of A Film Unfinished on the final Friday. So in theory if someone was bold enough to see everything that CIFF showed, then they could have easily crossed 40. I don’t know anyone who has crossed that threshold. I know a few cinephiles who average 36-37 films at CIFF every year. This year, a regular festivalgoer was finally about to shatter 40 but in the end got tired and settled back on 37. Another long time CIFF attendee claims that no one will break his record of 39.
My target of 30 was a long time goal but after getting a pounding headache and exhausted eyes, I won't ever try to reach this number again. Like the 7 films-in-a-day in 2009, this 30 film number was a one-time target. Also, seeing these many films in a movie theatre makes me appreciate watching movies in the comfort of my home even more. Sure watching films in a cinema is a great experience but if only done in moderation, just like everything else. For the rest of the year, I am more than happy to soak in cinematic works in front of a tv or even on a laptop (gasp, the sacrilege...). Theaters can try as many gimmicks to attract audience but they will never be able to achieve the comfort that one has in their home.
Festival diary/notes
Days 1-7
Post Festival
My backlog of regional & directorial film spotlights are still waiting for me but I need atleast one film free week before I return to them. I have to finish my Spotlight on India and then start my Spotlight on China after that.
1) Gala duck broken
Previously, I always missed out on attending any of the gala films. But this time around, I attended 3 gala films -- the opening gala (Score: A Hockey Musical), black carpet gala (I Spit on Your Grave) and the closing gala (The Last Rites of Ransom Pride).
2) Everyday is film day
Finally I managed to watch at least one film on all the festival days. That is 11 straight days of film watching including the Gala premier on Sept 23.
3) Striking 30
I had wanted to reach the target of seeing 30 films for a few years now but for a variety of reasons, I was never able to come close. Thankfully this year I was able to meet the target of 30 and then promptly went home after the 30th film ended and skipped out on #31 because I was plain exhausted. The tally of 30 easily surpasses my previous feeble total of 22 set in both 2006 & 2009.
4) The plan stays strong
As soon as the lineup was announced, my shortlist featured 19 titles that I wanted to see. As it turned out, it was only possible for me to see 18 of those titles due to a timing clash with two films (The Light Thief vs Snow and Ashes). But in the end, I managed to see all the 18 titles from that list.
30 Films
Score: A Hockey Musical (2010, Canada, Michael McGowan)
The Illusionist (2010, UK/France, Sylvain Chomet)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz Pedersen)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Happy Poet (2010, USA, Paul Gordon)
A Screaming Man (2010, Chad/Belgium/France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2010, Mexico/USA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez)
Small Town Murder Songs (2010, Canada, Ed Gass-Donnelly)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Simple Rhythm (2010, Canada, Tess Girard)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage (2010, Canada, George Mihalka)
A Film Unfinished (2010, Israel/Germany, Yael Hersonski)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
I Spit on Your Grave (2010, USA, Steven R. Monroe)
Red White & Blue (2010, USA, Simon Rumley)
A Place Called Los Pereyra (2009, Canada/Argentina, Andrés Livov-Macklin)
Journey’s End (2010, Canada, Jean-François Caissy)
Valhalla Rising (2010, Denmark/UK, Nicolas Winding Refn)
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2010, Canada, Tiller Russell)
Mutant Girls Squad (2010, Japan, Noboru Iguchi/Yoshihiro Nishimura/Tak Sakaguchi)
A Brand New Life (2009, France/South Korea, Ounie Lecomte)
I Am Not Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi)
The Light Thief (2010, Kyrgyzstan co-production, Aktan Abdykalykov)
New Low (2010, USA, Adam Bowers)
Words on pause
A lot of the films deserve longer write-ups but those comments will have to wait for another day as I am still trying to cope with return to normalcy post film festival. The films that really stood out from the last 4 days were Uncle Boonmee.., I Spit on Your Grave, Valhalla Rising and The Light Thief. Three of these films will most likely join Certified Copy, The Illusionist, Incendies, A Screaming Man, Heartbeats, Curling and Nora's Will as the 10 best films seen during the festival.
Overall, these 10 quality films still fall short when compared to the amazing quartet of this year’s Maverick films Manuel di Ribera, The Intern, R and The Robber. It may be hard to believe but I found Manuel di Ribera superior to Uncle Boonmee even though most likely no one will hear or even see Manuel di Ribera.
Number crunching
I saw 16 films during the first 7 days and 14 films over the last 4. That is just way too many films considering that I didn't take any days off from work during the festival. Reaching 30+ films at CIFF is much harder to do than at TIFF, VIFF or Rotterdam because on average CIFF only has 2-3 films on weekdays unlike the 5-7 films that show ever day at TIFF, VIFF and IFFR. CIFF only has 2 evening shows on Monday/Tuesday and 3 shows from Wed-Friday as the midnight feature slot is added. On weekends, one can watch 5-7 movies at CIFF. So that means, one has to watch a healthy dose of 4-5 films on the weekends along with at least 2 films on weekdays to make their target of 30 films at CIFF. That leaves very few free slots and requires a proper discipline. Whereas one can easily make 30 at TIFF, VIFF and Rotterdam in under a week. For example, I saw 24 films in just 5 days at VIFF 2007.
A few years ago, CIFF experimented with some afternoon shows (4 pm) but those extra shows have not happened for the last 2 editions. This year, CIFF did add 1-2 free afternoon screenings (12 pm & 2 pm) on weekdays plus there was an additional 4:45 pm show of A Film Unfinished on the final Friday. So in theory if someone was bold enough to see everything that CIFF showed, then they could have easily crossed 40. I don’t know anyone who has crossed that threshold. I know a few cinephiles who average 36-37 films at CIFF every year. This year, a regular festivalgoer was finally about to shatter 40 but in the end got tired and settled back on 37. Another long time CIFF attendee claims that no one will break his record of 39.
My target of 30 was a long time goal but after getting a pounding headache and exhausted eyes, I won't ever try to reach this number again. Like the 7 films-in-a-day in 2009, this 30 film number was a one-time target. Also, seeing these many films in a movie theatre makes me appreciate watching movies in the comfort of my home even more. Sure watching films in a cinema is a great experience but if only done in moderation, just like everything else. For the rest of the year, I am more than happy to soak in cinematic works in front of a tv or even on a laptop (gasp, the sacrilege...). Theaters can try as many gimmicks to attract audience but they will never be able to achieve the comfort that one has in their home.
Festival diary/notes
Days 1-7
Post Festival
My backlog of regional & directorial film spotlights are still waiting for me but I need atleast one film free week before I return to them. I have to finish my Spotlight on India and then start my Spotlight on China after that.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
CIFF 2010, Days 1-7
Oh the sunlight. Beautiful sunlight. All summer long instead of a clear blue sky & sunshine, my lovely city got nothing but dark gloomy rain packed cloudy skies. So finally after a 3 month delay, summer has arrived. And she has decided to oust the traditional chilly winds that greet CIFF every year. As a result, the good weather has certainly made it fun to watch films and made for a pleasant stroll in between the different venues.
The films at the 11th Calgary International Film Festival have been very very good. 7 days and 16 films later, I have only seen one misfire. That's a pretty good rate.
Filmi list so far
Score: A Hockey Musical (2010, Canada, Michael McGowan)
The Illusionist (2010, UK/France, Sylvain Chomet)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz Pedersen)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Happy Poet (2010, USA, Paul Gordon)
A Screaming Man (2010, Chad/Belgium/France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2010, Mexico/USA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez)
Small Town Murder Songs (2010, Canada, Ed Gass-Donnelly)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Simple Rhythm (2010, Canada, Tess Girard)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Oh Canada!
Denis Villeneuve's Incendies is a beautifully crafted film that packs a mighty emotional punch. The film unfolds in multiple chapters, with each chapter profiling the principle characters and uncovering a smaller piece of the puzzle. As a result, the viewer arrives at the final destination more or less the same time as the two main characters in the film. The film starts and ends in Canada but the rest of the film dives deep into the Middle East and is the kind of cinema that Canada needs more of, films that use second generation Canadian characters as a launching pad to explore their complex cultural background.
Xavier Dolan's second feature Heartbeats is playful, funny and manages to neatly tuck in cute cinematic homages especially to the French New Wave. It is remarkable that someone so young can make such good films but Dolan is a national treasure.
Denis Côté has gone with the bold choice to give Curling a cold chilly look. As a result, it takes a while to warm up to the material but once one gets past the cold exterior, then one can admire the film's tale of a father's resolve to raise his daugther away from society. In a way, Curling is a cousin of the Greek film Dogtooth in showing how incorrect parental decisions can alter a child’s life. The father in Curling makes the decision to not send his daughter to school because he fears that she would be corrupted by other kids. As a result, his 12 year old girl is out of touch with everyday reality and a bit weak in basic math. The girl’s need for human contact is highlighted in one key sequence where she comes across a pair of frozen dead bodies in the wilderness. The daughter does not tell her father about the bodies but goes to visit the corpses day after day as it is the only contact she has with someone other than her father. Like his daughter, the father himself is lonely and needs human contact. Eventually the father realizes his mistake of isolating both himself and his child but he goes about making changes in small fragments. The snowy visuals are a constant in the film but as the movie progresses, rays of sunshine start to filter in, highlighting that even in an isolated Canadian town, winter will eventually come to an end.
Small Town Murder Songs uses the power of music to elevate a simple story into a grander tale about redemption and rebirth. The opening gala film Score: A Hockey Music is pure fun, packed with a few surprizing but welcome Canadian cameos.
There are still a few other worthy Canadian titles that I have yet to see and I have already praised the wonderful Taylor's Way which has 2 upcoming shows in the festival.
Overall, the Canadian film category has been very strong this year.
Best films
Picking one best film is a tough choice from the plenty of great titles seen but so far, Kiarostami's Certified Copy and Chomet's The Illusionist are front runners with Incendies not too far behind.
Kiarostami is on top of his game in the witty dialogue driven Certified Copy. Aptly descibed as "a Tuscan Before Sunset" in the film's write-up, the movie is also a beautiful variation on Guerín's In the City of Sylvia. In Guerín's film, there is no dialogue between the male and female leads and a distance is maintained between the two as the male follows the female. There are some scenes in Certified Copy where the two characters maintain their distance but most of the film is about the two walking side by side engaged in passionate discussion about relationships and marriage. One can imagine the dialogue in Kiarostami's film would be exactly what would have taken place had the characters in In the City of Sylvia talked to each other. Certified Copy is brilliantly acted and the direction is perfect in showing us either the Tuscan beauty or Juliette Binoche's charming face at the right moments.
