Miff 08 - It's over!
wednesday 6 august
gachi boy - wrestling with a memory: A japanese wrestling club gets a new member who's very eager
to wrestle but is always scribbling away into his notebook. You know the formula by now,
struggling tiny uni club on the verge of extinction, filled with weirdos and generally a plucky
female or two. A fresh eager new member joins and reinvigorates the club somehow with their
naivete. Unfortunately the bright new member has his own problems which gives this movie an
unexpected level of seriousness. But like any japanese comedy they gloss over the serious side.
Overall it's a good movie with a bit of unexpected heart as well.
planet b-boy: Doco about the international world of breakdancing, and the yearly international
breakdancing competition. It's amazing seeing how different countries treat breakdancing
differently and their emphasis on their own dancing styles. And seeing all the different teams
dancingoff against each other and pulling off incredible moves is just fun. Good doco.
occident: Three seperate stories about people looking to emigrate from Romania, with their
stories intertwining. Unfortunately the stories barely interact at all, so it's not like GO at
all. Pretty crap movie.
global metal: AWESOME doco about how heavy metal has had an impact all over the world. From Japan
to South America to France, they all have heavy metal cultures there and they've all put their
own spin on it. REALLY REALLY good doco.
razorback + Violence in the Cinema part 1: Violence in the Cinema is a fun spoof short on a
professor talking about violence in cinema and getting viciously attacked along the way. Meh
short.
Razorback - A GIANT Razorback pig rips shit up in outback oz during the 80's. Unfortunately the
movie isn't as good as the synopsis would lead you to believe. There's not much in the way of
animal - human bloodshed but it's still fun in a bad movie sort of way.
thursday 7 august
secret sunshine: A recent widow moves to her late husbands hometown with her son and tries to fit
in with the community. The movie goes from despair to redemption to despair again. Sad sad movie.
Alright film.
La Rabia: Workers on a farm fight amongst themselves as seen through the eyes of their kids. This
movie is crap.
Son of a Lion: In Pakistan, an 11 year old boy wanting an education struggles against his weapon
making father who wants him to join the family business. Alright movie.
Boy A: Amazing movie about a kid who's just been released from jail and been given a new identity. Trying to settle into his new life, he saves a young girl's life. The resulting media attention and the pressure that comes with it, clashes with his childhood crime that he's tried to put behind him. Good movie.
WR - Mysteries of the Organism: This film links studies into harnessing orgasmic energy with a Yugoslavian analogy for communism. This is a big piece of crap.
Spiderbaby: directors cut - A loyal chaffeur looks after a family that has a degenerative brain disease that makes them really crazy. Then distant family comes to visit and lots of killings happen. An exploitation movie from 1968 that' kinda fun in all of it's badness. Lots of absure leaps of logic and it's just trashy fun.
friday 8 august
The Devil, Probably: A french dissaffected youth stumbles around trying to find meaning to his aimlessness. Long slow and crap.
Everything is fine: After finding his friend dead, and three more of his friends dead as well, Josh is left the sole survivor of a suicide pact that he wasn't let in on. He stumbles around and tries to find meaning with the girlfriend of one of his late friends. Alright movie but a bit too long.
881: A good musical from Singapore about a duo of getai singers. Lots of fun.
O'horten: A Railway driver is about to retire and is at a loss at what to do with his life. He gets into absure situations as he grapples with the sadness of not having a path in front of him anymore. Good movie.
It's hard being loved by jerks: Doco about the french newspaper that got sued for publishing cartoons satirising MOhammed and the resulting court case. Good doco but WAY too long and the point about freedom of speech was well and thoroughly hammered into the audience.
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer - Fun movie about a plumber who witnessed his family getting killed by a monster as a kid. Growing up he has anger issues and is listless with his life. Then as an adult, he accidently disturbs an ancient evil. Bloodshed ensues. Good fun. Very impressed that the main lead wasn't a sarcastic superhero like Ash.
saturday 9 august
Flipping Out: Doco about Israeli soldiers who after their compulsory military service, head off to India to decompress with drugs, alcohol and partying. Some soldiers are really wrecked and seeing them trying to deal with their pain is kinda confronting. Some make it through whilst others just go crazy. Unfortunately the doco was too unfocused.
Cargo 200: A young woman is taken hostage by a police officer and subsequently abused by the lawman gone mad. Scary portrayal of Russia with corruption and cruelty abounding in the system. Ok movie.
Tricks: A young boy sees his run away father at the train station and schemes of ways to bring him back. great acting from the kid as he tries various "lucky" schemes, sorta like Amelie except in the real world. Or at least as real as magical thinking in the real world can be. Good movie.
It's a free world: Depressing story about a recuitment girl who gets screwed over and decides to make her own agency. Over time she ends up compromising and in the end winds up exploiting workers just like in her previous career. Rather sad story from the perspective of employers taking advantage of illegal immigrants.
Dead Daughters: The drowned children of a madwoman torment people in modern day russia. Russian J-horror movie, very Grudge like. That alone makes it interesting. Unfortunately the projector I saw it on had a busted light so EVERYTHING was way too dark. It's pretty suck when the whole screen is black except for a mobile phone screen. Alright low budget movie with some nice creepy bits. Impressed how you never actually see the ghosts properly.
sunday 10 august
ashes of time: redux - In ancient China, a vagabond swordsman earns his living by hiring others as assassins. His heart was long ago hardened by the betrayal of a woman, but his encounters make him reflect on his lost love.
This is not a martial arts movie. It's more a contemplation of love and sadness and it's very pretty. If you want a pretty movie this is it.
the crazies: A bioweapon gets spilled in an american town causing madness and paranoia. A military quarantine is set in place resulting in anger and paranoia in even the non infected. S*** goes down. great idea but low budget. Humanity sucks and there's no hope.
Idiots and Angels: Imdb wins again - Angel is a selfish, abusive, morally bankrupt man who hangs out as his local bar, berating the other patrons. One day, Angel mysteriously wakes up with a pair of wings on his back. The wings make him do good deeds, contrary to his nature. He desperately tries to rid himself of the good wings, but eventually finds himself fighting those who view the wings as their ticket to fame and fortune.
Bill Plympton animated movie wins again. The movie doesn't have any dialogue and it doesn't need it. Lots of analogy and absurdness but it's still good. Not much in the way of plot/narrative. Good though.