talhotblond

A middle-aged man engages in an obsessive affair with an 18 year old girl via the internet, in the persona of a young marine stationed overseas. As the story unfolds, we discover that neither of them is what they claim to be, and the affair eventually culminates in the cold-blooded murder of a young man who comes between them. Oh, and it's a documentary.

This particular crime is chillingly easy to unravel, as all parties involved had nearly all their interactions logged on their computers. The documentary unfolds the story as a narrative, replaying key conversations verbatim.

Aside from some detailed interviews, the film also uses fictional narration by the dead man, and running commentary and analysis by a psychiatrist who has nothing to do with the case itself, but who is incredibly witty and entertaining while setting the context of the players' actions.

It's a tragic story, and there's nothing to like in any of the people shown here, but the flow of the whole thing is gripping.

Swimsuit Issue

An aging Swedish floor hockey team reinvents themselves as a male synchronised swimming team. It's the kind of plot that can turn out pretty badly in the wrong hands, but in this case the writing and acting are both quite strong, and the whole thing fits beautifully.

The pacing is perfect, drawing you along without a second of boredom or tiredness. With plenty of black comedy and character development, as well as some really beautiful cinematography and a fantastic soundtrack, this comedy is a must see.

Cold Souls

Paul Giammati (as Paul Giammati) goes to a "soul storage" facility to lighten his metaphysical burden until he can make it through a performance of Uncle Vanya. The movie then follows his struggles with conscience -- and the fact that without a soul he's a really terrible actor -- through episodes both serious and hilarious.

I really have a soft spot for these kind of indie Vonnegut-esque sci-fi films. Reality as it is today, just with a slight twist, and a great cast and script to back it up. The direction and writing is really top notch, especially for a first film. And while the pacing drags just a tiny bit in the middle, the pacing overall is pretty tight, and a fantastic story easily makes this a must see.

(500) Days Of Summer

There are some movies where everything just clicks. Great cast with good chemistry, beautiful but understated cinematography, great writing, and a soundtrack that captures the mood perfectly.

500 Days Of Summer is not a love story, and it's not exactly happy. But it's bitter sweet, and really perfect. Framed as a romantic comedy, but so quirky and so well done that you can't help liking it.

Black Dynamite

Michael Jai White, the writer and star of Black Dynamite, had the perfect way to describe it. He said, roughly, that Blacksploitation as a genre took itself so seriously back when it was made that the line between homage and parody is blurred, because to do it as seriously as they did, today, is hysterical.

Everything about Black Dynamite is amazing. The music, the over-the-top kung fu, the random nudity, and the insanely cheesy dialog delivered with fierce intensity. Even without the parody element it stands up well, as the martial arts have a crisp, angular quality that I really haven't seen anywhere else. But taken as a whole, it's basically fantastic.

That Evening Sun

Absolutely beautiful. Hal Holbrook is a fantastic character actor, and plays the crotchety old man perfectly. Amy Ryan is nearly unrecognisable (again), and good as ever. In fact the entire cast is great.

On top of that, though, the music is excellent, the cinematography and shots are gorgeous, and the writing is really clever. There's no "bad" side to the feud between the protagonists, and you end up feeling sorry for both. Plenty of laughs as well, although this is not really a happy movie. One of the best things I've seen at the festival so far.

Tears Of April

A woman fighting on the losing side of the Finnish civil war in 1918 is captured, and befriends her captor on the way to her trial. The setting is pretty standard, but the cinematography and acting make this work really well.

The two leads are both excellent, and the judge, a writer who has found his bloodthirsty side during the war, is played to chilling effect. A number of chilling scenes between him and the male lead are worth watching several times, as well as the chemistry between all the leads.

The Hurt Locker

The best way I can describe The Hurt Locker is: the best damn war movie I've ever seen.

Raw, authentic, and terrifying. You get an awesome sense of the feeling of helplessness experienced by troops in Iraq, The choice to focus on bomb technicians is a superb one, putting the viewer immediately at the heart of the worst part of the Iraq war.

The acting from the leads is amazing, and they're supported by several high-profile cameos that give the film an eerie sense of drifting among the other more flashy offerings in the genre.

This film is perfect, and everyone needs to see it.

Moon

I've been a fan of Sam Rockwell since I saw Lawn Dogs on basic cable in 9th grade. He tends to play relatively understated characters, and sadly not a lot of leads, so I'm always grateful for anything that gets him out there. I'm also a fan of retro sci-fi, which focuses on real people rather than explosions and special effects, so my expectations going into this were pretty high.

