JDIFF 2014

Baze

For anyone that wanted to but didn't manage to bag tickets for either the Surprise Film or The Stag, I see that some were held back and are now available to buy on the JDIFF website:

http://jdiff.ticketsolve.com/shows/2014/2/23

Doubt there is many, so I'd be quick.

Baze

Surprise Film showing as 'sold out' again, but tickets still available for The Stag.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Muppets.

Sad Professor

Ha!

delbertgrady

In the entire history of the festival, it's unlikely that there has been a more joyous double-bill than the two films we got in Savoy One this morning and early afternoon; the double-whammy of Twenty Feet From Stardom and Safety Last!
The last-minute addition of Claudia Lennear to introduce Twenty Feet From Stardom and participate in a post-film Q&A was an undoubted bonus, but - unlike other screenings - no special guest was required to endear this film to the audience any more than they would have responded to it anyway.
Morgan Neville - who directed the impressive Troubadours documentary about the rise of singer/songwriters in the late 1960s/early 1970s - has gone one better here, with a film that demands to be seen (and heard) in a cinema.
Brief glimpses of Stop Making Sense and the Concert for Bangladesh on the giant Savoy One screen alone were sufficient to warrant buying a ticket. A sequence where Merry Clayton is listening to an isolated track of her performance on Gimme Shelter led to a palpable few seconds in the cinema, which, to me, felt like a collective uncertainty as to whether we should actually start applauding or not.
Count is lost of the funny, moving, powerful moments in this film. Anyone who awarded this less than four stars in the Audience Award has no pulse.

Safety Last! needs no introduction, but was evidently ruled out of the Audience Award (no star ratings were being handed out afterwards) by virtue of the fact that we all know it's a bloody masterpiece already.
Nevertheless, Neil Brand's superbly composed and performed score made this a very special event. I'm sure a lot of people in the audience had seen the film before, but that makes no difference. Here is an eighty year old film can still make people gasp and laugh in equal measure, and as such, is testament to Harold Lloyd's genius.

johnny_ultimate

The Muppets was blank blank blank blank blank

*censored*

blank blank blank blank blank.

vidor

Lady Gaga as Kermit the Frog? Who would have thought!

WatchWolf

So... is there anything actually stopping us from revealing our reactions?

delbertgrady

Statler and Waldorf will heckle you, whatever you say about it.

Sad Professor

Were they actually looking for signed forms as people entered?

WatchWolf

Nope.

The whole thing is a bit of a fiasco. There's absolutely no way they could enforce it and honestly it would be far more effort than it would be worth to even attempt to.

adamski8

what would happen if someone reviewed it here the? boards wouldnt care would they? it would be between the poster and the film people right?

Sad Professor

It seems to have worked in any case. Nobody on Twitter (or here) is talking so far. Many are afraid to even say what the film was. lol.

If you read Grainne’s email it seems clear that this “embargo” was really about not having the festival associated with a damaging early screening of a big studio film, thereby making it difficult to get another big film next year. Which is rather revealing of the type of films that seek out for the slot.

Decuc500

I'm glad I'm not allowed to give my reaction to a movie of a tv show I never liked.

Overall I saw a lot of good movies this year. The standout was definitely Blue Ruin. I also really liked Mystery Road, Only Lovers Left Alive, Starred Up, Two Lives and The Last Days On Mars.

Deceptive Practice and the Ricky Jay Q&A afterwards was a real highlight. Under The Skin was a movie with so many nightmarish images, I won't forget it in a hurry. Love Eternal was a decent Irish effort (with an unlikable lead though). Our Sunhi was good enough to make me seek out the directors previous films.

Biggest disappointment was Stranger By The Lake. Were the constant close ups of male genitals really necessary? If it was supposed to shock it got old after 5 minutes. If it was supposed to add something else to the film I failed to see what it was. The reviews comparing it to Hitchcock are laughable.

And I missed 3 or 4 films I wanted to see due to clashes which is a good sign of a strong festival.

