wonga's filmblog

we (my husband and i) had a really good time in Telluride this year, even while waiting in the rain. we did pretty good with getting into programs and i guess we were lucky since we were ticket-buyers (the lowest caste of all filmgoers…we don’t get a chance to even buy tickets until all the passholders are seated). our strategy was to try and guess what everybody else wanted to see and do the opposite...we also stuck mostly to the larger theaters. almost everyone we talked to, though, was complaining of not getting into movies. there was even a man with a patron pass who showed up 20 minutes before a screening and couldn’t get in, which is unheard of. i think some of the problems might have been with scheduling, as it seemed that everything was either overflowing or half full.

FRIDAY

1. THE DAWN OF SOUND: HOW MOVIES LEARNED TO TALK -- very interesting documentary about how sound in movies came about. lots of Vitaphone clips and interviews.
2. BRICK LANE -- directed by Sarah Gavron (U.K.) story about an unhappy Indian woman living in London who finally figures out what she needs and how to make her life meaningful. beautiful cinematography but i thought the story could have been better developed. based on a book by Monica Ali.
3. I’M NOT THERE -- the infamous Bob Dylan movie directed by Todd Haynes. it played twice on Friday and our screening wasn’t full. i know a lot of people were down on this but i thought it was fun and interesting. very impressionistic. maybe if I knew more about Bob Dylan I would have felt differently (i’m more of a Jakob Dylan fan)! i didn’t recognize most of the music but it was great and I’m all psyched to learn more about BD, like what’s the deal with Billy The Kid? the director mentioned that it was kaleidoscopic and some of the pieces fit better than others but it was altogether interesting. Cate Blanchett was the best Dylan and was riveting. it reminded me of "John From Cincinatti," the late HBO show. people were talking and doing inexplicable things and although i had no clue what was going on i liked it anyway. the whole thing was a mystery but in a good way, where just watching was enough.

SATURDAY

1. THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY – directed by Julian Schnabel (France). i went into this blind and was blown away. just a beautiful heartbreaking movie. thinking back, I had heard of this book/memoir but wasn’t interested as it sounded really depressing. although the movie is from the viewpoint of a man who has had a devastating stroke, it is not depressing! Schnabel won best director at Cannes for this and I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of it’s awards. it’s hard to summarize, so I’ll quote the program…"celebration of the hero’s two remaining assets, imagination and memory…shot from a single fixed camera position, with Schnabel transferring the subjective strategies of Brakhage’s poetic cinema with astounding grace and skill…all the uplift you’d expect, but so much more: cognitive science, unexpected bursts of lyrical imagery, and giddy black humor." an absolute must-see movie!
2. CALLING CARDS (SHORT FILMS) – liked all of these, some better than others. at the beginning they made an announcement with regards to graphic sex and violence and they weren’t kidding! a) Rotten Apple – Petrova Ralitza-U.K. b) Screening – Anthony Green-U.S. c) Joburg – Thabo Wolfaadrt-South Africa. d) Pathways – Hagar Ben-Asher-Israel. e) Rabbit Trouble – Mitovski & Kalev-Bulgaria. f) Sasha Et Desire – Cecile Vernant-France.
3. HATS OFF – documentary by Jyll Johnstone about Mimi Weddell, a NYC actress who is still working at age 92. it was a little long but she was a great subject and appeared at the screening in person. they showed many of her clips and she has been in everything, including one of our favorite movies, "Student Bodies."
4. CHRIS & DON: A LOVE STORY – documentary by Guido Santi & Tina Mascara. i would have enjoyed this more if I hadn’t been falling asleep. i don’t really know much about Christopher Isherwood but i’m a fan of Don Bachardy’s paintings (he was at the screening). they had a fascinating life together in Hollywood and what i can remember of the movie was interesting.

SUNDAY

1. A TRIBUTE TO MICHEL LEGRAND/THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT -- i really, really wanted to see this and it was even better than i’d hoped for. He has written some of the world’s most beautiful music and i’m a huge fan. he’s in his 70s now but he came out after the movie and did a Q&A while sitting at the piano. he sang "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life" and brought down the house. he’s known more for his movie music but he has really done everything, including collaborations with Miles Davis and other famous jazz artists (i’ve already ordered some of his CDs)! loved the movie too…very convoluted operatic story with over the top singing and dancing.
2. MAN IN THE SHADOWS: VAL LEWTON – i’m not much of a B-movie fan but i was surprised how many of these movies he produced and how many i'd seen. i’ve already made a list of some i need to see.
3. GEORGE KUCHAR, MOVIEMAKER/PROGRAM B: i admit to not being very excited about this, especially after reading the article about him by John Waters, but it fit our schedule so we went. of course we loved it (Telluride doesn’t have bad movies, with the possible exception of Gummo!) i was sorry i didn’t get to see Program A (a big thanks to Karina, who in the Spout Blog gives a link to see some of his other films on-line for free). he was really funny in person and loved to talk…they had to kick him out at the end so they could start the next movie. we saw 4 videos: a) Video Album 5: The Thursday People – 1987. b) Oasis Of The Pharoahs – 1997. c) Supercell – 2004. d) Hell Hole Hostage – 2005.

MONDAY

1. THE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG – this was a documentary about the restoration of an Australian silent film from 1906. it was interesting but after watching the bits and pieces they’ve put together over the years there is still not much there! it’s thought to be the first ever feature film. somewhat underwhelming for me.
2. JUNO – this is the movie that we heard the most buzz about. it’s a comedy/drama from Jason Reitman, the director of Thank You For Smoking. everybody wanted to see it, couldn’t get in to see it, or was raving about it. We loved it too and it really is just about a perfect movie. great cast and great screenplay. you think you can tell what’s going to happen but it’s completely original. i’m sure it’s "destined for greatness."
3. THE COUNTERFEITERS – directed by Stefan Ruzowitzky (Austria) there was a lot of buzz about this and someone even compared it to Lives Of Others but it didn’t do much for us. i could tell by the director’s introduction that it was a very personal film for him and the story was interesting but we just never connected with it. i did like the different portrayals of good, evil, and every shade in between.
4. FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES – documentary about the history of film criticism which i enjoyed very much. i read a lot of reviews and blogs it was fun to learn more about the critics and see what they actually look like. lots of interviews from a wide range of critics (including Karina from Spout)! they also talked about the future of film criticism, blogging, etc.
5. THE BAND’S VISIT – directed by Eran Kolirin (Israel). this was an audience favorite and a good way to end the weekend. very simple, somewhat comic story of eight Egyptian policemen (the Alexandrian Police Orchestra) who are on a band tour and lose their way, ending up in the middle of nowhere. they spend the night with a restaurant owner who takes them in and the experience is a life-changing one for everyone.

there were so many things we didn’t get to, but that’s how it always is. although we didn’t make it to his tribute, we did see Daniel Day-Lewis (and his wife) around town two or three times. i was too chicken to talk to him but a woman in front of us just walked up and shook his hand. she said he was very charming and nice (of course)! there are always people in line that we know from years past but this time it seemed like there was more of a chance to talk and we had some good conversations and met a lot of interesting people. we’re already looking forward to next year…