First Weekend of 30th Cleveland International Film Festival almost over

Well, the first weekend of the 30th Annual Cleveland International Film Festival is coming to a close. It has been an extremely busy couple of days, the biggest Friday attendance in the history of the Festival. But of course with all this going on its been extremely hectic as well. I will be heading up there to see some more films tonight, but here is a rundown of what I have see so far:

THE PORCELAIN DOLL (A Porcelánbaba), from Hungary, is a film in three parts all surrounding events in the mystical village of Star Farm. It is based upon the book "star Farm" by Ervin Lázár, which consists of grimm fairy tales. The film is directed by Péter Gárdos

QUO VADIS, BABY?, from Italy, is a neo noir thriller about a woman snoop who is prompted to investigate her sister's apparent suicide 16 years earlier. As she comes closer to understanding what happened to her sister that night, she feels that she is being watched, and that things might not be as they seem. Directed by Gabriele Salvatores.

KARLA, from Canada, is the true story of Canadian serial rapist and murderer Paul Bernardo and his wife and possible accomplice Karla. The film tells the unflinching story from Karla's point of view as she speaks doctor who is evaluating her in prison. Directed by Joel Bender and starring Laura Prepon ("That 70's Show")

SCREAMING MASTERPIECE (Gargandi Snilld), from Iceland, is an amazing documentary about the current musical scene in the small country of 300,000. It takes a look at over 20 bands, and how they have taken influence from their native roots and American and European cultures. Artists include Björk, the Sugarcubes, Sigur Rós, Bang Gang, Quarashi, and many more. Definitely my favorite so far this weekend.
Directed by Ari Alexander Ergis Magnusson. Soundtrack available at Amazon.com.

MIDNIGHT MOVIES: FROM THE MARGIN TO THE MAINSTREAM, from Canada, is a fun look at six films from the late 60's and 70's that started the trend of the Midnight Movie, films which didn't make it at the box office, but gained a cult following playing a few nights a week at midnight. It looks at "El Topo," "“Pink Flamingos,"” "“Night of the Living Dead,"” "“Eraserhead,"” "“The Rocky Horror Picture Show,"” and "“The Harder They Come." Directed by Stuart Samuels.

ZOZO, from Sweeden, tells the story of ten-year-old Zozo growing up in 1987 Beirut during the civil war. He and his family are awaiting paperwork so that they can escape to Sweeden to be with their grandparents. Unfortunately, once the paperwork arrives his family is killed, and Zozo must rely on himself to try and make it to the airport and to Sweeden. Directed by Josef Fares.

RED MERCURY, from the United Kingdom, is about three British Muslims who must flee when the police are tipped off that they are making a bomb. In the confusion, they Greeke to take a greek restaurant and its patrons hostage. Police and counter-terrorism are called in to assess the situation, as the three inexperienced bombers converse with their hostages, and weigh the heavy burdon of what they have to do. Directed by Roy Battersby.

Today I'll be seeing AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE (En Folkefiende), directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg from Norway, and SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE FINAL DAYS (SOPHIE SCHOLL: DIE LETZTEN TAGE) directed by Marc Rothemund from Germany.

Also check out Left Of Center at PCN in the coming weeks as I review the films I see at the 30th Cleveland International Film Festival.

Exorcist vs Exorcist

If any of you had the unfortunate luck to see Renny Harlin's Exorcist: The Beginning last fall, you know it wasn't very good. This prequel to the original 1973 William Friedkin horror milestone The Exorcist fell short on many levels, becoming in the end just another bad, gory special effects horror film.

BUT, what you may not know is that in 2003, another director, Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver and director of Blue Collar) was assigned the task of making a prequel to the Exorcist. He did, and upon completion, the studio execs hated it. Enough so that they claimed it was not even marketable as a horror film. So the entire 99% completed film was canned, along with Schrader and all the cast except for Stellan Skarsgård.

After the complete lack of successs of Exorcist: The Beginning, Paul Schrader's version, Dominion: A Prequel to the Exorcist, began being screened in a limited number of theaters. Far superior to Harlin's film, Dominion takes a stance of less gore and more psychology and history, particularly on Father Merrin. The two stories are quite similar, dealing with Merrin's loss of faith during his early priesthood in Holland during the Nazi occupation. He is forced to pick 10 parishiners to be executed by the Nazi's, This leaves Merrin broken, and he takes a leave of the Church and goes to Africa for an archaeological dig. There he discovers a 5th century Christian church buried beneath the sands, seemingly on purpose. As the dig uncovers more and more of the church, evil seems to be washing throught the valley. The only hope in all the evil is a young native boy, Cheche, born with a disfigured arm and recovering from a badly broken leg. He heals at amazing speeds, while the British army and the native tribe prepare to clash outside. As the evil builds, it is obvious that some Evil is affecting them all, and it is linked to the church.

With some minor CG effects and some forgivably cheesy scenes, Schrader's brooding Prequel is the antithesis of the over-the-top original, and an altogether better film than the previous prequel. Though not perfect, I would definately suggest checking these two films out for yourself and making your own decision.

Also, check out my review of A History Of Violence now on DVD over at Left Of Center on PodCasterNews.com.

And look forward to a bunch of reviews in the comming weeks as I attend the 30th Cleveland International Film Festival.

Metropolitan dvd and Night Watch PCN review

Yesterday i checked out The Criterion Collection's recent DVD release of Whilt Stillman's 1990 film METROPOLITAN. It is the story of a group of debutante Manhattan preppies who welcome in Tom, a twentysomething of lesser means. Though he claims to despise such groups, Tom enters into the group and becomes one of them. Audrey, a quiet fan of Jane Austen, falls for Tom, who is still interested in an ex girlfriesd, Serena. But Serena is dating Rick, a "Baron" who loves only himself. Tom gravitates toward Nick, who's acidic attitude is bent on hating Rick. This film won the 1990 Independent Spirit Award for best first feature. Unfortunately, the DVD extras here are quite minimal, only a trailer, some outtakes, and a commentary. It is a quiet, fun film for fans of the late 80's, early 90's slacker sort of films. Though the characters are well off, they are still obsessed with failure.

Also, check out my review of Timbur Bekmambetov's Russian film NIGHT WATCH, which is now playing in select cities, on PodCasterNews.com.

the Island dvd review @ interstate1002 & HBO

Just recorded with the guys for a new Interstate1002 show. I reviewed The Island, directed by Michael Bay. check it out.
not a lot going on in Ohio, besides freezing raing and snow.

For the next two weeks, HBO is sponsoring some of the PodCasterNews.com shows, mine one of them (Left Of Center), so anyone reading this please feel free to check the show out .
sorry, i don't talk too much so later.