Dekada Cinemanila: 10th Cinemanila International Film Festival – Oct 16-29

Ok time out from Aladygma for a bit.

So many films, so little time!

To be honest I’ve never attended a single Cinemanila film fest event– somehow Gateway seems so faaar away ,albeit being only an MRT ride away from my house. But the lineup this year looks like a good one– it’s 100 films for Cinemanila’s 10th year to be shown in a time frame of only TWO WEEKS. TWO. WEEKS. ONLY. Can you say overwhelming.,! If I stuck to my happy bum life I would’ve been at Gateway right now. Anyway all that aside, I’m still hoping to catch at least some of the films there– so far, here’s my must-watch list:

Band’s Visit

A small Egyptian Police band arrives in Israel. They are suppose to play at an initiation ceremony but instead are left stranded at the airport. The band tries to make their way on their own, only to find themselves in a desolate, small Israeli town, somewhere in the heart of the desert. A lost band in a lost town.

(I saw the trailer to this movie on a DVD a longlonglong time ago., it’s been on my must-watch list for more than a year now)

 

Sukiyaki Western Django | 121 min | DIRECTOR : Takashi Miike | Japan | 2007

Set during “The Genpei Wars” at the end of the 1100s, the Minamoto and Taira gangs face off in a town named Yuda, while a deadly gunman (Ito Hideaki) comes to the aid of the townsfolk.

(I heard from a friend that this isn’t one of Miike’s best works. No wait, let me rephrase- he said it was really bad. Oh well,. will just have to see it myself)

I’M A CYBORG, BUT THAT’S OK | 105 min | DIRECTOR: Park Chan-wook | South Korea |2007

The film takes place in a mental institution. Young-goon, a young woman who believes herself to be a cyborg, refuses to eat and instead administers electric shocks to herself. Il-sun, a young male patient hospitalized for anti-social behaviour and schizophrenia, who believes he can take other peoples souls, befriends Young-goon. After Young-goon is given shock treatment, she believes that she has been recharged and fantasizes about killing the hospital staff who had previously taken her mentally-ill grandmother away. In reality, her physical condition begins to deteriorate rapidly. By convincing her that he had installed a food-to-electrical-energy converting unit (a rice-megatron) in her back, Il-sun gets Young-goon to eat.

(This Chan-wook Park movie had me at the title. heehee)

See the complete list of Cinemanila movies here -http://www.cinemanila.org.ph/films.htm

Now I don’t understand why the ‘Schedule’ portion of the Cinamanila website leads to the main page. It’s the second day of the fest and still no viewable schedule. Not good at all !

The 10th Cinemanila International Film Festival runs from October 16-29 at Gateway Cineplex 10, Araneta Center.

In the mood for a clean Maggie Cheung

Clean (2004): 2/5

Do what mommy does

Oliver Assayas directs Maggie Cheung in this horribly disjointed story about drugs and coming, well, Clean. I saw this film on the French Film Festival in Shangri-La, and I think I can say that I’ve seen this film more than a thousand times already due to the endless cliches and exhausted storyline. Perhaps it’s the worn-out rock and roll junkie story we’re tired of hearing, or the sketchy characterization. Or Nick Nolte’s resounding Hulk performance. Or maybe just bad storytelling set to a global backdrop.

Yet somehow ‘Clean’ manages to transform from a seemingly meaningless film into something of substance. Maybe it’s because of the soundtrack. Or maybe because of Maggie Cheung. Yes, we’re definitely in the mood for Maggie Cheung.

Even YOU could paint that

My Kid Could Paint That (2007): 4/5

look mommy - art!

My Kid Could Paint That is one of those ‘art’ films premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Fest. If I wanted to intend the pun, then yes, it is a film about art. A documentary to be precise. Marla Olmstead is a 4 year old whose paintings echo the works of Jackson Pollack and Picasso, and has garnered worldwide attention and became an instant phenomenon.

