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Taking a step back, I can see that my two film choices for the day has similar themes, despite wildly different situations. Both films portrayed disenfranchised people, kept in their place by those in power. But both films had central characters that fight back, even as all odds seem...
Yep, I took another couple days off from SIFF. I must not be the only one suffering from film fatigue because SIFF was offering their members a 2-for-1 ticket deal for any screening between Sunday and Tuesday! Hopefully they were able to fill up some of those empty seats....
I have to say, this has been a great year for interesting docs at SIFF, and the captivating and inspiring documentary Man on Wire (7/8) is no exception. The film profiles confident, bold, and more than a bit crazy French acrobat Philippe Petit who strung a wire between New...
On Friday, I decided to nix the idea of seeing three movies in a row, starting at 4:30 (after yesterday’s sleepy incident). This meant I could sleep in a bit, and allow myself to get some kibble before my first movie at 6:30pm. Strangely enough, I had actually recently...
There is always some point during the festival where your body simply starts to wear out and bone-numbing fatigue sets in. I think I hit that today. Now, I know many of you out there will scoff at the following complaints, but let me say this: I am not...
I’m sure some of you out-of-town folks read this blog and think to your collective selves: Sheesh, why would a city have a film festival on the cusp of summer? When the sun rises at 5:13 am and finally sets hours and hours later at 9:03 pm? Wouldn’t people...
My screenings this second weekend of SIFF were admittedly light. I have to admit, my emotional energy (and excitement was focused on my Saturday Girls (and Boys) Night Out to eat, drink, then go see the new Sex and the City movie. Adults have to have some fun, too!...
For the second year in a row, SIFF has hosted a “Gay-La”, featuring a Film of the Gays, followed by a party afterwards. In theory, this is a great idea, and can often bring out (so to speak) an enthusiastic target audience. But it is unfortunate that out of...
Spider Lilies is the story of Takeko (Isabella Leong), a lonely tattoo artist who keeps to herself, and only seems to have social contact with her withdrawn adult brother who is stunted in childlike mentality after seeing their father die in an earthquake. After the earthquake, even though she...
My Wednesday night o’ SIFF’n featured, hands-down, the weirdest double-feature I’ve ever sat through. In short, I went from seeing truckloads of WWII Polish military officers get shot in the back of the head, execution-style, to modern smiling, fake-eyelashed, bedazzling women twirling tassels off their womanly assets. The transition...
Per the recommendation of my TIFF’n pals Eric and Vickie, I picked up at ticket to the British drama Boy A (7/8). I didn’t know much about the film going in, as it had been a long time since I had read their reviews (here, and here), but it...
It was Day Four of the fest, and I had yet to be really impressed by any of the films that had gotten good advance buzz. Sure, Battle in Seattle was fine, and the other films were mostly watchable, but there were no films that I was excited about....