403 Forbidden

Well I'm not giving any reaction from the surprise film but I still prefer this

http://video.disney.com/watch/life-s-a-happy-song-4be38768315b8a0e1266b068

Cardex

So having correctly guessed the surprise fill in advance, can anyone tell me if I automatically get a pass for next year or just entered into a draw for one?!

e_e

Safety Last! completely lived up to my expectations but the live performance brought the experience to that extra level. Just absolutely wonderful, the edge of your seat ending really puts most modern action directors to shame too!

To try and circumvent the embargo I'll review the surprise film in the manner of Swedish Chef: It ves a lut ooff foon. Bork bork bork! I injuyed zee ooreeginel und em heppy tu repurt thet it ves joost ebuoot es guud fur me-a. :pac:

The Stag started out warm and pleasant enough but really got too cute and saccharine for its own good at the end. The attempts at wrapping up every strand of plot in the most predictably forced way really had me rolling my eyes. ...and the huge

U2 ****-off

at the end? Blehhh, made me question all the goodwill I gave the film before that.

johnny_ultimate

Cardex wrote: »

So having correctly guessed the surprise fill in advance, can anyone tell me if I automatically get a pass for next year or just entered into a draw for one?!

Draw I'd well wager - I'd say dozens of people guessed Muppets, so they can't be giving everyone a season pass I won it two years ago, pretty sure they said there was a draw for it.

Anyway, while everyone was up having a 'happy Sunday' in the Savoy I was down in the Lighthouse getting pummeled with the sheer misery that was The Fake. Whereas The Gambler yesterday felt wrong, this felt right in its unrelenting bleakness. From the director of the equally depressing King of Pigs, this Korean animation is the antithesis of Western animation in both aesthetics and tone. It's a pretty much joyless account of a village about to be flooded due to building of a dam, with the villagers seeking solace in a new 'faith healing' church. The main character, and only skeptic, is a violent, foul mouthed asshole who pretty much can't get through a conversation without using the most obscene insults or resorting to physical violence. That gives you an idea of the level of brutality here, but the film is a pretty devastating critique of organised religion and small town communities in which pretty much no-one gets off easy as the film explores the darkest recesses of its setup. Can feel forced at times, but mostly the uncomfortable force of the film further marks Sang-ho Yeon as an almost completely unique voice in contemporary animation. Do not expect this in a multiplex near you any time soon.

Would have loved to see both At Berkeley and Safety Last but settled on The Fake as I'd only watched Lloyd's great film a few months ago and would have struggled with a four hour long documentary on the last day of the fest. Still, it was the only really unfortunate conflict over the course of the festival.

Even if we weren't 'embargoed', I'm not sure I'd have much to say about The Muppets: Most Wanted. It's basically the same 'if it ain't broke' formula as the first, so take from that what you will. I would like to see Humphrey's pursue more offbeat far for this slot: surely when you have a captive audience (many of whom I'd wager show up for very little else at the fest) you should truly surprise them. The Muppets wouldn't be programmed in the core festival, so it's strange to see this slot consistently showing far more commercial films. But hey we're used to that and at least this year marked an improvement over Welcome to the ****ing Punch.

I really enjoyed the Stag, but like e_e I was really disappointed that the final act was such sentimental crap. I don't like second guessing filmmakers' intentions, but the extended

wedding scene

should have been excised entirely as it added nothing of note and gravely damaged the film's tone and characters. Which is a real shame as elsewhere the film is genuinely funny and there's some surprisingly well handled story and character moments (the

campfire sing along

managed to communicate so much without resorting to the raw cheese that came later). If it ended fifteen minutes earlier, I would have walked out with much more of a spring in my step. But at least to its credit it managed to step out of the 'Irish Hangover' realm for much of its running time - in fact, I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the Hangover even with the misjudged finale. One little thing though - The Machine might have sounded great in the script, but having every character use 'the' when referring to him felt awkwardly unnatural throughout.

