sundog

The festival runs Oct 2-16. There's some movies I'll definitely see (Tsai Ming-Liang, Peter Greenaway . . . ), but generally I just see what fits into my schedule. And I try to stay away from the stuff that will surely get a (relatively) wide release.

Chicago International Film Festival

And here's what's in the festival:

16 Years of Alcohol (Richard Jobson, United Kingdom)

The Agronomist (Jonathan Demme, United States)
Alexandra's Project (Rolf de Heer, Australia)
All Tomorrow's Parties (Yu Lik Wai, China)
At Five in the Afternoon (Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran/France)

The Barbarian Invasions (Denys Arcand, France/Canada)
Benilde, or the Virgin Mother (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal)
Bright Future (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan)
Broken Wings (Nir Bergman, Israel)

Callas Forever (Franco Zeffirelli, United Kingdom/Spain/Romania/France/Italy)
Charlie Chaplin - The Forgotten Years (Felice Zenoni, Switzerland)
Chokher Bali - A Passion Play (Rituparno Ghosh, India)
Cinerama Adventure (David Strohmaier, United States)
Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi, Iran/France)

Dark (D.A. Bullock, United States)
Distant (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey)
Distant Lights (Hans-Christian Schmid, Germany)
Don't You Worry, It Will Probably Pass (Cecilia Neant-Falk, Sweden)

Empathy (Amie Siegel, United States)

Father and Son (Alexander Sokurov, Russia)
The Flower of Evil (Claude Chabrol, France)
Forest (Benedek Fliegauf, Hungary)
Fuse (Pjer Zalica, Turkey/France/Bosnia-Herzegovina/Austria)

Go Further (Ron Mann, Canada)
Golden Chicken (Samson Chiu, Hong Kong)
Goodbye Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-Liang, Taiwan)
Grimm (Alex van Warmerdam, The Netherlands)

The Hours of the Day (Jaime Rosales, Spain)
The Human Stain (Robert Benton, United States)
Hush! (Victor Kossakovsky, Russia)

I Was Born, But . . . (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan)
In America (Jim Sheridan, United Kingdom/Ireland)
Incantato (Pupi Avati, Italy)
The Island (Costanza Quatriglio, Italy)

Japanese Story (Sue Brooks, Australia)
Jealousy is My Middle Name (Park Chan-ok, South Korea)
Jesus, You Know (Ulrich Seidl, Austria)
Jon E. Edwards Is In Love (Chris Bradley and Kyle LaBrache, United States)
Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish (Inudo Isshin, Japan)
Joy Of Madness (Hana Makhmalbaf, Iran)

Kops (Josef Fares, Sweden/Denmark)

La Petite Lili (Claude Miller, France/Canada)
Life is Life (Michal Bat-Adam, Israel)
Little Men (Nariman Turebayev, Kazakstan/France)
Loving Glances (Srdjan Karanovic, Montengro/Serbia/United Kingdon)

The Magic Gloves (Martin Rejtman, Argentina)
The Maldonado Miracle (Salma Hayek, United States)
Mambo Italiano (Emile Gaudreault, Canada)
The Man of the Year (Jose Henrique Fonseca, Brazil)
Maria (Peter Calin Netzer, Germany/France/Romania)
Monsieur Ibrahim (Francois Dupeyron, France)
Moonlight (Paula van der Oest, Luxembourg/United Kingdom/The Netherlands/Germany)
Move! (Niki List, Austria)
My Architect (Nathaniel Kahn, United States)
My Life Without Me (Isabel Coixet, Spain/Canada)

Never Get Outta the Boat (Paul Quinn, United States)
Niki and Flo (Lucian Pintilie, Romania/France)
Noi Albinoi (Dagur Kari, United Kingdon/Iceland/Germany/Denmark)

Oasis (Lee Chang-dong, South Korea)
Off the Map (Campbell Scott, United States)
Olga's Chignon (Jérôme Bonnell, France/Belgium)

