Wednesday, July 27, 2011

My Film Festival

I love how everyone's film festival experience is completely different. I read Dan Slevin's Preview: 2011 Film Festival, and there's almost no overlap between us (except for an architecture doco that's on my C-list).


Anyway, tickets have been bought, and here's what I'm definitely going to:

Cave of Forgotten Dreams: I've always wanted to see the paintings in Chauvet-Pont-D'Arc, and a 3D tour guided by Werner Herzog seems like my best bet to achieve this dream.


13 Assassins: Takeshi Miike does a samurai film that's better than his best film? That's some hype I need to check out for myself.


Taxi Driver: I really disliked this the first time I saw it, but I suspect I completely missed the point. Seeing a restored print in 35mm seems like the best way to determine what I think of it.


Another Earth: Seeing the trailer after Sundance sold me on the tone it looks like this film's going for: introspective, melancholic science-fiction.


Troll Hunter: Actually, I'm a little suspicious of this one. I fear that a mocumentary about troll disposal experts in Scandanavia might actually be a little too silly to be good, but I'm prepared to take a chance on it.



And I'm also intending to go to these daytime sessions:

Martha Marcy May Marlene: my must-see of the festival due to the subject matter: a young woman trying to leave a cult.

Metropolis: Just like with Greed, you only get a few chances to see classics on the big screen. I'm going to take this one.

3 comments:

Benedict said...

I've got equal overlap with both you and Dan. Although to be fair to Dan, he would only have got to write about the films which the Festival Staff are able to provide previews for (having been a reviewer in a past life, I know that not all the films are available for preview).
I'd love to see Cave of Forgotten Dreams but I hate 3D, I haven't prebooked the 2D session because the website isn't clear about which session is which.

Mashugenah said...

I was put off 13 Assassins by the reported 45 minute final fight. :(

I'm seeing Cave of Forgotten Dreams at the Monday screening.

Steve said...

Ben, according to the hardcopy of the guide, the 2D sessions are these:

10 August, 4.15pm at Te Papa
11 August, 6.15pm at Penthouse
12 August, 11am at Penthouse

Mash: fingers crossed that that's an unforgettable 45 minute sequence then. And I'm going into the cave on Sunday.