The subject matter of this documentary pretty much tackles something I know a lot of people would love to debate for hours on- art! While abstract expressionism may be considered by some to express the inner workings of our consciousness, others may see it as a scam. My Kid Could Paint That tackles drawing the line between ‘art’ and absurdity, inspiration and manipulation. It’s come down to an emperor’s new clothes practice as they tell us to forget aesthetics when there’s profound abstract-ness to appreciate. But at the end of this documentary, after much debacle, I think everyone agrees it’s all narrowed down to plain silliness and mere child’s play.

$300,000 worth of paintings this 4 year old has sold, I mean geeeezz even I could paint that.

Playing your (french) horn right

Changement d'adresse (2006)

Changement d’adresse (2006): 4/5

Changement d’adresse aka Change of Address is a weirdo slice of life story, mainly about David, a French horn instructor and Anne who runs a copy shop. He is an uptight, frustrated romantic, while she is free-spirited on the brink of insanity.

Laughable scenes go about the pair in the film’s first act with endless innuendos (“Can I see your french horn?”). While the audience (myself included) found hilarity in the oddnesss of the 2 offbeat characters, the second act seems to grudgingly drag with the new additional ones. As the fun fades away, so does David and Anne’s potential romance. Moods dampen and things get boring (for the film’s characters and the viewers). But a few boom mic appearances and changes of address later, friendship and romance is rekindled as we’re brought back to the original tandem. Fun times are back again as this film ends with an inevitable closing scene which evoked a lot of awe. No wait, I meant ‘awwwww’. Falls into the guilty pleasure pile, this one.

Some movies

.. just really catch you at a bad time. Will try again next time. I haven’t walked out of a movie since 2046, which was around 4 years ago. Sorry sorry I’ll give it another shot. Should’ve done my homework and looked up the trailers, . but it seems like the bipolar bear strikes again. In the meantime, do try to check it out as I’m sure it’s supposedly better than what the first 20 minutes appear to be.

Catch Concursante at the this year’s Spanish Film Fest Oct 1-12 at Greenbelt 3.

Watch the (unsubtitled) trailer here

Concursante (2007)

Love songs love

Les Chansons d' Amour (2007)

Les Chansons d’Amour (2007): 5/5

Three's a crowd

This movie is all about what the title says- Long Songs! Songs that sing about love and all the beautiful cliches that go with it. Yes it’s the whole gamut surrounding that notorious, infamous, nauseating, bittersweet 4 letter word, but quite suprisingly I don’t hear (or read) anyone profess in the entirety of the film. A movie that bears similarities to Moulin Rouge for being another musical all about well, love, the message we’re transmitted in Chansons encompasses the former movie’s and brings a sweet dimension to the not-so-new mumbo jumbo concept of love and relationships (or the lack thereof).

I only know about ten words in French but Les Chansons d’Amour speaks (rather, sings) a language clearer to me than any of the hundreds of other trying hard lovey-dovey flicks out there. It’s the kind of movie you develop an intense crush on, the kind you want to see more of, the kind that makes your entire day after a mere glimpse, the kind you want to get to know better. I realise I might be a bit biased with liking this film because of that beautiful creature Louis Garrel in it, but Les Chansons d’Amour is the kind of movie that stays with you. It warmed the cockles of my heart, this movie did (oh Woody!) and I know it’s been quoted plenty of times but I just have to say it: Love me less, but love me a long time.

Pelicula / Pelikula: 7th Spanish Film Festival October 1-12!

Vamos a ver las peliculas!=)

Lo siento, mi espanol es muy mal. jajajajaja

I wanna watch the ones I highlighted in yellow.. to anyone who’s game , vamos! : )

Check out http://www.pelicula.ph/ for more details on the fest

7th Spanish Film Festival

October 1-12

Greenbelt 3, Cinema 1

P65/film

MIGUEL Y WILLIAM · MIGUEL & WILLIAM
Director: Inés París
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 102 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Elena Ayana, Juan Luis Galiardo, Will Kemp, Geraldine Chaplin

Leonor leaves London to marry a rich, widowed duke in Castile, also leaving her lover, William Shakespeare, a promising playwright. In Spain, she meets Miguel de Cervantes, a man of letters who has lost faith in his talent. Shakespeare arrives to prevent the marriage between his beloved and the duke and so Leonor sees the chance to bring together the talents of the two writers to create a unique work.

