DIFF 2020

It's a fairly weak line-up all-in-all (Charlie Kaufman guest appearance aside), but I've heard good things about Balloon, Martin Eden, Synonyms, Saint Maud, The Hottest August... Closing gala Herself got some decent buzz at Sundance. Vivarium is meant to be good too but is out on a general release a few weeks later so not sure if worth 'gala' pricing.

I’m finding very little to get excited about with this year’s program. Les Miserables is supposed to be a very exciting French cop movie and is getting a lot of praise.

True History of the Kelly Gang might be worth a watch. The new film from Alice Winocour, Proxima, is there and The Truth is Hirokazu Kore-eda’s first English language film.

Apart from that, not a whole lot else jumps out at me.

JP Liz V1

Besides Kaufman anyone else down to show up?

Seeing Vivarium tonight and Street Leagues Saturday.

Wasn't quick enough to get tickets for the Surprise film, despite it being shown on two screens.

BelovedAunt

Are there any old films being shown this year lads?

These three, none of which interest me all that much tbh. Maybe Wayward Girl.

Lydia Ate The Apple (1958)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052083/
Wayward Girl (1959)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053437/
Adoption (1975)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073948/

They’re also showing Flowers of Shanghai. Haven’t seen it myself but I adore Hou Hsiao-hsien’s films so would blindly recommend on that basis

Well, didn't enjoy Vivarium. Started out well and seemed really interesting but just couldn't get into it. Performances were good though and so it was mildly entertaining.

Would have been nice if they put the heating on also. We were in the back row and it felt really bloody cold.

Great start :P

I wanted to like Vivarium more than I did.

It was a frustrating watch as there wasn’t much of a narrative and the payoff was kind of predictable. It was like a Twilight Zone episode stretched to feature length.

It was unsettling and weird at times but ultimately unsatisfactory. A bit of a daring choice of opening movie as it wasn’t exactly a crowd pleaser.

Proxima, from French director Alice Winocour, was a really beautiful and assured film. Eva Green plays an astronaut training for a mission while having doubts about leaving her young daughter behind.

Winocour is some talent. It's an effortlessly stylish film that succeeds both in its mother/daughter relationship moments and stressful training scenes. I loved it.

Seen Rose Plays Julie tonight.

Thought I'd hate it as had read it was a little soapboxy but quite liked it.

Also seen Broken Law on Friday night. Connors plays a hateful scumbag and so for anyone avoiding thinking of avoiding the film as he is in it, maybe given it a chance as it makes it tolerable. A lot to dislike about it but more than enough to like to make it worth watching.

Surprise Film tomorrow, hope it's a goodun.

The surprise film was How To Build A Girl. It was, alas, not good and makes Almost Famous - as syrupy a rock and roll film as there is (and I like Almost Famous) - look like a positively experimental film in some respects.

I really like Beanie Feldstein and she brings the requisite energy to the film. But oh boy her British accent is not good.

Half enjoyed it, but probably not for the reasons I was supposed to I'm guessing. Lots of late 80's/early 90's nostalgia on display, coupled with a few scenes that were funny, that also had that feel good factor, and for sure it's a recipe for putting a smile on faces of people of that era, but I can't see too many people that grew up at that time going to see it in any great numbers tbh and even if they did that aspect of it all is all short lived really as the story itself just isn't all that interesting and feels like it's been done before, many times, and in much less saccharine and authentic ways.

Poor choice for the festival ... and the IMAX was freezing again (was warm for Broken Law though, so tis a bit of lottery on whether or not they turn the damn heating on).

How To Build a Girl. The 90's alternative rock scene was 'my era' so I enjoyed that part but the teenage girl-power message was lost on me.

A few laughs, mainly from the always reliable Paddy Considine, but overall not a particularly good surprise movie choice.

Saint Maud.

Very impressive debut from Rose Glass. A claustrophobic horror movie about a young nurse in private practice convinced she's in contact with God, trying to save the soul of a dying patient.

