The 34th Cleveland International Film Festival Preview
This year the Cleveland International Film Festival will run from March 18 through March 28, most of it at Tower City Cinemas in downtown Cleveland. You can see the entire schedule online and buy advance tickets. What follows is some movies we think look worth seeing. In fact, they looked good enough that xhollydayx and I have already bought advance tickets for all of the movies listed below.
Advance tickets are strongly recommended for midnight movies and weekends (especially closing weekend). Weekdays aren't usually quite as busy, although the evenings can be. If the movie has anyone even vaguely recognizable (most don't), it's more likely to sell out. CIFF patrons are the first people in Cleveland to see all sorts of films; last year's film that became fairly well known on my friend's list was Moon.
The names of the movies are linked to IMDB and the times are linked to the CIFF page. If I've included a long description I'm extra excited about the movie; in those cases the descriptions come from the CIFF page. All times indicate when at least one of is going to see the movie; most play two or even three times during the week.
Friday, March 19
Queen To Play
7:20 PM
(In French with subtitles)
Accident
9:40 PM
Hong Kong director Soi Cheang attained cult status with his nightmarish sagas “Dog Bite Dog” and “Shamo.” His latest thriller breaks through the conventional genre, with no guns or car chases despite its elaborate action sequences. Instead, ACCIDENT is a psychological brain-twister that plumbs the depths of a killer’s soul. The Brain is a self-styled “accident choreographer” who leads a band of cerebral hit men in taking out targets in well-crafted “accidents” that are actually perfectly staged acts of crime. Plagued with guilt, the Brain is naturally suspicious, and his paranoia grows after his wife and one of the gang are killed in spectacular accidents. Convinced that they’re no coincidence, he thinks someone is plotting to terminate him. When he’s accosted by Fong, an insurance agent who happened to be at the scene of the “accident,” the Brain becomes sure that he’s the mastermind behind the conspiracy. To regain his sanity and save his life, he must kill Fong before he makes his next move. Cheang consulted college professors - not the Hong Kong underworld - to help him devise feasible accidents for the movie. No matter how he calculated it, this trip is worth the ride.
(In Cantonese with subtitles)
Van Diemen's Land
11:45 PM
(In Irish and 19th century English with subtitles)
Saturday, March 20
The Graduate
1:40 PM
"Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me." The first great film soundtrack that wasn't a score or from a musical (meaning, pop songs that weren't performed by an on-screen band). And no, I haven't seen it.
Toe to Toe
7:30 PM
Take It From Me
9:30 PM
Down Terrace
11:40 PM
Sunday, March 21
Please, Please Me!
4:50 PM
(In French with subtitles)
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
7:30 PM
What leads otherwise sane writers to pursue careers as movie reviewers? This documentary, directed by Gerald Peary, veteran film critic of The Boston Phoenix, provides a clue. FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES chronicles the history of film criticism, beginning in the early 20th century - when neither making movies nor writing about them was a terribly legitimate profession - through the decades when reviewers such as Bosley Crowther reigned supreme at The New York Times. The legendary debate between Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael over auteurism in the 60s and 70s is described in humorous detail. The popular influences of television personalities such as Siskel and Ebert, the waning of print-based professional film reviews, and the recent dawn of consumer reviews on the internet are also discussed. Peary offers a unique insider’s view of his highly influential trade, interviewing colleagues whose faces are less well-known than their bylines: A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly, and young Web voices like ainitcool.com's Harry Knowles and spout.com’s Karina Longworth. You’ll never read a movie review the same way again.