BAJO LAS ESTRELLAS  · UNDER THE STARS
Director: Félix Viscarret
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 108 minutes
Reparto · Cast: AlbertoSan Juan, Emma Suárez, Julián Villagrán

Benito learns that his brother Lalo will soon marry. Knowing the bride-to-be, he decides to step in, but finds himselfup against Nines’s daughter, Ainara, with whom he ends up forging a peculiar friendship. When things take a turn for the worst in this peculiar family, Benito decides for the first time in his life to take control.

CONCURSANTE · THE CONTESTANT
Director: Rodrigo Cortés
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 88 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Cheta Lera, Miyam Gallego, Fernado Cayo, Myriam de Maetzu

Martin’s life is turned upside down when he wins almost 4 million dollars in prizes from a quiz show. But his life becomes a roller-coaster ride when his girlfriend starts spending the cash value of the prizes at the same rate he is frantically trying to sell them.

EL POLLO, EL PEZ Y EL CANGREJO REAL · THE CHICKEN, THE FISH AND THE KING CRAB
Director: Félix Viscarret
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 108 minutes
Reparto · Cast: AlbertoSan Juan, Emma Suárez, Julián Villagrán

Jesús Almagro was a happy man when he won Spain’s National Award for Best Cook 2007. His next challenge was to compete for the World Championship, the Bocuse d’Or. He thought he was up to the challenge, that preparing was just a matter of time and skills. But he was definitively not ready for what lay ahead.

EL ORFANATO · THE ORPHANAGE
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Producción · Production: Spain, Mexico; 2007
Duración · Duration: 105 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Príncep, Mabel Rivera, Montserrat Carulla

Laura returns to the orphanage where she spent the best years of her childhood to discover that it has acquired a haunted, unhappy air. She then sets out to learn what happened at the orphanage after she left, plunging headlong into a netherworld where the dead reach out to the living.

EL VIOLÍN
Director: Francisco Vargas
Producción · Production: Mexico, 2007
Duración · Duration: 98 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Ángel Tavira, Gerardo Taracena, Dagoberto Gama, Mario Garibaldo, Fermín Martínez

Don Plutarco, his son Genaro and grandson Lucio make a humble living as traveling musicians. They also collect supplies and ammunition for the guerrilla movement that has arisen in response to the tyrannical regime.

FADOS
Director: Carlos Saura
Producción · Production: Spain, Portugal; 2007
Duración · Duration: 90 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Chico Buarque de Hollanda, Camané, Carlos do Carmo, Lila Downs, Cesária Évora, Toni Garrido

After more than two years research on the Fado, Carlos Saura makes an important change in his approach to musical films. In Fados, the plot and the images work to reflect the origins of this organic port music in a unique, original way.

FUERA DE CARTA  · CHEF’S SPECIAL
Director: Nacho G. Velilla
Producción · Production: Spain, 2008
Duración · Duration: 111 minutes
Reparto · Cast: JavierCámara, Lola Dueñas, Fernando Tejero, Benjamín Vicuña

Maxi thinks his life is perfect. Then, unexpectedly, the children from his sham marriage turn up on his doorstep and a handsome ex-football player from Argentina moves in next door, making him reevaluate his own morals and values.

LA CAJA · THE WOODEN BOX
Director: Juan Carlos Falcón
Producción · Production: Spain, 2006
Duración · Duration: 96 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Ángela Molina, Elvira Mínguez, Antonia San Juan, Vladimir Cruz, María Galiana

In a fishing village in the Canary Islands, the hated don Lucio dies and his wife has asks her neighbor Isabel to keep vigil over the body. All the neighbors visit him to settle old scores. Rest in peace, Don Lucio… if you can.

LA TORRE DE SUSO · SUSO’S TOWER
Director: Tom Fernández
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 95 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Javier Cámara, Gonzalo de Castro, César Vea, José Luis Alcobendas, Malena Alterio

Cundo returns home after a ten-year absence, on the news of the death of his best friend, Suso. He pretends that everything in his life is hunky-dory, planning to leave the scene as quickly as he had come. But Cundo actually isn’t doing so well and Suso won’t be content with a simple toast to his life.

