This looked like the kind of bonkers film I've come to expect and enjoy at Leeds International Film Festival. Unfortunately whilst there's lots to enjoy it never manages to come together in a satisfying way. I suspect the TV series would work better.
November 09, 2015 at 11:29PM09 November 2015
The High Sun, 2015 - ★★★★
One of the best looking films of #LIFF29. Three fairly simple love stories combined to tell one big story of two decades of change.
My only problem was I found it slightly distracting having the same actors playing different roles and trying to work out if I'd missed who they were supposed to be.
November 09, 2015 at 11:21PMSarusuberi: Miss Hokusai, 2015 - ★★
Disappointingly a muddled mess which failed to truly engage.
November 09, 2015 at 11:14PMCrumbs, 2015 - ★★★
I'm unsure if the opening minutes would have shed any light on what was happening because I arrived late and had no clue. However I did like a lot of what I did see and there are enough interesting ideas to make it worth watching (and it's only 68 minutes).
Also perhaps the best big-screen appearance of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
November 09, 2015 at 11:08PMThe Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1920 - ★★★½
Apart from the visual style and great organ accompaniment I found little to hold my interest. Perhaps festial fatigue has set in already.
November 09, 2015 at 11:03PMSon of Saul, 2015 - ★★★★½
Having spent the last few days watching quite a few traditional horror films I'm not sure if my brain really knew how to process this realistic horror. Considering how tired I was, the fact that I was kept fully alert and engaged throughout speaks volumes. It took the drive home to begin to appreciate what I'd just seen. Harrowing seems like the most suitable word to use but I think that only begins to cover things.
As a side note, a brief conversation after the film has made me realise that normally over the next few days my opinion would really form but because I'm in the middle of a film festival and seeing 4 other films tomorrow will I get chance to form my true opinion.
November 09, 2015 at 12:35AMTangerine, 2015 - ★★★★
Harking back to personal favourites likes Go, Run Lola Run and even After Hours I found myself liking this a lot but wanting something more to really lift it up. Great soundtrack as well.
November 09, 2015 at 12:22AM08 November 2015
Sensoria, 2015 - ★★★
Another well made haunted house/ghost movie. I always think it's a shame when a film maker who obviously loves horror uses a list of cliches as a basis for what to include rather than what to avoid and Hallman ticks them off at an alarming (and repetitive) rate. It's a shame the ending doesn't really work because it could've brought everything together in a more satisfying way but instead it just leaves things confused (and not in a good way).
November 08, 2015 at 11:51PMTaxi Tehran, 2015 - ★★★★
A great way of structuring a number of stories to present a wonderful snapshot of life. Would have like to have seen more, how about a Riding In Cars With Jafar TV series?
November 08, 2015 at 11:46PMThe Case of Hana & Alice, 2015 - ★★★★
Strange but increasingly charming. Once Hana and Alice team up everything comes together to tell a wonderful, funny and beautiful tale.
November 08, 2015 at 01:39PMRoar, 1981 - ★★★★★
One of the most jaw-dropping and fascinating films I've ever seen. Genuinely tense, frequently hilariously and just amazingly unbelievable that it's all real.
November 08, 2015 at 01:29AM07 November 2015
The Witch, 2015 - ★½
Hailed as the scariest film of the year presumably by people who have never seen a film. Dull, tedious and let down by anachronistic performance and difficult to follow dialogue (taken from real life written journals doesn't mean it was supposed to be spoken out loud as a conversation). The only hope was that it would be building to that scary finale; if it had done then it would still feel like it wasn't worth the journey. The fact that it fails to deliver anything remotely close to scary just makes it a waste of time.
Perhaps a problem with the hype and how the film was marketed rather than the film itself.
November 07, 2015 at 10:13PMTherapy for a Vampire, 2015 - ★★★
A whole lot of fun but not enough to make it a classic.
November 07, 2015 at 10:01PMShrew's Nest, 2014 - ★★★★
*Poster Spoiler*
It's nearly always obvious what's going to happen but it unravels with such wonderful style.