A Screaming Man is a quiet powerful film that highlights the tough emotional decisions that occur in a state of constant war. Nora's Will is a wonderful film that manages to generate plenty of laughs despite starting with an act of suicide. Armadillo is a no holds barred film that literally gets in the line of fire to bring us an unfiltered look at the day to day dangers that greet Danish soldiers on their Afghan mission.
Worst film
No contest for this category. The worst film so far, clearly by 100 miles, is Rec 2. This horrible sequel undoes all the good work that went into the first film Rec which was a smart and edgy film. Rec 2 is covered from the perspective of three cameras. The first camera heads into the apartment building moments after the first film ends. Yet this first camera provides nothing but video game like shots of bullets and possessed demons running around trying to bite anyone in site. Yawn. The second camera tries to provide footage from a different angle but is clearly present to extend the wafer thin story. After the second camera's battery dies, we get the crucial third camera, which requires the necessary night vision feature to generate some final moments of tension. When all is said and done, this mess of a story is still not concluded which leaves the door open (ha ha) for a possible third film.
More films...
The last few days have some great films on tap. Of course, top of my list is Uncle Boonmee. The big question will be how many more films I can eat up. Thanks to a few additional screenings, there is the possibility of watching 7 movies again on the final Saturday. But this time around, I am not keen to take up the challenge. After watching 7 films in 2009, I decided that experiment was just a once in a lifetime attempt. Although this time around, the running time of the 7 films is shorter than the 2009 bunch, meaning, a person would end up spending 10.5 hours watching 7 films, and not the 12+ hours I spent last year.
The films at the 11th Calgary International Film Festival have been very very good. 7 days and 16 films later, I have only seen one misfire. That's a pretty good rate.
Filmi list so far
Score: A Hockey Musical (2010, Canada, Michael McGowan)
The Illusionist (2010, UK/France, Sylvain Chomet)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz Pedersen)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Happy Poet (2010, USA, Paul Gordon)
A Screaming Man (2010, Chad/Belgium/France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2010, Mexico/USA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez)
Small Town Murder Songs (2010, Canada, Ed Gass-Donnelly)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Simple Rhythm (2010, Canada, Tess Girard)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Oh Canada!
Denis Villeneuve's Incendies is a beautifully crafted film that packs a mighty emotional punch. The film unfolds in multiple chapters, with each chapter profiling the principle characters and uncovering a smaller piece of the puzzle. As a result, the viewer arrives at the final destination more or less the same time as the two main characters in the film. The film starts and ends in Canada but the rest of the film dives deep into the Middle East and is the kind of cinema that Canada needs more of, films that use second generation Canadian characters as a launching pad to explore their complex cultural background.
Xavier Dolan's second feature Heartbeats is playful, funny and manages to neatly tuck in cute cinematic homages especially to the French New Wave. It is remarkable that someone so young can make such good films but Dolan is a national treasure.
Denis Côté has gone with the bold choice to give Curling a cold chilly look. As a result, it takes a while to warm up to the material but once one gets past the cold exterior, then one can admire the film's tale of a father's resolve to raise his daugther away from society. In a way, Curling is a cousin of the Greek film Dogtooth in showing how incorrect parental decisions can alter a child’s life. The father in Curling makes the decision to not send his daughter to school because he fears that she would be corrupted by other kids. As a result, his 12 year old girl is out of touch with everyday reality and a bit weak in basic math. The girl’s need for human contact is highlighted in one key sequence where she comes across a pair of frozen dead bodies in the wilderness. The daughter does not tell her father about the bodies but goes to visit the corpses day after day as it is the only contact she has with someone other than her father. Like his daughter, the father himself is lonely and needs human contact. Eventually the father realizes his mistake of isolating both himself and his child but he goes about making changes in small fragments. The snowy visuals are a constant in the film but as the movie progresses, rays of sunshine start to filter in, highlighting that even in an isolated Canadian town, winter will eventually come to an end.
Small Town Murder Songs uses the power of music to elevate a simple story into a grander tale about redemption and rebirth. The opening gala film Score: A Hockey Music is pure fun, packed with a few surprizing but welcome Canadian cameos.
There are still a few other worthy Canadian titles that I have yet to see and I have already praised the wonderful Taylor's Way which has 2 upcoming shows in the festival.
Overall, the Canadian film category has been very strong this year.
Best films
Picking one best film is a tough choice from the plenty of great titles seen but so far, Kiarostami's Certified Copy and Chomet's The Illusionist are front runners with Incendies not too far behind.
Kiarostami is on top of his game in the witty dialogue driven Certified Copy. Aptly descibed as "a Tuscan Before Sunset" in the film's write-up, the movie is also a beautiful variation on Guerín's In the City of Sylvia. In Guerín's film, there is no dialogue between the male and female leads and a distance is maintained between the two as the male follows the female. There are some scenes in Certified Copy where the two characters maintain their distance but most of the film is about the two walking side by side engaged in passionate discussion about relationships and marriage. One can imagine the dialogue in Kiarostami's film would be exactly what would have taken place had the characters in In the City of Sylvia talked to each other. Certified Copy is brilliantly acted and the direction is perfect in showing us either the Tuscan beauty or Juliette Binoche's charming face at the right moments.
A Screaming Man is a quiet powerful film that highlights the tough emotional decisions that occur in a state of constant war. Nora's Will is a wonderful film that manages to generate plenty of laughs despite starting with an act of suicide. Armadillo is a no holds barred film that literally gets in the line of fire to bring us an unfiltered look at the day to day dangers that greet Danish soldiers on their Afghan mission.
Worst film
No contest for this category. The worst film so far, clearly by 100 miles, is Rec 2. This horrible sequel undoes all the good work that went into the first film Rec which was a smart and edgy film. Rec 2 is covered from the perspective of three cameras. The first camera heads into the apartment building moments after the first film ends. Yet this first camera provides nothing but video game like shots of bullets and possessed demons running around trying to bite anyone in site. Yawn. The second camera tries to provide footage from a different angle but is clearly present to extend the wafer thin story. After the second camera's battery dies, we get the crucial third camera, which requires the necessary night vision feature to generate some final moments of tension. When all is said and done, this mess of a story is still not concluded which leaves the door open (ha ha) for a possible third film.
More films...
The last few days have some great films on tap. Of course, top of my list is Uncle Boonmee. The big question will be how many more films I can eat up. Thanks to a few additional screenings, there is the possibility of watching 7 movies again on the final Saturday. But this time around, I am not keen to take up the challenge. After watching 7 films in 2009, I decided that experiment was just a once in a lifetime attempt. Although this time around, the running time of the 7 films is shorter than the 2009 bunch, meaning, a person would end up spending 10.5 hours watching 7 films, and not the 12+ hours I spent last year.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
CIFF 2010, viewing list
Every year at CIFF, I have failed to catch all the films that I had originally planned to see. The reasons have been usually one of the following:
-- The film was sold out.
-- The print did not arrive (although this has not happened for the last 4 years).
-- A friend gave a recommendation for another film leading me to switch titles.
-- Exhaustion.
The fatigue factor comes into play quite a bit because I attend the weekday evening shows after putting in a full 8-9 hour workday. So watching 2-3 films after a busy workday usually means I end up skipping at least one day in the middle of the festival to recover.
So this time around I have decided to have a two tier list to ensure I can at least catch my top titles (Liga 1) and attend other films depending on my level of sanity.
Liga 1 -- 9 titles
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Valhalla Rising (2009, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Light Thief (2010, Kyrgyzstan co-production, Aktan Abdykalykov)
Snow and Ashes (2010, Canada, Charles-Olivier Michaud)
The Illusionist (2010, United Kingdom, Sylvain Chomet)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz)
Although already I know I won't make all the above films as The Light Thief will play at the same time as Snow and Ashes, meaning I will have to choose between one of these features. But seeing Uncle Boonmee.. is an absolute necessity!!!
Liga 2 -- 10 titles
A Screaming Man (2010, France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
I Am Not Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Film Unfinished (2009, Germany/Israel, Yael Hersonski)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
The Happy Poet (2010, United States, Paul Gordon)
A Place Called Los Pereyra (2009, Canada, Andrés Livov-Macklin)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
Another goal this year is to ensure I see one film on all the 10 days, something I have never been able to accomplish.
-- The film was sold out.
-- The print did not arrive (although this has not happened for the last 4 years).
-- A friend gave a recommendation for another film leading me to switch titles.
-- Exhaustion.
The fatigue factor comes into play quite a bit because I attend the weekday evening shows after putting in a full 8-9 hour workday. So watching 2-3 films after a busy workday usually means I end up skipping at least one day in the middle of the festival to recover.
So this time around I have decided to have a two tier list to ensure I can at least catch my top titles (Liga 1) and attend other films depending on my level of sanity.
Liga 1 -- 9 titles
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Valhalla Rising (2009, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Light Thief (2010, Kyrgyzstan co-production, Aktan Abdykalykov)
Snow and Ashes (2010, Canada, Charles-Olivier Michaud)
The Illusionist (2010, United Kingdom, Sylvain Chomet)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz)
Although already I know I won't make all the above films as The Light Thief will play at the same time as Snow and Ashes, meaning I will have to choose between one of these features. But seeing Uncle Boonmee.. is an absolute necessity!!!
Liga 2 -- 10 titles
A Screaming Man (2010, France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
I Am Not Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Film Unfinished (2009, Germany/Israel, Yael Hersonski)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
The Happy Poet (2010, United States, Paul Gordon)
A Place Called Los Pereyra (2009, Canada, Andrés Livov-Macklin)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
Another goal this year is to ensure I see one film on all the 10 days, something I have never been able to accomplish.
Monday, September 20, 2010
TIFF 2010
My first ever visit to tiff was a completely enjoyable experience. Even though the trip was only for 4 days, I managed to view a respectable number of films and caught up with friends and family while enjoying Toronto's many wonderful cafes, bookstores and food joints.
Film x 8
Gorbaciòf: The Cashier who Liked Gambling (2010, Italy, Stefano Incerti)
Guest (2010, Spain, José Luis Guerín)
Red Nights (2009, Hong Kong/France, Julien Carbon/Laurent Courtiaud)
The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman (2010, China co-production, Wuershan)
Essential Killing (2010, Poland co-production, Jerzy Skolimowski)
Viva Riva! (2010, Congo co-production, Djo Munga)
Block-C (1994, Turkey, Zeki Demirkubuz)
Oki’s Movie (2010, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
Fatigue was a big reason in why I had to halt my tally at only 8 films.
