Tomsbrain « The Thomas McNab Blog

After my first successful Film Festival, last year, I was a bit aprehensive about whether this year could match, or even better the quality of screenings I’d previously attended. Like last year, I kicked off my Film Festival experience with a French film, but this time, French-Canadian!

West of Pluto follows the lives of a group of teenagers who have just started a new term at high school. The story makes use of Pluto’s declassification from a planet, to a Trans-Neptunian Object; relating a once prominent feature in our solar system, that has now been downgraded to a just a number, to the lives of several teenagers, who are all struggling to find their identities within the busy social-life of high school. I thought the location of the shoot, set in the early Autumn, was beautiful, and the film was able to capture all the rich colours of Autumn superbly, and made good use of its scenic location.

Later, I saw my second film of that day, My Girlfriend is an Agent. It was a big transition, but luckily I’d come prepared to see a Korean blockbuster! The film focuses Su-Ji, the Girlfriend/Agent in question, and Jae-Jun, her soon to be ex-boyfriend. After three years apart, they meet up again accidentally (in one of the films most hilariously disgusting scenes inside a men’s bathroom), and decide to stay in-touch, but keep up the premise that they live normal lives, with normal jobs. But the truth is, both are now undercover secret agents (working for different agencies). Jae-Jun’s background in computing makes him ideal for the job, yet his lack of suave shows him up whenever he’s in combat; unlike Su-Ji, who is very skilled when it comes to fighting.

What might sound like a Korean adaptation of Mr. and Mrs. Smith (a film which I actually can’t stand), I found the film to be much more like the US TV show Chuck, in which a computer nerd is accidentally integrated with the secrets of the CIA, and then ends up falling for his assigned handler, who is a proper highly trained agent. The film is unbelievably hilarious, and very sweet at times. I really hope this is available on DVD soon, as I know it’s a film that a lot of people would enjoy, but might overlook because of the simplistic title.

Rather unexpectedly last week I received an email notifying me that the 10th Young Persons Film Festival in Leeds was on – and thank God I did, because one of the films on display was a movie I’ve been aching to see since I read about it last November.

Låt den rätte komma in AKA Let the Right One In is definitely a lot more well known than some of the films I saw at last years International Film Festival – in fact its been given a mainstream cinema release in UK Cinemas from today! I’ve not heard a lot of bad things about it; some people say it’s too slow, but I thought it was paced perfectly in order for you to feel for the characters. Without that the connections would have lacked meaning and sentiment. Check out the plot and trailer after the jump, but it may contain spoilers! (more…)

I know I said I’d have reviews of these 4 horror films up yesterday, but I forgot about Band Practice and my lack of being able to stay awake during the day! So here’s a brief overlook of the highlights and lowlights!

Dance of the Dead: 4/5 – The plot was probably my favourite of the night. But it just came off a little too condensed, it would have been great had it explained why the dead came back to life, rather than just keep on pointing to the Chemical Plant and blaming that (the most it went to explain was when three of the characters ducked out of the carnage into the sewers and saw everything covered in green slime).
Tokyo Gore Police: 5/5 – Fabulous look; fabulous sound; classic revenge plot; gore overload; plenty of WTF?! moments. I honestly cannot wait for the sequel and I hope to get my hands on the soundtrack soon. If you liked Battle Royale or Kill Bill Vol. 1, but thought they weren’t gory enough, you will LOVE this.
Deadgirl: 2/5 – No light aspect, everyone in it seemed to have no conscience and was constantly horny. The website says “a depraved journey into the psyche of two disaffected teens,” the only problem is we see nothing in the plot as to why these “two” (it’s more like 5) teens got like this. In that area, it left a little too much to the imagination, and in a film like this that’s a bad thing. I feel a bit bad for saying this, cos it’s a great plot, and I’ve seen I got some hits yesterday from people searching for Deadgirl reviews.
My Name Is Bruce: 5/5 – Best film overall of the night! Sounded great, used the Psycho theme with a jaunty twist!!! The b-movie plot meets spoof/reality plot should NOT have worked but it did. In the beginning it relied a little too much on slapstick, and took for granted everyone seeing it knew who Bruce Campell (I know who is, but past the first Evil Dead that’s really all I’ve seen of his work), but after about an hour the plot kicked in and I could easily forgive it. Not disappointed to hear that a sequel is in the works, I hope the original gets a wider release.

