18 days. There is no excuse really. Except as always I have been busy. But still no excuse. So the Cleveland International Film Festival has been over for the last two weeks now and over all it was a good time. One dud out of the bunch is not so bad, right.

Here's a breakdown, my friends, this time I by order of goodness.

Ben XI found this film to be fantastic. Highly original and probably a film that will survive til my Best of 2008 list. I was actually quite honestly blown away by this film. It kind hit me from left field.

Gone With the WomanThis thing is a charmer. Definitely my bonafide sleeper from the fest. I love the lead, who started in last year's CIFF film The Bothersome Man and lets face it I am a sucker for romantic comedies especially something this quirky.

Big Man JapanTalk about a smart and original film. I think this film and its oddness (in both the humor and subtle stabs at social commentary) will set people off a bit which is rather unfortunate. A admiration for what the film is a satire of is also welcome to truly 'get' the film (i.e Japanese popular culture ala Ultraman, Godzilla, etc).

JellyfishAs I stated two weeks ago, I really enjoyed this flick. Nuff said.

The TrapI found this thriller to be totally intriguing from start to finish. Others didn't. Their loss.

OtisI completely over the top cheeseball horror comedy which I must say I thoroughly enjoyed.

Mongol I am not a historical epic person but I really enjoyed this flick. Actor Tadanobu Asano definitely helped with my acceptance of the film.

FlashpointEntertaining martial arts film which is completely savored by the last half hour.

Art of Negative Thinking

Really didn't get this one I guess. Overhyped by the majority of the attendees I found the film to be more awkward than funny. Maybe I didn't get it. Oh Well.

So overall. I great time was had. I also caught Love Songs recently (which screened at the festival but unfortunately was missed due to the snowstorm) . But more on that on my next post and of course lots lots more. Trust me this time. it won't be 18 days from now.

Caught two films from the Cleveland Film Festival thus far - Jar City and Jellyfish. Good choices I may add. Both films embody enough originality and creativity to charm any film festival goer. Jellyfish arrives nicely packaged as a drama with touches of humor and a shade or two of Amelie while Jar City was a fascinating crime thriller brilliantly adapted from an equally intriguing novel. America get fluff like Kiss the Girls and Along Came the Spider while Iceland brings home brilliant adaptations like Jar City. Both films are highly recommended.

I have been a lousy film festival attendee this year but plan on making that up a bit with the second stretch. Thursday brings Art of Negative Thinking, Big Man Japan (known in Japan as Dai Nipponjin), and Trap. On Friday, I plan on catching Gone with the Woman, Otis, and possibly Bliss and The Substitute (I know 4 films in one day might be pushing it). Nate and I are hanging out with our good friend Mike Laymon on Saturday so I am taking a breather before returning on Sunday with three final films - Ben X, Mongol, and Flashpoint. Should be a nice closing to the festival and the sad end to my 9 days off of work.

Another bites the dust. I decided to not make my way to Cleveland today most importantly to save on gas money, which is currently at $3.29 a gallon. I know I shouldn't bitch cause I am sure in California it is clockin' in near 4 bucks. Jar City is available from I believe a Icelandic release which I am currently getting my hands on while Love Songs pops up on IFC on Demand on March 19th which I already had my brother set his DVR to record. As far as Jellyfish goes, it is playing tomorrow so I have instead moved my first day to the festival to Monday. This also free up my Sunday to go to the birthday party of my favorite nephew, Isaac. Happy Birthday, bud!

It seems that the festival has added Paranoid Park to its line up. That's exciting. Too bad it conflicts with my viewing of Mongol on the last day of the fest because I would have really liked to catch it on the big screen. Who knows maybe we will book it at the Canton Palace.

I guess there was some mighty fine films I missed out on from last year. Just got done watching Michael Clayton and found it to be utterly fantastic. George Clooney and Tom Wilkinson were absolutely perfect in the film. I still did not believe Tilda Swinton should have taken home the Oscar (Chiaki would, however, argue that) though she was pretty damn good in it too. I just quite simply have a problem with the Academy awarding a performance which could have not been over 10 or so minutes of the 2 hour film.

Speaking of missing out, the disaster snow of Ohio (we got close to 16 inches...no joke) caused me to miss the first day of the film festival. I missed Flight of the Red Balloon (which I luckily can catch on IFC on Demand in the coming months), What We Do is Secret and Timecrimes. It hurts the most to miss Timecrimes, which was one of my most anticipated films of the festival. Maybe I can swing a deal with Magnolia Pictures, the film's US distributor, and get my hands on a copy in the not so distant future. Sunday brings Jar City, Love Songs, and Jellyfish and probably is the day of the festival I am most excited about. Hopefully the damn snow stops and I can get the ball rolling. As with the last few years expect a report back on the films I caught each day.

So I am sitting down today viewing some flicks (I am pretty much snowed in for the day) and begin to watch Into the Wild. Pretty good flick. It wouldn't necessary make my Top 10 from last year but it was a pretty powerful film nonetheless. Definitely worth a rental. I almost bought the HD DVD and now I am glad I didn't. Not that it would be a bad thing, its just like what my buddy Nate and I was discussing a few days ago. When I asked him if he thinks I should pick it up he replied it could be the best film in the world but would you watch it again. And that's just it. I don't see myself sitting down and watching Into the Wild for a second time. Overall though it is mos def a film everyone should watch at least once. I also plopped in my 3:10 to Yuma Blu-ray to watch the special features alittle bit and I realized I had forgotten to mention something about the film the first time I spoke of it. Three words actually Peter f'n Fonda. I have always been a Peter Fonda fan and it was just great to see him back in a western again. What a trip. The man is a legend.

