Chaos' Filmfest Review 2004

[Chaos Butterfly]

Its that time of year again and well I did try once again to limit myself to 10 films but it just didn't work so I'm going to 14 films in 2 weeks so you'll forgive me if my reviews aren't as in depth as usual.

Number 1

Super Size Me

This is the documentary that caused a sensation at Sundance and allegedly inspired McDonald?s to discontinue its ?super size? promotions as a pre-emptive measure.

?What would happen if you ate nothing but fast food for an entire month? In Super Size Me, a scathingly tongue-in-cheek documentary of epic ?portions?, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock does just that and embarks on the most perilous journey of his life. The rules? For 30 days he can?t eat or drink anything that isn?t on McDonald?s menu; he must wolf three squares a day; he must consume everything on the menu at least once and supersize his meal if asked? Spurlock?s grueling drive-through diet spirals him into a physical and emotional metamorphosis that is downright harrowing and will make you think twice about picking up another Big Mac. A fascinating and truly alarming film, peppered with irreverent music and hilarious graphics, Super Size Me chomps into the legal, financial and physical costs of America?s hunger for fast food.? ? David Courier, Sundance Film Festival
--------------------------------------

This was brilliant, the blurb doesn't quite do it justice, it was hilarious. Some of it was just that sometimes Americans are just funny being themselves. Morgan himself is a likeable genuine guy with a great sense of humour. The style of the doco was not boring at all in fact it felt like a movie.

Definitely a movie you should see - 4 stars

I'm never eating chicken McNuggets again. [img]graemlins/gulp.gif[/img]

Number 2

The Cat Returns (in Japanese - English subtitles)

The latest feature from Studio Ghibli, the animation production house forever associated with the great Miyazaki, is a delicately rendered, cute and funny family entertainment that should appeal to anyone 7+ who?s ever been amused by a cat. Haru, the schoolgirl heroine, risks her life to help a black cat crossing a busy road, and is amazed when he stands up on two legs and politely thanks her. A visit from the King of Cats and his entourage ensues and she discovers that she saved the life of the Crown Prince. Untold feline rewards follow, including deliveries of gift-wrapped mice direct to her school locker and the ultimate treat ? the offer of the paw of the Prince in marriage. Understandably alarmed, Haru travels, with guides of varying competence, to the Kingdom of Cats, to sort things out. ?Supple, matter-of-fact tale of two mini-communities inhabited by talking felines with opposing approaches to interacting with humans, is full of narrative surprises, danger and humor? catchy entertainment for kids and adults.? ? Lisa Nesselson, Variety

--------------------------------------

SQUEAK! I loved this film. - 5 stars

It was great better than Spirited Away. It was really funny and the characters were the cutest. Some of the cat expressions were quite realistic. I love Muta the big fat cat.
I'm buying this on DVD when it becomes available.


Number 3

Bad Santa

From the perverse mind that brought you the award-winning Crumb and Ghost World comes the most politically incorrect yuletide picture of all time. If you?ve ever felt like being Ebenezer Scrooge around December, what with the family squabbles, the traffic, the malls, then Bad Santa is our gift to you. Most cinematic depictions of Santa are of the cherubic, peace-to-all kind of guy. Not the drunken, unshaved, abusive, profane, pathological and boiling-with-self-hatred loner that Billy Bob Thornton portrays in this hysterically demented comedy. Get ready for a pitch-black comedy that?s so funny and so very, very wrong. Thornton is Willie T. Stokes, an alcoholic crook, who makes a yearly crust as department store Santa, while his three-foot-tall partner in crime plays the elf. The obnoxious Willie screams at the kids and has sex with customers in the oversize department before he and his vertically-challenged helper rip the stores off. When a doughy and slightly backward boy attaches himself to the booze-addled misanthrope for parental support, Willie doesn?t want a bar of it, until he sees where the kid lives. With a security chief on his tail, he pretends to care for the kid and quickly moves in to his new, up-market abode. The film swerves from being wet-yourself-funny to being so outrageous that it invokes the rebellious spirit of John Waters? early films. Thornton devours the screen with a performance that is borderline psychotic, and he?s supported by good work from the late, great John Ritter, who plays Thornton?s nebbish boss with such achingly accurate nuance that he steals every scene he?s in. ? Anthony Timpson, That's Incredible Cinema

