Far funnier than expected making this a black comedy action thriller. Films like this should be a wake up call to Hollywood on how they should be making mainstream entertainment.
November 15, 2014 at 12:20AM
15 November 2014
Show Pieces, 2014 - ★★★★
Alan Moore moves from The League Of Extraordinary Gentleman to The League Of Gentleman as there's a hint of Royston Vasey (or Psychoville) in all three of these disturbing dark stories. Better than the collection of horror shorts shown last week at the festival, this is an impressive collection from a new creative team.
Q&A with Alan Moore, Mitch Jenkins, Siobhan Hewlett, Darrell D'Silva and Andrew Buckley
November 15, 2014 at 12:13AM
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness, 2013 - ★★★½
A wonderful insight into Studio Ghibli and especially Miyasaki . As a film it doesn't do anything special and suffers from being too long, but if you have any interest in the subject you're likely to be as delighted as I was throughout.
As the film goes into some detail about the making of The Wind Rises you may want to see that film first.
Also were the cat and Miyasaki ever shown on the screen at the same time?
November 15, 2014 at 12:05AM
Grave of the Fireflies, 1988 - ★★★★½
Not as devastating as I remembered (although still incredibly sad) but a lot more beautiful.
November 15, 2014 at 12:02AM
14 November 2014
The Possibilities Are Endless, 2014 - ★★★
Better than I was expecting after hearing bad things. It felt like a good idea for a short film stretched out to (short) feature length.
Q&A and performance made it worthwhile though.
November 14, 2014 at 12:02AM
Interstellar, 2014 - ★★★★★
It completely blew me away. Some time after I left, I let out a breath of air and genuinely thought I hadn't been breathing for the last five minutes.
I can't help but think my wonder was a result of
1) Avoiding reading, seeing or listening to anything about the film. I knew it was set in space and I'd seen pictures of the farm.
2) Seeing it in Imax
To continue point 1, I feel like I should say no more. It's a new Christopher Nolan film, why wouldn't you see it?
November 13, 2014 at 11:58PM
13 November 2014
Love Steaks, 2013 - ★★★
On a different day I think I would have liked Love Streaks more. It had all the ingredients for a film I should like but at the end of a long day I just failed to connect.
November 12, 2014 at 11:42PM
12 November 2014
Bird People, 2014 - ★★★★½
Right from the start I liked Bird People a lot but thought it would be lacking that certain something to make it really special. I needn't have worried because what eventually happens is so remarkable and completely unexpected it takes everything to a different level.
If I'm completely honest it doesn't always work and some of those later scenes drag on a little too long. When it is working though it's magical and I applaud the intention over the execution.
The performance in those scenes is amazing and deserves a new award category to be fully recognised.
Interestingly enough earlier in the day I had two minor encounters with birds which I can't help but wonder if they influenced my take on the film. The first was a single pigeon sat atop an out of order vending machine inside the train station, he looked so pleased with himself as he watch the tail of commuters pass by. I wanted to take a photo but didn't. The second was a small flock of birds chirping away and flying from tree to tree around Millenium Square right before I went to The Light to watch the film.
Best discovery of #LIFF28 so far, I already had high expectations for What We Do In The Shadows and Tusk.
November 12, 2014 at 11:37PM
11 November 2014
The Drop, 2014 - ★★★★
The Drop doesn't do anything special but is well made and has enough tension to keep my interest throughout.
November 11, 2014 at 11:46PM
Tokyo Tribe, 2014 - ★★★½
When the first song kicks in and the film starts to reveal it's wonderful visual stylings I thought this is fantastic but is it really going to be able to keep it up for two hours? The answer is no, not really but not necessarily for the reasons I thought. Knowing nothing about the film and the language barrier meant I found it hard to tell if the film was supposed to be serious or not, although by the end I guessed "not". Whatever the tonal intention there are moments that just stand out as being wrong, perhaps trying to play up to the japanese and hip-hop obsession with sexualising everything but coming across as awfully misjudged (or just plain awful). It's a shame because when it stays clear of the exploitive stuff it's wonderfully bizarre, stylish and fun.
Overall the film is just frustrating, jumping back and forth between the good (all the songs and visual design), the bad (overlong fight sequences and cock jokes) and the ugly (rape culture)
November 11, 2014 at 11:36PM
10 November 2014
Cat Soup, 2001 - ★★★
I described <<a href="http://ift.tt/145Ptto" rel="nofollow">http://ift.tt/145Pttq Girl, the previous film I saw at #LIFF28, as "weird in a charming way", this was just plain weird. Great and varied animation but confusing and disturbing. If Suda51 ever made an Animal Crossing game it might turn out like this.
November 10, 2014 at 10:22PM
The Satellite Girl And Milk Cow, 2014 - ★★★½
This is the best film I've ever seen about a satellite who transforms into a girl and befriends a boy who's turned into a cow featuring a talking toilet roll. Ever.
Obviously it's all kinds of weird in a charming way but unfortunately there's not really enough story to sustain the running time.
I wonder what Noam Chomsky would make of this.
November 10, 2014 at 10:13PM
Wolf Daddy, 2005 - ★★★★
Quirky and charming but also surprisingly touching.
November 10, 2014 at 09:56PM
Momotaro, the Sea Eagle, 1943 - ★★½
Watched on Monday November 10, 2014.
November 10, 2014 at 12:01AM
Is the Man Who Is Tall Happy?, 2013 - ★★★★
Fascinating stuff let down by too much repetition by both Gondry and Chomsky.
November 09, 2014 at 11:56PM
09 November 2014
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
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