Today started early, checking in at the Industry Lounge for our credentials and familiarizing ourselves with the area. I even squeezed in three films. Three films that I really wanted to see. Not all of them great, but I am glad that I watched them.
As I am sitting down to write some reviews, I am really too tired to get everything out that I want to say. So I hope that you enjoy my abridged reviews, they will hopefully give you a taste of what I am able to get my eyes on at this fest.
THE TOWN (Ben Affleck) USA
This movie is most simply a good time; not the upbeat, happy-go-lucky sort but the action/drama kind of fun. Set in Charlestown, Boston THE TOWN is about the slums and those that grow up in a world of crime, where bank-robbing and car jacking are common practice. Doug (Affleck) and his three accomplices hold up a bank and take Claire (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage. When Doug gets romantically involved with Claire after the job and his crew start feeling heat from the FBI, things quickly get serious as they try to pull off one last heist.
Affleck has proved that he can direct an intriguing action film. His use of small streets for car chases and brutal violence give the film the grittiness that it needs. This is no DEPARTED although by its title, it should be more about Boston and not its leads. It is filled with cliches but it is a thrilling ride that works because of its great, seasoned actors. If there is one reason to see this film: Jeremy Renner's performance, he is perfect.
I'M STILL HERE (Casey Affleck) USA
Even with excessive drug use, prostitutes, male nudity, feces on the face and tears I'M STILL HERE resonates as a haunting portrayal of what the spotlight, or really any failed dream can become.
Yes, this is the documentary that follows Joaquin Phoenix on his journey from retired actor to rapper. Spanning over a year, Casey Affleck has made a triumphant directorial debut that dares to capture the "feelings" (if you can even call it that) of an apathetic generation, with Phoenix as the focal point.
The film is hard to describe, being that the viewer must just follow the journey. Phoenix rambles about why he wants to quit acting, saying that it was always false and never what he truly wanted to do, often cursing the media and what is the "perceived" version of Joaquin. Calling himself JP, he is mostly stoned, irate, contradictory and confused. But that is what is so funny. One conversation is Phoenix asking Affleck if winged creatures only use their wings to fly, he is thoroughly impressed when he finds out bees communicate with their wings. There are moments where I burst out laughing, unable to control how absurd and ridiculous he is and yet it was also so heartbreaking- you really want him to succeed.
But there are wonderfully poignant moments when Joaquin talks about the media, what it means to be a celebrity and why he is so important. He is the product of our own machine. Scary, but true. At the end of the film, when he dives underwater (finally washing his hair- you will want to personally buy a hairbrush and mail it to him by the end of this film) you are left thinking that if this crazy world can produce and crack the soul of human beings, then there is also hope for repair.
BAD FAITH (Kristian Petri) Sweden
Unfortunately, not all films that you see at a festival are going to be good. This film was so flawed in so many ways. It was "supposed" to be about a woman that is present in a series of serial killings and she takes it upon herself to solve the crimes. In reality, it played as a beautifully looking but drawn out, uneventful and uninteresting character piece that never developed its characters.
...and for tomorrow, I start screening at 9am. Goodnight!
1 comment:
How is Rebecca Hall in The Town? The movie's looked pretty good from the adverts, though, from your reaction, I might just wait for rental. I didn't have my heart SET on it or anything.
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