Tallahassee Film Festival 2009

Day 1 - 15th April 2009

With "Tea Party" demonstrations in progress at the Capitol and the IRS tax deadline looming, it seemed like a good idea to take refuge in a film festival in my own home town

Jaded couple decide to embark on an open relationship with 'off days'.
Of course this opens them up to petty jealousies and family members that just-don't-get-it. Affable Rom-com that packs more laughs and genuine romance than many a Hollywood effort. Zoe Lister-Jones is a delight as are the supporting cast headed by Andrea Martin. Daryl Wein manages to juggle multiple roles, Director, writer and star with an assured hand on this micro-budget feature. Recommended.

Day 2 - 16th April 2009

Leo (Yannick Bisson) lounges in a dirty bathtub contemplating his own demise and how he found himself in this predicament.
Leo has be housebound for 2 years courtesy of an abject fear of the outside world, nevertheless, love has managed to find him in the form of free-spirited Carly (Pascale Bussières). Flashbacks tell us how he arrived in both situations. The two leads are splendid in this wallow in self-pity, but all of Leo's charm evaporates in a second as the final revelations are made leaving a bad taste on the filmic palate.

A man walks into a bar, he is bad-tempered, amoral and misogynist. He enjoys the misery of others and has a lousy way of earning a living.
The punchline to the above "joke" is that our "hero" suddenly finds himself afflicted with a pair of angelic wings that turn his behaviours around. The only problem is that third parties covet his wings too.

I've been a Bill Plymton fan since 1989's 25 Ways to Quit Smoking. Idiots and Angels finds him in parable mode with his feathered tale of redemption. This is the first Plymtoon I've seen on the big screen and was surprised to find his shaky pencil animations are absolutely gorgeous on that scale. I'm less happy with the story though.

The film was accompanied by a Plymton created music video for Parson Brown, but the coup here was a 22 minute minimalist animation entitled I Am So Proud of You by Don Hertzfeldt which was by turns delirious and hilarious - highly recommended!

Day 3 - 17th April 2009

Dory quits his computer job after a rough day at the office and finds new employment as an after hours janitor. One of the companies serviced by the janitors has decided to covertly test a new cookie dough recipe on the team, unaware that the new secret ingredient will cause weird biological changes in the guinea pigs.

Clerks by way of Salvador Dali in this hilarious meditation on losers and male pregnancy. Vince Vieluf is a standout as Dory's stoner philosopher co-worker.

A young woman fleeing an abusive relationship rescues another girl at a bar. The two become friends and the latter offer santuary at her families pig farm when the boyfriend starts getting too close.

Efficient After Dark Horrorfest effort (available now, at your DVD stockist!), although I'm not convinced I would hide out at a creepy slaughterhouse. Stuart Hopewell directs efficiently, but the plot is formulaic and nothing you haven't seen before. Of note, and I didn't figure it out until after, is that the three leading ladies are British, so kudos for the accents and an astonishing scene with fireflies that was accomplished digitally.

Day 4 - 18th April 2009

Almost documentary like look at the harsh lives of the Kazakhstan steppe sheep farming community. Story concerns the quest for a wife by Asa who has just returned from a stint in the Kazakh navy.

Aided by beautiful photography and wry humour but slightly haunted by the ghost of Borat.

Art, a troubled teen, tries to come to terms with his dysfunction aided (or not) by his friends, parents and a self-help therapist.
Low-key British comedy with Pattinson playing grunge nerd. Funny, certainly, but feels more like a 70s Play for Today than a feature. I haven't made up my mind if that's a good thing or not. Johnny White steals it as the one who has embraced his inner nerd.

Tokyo!
9:30pm Student Life Cinema Screening

Three stories of the eponymous city as rendered by Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-Ho. The first concerns a couple trying to find their way in the big city which is apparently out to get them. The second has a demented Leprechaun like character running amuck in the city. The third concerns a fellow who has not ventured out of his house in years (a theme of the festival!) and a tentative romance with the pizza delivery girl.
Mixed bag. The first leaves a bad aftertaste, the second is somewhat silly, the third is the best of the bunch.

Day 5 - 19th April 2009

A Deal is a Deal (aka Three and Out)
9:15pm Student Life Cinema Narrative Feature Award Winner Screening

After experiencing a second fatality, tube train driver Paul Callow (Mackenzie Crook) hears that if he accrues a third he can retire in style. He then seeks out a potential suicide to aid him in his goal. The suicide turns out to be Irish rogue, Tommy Cassidy (Colm Meaney) who has family issues to settle first.
Crook and Meaney make a good team in this wry black comedy that doesn't quite reach the heights it strives for. Ending doesn't quite work either.