--------------------------------

Genius! I saw this film just after a birthday dinner that involved a few Margarita's (and I highly recommend this approach to the movie). They had Raybon Kan, local comedian dressed as Bad Santa and there was an elf too and well 80% of what came out of Santa's mouth is kinda unrepeatable in public. And there was a sort of confessional of sorts as naughty boys and girls told Santa what they'd done that was naughty and in return received FREE BEER! [img]graemlins/beer.gif[/img] (2 dozen Stella Artois to be exact which is sitting downstairs [img]biggrin.gif[/img] )

The movie itself was an irreverant, politically incorrect black comedy with a fine performance by Billy-Bob Thornton. Lots of perverse fun admittedly not for everybody but I had a great time. Lots of laughs and a good movie to see with a group of your favourite 'sick' friends. A great cure for that sickeningly cute Christmas cheer and mass consumerism. - 4 stars

[Lulu]

"Two thumbs up for 'Supersize Me'"
- Lulu and Lulubert

"'Baseketball'- an inspiring film that will bring tears of joy to the eyes of every member of your family- even your crotchity uncle! See it damn you! Two thunbs up"
-Lulu and Lulubert

[img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

Chaos- i totaly agree with your assessment of Supersize me! Just saw it yesterday. Damned funny- and startling even if you already know the premise. BTW- was his girlfriend's reaction not hilarious..?

[JaceSan]

Will probably watch Bad Santa in the next week or so.

McDonald's is poison. But it tastes so good.

[Chaos Butterfly]

"Chaos- i totaly agree with your assessment of Supersize me! Just saw it yesterday. Damned funny- and startling even if you already know the premise. BTW- was his girlfriend's reaction not hilarious..?"

Indeed although my fave moments were the flashcards of famous people for the kiddies and of course that glorious first Supersize experience that was a great way of portraying the enormity and challenge of a Supersized meal.

Bonus laugh here on the size of those sodas we just don't make 'em even half as big down here they're like a bucket, I'm determined just to buy one to have my photo taken with it, its as big as me. I'm not even into fizzy drinks unless they include alcohol.


Number 4

Mister V (in French with English subs)

From the opening moments, as Mister V, an uncontrollable black stallion, is exhibited to a crowd of champagne-sipping buyers, director Emilie Deleuze plunges us into the French horse-racing world. Her probing account of her protagonist?s compulsion not so much to master the beast, as to level with it, is a stimulating, strikingly individual work that has the bracing impact of a physical confrontation. ?Mathieu Demy is extraordinarily effective as a scientist at first disapproving of his stable-owner brother?s purchase of a wild stallion as part of an insurance scam? When the magnificent but obstinate beast proves even more violent than feared, Demy determines to take control of the situation himself, and embarks on a dark voyage of discovery as dangerous as it is exhilarating. None too concerned with the crime-thriller trappings of her story, Deleuze focuses on the almost erotically intense encounter of man and horse... Suspenseful, psychologically and philosophically subtle, bold and very beautiful in its imagery.? ? Geoff Andrew, Time Out


This film was easy to pick as a must see because of my horse obsession and I'd have to say it probably does require an empathy and understandind of animals to fully appreciate it.

It was an excellent film, and I have to say very deceptive, on the surface there was the horse/ crime plot but it was like an iceberg most of it lay under the water, at the end of the film I realised what a psychological/emotional film it actually was and was left picking up the man/woman and man/horse relationship issues that ran thru the film. I'm not sure I can explain the human/horse relationship, i think you must have experienced a relationship with a semi-wild animal yourself to get it.

So a hard to explain, subtle yet very emotional psychological film. - 3.5 stars

[Chaos Butterfly]

ooh I have to add about Mister V that it was worth the entry price alone for what can vaguely be explained as a tap dancing duet between man and horse [img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] and that's as much as I can explain it, it was definitely a sight to see.

Number 5

Intimate Strangers (in French with English subs)


With: Fabrice Luchini, Sandrine Bonnaire, Michel Duchaussoy, Anne Brochet

Festivals: Berlin, Sydney 2004


A superb stylist, fascinated by the unlikely ways in which people reach out to each other, writer/director Patrice Leconte concocts a romantic blend of mystery, intimacy and desire in Intimate Strangers. Sandrine Bonnaire plays a troubled woman seeking help from a psychiatrist, though her elegantly tremulous manner suggests she might actually be a femme fatale in search of a Bogart. What she gets, quite by accident, is a tax consultant. Entering the wrong office suite, she immediately starts spilling her troubles to the receptive little guy behind the desk, played by Fabrice Luchini, a master of the repressed and fastidious. He?s mesmerised ? and too embarrassed by his interest to disillusion her. With the sidelined psychiatrist down the hall keeping an amused eye on progress, the plot does indeed thicken, all the better to illuminate the ways these two drifting souls respond to each other?s sense of incompleteness.

