Dublin Film Festival 2018

Sad Professor

Running from February 21st to March 4th this year. Full programme launches tomorrow. Any wishes or predictions?

Decuc500

I'm looking forward to seeing Paul Schrader and his new film and I'll go to see one of the films he is introducing as guest curator.

I really haven't a clue what to expect from the rest of the programme.

delbertgrady

On Chesil Beach would be a bit of a coup, but it'd be quite far ahead of its general release, so probably unlikely.
Other than that, I've not thought much about it, but we'll find out tomorrow.

johnny_ultimate

Damsel and The Tale would be nice, but very rare that ADIFF can pick up Sundance titles so they’re outside bets.

Hopefully they’ll screen Columbus as it needs some love. I thought it was great but seemed to be lost in distribution limbo for the UK / Ireland last I checked.

Zama and Western seem to be the only two films from last year’s Sight & Sound list that aren’t released / imminently due for release.

Fingers crossed for Isle of Dogs, which I know will be out soon but I can’t wait to see the bloody thing The annual hope that they’ll screen the new Sang-soo - this time On The Beach Alone At Night - because the Blu-Ray is an expensive import!

Not a whole lot else knocking about out there off the top of my head, as I feel most stuff has already screened somewhere (got through a few of my ‘must watch’ titles at the French Film Fest last year - and they were clever enough to have two screenings of most titles!). As usual, will all be about the unexpected gems.

JP Liz V1

I wonder will Alex Garland's Annihilation be one of the biggies

Sad Professor

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

I wonder will Alex Garland's Annihilation be one of the biggies

It's going straight to Netflix and will be out by then.

JP Liz V1

Sad Professor wrote: »

It's going straight to Netflix and will be out by then.

No cinema release?

Sad Professor

JP Liz V1 wrote: »

No cinema release?

No, straight to Netflix everywhere except North America, I believe. Netflix don't do theatrical releases except for award consideration.

johnny_ultimate

Isle of Dogs!

I mean, there’s other stuff too, but...

Isle of Dogs!

Sad Professor

PDF of full programme available here:

http://www.diff.ie/content/files/ADIFF-Programme-2018.pdf

mystic86

Any thoughts on what are the ones to look out for this year?

I booked Isle of Dogs and Foxtrot, thinking about Black 47 but it is a bit expensive.. anyone know if this movie is meant to be good and what the standard Irish release date will be?

I was also considering Disobedience and Dawson City: Frozen time but neither of those 2 seems to be listed on the site to book tickets...

delbertgrady

My schedule is shaping up like this, with one or two likely to be added. I'll probably go to the Surprise Film, even though the batting average is dire. Some of the changeovers are a bit tight, but they tend to allow for that. As always, there are clashes (My Friend Dahmer and the Surprise Film, Red Sparrow and Thoroughbreds, Beast and the Paul Schrader interview) but it's not too bad, especially compared to other years, most notoriously when The Grand Budapest Hotel clashed with the Stanley Tucci interview.
However, I discovered this morning that the late addition of The Ballad of Lefty Brown in Cineworld (announced yesterday, but not in the programme) does clash with the workable two-in-a-row of The Line and Above the Law in the Lighthouse, meaning that you have to write off both those films if you want to see the Pullman one. The Vanessa Redgrave interview doesn't seem to be listed online yet. Presumably it will appear soon. I'm delighted about the Leon Vitali documentary.

Wednesday 21st: Black 47
Thursday 22nd: The Breadwinner
Friday 23rd: Interview with Paul Schrader, Paradox, Revenge
Saturday 24th: The Line, Above the Law
Sunday 25th: Filmworker, The Bookshop, The Cured
Monday 26th: Madame, You Were Never Really Here
Tuesday 27th: My Generation
Wednesday 28th: Isle of Dogs, Red Sparrow
Thursday 1st: Wonderstruck
Friday 2nd: The Third Murder
Saturday 3rd: Journeyman
Sunday 4th: Racer and the Jailbird, C'est La Vie

BelovedAunt

Lads what are the main films jumping out at you here? I plan to go to this festival every year but never end up doing it, so I want to plan ahead this time!

johnny_ultimate

BelovedAunt wrote: »

Lads what are the main films jumping out at you here? I plan to go to this festival every year but never end up doing it, so I want to plan ahead this time!

I haven’t had a chance to properly peruse the brochure yet so may have a few others to flag later on, but ones that I’ve heard good buzz about would be Zama, The Workshop, Revenge, Kissing Candice and A Sicilian Ghost Story.