I arrived in Toronto on Thursday afternoon with no sleep after an early morning flight. I still managed to make my first film, the 3 pm showing of Gorbaciòf, less than 2 hours after landing at the airport. The day only got longer after that as I managed to see 3 more films, including the midnight feature The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman. I got back to the hotel around 2:30 am Friday but was awake at 7:30 am in order to make my 9 am show of Essential Killing. I only saw 3 films on Friday as I had plans to meet with family for dinner on Friday night.
However, I was drained after seeing 7 films with less than 6 hours sleep over a 2 day period. So I decided to skip seeing any films on Saturday and only saw one more show on Sunday morning.
Cafes
The Seattle based coffee chain that dominates downtown Vancouver and Calgary is also omnipresent in downtown Toronto, especially near all the film festival venues. But with a little bit of effort, I managed to find some excellent cafes and avoid the big chain altogether.
Dark Horse Espresso
Green Beanery
Coffee Culture
Books, Comics
Another goal on this trip was to finally visit all the bookstores on my shortlist.
Of Swallows, their deeds and the Winter below
Book City
World's Biggest Bookstore -- I was not aware that this was owned by Chapters/Indigo but the diverse selection of books/DVD set it apart from the regular Chapters/Indigo stores.
BMV
The Beguiling -- Girish describes this comic book store perfectly:
"If you're an indie comics aficionado, leave your credit card at home and take a budgeted amount of cash. You've been warned. "
It is indeed quite easy to spend money here. I came across some amazing stuff such as an anthology of Swedish comics, Independent Canadian & American titles, Italian comics and some Japanese titles that I have wanted for a while. I had to force myself to leave the store before I spent too much money.
Food & Beer
One of my fondest memories from a previous trip to Toronto almost a decade ago was going to Marche in downtown for some amazing food. So I was quite eager to visit it again. I am absolutely delighted to say that the food is still quite incredible.
Beer Markt came highly recommended because of the huge number of beers they serve (100+). The selection is indeed very impressive and I came across a very good stout (Dragon Stout from Jamaica) that I had never heard of previously.
More films? Sure
There is no time for film withdrawal to set in because CIFF starts in a few days. Atleast the prospect of seeing some great films slightly offsets the negative sentiment of constant rain and a bit of snow that is already gathering on the city streets.
Film x 8
Gorbaciòf: The Cashier who Liked Gambling (2010, Italy, Stefano Incerti)
Guest (2010, Spain, José Luis Guerín)
Red Nights (2009, Hong Kong/France, Julien Carbon/Laurent Courtiaud)
The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman (2010, China co-production, Wuershan)
Essential Killing (2010, Poland co-production, Jerzy Skolimowski)
Viva Riva! (2010, Congo co-production, Djo Munga)
Block-C (1994, Turkey, Zeki Demirkubuz)
Oki’s Movie (2010, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
Fatigue was a big reason in why I had to halt my tally at only 8 films.
I arrived in Toronto on Thursday afternoon with no sleep after an early morning flight. I still managed to make my first film, the 3 pm showing of Gorbaciòf, less than 2 hours after landing at the airport. The day only got longer after that as I managed to see 3 more films, including the midnight feature The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman. I got back to the hotel around 2:30 am Friday but was awake at 7:30 am in order to make my 9 am show of Essential Killing. I only saw 3 films on Friday as I had plans to meet with family for dinner on Friday night.
However, I was drained after seeing 7 films with less than 6 hours sleep over a 2 day period. So I decided to skip seeing any films on Saturday and only saw one more show on Sunday morning.
Cafes
The Seattle based coffee chain that dominates downtown Vancouver and Calgary is also omnipresent in downtown Toronto, especially near all the film festival venues. But with a little bit of effort, I managed to find some excellent cafes and avoid the big chain altogether.
Dark Horse Espresso
Green Beanery
Coffee Culture
Books, Comics
Another goal on this trip was to finally visit all the bookstores on my shortlist.
Of Swallows, their deeds and the Winter below
Book City
World's Biggest Bookstore -- I was not aware that this was owned by Chapters/Indigo but the diverse selection of books/DVD set it apart from the regular Chapters/Indigo stores.
BMV
The Beguiling -- Girish describes this comic book store perfectly:
"If you're an indie comics aficionado, leave your credit card at home and take a budgeted amount of cash. You've been warned. "
It is indeed quite easy to spend money here. I came across some amazing stuff such as an anthology of Swedish comics, Independent Canadian & American titles, Italian comics and some Japanese titles that I have wanted for a while. I had to force myself to leave the store before I spent too much money.
Food & Beer
One of my fondest memories from a previous trip to Toronto almost a decade ago was going to Marche in downtown for some amazing food. So I was quite eager to visit it again. I am absolutely delighted to say that the food is still quite incredible.
Beer Markt came highly recommended because of the huge number of beers they serve (100+). The selection is indeed very impressive and I came across a very good stout (Dragon Stout from Jamaica) that I had never heard of previously.
More films? Sure
There is no time for film withdrawal to set in because CIFF starts in a few days. Atleast the prospect of seeing some great films slightly offsets the negative sentiment of constant rain and a bit of snow that is already gathering on the city streets.
2010: Film Log
Total number of films seen: 432
This total includes 430 feature length fiction & docs plus the first season of 24 and The IT Crowd.
Features -- includes films (fiction & docs) over a length of 60 minutes.
Katyn (2007, Poland, Andrzej Wajda)
The Legacy (2008, Georgia/France, Géla Babluani/Temur Babluani)
Tum Mile (2009, India, Kunal Deshmukh)
Quantum of Solace (2008, UK/USA, Marc Forster)
Lemon Tree (2008, Israel co-production, Eran Riklis)
Rio Bravo (1959, USA, Howard Hawks)
Four Christmases (2008, USA, Seth Gordon)
Sans Soleil (1983, France, Chris Marker)
Rumba (2008, France/Belgium, D. Abel/F. Gordon/B. Romy)
Adoration (2008, Canada, Atom Egoyan)
Cuba: An African Odyssey (2007, France, Jihan El-Tahri)
The Cove (2009, USA, Louie Psihoyos)
Maradona (2008, France/Spain, Emir Kusturica)
California Dreaming (2007, Romania, Cristian Nemescu)
Adanggaman (2000, Ivory Coast co-production, Roger Gnoan M'Bala)
Sherlock Homes (2009, UK/USA, Guy Ritchie)
Celia (1989, Australia, Ann Turner)
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, Argentina/Spain, Juan José Campanella)
City of God (2002, Brazil/France, Fernando Meirelles/Kátia Lund)
An Education (2009, UK, Lone Scherfig)
The Hangover (2009, USA/Germany, Todd Phillips)
Amsterdam (2009, Holland, Ivo van Hove)
Sun Spots (2009, China, Heng Yang)
A Tale of a Naughty Girl (2002, India, Buddhadev Dasgupta)
My Name is Khan (2010, India, Karan Johar)
Zombieland (2009, USA, Ruben Fleischer)
The Blind Side (2009, USA, John Lee Hancock)
Transformers 2 (2009, USA, Michael Bay)
The Misfortunates (2009, Belgium/Holland, Felix Van Groeningen)
Departures (2008, Japan, Yôjirô Takita)
Rann (2010, India, Ram Gopal Varma)
Siddharth: The Prisoner (2008, India, Pryas Gupta)
The Man’s Woman and other Stories (2009, India, Amit Dutta)
L’Intrus (2004, France, Claire Denis)
Beautiful (2008, South Korea, Jae-Hong Jeon)
Nollywood Babylon (2008, Canada, Ben & Samir):
Without Shame (2005, Nigeria, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen)
Hunger (2008, UK, Steve McQueen)
Moon (2009, UK, Duncan Jones)
Julia (2009, USA co-production, Erick Zonca)
Food, Inc (2008, USA, Robert Kenner)
Bright Star (2009, Australia/UK/France, Jane Campion)
Liverpool (2008, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)
Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge (2010, India, Ashwani Dheer)
Road, Movie (2009, India, Dev Benegal)
Karthik Calling Karthik (2009, India, Vijay Lalwani)
Bluebeard (2009, France, Catherine Breillat)
How I killed a Saint (2006, Macedonia co-production, Teona Strugar Mitevska)
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922, Germany, Fritz Lang)
Before I Forget (2007, France, Jacques Nolot)
War and Peace (2001, India, Anand Patwardhan)
Eccentrics of a Blond Haired Girl (2009, Portugal, Manuel Oliviera)
A Trip to the Country (2000, Cameroon, Jean-Marie Teno)
Ishqiya (2010, India, Abhishek Chaubey)
Alice in Wonderland (2010, USA, Tim Burton)
Night at the Museum 2 (2009, USA/Canada, Shawn Levy)
G.I Joe (2009, USA, Czech Republic, Stephen Sommers)
The Invention of Lying (2009, USA, Ricky Gervais/Matthew Robinson)
El Porvenir (2008, Honduras, Oscar Estrada)
X Men Origins: Wolverine (2009, USA, Gavin Hood)
9 (2009, USA, Shane Acker)
Ossos (1997, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
In Vanda’s Room (2001, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Shutter Island (2010, USA, Martin Scorsese)
Ordinary People (2009, Serbia co-production, Vladimir Perisic)
Like you know it All (2009, South Korea, Hong Sang-Soo)
Vaho (2009, Mexico, Alejandro Gerber Bicecci)
Merentau (2009, Indonesia, G.H Evans)