People Say I'm Crazy (John Cadigan, United States)
Perfect Strangers (Gaylene Preston, New Zealand)
Pieces of April (Peter Hedges, United States)

Reconstruction (Christoffer Boe, Denmark)
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain, Venezula/Ireland)

S21, The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (Rithy Panh, France)
Salt (Bradley Rust Gray, Iceland/United States)
Sex is Comedy (Catherine Breillat, France/Portugal)
Sexual Dependency (Rodrigo Bellott, Bolivia/United States)
Shattered Glass (Billy Ray, United States)

Shorts 1: Twisted
Nutria (Ted Gesing, United States)
The Toll Collector (Rachel Johnson, Czech Republic/United States)
Neon (Claus Withopf, Germany)
The Open Window (Philippe Barcinski, Brazil)
Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl (Brad Peyton, Canada)
Flood (Clio Barnard, United Kingdom)
Def (Ian Clark, United Kingdom)
Promise Land (Gili Dolev, Scotland)

Shorts 2: Where You Stand
The Last Customer (Nanni Moretti, Italy)
Coming Home (Gemma Carrington, United Kingdom)
Barbeiros (Mervi Junkkonen, Finland)
The Trumouse Show (Julio Robledo, Spain)
To Impress the Girl Next Door (Tobias Bechtloff, Germany)
The School (Ezra Krybus and Matthew Miller, Canada)
Like Twenty Impossibles (Annemarie Jacir, Palestine/United States)
The Skywalk Is Gone (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France)

Shorts 3: Moment of Impact
I Used to Be a Filmmaker (Jay Rosenblatt, United States)
Night Out (Jason Tammemgi, Ireland)
On My Knees (Kim Wood, United States)
6 Days (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/United States)
Five Deep Breaths (Seith Mann, United States)
The Spirit of Gravity (Victor Bellomo and David Pace, United States)
Cracker Bag (Glendyn Ivin, Australia)
Fishy (Deva Palmier, United Kingdom)
The Volatile Lion (Agnes Varda, France)
She Is Dead (Henry Moore Selder and Sara Lundèn, Sweden)

Shorts 4: Home Grown
I Was a Mathlete Until I Met Margo Marris (Joe Denk, United States)
Swinging (Yu-Ting Hsueh and Vivien Chen, United States)
Hit & Run (Duane Edwards, United States)
The Parody of the Giving Tree (Julie Lofton, United States)
Portrait of a Filmmaker (Mark Mamalakis, United States)
An Assignment (John A. Rangel, United States)
The Drive North (Tess Ernst, United States)
Last Day (Ron Lazzeretti, United States)
What Are You Having? (Benjamin Meyer, United States)

The Singing Detective (Keith Gordon, United States)
Skin Deep (Sacha Parisot, United States)
Small Cuts (Pascal Bonitzer, United Kingdom/France)
Spare Parts (Damjan Kozole, Slovenia)
The Station Agent (Tom McCarthy, United States)
Strayed (Andre Techine, United Kingdom/France)
The Stroll (Alexey Uchitel, Russia)

A Talking Picture (Manoel de Oliveira, France/Portugal/Italy)
Tamala2010, A Punk Cat in Space (t.o.L., Japan)
A Taste for Murder (Raoul Ruiz, France)
That Day (Raoul Ruiz, Switzerland/France)
A Thousand Months (Christoph Hochhausler, Germany)
Threads (Hakim Belabbes, Morocco)
Three (Kim Jee-Woon, Nonzee Nimibutr and Peter Ho-Sun Chan, Thailand/South Korea/Hong Kong)
Today and Tomorrow (Alejandro Chomski, Spain/Argentina)
The Triplets of Belleville (Sylvain Chomet, France/Canada/Belgium)
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1. The Moab Story (Peter Greenaway, The Netherlands/United Kingdom)
The Twilight Samurai (Yoji Yamada, Japan)

What Jackie Knew (Patrick Jeudy, France)
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (Lone Scherfig, United Kingdom/Denmark)
Wild River (Elia Kazan, United States)

Yes Nurse! No Nurse! (Peter Kramer, The Netherlands)

Giles

The latest Greenaway has gotten attrocious reviews, still gonna see it when it plays here in DC in October.