Obviously there’s a few titles from more established filmmakers like The Third Murder and You Were Never Really There, although they’re both out very soon after the festival.

In terms of classics, An Autumn Afternoon (one of Paul Schrader’s picks) is one of the best films from perhaps the best filmmaker there has ever been - a big screen treat for those who go along, although easily available otherwise

Real shame Columbus didn’t make the cut.

JP Liz V1

BelovedAunt wrote: »

Lads what are the main films jumping out at you here? I plan to go to this festival every year but never end up doing it, so I want to plan ahead this time!

Damo & Ivor

Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here with Joaquin Phoenix (looking very like Mel Gibson)

Bozo Skeleton

So far for me:
Friday 23rd. Performance
Saturday 24th. Autumn Afternoon
Tuesday 26th. Tower: A Bright Day
Thursday 28th. Isle Of Dogs
Thursday 28th. Zama
Saturday 3rd. How To Talk To Girls At Parties
Sunday 4th. Surprise film

I have a week off work from the Monday for this. Will have to work around getting to come in an hour or two later to see Performance. I'll miss all the Hong Kong films, and a couple of others I'm interested in that are screening over the opening weekend, but then, I'm free for the rest of the festival, and will be adding another 6 or 7 or so movies to that list, will defo go to a couple of the ADIFF Shorts. Haven't had time to have a proper look through the programme yet, but plenty of interesting stuff so far!

johnny_ultimate

Finally got to sit down and make out a (preliminary ) schedule - amazing how easy it is for 100 quid to disappear just like that, ey?

The Israeli film Foxtrot (from the director of Lebanon) is another one that's gotten incredibly good buzz, and has really annoyed the country's right-wing culture minister so it must do something right

Haven't heard of the Hong Kong ones before, but Our Time Will Come is by Ann Hui (who did a Simple Life a few years ago) so likely worth a gander.

Taking a gamble on a few experimental ones and a random pick here and there, so fingers cross there's some good stuff in there! Little bit surprised at how high the ticket prices are climbing for some of the screenings, mind.

BelovedAunt

Jaysus lads, the tickets are pricey! I'm half tempted to wait a month to see Isle of Dogs on general release.

delbertgrady

So, now Mary Magdalene is added for the 28th and it effectively clashes with Isle of Dogs, Red Sparrow, Zama, Thoroughbreds... in fact, anything else on that evening cannot be juggled successfully with it.

JP Liz V1

Bill Pullman Q&A after the screening of The Ballad of Lefty Brown on Saturday 24th February

delbertgrady wrote: »

So, now Mary Magdalene is added for the 28th and it effectively clashes with Isle of Dogs, Red Sparrow, Zama, Thoroughbreds... in fact, anything else on that evening cannot be juggled successfully with it.

Featuring guest appearances from Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara and director Garth Davis

Outlaw Pete

Just arrived at the champers reception for Black 47. Your one Bláthnaid from RTE is here ateing all the amuse bouches! Cheek of her.

Looking forward to this, and the festival itself of course, looks like it could be a good one, but can't help feel it won't be the same without the old Savoy One being involved.

delbertgrady

I liked the "famine western" Black 47 more than I thought I would. The windswept, bleak aesthetics of Polanski's Macbeth combined with a revenge narrative. Die Hard with a Musket, if you will.

Outlaw Pete

Yeah, really liked it too. Our Django Unchained !

Well, not quite, more an Unforgiven vibe if anything, but nice to have one at least revenge flick based around the famine (are there others?).

Really like that they touched upon the fact that there was no shortage of food in certain circles back then, as this is something that is not widely known at all. In fact shipping records from back then show that there was a staggering amount of food exported to Britain during that time also and all while the Irish starved. Genocide might be a more apt word to be using than famine.

Anyway, not a bad opener...... but how the hell was a screening of Black Panther scheduled to end in Screen 17 at 8.50 when a Gala screening was due to start at 9? Madness. As a result the intros to cast and crew felt rushed and tbh I much prefer those happening after we've seen the damn film. Always feels weird applauding those involved in making a film when you haven't even seen it yet. Q&As are much better then also of course, not that there was one last night, but it would have been nice to have one.

Minor gripes, granted.

delbertgrady

Yeah, the scheduling was ridiculous. Massive queues still circling the escalators at 9:00. And I totally agreed about wheeling on cast and creatives beforehand. It might give them a nice photo opportunity for the festival website, but it's kind of meaningless for the audience, who haven't seen the film and can't fully appreciate their appearance.

Decuc500

Great to hear Paul Schrader talk after his new film, First Reformed, if only for a short 20 minutes or so. I thought the film was great, another of his 'Lonely Man' stories.

