Prepare to be jealous because I get to see
I Think We're Alone Now on Friday, then
Bunnyland, along with
Fat Man Walking on Saturday.
Stevie - I can't believe how different the trailer is from the film. Basically take everything in the trailer and add one key element which is an arrest for child molestation. It's intense to say the least. Not only do you have the whole child molestation issue but the mom abandoning and abusing Stevie as a child, but also Steve James (Hoop Dreams) has this whole inner battle if he should actually be filming this and is he partly responsible for the way Stevie turned out.
Katyn - Really depressing drama about the Katyn massacre in which 12,000 Poles either members of the intelligentsia or officers in the army were killed by Russian soldiers in 1939. Focuses more on the families back home and how people deal with the spin the Russians put on it blaming the Nazi's after Russia takes over Poland.
Lemon Tree -Same director, Eran Riklis, and lead actress, Hiam Abbas, as
The Syrian Bride but unfortunately not as good. I thought a lot of the cliches and heavy handedness that was avoided in Syrian Bride weren't side stepped in Lemon Tree. Still a very good film about the absurdity of Israel and it's border polices.
Tricks - Another Polish film, this one however is really light hearted and funny film about a young boy who thinks he spots his estranged father at the local train station which sets off a series of events. Almost more of a style you expect from the Czech New Wave. The child, who pretty much steals the film, and his teenage sister are always tempting fate with little tricks which makes the film more entertaining and quirky.
Ballast - A starker entry in the neo realism style than the other Sundance darling,
Frozen River. Both films are really good. Frozen River being more of a thriller and Ballast being a slow burning character study.
Sonic Mirror - Honestly I thought this was a doc on Jazz drummer Billy Cobham. But it ends up taking this detour to a facility in Switzerland for kids with autism and shows how the patients are treated with sound. Really different than what I expected. It also spends a lot of time in Brazil with an academy of kids who spend every Sunday for a year just prepping to play the drums at carnivale.
The Wrecking Crew - This is about the studio musicians who pretty muched played on any great record to come out of LA in the 60's. I mean seriously, name an artist in LA at the time and chances are there's a connection. They were the default musicians Spector called, the actual musicians on Pet Sounds, the list goes on and on. It's done by the son of one of the musicians and is pretty much a love letter to the dad and the accomplishments of these unheralded artists.
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