Phyre

If it was me:

The Barbarian Invasions (Denys Arcand, France/Canada)
Benilde, or the Virgin Mother (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal)
Bright Future (Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan)
Distant (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey)
Father and Son (Alexander Sokurov, Russia)
The Flower of Evil (Claude Chabrol, France)
Goodbye Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-Liang, Taiwan)
I Was Born, But . . . (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan)
Sex is Comedy (Catherine Breillat, France/Portugal)
The Skywalk Is Gone (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France)
6 Days (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/United States)
A Talking Picture (Manoel de Oliveira, France/Portugal/Italy)
The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1. The Moab Story (Peter Greenaway, The Netherlands/United Kingdom)

Corvin

So much to see, so little time.

The Charlie Chaplin movie has my attention, though.

DonnachaOne

Quote:

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain, Venezula/Ireland)

Fame at last!



Seriously though, might check out The Singing Detective and wait for the rest. Lots to take in...

sundog

I was hoping you'd see that.

grunter

Well, the Greenaway movie is a definite.

Everything else . . . eh.

marty888

There's one obscure gem on the list - Elia Kazan's WILD RIVER - a gorgeous Cinemascope production (1960) with Lee Remick, Montgomery Clift, Jo Van Fleet and Bruce Dern. I caught this a few years ago on either AMC or TCM - it's never been on home video (VHS or DVD). If anyone has the chance, see it!

Giles

wasn't this movie panned at January's Sundance? I remember reading from EW, audiences weren't all that impressed with it.

With this and the flawed Greenaway film I am surprised "Brown Bunny" is screening just for the hell of it.

My friend saw the US premier of this film at the AFI Silver Doc Film Fest here in DC a few month's back and raved about it.

My Architect (Nathaniel Kahn, United States) won the audience award as best feature length documentary at the SilverDocs, which I missed, but would assume would warrant some interest as an example of excellent documentary film. (This film is slated for Limited release in the Fall.)

I Used to Be a Filmmaker (Jay Rosenblatt, United States): is also a very amusing funny short film revolving around a filmmaker and his new born child.

Even though slated for release later in the Fall season, I also highly recommend both The Station Agent and The Human Stain.

Of the latter, if you haven't read the book, this movie is best seen without knowing any of the plot.

In regards to the Station Agent this is a predominently dialogue driven film, that is fueled by well cast characters and emphazises the loneliness and friendship that occurs between the three.
__________________________

Grimfarrow

"6 Days" by Wong Kar-Wai is just the music video for Underworld. Not very good either, IMO.

If it were me:

"Goodbye Dragon Inn" - Tsai Ming-Liang
"Bright Future" - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
"Father and Son" - Aleksandr Sokurov
"Distant" - Nuri Bilge Ceylan
"Oasis" - Lee Chang-Dong
"The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1. The Moab Story" - Peter Greenaway
"That Day" - Raoul Ruiz
"Japanese Story" - Sue Brooks
"At Five in the Afternoon" - Samura Makhmalbaf
"Crimson Gold" - Jafar Panahi
"Hours of the Day" - Jaime Rosales

All of the above were acclaimed when shown in their respective festivals.

Out of the list, I've seen:

"Golden Chicken" - skip
"The Twilight Samurai" - HIGHLY recommended! An excellent film that was moving, beautifully photographed and well-acted. A classic film in the best sense. I really liked the film.

Giles

In regards to
Oasis - a quite remarkable movie about a relationship between a woman with severe celebral palsey and a man with questionable mental ability. The acting is top-notch and a compelling attention-grabbing story add to a unique film.

