Saturday July 25 2009

TROUBLED WATER
8/10
Eric Poppe did 'Hawaii, Oslo' at MIFF in 2005 and which I rated a 7.9 at the time. This is his next film, and he's got two for two with me now. I may have to track down his first film 'A Bunch of Five' after this. Anyway, this film's about a convict whose robbery attempt went wrong and tells the story of his life after receiving parole and getting a job as a church organist. Excellent writing means that several opportunities to turn the story into a predictable yay-fest are kept well within check. A fine drama, and recommended.

THE COVE
6/10
This wasn't initially on my list, but the producer is Jim Clark. A lot of Australians know him as the rich guy who married an Australian supermodel. I know him because he co-founded Netscape Communications, a company that I highly respected and was fortunate enough to work for in the late 1990s. I'd heard a rumour that Jim would be doing an intro/Q&A and really wanted to meet him so I booked in for the session. Unfortunately the rumour was incorrect, but I did get to chat briefly with the Director, who was friendly. Anyway, the film itself was quite good - It's a documentary about a small Japanese town that is responsible for the slaughtering of thousands of dolphins each year, for no apparent good reason. As you can imagine, this is a little gruesome in some scenes and they did a pretty decent job telling the story. I think it was only a little bit too long, and the message was a bit cloudy - by the end, I was unsure whether I should have been angry that kids were being fed food with mercury levels well beyond safe levels, or the inhumane slaying of animals, or that the animals that are being slain don't appear to be done so for good reason. That said, it needs to stop, and the fisherman and town leaders in the town of Taiji, Japan should be ashamed of themselves. It's pretty disgusting too that the town of Broome in Western Australia is the sister city to this place. Please go to http://thecovemovie.com/ and watch the trailer. And if you want to do something about it, visit http://www.takepart.com/thecove to find out how. I'll also add a The Cove gadget thing to the right hand column of this site if you'd like to sign the petition.


ANNA
6/10
Harmless musical television vehicle from the late 60s featuring Anna Karina and Serge Gainsbourg. Great fashion moments and mostly enjoyable, especially if you're into 60s fashion. The number of girls with bob hairstyles was high at this event :).