MIFF Day 4
Today began my Joe Dante kick, though I'm only managing to fit in the ones I haven't seen before.
MATINEE
I'm very glad I saw the William Castle doco before this loving tribute to the man. Dante's 1993 film features John Goodman playing Lawrence Woolsey, a Castle-like film producer who is premiering his new film Mant! in Key West. But then the Cuban Missile Crisis hits, and a crowded theatre of kids and a paranoid theatre owner combine for chaos when his stage gimmicks get confused for nuclear attack. It's very much a classic Dante flick, children, nostalgia, a sense of adventure and a bit of threat. Not exactly his greatest film mind you, but a solid bit of fun.
THE MESSENGER
Iraq war films are a genre unto themselves now. Most are pretty lousy too. This could easily have been one of them, but it's saved by the central performances of Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster. The idea is decent too, the two men are detailed to giving death notices to the next of kin of soldiers killed in Iraq. It shows a side of war that's often examined, but the device lets it look at it in a different way. There's a plot that runs through it all involving Foster's relationship to his ex (Jena Malone, unrecognisable in a bob cut) and his growing attachment to a widow (Samantha Morton) he notifies, but it's all fairly inconsequential. What's really on offer is two great performances, and they're worth the time.
SPACE TOURISTS
Based on a book of photographs documenting the Russian Space Program from a unique perspective, this film shows the process followed in training the space tourists who pay $20 million each to travel to the International Space Station. It also examines the fallout of the collapse of the Soviet Union on the program, and the weird ecology the rocket launches have created. From scrap metal hunters who chase the falling booster rockets to farmers who live in the trajectory of the debris, it paints an intriguing picture of how everyone struggles to make ends meet now that the money is harder to come by. It falters slightly, detouring to tell the story of some entrants in the X Prize who attempt to land a module on the moon, but the whole is held together by the fascination space holds, and the ambitions of so many to reach it. The photography from the portholes of the ISS alone make this worth watching, but the stories of the people in Kazakstan who live off these launches is what makes it truly interesting.
WORLD'S GREATEST DAD
I had no idea what this was about, other than that it was a father with a kid who's into seriously deviant porn. I wasn't expecting what it became. And because that was part of the joy of the film, I won't say too much about it. It's a wonderfully dark comedy, black as pitch and yet with a warmth running through it that's surprising. Bobcat Goldthwaite has made a really great film, though it's a niche audience that will love it. But the cinema I was in was roaring with laughter. It's out on DVD now, so watch it if you love your comedy dark, twisted and teetering on the nice side of cynical.
BLANK CITY
A retrospective on the No Wave movement of the 70s and early 80s in New York, where punk, cinema and art collided. You know the format, people speak fondly of the days before everyone became famous and they made films just for themselves and success was unimportant. John Lurie evens goes so far as to single out Basquiat for wrecking the whole thing by making having money cool. It's an interesting collection of memories, and manages to puncture romanticised nostalgia by closing with Jim Jarmusch saying the past is over, get on with making the future. Given the tendency for films like this to over-sentimentalise and lament the passing of a golden era, it's a bold way to close. For that reason, I love the film.
MATINEE
I'm very glad I saw the William Castle doco before this loving tribute to the man. Dante's 1993 film features John Goodman playing Lawrence Woolsey, a Castle-like film producer who is premiering his new film Mant! in Key West. But then the Cuban Missile Crisis hits, and a crowded theatre of kids and a paranoid theatre owner combine for chaos when his stage gimmicks get confused for nuclear attack. It's very much a classic Dante flick, children, nostalgia, a sense of adventure and a bit of threat. Not exactly his greatest film mind you, but a solid bit of fun.
THE MESSENGER
Iraq war films are a genre unto themselves now. Most are pretty lousy too. This could easily have been one of them, but it's saved by the central performances of Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster. The idea is decent too, the two men are detailed to giving death notices to the next of kin of soldiers killed in Iraq. It shows a side of war that's often examined, but the device lets it look at it in a different way. There's a plot that runs through it all involving Foster's relationship to his ex (Jena Malone, unrecognisable in a bob cut) and his growing attachment to a widow (Samantha Morton) he notifies, but it's all fairly inconsequential. What's really on offer is two great performances, and they're worth the time.
SPACE TOURISTS
Based on a book of photographs documenting the Russian Space Program from a unique perspective, this film shows the process followed in training the space tourists who pay $20 million each to travel to the International Space Station. It also examines the fallout of the collapse of the Soviet Union on the program, and the weird ecology the rocket launches have created. From scrap metal hunters who chase the falling booster rockets to farmers who live in the trajectory of the debris, it paints an intriguing picture of how everyone struggles to make ends meet now that the money is harder to come by. It falters slightly, detouring to tell the story of some entrants in the X Prize who attempt to land a module on the moon, but the whole is held together by the fascination space holds, and the ambitions of so many to reach it. The photography from the portholes of the ISS alone make this worth watching, but the stories of the people in Kazakstan who live off these launches is what makes it truly interesting.
WORLD'S GREATEST DAD
I had no idea what this was about, other than that it was a father with a kid who's into seriously deviant porn. I wasn't expecting what it became. And because that was part of the joy of the film, I won't say too much about it. It's a wonderfully dark comedy, black as pitch and yet with a warmth running through it that's surprising. Bobcat Goldthwaite has made a really great film, though it's a niche audience that will love it. But the cinema I was in was roaring with laughter. It's out on DVD now, so watch it if you love your comedy dark, twisted and teetering on the nice side of cynical.
BLANK CITY
A retrospective on the No Wave movement of the 70s and early 80s in New York, where punk, cinema and art collided. You know the format, people speak fondly of the days before everyone became famous and they made films just for themselves and success was unimportant. John Lurie evens goes so far as to single out Basquiat for wrecking the whole thing by making having money cool. It's an interesting collection of memories, and manages to puncture romanticised nostalgia by closing with Jim Jarmusch saying the past is over, get on with making the future. Given the tendency for films like this to over-sentimentalise and lament the passing of a golden era, it's a bold way to close. For that reason, I love the film.
posted by Andrew Lee at 11:55 PM
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