That’s it for my journey into the Leeds Film Festival, but I’ll definitely be back next year!

Catch-up Reviews from the Leeds Film Festival! Okay, so, yesterday I wrapped up my mammoth long film festival marathon with Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation. It was the only documentary I’m going to see this year and, without seeing any of the others that were in the festival, I can confidently say it was the best! If you’re a fan of Kill Bill or Halloween or Saw you’ll appreciate seeing this. I also think I can put that invitation out there to those of you who are fans of Eli Roth’s first films and, obviously, any fans of Wolf Creek. The “film” actually works cos it kind of has three acts; it starts out with the nudie films, the first real Ausie exploitation films, explaining, albeit a small bit, why they came about in the early 70s. Act two discusses the gore flicks, and here is where my interest peaked. My mind was opened up to lots of new and potentially exciting films from across the other ocean. Through a little bit of online digging I’ve found out they’ve actually started releasing Ozploitation Volumes of DVDs in Region 4 – so I may have to get some, if not all of those. The film rounded off with a look at Outback car chases, stunts and generally craziness. As a whole the film was very good, edited beautifully. It just lacked a little on the solid facts (a little like this blog – Tom) and actually probably won’t appeal to everyone (as I heard one irate European express on the way out, it didn’t really give reasons of justification to the girls exploited, it just kind of glorified it – she was very angry)!

So, back track to Monday night, and you’ll remember I went to see Parting Shot and Black Ice. On reflection Parting Shot was a lot better than two of the four films I went to see yesterday. But Black Ice has so far been my highlight, in terms of actually feature filmness (57,000km Between Us was almost indie in its own rights, cinema verite, as I called it). The film is essentially a Finnish Cruel Intentions with twenty-somethings instead of high school students. But it becomes so much more than that as it progresses and almost becomes surrealism by the end, with a twist that would make the later Saw films blush with embarrassment. There’s nothing I can really say bad about Black Ice, I’m just going to tangent off and share with you my thoughts on who would play Sara in the remake (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and petition Film4 to show this! If they had their little spin-off channel still they would! Okay, so it may become a little too far fetched for some, but I loved it. It’s certainly not fantasy! There’s nothing fictional about its content. It’s still a black drama at heart, but it just gets a little out-there when it wants you to believe some of the actions of its characters.

I’m going to end my journey into festivals this year with what I hope turns out to be my best day: Return of the Dead! Four back-to-back bloody films – My Name Is Bruce, Deadgirl, Dance of the Dead and Tokyo Gore Police. But for the reviews, you’ll have to wait till next week.

I loved The Class! It was very brutal, maybe more so than the last film I just watched. So why’d I give that one 2 and this one 4 stars? I think cos we were told this story through the perspectives of the victims rather than the bullies. It was likened to Gus Van Sant’s Elephant in the guide, but I think it was very different. We got to see about 7 days leading up to the dramatic, albeit expected climax. The format in which it was told was almost documentary-like, and I think it was based on real accounts of school violence. The soundtrack was unique and fitted great, I think. The plot was something I could partly relate to, having been the victim of school bullying myself (not to the extent of Joosep though, thank God!). The portrayal of all the students was handled well, though I thought the naivety of some of the teachers was a bit unrealistic, but it could be that they felt forced to do nothing, I mean, I certainly can think back to some teachers like that.

