TIFF, Days Six and Seven

[przed]

Missed doing any reviews yesterday. It was my first of three solo-mom nights in a row and I was knackered by the time I got Ros to bed and the dishes done. Today I seem to be more in the swing of doing the solo parent thing.

On the film front, it continues to be a fabulous fest. Everything I've seen has been at least solid, and a bunch have been really great. Here's hoping the trend continues.

BTW, if there's anyone out there in LJ-land who can use a ticket to Good (with Viggo Mortensen and Jason Isaacs) this Friday at 2:45 PM, drop me a comment. I've got one going spare.


Title: Not Quite Hollywood
Director: Mark Hartley
Country: Australia
P's Rating: Recommended
A documentary on the B films that kick-started Australia's film industry in the '60s and '70s. A fascinating overview that goes way beyond Mad Max, though that worthy film is covered. Otherwise, there's clips from a host of sex comedies, slasher flicks and crazy action pieces, alongside interviews with the filmmakers who made them and the critics who reviled them. Fascinating stuff, if you're into genre cinema. Which I totally am.

Title: The Hurt Locker
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Country: U.S.
P's Rating: Highly Recommended
I've been a huge fan of Bigelow's since I saw Near Dark, way back when. I love the fact that she's a female filmmaker who's favourite subject is adrenaline and testosterone-soaked guy culture. She'd seemed to have lost her way, in her last few projects, but in The Hurt Locker, she's back on target and then some. It follows a three man bomb disposal squad in Irag, as they defuse bomb after bomb after bomb. Thing is, their bomb tech was just killed, and the new guy is a reckless cowboy when it comes to following procedure. But nothing is black and white in a Bigelow film, and the cowboy is more than just a thoughtless redneck. The film is fascinating and riveting and never goes entirely in the direction you think it's going to.

Title: Easy Virtue
Director: Stephan Elliot
Country: UK
P's Rating: Recommended
Based on a play by Noel Coward, and with a cast chock full of British acting talent, Easy Virtue is a charming little bonbon with as much acid as sweet. Ben Barnes plays the scion of a line of faded British aristocracy. When he marries an American woman racing car driver (Jessica Biel), his family is scandalized and set about getting rid of the interloper in their cosy society. Kristen Scott Thomas plays Barnes' mother, a woman who treats dinner table conversation as a blood sport, and Colin Firth is his father, a disillusioned man who lost too many family and friends in the trenches of World War One and is his new daughter-in-law's only ally. Made by the director of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, it's frothy and stylish and a heck of a lot of fun.

Comments

[ancastar.livejournal.com]

Easy Virtue sounds like my kind of film. I love Coward and a sympathetic Colin Firth is one of my fav things.

[przed.livejournal.com]

If you love Coward and Firth, you should totally see Easy Virtue. The entire cast acquits themselves well and it's a fun flick.

[cee-m.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the mass type emailing thing but I want to get this to as many of you as possible. I went back a few entries to it's less likely that charmax will actually see this.

I'm putting together, in conjunction with ch_wg, a prezzie for charmax's wedding. I'm putting together a goofy dance video for part of the present and I wanted to use pictures from her friends saying congrats. How much you're actually in the picture is up to you. I know some of you are fiercely private so you don't have to be in the picture yourself. Take a picture of your dog with a sign in front of him that says "Congrats from (your username)" or what have you. Just so long as it says who it's from so that she'll know who's sending the love I don't care what you put on it. If you want to photoshop something feel free to do so. PLEASE make sure your image is horizontal. I can play with it so far as sizing but horizontal will definitely help me with sticking it in the video.

REMEMBER... this is a secret so no snitching. If you want to post something like this on your journal (with charmax filtered, of course) that would be great.

I need the picture(s) by this Sunday October 12th. Email your pictures to countessmary@gmail.com

Thanks,

Mary

[przed.livejournal.com]

Noooo! I totally meant to get you a pic, and it slipped my memory. (The joy of raising a toddler. Your memory totally goes.)

Anyway, I just wanted to say I hope the video went well. And do give charmax my best on her wedding.

[cee-m.livejournal.com]

Hey, millylicious extended the timeline so if you want to still send one, feel free to. It doesn't HAVE to be a picture of you. If you want to grab a screencap of your favorite show and send me that, I'll put your name on it or something clever (which you will have to provide... I'm not clever.) and then put it in the vid.

Just let me know.