What I Did At The Festival
Jul. 27th, 2004 06:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
msconductMore than 100,000 tickets were sold for the Auckland Film Festival this year, a small proportion of which were bought by someone other than me.
Control Room So al-Jazeera aren't a bunch of terrorist-loving, wild-eyed towelheads after all. Take that, Fox News. Thoughtful and understated, this is the anti-Fahrenheit 9/11.
Super Size Me Just as much fun as it sounds. What a relief to have an excuse never to go to McDonalds again.
The Cat Returns Enchanting anime. Fabulous stuff, in more ways than one.
A Nation Without Women Woah, bummer. Most Depressing Film Of The Festival, with some enjoyably non-Western-tradition plot turns. Good stuff, if a bit illogical.
The Saddest Music In The World Eskimos, a glass leg and a pool full of beer. Completely off the wall. You might not actually like it, but you'll certainly find it interesting.
Best Of British More Creature Comforts! Yeah! Lacks the bite of the first one, but hey, it's Aardman. How bad can that be?
Born Into Brothels Low-key, non-moralising and thought-provoking. Also depressing, but what did you expect?
Rhythm Is It! A must for anyone remotely musically inclined, and a fascinating doco even if your ears have been fashioned from ferrous metal.
Screaming Men Somewhere between documentary and performance art, and riveting. Ils sont fous ces Finns.
Open Water People. Water. An ominous fin. Haven't we seen this somewhere before? Forgettable.
Animation Now! Some great stuff in here, including the most original claymation I've ever seen. Go Estonia. Watch out for the squiggly line, though.
Queen Of The Gypsies Carmen Amaya revolutionised flamenco, and this doco shows why. Would make a flamenco fan out of a Wee Free.
The Master And His Pupil You really need to like classical music for this one, but if you, it's great stuff. Valery Gergiev shows exactly why his dance card is full for the next umpteen years.
Bright Leaves Rambling and self-indulgent. Somebody get this man an editor.
The Corporation Michael Moore-endorsed (of course), and while it's not as slanted as his stuff, it's not as objective as it pretends to be, either. Two hours of stuff you already know, then some you might not, but worthwhile all the same.
Primer Good effort for no budget, but the science is too stupid. An honourable failure.
Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Winds Either all anime is fantastic or I have no critical faculties whatsoever. Maybe both. Anyway, sheer brilliance.
Frodo Is Great, Who Is That? To think I nearly skipped this one on the assumption it'd turn up on TV. A non-patronising examination of the phenomenon of fandom and killingly funny as well. My pick of the Festival.
The Yes Men Sort of interesting, but rather too self-congratulatory. This was one anti-globalisation documentary too many. Ooh, look! Michael Moore!
LA Plays Itself A look at the way Los Angeles has appeared in the movies. Idiosyncratic, thoughtful, fascinating. ALso lengthy, but there's an interval, so you don't have to go more than one hour forty without popcorn.
Great Festival. Roll on next year.
Control Room So al-Jazeera aren't a bunch of terrorist-loving, wild-eyed towelheads after all. Take that, Fox News. Thoughtful and understated, this is the anti-Fahrenheit 9/11.
Super Size Me Just as much fun as it sounds. What a relief to have an excuse never to go to McDonalds again.
The Cat Returns Enchanting anime. Fabulous stuff, in more ways than one.
A Nation Without Women Woah, bummer. Most Depressing Film Of The Festival, with some enjoyably non-Western-tradition plot turns. Good stuff, if a bit illogical.
The Saddest Music In The World Eskimos, a glass leg and a pool full of beer. Completely off the wall. You might not actually like it, but you'll certainly find it interesting.
Best Of British More Creature Comforts! Yeah! Lacks the bite of the first one, but hey, it's Aardman. How bad can that be?
Born Into Brothels Low-key, non-moralising and thought-provoking. Also depressing, but what did you expect?
Rhythm Is It! A must for anyone remotely musically inclined, and a fascinating doco even if your ears have been fashioned from ferrous metal.
Screaming Men Somewhere between documentary and performance art, and riveting. Ils sont fous ces Finns.
Open Water People. Water. An ominous fin. Haven't we seen this somewhere before? Forgettable.
Animation Now! Some great stuff in here, including the most original claymation I've ever seen. Go Estonia. Watch out for the squiggly line, though.
Queen Of The Gypsies Carmen Amaya revolutionised flamenco, and this doco shows why. Would make a flamenco fan out of a Wee Free.
The Master And His Pupil You really need to like classical music for this one, but if you, it's great stuff. Valery Gergiev shows exactly why his dance card is full for the next umpteen years.
Bright Leaves Rambling and self-indulgent. Somebody get this man an editor.
The Corporation Michael Moore-endorsed (of course), and while it's not as slanted as his stuff, it's not as objective as it pretends to be, either. Two hours of stuff you already know, then some you might not, but worthwhile all the same.
Primer Good effort for no budget, but the science is too stupid. An honourable failure.
Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Winds Either all anime is fantastic or I have no critical faculties whatsoever. Maybe both. Anyway, sheer brilliance.
Frodo Is Great, Who Is That? To think I nearly skipped this one on the assumption it'd turn up on TV. A non-patronising examination of the phenomenon of fandom and killingly funny as well. My pick of the Festival.
The Yes Men Sort of interesting, but rather too self-congratulatory. This was one anti-globalisation documentary too many. Ooh, look! Michael Moore!
LA Plays Itself A look at the way Los Angeles has appeared in the movies. Idiosyncratic, thoughtful, fascinating. ALso lengthy, but there's an interval, so you don't have to go more than one hour forty without popcorn.
Great Festival. Roll on next year.
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Date: 2004-07-27 03:47 am (UTC)