Green Zone (2010, USA, Paul Greengrass)
The Life and Death of a Porno Gang (2009, Serbia, Mladen Djordjevic)
The Window (2009, India, Buddhadev Dasgupta)
Armored (2009, USA, Nimród Antal)
Manuel De Ribera (2010, Chile, Pablo Carrera/Christopher Murray)
Avenida Brasilia Formosa (2009, Brazil, Gabriel Mascaro)
The Man Beyond the Bridge (2009, India, Laxmikant Shetgaonkar)
El Pasante (2010, Argentina, Clara Picasso)
Ocean of an Old Man (2008, India, Rajesh Shera)
El Camino du punto (2010, Argentina, Sebastián Díaz Morales)
Milk of Sorrow (2009, Peru/Spain, Claudia Llosa)
Night and Fog (2009, Hong Kong, Ann Hui)
Pelada (2010, multiple, Boughen/Fergusson/Oxenham/White)
Between Two Worlds (2009, Sri Lanka, Vimukthi Jayasundara)
Cold Water of the Sea (2009, Costa Rica/France, Paz Fabrega)
Bioscope (2008, India, K.M. Madhusudhanan)
Maya Bazaar (2009, India, Joydeep Ghosh)
via Darjeeling (2008, India, Arindam Nandy)
Mama (2010, Russia, Yelena Renard/Nicolay Renard)
Once Upon a Proleterian (2009, China/UK, Xiaolu Guo)
The Burning Plain (2008, USA/Argentina, Guillermo Arriaga)
Mundane History (2009, Thailand, Anocha Suwichakornpong)
Manilla Skies (2009, Philippines/USA,Raymond Red)
Woman without a Piano (2009, Spain, Javier Rebollo)
A Summer Family (2010, Japan, Iwana Masaki)
Football Stories (2002, Chile, Andres Wood)
Summer Hours (2009, France, Oliver Assasyas)
Chance Pe Dance (2010, India, Ken Ghosh)
Avatar (2009, USA, James Cameron)
Broken Embraces (2009, Spain, Pedro Almodovar)
Lorna’s Silence (2009, Belgium co-production, J-P/Luc Dardenne)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009, USA/Germany, Spike Jonze)
Bummer Summer (2010, USA, Zach Weintraub)
Puzzle (2009, Argentina/France, Natalia Smirnoff)
Monogamy (2010, USA, Dana Adam Shapiro)
The Robber (2010, Austria/Germany, Benjamin Heisenberg)
Firefly (2009, Japan, Naomi Kawase)
Paatshala (2010, India, Milind Ukey)
A Crude Awakening (2006, Switzerland/Germany, B.Gelpke/R.McCormack/R.Caduff)
Almost Two Brothers (2004, Brazil co-production, Lúcia Murat)
Iron Man 2 (2010, USA, Jon Favreau)
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010, USA/UK, Banksy)
Susa (2010, Georgia, Rusudan Pirveli)
Here and There (2009, Serbia/USA/Germany, Darko Lungulov)
50 Dead Men Walking (2008, Canada, UK, Kari Skogland)
She, a Chinese (2009, UK/France/Germany, Xiaolu Guo)
Spirit of the Beehive (1973, Spain, Víctor Erice)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, UK/Canada, Terry Gilliam)
Schedazde Tell me a Story (2009, Egypt, Yousry Nasrallah)
Gigante (2009, Uruguay co-production, Adrián Biniez)
Black Sheep (2006, New Zealand, Jonathan King)
Orbis Pictus (1997, Slovakia, Martin Sulík)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, USA, Wes Anderson)
Oxhide (2005, China, Jiayin Liu)
Los Labios (2010, Argentina, Iván Fund/Santiago Loza)
Norberto Arpenas Tarde (2010, Uruguay/Argentina, Daniel Helder)
Louise-Michel (2008, France, Gustave de Kervern/Benoît Delépine)
Brothers (2009, USA, Jim Sheridan)
Without Shame 2 (2005, Nigeria, Lancelot)
Air Doll (2009, Japan, Hirokazu Koreeda)
The Family Tree (2010, France, Olivier Ducastel/Jacques Martineau)
Teen Patti (2010, India, Leena Yadav)
U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005, South Africa, Mark Dornford-May)
The Daughter of Keltoum (2001, Algeria co-production, Mehdi Charef)
Flame & Citron (2008, Denmark co-production, Ole Christian Madsen)
The Perfect Picture (2009, Ghana, Shirley Frimpong-Manso)
Colossal Youth (2006, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Ballast (2008, USA, Lance Hammer)
Bruno (2009, USA, Larry Charles)
Let Each One go Where He May (2009, USA/Suriname, Ben Russell)
Sebbe (2010, Sweden, Babak Najafi)
Hunting & Zn (2010, Holland, Sander Burger)
R (2010, Denmark, Tobias Lindholm/Michael Noer)
Crab Trap (2009, Colombia/France, Oscar Ruiz Navia)
Kosmos (2010, Turkey/Bulgaria, Reha Erdem)
Kill the referee (2009, Belgium, Y.Hinant/E.Cardot/L.Delphine)
Four Lions (2010, UK, Christopher Morris)
The Bad Lieutenant (2009, USA, Werner Herzog)
Fame (2009, USA, Kevin Tancharoen)
Putty Hill (2010, USA, Matthew Porterfield)
Buried Land (2010, USA/Bosnia/UK, S.Eastwood/G.Alan Rhodes)
The Road (2009, USA, John Hillcoat)
Cold Souls (2009, USA/France, Sophie Barthes)
Open (2010, USA, Jake Yuzna)
Empire of Silver (2009, China/Taiwan/Hong Kong, Christina Yao)
Every Day (2010, USA, Richard Levine)
American Grindhouse (2010, USA, Elijah Drenner)
In the Pit (2006, Mexico, Juan Carlos Rulfo)
Goal-II Living the Dream (2007, UK, Jaume Collet-Serra)
Kurbaan (2009, India, Renzil D'Silva)
The Yes Men Fix the World (2009, UK/USA/France, Andy B./Mike B./Kurt E.)
La France (2007, France, Serge Bozon)
The Corrupted (2010, Canada, John Klappstein/Knighten Richman)
Lucky Life (2010, USA, Lee Isaac Chung)
Win/Win (2010, Holland, Jaap van Heusden)
Little Baby Jesus of Flandr (2010, Belgium, Gust Van Den Berghe)
Fish Story (2009, Japan, Yoshihiro Nakamura)
Raavan (2010, India, Mani Ratnam)
A Useful Life (2010, Uruguay, Federico Veiroj)
Predators (2010, USA, Nimrod Antal)
Kinatay (2009, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
When We Leave (2010, Germany/Turkey, Feo Aladag)
Taylor’s Way (2009, Canada, Rene Barr)
From Paris with Love (2010, France, Pierre Morel)
The Messenger (2009, USA, Oren Moverman)
Rubber (2010, France, Quentin Dupieux)
Inception (2010, USA/UK, Christopher Nolan)
Woman on Fire Looks for Water (2009, Malaysia/South Korea, Woo Ming Jin)
The Tiger Factory (2010, Malaysia/Japan, Woo Ming Jin)
The Men who Stare at Goats (2009, USA/UK, Grant Heslov)
Invictus (2009, USA, Clint Eastwood)
Rajneeti (2010, India, Prakash Jha)
Run FatBoy Run (2007, UK, David Schwimmer)
Edge of Darkness (2010, UK/USA, Martin Campbell)
HaHaHa (2010, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
Paris (2008, France, Cédric Klapisch)
Lola (2009, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
October (2010, Peru, Daniel Vega/Diego Vega)
At World’s End (2009, Denmark, Tomas Villum Jensen)
Gallants (2009, Hong Kong, Clement Sze-Kit Cheng/Chi-kin Kwok)
You are all captains (2010, Spain, Oliver Laxe)
C'est déjà l'été (2010, Holland/Belgium, Martijn Maria Smits)
The Great Indian Butterfly (2010, India, Sarthak Dasgupta)
Road to Sangam (2010, India, Amit Rai)
Beeswax (2009, USA, Andrew Bujalski)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, Denmark co-production, Niels Arden Oplev)
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010, USA, Steve Pink)
The Bounty Hunter (2010, USA, Andy Tennant)
The Informant! (2009, USA, Steven Soderbergh)
In the Realm of the Senses (1976, Japan, Nagisa Ôshima)
Samurai Rebellion (1967, Japan, Masaki Kobayashi)
Tokyo Olympiad (1965, Japan, Kon Ichikawa)
Drag me to Hell (2009, USA, Sam Raimi)
Sukiyaki Western Django (2007, Japan, Takashi Miike)
The Last House on the Left (2009, USA, Dennis Iliadis)
Natarang (2010, India,Ravi Jadhav)
Salt (2010, USA, Phillip Noyce)
Good Morning(1959, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
Walkabout (1971, UK, Nicolas Roeg)
The Only Son (1936, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
The Ghost Writer (2010, France/Germany/UK,Roman Polanski)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010, USA, Dean DeBlois/Chris Sanders)
Cop Out (2010, USA, Kevin Smith)
The Losers (2010, USA, Sylvain White)
The Last Station (2009, Germany/Russia/UK, Michael Hoffman)
Bakumatsu Taiyoden (1957, Japan, Yuzo Kawashima)
Harishchandrachi Factory (2009, India, Paresh Mokashi)
Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy (2009, India, Santosh Manjrekar)
Cure (1997, Japan, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Capitalism: A love Story (2009, USA, Michael Moore)
It’s Complicated (2009, USA, Nancy Meyers)
Ajami (2009, Israel/Germany, Scandar Copti/Yaron Shani)
There was a Father (1942, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
The American (2010, USA, Anton Corbijn)
Love in the City (1953, Italy, various)
Splice (2010, Canada co-production, Vincenzo Natali)
Madagascar (2005, USA, Eric Darnell/Tom McGrath)
Finding Nemo (2006, USA, Andrew Stanton/Lee Unkrich)
The Expendables (2010, USA, Sylvester Stallone)
The Lineup (1958, USA, Don Siegel)
The Big Heat (1953, USA, Fritz Lang)
Restrepo (2010, USA, Tim Hetherington/Sebastian Junger)
Sex and the City 2 (2010, USA, Michael Patrick King)
The Sniper (1952, USA, Edward Dmytryk)
Machete (2010, USA, Ethan Maniquis/Robert Rodriguez)
Tales of Ugetsu (1953, Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi)
Murder by Contract (1958, USA, Irving Lerner)
A Single Man (2009, USA, Tom Ford)
24 Season One (2001, USA, multiple)
Peepli Live (2010, India, Anusha Rizvi)
5 Against the House (1955, USA, Phil Karlson)
Thanks Maa (2010, India, Irfan Kamal)
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010, UK/USA/Germany, Paul W.S. Anderson)
The Killer Inside Me (2010, USA/UK/Canada/Sweden, Michael Winterbottom)
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009, UK, J Blakeson)
Jennifer’s Body (2009, USA, Karyn Kusama)
Garam Hawa (1973, M.S. Sathyu)
The A-Team (2010, USA, Joe Carnahan)
Nine (2009, USA/Italy, Rob Marshall)
Fish Tank (2009, UK/Holland, Andrea Arnold)
Gorbaciòf (2010, Italy, Stefano Incerti)
Guest (2010, Spain, José Luis Guerín)
Red Nights (2009, Hong Kong/France, Julien Carbon/Laurent Courtiaud)
The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman (2010, China co-production, Wuershan)
Essential Killing (2010, Poland co-production, Jerzy Skolimowski)
Viva Riva! (2010, Congo co-production, Djo Munga)
