After dealing with a work crisis, my first movie was The Not Dead, where returned soldiers from the Malay conflict, the Balkans peacekeeping mission and Iraq talk about their experiences and their PSTD (and the difficulties that they had getting help). This was tied together with poems by a guy who had translated their experiences into an anthology ( Read more... )

My first movie was Swedish Tango at the Film Archive with Jenni, following the same couple as in Paradise. I don't think it's quite as good as Paradise; you get to know a bit more of the couple's history, and it's kinda fun to see the husband dealing with the driving of someone he can't boss around, but I think that they're a more sympathetic ( Read more... )

My first film was Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr Hunter S. Thompson. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit that I'm much more familiar with his caricatures and imitations (The Duke from Doonesbury, or Spider Robinson from Metropolitan, or King Mob from The Invisibles); I've never even watched Fear and Loathing, much less read anything more than ( Read more... )

I was running a bit late for Note By Note: The Making of Steinway L1037, and actually missed the first five minutes; but I'm glad I didn't give it a miss, and not just because I had already paid for a ticket. The basic conceit was that the documentary would follow the construction of a concert grand piano, from timber to timbre, so to speak. Along ( Read more... )

The problem with catching buses into town is the feeling that you get when you've been waiting for 20 minutes, and then a bus comes that won't actually get you all the way - do you catch it and transfer, or hope that another bus will come?

With some swift bus-juggling, I actually made it to the Paramount with ten minutes to spare, and had plenty ( Read more... )

I was quite lucky today, since I had three films in a row that C was interested in seeing, and she's going to come to the last one I have today as well. (I'm currently sitting in the cafe of the Film Archive, typing while she reads.)

First, we went to Paris, a film by the same person as The Spanish Apartment. It's one of those films that is ( Read more... )

C had me scrubbing the shower (we had someone staying that night), so we ended up having to catchi a taxi to Taxi to the Dark Side - tres extravagant! And also tres creepy, now that I think about it. We managed to get to the Paramount in plenty of time, though C graciously gave up her seat in the middle-front to Stacey, since she's a firm believer ( Read more... )

I saw my sister Ellen before Rain of the Children, because a bunch of people from her work were going; C came into town with me, but decided that discretion was the better part of valour as far as Vincent Ward films go, and went off shopping until Welcome to the Sticks.

While I totally understood C's trepidation, it was actually a really ( Read more... )

By three methods we may learn wisdom:
First, by reflection, which is noblest;
Second, by imitation, which is easiest;
and third by experience,which is the most bitter. -- Confucius

This is the quote that started Up the Yangtze, a film that was a lot busier than I was expecting - according to the woman I sat next to, the director had been giving ( Read more... )

Don't have time to finish my reviews today, because of work things. Heading into Rain of the Children; let's hope it's not River Queen.