Mark's blog about the 2005 Melbourne International Film Festival.Sunday, July 31, 2005
ABOUT LOVE
8/10
A nice set of three short romantic stories set in different asian cities, done by three different directors. I really enjoyed this one - as can be expected in a movie like this, some of the stories are better than the others. I liked the first better than the second two but the 'worst' were still most enjoyable.
PRETTY PERSUATION
7/10
This would've been a great film if Heathers, Wild Things and Jawbreaker didn't exist. As it is, it's a bit of all of these three films (and probably a couple of others too). The film is good enough though, despite covering several themes and ideas that have been done before. Special mention should be made of James Woods who did a great job in his role.
CRAZY LEGS CONTI: ZEN AND THE ART OF COMPETITIVE EATING
7.5/10
A documentary about a guy who decides to pursue a life as a professional competitive eater. Americans, huh? This was a great bit of fluff with plenty of amusing bits. You have to hand it to the guy though - he really is passionate about his career as a 'professional sports-person', and is quite a likable guy. To think that the world champ hotdog eater can down a hotdog every 15 seconds for 12 minutes straight is stomach turning.
MADE IN SHEFFIELD
7.5/10
This doco was about the sheffield scene of the late 70s/early 80s, and since walking out, I've had Human League and ABC songs in my head :-). If you weren't into the bands, this probably wouldn't be too interesting, but I have my share of Human League, ABC, Cabaret Voltaire, Heaven 17, Clock DVA, etc records, all who were covered, so I liked it. It was interesting to see the various key figures being interviewed in the 2000s - from The Extras who seemed quite embarrasingly sad, to Artery who I'd never heard of but seemed to be taking their queues from Joy Division. The guy from '2.3' was great too. I'd have liked it if they had a bit at the end telling us what they were all doing nowadays.
8/10
A nice set of three short romantic stories set in different asian cities, done by three different directors. I really enjoyed this one - as can be expected in a movie like this, some of the stories are better than the others. I liked the first better than the second two but the 'worst' were still most enjoyable.
PRETTY PERSUATION
7/10
This would've been a great film if Heathers, Wild Things and Jawbreaker didn't exist. As it is, it's a bit of all of these three films (and probably a couple of others too). The film is good enough though, despite covering several themes and ideas that have been done before. Special mention should be made of James Woods who did a great job in his role.
CRAZY LEGS CONTI: ZEN AND THE ART OF COMPETITIVE EATING
7.5/10
A documentary about a guy who decides to pursue a life as a professional competitive eater. Americans, huh? This was a great bit of fluff with plenty of amusing bits. You have to hand it to the guy though - he really is passionate about his career as a 'professional sports-person', and is quite a likable guy. To think that the world champ hotdog eater can down a hotdog every 15 seconds for 12 minutes straight is stomach turning.
MADE IN SHEFFIELD
7.5/10
This doco was about the sheffield scene of the late 70s/early 80s, and since walking out, I've had Human League and ABC songs in my head :-). If you weren't into the bands, this probably wouldn't be too interesting, but I have my share of Human League, ABC, Cabaret Voltaire, Heaven 17, Clock DVA, etc records, all who were covered, so I liked it. It was interesting to see the various key figures being interviewed in the 2000s - from The Extras who seemed quite embarrasingly sad, to Artery who I'd never heard of but seemed to be taking their queues from Joy Division. The guy from '2.3' was great too. I'd have liked it if they had a bit at the end telling us what they were all doing nowadays.