?If Hitchcock had made a pure romantic comedy it might have been something like this mischievous offering from Leconte.? ? Demetrios Matheou, Sight and Sound

-------------------------------------------
Another piece of subtle and yet in your face at the same time French cinema. Perhaps too slow moving for some, it was really quite a fascinating little movie. The dark humour comes from Bonnaire's character's often shocking forthrightness, and the tax consultant's struggles to deal with it. Sandrine Bonnaire was fabulous and beautiful (think a melancholic Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct) a lioness disguised as a lost kitten perhaps.

Enjoyable and intriguing even if at times a bit slow in its pacing. - 3.5 stars

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 16, 2004 05:39 AM: Message edited by: Chaos Butterfly ]</font>

[Chaos Butterfly]

Number 5

The Story of the Weeping Camel
Die Geschichte vom Weinenden Kamel
Director: Byambasuren Davaa, Luigi Falorni
In Mongolian with English subtitles

Festivals: Toronto, Vancouver 2003 Rotterdam, San Francisco 2004
This singular film ? documentary and drama both ? makes exquisite use of its Gobi Desert setting to provide us with a unique glimpse into the lives, rituals and music of nomadic Mongolian shepherds. It is spring in South Mongolia and one of the camels has a very difficult time giving birth. When she finally succeeds in delivering, the baby turns out to be an extremely rare white calf. Despite the efforts of the shepherds, the mother rejects her offspring and refuses to feed it. As the shepherds labour to cement the maternal bond, we?re given extraordinary insight into a highly evolved symbiosis of man and beast. Intimate and never intrusive, directors Davaa and Falorni quietly observe the inherently fascinating nature of their subjects and the vast and beautiful landscape that surrounds them.

?This ethnographic documentary began as an attempt to capture the dying traditions of Mongolian camel herders and ended up as a portrait of the bond between a mother camel and her estranged newborn ? as well as a bona fide film-fest sensation. It?s hard to believe that The Story of the Weeping Camel is a German student film, what with directors Luigi Falorni and Byambasuren Davaa seamlessly capturing the interactions of both humans (including one cute kid called ?Dude?) and two-humped animals alike, in addition to assembling what must have been an immense amount of footage with great storytelling acumen.? ? Mark Peranson, City Pages.

?The filmmakers? patience and the quality of the images they obtain give a mellow contentment to the project, a thoughtful and honest serenity.? ? Elvis Mitchell, NY Times

--------------------------------------

I fell in love with 2 humped camels again (I'd actually forgotten there were 2 humped camels)after seeing the Polish film 'The Big Animal at the festival a few years ago so I was excited when I saw this listed.

This was a wonderful docu-drama, a fantastic view into a differnt culture in a different land with very lovable subjects, humans and camels both. The 2 boys 'Dude' and Unuga I would give 5 stars to just for being wonderful personalities themselves. If the very young Unuga spoke English I'm sure there would be agents knocking on the door of his hut tomorrow.

The camels and goats were sooo awesome and cute. The fact the documentary had a focus in the story of the white baby camel and its unloving mother made it alot more gripping than if had just been a documentary, it makes you really care about what happens.

Excellent - 4 stars

How can you resist this

[Chaos Butterfly]

Number 6

The Triplets of Belleville (In French with and occasional English subs but the style means it doesn't really need it)

Sylvain Chomet?s thoroughly delightful animated feature is touching, hilarious and so French you can taste it. It playfully alludes to Jacques Tati, and lightly sports influences from Betty Boop to Walt Disney?s 101 Dalmatians, but it really is one of the most bracingly original things I have seen for a long time. A young orphan boy, Champion, loves to watch TV, especially broadcasts by a red-hot jazz singing trio, The Triplets of Belleville, who belt out their toe-tapping numbers in the irresistible style of Django Reinhardt and the Hot Club de France. Once grown up, Champion is a Tour de France racer but gets kidnapped en route by sinister mafia types; his gran and his fat, lazy dog Bruno come to Champion?s rescue enlisting the help of the Triplets themselves, now elderly ladies. Triplets has the pungent, gamey quality of Jean-Pierre Jeunet?s Am?lie, but its innocence and charm are less contrived. The animation itself is superbly detailed and vividly eccentric, and as for the story ? it?s impossible to tell if it?s a children?s story for adults or an adult?s story for children. Or if it matters. I was beguiled from the first second.? ? Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian. ?The year?s most ingenious and original animated feature is the gloriously retro The Triplets of Belleville, written and directed by erstwhile comic-book artist Sylvain Chomet? All animation is obsessive; Triplets also manages to seem fresh. It?s nasty but droll, cheerfully grotesque, full of non sequiturs as well as deadpan repetitions, never cute and the opposite of precious.? ? J. Hoberman, Village Voice