Block-C (1994, Turkey, Zeki Demirkubuz)
Oki’s Movie (2010, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
Udaan (2010, India, Vikramaditya Motwane)
Red Alert (2009, India, Anant Mahadevan)
Score: A Hockey Musical (2010, Canada, Michael McGowan)
The Illusionist (2010, UK/France, Sylvain Chomet)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz Pedersen)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Happy Poet (2010, USA, Paul Gordon)
A Screaming Man (2010, Chad/Belgium/France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Steam of Life (2010, Finland, Joonas Berghäll/Mika Hotakainen)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2010, Mexico/USA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez)
The House of Suh (2010, USA, Iris Shim)
Small Town Murder Songs (2010, Canada, Ed Gass-Donnelly)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Simple Rhythm (2010, Canada, Tess Girard)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage (2010, Canada, George Mihalka)
A Film Unfinished (2010, Israel/Germany, Yael Hersonski)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
I Spit on Your Grave (2010, USA, Steven R. Monroe)
Red White & Blue (2010, USA, Simon Rumley)
A Place Called Los Pereyra (2009, Canada/Argentina, Andrés Livov-Macklin)
Journey’s End (2010, Canada, Jean-François Caissy)
Valhalla Rising (2010, Denmark/UK, Nicolas Winding Refn)
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2010, Canada, Tiller Russell)
Mutant Girls Squad (2010, Japan, Noboru Iguchi/Yoshihiro Nishimura/Tak Sakaguchi)
A Brand New Life (2009, France/South Korea, Ounie Lecomte)
I Am Not Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi)
The Light Thief (2010, Kyrgyzstan co-production, Aktan Abdykalykov)
New Low (2010, USA, Adam Bowers)
Komal Gandhar (1961, India, Ritwik Ghatak)
Subarnarekha (1965, India, Ritwik Ghatak)
Nagarik (1952, India, Ritwik Ghatak)
Fengming: A Chinese Memoir (2007, China, Wang Bing)
Aisha (2010, India, Rajshree Ojha)
West of the Tracks: part I Rust (2003, China, Wang Bing)
Alpha and Omega (2010, USA/India, Anthony Bell/Ben Gluck)
Tokyo Gore Police (2008, Japan, Yoshihiro Nishimura)
The Machine Girl (2008, Japan, Noboru Iguchi)
West of the Tracks: part II Remnants (2003, China, Wang Bing)
Crime and Punishment (2007, China, Zhao Liang)
West of the Tracks: part III Rail (2003, China, Wang Bing)
Harry Brown (2010, UK, Daniel Barber)
Date Night (2010, USA, Shawn Levy)
Gunless (2010, Canada, William Phillips)
The Maid (2009, Chile/Mexico, Sebastián Silva)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010, USA, Oliver Stone)
Secret of the Grain (2007, France, Abdellatif Kechiche)
Solitary Man (2009, USA, Brian Koppelman/David Levien )
La Chinoise (1967, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Greenberg (2010, USA, Noah Baumbach)
Prince of Persia (2010, USA, Mike Newell)
Kick-Ass (2010, USA, Matthew Vaughn)
Le Petit Soldat (1963, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Uski Roti (1970, India, Mani Kaul)
Striker (2010, India, Chandan Arora)
Sivaji (2007, India, S. Shankar)
Detective (1985, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Love, Sex Aur Dhoka (2010, India, Dibakar Banerjee)
Un Femme di Femme (1961, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
My Life to Live (1962, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
The Social Network (2010, USA, David Fincher)
Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010, India, Milan Luthria)
The Book of Eli (2010, USA, the Hughes brothers)
Couples Retreat (2009, USA, Peter Billingsley)
Sweetgrass (2009, USA/UK/France, Ilisa Barbash/Lucien Castaing-Taylor)
Pierrot Le Fou (1965, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Following (1998, UK, Christopher Nolan)
Fubar II (2010, Canada, Michael Dowse)
Topkapi (1964, USA, Jules Dassin)
You Think You're the Prettiest, But You Are the Sluttiest (2008, Chile, José Manuel Sandoval)
Megamind (2010, USA, Tom McGrath)
Rabia (2006, Chile, Oscar Cárdenas)
The Naked City (1948, USA, Jules Dassin)
Phaedra (1962, France/Greece/USA, Jules Dassin)
Agora (2009, Spain, Alejandro Amenábar)
This Movie is Broken (2009, Canada, Bruce McDonald)
Tales From the Golden Age (2009, Romania/France, multiple)
Curious George (2006, USA, Matthew O'Callaghan)
The Law (1959, Italy/France, Jules Dassin)
Bob The Gambler (1962, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Get Him to the Greek (2010, USA, Nicholas Stoller)
Endhiran -- Robot (2010, India, S. Shankar)
Lafangey Parindey (2010, India, Pradeep Sarkar)
Léon Morin, prêtre (1961, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Le doulos (1962, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
The Skin Game (1931, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
Dabangg (2010, India, Abhinav Kashyap)
Irma Vep (1996, France, Olivier Assayas)
The Ways of Wine (2010, Argentina, Nicolas Carreras)
Revolucion (2010, Mexico, multiple)
Carlos (2010, France, Olivier Assayas)
Father of My Children (2009, France/Germany, Mia Hansen-Løve)
Un Flic (1962, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Unstoppable (2010, USA, Tony Scott)
Shrek (2001, USA, Andrew Adamson/Vicky Jenson)
Le deuxième souffle (1966, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Babies (2010, France, Thomas Balmès)
Burma VJ (2009, Denmark co-production, Anders Østergaard)
Action Replayy (2010, India, Vipul Amrutlal Shah)
Le samouraï (1967, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Toy Story 2 (1999, USA, John Lasseter/Ash Brannon/Lee Unkrich)
O Sangue (1989, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Inside Job (2010, USA, Charles Ferguson)
Waste Land (2010, Brazil/USA, Luck Walker)
Madagascar 2 (2008, USA, Eric Darnell/Tom McGrath)
I Hate Luv Storys (2010, India, Punit Malhotra)
Rakht Charitra (2010, India, Ram Gopal Varma)
Tony Manero (2008, Chile/Brazil, Pablo Larraín)
Videocracy (2009, Sweden/Denmark/UK/Finland, Erik Gandini)
The Town (2010, USA, Ben Affleck)
Exam (2009, UK, Stuart Hazeldine)
Guzaarish (2010, India, Sanjay Leela Bhansali)
Blackmail (1929, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
The IT Crowd: Season One (2006, UK, Graham Linehan)
Emotional Atyachar (2010, India, Akshay Shere)
Horton Hears a Who! (2008, USA, Jimmy Hayward/Steve Martino)
Winter’s Bone (2010, USA, Debra Granik)
Band Baaja Baaraat (2010, India, Maneesh Sharma)
Mother (2009, South Korea, Joon-ho Bong)
Beer Wars (2009, USA, Anat Baron)
Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010, USA/UK/Canada, Edgar Wright)
Tahaan (2008, India, Santosh Sivan)
Aakarosh (2010, India, Priyadarshan)
Vincere (2009, Italy/France, Marco Bellocchio)
Black Swan (2010, USA, Darren Aronofsky)
127 Hours (2010, UK/USA, Danny Boyle)
Fair Game (2010, USA/UAE, Doug Liman)
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010, Finland co-production, Jalmari Helander)
Eat Pray Love (2010, USA, Ryan Murphy)
The Kids Are All Right (2010, USA, Lisa Cholodenko)
The Fighter (2010, USA, David O. Russell)
Champagne (1928, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
Despicable Me (2010, USA, Pierre Coffin/Chris Renaud)
The Manxman (1929, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
Juno and the Paycock (1930, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
True Grit (2010, USA, Coen brothers)
Toy Story 3 (2010, USA, Lee Unkrich)
Pusher (1996, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Pusher II (2004, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Pusher III (2005, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Barah Aana (2009, India, Raja Menon)
Mesrine I: Killer Instinct (2008, France/Canada/Italy, Jean-François Richet)
TRON: Legacy (2010, USA, Joseph Kosinski)
Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu (2010, India, Makrand Deshpande)
Phas Gaye Re Obama (2010, India, Subhash Kapoor)
Shrek Forever After (2010, USA, Mike Mitchell)
Mesrine 2: Public Enemy #1 (2008, France/Canada, Jean-François Richet)
Benny and Babloo (2010, India, Yunus Sajawal)
Art & Copy (2009, USA, Doug Pray)
The Last Airbender (2010, USA, M. Night Shyamalan)
Aashayein (2010, India, Nagesh Kukunoor)
Metropolis (1927, Germany, Fritz Lang): restored version
Daratt (2006, Chad co-production, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Shorts -- films (fiction & docs) under 60 minutes running time
North Korea: A Day in the Life (2004, Holland, Pieter Fleury, 48 min)
Packing (2009, Iran/Germany, Behrooz Karamizade)
Lost Monument (2009, Greece, Stefanos Tsivopoulos, 27 min)
Yellow Dogs (2009, Switzerland, Marianne Thivillier/Mathias Montavon)
The Chicken Rice Mystery (2008, Malaysia, Edmund Yeo, 18 min)
Love Suicides (2009, Malaysia, Edmund Yeo, 13 min)
Junko’s Shamisen (2010, Canada, Sol Friedman, 10 min)
Kingyo (2009, Japan, Edmund Yeo, 25 min)
A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 17 min)
Petropolis (2009, Canada, Peter Mettler, 43 min)
Patriotism (1966, Japan, Yukio Mishima, 30 min)
Land Without Bread (1933, Spain, Luis Buñuel)
The Time Machine (2010, USA, Mark Kendall, 12 min)
Allons-y ! Alonzo ! (2009, France, Camille Moulin-Dupré, 8 min)
I Will Not Be Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi, 13 min)
Phantoms of Nabua (2009, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 11 min)
Tarrafal (2007, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Rabbit Hunters (2007, South Korea/France, Pedro Costa)
This total includes 430 feature length fiction & docs plus the first season of 24 and The IT Crowd.
Features -- includes films (fiction & docs) over a length of 60 minutes.