Even so, I was completely blown away. Sam Rockwell is mesmerising in this role. The movie as mostly him alone on the screen for an hour and a half, and I couldn't look away. The special effects are brilliant, with the externals of the lunar base shot in miniature on a sound stage with fantastic results. The writing is amazing, standing out as an instant classic without relying on surprise plot twists or gimmicks.

The director, Duncan Jones, said they drew inspiration from 70s classics like Silent Running and (indirectly) 2001. I say he far surpassed those. He managed to capture the feel perfectly, while adding an element of modern special effects and modern acting that was never achieved in the old classics, and makes the entire thing much more magical and empathetic. If you have a chance to see this, do not pass it up.

$9.99

Stop motion animation often tends to be cutesy, or at least a bit cartoonish even when the subject matter is serious. $9.99 is a rare gem of a movie, portraying a number of unattractive and unhappy people in fantastic detail. The small touches throughout the film are fantastic, from gently glowing cigarette tips to the sweat and grime on every character.

The voice acting is superb as well, opening with Geoffrey Rush, who is always fantastic. The characters express a fair amount of emotion for being relatively realistic, and they're helped by solid writing in the script.

The plot overall is what really makes this work, with a sleepy suburban setting slowly turning into a dreamy fantasy world. It's slow, but the process of discovering that other world is very rewarding.

Departures

Wow. The first half was a bit slow and maybe a bit too slapstick compared to the second. But the second half... sniffles from all over the theater. Some absolutely beautiful scenes. The acting was fantastic, the music was used incredibly well. Some very nice, simple cinematography as well.

My only complaint is that they could have explained a bit more of the social stigma surrounding morticians in Japanese culture. I'd just happened to read about it a bit the week prior to seeing this, and that understanding certainly helped convey how important some of the character reactions were. That lack of context might make this a bit harder to catch on with American audiences.

But wow. So good. I went into this expecting to be a bit underwhelmed because of the hype, and left completely blown away.

Paper Heart

I keep thinking I'm going to get tired of Michael Cera, but it never happens. Although honestly, Charlotte Lee completely steals the show here (as much as the main character can steal it, but as she says at one point, "Michael is way more successful than me").

Charlotte plays herself, shooting a documentary about why she can't fall in love. Michael Cera plays himself as the guy she falls for during shooting. The awkwardness level is through the roof, but they play off each other perfectly. And a series of fantastic interviews fill out the documentary, along with 4 ingenious puppet show segments to illustrate select interviews.

I honestly can't tell which parts were ad-libbed and which were totally scripted, which is part of why it works so well. Even though you know the general premise is fake, the interviews are very genuine, especially the one with a playground full of children.

The direction is low key, the production on the puppet shows is fantastic, and the acting is perfect. The entire thing is charming to the point of being disgusting. I loved every second.

Shrink

Dreamy and beautiful. It's relatively rare to find a really good ensemble drama outside of Paul Thomas Anderson's movies, and this is one of the really good ones.

For most of the movie the plot drifts in and out of small vignettes in the lives of Hollywood actors, agents, shrinks, and students, rendered against a beautiful sound-scape reminiscent of Stars Of The Lid. Sometimes only seconds long, the brief glimpses set a fantastic mood, while building a story so subtly that I found myself surprised when I realized how much foundation had been laid.

The entire cast is excellent, but Kevin Spacey is in rare form, possibly even more enjoyable to watch here than in American Beauty. Several climactic scenes had me nearly in tears from his expression and presence alone.

The plot and writing are very solid. It's not easy to weave such a scattered plot into something that grabs your attention.

This type of film in general is one of my favorites, and I'm always ecstatic when I find another that lives up to the genre. As the first show of the festival, this is a very good sign.

Towelhead

SIFF always seems to save a couple of the best movies of the festival for the closing weekend (mostly it's random junk), and this year it's Towelhead, a story of a young Lebanese girl growing up in Texas.

The story is slow, mostly about her difficulties finding acceptance with her friends, family, and herself, and that could be blandly generic if not for excellent writing and amazing cast and direction. Every performance is perfect, and there's an immense power behind the story, script, and direction.

When it gets a wide release, some people are certainly going to be offended by the fact that it contains frank examination of young teenage sexuality, and that it contains plot elements of abuse without making the abuser out as a total monster. But the honesty in every character is rare for a film about such touchy subjects, and it's absolutely worth watching.

Phoebe in Wonderland

It's easy to go handle a movie about children badly. Either making them more childlike than they really are, or more cute, or even more adult. And I think there's a tendency to tone down the drama of the adults in the picture because children might see it and not understand.

