You hear that, Mr Andersen?

FF 13 - quickish entry

I'm not dead yet - I'm just a little busy. Plus knowing that you've got 23 films to review is a little intimidating, so I'm going to break it down into chunks.

But first - what has been consuming valuable blogging time? Well, it hasn't helped that I'm reading Overheard in New York and playing Planarity. Just a quick warning about the game - it doesn't end, it just keeps getting harder. And if you've got any OCD-ish tendencies, avoid starting. :)

I've gotten up-to-date with the blogs that I read regularly, but I'm about 200 entries behind in LiveJournal (though some of that is feeds and the like). I will make an effort to catch up soon. :)

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The Queen of Sheba's Pearls is the name of one of those games where the boys get to be forward, but the girls are in control. (The boy touches the girl where he thinks the pearls might be, and the girl tells him if he's found them - once found, the game is over.) The movie focused on a household during and just after WWII, where the main character's mother died, and a "mysterious stranger" who looks just like her turns up. I liked the movie a lot - the boy being talked to by his dead mother in heaven worked well for me, and I liked how the different characters interacted and grew. A movie I may buy at some point.

Banana in a Nutshell is a documentary about the film-maker, her Chinese parents, her sisters, and her white boyfriend. I thought it was excellent - I'm not sure it was a good documentary about the difficult question of family reactions to couples of differing races in the NZ context, but it was awesome as a document of this particular set of relationships. (Interestingly, the parents don't appear in the film except in home movies and the like -- in questions afterwards, it was revealed that they had a copy of it, but the film-maker didn't know if they'd seen it.) While I sometimes felt a little uncomfortable about how much of the film-maker's inner life we were seeing, it was well made and I'm glad I saw it. The person who made it is normally focused on feature films rather than documentaries; I'll be really interested to see her other work, if I get the chance.

Next was the Aussie mockumentary about a hitman, The Magician -- this was good in a totally different way. They made it semi-plausible (there's a bit where they clarify that they're showing the killings because they won't release the movie until the guy is dead), and it's full of little details that make it much more engaging. I think it was also entertaining because it was unpredictable - the main actor made me believe in a character who was basically good-natured, but could lash out with overwhelming force if provoked. It was funny, and at times scary, and had an interesting behind-the-scenes section in the credits. Would certainly re-watch it, and might even buy it.

Duck Season was somewhat quieter - a boy and his friend in an apartment playing computer games while his mum works; they let a neighbor girl in to use the oven, order a pizza, and then try to avoid paying the stubborn delivery guy by saying it's late. It never feels like there's any overriding narrative, but piece by piece the reasons for their actions are revealed, with off-hand remarks and bursts of explanation. It was funny, and a little sad, and had an excellent little twist just after the credits (which means most people probably didn't see it). I'd watch it again. :)

In complete contrast, there was very little to laugh at with Kekexili: Mountain Patrol, which was a semi-fictionalised version of the story of the reporter who came to find out about the locals who were trying to prevent poachers from wiping out the Tibetean antelope. There were plenty of hard questions about conservation in really poor areas, where the government either can't or won't act, and the people have to make choices about eating now, or doing the "right thing". It drew me in, and I'm glad I saw it. Plus I got to see Tama Tu again, which was just as fun the second time. :)

Oh, and valuable tip - if you've got a powder you've got to inject into someone and a clean syringe, but no sterile water, you should but the powder in the syringe, draw some blood from the person, and use that to dissolve the powder. Obvious once it was pointed out, but I would have been busy trying to melt snow or something. :)

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Okay, that's Wednesday out of the way - hope to do Thursday, and maybe Friday, tomorrow.

Posted by svend at August 3, 2005 10:32 PM