Black Box
9:35 PM
(In Spanish with subtitles)
Monday, March 22
Lost Times
(In Hungarian with subtitles)
Wednesday, March 24
Garbo: The Spy
7:25 PM
(In English, Catalan, Spanish, and German with subtitles)
Friday, March 26
Hipsters
7:00 PM
A smash success in Russia and winner of top NIKA Awards including Best Film, Best Sound, Best Art Design, and Best Costume Design, HIPSTERS is a candy-colored musical set in the drab Soviet Union of the 1950s. More political than "Hairspray," and way cooler than "High School Musical," it inspired a wave of Hipster parties across Russia. The movie sets to music the story of a strait-laced young Communist party member named Mels. In the midst of a raid on a group of kids caught wearing American-style clothes and listening to jazz, he's smitten with an adorable Hipster named Polly, who sports bright red lipstick and a poodle skirt. Casting caution and his grey uniform to the wind, the newly christened "Mel" barters on the street for a saxophone and a snappy checkered suit with huge lapels, and soon he's cultivating an awe-inspiring pompadour. But as the Hipsters face growing up in Cold War society, they realize that life isn't always a song and dance. (In Russian with subtitles)
Soundtrack For A Revolution
9:35 PM
Storage
11:45 PM
Saturday, March 27
Bananas!*
2:15 PM
(In English and Spanish with subtitles)
Honeymoons
2:10 PM
(In Albanian, Serbian, and Italian and Hungarian with subtitles)
Call Girl
4:35 PM
(In Slovenian with subtitles)
Town Called Panic
11:50 PM
Parachuting cows, snowball-throwing penguin machines, tidal waves, exploding houses, and pilfering sea creatures. If that doesn’t intrigue you, what else will? Such is A TOWN CALLED PANIC, the imagination-come-to-life of creative masterminds Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar. A true adventure story of three improbable plastic friends - Horse, Cowboy, and Indian - this French film cleverly employs the use of stop-motion animation to create a visual playground for adults and children alike. This delightfully odd comedy begins as Cowboy and Indian devise a haphazard plan for Horse’s birthday, in which everything that can go wrong does just that. Inevitably, the three friends lose their house and must journey through a parallel universe to take it back from the sneaky undersea hellions that stole it. Along the way they are continuously met with hilarious obstacles in which both their bravery and resilience are put to the test. A TOWN CALLED PANIC is a film you won’t be able to look away from and its wacky amusement will leave you smiling well past leaving the theater.
(In French with subtitles)
Sunday, March 28
Protektor
4:25 PM
(In Czech with subtitles)
Paper Man
7:10 PM
I'm sure we'll also attend some other movies; we purposefully held off on buying tickets for every time slot.
The CIFF is truly one of the more awesome things that happens in Cleveland every year. I'm sure we'll see jumpinfool there, since he's one of the few people we know who is even crazier about the CIFF than us. We hope you join us for a movie or two or five.
EDIT - Let me know if any links don't wind up in the right place. Remember that IMDB lists movies in their native language, which may not match the English title.
Advance tickets are strongly recommended for midnight movies and weekends (especially closing weekend). Weekdays aren't usually quite as busy, although the evenings can be. If the movie has anyone even vaguely recognizable (most don't), it's more likely to sell out. CIFF patrons are the first people in Cleveland to see all sorts of films; last year's film that became fairly well known on my friend's list was Moon.
The names of the movies are linked to IMDB and the times are linked to the CIFF page. If I've included a long description I'm extra excited about the movie; in those cases the descriptions come from the CIFF page. All times indicate when at least one of is going to see the movie; most play two or even three times during the week.
Friday, March 19
Queen To Play
7:20 PM
(In French with subtitles)
Accident
9:40 PM
Hong Kong director Soi Cheang attained cult status with his nightmarish sagas “Dog Bite Dog” and “Shamo.” His latest thriller breaks through the conventional genre, with no guns or car chases despite its elaborate action sequences. Instead, ACCIDENT is a psychological brain-twister that plumbs the depths of a killer’s soul. The Brain is a self-styled “accident choreographer” who leads a band of cerebral hit men in taking out targets in well-crafted “accidents” that are actually perfectly staged acts of crime. Plagued with guilt, the Brain is naturally suspicious, and his paranoia grows after his wife and one of the gang are killed in spectacular accidents. Convinced that they’re no coincidence, he thinks someone is plotting to terminate him. When he’s accosted by Fong, an insurance agent who happened to be at the scene of the “accident,” the Brain becomes sure that he’s the mastermind behind the conspiracy. To regain his sanity and save his life, he must kill Fong before he makes his next move. Cheang consulted college professors - not the Hong Kong underworld - to help him devise feasible accidents for the movie. No matter how he calculated it, this trip is worth the ride.
(In Cantonese with subtitles)
Van Diemen's Land
11:45 PM
(In Irish and 19th century English with subtitles)
Saturday, March 20
The Graduate
1:40 PM
"Mrs. Robinson, you are trying to seduce me." The first great film soundtrack that wasn't a score or from a musical (meaning, pop songs that weren't performed by an on-screen band). And no, I haven't seen it.
