The fifty-sixth incarnation of the San Francisco Film Festival is hot on the tracks for (at the time of this writing) another week and a half, and Filmbalaya is here ...
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Oliver Assaya’s “Something In The Air” (Après mai) – Review and Trailer
Oliver Assaya‘s “Something In The Air” blew me away.
The film centers around a few late teen/young adults in post 1968 (starting in 1971) France. I say post-1968 because the political stage set by that period of unrest serves as the backdrop for the film. The main characters are introduced as radical dissidents in high school, operating and executing various acts of civil disobedience. As the film continues, they are forced to leave France, and their lives progress, sometimes intersecting, sometimes not.
The scope of the film’s themes is remarkable. A primary theme I encountered was the relationship between radical politics and art. The main character, Gilles, grows from a staunch to a reluctant member of the radical society and, in a parallel, grows from an amateur painter to one driven by it. The portrayals of the artists in the film versus those more dedicated to their politics capture the basic identity question of the film – when does one know that this is what one needs to do? When is one being true to oneself, versus to society? The question of the comparison between individualism and socialism (when one does something solely for oneself, or for the good of society) and the artist’s relation thereof is still a worthwhile topic in today’s society. Read More…
Not-so-weekly Short Film: Joel Edgerton’s Bear
Director, Joel Edgerton is at it again. This is his follow-up to the darkly comedic short film Spider, where one man’s prank on his girlfriend took a turn for the worse. Without giving anything away, I’ll just say that if you loved Spider, you’ll especially love Bear. You can see both his short films after the jump
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G.I. Joe: The Movie (1987) Review and Trailer
After I reviewed both G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and the sequel Retaliation, Adam offhandedly suggested whipping up a retrospective about the 1987 animated film G.I. Joe: The Movie, in order to complete the triumvirate. Heck, I’d already watched it a couple of times earlier this year, so it didn’t take much arm-twisting on his part. To the WABAC Machine, Mr. Peabody.
Susanne Bier’s Love is All You Need: Review and Trailer
Love is All You Need marks Susanne Bier’s first time to the director’s chair since her 2010 Academy Award winner It’s a Better World. It’s more lightweight material compared to that work, with a script co-written with Anders Thomas Jensen that provides plenty of heartfelt moments and earnest laughs. (It’s probably because angry epithets always sound more amusing in a foreign language, but maybe that’s just me.) But given that its intended audience will immediately think The Beatles when glancing at the title, Bier’s odd fixation with Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore” seems trite; it’s as if to warn us in advance that a good chunk of the movie will take place in Italy, but that’s like giving out Fodor’s guides to Morocco before a screening of Casablanca.
Tom’s SFIFF56 Report: Day 6 and 7 – “Youth”, “The Last Step”, “Eight Deadly Shots”
Youth
The first feature film of Justine Malle, Louis Malle‘s daughter, is a good effort. In this very short feature, we follow a girl through her sexual awakening which sparks at the same time as her father acquires a disease which slowly destroys his brain.
It’s a promising film, but it has its flaws. The acting of the main male character wasn’t very believable, and at times the film drifts into over-sentimentality. The main character was quite good, however, and the film has some moments of extreme honesty about sexuality and dealing with death which juxtapose against the sentimentality of the score. Read More…
Xan Cassavetes’ Kiss of the Damned – Review and Trailer
Nobody said being an immortal creature of the night with an addiction for human blood would be easy. Also not easy; finding actors who can deliver their lines like they aren’t reading them from a teleprompter.
For her first feature-length piece of fiction, writer and director, Xan Cassavetes (yes, daughter of famed director, John) takes us into the dramatic world of some erotic modern day vampires and exposes the many moral dilemmas these “monsters” face. Who knew the living dead had it so bad? Read More…
Adam’s SFIFF56 Report: Day 7 – “Animation Shorts”, “Our Homeland”, or “Kazoku no kuni” and “Computer Chess”
Some animation with a little Christopher Plummer narration, a glimpse into a heartbreaking repatriation situation, and a nostalgic 1980s’ stylization of computer nerds playing chess. Let’s begin.
Adam’s SFIFF56 Report: Day 6 – The Act of Killing
My plan was to catch two movies today, but sometimes “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray”. Am I right, Robert Burns, or am I right? Long story short, I was in dire need of a quick power nap after work. So, in the spirit of Mr. Burns (the poet, not Homer Simpson’s boss) I told myself, “what Adam’s body wants, Adam’s body gets”. Deep poetry, I know. My quick power nap turned into a 2-hour siesta and, before I knew it, I missed the last festival screening of Olivier Assayas‘ Something in the Air. All was not lost though. I woke up in time to scoot on over to Berkeley’s PFA and catch The Act of Killing. Besides, Assayas’ film is planned for a limited release run here in San Francisco two weeks from now. Read More…
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