Fortunately Phoebe has none of these problems, but delivers a touching and very believable story of a young girl coping with a difficult home life and finding out that she is different from other kids (I'll leave the details a surprise).

The cast is top notch. Felicity Huffman is fantastic as always, and Elle Fanning is, if possible, even more adorable than her sister. The writing and direction are great, miking fantasy and reality, adult drama and childlike confusion so that the entire thing has a wonderful flow. The story has some good twists, but this is very much a character driven movie, and the execution there is perfect.

Sukiyaki Western Django

Absolutely incredible, and yet amazingly hard to describe. What Kill Bill tries to be to the samurai movie, Sukiyaki does with the spaghetti western. Except it's set in California, which is in Japan, and stars an entirely asian cast with the notable addition of Quentin Tarentino.

It's extremely stylized, to the point of absurdity. The actors all speak in hilariously cliched English phrases, and sound like they're reading their lines phonetically. I choose to think that both the quality of the dialog and the delivery are conscious decisions by the director, because even though the plot, dialog, and acting are badly stilted, they fit together into something amazing.

The costumes and sets are intricate, brightly colored, and very beautiful. The music is great. The plot is typical, a lone gunman roles into town and immediately gets between two feuding clans. The joy is in watching the story unfold in its inevitable fashion, and watching all the little awful pieces fall into place in the master plan of insane fantastic glory.

Call Me Troy

Billed as a biography of Reverend Troy Perry, Call Me Troy encompasses a huge amount of civil rights history, due in large part to the amazing life of its subject.

Troy Perry was the founder of the first openly gay Christian church, as well as a leader of the Gay Rights movement. Due to his role in the public spotlight the filmmakers have plenty of archival footage, which is mixed with some great present-day interviews with Troy, and his friends and family.

The pacing is good, and the subject is fascinating. There's much more political and historical content than I expected going into the film, and it's put together very well. It manages to give a great sense of the time without losing touch with the central characters. It's hard to say whether the end effect is due to expert direction or the charismatic and entertaining character of the subjects, but it works fantastically well.

American Teen

I'd heard beforehand that American Teen would be interesting, but I wasn't prepared for how completely fascinating this documentary turned out to be. A lot of it has to do with how close they got to the subjects, and I suspect they got lucky with the amount of drama in the school they chose, but whatever the reason this is a great film.

Focusing on four students with no real connection aside from the town they live in, the movie chronicles a year in a senior class in a small Tennessee town. There's the usual high school drama of dating, sports, outcasts, and college applications, and none of it is particularly unique. The special thing about it is how close they got to the students: cameras follow them on their most awkward social encounters, and during vandalism. Candid statements are plentiful, and give the director plenty of raw material with which to build a compelling narrative.

That's not to say that this is necessarily a likable movie. Aside from one or two participants, everyone depicted is irritatingly self-centered and oblivious to how ridiculous their actions appear. And in case that sounds like an average high school, remember that it applies more to the parents than to the students.

Still, it's a fascinating look at small-town America from an unusual perspective, and well done in every way.

The Art of Negative Thinking

I love Nordic humor. From my admittedly limited experience I conclude that they are, to a man, masters of awkward, understated comedy, and Negative Thinking is a fine example.

The basic premise is that a bitter and crippled man unwillingly joins a support group for the disabled. Obviously this is a ridiculously broad premise, and the joy is in the details. The subtle interactions between the members of the group at the beginning are priceless, even down to the odd smile or glance.

The filming is simple and perfect. The soundtrack is fun, and entirely internal to the film (no music that is not also heard by the characters). The writing is clever and heartfelt. I really want to give away some high points, but I shouldn't because the shock value is part of the humor. If you like The Office or Arrested Development, this movie is for you.

Gonzo

I thought I knew a fair bit about Hunter S. Thompson. I've read a fair number of things both by him and about him. I've heard the stories, like how he ran for mayor of Aspen in the late '60s on a platform consisting of legalizing marijuana and renaming the town "Fat City". But this documentary / biography had loads of fascinating stuff that I'd never seen.

For one thing, Thompson apparently kept a ton of audio tapes and archival footage, and they're used heavily throughout this piece. It's absolutely fantastic to see him sitting in city hall wearing cargo shorts and debating his opponent in the electoral race, or hear the late-night phone messages he'd leave for friends. And for the bits that don't have direct recorded pieces, readings of Thompson's own writing by long-time friend Johnny Depp work nearly as well.

The film is mainly about Thompson's early work, from Hell's Angels through Fear And Loathing on The Campaign Trail. The political and cultural aspects are heavily emphasized, and the work offers a tangible feeling of the society at the time which anyone should appreciate, HST fan or no.