Katyn (2007, Poland, Andrzej Wajda)
The Legacy (2008, Georgia/France, Géla Babluani/Temur Babluani)
Tum Mile (2009, India, Kunal Deshmukh)
Quantum of Solace (2008, UK/USA, Marc Forster)
Lemon Tree (2008, Israel co-production, Eran Riklis)
Rio Bravo (1959, USA, Howard Hawks)
Four Christmases (2008, USA, Seth Gordon)
Sans Soleil (1983, France, Chris Marker)
Rumba (2008, France/Belgium, D. Abel/F. Gordon/B. Romy)
Adoration (2008, Canada, Atom Egoyan)
Cuba: An African Odyssey (2007, France, Jihan El-Tahri)
The Cove (2009, USA, Louie Psihoyos)
Maradona (2008, France/Spain, Emir Kusturica)
California Dreaming (2007, Romania, Cristian Nemescu)
Adanggaman (2000, Ivory Coast co-production, Roger Gnoan M'Bala)
Sherlock Homes (2009, UK/USA, Guy Ritchie)
Celia (1989, Australia, Ann Turner)
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009, Argentina/Spain, Juan José Campanella)
City of God (2002, Brazil/France, Fernando Meirelles/Kátia Lund)
An Education (2009, UK, Lone Scherfig)
The Hangover (2009, USA/Germany, Todd Phillips)
Amsterdam (2009, Holland, Ivo van Hove)
Sun Spots (2009, China, Heng Yang)
A Tale of a Naughty Girl (2002, India, Buddhadev Dasgupta)
My Name is Khan (2010, India, Karan Johar)
Zombieland (2009, USA, Ruben Fleischer)
The Blind Side (2009, USA, John Lee Hancock)
Transformers 2 (2009, USA, Michael Bay)
The Misfortunates (2009, Belgium/Holland, Felix Van Groeningen)
Departures (2008, Japan, Yôjirô Takita)
Rann (2010, India, Ram Gopal Varma)
Siddharth: The Prisoner (2008, India, Pryas Gupta)
The Man’s Woman and other Stories (2009, India, Amit Dutta)
L’Intrus (2004, France, Claire Denis)
Beautiful (2008, South Korea, Jae-Hong Jeon)
Nollywood Babylon (2008, Canada, Ben & Samir):
Without Shame (2005, Nigeria, Lancelot Oduwa Imasuen)
Hunger (2008, UK, Steve McQueen)
Moon (2009, UK, Duncan Jones)
Julia (2009, USA co-production, Erick Zonca)
Food, Inc (2008, USA, Robert Kenner)
Bright Star (2009, Australia/UK/France, Jane Campion)
Liverpool (2008, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)
Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge (2010, India, Ashwani Dheer)
Road, Movie (2009, India, Dev Benegal)
Karthik Calling Karthik (2009, India, Vijay Lalwani)
Bluebeard (2009, France, Catherine Breillat)
How I killed a Saint (2006, Macedonia co-production, Teona Strugar Mitevska)
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922, Germany, Fritz Lang)
Before I Forget (2007, France, Jacques Nolot)
War and Peace (2001, India, Anand Patwardhan)
Eccentrics of a Blond Haired Girl (2009, Portugal, Manuel Oliviera)
A Trip to the Country (2000, Cameroon, Jean-Marie Teno)
Ishqiya (2010, India, Abhishek Chaubey)
Alice in Wonderland (2010, USA, Tim Burton)
Night at the Museum 2 (2009, USA/Canada, Shawn Levy)
G.I Joe (2009, USA, Czech Republic, Stephen Sommers)
The Invention of Lying (2009, USA, Ricky Gervais/Matthew Robinson)
El Porvenir (2008, Honduras, Oscar Estrada)
X Men Origins: Wolverine (2009, USA, Gavin Hood)
9 (2009, USA, Shane Acker)
Ossos (1997, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
In Vanda’s Room (2001, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Shutter Island (2010, USA, Martin Scorsese)
Ordinary People (2009, Serbia co-production, Vladimir Perisic)
Like you know it All (2009, South Korea, Hong Sang-Soo)
Vaho (2009, Mexico, Alejandro Gerber Bicecci)
Merentau (2009, Indonesia, G.H Evans)
Green Zone (2010, USA, Paul Greengrass)
The Life and Death of a Porno Gang (2009, Serbia, Mladen Djordjevic)
The Window (2009, India, Buddhadev Dasgupta)
Armored (2009, USA, Nimród Antal)
Manuel De Ribera (2010, Chile, Pablo Carrera/Christopher Murray)
Avenida Brasilia Formosa (2009, Brazil, Gabriel Mascaro)
The Man Beyond the Bridge (2009, India, Laxmikant Shetgaonkar)
El Pasante (2010, Argentina, Clara Picasso)
Ocean of an Old Man (2008, India, Rajesh Shera)
El Camino du punto (2010, Argentina, Sebastián Díaz Morales)
Milk of Sorrow (2009, Peru/Spain, Claudia Llosa)
Night and Fog (2009, Hong Kong, Ann Hui)
Pelada (2010, multiple, Boughen/Fergusson/Oxenham/White)
Between Two Worlds (2009, Sri Lanka, Vimukthi Jayasundara)
Cold Water of the Sea (2009, Costa Rica/France, Paz Fabrega)
Bioscope (2008, India, K.M. Madhusudhanan)
Maya Bazaar (2009, India, Joydeep Ghosh)
via Darjeeling (2008, India, Arindam Nandy)
Mama (2010, Russia, Yelena Renard/Nicolay Renard)
Once Upon a Proleterian (2009, China/UK, Xiaolu Guo)
The Burning Plain (2008, USA/Argentina, Guillermo Arriaga)
Mundane History (2009, Thailand, Anocha Suwichakornpong)
Manilla Skies (2009, Philippines/USA,Raymond Red)
Woman without a Piano (2009, Spain, Javier Rebollo)
A Summer Family (2010, Japan, Iwana Masaki)
Football Stories (2002, Chile, Andres Wood)
Summer Hours (2009, France, Oliver Assasyas)
Chance Pe Dance (2010, India, Ken Ghosh)
Avatar (2009, USA, James Cameron)
Broken Embraces (2009, Spain, Pedro Almodovar)
Lorna’s Silence (2009, Belgium co-production, J-P/Luc Dardenne)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009, USA/Germany, Spike Jonze)
Bummer Summer (2010, USA, Zach Weintraub)
Puzzle (2009, Argentina/France, Natalia Smirnoff)
Monogamy (2010, USA, Dana Adam Shapiro)
The Robber (2010, Austria/Germany, Benjamin Heisenberg)
Firefly (2009, Japan, Naomi Kawase)
Paatshala (2010, India, Milind Ukey)
A Crude Awakening (2006, Switzerland/Germany, B.Gelpke/R.McCormack/R.Caduff)
Almost Two Brothers (2004, Brazil co-production, Lúcia Murat)
Iron Man 2 (2010, USA, Jon Favreau)
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010, USA/UK, Banksy)
Susa (2010, Georgia, Rusudan Pirveli)
Here and There (2009, Serbia/USA/Germany, Darko Lungulov)
50 Dead Men Walking (2008, Canada, UK, Kari Skogland)
She, a Chinese (2009, UK/France/Germany, Xiaolu Guo)
Spirit of the Beehive (1973, Spain, Víctor Erice)
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009, UK/Canada, Terry Gilliam)
Schedazde Tell me a Story (2009, Egypt, Yousry Nasrallah)
Gigante (2009, Uruguay co-production, Adrián Biniez)
Black Sheep (2006, New Zealand, Jonathan King)
Orbis Pictus (1997, Slovakia, Martin Sulík)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009, USA, Wes Anderson)
Oxhide (2005, China, Jiayin Liu)
Los Labios (2010, Argentina, Iván Fund/Santiago Loza)
Norberto Arpenas Tarde (2010, Uruguay/Argentina, Daniel Helder)
Louise-Michel (2008, France, Gustave de Kervern/Benoît Delépine)
Brothers (2009, USA, Jim Sheridan)
Without Shame 2 (2005, Nigeria, Lancelot)
Air Doll (2009, Japan, Hirokazu Koreeda)
The Family Tree (2010, France, Olivier Ducastel/Jacques Martineau)
Teen Patti (2010, India, Leena Yadav)
U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005, South Africa, Mark Dornford-May)
The Daughter of Keltoum (2001, Algeria co-production, Mehdi Charef)
Flame & Citron (2008, Denmark co-production, Ole Christian Madsen)
The Perfect Picture (2009, Ghana, Shirley Frimpong-Manso)
Colossal Youth (2006, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Ballast (2008, USA, Lance Hammer)
Bruno (2009, USA, Larry Charles)
Let Each One go Where He May (2009, USA/Suriname, Ben Russell)
Sebbe (2010, Sweden, Babak Najafi)
Hunting & Zn (2010, Holland, Sander Burger)
R (2010, Denmark, Tobias Lindholm/Michael Noer)
Crab Trap (2009, Colombia/France, Oscar Ruiz Navia)
Kosmos (2010, Turkey/Bulgaria, Reha Erdem)
Kill the referee (2009, Belgium, Y.Hinant/E.Cardot/L.Delphine)
Four Lions (2010, UK, Christopher Morris)
The Bad Lieutenant (2009, USA, Werner Herzog)
Fame (2009, USA, Kevin Tancharoen)
Putty Hill (2010, USA, Matthew Porterfield)
Buried Land (2010, USA/Bosnia/UK, S.Eastwood/G.Alan Rhodes)
The Road (2009, USA, John Hillcoat)
Cold Souls (2009, USA/France, Sophie Barthes)
Open (2010, USA, Jake Yuzna)
Empire of Silver (2009, China/Taiwan/Hong Kong, Christina Yao)
Every Day (2010, USA, Richard Levine)
American Grindhouse (2010, USA, Elijah Drenner)
In the Pit (2006, Mexico, Juan Carlos Rulfo)
Goal-II Living the Dream (2007, UK, Jaume Collet-Serra)
Kurbaan (2009, India, Renzil D'Silva)
The Yes Men Fix the World (2009, UK/USA/France, Andy B./Mike B./Kurt E.)