So I read the most delicious news a few minutes ago. Rialto Pictures is reviving Godard's Contempt in a nice new restored 35mm print. I am in heaven. John Ewing if your out there I expect this to appear in the May-June Cleveland Cinematheque schedule. Between March 14th and the 27th the great Film Forum in New York will be playing it. I am so jealous. Maybe I should make a trek to New York early this year. I wonder if I can pull some strings and get this baby in the Canton Palace Theatre in the new month or two. For the silly folks that don't know, I will fill you in. Not only is Jean-Luc Godard one of my favorite directors of all time, but Contempt is one of my favorite films. So you can understand my excitement to see this thing on the big screen.

I could write a novel on how brilliant IFC Films is at the moment. I love them to death. First and foremost their film choices are fantastic. I thought last year was insane but this year seems to be even better. Example - Love Songs. The Last Mistress. Paranoid Park. Jar City. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days. Flight of the Red Balloon. Mister Lonely. Three of these films I am extreme excited to see at the film festival this weekend. The others all films I am absolutely dying to see.

Case in point, Mister Lonely which is the latest from Harmony Korine. I know his past work has been oddly appealing to say the least, however, this thing looks like his masterpiece. It looks extremely charming and a beautiful piece. It follows a group of impersonators who all live together at a commune in Scotland. It hits theatres in May in the US and this month in the UK (courtesy of Tartan Films). You can see that Korine has a love for international film with his casting of James Fox (of Performance fame) and Anita Pallenberg (also of Performance and countless other staples of 60s/70s world cinema).

Do yourself a favor and check out the trailer here.

Another great thing about IFC Films is their subdivision IFC First Take with films releasing limited in theatres simultaneously as they appear 'On Demand' through a satellite provider. As I have stated before, my brother has DirectTV and for the last year we have been purchasing films on their for only $6.99. Last night, we watched Paranoid Park, the latest from Gus Van Sant.




The thing is utterly fascinating. The cinematography is a beaut courtesy of my man Christopher Doyle and the film just really worked for me. Gus Van Sant decided on a very non-linear structure and the payoff was completely the right choice. With a linear structure to the plot it would have come off rather boring and unmoving but instead the opposite can be said about the film. A compelling little film from a director that continues to impressive me each and every film (except for the misstep Even Cowgirls Get the Blues years ago...everyone has forgot about that one anyways). When Paranoid Park comes around your way you need to make an effort to see it. It is worth your time and I have a feeling it will stick with me the rest of the year.

Finally IFC has just unveiled yet another subdivision entitled IFC Festival Direct. As far as I can determine through reading several articles is that it is very similar to IFC First Take, however, I believe it is films which may not have a chance to hit theatres and have already made their rounds at film festivals. Jar City is included in the first batch of films which also includes the latest from Ken Loach and Nicolas Roeg. It seems instead of hitting satellite providers such as DirectTV it instead aims for strictly cable providers such as Time Warner and Comcast.

I apologize in advance for the randomness of the following post. It will more than likely be a alot of rambling.

So you are probably wondering what I thought of the Oscars, right? Not bad, I suppose. While I have yet to see Michael Clayton, I must say I really wasn't pushing for Tilda Swinton to win, however her brilliant acceptance speech completely made up for my disappointment. I was really happy to see Marion Cotillard win and really wish I would have voted for her in my Oscar pool. She is a great actress which now I hope will be on a greater path of success (I always loved her in Big Fish and especially in A Very Long Engagement) and am really looking forward to her next two films (Michael Mann's Public Enemies and Nine, which get this - is a musical based on Fellini's 8 1/2). Sure I was abit disappointed that PTA didn't pull an upset for Best Director but the Coen brothers do deserve to get recognized. At least Daniel Day Lewis and Robert Elswit pulled through with wins. All in all not bad.

So I narrowed down my Cleveland International Film Festival schedule down to about 18 films with a solid 14-15 being definite. I am really excited actually. I have my media pass and my week off work and am ready to go. I hope to drag Chiaki along for a few however the most 3 films days make her tired just thinking about them. While we may have been exhausted last year I know she had a good time so lets cross our fingers.

I am slowly but surely building my high definition dvd collection. for my birthday I got The Lives of Others, Infernal Affairs, and Sukiyaki Western Django on Blu-ray and Zodiac: The Director's Cut (which looks utterly jaw dropping in hi-def) on HD-DVD. Then the other night I used some ebay gift cards to purchase Children of Men on HD-DVD and 3:10 to Yuma on Blu-ray. I am at the moment trying to get a good price on Volver on Blu-ray and might even pick up Into the Wild on HD-DVD this Tuesday...maybe. I wonder if I wait awhile longer I may get a cheaper price (when on the HD-DVDs begin to drop like flies in price). Today was supposed to be the first retail price drop for HD-DVD so we will see.

Chiaki and I sat down last night and watched the latest from Wong Kar Wai, his English language debut My Blueberry Nights. It is funny, the film has yet to be released stateside yet (though The Weinstien Company has finally set a New York/LA open for April) but the dvd release is available in Hong Kong already. Anyways, we really loved it. The criticism the film has received is pretty harsh in my opinion. What you get is an American style Chungking Express. To be honest, it was exactly what I was expecting from his first American film. While Norah Jones struggle abit at first with her acting, she seems to get the hang of it by the time the story shifts in location. As expected the supporting cast of Jude Law, Natalie Portman, David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz are a true pleasure to watch. Its really good stuff, honestly. I can't wait to watch it again. I think I am even going to write a lengthy review for KFC Cinema too.