| back to Dan's film festival schedule |
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| Date |
Time |
Venue |
Title |
Running Time |
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October 21 2004 |
7:30pm |
Oriental Theater |
Gettin' Grown |
74 minutes |
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Wonderfully poignant film about the responsibilities of growing older. A great ensemble cast, with a winning script and terrific improv from the mostly non-professional cast. Great to see Milwaukee put to use as a location.
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October 22 2004 |
3:00pm |
Oriental Theater |
The Rage in Placid Lake |
89 minutes |
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Once again, an example of the brilliance inherent in Australian cinema. Laugh out loud funny, with charming characters and amazing cinematography. Rose Byrne as Gemma...(swoon)...Preceded by "Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner", a delightfully strange and surreal film about family life.
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5:00pm |
Oriental Theater |
Dear Frankie |
105 minues |
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Touching film about a young child's connection with his absentee father, and his mother's efforts to ease that situation for him. As a mute, with little dialog, this was one fo the best performances by a child since Victoire Thivosol in "Ponette". Preceded by "Passing Hearts", a touching and tender film with truly amazing acting, about a young boy who seeks out the parents of the child who died so he could have a heart transplant.
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7:45pm |
Oriental Theater |
Best in Show |
92 minutes |
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One of the best shorts programs I've seen in years. "Gowanus, Brooklyn" had some incredible acting and script, "Merci!" was delightfully lighthearted and funny, without dialog and to the point. "The School" was twisted in a David Lynch Kinda Way. "Wasp" was a brilliantly acted piece that made me cring at its realism. "The Dog Who Was a Cat Inside" was a terrific little animation with a simple conceptual punchline, and a great payoff. "The Man Without a Head" was a beautifully shot and surreal piece. "The Projectionist" had some of the most amazing shooting and visuals I've seen in a long time, along with stop motion and wonderful allegory.
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12:00m |
Oriental Theater |
Hair High |
80 minutes |
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Bill Plympton's latest feature length animation fell a little flat. Weak script, inconsistent animation, and far too few dismemberments. There were far more in the short which preceded the feature, a new one called Guard Dog which was laugh out loud funny, had consistently good animation, and a lovely punch line payoff.
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October 23 2004 |
1:30pm |
Oriental Theater |
The Best of Youth, Part 1 |
183 minutes |
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An absolutely amazing and compelling film, with excellently drawn characters and beautiful Italian settings. Three hours haven't passed so quickly in a long time.
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5:15pm |
Oriental Theater |
Nothing More |
90 minutes |
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This Cuban film had an interesting feel to it; sometimes drama sometime documentary, and often confused about what it was. Didn't bother me though. It seemed to work quite well in the context of the story.
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7:15pm |
Downer Theater |
Cinema for the Ear |
90 minutes |
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An OK comp of short films dealing with music. A couple that were far too long, a couple mediocre ones, and a couple outstanding ones.
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12:00m |
Oriental |
Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance |
121 minutes |
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A wonderful Hong-Kong action film with copious amounts of bloodshed and gunfights as everyone sought their vengeance on everyone else. Quite a fun ride.
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2:30pm |
Oriental Theater |
The Last Train |
94 minutes |
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Touching story about a railroad preservation society's efforts to rescue a steam engine from Hollywood. Well-drawn characters, and some funny moments. A good, light-hearted, feel-good movie.
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4:30pm |
Oriental Theater |
Head On |
123 minutes |
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One of my favorites of the festival. An incredibly complex and compelling character drama with terrific acting, stunning cinematography, and amazing writing. Another winner from Fatih Akin.
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7:00pm |
Downer |
The Tulse Luper Suitcases |
127 minutes |
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Peter Greenaway's latest film was visually stunning, and reminded me quite a bit of Cremaster with some of its symbolism and flow. Lush and complex, still washing over me.
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9:15pm |
Downer |
Sexual Dependency |
104 minutes |
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Interesting film from Bolivia that kind of meandered until the ending drove the point home. Unfortunately, the pacing had made it seem a little disjointed prior to that, and I'd been pulled out of the story by an over-the-top monologue about sexual politics that missed the mark in terms of the films overall feel.
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October 25 2004 |
6:00pm |
Downer |
A Red Bear |
94 minutes |
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Wow. A great crime spree story that balances the caper film genre with excellent character development. Amazing script and tremendous acting.
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8:00pm |
Downer Theater |
Tarnation |
88 minutes |
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Excellent documentary; a tender look at the documentarian's mother's mental illness and how he comes to terms with it in the context of his own life. Made for under $300.00 with I-Movie, Gus van Sant executive produced it to get it release ready.
