Dead Man's Letters, 1986 - ★★★½

Sunday evening is often the hardest part of the festival as the tiredness kicks in and the sheer number of films start blurring (I'd seen 26 in 10 days at this point). I struggled with Dead Man's Letters which is hopefully understandable given my state and the subject matter. Despite not fully engaging with the film I could still see how powerful it could be and was still struck by the number of ideas it was exploring. It all looks so great; echoing silent era films with coloured tints but feeling contemporary and futuristic despite being made in the eighties. Full of scenarios often experienced in video games but rarely seen effectively done on screen, I wish I'd been in a more alert state of mind too fully appreciate what others see as a masterpiece.

November 09, 2014 at 11:49PM

The Last Laugh, 1924 - ★★★

With live accompaniment by the Leeds based jazz pianist, Matthew Bourne.

The film was good and the music was good but I'm not sure how well they worked together. Not as bad as the time KTL ruined Murnau's Sunrise though.

Seeing this as well as the rescored Drive and live score for Suspiria has made me think a lot about scores lately. If I wasn't watching so many films I'd try and write more about it.

November 09, 2014 at 11:41PM

Tusk, 2014 - ★★★★½

Having been along for the entire #WalrusYes journey my expectations were quite high but I was never really expecting the film to be that good. And perhaps the film isn't really that great but it is hugely entertaining, wonderfully bizarre, unlike anything else and I just love the fact that it exists at all.

The Q&A with Kevin Smith over Skype was even more entertaining despite already hearing most of the stories before.

November 09, 2014 at 12:21PM

What We Do in the Shadows, 2014 - ★★★★★

#LIFF28 The funniest film of the year. The concept probably shouldn't work beyond 30 minutes of TV but it absolutely does. It also contains some of the best effects work (apart from the werewolves but even those are better than the absurd CGI of Twilight). Destined become a favourite.

Annoyingly I got my times mixed up and missed the opening scenes, hope I didn't miss much before the title card. At least it gives me an excuse to go and watch again - not that I need one.

November 09, 2014 at 12:08PM

Done In, 2014 - ★★★

Probably much better if you can't see how it's going to end.

November 09, 2014 at 12:00PM

He Took His Skin Off for Me, 2014 - ★★★

Nicely made but couldn't get past why he couldn't just put on some clothes.

November 09, 2014 at 11:58AM

Mr. Dentonn, 2014 - ★★★

It may be cliched but it's really well made and has a satisfying ending that raises the overall experience beyond the obvious.

November 09, 2014 at 11:56AM

Wind, 2013 - ★★★★½

My favourite short film in the Silver Méliès Fantastic Short Film Competition at #LIFF28

November 09, 2014 at 11:52AM

When Animals Dream, 2014 - ★★★½

I thought this stylishly played up to the tropes of the genre but I know others thought it was cliched. The only disappointing part was the unnecessarily horror styled dreams when the rest of the film felt realistic.

November 09, 2014 at 11:50AM

Jour de Fête, 1949 - ★★★★

A complete delight from start to finish, frequently laugh out loud funny and utterly charming.

November 09, 2014 at 11:42AM

A Night at the Cinema in 1914, 2014 - ★★★★

Two things struck me whilst being whisked back to 1914. Firstly how 100 years doesn't feel that long ago and yet how radically different everything is. When we can get just about anything in our hands instantly I wonder how future generations will know what best represents us and I have a horrible feeling that we're not really reflecting out society very well with the majority of content we produce.

The second point was much less depressing and that was how much the modern audience enjoyed the short films, tonight I heard some of the biggest laughs I've heard in the cinema for a long time. The simplicity of some of the films, especially Pimple, was so inspirational compared to overblown efforts we see today.

I had to leave early, during The Perils of Pauline, so I didn't see the whole thing.

November 08, 2014 at 12:32AM

Brasil Bam Bam Bam: The Story of Sonzeira - ★★★½

It's always a pleasure to watch passionate people talk about the subject they love and everybody featured in this film is bursting with passion.