La France (2007, France, Serge Bozon)
The Corrupted (2010, Canada, John Klappstein/Knighten Richman)
Lucky Life (2010, USA, Lee Isaac Chung)
Win/Win (2010, Holland, Jaap van Heusden)
Little Baby Jesus of Flandr (2010, Belgium, Gust Van Den Berghe)
Fish Story (2009, Japan, Yoshihiro Nakamura)
Raavan (2010, India, Mani Ratnam)
A Useful Life (2010, Uruguay, Federico Veiroj)
Predators (2010, USA, Nimrod Antal)
Kinatay (2009, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
When We Leave (2010, Germany/Turkey, Feo Aladag)
Taylor’s Way (2009, Canada, Rene Barr)
From Paris with Love (2010, France, Pierre Morel)
The Messenger (2009, USA, Oren Moverman)
Rubber (2010, France, Quentin Dupieux)
Inception (2010, USA/UK, Christopher Nolan)
Woman on Fire Looks for Water (2009, Malaysia/South Korea, Woo Ming Jin)
The Tiger Factory (2010, Malaysia/Japan, Woo Ming Jin)
The Men who Stare at Goats (2009, USA/UK, Grant Heslov)
Invictus (2009, USA, Clint Eastwood)
Rajneeti (2010, India, Prakash Jha)
Run FatBoy Run (2007, UK, David Schwimmer)
Edge of Darkness (2010, UK/USA, Martin Campbell)
HaHaHa (2010, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
Paris (2008, France, Cédric Klapisch)
Lola (2009, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
October (2010, Peru, Daniel Vega/Diego Vega)
At World’s End (2009, Denmark, Tomas Villum Jensen)
Gallants (2009, Hong Kong, Clement Sze-Kit Cheng/Chi-kin Kwok)
You are all captains (2010, Spain, Oliver Laxe)
C'est déjà l'été (2010, Holland/Belgium, Martijn Maria Smits)
The Great Indian Butterfly (2010, India, Sarthak Dasgupta)
Road to Sangam (2010, India, Amit Rai)
Beeswax (2009, USA, Andrew Bujalski)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009, Denmark co-production, Niels Arden Oplev)
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010, USA, Steve Pink)
The Bounty Hunter (2010, USA, Andy Tennant)
The Informant! (2009, USA, Steven Soderbergh)
In the Realm of the Senses (1976, Japan, Nagisa Ôshima)
Samurai Rebellion (1967, Japan, Masaki Kobayashi)
Tokyo Olympiad (1965, Japan, Kon Ichikawa)
Drag me to Hell (2009, USA, Sam Raimi)
Sukiyaki Western Django (2007, Japan, Takashi Miike)
The Last House on the Left (2009, USA, Dennis Iliadis)
Natarang (2010, India,Ravi Jadhav)
Salt (2010, USA, Phillip Noyce)
Good Morning(1959, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
Walkabout (1971, UK, Nicolas Roeg)
The Only Son (1936, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
The Ghost Writer (2010, France/Germany/UK,Roman Polanski)
How to Train Your Dragon (2010, USA, Dean DeBlois/Chris Sanders)
Cop Out (2010, USA, Kevin Smith)
The Losers (2010, USA, Sylvain White)
The Last Station (2009, Germany/Russia/UK, Michael Hoffman)
Bakumatsu Taiyoden (1957, Japan, Yuzo Kawashima)
Harishchandrachi Factory (2009, India, Paresh Mokashi)
Me Shivajiraje Bhosale Boltoy (2009, India, Santosh Manjrekar)
Cure (1997, Japan, Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Capitalism: A love Story (2009, USA, Michael Moore)
It’s Complicated (2009, USA, Nancy Meyers)
Ajami (2009, Israel/Germany, Scandar Copti/Yaron Shani)
There was a Father (1942, Japan, Yasujirô Ozu)
The American (2010, USA, Anton Corbijn)
Love in the City (1953, Italy, various)
Splice (2010, Canada co-production, Vincenzo Natali)
Madagascar (2005, USA, Eric Darnell/Tom McGrath)
Finding Nemo (2006, USA, Andrew Stanton/Lee Unkrich)
The Expendables (2010, USA, Sylvester Stallone)
The Lineup (1958, USA, Don Siegel)
The Big Heat (1953, USA, Fritz Lang)
Restrepo (2010, USA, Tim Hetherington/Sebastian Junger)
Sex and the City 2 (2010, USA, Michael Patrick King)
The Sniper (1952, USA, Edward Dmytryk)
Machete (2010, USA, Ethan Maniquis/Robert Rodriguez)
Tales of Ugetsu (1953, Japan, Kenji Mizoguchi)
Murder by Contract (1958, USA, Irving Lerner)
A Single Man (2009, USA, Tom Ford)
24 Season One (2001, USA, multiple)
Peepli Live (2010, India, Anusha Rizvi)
5 Against the House (1955, USA, Phil Karlson)
Thanks Maa (2010, India, Irfan Kamal)
Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010, UK/USA/Germany, Paul W.S. Anderson)
The Killer Inside Me (2010, USA/UK/Canada/Sweden, Michael Winterbottom)
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (2009, UK, J Blakeson)
Jennifer’s Body (2009, USA, Karyn Kusama)
Garam Hawa (1973, M.S. Sathyu)
The A-Team (2010, USA, Joe Carnahan)
Nine (2009, USA/Italy, Rob Marshall)
Fish Tank (2009, UK/Holland, Andrea Arnold)
Gorbaciòf (2010, Italy, Stefano Incerti)
Guest (2010, Spain, José Luis Guerín)
Red Nights (2009, Hong Kong/France, Julien Carbon/Laurent Courtiaud)
The Butcher, the Chef and the Swordsman (2010, China co-production, Wuershan)
Essential Killing (2010, Poland co-production, Jerzy Skolimowski)
Viva Riva! (2010, Congo co-production, Djo Munga)
Block-C (1994, Turkey, Zeki Demirkubuz)
Oki’s Movie (2010, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
Udaan (2010, India, Vikramaditya Motwane)
Red Alert (2009, India, Anant Mahadevan)
Score: A Hockey Musical (2010, Canada, Michael McGowan)
The Illusionist (2010, UK/France, Sylvain Chomet)
Freetime Machos (2009, Finland/Germany, Mika Ronkainen)
Armadillo (2010, Denmark, Janus Metz Pedersen)
Secret Reunion (2010, South Korea, Jang Hun)
Heartbeats (2010, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Happy Poet (2010, USA, Paul Gordon)
A Screaming Man (2010, Chad/Belgium/France, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Steam of Life (2010, Finland, Joonas Berghäll/Mika Hotakainen)
Nora's Will (2008, Mexico, Mariana Chenillo)
The Sentimental Engine Slayer (2010, Mexico/USA, Omar Rodriguez Lopez)
The House of Suh (2010, USA, Iris Shim)
Small Town Murder Songs (2010, Canada, Ed Gass-Donnelly)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
Incendies (2010, Canada, Denis Villeneuve)
A Simple Rhythm (2010, Canada, Tess Girard)
Rec 2 (2009, Spain, Jaume Balagueró/Paco Plaza)
Faith, Fraud & Minimum Wage (2010, Canada, George Mihalka)
A Film Unfinished (2010, Israel/Germany, Yael Hersonski)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
I Spit on Your Grave (2010, USA, Steven R. Monroe)
Red White & Blue (2010, USA, Simon Rumley)
A Place Called Los Pereyra (2009, Canada/Argentina, Andrés Livov-Macklin)
Journey’s End (2010, Canada, Jean-François Caissy)
Valhalla Rising (2010, Denmark/UK, Nicolas Winding Refn)
The Last Rites of Ransom Pride (2010, Canada, Tiller Russell)
Mutant Girls Squad (2010, Japan, Noboru Iguchi/Yoshihiro Nishimura/Tak Sakaguchi)
A Brand New Life (2009, France/South Korea, Ounie Lecomte)
I Am Not Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi)
The Light Thief (2010, Kyrgyzstan co-production, Aktan Abdykalykov)
New Low (2010, USA, Adam Bowers)
Komal Gandhar (1961, India, Ritwik Ghatak)
Subarnarekha (1965, India, Ritwik Ghatak)
Nagarik (1952, India, Ritwik Ghatak)
Fengming: A Chinese Memoir (2007, China, Wang Bing)
Aisha (2010, India, Rajshree Ojha)
West of the Tracks: part I Rust (2003, China, Wang Bing)
Alpha and Omega (2010, USA/India, Anthony Bell/Ben Gluck)
Tokyo Gore Police (2008, Japan, Yoshihiro Nishimura)
The Machine Girl (2008, Japan, Noboru Iguchi)
West of the Tracks: part II Remnants (2003, China, Wang Bing)
Crime and Punishment (2007, China, Zhao Liang)
West of the Tracks: part III Rail (2003, China, Wang Bing)
Harry Brown (2010, UK, Daniel Barber)
Date Night (2010, USA, Shawn Levy)
Gunless (2010, Canada, William Phillips)
The Maid (2009, Chile/Mexico, Sebastián Silva)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010, USA, Oliver Stone)
Secret of the Grain (2007, France, Abdellatif Kechiche)
Solitary Man (2009, USA, Brian Koppelman/David Levien )
La Chinoise (1967, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Greenberg (2010, USA, Noah Baumbach)
Prince of Persia (2010, USA, Mike Newell)
Kick-Ass (2010, USA, Matthew Vaughn)
Le Petit Soldat (1963, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Uski Roti (1970, India, Mani Kaul)
Striker (2010, India, Chandan Arora)
Sivaji (2007, India, S. Shankar)
Detective (1985, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Love, Sex Aur Dhoka (2010, India, Dibakar Banerjee)
Un Femme di Femme (1961, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
My Life to Live (1962, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
The Social Network (2010, USA, David Fincher)
Once Upon a Time in Mumbai (2010, India, Milan Luthria)
The Book of Eli (2010, USA, the Hughes brothers)
Couples Retreat (2009, USA, Peter Billingsley)
Sweetgrass (2009, USA/UK/France, Ilisa Barbash/Lucien Castaing-Taylor)
Pierrot Le Fou (1965, France, Jean-Luc Godard)
Following (1998, UK, Christopher Nolan)
Fubar II (2010, Canada, Michael Dowse)
Topkapi (1964, USA, Jules Dassin)
You Think You're the Prettiest, But You Are the Sluttiest (2008, Chile, José Manuel Sandoval)
Megamind (2010, USA, Tom McGrath)
Rabia (2006, Chile, Oscar Cárdenas)
The Naked City (1948, USA, Jules Dassin)
Phaedra (1962, France/Greece/USA, Jules Dassin)
Agora (2009, Spain, Alejandro Amenábar)
This Movie is Broken (2009, Canada, Bruce McDonald)
Tales From the Golden Age (2009, Romania/France, multiple)
Curious George (2006, USA, Matthew O'Callaghan)
The Law (1959, Italy/France, Jules Dassin)
Bob The Gambler (1962, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Get Him to the Greek (2010, USA, Nicholas Stoller)
Endhiran -- Robot (2010, India, S. Shankar)
Lafangey Parindey (2010, India, Pradeep Sarkar)
Léon Morin, prêtre (1961, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Le doulos (1962, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
The Skin Game (1931, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
Dabangg (2010, India, Abhinav Kashyap)
Irma Vep (1996, France, Olivier Assayas)
The Ways of Wine (2010, Argentina, Nicolas Carreras)
Revolucion (2010, Mexico, multiple)
Carlos (2010, France, Olivier Assayas)
Father of My Children (2009, France/Germany, Mia Hansen-Løve)
Un Flic (1962, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Unstoppable (2010, USA, Tony Scott)
Shrek (2001, USA, Andrew Adamson/Vicky Jenson)
Le deuxième souffle (1966, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Babies (2010, France, Thomas Balmès)
Burma VJ (2009, Denmark co-production, Anders Østergaard)
Action Replayy (2010, India, Vipul Amrutlal Shah)
Le samouraï (1967, France, Jean-Pierre Melville)
Toy Story 2 (1999, USA, John Lasseter/Ash Brannon/Lee Unkrich)
O Sangue (1989, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Inside Job (2010, USA, Charles Ferguson)
Waste Land (2010, Brazil/USA, Luck Walker)
Madagascar 2 (2008, USA, Eric Darnell/Tom McGrath)
I Hate Luv Storys (2010, India, Punit Malhotra)
Rakht Charitra (2010, India, Ram Gopal Varma)
