Drowned In Film #1: The 56th BFI London Film Festival
The past couple of weeks I've been mostly holed up in cinemas, watching a load of films ahead of their UK releases. The good, the bad and the ugly. All so you don't have to.
- Mount Kimbie - Cold Spring Fault Less Youth
- Baptist Generals - Jackleg Devotional to the Heart
- Tribes - Wish to Scream
- "More bands should split up" - Brett Anderson opens up to DiS about the return of Suede
- CocoRosie - Tales of a GrassWidow
- Laurel Halo - Behind the Green Door
- Frankie & the Heartstrings - The Days Run Away
- Drowned in Manchester #15 – May 2013
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Only managed to catch 7 or so films this time around
Highlight being the screening of Compliance where people walked out in their droves shouting at the screen.
Really looking forward to Keep The Lights On, The Master (obviously), Sister and The Oranges.
Gutted I missed Compliance
Caught quite a few others though- I'd say the best were Seven Psychopaths, Eat Sleep Die, End of Watch, For No Good Reason and After Lucia (which hasn't left me, although the more I think about the very ending the more darkly comic I find it).
Thought Crossfire Hurricane was excellent - it treated the band as individual and interesting characters rather than simply subjects of analysis, & it didn't fuck around with the factual details about albums etc that anyone can find on wikipedia, which obviously upset people. and it also didn't fuck around with much outside of 1962-1975 period, which is all you can ask really. To me it felt about as close as you can ever get to being in the band, which, all in all, is pretty exciting.
Yes, Compliance!
Which I missed because clashes thwarted me :( Gutted. Hoping to see it soon though. Were you actually at that screening?!
Hmmmm.
I just felt CH was lacking that critical viewpoint and focus that would have made it a must-see. I'm not especially fussed about the Stones either way (yes, I know...), but from that pov I didn't feel like I learned anything especially earth-shattering, and it didn't feel like mega fans would take anything new from it. Which is pretty much the litmus test of any documentary, no? So, yeah, pretty disappointed.
Understand what you mean about After Lucía though. I had a minor existential about the ending, and it still bugs me, but I can see how it would be viewed as (blackly!) comic. Definitely an exercise in endurance, though...
My highlights...
New Scandinavian gangster thrillers, Easy Money 1&2. Well written characters, lots of suspense, lot of heart.
The Hunt was fantastic. Mads Mikkelsen, one of the best performances from a lead actor I've seen in a while.
Room 237 is insanely bonkers, but take it with a pinch of salt and it becomes highly enjoyable. Brilliantly edited and both intentionally and unintentionally hilarious.
Can never
have mention of The Shining without linking to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Os6raCCmAFk
More seriously, if you're in the mood, it's back in cinemas - original extended version, previewing tomorrow, released properly on Friday...
Yep
I was at the screening in question, was so surreal. Not sure what those people were expecting though!