Day 8: September 16

The fest is winding down so quickly, I can almost taste the scrambled eggs and yummy, yummy potatoes served at the closing brunch.

I slept in till noon, as last night's home ride almost ended with me stepping in front of the cab as I jaywalked aimlessly. Sleep deprived, have I mentioned that yet?

Got to see Ken Burns at the doc - the screening was sparsely populated (it is going to be on TV after all, and at almost 4 hours wasn't for the casual filmgoer.) He came across as extremely intelligent and courteous. At the intermission, I booked an interview with him, my first sit-down of the fest. With few good films left to see, I might as well spend time talking with a bright guy who makes good movies.

Everyone's getting a bit testy, it's probably good that this thing's only ten days long. Still, the machine keeps on going, and Zebraman ended up being well worth the sillyness at the theatre.

On an interesting note, I continue to have misdirected Casuistry hate mails sent my way. One was phrased as a death threat. Keep em coming, it'll make for a neat collection at the end of the fest.

Trauma
Directed by: Marc Evans

Grade: D
A meandering, incoherent tale of a car crash victim coming to grips with his life after coming out of a coma. The tragic loss of his wife comes simultaneous to the loss of a famous singer. The not-so-subtle reference to a public period of mourning that gripped England after Di died is a backdrop to the very personal pain of a man losing his wife.

Sound good? Well, it could have been. The film chokes on its own stylistic pretensions, while the overwrought score and gloomy cinematography make this one slumbering thriller. A poor man's Spider, this film simply cannot sustain interest.

Colin Firth is fine, if a little over the top, while I've decided that Mena Suvari, with her dead, unblinking eyes is simply a negative distraction in almost any movie I see her in. She's obviously there for whatever American star power that can be wrung for the BBC production, and she's nothing but annoying, with reaction shot after reaction shot put on screen in lieu of performance. Avoid this flick.

Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Directed by: Ken Burns

Ken Burns has his schtick down so pat, there's even a plugin on some video editing packages promising the "Ken Burns effect". I for one refuse to underestimate his filmmaking skills - sure, the docs are populist (hello, PBS?!) but they're extremely well made and often tell quite compelling stories. Unforgiveable Blackness carries on from where Baseball and Jazz left off, continuing to explore the rift that formed modern America, the divide between black and white. My introduction to JJ came from the Miles Davis album, hearing about this early twentieth century rogue who flaunted the system at a time when lynchings were still quite common place. In this exhaustive doc, Burns brings forth many impressive historical details, all contextualized within the overarching story of Race in America. Hours later, you are left with what feels like a genuine sense of what made the guy tick, and the world that he inhabited. Yet another accomplishment for Mr. Burns.
Grade: A

Zebraman
Directed by: Takashi Miike

What a blast, a campy super hero send-up with silly costumes and chop-socky action scenes. What Spiderman wished it could be - a genuinely good movie, and great MM fodder.
Grade: A-