twelve and 13

a quiet and harrowing sort of story. shadow dancer, written by tom bradby and directed by james marsh (he of last year's MIFF project nim) looked at "the troubles" in the uk. specifically at one woman and how she's forced to choose between family and the British secret service. betrayal and loyalty of this kind is difficult to fathom until you walk a mile in their shoes. i can't comprehend it.

how to survive a plague - a documentary of activism in the face of the AIDS epidemic in the 80s and 90s. using footage from the period that was shot by members of ACT UP and TAG (treatment action group), it is a heart breaking and inspiring story of how a group of people, many of whom were faced with a possible death sentence, fought to get government and pharmaceutical companies to hear what they had to say. they were fighting for their lives, the lives of their friends and the lives of people unknown. hard to watch at times but an amazing story.

eleven

the czech republic animation drama, alois nebel was really interesting. The story was set in the 1980s but the characters looked back on the period after the second world war. I liked the slow building story and the style of the animation suited the story perfectly.

7, 8, 9 & 10

billy bob thornton's latest film, jayne mansfield's car was really enjoyable. a southern usa tale set in alabama in 1969. three generations of men have gone or are going to war and the death of a mother re-married, that introduces the rival family from the other side of the atlantic - counter and cultural clash.

a fascinating doco for those interested in the business of film-making, side by side looks at film versus digital and the strengths and weaknesses of both. directors, cinematographers and editors feature heavily and there's a great conversation had. liked this, but i'm a bit of a geek with film.

south korean film, in another country was a bit of a mish mash for me. i liked the odd humour but couldn't get my head around not tying up the concept of the film student who was writing the three stories that were told.

definitely a crowd pleaser, people would have been squished in the aisles if they could have. the sessions, directed by melbourne bred ben lewin, was a really lovely film. telling the story of mark o'brien (played by john hawkes) who has polio and wants to lose his virginity. at 38 he makes it happen. the relationships between mark and his attendees, his sex surrogate (helen hunt) and his priest (william h macy) were heartfelt and funny and real. this one will definitely get a general release, so don't miss it.

3, 4, 5 & 6

so the doco, room 237, claims to dissect stanley kubrick's the shining in "amazing and unexpected ways". i guess that's true when the interviewees seem to be completely off the planet, one believing it's kubrick's confession to faking the moon landing, another the holocaust and yet another links it to the plight of native americans (because of the tins of baking powder that happens to display the head of a 'red indian' on it's label). played from a scratched dvd and the last couple of minutes was white snow. still don't want to watch the shining.

definitely hoping for something more than the documentary shock head soul offered up. based on shreber's autobiography of madness, i was expecting more from the slow moving and really, uninteresting facts divulged. i cat-napped through the 86 minutes.

then it was onto acmi and a couple of early french silent films, one being the fall of the house of usher. the second film was directed by jean epstein from a tale by edgar allan poe. interesting watching 20s silent films. i think we still have a lot of re-learn from the days of silents.

the world premiere of ian darling's documentary, paul kelly: stories of me. i was amazed at how many of his songs i actually know. yes, the soundtrack to many australian lives.

1 & 2 of miff 2012

the new wes anderson film, moonrise kingdom was just lovely. a lot of quirky moments, sublime colouring and it was beautifully filmed as one now expects from anderson. a great way to ease myself into two weeks, three weekends of movies.

"wanted: someone to go back in time with me. this is not a joke". safety not guaranteed, written by derek connolly, again was a nice film. it tempted me with it's sci-fi label but this was only evident in the last 30 seconds of the story.

another night in the audience of the 'house

(Source: Malthouse Theatre photo)

i loved how blood wedding was staged. directed by marion potts and written by frederico garcia lorca, it's gathered a lot of critical success but i wasn't too enamoured. maybe it was my mood, i don't know. the story of bad blood and betrayal between two spanish families and the fall-out at a wedding. i was entertained but not enthralled.

a sleep in....

i had a lost weekend - three days off with not much planned. those sort of days are usually mornings of writing and afternoons of watching a movie or dvds. i watched a heck of a lot of tv this weekend, box sets. jb hifi had it's mad july buy 2 get 1 free deals so i did go a little berserk. maybe a little more than berserk, mental maybe.

anyway... a sleep in was had. i told myself it was in preparation. of MIFF. yes, the melbourne international film festival starts this week, for me on friday and runs through three weekends. i have booked 40 films for the 17 days, with two days off for other planned events. i believe i chose well, and even with 40 films on my passport it doesn't feel as hectic as the years previous. but we'll see how i fare through MIFF 2012.