Toe to Toe
7:30 PM
Take It From Me
9:30 PM
Down Terrace
11:40 PM
Sunday, March 21
Please, Please Me!
4:50 PM
(In French with subtitles)
For the Love of Movies: The Story of American Film Criticism
7:30 PM
What leads otherwise sane writers to pursue careers as movie reviewers? This documentary, directed by Gerald Peary, veteran film critic of The Boston Phoenix, provides a clue. FOR THE LOVE OF MOVIES chronicles the history of film criticism, beginning in the early 20th century - when neither making movies nor writing about them was a terribly legitimate profession - through the decades when reviewers such as Bosley Crowther reigned supreme at The New York Times. The legendary debate between Andrew Sarris and Pauline Kael over auteurism in the 60s and 70s is described in humorous detail. The popular influences of television personalities such as Siskel and Ebert, the waning of print-based professional film reviews, and the recent dawn of consumer reviews on the internet are also discussed. Peary offers a unique insider’s view of his highly influential trade, interviewing colleagues whose faces are less well-known than their bylines: A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly, and young Web voices like ainitcool.com's Harry Knowles and spout.com’s Karina Longworth. You’ll never read a movie review the same way again.
Black Box
9:35 PM
(In Spanish with subtitles)
Monday, March 22
Lost Times
(In Hungarian with subtitles)
Wednesday, March 24
Garbo: The Spy
7:25 PM
(In English, Catalan, Spanish, and German with subtitles)
Friday, March 26
Hipsters
7:00 PM
A smash success in Russia and winner of top NIKA Awards including Best Film, Best Sound, Best Art Design, and Best Costume Design, HIPSTERS is a candy-colored musical set in the drab Soviet Union of the 1950s. More political than "Hairspray," and way cooler than "High School Musical," it inspired a wave of Hipster parties across Russia. The movie sets to music the story of a strait-laced young Communist party member named Mels. In the midst of a raid on a group of kids caught wearing American-style clothes and listening to jazz, he's smitten with an adorable Hipster named Polly, who sports bright red lipstick and a poodle skirt. Casting caution and his grey uniform to the wind, the newly christened "Mel" barters on the street for a saxophone and a snappy checkered suit with huge lapels, and soon he's cultivating an awe-inspiring pompadour. But as the Hipsters face growing up in Cold War society, they realize that life isn't always a song and dance. (In Russian with subtitles)
Soundtrack For A Revolution
9:35 PM
Storage
11:45 PM
Saturday, March 27
Bananas!*
2:15 PM
(In English and Spanish with subtitles)
Honeymoons
2:10 PM
(In Albanian, Serbian, and Italian and Hungarian with subtitles)
Call Girl
4:35 PM
(In Slovenian with subtitles)
Town Called Panic
11:50 PM
Parachuting cows, snowball-throwing penguin machines, tidal waves, exploding houses, and pilfering sea creatures. If that doesn’t intrigue you, what else will? Such is A TOWN CALLED PANIC, the imagination-come-to-life of creative masterminds Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar. A true adventure story of three improbable plastic friends - Horse, Cowboy, and Indian - this French film cleverly employs the use of stop-motion animation to create a visual playground for adults and children alike. This delightfully odd comedy begins as Cowboy and Indian devise a haphazard plan for Horse’s birthday, in which everything that can go wrong does just that. Inevitably, the three friends lose their house and must journey through a parallel universe to take it back from the sneaky undersea hellions that stole it. Along the way they are continuously met with hilarious obstacles in which both their bravery and resilience are put to the test. A TOWN CALLED PANIC is a film you won’t be able to look away from and its wacky amusement will leave you smiling well past leaving the theater.
(In French with subtitles)
Sunday, March 28
Protektor
4:25 PM
(In Czech with subtitles)
Paper Man
7:10 PM
I'm sure we'll also attend some other movies; we purposefully held off on buying tickets for every time slot.
The CIFF is truly one of the more awesome things that happens in Cleveland every year. I'm sure we'll see jumpinfool there, since he's one of the few people we know who is even crazier about the CIFF than us. We hope you join us for a movie or two or five.
EDIT - Let me know if any links don't wind up in the right place. Remember that IMDB lists movies in their native language, which may not match the English title.