After a slow start it built into a quietly powerful film about a conflicted man driven to contemplate an act of violence. Definitely shades of Taxi Driver but with religion as its backdrop instead of grimy 70's New York.

Outlaw Pete

Yeah, liked First Reformed too. Wouldn't mind a second viewing.

Didn't see the point in making Schrader introduce it. The post film Q&A would have more than sufficed.

Haven't seen Pickpocket so looking forward to see that tomorrow given how much he says that it influenced his work.

Was also at The Man Who Brought Down the White House tonight and even though I'm a bit jaded with all the Watergate stuff I've seen of late (The Post and a screening of All The President's Men in the Lighthouse on Sunday) I still and all really enjoyed it.

BelovedAunt

Lads was anyone else here at Performance? The projector was ridiculously loud. Was that because it was an old film reel?

JJ59

I enjoyed First Reformed although it lost its way towards the end. Was disappointed with Mark Felt.

Saw Beast tonight. A terrific film deserves a wide audience. Hope it gets a release.

Outlaw Pete

Yeah, Beast was excellent. Felt more like watching a TV mini series to me though rather than a film. Hadn't realised Jessie Buckley was Irish until it was pointed out in the Q&A. What an excellent performance from her.

Also seen In the Fade tonight and Revenge...

I suspect the odds are I'll be dreaming of a vengeful violent woman after watching those three films back to back

Bozo Skeleton

BelovedAunt wrote: »

Lads was anyone else here at Performance? The projector was ridiculously loud. Was that because it was an old film reel?

Didn't notice it to be honest. The soundtrack and sound affects were pretty out there/of it's time. There was some fúcker sporadically snoring asleep somewhere in the audience.
I enjoyed it, it was one of those films I always meant to see, but somehow never got round to it. Good to see it first time on the big screen.

BelovedAunt

Bozo Skeleton wrote: »

Didn't notice it to be honest. The soundtrack and sound affects were pretty out there/of it's time. There was some fúcker sporadically snoring asleep somewhere in the audience.
I enjoyed it, it was one of those films I always meant to see, but somehow never got round to it. Good to see it first time on the big screen.

I was sitting down the back so that must have been why it was so loud. Haha yeah I heard that snoring dude as well. Good film, like you say, very of its time but interesting none the less.

johnny_ultimate

I probably raised the same complaint last year, but I find the Just Eat-ification of the festival frustrating. Now, I fully understand the need for corporate support - it’s a necessary compromise with many cultural events. But the endless shoving of Just Eat logos in the audience’s face - TWO ads in the opening reel! - has gone too far IMO, to the point where it has even overtaken the title sponsor!

Anyway, other than that the four films I’ve seen so far have all been good to great. Definite highlight was Dawson City - Frozen Time, which was a breathtaking documentary about a city and its unlikely, borderline miraculous place in the history of film preservation. The bulk of the film is narration-free, with archive footage and text telling the story, but it’s given this ethereal vibe thanks to the razor-sharp editing and dreamy soundtrack. Bill Morrison’s back catalogue has just shot up my watchlist. Four ‘Audi symbols’ (shudder) for this without hesitation.

Our Time Will Come was the sort of wartime drama I usually dislike, but Ann Hui’s character-focused and *mostly* understated storytelling made it unexpectedly engrossing. The history is fascinating, and it actually manages to land the sort of

flash-forward

ending which I would typically hate.

Revenge was better than average late night fare. Comes with a lot of the problems that come with the rape revenge thriller territory, but there’s a different vibe and approach for sure thanks to a female gaze applied to the material. But mostly this is an uncommonly tense and extremely bloody thriller, with an added peyote trip for good measure. Kept me awake, which is not an insignificant achievement given how long I’d been up for.

An Autumn Afternoon is a masterpiece, but we already knew that.

BelovedAunt

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

An Autumn Afternoon is a masterpiece, but we already knew that.

I can't believe I was in the same room as the great johnny_ultimate

Bozo Skeleton

BelovedAunt wrote: »

I can't believe I was in the same room as the great johnny_ultimate

Haha. I was there too. Working this weekend then I've taken a week off from Monday to go to a few film festival movies.

delbertgrady

I agree that the Just Eat advertising is overkill. I don't want yet another discount card every time I leave the cinema either, thanks. But I always find that the curse of the festival is the sponsors' ads. It's like they don't realise that there are people out there who go to a lot of screenings and will be driven demented after they've endured them more than twice. That Audi Invisible Man one is only about ninety seconds, but it feels more like three minutes.
The timings have really gone to pot this year. I've never known a festival to struggle so much to get things started on time. It started badly on the first night with - as someone remarked already - a screening of Black Panther ending five minutes before Black 47 was due to start. Revenge was fifteen minutes late, which was ridiculous for a film that was already slated for 10:45, and - screw any contractual obligations - they really should have ditched the ads to claw back some time.
Revenge is my definite highlight so far, though.