---------------------------------------

I have to admit I was quite tired when I saw this at its soldout session. It was very French and rather interesting using an absolute minimum of speech and allowing the music, sounds and pictures to tell the story. The art was definitely a change from the norm, the best I can describe it is kinda caricaturised. Things were exaggerated, and stretched, and expanded to give it a rather surreal feeling. Extra big/long noses, very tall skinny cargo ships, extra long fingers, uber fat/skinny people.

It was definitely quirky and humourous but I feel the whole was not quite as endearing as the sum of its parts. As a result I rate it 3 stars and perhaps a wait to see it on DVD rating but I may give it another go when its on dvd and I have nothing to do to see if I appreciate it more.

[Branflakes]

Thanks for all the reviews. I'd been wondering what someone thought of "The Triplets of Belleville". I haven't seen it yet, but have loved the music.

[Chaos Butterfly]

Number 7

Ruby & Quentin
Tais-toi!
Director: Francis Veber
2003
87 Minutes
France/Italy
Screenplay: Francis Veber.
Based on an idea by Serge Frydman
Photography: Luciano Tovoli
Editor: Georges Klotz
Music: Marco Prince
In French with English subtitles
CinemaScope

With: G?rard Depardieu, Jean Reno, Jean-Pierre Malo, Richard Berry

G?rard Depardieu is Quentin, a good-natured idiot embarking on a life of crime, and Jean Reno is hard-boiled Ruby, a vengeful crook with enemies everywhere. They?re the vitally mismatched twosome in this shameless slapstick comedy, another hit for Francis Veber, writer/director of classic French farces La Cage aux folles, The Dinner Game and The Closet. Thrown together in a prison cell, Quentin, who never stops prattling, mistakes the taciturn Ruby for a good listener and therefore a friend. Ruby, meanwhile, convinced that nobody could be as stupid as Quentin, decides he must be incredibly smart and working undercover for the police. When Quentin pulls off a breathtakingly clumsy escape, the astounded Ruby joins him and the two hit the Paris streets where the misunderstandings escalate.

?Depardieu outdoes his earlier performances as a grinning hulk with the brain of a brontosaurus. If Veber?s farcical plotting is sometimes familiarly perfunctory, it is Depardieu who humanises the mechanics with wacky sweetness, charm and perfect comic timing.? ? Benny Cook, Screen International

-------------------------

This was an incredibly enjoyable and funny film that had me clapping in delight and sometimes sheer disbelief at the antics. I actually felt sorry for Jean Reno's cold blooded killer Ruby for being stuck with Quentin.

Great fun! Highly recommended. I would like to see it again. 4.5 stars. [img]biggrin.gif[/img]

**********

Number 8

Tokyo Godfathers
Director: Kon Satoshi
2003
92 Minutes
Japan
Screenplay: Kon Satoshi, Nobumoto Keiko. Based on a story by Kon Satoshi
Photography: Sugai Katsutoshi
Art Director: Ike Nobutaka
Music: Suzuki Keiichi
Voices: Emori Toru, Umegaki Yoshiaki, Okamoto Aya
In Japanese with English subtitles


Though the title suggests otherwise, gangsters don?t take up a lot of screen time in this exquisitely animated new film from the director of Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress. Borrowing its plot from an old John Wayne comedy (!) about three hardened old cowboys who care for a foundling, it?s a surprisingly poetic excursion into life at the bottom of the Japanese heap.