Q&A with Director Charlie Inman

November 06, 2014 at 10:43PM

Björk: Biophilia Live, 2014 - ★★★★

A rare occasion when the concert film may be better than being there in person. With the audience surrounding a stage full of a choir and musicians, Bjork would frequently disappear from view of the audience but this isn't an issue on film. More significantly the screen visuals are wonderfully mixed with the live footage creating many magical moments such as the time Bjork appears to be singing to a 5ft jelly fish (probably not a jelly fish).

I've been fairly indifferent to Bjork's music in the past but in this concert it just kept getting better. By the end it was becoming difficult to resist joining in with the on screen applause, something I wish the LIFF had joined in with.

November 06, 2014 at 10:38PM

The Taking - ★★★

A scuzzy low budget film that often feels amateurish but the passion of the filmmakers always fights through to make it an enjoyable experience.

November 06, 2014 at 12:01AM

Testament of Youth, 2015 - ★★½

An inoffensive opening to #LIFF28 was pretty much what I expecting from the only uninspiring trailer on the festival launch night. There's not much here that we haven't seen done before. Every major plot point is so heavily sign posted that there are no surprises. A few of the smaller roles are rather enjoyable, especially Joanna Scanlan chaperoning a date.

Towards the end things start to get interesting but by then it's too late and there's not enough to make the film anything other than ordinary.

November 05, 2014 at 11:29PM

Nightcrawler, 2014 - ★★★½

Some great scenes, a fantastic central performance and some wonderful dialogue are all let down by mediocre direction. With a more experienced director this could have been brilliant, instead all of the setup comes across as cliched, which is a real shame.

Along with Under The Skin it's one of the creepiest non-horror horror films but also deliciously dark, gripping and entertaining.

November 04, 2014 at 11:50PM

Ida, 2013 - ★★★½

Concisely put together without wasting a moment, the second part of the film really comes together in a quietly spectacular way.

November 04, 2014 at 11:33PM

Suspiria, 1977 - ★★★★

With live performance by Claudio Simonetti’s GOBLIN

Live music always adds something to the atmosphere but this is the first time I think the music has improved the film. Goblin playing their own music live and loudly over the film gave the already powerful film an intensity that just wasn't there when the recorded soundtrack crashed into the film.

November 02, 2014 at 11:51PM

Speed Racer, 2008 - ★★

When I finally saw Speed Racer (has it really taken 6 years to get a TV screening?) I hoped I'd be one of the (few) people who really liked it; I wasn't. It was just noise to me, wonderfully looking noise and infinitely more stylish than most modern blockbusters. Appropriately enough it felt like a saturday morning cartoon but that also meant I felt no connection to the story or characters.

November 02, 2014 at 11:44PM

The Howling, 1981 - ★★★

After watching An American Werewolf In London the night before this was quite disappointing. AAWIL has stood the test of time but The Howling feels dated and immature and feels like the type of first film you'd see today from students. It is still fun to watch and has many great moments an attention to detail.

November 02, 2014 at 11:38PM

Re-Animator, 1985 - ★★★

Camp B-movie horror that's a lot of gruesome fun.

November 02, 2014 at 11:34PM

Inferno, 1980 - ★★★½

Bloody good fun and much easier to watch at Halloween after I struggled to stay awake when it was on TV last Christmas.

November 02, 2014 at 11:31PM

The Eagle Has Landed, 1976 - ★★★

An enjoyable film but not really that special but it's easy to see how it could become a Bank Holiday favourite.

November 02, 2014 at 11:26PM

Tabu, 2012 - ★★★

The first part of the film is frequently beautiful and the second half feels fresh and inventive but I failed to be emotionally engaged with the story in any meaningful way.

November 02, 2014 at 11:21PM

The Divide, 2011 - ★

A horror film but only in the sense that everything is so repulsive. Central to the problem is that everything escalates too far and too quickly and feels completely implausible. The rest of the film consists of unlikeable characters doing repugnant things to each other and really has no redeeming qualities.

I was originally meant to see this at Leeds Film Festival a few years ago but there was a problem and the film couldn't be shown (never have I been so retroactively pleased for something). Instead they showed Gens earlier film Frontier(s) which was also full of horrible things happening to people but that film worked because it followed a more obvious path of "normal" people discovering "freaks". There is no logic to anything that happens in The Divide and it's just an unpleasant experience in all the wrong ways.

November 02, 2014 at 11:11PM