Tony Manero (2008, Chile/Brazil, Pablo Larraín)
Videocracy (2009, Sweden/Denmark/UK/Finland, Erik Gandini)
The Town (2010, USA, Ben Affleck)
Exam (2009, UK, Stuart Hazeldine)
Guzaarish (2010, India, Sanjay Leela Bhansali)
Blackmail (1929, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
The IT Crowd: Season One (2006, UK, Graham Linehan)
Emotional Atyachar (2010, India, Akshay Shere)
Horton Hears a Who! (2008, USA, Jimmy Hayward/Steve Martino)
Winter’s Bone (2010, USA, Debra Granik)
Band Baaja Baaraat (2010, India, Maneesh Sharma)
Mother (2009, South Korea, Joon-ho Bong)
Beer Wars (2009, USA, Anat Baron)
Scott Pilgrim vs the World (2010, USA/UK/Canada, Edgar Wright)
Tahaan (2008, India, Santosh Sivan)
Aakarosh (2010, India, Priyadarshan)
Vincere (2009, Italy/France, Marco Bellocchio)
Black Swan (2010, USA, Darren Aronofsky)
127 Hours (2010, UK/USA, Danny Boyle)
Fair Game (2010, USA/UAE, Doug Liman)
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010, Finland co-production, Jalmari Helander)
Eat Pray Love (2010, USA, Ryan Murphy)
The Kids Are All Right (2010, USA, Lisa Cholodenko)
The Fighter (2010, USA, David O. Russell)
Champagne (1928, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
Despicable Me (2010, USA, Pierre Coffin/Chris Renaud)
The Manxman (1929, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
Juno and the Paycock (1930, UK, Alfred Hitchcock)
True Grit (2010, USA, Coen brothers)
Toy Story 3 (2010, USA, Lee Unkrich)
Pusher (1996, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Pusher II (2004, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Pusher III (2005, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
Barah Aana (2009, India, Raja Menon)
Mesrine I: Killer Instinct (2008, France/Canada/Italy, Jean-François Richet)
TRON: Legacy (2010, USA, Joseph Kosinski)
Shahrukh Bola Khoobsurat Hai Tu (2010, India, Makrand Deshpande)
Phas Gaye Re Obama (2010, India, Subhash Kapoor)
Shrek Forever After (2010, USA, Mike Mitchell)
Mesrine 2: Public Enemy #1 (2008, France/Canada, Jean-François Richet)
Benny and Babloo (2010, India, Yunus Sajawal)
Art & Copy (2009, USA, Doug Pray)
The Last Airbender (2010, USA, M. Night Shyamalan)
Aashayein (2010, India, Nagesh Kukunoor)
Metropolis (1927, Germany, Fritz Lang): restored version
Daratt (2006, Chad co-production, Mahamat-Saleh Haroun)
Shorts -- films (fiction & docs) under 60 minutes running time
North Korea: A Day in the Life (2004, Holland, Pieter Fleury, 48 min)
Packing (2009, Iran/Germany, Behrooz Karamizade)
Lost Monument (2009, Greece, Stefanos Tsivopoulos, 27 min)
Yellow Dogs (2009, Switzerland, Marianne Thivillier/Mathias Montavon)
The Chicken Rice Mystery (2008, Malaysia, Edmund Yeo, 18 min)
Love Suicides (2009, Malaysia, Edmund Yeo, 13 min)
Junko’s Shamisen (2010, Canada, Sol Friedman, 10 min)
Kingyo (2009, Japan, Edmund Yeo, 25 min)
A Letter to Uncle Boonmee (2009, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 17 min)
Petropolis (2009, Canada, Peter Mettler, 43 min)
Patriotism (1966, Japan, Yukio Mishima, 30 min)
Land Without Bread (1933, Spain, Luis Buñuel)
The Time Machine (2010, USA, Mark Kendall, 12 min)
Allons-y ! Alonzo ! (2009, France, Camille Moulin-Dupré, 8 min)
I Will Not Be Your Friend (2009, Hungary, György Pálfi, 13 min)
Phantoms of Nabua (2009, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 11 min)
Tarrafal (2007, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Rabbit Hunters (2007, South Korea/France, Pedro Costa)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Calgary International Film Festival 2010, preview II
A quite incredible film that effortlessly switches gears between three different genres with considerable ease. The opening 15 minutes appear to be familiar territory (girl in a bad relationship is picked up by a guy at a bar) but then the film transforms into a road journey/self-discovery story which navigates the beautiful British Columbia countryside. Yet, amid the beauty and tranquility signs of darkness start to slowly filter through. However, the meaning of these signs is only revealed in the film's final moments. A must see film!
Pelada
Soccer is called the beautiful game. Now, that beauty may be hard to find on a professional or international game pitch but it does exist. Proof of that genuine beauty is provided courtesy of an American college duo who hit the road to play pick-up games in various countries. Their journey takes them to unlikely destinations such as a Bolivian prison, a slum in Kenya, a roof-top in Japan, a playing field in Iran and the streets of China. The end result is a magnificent documentary that highlights why the world loves this game and how the real passion of the game exists on the streets amid everyday people. Professional soccer players, their managers and FIFA should be forced to watch this film and lower their heads in shame. Because the ugliness of the World Cup and its negative play (4-5-1/5-5-0 tactics, dives, fouls) is ruining the game yet uglier the game gets, the more money these professional players make.
Bioscope
An engaging Indian film that demonstrates the hypnotic effect that cinema has on people. Some of the film’s strongest scenes are those where there is no dialogue and the beautiful haunting images (such as the recurring dream of a dead body washed ashore) flood the screen. The film is set in 1921 India when cinema was largely unknown in the country. So we witness villagers seeing cinema for the first time and observe how their views are shaped – some consider the device as ungodly while others are entranced by the images. And we even get to meet a character (Diwakaran) whose love for the new medium leads him to neglect everything around him and only focus on cinema. In fact, Diwakaran probably depicts the actions of the first cinephile in Indian history.
Cinema is such an integral part of modern Indian life that it is hard to imagine Indian society without movies. So it is fascinating to watch a film which shows how love for cinema started to make its way through Indian life.
At World's End
This humorous Danish film is a throwback to the 1980’s style of action/adventure comedies. In a way, it is refreshing to see an old fashioned film about adventure in an exotic land told with humor and a bit of political incorrectness. The actress Birgitte Sorensen steals the show and it wouldn't be a surprize to see her land bigger profile roles in the future.
Norberto's Deadline
Norberto is drifting aimlessly in life until he finds his true love in theater. However, if it was not for theater, then it is likely possible that Norberto would morph into either a Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver) or a Raúl Peralta (Tony Manero). It is to Daniel Hendler's credit that he allows us to closely observe Norberto in his moments of despair and misery so that we can better understand Norberto and comprehend how someone who is just one or two steps away from a complete breakdown can still find the courage to salvage their life.
Mundane History
Winner of a Tiger Award at Rotterdam, Mundane History is cut from the same cloth as one of Apichatpong Weerasethakul's films. Yet, Anocha Suwichakornpong is able to carve out an individual identity and demonstrate true talent in two mesmerizing sequences which break away from the 'mundane' everyday life scenes. The first sequence charts a journey all the way to the origins of the universe. And the second sequence charts events following the big bang towards a human birth and lands firmly in the main characters hospital room location, thereby putting the whole story into perspective. Patient viewers will be rewarded with a truly cinematic treasure.
Kosmos
Reha Erdem is certainly an intriguing filmmaker but at times he can be frustrating as well. While each of his last three films have improved their visual beauty, each successive work has had a slight dip in the story and character depiction. Times and Winds was a satisfying film where the cinematography was perfectly in sync with the coming of age tale while in My Only Sunshine the on-screen beauty overpowered the bleak tale. Now with his latest offering Kosmos, Reha Erdem has given us a delicious visual treat but the story is not as dark as the cinematography points to. There are hints of distrust about the magical healing powers of the outsider and a bit of cosmic interference (UFO) but the innocent love tale slightly halts the film's mesmerizing rhythm. Still, it deserves to be seen because it is one of the best shot films of the year.
The Famous and the Dead
Every now and then there appears a film that reminds everyone that there is more to Brazil than soccer, beaches, samba, favelas, poverty and crime. A few years ago, it was Heitor Dhalia's wonderfully bizarre Drained set in a warehouse that showed a Brazil devoid of these common symbols and now it is Esmir Filho's chance with The Famous and the Dead. There are no beaches to be seen in The Famous and the Dead and the film's depiction of suburban isolation and loneliness is more familiar material for American Indie cinema. Yet the setting of such themes in Brazil highlights how similar issues can take place in any part of the world, especially in a modern globally connected world where various social networking sites and blogs allow people to hide their true identities and assume another.
The film's chilly mood and atmosphere goes perfectly with the theme of death and suicide. In fact, in almost all scenes one can detect the presence of death hovering above the main character. The film also does a great job of integrating social networking sites, blogs, online videos within the story to highlight the main character's sense of isolation. Also, the transition from the web videos to regular footage is seamless. The end result is a work that is very much in tune with modern times, aspects that most current cinema seems to sidestep.
Note: The film's look and mood evokes the chilly winter conditions of Canada or Northern Europe. So in a way, the film is a perfect companion to the fall weather that greets CIFF every year:)
Family Tree
There have been quite a few films that have used a family gathering as a starting point to uncover a dark past about one of the family members (such as Celebration, Monsoon Wedding). So directors Olivier Duscastel and Jacques Martineau deserve a lot of praise for using this familiar template to make an intelligent and delicate film which manages to deliver an emotional punch. A son's funeral is the starting point for unwrapping a family secret that provides quite a shock when all is said and done. An incredibly moving film!
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