Some freaky imagery and one hell of an ending.

Saint Maud and Martin Eden definitely my two highlights so far. The former is wonderful heresy, somehow a sad character study / demented horror film / black comedy all in one. Builds to boiling point before a great final act and as close to perfect

punchy smash cut ending

as you’ll find. Martin Eden meanwhile grappled with its main characters ideological conflicts capably while looking like a dream. And I mean dream in quite a specific sense: the directorial decisions kind of have it dislocated out of any particular time despite the period setting. Looks like a lost classic of 70s cinema in some respects while having lots of modern ideas too.

Was at the screening of Heroic Losers earlier. Lighthearted Argentinian caper. Really liked it. Audience seemed to love it too.

Seen Synonyms tonight. Hated it. Usually love these kind of films too but this was utter nonsense. Handful of walkouts. I'd have been one of them but the person I was with assured me it would pick up. It didn't. I think she just liked all the male nudity tbh

Seeing Initials SG tomorrow night, hoping that's a good sight better and Calm With Horses on Thursday (have avoided reading much about this in case too much is given away).

Synonyms was messy and often frustrating but liked it overall. Powerhouse of a lead performance, and fascinating to see questions of identity and nationality addressed in such a bruising, tricky way. It is repetitive and meandering, but when it works it really works. Not my favourite of the festival, but happy to have seen it.

Charlie Kaufman was a delight - a modest, funny and down-to-earth man who was a pleasure to listen to. Mark O’Halloran was a really good moderator too and the ratio of interview to audience questions was perfect (i.e. a proper chat for 90 mins and then 10 mins of quick audience questions at the end). I believe Eternal Sunshine and Synecdoche New York are two of the most significant American films of the ‘00s, so a proper treat of an evening hearing Kaufman himself talk so openly about them and his experiences

I saw Twelve Thousand, a French film directed by and starring Nadege Trebel. It's a sometimes whimsical, sometimes serious drama about struggling to earn money. Had a brief chat with the director afterwards to tell her how much I enjoyed her film, a nice opportunity a film festival can provide.

Still thinking about Bacurau from a few nights ago. A quite barmy Brazilian action/western hybrid heavily influenced by the films of John Carpenter.

[Deleted User]

Were any of you in The Lighthouse screen 1 last Saturday night for some premiere and Q+A? I had tickets to go and see The Lighthouse movie on screen 1 at 10:35pm, but we didn't get into the viewing room until after 11pm because whatever was on went overtime.

I'm just wondering what the movie was if any of you were there. It was screen 1 in The Lighthouse, from about 8-11pm on Saturday Feb 29th.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Were any of you in The Lighthouse screen 1 last Saturday night for some premiere and Q+A? I had tickets to go and see The Lighthouse movie on screen 1 at 10:35pm, but we didn't get into the viewing room until after 11pm because whatever was on went overtime.

I'm just wondering what the movie was if any of you were there. It was screen 1 in The Lighthouse, from about 8-11pm on Saturday Feb 29th.

Aye, that was Rose Plays Julie!

[Deleted User]

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Aye, that was Rose Plays Julie!

Thanks johnny. I'm just after reading some info about it, sounds like a good movie that I would like. Had I have known or been more prepared, it would have been a nice double bill to go for on screen 1 last Saturday night.

As it was though - Because of the delay, it meant that The Lighthouse movie was no longer going to finish at 12:39am as originally scheduled and would now finish after 1am, by which time my car would be locked in Smithfield multi-story for the night. So I flew out at 10:50pm get my car and park it elsewhere, and as a result I missed the first 5 minutes of the movie. No harm done really, and because of the very helpful host at The Lighthouse cinema, I was able to know exactly when the movie was due to end and make the decision about my car.

That 'Rose Plays Julie' seems to have been well attended, I hope it went great for all involved.