LO MEJOR DE MÍ  · THE BEST OF ME
Director: Roser Aguilar
Producción · Production: Spain, 2008
Duración · Duration: 85 minutes
Reparto · Cast: MariánÁlvarez, Juan Sanz, Lluís Homar, Alberto Jiménez, Marieta Orozco

When Raquel was a little girl, she couldnot understand why everyone talked constantly about love. When Raquel moves inwith Tomas, she will have to ask herself what she could be willing to do forlove, discovering how beautiful, and at the same how difficult, it is to trulylove someone.

LOS CRÍMENES DE OXFORD · THE OXFORD MURDERS
Director: Álex de la Iglesia
Producción · Production: Spain, France; 2008
Duración · Duration: 107 minutes
Reparto · Cast: ElijahWood, Jogn Hurt, Leonor Watling, Julie Cox, Burn Gorman

The murdered corpse of an old lady is discovered by two men who meet for the first time, on the site of the first ina series of murders, all announced by the perpetrator by strange symbols. Professor and student join forces to try and crack the code, revealing an elaborate puzzle where nothing is as it seems

LUZ SILENCIOSA · SILENT LIGHT
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Producción · Production: Mexico, France, Netherlands, Germany; 2007
Duración · Duration: 127 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Cornelio Wall, Maria Pankratz, Miriam Toews, Peter Wall, Jacobo Klassen, Elizabeth Fehr

Johan, married to Esther, with seven sons from her, has been having a passionate love affair with Marianne for 2 years. He confesses to his friend, Zacaris and to his father, a preacher, who sees it as the devil’s work. Nevertheless, both of them support him, pity him. And envy him.

MATAHARIS
Director: Iciar Bollain
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 95 minutes
Reparto · Cast: NajwaNimri, Tristán Ulloa, María Vázquez, Diego Martín, Nuria González

Private detectives Inés, Eva and Carmen find that they have to cross the thin line between public and private matters, bringing their own issues to light in order to solve more than just their professional cases.

NOCTURNA
Director: Adriá García, Víctor Maldonado
Producción · Production: Spain; 2007
Duración · Duration: 80 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Imanol Arias, Natalia Rodríguez, Carlos Sobera

Tim leaves the orphanage he calls home to find out why the stars have disappeared from the sky. He embarks on an exciting journey where he encounters the denizens of Nocturna, a parallel world that comes to life as we lie asleep, with a mission to find Moka, keeper of the night, to plead him to return the stars to the night sky.

SIETE MESAS DE BILLARFRANCÉS · SEVEN BILLIARD TABLES
Director: Gracia Querejeta
Producción · Production: Spain, 2007
Duración · Duration: 116 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Maribel Verdú, Blanca Portillo, Jesús Repartoejón, Víctor Valdivia, Enrique Villén

Angela is faced with what’s left of the family business, a hall with seven billiard tables: Despite this, the death of her father, and the sudden and mysterious disappearance of her husband, she resolves to get on and rebuild her life and to get the seven tables back on their feet.

TODOS ESTAMOS INVITADOS
Director: Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón
Producción · Production: Spain;2007
Duración · Duration: 95 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Óscar Jaenada, José Coronado, Vanessa Incontrada, Iñaki Miramón

Josu Jon, is injured in a clash with theCivil Guard, losing his memory. He is treated in a prison hospital, where he awaits judgment. The inmates help him remember that he is actually a gudari, and that he will soon return to the struggle if he manages to get out of prison.

YO SOY LA JUANI · MY NAME IS JUANI
Director: Bigas Luna
Producción · Production: Spain; 2006
Duración · Duration: 100 minutes
Reparto · Cast: Verónica Echegui, Dani Martín, Laya Martí, Gorka

Juani leaves her boyfriend to do what she couldn’t have done while she was with him. Sick of having to take it all in, she decides to go on with her life and to find success. She’s going to be an actress and no one can stop her. After all, she’s Juani and Juani is number one.