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9:30pm |
Oriental Theater |
Torremolinos 73 |
94 minutes |
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Funny and heartwarming sex romp. Great character development, wonderful script, and an excellent balance of sexual subject matter with prurient interests.
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October 26 2004 |
5:15pm |
Oriental Theater |
The Snow Walker |
103 minutes |
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Wonderful docudrama about a crashed pilot who walks across northern Canada, accompanied by a native woman with tuberculosis. Intense character drama, and sparse dialog, making this an excellent example of 'show don't tell'.
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7:15pm |
Oriental Theater |
Infernal Affairs |
97 minutes |
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Another Hong Kong action film, with significantly less action than it should have had. Great opening setup, and a nice, twisty corrupt cop story, but with less gunplay and bloodshed than I would have expected.
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9:30pm |
Oriental Theater |
Anatomy of Hell |
77 minutes |
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Catherine Breillat's latest was an amazingly compelling film starring Rocco Siffredi. Exploring issues of female sexuality in a way rarely seen on screen, it was fun watching the audience squirm. Lots of what was going on reminded me of the perfect feminist film.
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October 27 2004 |
3:00pm |
Oriental Theater |
A Matter of Time |
93 minutes |
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Another shorts compilation with few standouts.
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5:00pm |
Downer |
Lost Boys of Sudan |
83 minutes |
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Wonderful documentary about Sudanese refugees acclimating to life in the U.S. Interesting moments and characters, but missed the mark a little bit. Not as satisfying as other docs I saw at the festival.
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7:00pm |
Downer Theater |
Days of Being Wild |
89 minutes |
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Lush and colorful drama from Wong Kar Wei, with lovely characters and a tender and nostalgic look at love and relationships.
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October 28 2004 |
3:15pm |
Oriental Theater |
Vodka Lemon |
90 minutes |
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Eastern-european pacing, and settings that were stark and icy throughout. More oppressive than last year's Noi Albinoi Icelandic bleakness,
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5:15pm |
Oriental Theater |
Madness & Genius |
105 minutes |
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Wonderful "Pi"-like exploration of the connections between, well, madness and genius. How are they the same? How are they linked and how are they different? The characters are somewhat caricatures, but the explorations theyh make are quite compelling
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7:15pm |
Downer Theater |
Balzac & the Little Chinese Seamstress |
111 minutes |
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Lush cinematography and wonderful characters made this film a joy to watch. Taking place at a re-education camp in China during the 70s, the film concerns two brothers and the seamstress from the mountains they teach to read. The banned books they've stashed away and use for the lessons are an interesting counterpoint to the teachings of Chairmain Mao, and lead to some wonderful character developments as the story progresses.
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9:15pm |
Oriental |
Man of the Year |
116 minutes |
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Wonderful Brazilian film with excellently drawn characters. The film does a wonderful job of exploring the notions of how the consequences of rash decisions can spiral out of control, and the story that develops through circumstances and events is a great catalyst for the characters' reexamination of their lives. An excellent film.
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12:00m |
Oriental |
Tamala 2010: A Punk Cat |
92 minutes |
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Lots of fun. A wonderfully surreal and strange anime with plenty of surprise funny bits, bizarre moments, and wonderfully surprising 'cat moments' of the personified Tamala engaging in typical cat-like behaviors (like suddenly starting to run at breakneck speed) while in human-ish form.
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5:15pm |
Oriental |
Who Killed Bambi? |
126 minutes |
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A thirller as only the French can make them. Wonderfully compelling with great characters, situations, and plot.
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October 30 2004 |
1:00pm |
Oriental Theater |
Facing Windows |
106 minutes |
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Reminiscent of Vivendi Soir, but more straightforwards as a narrative. A tender look at the process, implications, and effects of infatuation.
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3:00pm |
Milw. Art Museum |
Buddy |
100 minutes |
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Amazing character drama that involve a group of friends whose home videos become TV hits. A few weaknesses in technique, but overall a lovely piece.
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October 31 2004 |
1:15pm |
Oriental Theater |
Incident at Loch Ness |
94 minutes |
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Is this a documentary or a mockumentary? Involving Werner Herzog as himself blurs that line considerably, and makes this a wonderfully self-reflexive film that non-filmmakers can appreciate as much as filmmakers could appreciate Gilliam's pain in Lost in La Mancha.
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4:00pm |
Oriental Theater |
The Fall of the House of Usher |
60 minutes |
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Wonderful visuals that I found quite inspiring for some of my personal projects. Partly German Expressionism, part Surrealism, part noir. A dark, creepy feeling that Mark GE would be proud of.
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9:30pm |
Oriental Theater |
The War |
89 minutes |
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Graphic images of war in this compelling and disturbing story of a man's efforts to rescue his fiancee from a Chechen prison. Very good film
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