The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) starts this Friday and for a movie nut like myself, it's going to be the start of an exciting few weeks.
I love a good cinema lovefest and although I've missed much of the past few years' showing, I try and make the most of what I actually go and see. It usually becomes a night out with coffees, drinks or meals. Sometimes before AND after the show. This year is no different and what's more, it looks like I'm going to be catching up with a few peeps, especially with long-time online bud, Evol.
So, after pouring over the guide, buying the mini-pass and booking the sessions, I'm now set for this year's festival.
Check out below the list of films I'm watching - all TWELVE of them.
DAY OF THE DEAD
Gore becomes almost conceptual art in this third (and unduly underestimated) chapter of the 'Dead' series. Written as a colossal finale to the series, but downsized at the last minute due to budget cuts, it's quintessential Romero at his most minimal, effective and ferociously visionary.
FUNNY GAMES
After arriving at their lakeside summerhouse, a middle-class family of three are besieged by two young men. The merciless pair challenges the family to a series of 'games', and make them a chilling bet: that they will not survive the next 12 hours.
DEAD ON: THE LIFE AND CINEMA OF GEORGE A. ROMERO
Director Rusty Nails explores Romero's work, life and methods in this documentary, drawing on interviews with filmmakers and artists including Dennis Hopper, Stephen King, John Carpenter, Dario Argento, Wim Wenders, Danny Boyle, John Waters, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and many others.
THE CRAZIES
A plane crash in Evans City leads to a poisonous spill in the local water supply. To contain the plague and keep things under wraps Washington sends in a sinister, brutal force in white decontamination suits and black masks. Caught between two horrors, the infected town fights back.
SHALL WE KISS?
When Gabriel and Emilie meet, both know that feelings are building up between them; the politeness of their encounter is overshadowed by the kiss that seems to be waiting at the end of the evening. But both have partners and, as Emilie explains, no kiss is innocent. Box-office smash French film.
SLINGSHOT
A fast-paced swoop into the streets of Manila, Slingshot follows the lives of a group of tiradors -or 'slingshots' - local slang for petty thieves who operate the streets, stealing, fighting and avoiding the police. Multiple award winner, including the Caligari Film Award at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival.
DONKEY PUNCH
Making his feature filmmaking debut, Olly Blackburn gathers a cast of beautiful people for an orgiastic ocean voyage that goes horribly wrong. When some sexy young holidaymakers get together for a cruise on a luxury yacht off the coast of Spain, the scene is set for a drug, booze and sex filled romp. But things take a darker turn, one that soon sees the boat's inhabitants turn viciously on one another.
THE AMAZING TRUTH ABOUT QUEEN RAQUELA
Raquela Rios has a dream: to make it all the way to Paris, to meet her Prince Charming and to settle down into a life of luxury. But Paris is a long way from the streets of Cebu City in the Philippines and Raquela is a transsexual prostitute - the odds, it seems, are stacked against her. Winner of the Teddy Award for Best Feature at the 2008 Berlin Film Festival.
STRANGERS
Israeli Eyal and Palestinian Rana are two strangers who, in normal circumstances, would never meet. But a chance event sees their lives intertwine when, in Berlin for the World Cup finals, they accidentally swap bags on the subway. This twist of fate leads them to spend three days together amongst the roaring soccer crowds, falling for each other even as the second Israel-Lebanon war erupts in the distant Middle-East.
BOY A
After his released from jail into a bewildering adult world, 24-year-old Jack is given a new name, a new job, a new home and a new life. But when his heroic actions thrust him into the media spotlight his anonymity begins to crumble, and Jack is forced to contend with his past - and the monstrous crime he committed. Winner of the Jury Prize at this year's Berlin International Film Festival, and a multiple nominee at the BAFTA Awards.
DIARY OF THE DEAD
Taking a shot at Zack Snider's accelerated version of the living dead, Romero returns for the fifth time to his own franchise with a trip back to the future. A film full of energy, as close as ever to Night of the Living Dead yet rooted in our own new media culture. Shooting for the first time in HD, Romero constructs Diary through the lenses (two videocameras and one cell phone) of a group of students caught in the zombie invasion - while shooting a Mummy movie.
OTTO; OR, UP WITH DEAD PEOPLE
Filmmaking provocateur Bruce LaBruce's (The Raspberry Reich) latest film features a hoodie-wearing zombie, Otto, who reticently rises from the grave and wanders the gay clubs of Berlin. In his journey of self-discovery he stumbles across an underground filmmaker, participates in a documentary about himself and attempts to reconnect with a former boyfriend, with disastrous results.
So, what are you watching this year?
2 comments:
I'm bummed out that Otto is only screening once and it's while I'm away snowboarding. Have you seen the original Funny Games? I saw it at the festival when it was screened a few years ago and it's one of the only cinema experiences I've had were the audience sat silently in their seats as the closing credits rolled, pondering what just happened. Awesome. Can't wait to see the remake.
Oooooh i can't wait for Funny Games if that's the case!!
It's a shame everyone's missing Frontier of Dawn, I mean it's got Louis Garrell in it, and going by all the movies that i've seen with him in it..... let's just say you cop an eyefull every time.... mmmmmmmmmm
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