After that I watched Momma’s Man. My first fully English Language film of the festival! I’m kind of glad it was, because in a foreign language I don’t think this film would have worked. It barely works (or moves, or does anything) in English as it is. But I get the type of indie film it’s trying to be. That could be my problem with it though, it was trying to hard. It left things unexplained to the point of annoyance sometimes. It must be hard to be an indie movie in America, I feel I understand enough about “the biz” to give it some slack and just appreciate it for what it was, and not felt let down it didn’t deliver that little something extra that most indie films strive for (which, I guess, by not having one, sort of gives it a unique one)!

Next? Not Quite Hollywood. (Review coming tomorrow)

I’m back for my third and longest day of film festival films. I can’t say anything good about the one that kicked it off though cos I just didn’t like it. The only reason I didn’t give it one star was cos eventually some of the seemingly non-connecting plots did in fact connect, but it was left slightly too long for me to care. It was based on a true story aswell so it’s not its fault it was pretty grim. I just couldn’t relate to the German Youths I guess!

Funny thing: when I gave my audience review slip in I heard the lady go “oh”! Guess she didn’t agree with me! I actually overheard some of the other slips being counted and there were some 4s – was I too harsh…?

No. Compared to yesterday’s “Black Ice” (which I loved but it was too late to post a review last night, expect it tomorrow) this did deserve a two, it’s all about my opinion after all.

Next: The Class.

I tried to write my last review on my iPhone App, but it crashed! Hopefully this one won’t be as long – because I didn’t like it? No, I did, but not as much as 57,000km… and for different reasons.

I mean, overall the movie didn’t look pretty, the soundtrack wasn’t particularly captivating. But I just liked the story, even if it was only 80 minutes long. Basic outline: moody cow (oh she was!) is sick of her life and arranges to commit suicide, but at the last minute she sees two kids fighting and shoots one of them. She doesn’t kill him, but the kicker is she works at this towns hospital and has to look after him as he recovers. I won’t spoil the rest, but needless to say I pretty much enjoyed the outcome. 3 out of 5.

Next up, one I’ve been looking forward too: Black Ice…

Well, what a way to start my first ever film festival!

Before I get into the film, I’ll just let you know that getting there, collecting my ticket and getting back all went as fine as fine can be! I felt great and feel great having done it. There were loads of film festival workers there so there was no way I could have got confused. They were helpful, and gave me a little slip of paper on which to rate the film in order for the festival to hand out the audience award at the end of the festival – I know some wouldn’t agree, but I couldn’t help but award this film 5 stars!

Why did I give 57,000km Between Us (written, directed and edited by Delphine Kreuter) 5 stars? It just clicked with me so well. The main character of Nat was played exceptionally well by Marie Burgun, IMHO. A true representation of today’s, or perhaps the not too distant future’s generation (some of the seemingly buffer-free web streaming was a tad unrealistic)! The main reason it clicked with me so well was because of the other protagonist, Adrian, who knew Nat only through the internet, because he was stuck in an isolation ward (most likely having chemotherapy, but his illness was never mentioned). He chatted to her through an online game where they got “married”, and then Nat, of course, spoke of meeting Adrian (since he only lived 57,000km away, you see)! But Adrian wasn’t used to having visitors. In his subplot we met his mother, who seemingly lived alone in a very decadent apartment. She chatted to her son via webcam, but couldn’t bring herself to visit him, or look at him on the PC. She also lied to his friends about where he had gone. After finally meeting Nat, who left him her hat (one of the things I liked the most in the film, Nat’s fashion sense!), he almost dies, but luckily is revived through drugs. I felt a pang during this scene, as it reminded me of my time in the BMTU and ICU. When he eventually got online again with his mother, she broke down in front of her monitor, finally looking at him. That’s where the film ends, really. There was a little hint that perhaps meeting Adrian had persuaded Nat to live less in the virtual world, cooped up inside her own isolation unit (her bedroom). And that when Adrian got better, they would be together in the real world.

