JDIFF 2012

I think the kindest thing is for everyone to ignore the Suprise Movie, and hope they stop doing them. It's so rarely good, and even when it is you can see it in a normal screening two months later. It just makes the festival look a litle small-time.

On the bright side, The Yellow Sea was amazing, and Sherlock Jnr with live musical accompaniment was a fantastic way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Interim verdicts?

My favourite so far is The Yellow Sea. Biggest disappointment is The Monk. It looked like potentially a classic return to Hammer/Amicus-style Gothic horror, but with a top-level cast. It turned out to be scene after scene of set-up without even a basic attempt at stringing a story together. A long yawn.

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Which you could have seen in the IFI months ago :pac: I'm genuinely amazed they decided they would show it even after a week long theatrical release.

You're right. Using the Festival as a catch-up for things I missed is great for me, but it's probably not what they want to be known for.

e_e wrote: »

Especially with all the potentially interesting Japanese/Korean movies that will be out later this year.

Hi e_e,

What Korean films are you particularly looking forward to?

I’m certainly happy they showed The Yellow Sea, I thought it was incredible, such a brutal and relentless film. Nice seeing it in the Savoy as well. Although so far both early morning films in the Savoy have been poorly attended. As good as The Yellow Sea and Monsieur Lazhar were they didn’t have the hype around them to attract a large Savoy One crowd.

I also enjoyed The Monk. It had a great gothic atmosphere. Good, intense performance from Vincent Cassel. I enjoyed Dominik Moll’s q&a after the film but it was a shame it was cut a bit short. I don’t think the cinema was going to be used again that night so why not allow the director more time to discuss his film?

Jeff, Who stays at home was brilliant. Loved it. Little slow to start off but purposefully so. Characters were all pitch perfect. Loved Jeff which is surprising for me as I usually have little time for the "stoner" of the movie, but he proves to be so much more than that. Don't wanna steal your words Johnny_Ultimate but this story as also warm and full of heart, and had me tearing up on two occasions.

The crowd laughed in all the right places, and some people ahem*me*ahem on their own at clearly personal levels. Really recommend viewing this when it comes to a general release, which no doubt it will.

Having gone in kinda blind, without real synopsis or trailer, I walked in expecting another "Our Idiot Brother", but got so much more for my ten bucks. Best movie of JDIFF I've seen so far.

Saw where do we go now this evening, what a brilliant, hilarious and charming movie. Crowd loved it.

delbertgrady wrote: »