Anyway, had a great festival all in all - extremely well organised outside of the pair of early morning issues in the Savoy last weekend (particular kudos to the exemplary Lighthouse fest crew, and that husky voiced one woman queue keeper in Cineworld). I made it to 28 (!) films and spent the guts of an hour altogether watching that goddamn Irish Film Board ad. I'd say there was only a single film I regretted seeing - the pretty much worthless Half of a Yellow Sun - but these twelve were IMO particular highlights (I've also warmed a little to the Reunion in hindsight, but think I need to watch it again before settling):

The Double
The Fake
Finsterworld
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Only Lovers Left Alive
Our Sunhi
The Past
A Story of Children and Film
A Touch of Sin
Tracks
Under the Skin

e_e

My best-to-worst: http://letterboxd.com/she_esh/list/jdiff-2014-best-to-worst/

Really enjoyed it overall and if it wasn't for a cold I had would've gotten to see about 6 more (including The Past and Stranger by the Lake). Props all around to the organizers, volunteers and guests. Here's to another year!

Baze

The film before The Stag (cough cough) felt like it was four hours long. Can't see it holding children's attention for too long on release.

The Stag I enjoyed, in parts - as I kinda knew I would. It is what it is really.

I would criticize it's failings more if it pretended to be more, but to be fair, it doesn't and so you get the run of the mill non-offensive, safe comedy that it pertains to be from the get go.

Butler is relatively young and so I feel he can be forgiven for playing it safe here (it being his first full length film).

Haven't seen his TV and docu stuff, so can't comment on how it compares but to me, his / their writing has a touch of the Richard Curtis'es about it (a good thing some would say, but I'm not so sure as it's very 90s for me). Still enjoyed the laughs though and thought the performances from all the male cast were top notch (for this type of comedy drama at least). Scott in particular was excellent.Amy Huberman leaves me cold in each role I see her though, not sure why.


Just on the whole embargo thing: I can't understand how people could be asked to sign forms and then not asked for them, and if you're gonna make such a hoopla about your film, then how come mobile phones were not asked for on entering as has been the case with many other preview screenings where distributors are nervous about piracy and / or early slating of a film. I notice they were quick to jump on anyone with a phone out mind.

Film of the festival for me: The Double with Starred Up a close second.

johnny_ultimate

Baze wrote: »

Amy Huberman leaves me cold in each role I see her though, not sure why.

Probably because she's a dreadful, dreadful actress :P Have you seen her (I think) Waterford Crystal Newbridge Silver ads? They are pretty much the most vomitous things I've ever seen in my life, and am hard pressed to take her even remotely seriously as an actress after seeing them.

I notice they were quick to jump on anyone with a phone out mind.

Yeah, I've been to a few advance screenings before (phones taken off us and the like, as well as announcements they had guards wearing nightvision goggles :pac:) but I've never seen a 'security' guy actually go up to a torch with someone and tell them pretty sternly to put away their phone like I did today!

I'd say the logistics of having a red carpet premiere immediately after was the reason there wasn't stricter security at the doors - it takes ages when they have to give people back phones.

e_e

Baze wrote: »

The Stag I enjoyed, in parts - as I kinda knew I would. It is what it is really.

I would criticize it's failings more if it pretended to be more, but to be fair, it doesn't and so you get the run of the mill non-offensive, safe comedy that it pertains to be from the get go.

Honestly I felt like The Grand Seduction would've been the more appropriate closing film. It was warmer, funnier and I felt it earned its happy ending a lot better, would've been a nice dovetail with the Brendan Gleeson connection too.

Bozo Skeleton

So another Film Festival is over. I love those 11 magical days every February. My favourites this year:

JDIFF Shorts (Particularly Rubaí and Breakfast Wine)
Concrete Night
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ida
Borgman
The Double

I liked the surprise film, I haven't followed the franchise, but it was a good laugh. I was relieved it wasn't the new 300 movie.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Probably because she's a dreadful, dreadful actress :P Have you seen her (I think) Waterford Crystal Newbridge Silver ads? They are pretty much the most vomitous things I've ever seen in my life, and am hard pressed to take her even remotely seriously as an actress after seeing them.

I thought she was great on Comedy Central's Threesome

e_e

I wonder is there a copy of Gervais' video introduction. Couldn't hear some of it 'cause of all the cheering and laughter!