Decuc500

Sweet Country could have been so much better. This Australian 'western' looked amazing in the widescreen format (as so many Australian outback set films usually do) but it was a frustrating watch.

It was slow and tedious. There was a lack of drama and forward momentum. The message from the film was that Australia was founded on racism and inequality. It was very unsubtle and hammered home constantly.

I know I was supposed to feel helpless and angry about that but I was just too bored to feel anything really.

Decuc500

Above the Law was much more my cup of tea, a slick Belgian/French crime thriller. It probably didn't sustain it's excellent first 30 minutes and tried to cram too much into its short running time but it delivered shoot outs and heists with a good deal of style.

JJ59

Dawson City was a superb documentary, Brilliantly edited and all the better without a voiceover. great to see a classic like Autumn Afternoon. I agree with the post about Sweet Country. I enjoyed The Line while Tueurs/Above the law was a well put together thriller if not exactly the most original of its type. What was good about it was that it kept the story moving without any bloated scenes. A lesson lots of filmmakers could learn.

With regard to the pre-film adds its the same every year. After the first time they are just something to be endured. This year the audi one is especially hard going after the first few times.

delbertgrady

Only about fifteen or twenty people at The Ballad of Lefty Brown, apparently.
Gráinne's programme notes refer to "a smashing car chase" in The Line. There was no car chase.

delbertgrady

A very low turnout for Filmworker, the Leon Vitali documentary this morning, which should have been essential viewing for anyone who calls themselves a Stanley Kubrick fan. Lighthouse One was only about a quarter full. Such a shame, because it was really good. Are Dogwoof capable of releasing a weak documentary?

johnny_ultimate

Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts was an exceedingly pleasant surprise. Hits a lot of different bases - post-modern western, Indonesian landscape study, pitch black comedy, violent revenge thriller, feminist buddy drama... Stunning cinematography and strong score to boot. Would make a good double bill with Revenge - although reckon this is the stronger film IMO. On again tomorrow evening for those who missed it tonight.

As for the advertising, I think the repetitive trailer reel comes with the territory - you get the same thing in London (although IIRC the corporate sponsorship isn't quite so dominant there). But my problem with the Just Eat stuff is it's particularly crass and really I think cheapens the festival quite a bit. Surprised Audi is happy to tolerate it, above all else!

JJ59

Really enjoyed The Bookshop. Perfect Sunday afternoon viewing. Marlina the Murderer was an interesting film. Great leading performance.

Yes I spotted the absence of the car chase in The Line.

delbertgrady

I may be in the minority, but I thought The Cured was absolutely awful. Any spark of originality in the premise was diluted by cranking the volume up to eleven in an attempt to heighten the tension, and incessant, ham-fisted jump scares, most of which could be seen coming way in advance. It belittled what could have been a decent effort. By the end, with

Tom Vaughan Lawlor doing his evil stare routine, first through the school railings and again when pursuing Sean through the streets (this time with bonus "menacing walk")

, it was bordering on self parody.

Outlaw Pete

Yeah, didn't enjoy The Cured either.

Glad I didn't see it ahead of something better on offer but it was a quiet night in that regard.

With regard to Just Eat, can't say I'm all that bothered by them. Although last year one of their staff gave me a €30 in Just-Eat vouchers and so maybe they've sufficiently have buttered me up.

I'd also prefer it if they just had an advert on the tickets with the code rather than stand around after the screenings getting in the way of people. Jameson were more low key with their sponsorship (miss their movie screenings during the year also).

Anyway, looking forward to 'You Were Never Really Here' tomorrow night.

Clashes with another film I wanted to see, Tower - A Bright Day, but sure isn't it always the way.