I honestly don't know how Gráinne can repeatedly get the Surprise Film so wrong. I know it's impossible to please all the people all the time, but if anything is going to split the audience, it's going to be a comedy, and especially a quirky, niche effort like this. This is the third comedy she has chosen to be a Surprise Film (some would argue four if you count Greenberg's would-be comic-drama) and they've all been poor to varying degrees. Hamlet 2 was an embarrassing disgrace, Cedar Rapids was tolerable but forgettable and now this debacle.[/COLOR][/SIZE]
Casa De Mi Padre works fine as a trailer, where it plays out like an amusing two minute sketch, but stretched to feature length, it really outstays its welcome. Sure, it's a bit of a coup to have a first European screening, but when the film is this bad, frankly, who cares?
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I was at this too, and while I agree that the film was abysmal, I think people are being a bit unfair to the Festival. It seems to me that a slot like this is very much a poisoned chalice. Firstly, it's obviously getting harder and harder to get a big, quality, audience pleasing title as a surprise film; distributors seem to be increasingly unwilling to give those films for this slot simply because it's a risk. It might be argued that they're building advance buzz and setting word of mouth in motion, but in part thanks to the internet, if preview audiences turn on a film, negative word of mouth can kill it before it even opens. The safer option is to follow traditional advertising and marketing strategies, and hope for a big opening before word gets round about the quality of the film. The other thing I wanted to say is that it's probably very often the case that the programmer hasn't seen the film, particularly if it is very new. In the case of 'Casa de mi Padre', it was a European premiere, so it's possible that Grainne hadn't seen it in advance. The only resource available to her would have been reviews, except that according to, for example, IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, there are no reviews yet. It doesn't even open in the States until next month. So sometimes the programmer has to go on faith, and in this case, why not? It has Will Ferrell, one of the biggest and best-loved comedy stars, in it, and on paper the idea sounds like it could be hilarious. She took a risk, and unfortunately it didn't work out. I think Ed from Horrorthon has the same problems. Nearly every year, the Horrorthon surprise film gets slated, and sometimes deservedly so, but the same factors are at play. Last year's, 'Trespass', involved Nicolas Cage and Joel Schumacher, both of whom have name recognition with the Horrorthon audience for both good and bad reasons. This film was a dog, but it could have paid off. And given that there were some bigger horror films due out not long after Horrorthon, such as 'The Thing', which a lot of people expected to be the surprise film, that didn't occupy this slot is a fair indication that 'Trespass' was probably far from the first choice. Distributors will want the chance to exploit publicity for the big films. For example, I personally don't think there's a chance in hell that 'This Must Be The Place' will be this weekend's surprise film; Paolo Sorrentino has visited the Festival before, it was partly filmed in Ireland, and Element co-produced and are distributing it here. If it were in the Festival, it would have had a prime slot with guests, like 'Albert Nobbs' last weekend. So it'll probably get a premiere of some sort at the Lighthouse with all the attendant fanfare rather than being thrown away as a surprise film. The final point I wanted to make is about the audience for the surprise films; it's always one of the first things to sell out, and seems to get people in who see little if anything else during the festivals mentioned. It's a much broader audience with varying expectations. And you can't please everyone, so there will always be those who complain, regardless of the film. Picking a comedy is probably the safest bet. So yes, sometimes the surprise films are crap, but my guess is that the programmers are often just as unpleasantly surprised as those of us in the audience.

Sad Professor wrote: »

Did anyone get to see Blame on Saturday? I really wanted to see that.

.

I think it was cancelled.

I saw 3 (Drei) yesterday. Tom Tykwer back in very good form!!

Skinfull wrote: »

Anyone going to Stella in Cineworld on Thursday?

Im trying to get tickets for it

Hey! Would anyone have a spare ticket to margaret tonight in cineworld, by any chance? Would absolutely love to see this film, but never got around to booking a ticket >.<
I would be eternally grateful

Oh, just turning up at cineworld may work? OHHHH... Please god!

Sad Professor wrote: »

Well, I dragged myself with much difficulty to see Once Upon a Time in Anatolia tonight. Very impressed and I'm glad I made the effort. A slow but mesmerising film that offers a fascinating existential mediation on human nature. I think it’s out in the IFI next month. I’d definitely recommend it, as well as Ceylan’s previous film Three Monkeys.

couldn't disagree more.

Hey guys, before I punch my monitor trying to navigate the JDIFF website, is there a page/pdf i can look at to see every film and a short synopsis? This shuffling flash crap and "i'm in the mood for" really doesn't cut it...

mystic86 wrote: »

Saw 2 movies tonight, into the abyss which was alright but disappointing, and once upon a time in anatolia, which was a steaming pile of sh**e

I liked Into the Abyss. As has been said it's not the best documentary you'll ever see but I still thought some of the incidents post murder were just surreal enough to make you laugh with shear calamity. Also there was an eerie "Redneck outback" feeling hanging throughout the film.

I think the film was neither for or against the death penalty but rather giving both sides and letting you make your mind up whilst also showing the areas that some of these Southern folk grow up in. For a lot of the characters seen or mentioned if they hadn't been in prison yet they were on their way there.

As a side note he actually started filming this by recording a few more suspects on death row but decided to stick with this case. The rest is supposedly going to be turned into 4 TV specials about inmates on Death Row.