So yeah, if you know me, hopefully you get now why I couldn’t not give this film five stars. The other subplots with Nat’s mum, Margot, were interesting too, and nothing seemed out of place much, not even Nat’s transexual dad, “Nicole” (though there was an implied suicide that went completely unnoticed and was never mentioned by the characters whether it did or didn’t happen). I’ll admit, it took me half an hour before I got into it, due to its cinema verite style of filming with handheld cameras, and shown in a 4:3 aspect ratio. But as the film progressed I think I understood why it was shot this way: to help us see things like the audience of Margot’s online webshow (in the subplot she and her family were constantly filmed by her slightly sociopathic boyfriend), like Adrian, stuck in his bed watching the world through Nat’s webcam (a particularly beautiful scene displays this best, when Adrian points out to Nat a dead rabbit on the side of the road and she picks it up, carrying it gently and laying it to rest under a blossom tree).

I mean, the parallels it runs to my life, especially with what I mentioned today about wanting my family on TV, are kind of spooky! I am like Adrian (except that I have a nicer mother than he did, thankfully). Alas, who would be my Natalie? Yeah, that wasn’t the best bit – having to watch it alone, knowing who I wanted to be there with me watching it too… The 57,000km between us sucks – the film however, is the best one I’ve seen so far at the festival (oh, don’t be a spoilsport and point out that I’ve only been to one, I know, I know)!

Check back next Monday night, when I’ll hopefully have my opinions posted regarding Parting Shot, and Black Ice (though, given I won’t be back home till 10ish, I may post my reviews at a later date).

Today is an important day in history…

For me! I’m about to venture out into the big, wide, unknown world and attend my very first Film Festival! The 22nd Leeds International Film Festival launched yesterday, and basically since I started Film Studies when I was 16 I’ve wanted to go, as they show some really unique films that you just can’t see anywhere else. I’ve basically been missing out on so much for the past 6 years, but this year, with my coveted bus pass, I can finally go! I no longer have to rely on anyone else, and, let’s face it, no-one else in my family would really be interested in sitting through a two hour documentary movie about Australian Exploitation Films! So in a few hours I’m off to see 57,000km Between Us, a French film about a girl who spends most of her time chatting to her online friends in order to escape her crazy family! It sounds like my perfect film, Jenny even said so! I’ll share with you the rest of my schedule once I come back from this one, I haven’t booked all my tickets in one go as much as I wanted to, I need to make sure I can actually go through with it hitchless! Trust me, I’ve looked at every angle and thought what could go wrong and I’m pretty safe in all aspects now. Thank you to everyone who’s put up with my crazy, I promise you it will not last much longer and I’ll hopefully glide through the next two weeks!

In TV news! We’re getting HD Sky+ either next week or the week after, which will be quite exciting. I honestly aren’t that fascinated by HD, but more by the ability to pause and rewind TV! I’ve had a similar PVR on my PC for the past 4 years but that’s already crashed once and I’ve now filled up the hard drive so this couldn’t have come at a better time. I loved Dead Set, it had an awesome ending but I won’t spoil anything for you, just get the DVD! I’m hoping they repeat it on 4HD – it would look awesome! I’ve also been watching The Family since it started and I really enjoy it – I’ve no idea, it’s kind of how Big Brother was in its very first series, so untouched an unaware of being on TV! I fear for the next series, but at the same time I’d love to put forward my family, cos next year’s going to be immense for us (ooh, intrigued, I’ll tell you more soon) and everyone I’ve asked has said we should, but my mum doesn’t like it. However I’m sure if she and her family were on it she would! But yeah, I was actually really worried watching last nights episode cos their cat went missing for three days, and you’ve seen him in all the previous episodes and the opening titles, and I had this knot during it and prayed for a happy TV ending but realised it wasn’t TV, it was real life! But luckily he did come back… and now I’m wondering if the production team just abducted him to fuel the plot!!!

Anyway, must dash, speak to you later! Congratulations Obama and his supporters, what an age we’re about to enter!