|
|
Oyster Farmer
(Anna Reeves)
 |
There weren't a lot of choices for my
first film, so I went with this Australian tale of a "fetching young man"
trying to adjust to the sleepy farming community of New South
Wales. |
| Touch the Sound
(Thomas Riedelsheimer)
|
Riedelsheimer
directed the gorgeous documentary Rivers and Tides, so this new
documentary about a percussionist and sound design sounded inviting. |
| Turtles Can Fly
(Bahman Ghobadi)
|
Ghobadi directed the
beautifully provocative A Time for Drunken Horses. Plus this film is
about the lead-up to the war in Iraq, but from a very different
perspective than we've received in the U.S. |
| Tropical Malady
(Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
|
This young
Thai director made Blissfully Yours, one of the best films I've seen
this year, so I'm anxious to see what he does next
|
| Clean
(Olivier Assayas)
|
Assayas isn't always my cup of tea,
but the film stars the luminous Maggie Cheung as well as Nick Nolte,
who has done some very impressive work in the last few years. The
reviews from Cannes were also strong. |
| Nobody Knows
(Hirokazu Kore-eda)
|
Another movie that drew
great praise at Cannes, it spotlights the theme of teenagers and
children growing up. |
| My Summer of Love
(Pawel Pawlikowski)
|
Another coming-of-age
tale, this one has great buzz about it after its premiere in
Edinburgh. |
| House of Flying Daggers
(Zhang Yimou)
|
Zhang Yimou, Zhang
Ziyi, and lots of martial arts and pageantry. Enough said.
|
| 3-Iron
(Kim Ki-duk)
|
From the director of Spring, Summer,
Fall, Winter...and Spring, this relationship drama sounds strong.
|
| A Hole in My Heart
(Lukas Moodysson)
|
Though I'm a little
nervous about the buzz on this one (apparently it's tough stuff), I
love Moodysson's work and his willingness to think about contemporary
morality. |
| Earth and Ashes
(Atiq Rahimi)
|
I love Iranian cinema. Though
this film is Afghani, the description makes it sound like a film
Makhmalbaf might've made. |
| Wavelengths #3
(Various directors)
|
Last year, I took
a chance on a program of avant-garde works, and I was thrilled I did.
In the middle of a festival, there's something useful about seeing
something completely different. It's like a cleansing of the palette,
a reminder of the various ways in which we can watch a moving image.
So I emailed my good friend Neil Robinson, who knows a lot more about
experimental cinema than I do, for his recommendation. Fortunately,
his suggestion didn't conflict with anything else I wanted to see.
|
| Darwin's Nightmare
(Hubert Sauper)
|
I admit that sleep
might get in the way of this screening, but I wanted to see at least
a few documentaries this festival. And this one about the effects of
globalization on African fisherman sounded compelling. |
| Schizo
(Guka Omarova)
|
I've been greatly impressed with
the films I've seen from central Asia in the last couple years, so I
thought I'd take a chance on this movie from Kazakhstan. |
| Cinevardaphoto
(Agnes Varda)
|
Agnes Varda directed the
absolutely delightful and insightful Gleaners and I. This new
personal documentary about photography sounds just as good.
|
| On the Outs
(Lori Silverbush and Michael Skolnik)
|
The movie
starring Judy Marte, but the theme of lower-class Latino teenagers
was a draw, too. |
| 10e Chambre, Instants
(Raymond Depardon)
|
A documentary about
the French judicial system, this got rave notices at Cannes. |
| Buffalo Boy
(Minh Nguyen-Vo)
|
My love of East Asian film
comes to the fore, and I can't pass up a quiet Vietnamese
coming-of-age tale. |
| Palindromes
(Todd Solondz)
|
After a nice morning to sleep in,
I wake up to Todd Solondz. I'm still not sure what I think of this
director, but I am interested to see what he does next. Besides,
there wasn't anything at this time I wanted to see more. |
| The Holy Girl
(Lucrecia Martel)
|
Another huge hit at Cannes, it's
also a nice representation of the explosion in Argentinean cinema. |
| Cafe Lumiere
(Hou Hsiao-hsien)
|
Hou with an homage to Ozu.
What more could I ask for? |
| Old Boy
(Park Chan-wook)
|
More East Asian cinema, this one's
from Korea and comes highly reviewed. |
| Kontroll
(Nimrod Antal)
|
It feels like I should see at least
one midnight movie in Toronto, and this one sounded the most
accessible. |
| Yesterday
(Darrell James Roodt)
|
A fictional film dealing
with African AIDS crisis sounds powerful, but I'm not sure I'll be
out of bed for this one. But I'll try. |
| L'Intrus
(Claire Denis)
|
Denis attempting to tell a story in
"purely visual and aural terms." I'm there. |
| Stray Dogs
(Marziyeh Meshkini)
|
more Iranian cinema, and
Meshkini has already proven herself with the surreal The Day I Became
a Woman. |
| À tout de suite
(Benoit Jacquot)
|
One last factor I haven't
mentioned is that I like to see at least a few films that will play
in next month's Chicago International Film Festival. That way I can
expand my coverage of that fest. Jacquot's latest is playing in
Chicago, and it sounded like it'd be worthwhile. |
| Boats Out of Watermelon Rinds
(Ahmet Ulucay)
|
A Turkish
movie about teenage boys trying to break into movies. Now that's a
festival film.
|
| Low Life
(Im Kwon-taek)
|
Im's 2001 feature Chunhyang was
my favorite movie of that year. I didn't like Chiwaeson as much, but
I'm still excited to see what he comes up with. |
| 5 x 2
(Francois Ozon)
|
Another "Director's Choice". |
| Duck Season
(Fernando Eimbcke)
|
A laid-back comedy about
Mexican teenagers might be just what I need at this point in the
festival. |
| 10 on Ten / Five
(Abbas Kiarostami)
|
Kiarostami!
Kiarostami! Kiarostami! |
| Diary of a Country Priest
(Robert Bresson)
|
I really wish
this movie was closer to the beginning of the festival. Even with
Chantal Akerman providing an introduction, the rigor of Bresson might
be hard to take on day 9. But I'm going to give it a try. |
| Whisky
(Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll)
|
Another movie
with great buzz at Cannes. Besides, I've never seen a movie from
Uruguay before. |
| Eros
(various directors)
|
I don't have a ticket to this, but
I'm hoping that somehow the rush line will be kind to me.
|
| Brodueses
(Eleonore Faucher)
|
A prize-winner at Cannes
provides the send-off for Toronto. |