Grimfarrow

Lee Chang-Dong is definitely a director to watch. His previous film, "Peppermint Candy", is stunning, and Oasis seems to continue that excellence. His debut, "Greenfish", is also not bad either.

Oasis won a ton of awards recently - must-see

Giles

criticism on Mambo Italiano:

should be aptly retitled My Big Fat Italian Family and Their Reaction To My Coming Out of the Closet. This movie is so over the top in every respect, the characters, the story... the wallpaper. Subtle isn't a word I would use in describing this film, it's rude, scathingly foul-mouthed and funny, it's not great cinema, but it's a hoot.

I'm envious that the animated feature length film:Triplettes de Belleville (aka Belleville Rendez-vous) is getting screened, since it has been getting rave reviews. This would be my first choice.

Phyre

Grim, 6 Days is a music video for DJ Shadow.

sundog

Thanks guys for all the info on some of the movies that may have flown under my radar. I need to pick up a schedule and see how many movies I can reasonably see (my first round of uninfluenced picks numbered 19).

Grimfarrow

Uh - d'oh! I knew that - really I even have a copy of "The Printing Press". I must have been braindead while typing...

Well, the video has Chang Chen smashing things. Voila.

And once again, I recommend "The Twilight Samurai". You won't regret it! (I hope)

beckham

All theatres are up the ramp.

sundog

Here's a short update. I saw the bulk of the films over this past weekend. A few mighty fine pieces to be found, everything so far worthwhile.

A Talking Picture (Manoel de Oliveira, France/Portugal/Italy)
Exquisite, a travelogue, history lesson, multicultural examination, and an effortless Bunuelian touch.

Goodbye Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-Liang, Taiwan)
One of my favorite filmmakers and this is minimal even for him, but the humor is just as sharp, sexual tension just as thick, and its tone just as elegiac as his previous films. Yet its entirely different, compressed to one night in a theater and more characters in play.

Skin Deep (Sacha Parisot, United States)
A surprise blast. Racial tension taken to the absurdist extremes. Funny as hell.

Crimson Gold (Jafar Panahi, Iran/France)
Great Iranian class-conscious neo-realism, brutal but quiet and unimposing with a truly enigmatic lead, a pizza-delivery man playing a pizza-delivery man who holds up a jewelry store.

The Skywalk Is Gone (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France) (short)
A nice coda/sequel to What Time is it There?

And here's what else I've seen, ranging very good to good. So far no stinkers yet. Each merits its own discussion, but I don't have the time right now:

That Day (Raoul Ruiz, Switzerland/France)
At Five in the Afternoon (Samira Makhmalbaf, Iran/France)
Golden Chicken (Samson Chiu, Hong Kong)
Tamala2010, A Punk Cat in Space (t.o.L., Japan)

Shorts 2: Where You Stand
The Last Customer (Nanni Moretti, Italy)
Coming Home (Gemma Carrington, United Kingdom)
Barbeiros (Mervi Junkkonen, Finland)
The Trumouse Show (Julio Robledo, Spain)
To Impress the Girl Next Door (Tobias Bechtloff, Germany)
The School (Ezra Krybus and Matthew Miller, Canada)
Like Twenty Impossibles (Annemarie Jacir, Palestine/United States)
The Skywalk Is Gone (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France)

cupcake jesus

Anyone see My Life Without Me and wanna let me know how it is?

Giles

well for starters the trailer is a tad smaltsy which in turn gives no justice to the actual film. Polley gives a commedable job and the story is refreshing in it's film techniques and it's quiet approach to the indirect realization/interaction of the film's few characters with the central character's terminal illness. The director was at the screening I attended and she gave insight to the fact that Mark Ruffalo had just gone through his own personal illness related to a brain tumor and very much wanted to be in her movie. I recommend the film.