Kirsten's musings...

Friday pix

Apologies for missing last Friday - I was in San Diego and just didn't quite get to it.  So here are two pictures to make up for it.

At the San Diego Zoo, they had capybaras on exhibit, which were obviously the inspiration for the R.O.U.S.'s in "The Princess Bride":



My mom's cousin (my first cousin, once removed, for all of you out there keeping score) wanted to see the Old Point Loma Lighthouse, which is in the same national park as the Cabrillo National Monument:



And as a bonus, here's a wall hanging I saw in one of the stores in Old Town San Diego:



I love the fact that the cactus seems to be echoing the sentiment.

SIFF 2011 - Week 3 Reviews

The Off Hours          

Attention movie makers:  Real Life is BORING!  If you must make a movie about people living real lives then something needs to happen!  Something extraordinary or exciting or…different.  This movie was just a bunch of jumbled scenes that didn’t seem to have much in common.  It was dropping to a ‘2’ until the very end, when there was a glimmer of tension in the “plot”.  I admit I was mostly interested in the truck driver, to see what he would ultimately decide to do.  I ended up giving it a ‘3’, but it really wasn’t that good.  And by the end of the movie still nothing had happened.

Lys     

Seems like every year we miss one movie.  We had signed up to run in the Fremont 5k Briefcase Relay, and once that was over and we had dinner and got home we decided we didn’t want to go back out again.  We ended up watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets instead, as we’re trying to get through all seven movies before the final one is released.

Winnie the Pooh

This was a little strange, because Jim wasn’t feeling well so I went by myself.  Then as I’m watching the movie I feel like I’ve seen or read it already, which I probably have.  I had to remind myself that this was a children’s movie, so the structure was going to be a little different.  As it was Disney of course I wanted to give it a ‘5’ but ended up at a ‘4’.

Hayfever

I think I was expecting something different with this movie, but it was kind of cute.  Your basic mishaps and miscommunications, but enjoyable.  That is until the end, when I got so mad at the direction the movie took that I was going to give it a ‘3’ out of anger.  It mellowed by the end, so I gave it the ‘4’ I originally planned.

Toast  

An interesting look at the childhood of Nigel Slater, a British food personality.  Jim and I talked about the fact that he didn’t hide the fact that he was not very nice to his stepmother, but the more I think about it the more I think it was justified.  A 9-year-old boy has lost his mother, a new woman is introduced into his life as a “cleaning lady”, and then his father is dating her?  I don’t know how you expect a 9-year-old to process that.  Plus she was an adult; she should have acted like one instead of like a jealous child.  No voting since it was the final day.

Poupoupidou

Someday I may learn to like French films.  Or maybe not.  This was slow and predictable, and I even nodded off in the middle, but that may have been because this was my first double-header, with lunch in-between.  The main character’s interactions with the sympathetic police officer were amusing, and allowed them to get to the truth.

Friday pix

One of the goslings near my office.

SIFF 2011 - Week 3

The final week of the festival - we really back-loaded our movies this time, with two on Saturday and two (back-to-back) on Sunday.

The Off Hours          

Francine has been working the night shift at a Pacific Northwest truck stop for over a decade, her life primarily consisting of casual quickies and ephemeral friendships. But the arrival of a new trucker with ties to the larger world provides Francine with flickers of a wider existence.

Lys     

In this exquisite cautionary parable, 15-year-old Lys is found inside the core of the new TERRA-Power Plant after a massive blackout. As scientist Karl Bardel tries to discover the connection between these two occurrences, Lys is plagued by recurring visions urging her to return to the reactor

Winnie the Pooh

Inspired by three stories from A.A. Milne’s books in Disney’s classic, hand-drawn art style, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Winnie the Pooh reunites audiences with the honey-loving, philosophical bear and friends Tigger, Rabbit, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo and Eeyore in a wild quest to save Christopher Robin from an imaginary culprit.

Hayfever

An Italian Empire Records set in a kitschy vintage shop, Hayfever takes a sweet, touching look into the lives of a group of 20-something Roman misfits. During a breezy autumn, the store’s young clerks distract themselves with love triangles, misguided flings, and writing letters to Jude Law

Toast  

Based on the childhood memoir of Nigel Slater, Britain’s celebrated chef and food writer, Toast charts the early relationships that shaped his life and career. With Freddie Highmore as Slater and Helena Bonham Carter as his deliciously wicked stepmother in this delectable biopic

Poupoupidou

David is a best-selling author of detective novels. Candice Lecoeur is the blond spokesmodel for a cheese factory. When they meet in the coldest town in France, a few problems arise: 1) He has run out of ideas for his new novel; 2) She is already dead.

SIFF 2011 - Week 2 Reviews

The Whistleblower

Very powerful movie based on real events.  A couple of scenes are hard to watch, but mostly you find yourself getting frustrated by all of the corruption the main character encounters.  This is one of those movies that you hope enough people see so that maybe some real changes can be made.  I gave it a 4, mainly because I feel like I need to enjoy a good movie before I give it a 5.

Simple Simon

A very cute, funny, and predictable film, at least until the last 20 minutes.  Then it took a sharp left-hand turn to get to the scene you knew was coming.  Well done, well acted, was sitting solidly on a ‘4’ until that last shift, and it was so unexpected and funny that I ended up giving it a ‘5’ on my ballot, my first of this year’s festival. 

Fuck My Life

This sounded good in the festival guide, but it just fell short.  It was about Javier dealing with the end of a fairly long-term relationship, but it was very ragged, and the moving back and forth in time got old.  Nice that he did act like an adult eventually and really apologize to her before the predictable ending.  His mom, however, stole every scene she was in.  Gave it a ‘3’.

Being Elmo

Very nice, well-done documentary on Kevin Clash, from his early fascination with the Muppets to his current role as director/producer.  I’m happy that the Muppets are in such good hands.  (No pun intended, but it works, right?)  Couldn’t help but give it a ‘5’.

Friday pix

Some of the train depots for immigrants coming in through Ellis Island...