Bozo Skeleton

Just saw Tower. A Bright Day.
Overall I thought it was excellent, some very minor quibbles aside. An air of latent menace throughout juxtaposed with some beautiful stuff, but even then the sense that something awful is going to happen lingers. The final scene is still turning over in my head as I have a post movie pint. Wish I'd stuck around for the Q and A now!

johnny_ultimate

You Were Never Really Here is a fierce bit of filmmaking. The sound is awesomely abrasive blaring out of the cinema speakers (for the love of god see it in a cinema) - sits alongside Good Time as one of the recent films to truly pay reverent attention to the benefits of strong sound design, as well as its carefully-deployed absence. Snappy editing that largely leaves the violence off screen packs a punch, while the plot is like any number of inferior 'man on a mission' films with the fat trimmed off & the perspectives made trickier. Adored its aggressive use of smash cut flashbacks to fill in a troubled past through vivid images rather than overt explanation.

Brutal, funny and razor-sharp stuff from Ramsay - who, it must be said, came across as one of the most likable, down-to-earth filmmakers I've ever heard speak.

Outlaw Pete

Didn't really enjoy it all that much tbh. I feel in the end it was really mostly style and tricks over substance. From the post film Q&A I kinda got the feeling that they left a more interesting film on the cutting room floor.

What there was of a plot was laughable. Or at least the backdrop was. Politicians kidnapping and pimping out other politician's daughters? Felt like I was watching some bad 70's flick. Not in the least believable. It's like a really great film merged with a crap one.

The "I've Never Been to Me" scene didn't work (for me at least). It takes skill to inject dark humour into a film with such a serious subject matter and tbf I felt it was actually done quite well at certain parts of the film, but that scene just felt way off. Felt much too contrived whereas the other parts which got laughs felt much more genuine.

delbertgrady

I thought at times that it was tantalising close to being a real gem, but I wasn't entirely convinced by the end. Any flaws with the plot are likely the fault of the novella, so I wouldn't hold that against Lynne Ramsay, though of course, one could argue that an adaptation could have amended some of the source issues. I thought the

dream sequence suicide

was redolent of a similar sequence in

Buffalo 66

, but I'm not sure that was in the book, or if it was Ramsay's addition.
My own feeling about the

Charlene

scene was that it's not supposed to be laugh out loud funny. If it is intended as a pitch black comedy scene, it's far too contrived. I found it one of the more affecting moments of the whole thing, and felt it was despoiled by the audience reaction.

delbertgrady

I was at My Generation this evening, which is perfectly enjoyable, but it's effectively An Idiot's Guide to Swinging Sixties London. It rattles along at breakneck pace, with lots of film clips and around thirty songs (not to mention John Barry scores and classical music), but that's pretty much it. Michael Caine is a likeable "host" and the unseen contributors are impressive (David Bailey, Roger Daltrey, Paul McCartney, Twiggy), but it's a very simple and almost lightweight project and barely worthy of a cinema release.
I know it's just a snapshot, but there's nothing in it for anyone with an above average interest in - or knowledge of - the era. Anyone who's read a few decent Beatles or Stones biographies or Shawn Levy's peerless Ready Steady Go! won't learn anything, but it's evocative and entertaining and full of good tunes.

Decuc500

I went to see The Summit, a political drama from Argentina. There's been so many great films from South America in recent years. This was an absorbing film about a political summit of South American presidents on a mountain top resort in Chile.

It takes a weird and unexpected turn into Hitchcock territory halfway through but doesn't really follow up on that. The music and photography are very dramatic. Christian Slater turns up. The ending is sudden and kind of baffling. I was impressed.

johnny_ultimate

Went full experimental film with Phantom Islands. This is a HARD 'won't be for everyone' - the reactions of at least two people in my immediate vicinity seemed to reflect that (my neighbour contracted a case of giggles halfway through). But I thought it was a challenging but rewarding watch.

Extraordinarily striking visually - razor-sharp 4K images disrupted with curious lens choices, creating these images that were both crystal clear yet always somewhat distorted. Great study in landscapes - an early image is a picture postcard with the word 'Ireland' on it, and the rest of the film proceeds to explore western islands as ghostly, isolated, sometimes menacing, sometimes stunning places. There's no dialogue, and the soundscape is abstract. What there is of a narrative - a couple exploring the islands, with brief snapshots of domestic life - is fractured and vague to the point of near non-existence. The film is infrequently but notably disrupted by the filmmakers intruding, and an interesting motif established throughout is the female lead (Clara Pais, who basically amounts to half the cast alongside Daniel Fawcett) snapping Polaroids of the man accompanying her or turning to the camera and photographing the crew.

Anyway, as said, it's experimental filmmaking and everything that comes with it, and a few sequences don't land. It's repetitive rhythm and images won't be for all - no doubt its 85 mins will feel double that for some viewers. But it mostly caught me in its weird wavelength, and a nice bit of counter-programming to mark roughly the halfway point. Back to somewhat more traditional fare for the rest of the week