?Tokyo shimmers in Tokyo Godfathers, a gorgeous animated film that?s as avid a tribute to the Japanese capital as Lost in Translation? The picture?s visual luster is matched by its moving depiction of its main characters, three homeless people who discover an abandoned baby on Christmas Day. Energized by the search for the infant?s parents, the three do things they didn?t think they could, like jumping off a moving train and tangling with mobsters? More character study than action movie, Tokyo Godfathers could just as well have been a live-action picture. But one look at its jaw-dropping cityscapes makes you glad it?s not.? ? Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle

-----------------------

This was the 2nd film in my Sunday double feature after Ruby and Quentin and it too was an excellent film. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey from beginning to end due to the wonderful characters that inhabit Satoshi's Tokyo. The three lead characters are great and you really get sucked into their quest and start caring about what happens to them. There's the self pitying alcoholic guy with a past, a smart-mouth runaway teenage girl with a terrible secret and a flaming 'clucky' drag queen. What a team! - 4 stars

[Chaos Butterfly]

Hmm i can't count this is actually

Number 10

The Last Victory
De laatste overwinning
Director: John Appel
2003
88 Minutes
The Netherlands
Director/Screenplay: John Appel
Photography: Erik van Empel
Editor: Mario Steenbergen
Music: Wouter van Bemmel
In Italian with English subtitles

Festivals: Amsterdam Documentary 2003; Rotterdam 2004

Civetta, a neighbourhood in Siena, last won Il Palio, the city?s annual horse race that harks back 721 years to the pageants of medieval times, in 1979. However, 2002 may bring victory again. One of the neighbourhood?s oldest citizens, now in his 92nd year, has witnessed eight of Civetta?s previous Palio victories, and would like to be granted one more before his time is up. Children who have never seen victory are as deadly serious about the event as everyone else. Civetta, its inhabitants, and their activities in the lead up to the fateful day are the willing subjects of this affectionate and highly enjoyable study. Colourful standards deck the narrow streets and trestle tables are laid out for pre-race celebrations. Young men practise flag throwing. Horses are allotted. The square is prepared. Tension builds. Everyone, young or old, has his or her heart set on carrying off the trophy. The race itself is extremely short, given the effort and the underhand deals that occur beforehand ? but the result will last all year. ? SR

------------------------

An excellent documentary, I really got caught up in the excitement of it, being a fan of horse racing, I really wanted Civetta to win. I knew Italians were very passionate about everything but this doco really does illustrate how much so. It also shows the fabulous sense of community they have in Siena as well. I think now I have to start planning my holiday to Siena in 8 years or so for Palio [img]wink.gif[/img] - 3.5 stars and a great big cheer "Ci - Ci - Civetta!"

**********

Number 11

Nausica? of the Valley of the Winds
Kaze no Tani no Nausica?
Director: Miyazaki Hayao
1984
116 Minutes
Japan
Screenplay: Miyazaki Hayao
Art Director: Nakamura Mitsuki
Music: Hisaishi Joe
In Japanese with English subtitles

Voices: Shimamoto Sumi, Tsujimura Mahito, Kyouda Hisako, Naya Gorou


All the hallmarks of Miyazaki?s greatness are present in full in his first Studio Ghibli feature. There?s a self-confident, compassionate action heroine, striking composition, an optimistic humanism, lots of flying, and a startling sense of the natural environment as a vast, pulsing organism, agitated by unruly mankind. A remarkable departure from genre expectations when it first appeared, Nausica? is now a Japanese classic, and Miyazaki a genre unto himself. (The epic adventure was further elaborated by Miyazaki, after the film?s success, in a thousand-page graphic novel, or manga, widely considered a masterpiece.)

?Set a millennium after a biowarfare holocaust has destroyed our civilization, Nausica? is the story of the eponymous princess who seeks to somehow reconcile the last remnants of a still-warring humanity with the monstrous new biological order overcoming the Earth? A stirring, sweeping epic of war and adventure, and one of the best science-fiction films to have been made anywhere in the world during the 1980s.? ? Carl Horn, Pacific Film Archive

---------------------

WOW! I'll say it again. WOW! This was my first opportunity to see this 1984 film by Miyazaki and I am so glad I had the opportunity to see it on the big screen. It has aged well, probably being more relevant now than it even was 20 years ago. Gorgeous art, fabulous story and the most awesome true heroine I have seen in a movie. I wanted to cry with happiness at the end of the movie. You may not get to see it on the big screen but it is being re-released on DVD late this year or early next year. Go buy it! - 5 stars

Now if you'll excuse me it has inspired me to go and find a tree to hug. [img]graemlins/rose.gif[/img] *wanders off being careful not to step on any bugs along the way*