Four films in a day

Cinequest 2007

Today was FUN FUN FUN.

I saw two great movies and two okay movies. Yes, I changed my schedule and was able to fit in FOUR movies today. My old boss Jim was there too, the one who used to loan me his Cinequest passes when I couldn’t afford them myself. Now I joke with him that my name is above his on the contributor list. But he and his wife were at the last film with me and we had a good time chatting about what we saw. So let’s get this started. I’ll go from worst to best.

Not Good: Imitation: It wasn’t horrible, it just wasn’t great. It was slow, confusing, irritating sometimes, and left you with no one to root for. Plus, WRONG ENDING. If this is on your list and there’s something else you want to see, skip this one. It wasn’t as bad as the French short film, it just wasn’t really good.

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Good: Mas Que Nada en el Mundo (More than Anything in the World):
This movie was really, really good, it just wasn’t something that made you feel good about the world when you left. Single mother who isn’t really taking very good care of her daughter, but it is obvious that the mother does love her. The girl who plays the daughter however was FANTASTIC. That girl could act rings around Abigail Breslin AND Dakota Fanning, and she’s gorgeous too. I wish she was American so she could be in more movies I could see. The movie is unfinished: there are no end credits, the sound editing has not been done, and the one scene that required special effects still had the green screen visible so there was no special effect. It was kind of funny, but you knew what was supposed to be there and sometimes this happens for Film Festival movies. I didn’t think the ending was terribly realistic – the daughter only THINKS she fixed everything, so really nothing was changed. If you don’t mind seeing a very mildly disturbing film that has incredible actors (mamma, daughter and her friend), I do recommend this one.

Best Foreign Film of the Day: Courthouse on Horseback (Mabei shang de fating) I loved this film. I’m going to take the description right out of the Cinequest site: Winner of the prestigious Horizons Award at the Venice Film Festival, and based on a true story, Liu Jie directs the story of an old circuit court judge, whose dispensation of justice for the various squabbles and transgressions he finds are reminiscent of Mark Twain in both their fairness and humor. I thought it was great, it was a very nice surprise and the first really good film I saw so far. This is the kind of festival film the rest of the world really misses out on – a nice quiet foreign film (from China) that is really really great.

Best Film for a Fun Move Ride: You Are Here (Now on Amazon Instant Video, new title “SPIN”). This was a direct rip-off of GO complete with requisite British bloke, dangerous drug dealer, and the multiple view points. But it was a REALLY fun movie. I totally loved it and so did the whole audience. The good news is, this one will have at least a one week showing in LA and New York, which means it could be picked up cross-country and will at least go to video/DVD. So keep your eyes out for this one – or go see it if you’re at Cinequest. It also had a great cast: Katie Cassidy, Bijou Phillips, Adam Campbell, Lauren German, Patrick Flueger, Chris Lowell, Danny Masterson, Michael Biehn