Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Too tired but...

Just a quick post on my one VIFF free, meeting free night this week.

First - I've included my favorite VIFF trailer for those of you who haven't already seen it - I laughed out loud the first time I saw it and it still makes me grin.

So how is VIFF going so far?  REALLY well.  I don't have the energy to talk about the films in detail - yet - but in broad categories so far:

GREAT:  We Live in Public (old news I know); Will Not Stop There - oh my what an expected treat this was!  When the film opened with a gypsy porn star playing a folk song with his nose (and that isn't a euphemism), I really wasn't sure what we were in for - but it is a really nicely layered story with great characters and a nice balance of comedy and drama...I may write more on this one later; Afghan Star -    the pop culture wonder of the American Idol style show is a great foil to highlight the issues, culture, and people of a very complex country...and it also proves that teenage girls will vote for The Cute Boy no matter where in the world they are; and The Maid, for a really richly rendered look at the life of a woman who has allowed herself to become defined solely by her role in her employer's family, while never really truly being part of it.

VERY GOOD:  Excited! (it ranks this high largely because the setting is VERY Vancouver! Nice story too.); Only When I Dance; Nora's Will; Rembrandt's J'accuse (lovely and entertaining, but hard to follow at times - information overload from the giant brain of Peter Greenaway)

GOOD: Gigante (lovely character, but slooooow)

NOT GOOD:  It's Not Anime (a couple of good things but largely a disappointment)

Enough for now, more later....

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Love that VIFF trailer. Much better than this other one I saw twice, with two people (one with a creepy mask) in a dark place outside, dancing, with fake guns, and other assorted weirdness. That one didn't do anything for me, but the sexuality one is over-the-top enough to make an impact.

BunkleLife said...

Agreed re. the dancing couple. The third one (focusing on the joy of subtitles) is also very clever.