The Hallow, 2015 - ★★½
Competently made horror but too cliched at times and ends up being wholly unremarkable. There are too many jump scares that are neither surprising nor scary and for a jumpy horror film that's really a problem
November 07, 2015 at 03:02PM06 November 2015
The Thing, 1982 - ★★★★
It's always a relief to revisit a film and find that it hasn't aged at all. Although definitely of its time, it's all the better for it and manages to get everything right where so many modern horrors fail.
This screening at #LIFF29 was preceded by a specially filmed interview with John Carpenter and that was a whole other wonderfully weird experience.
November 06, 2015 at 10:43PM
Brooklyn, 2015 - ★★★★
A great start to #LIFF29 and much better than I was expecting. For a lot of the running time it feels like everything you'd expect from an award baiting BBC film. But there are also many unexpected laugh out loud moments (mainly from Julie Walters) and something much deeper running throughout the whole film. By the final third I was hooked enough to be swept away by the ending which so easily could've gone in another direction.
November 05, 2015 at 11:33PMMy #LIFF29 Ranked
Films ranked as I see them at the 29th Leeds International Film Festival.
November 05, 2015 at 11:36PM04 November 2015
Spectre, 2015 - ★★★½
I've never really been a fan of Bond; Casino Royale grabbed my interest before Quantum of Solace threw it away. I enjoyed Skyfall a lot and that was the main reason for wanting to see Spectre. I don't think Spectre is ever as satisfying as Skyfall but it is a film well made by a group of people who obviously know what they are doing.
There are a few problems though, for starters the film is far too long. Each set piece goes on a little longer than it should, it's unfair to call them boring because they don't lack excitement but they do feel like they drag on.
Then there's the women. Much was made of Monica Bellucci's casting but it's little more than a cameo and her scenes revert back to sleazy Bond of old. Lea Seydoux's character is much more interesting or at least she's initially set up that way and then wasted by reverting to a damsel in distress. I thought Bond (character and franchise) had matured and this seemed like a great opportunity to have a different type of relationship (although in real life Craig is younger than I thought at 47 and Seydoux is older at 30)
But is that what a Bond film is supposed to be? Apparently there are several nods to the rest of the Bond 'universe' (whatever that is - something else that never made any sense to me) so it's likely to appeal to fans more than it did to me. When trying to sum up how I felt about it all I was left thinking is it's good but is it as good as Kingsmen or Rogue Nation? And for me that answer is probably no.
November 03, 2015 at 11:52PM01 November 2015
Hotel Transylvania, 2012 - ★★★
I was expecting a low quality animation but found a lot to enjoy and appreciate in Hotel Transylvania.
November 01, 2015 at 03:03PMHorns, 2013 - ★★★½
Horns is a mess which is a real shame because there's a really good film trying to get out. There's a childhood flashback early on which drags on far too long and serves little purpose. Then more and more recent flashbacks occur and you have to wonder why. The strength of the film lies in the confessional performances and cutting away to tell things in a conventional flashback is just a waste. Fortunately every time the film starts to sag another great, often laugh out loud funny, moment comes along. When things start getting weird they may not make much sense but I found myself just going along with them in all the glorious madness.
November 01, 2015 at 02:58PMFear Itself, 2015 - ★★★
A solid compilation of fear in film but it it needed to be tied together with a stronger narrative.
November 01, 2015 at 02:52PMManiac, 2012 - ★★½
A first person slasher that occasional forgets its central conceit and shoots from another perspective for no reason. It starts off well but quickly becomes repetitive which makes you wish it had only been a short film. Great soundtrack though.
November 01, 2015 at 02:47PMMama, 2013 - ★★★½
I enjoyed this Del Toro production a lot more than Crimson Peak which I saw earlier in the week. Mama throws everything in the horror bucket at the screen and a lot of it sticks and works quite well. Unfortunately there's a lot that doesn't work. The visual effects aren't up to scratch especially for the non supernatural elements such as the rain and car accident near the start of the film. Throughout the film far too much is revealed that would be better left hidden which seems to be a huge problem with so many films. The ending is a mess which doesn't really make much sense but it's nice that it is slightly unconventional when it easily could have been.
November 01, 2015 at 02:40PM
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