Click here to read my review of opening night film NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD

Click here to read LATAURO @ MIFF #1: THE SAGA BEGINS...

Click here to read LATAURO @ MIFF #2: IT AIN'T ALL WINE AND ROSES

Click here to read LATAURO @ MIFF #3: EVERYONE'S A CRITIC? REALLY?

Click here to read LATAURO @ MIFF #4: THE LESSER UNION


Click here to read LATAURO @ MIFF #5: THE ROAD WARRIOR RETURNS

LATAURO @ MIFF 08 #6: THE CINEMATIC OLYMPICS

Apparently, there are Olympics of some sort on, taking place in a country that DOES NOT COMMIT ANY HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. (It's okay, I'm sure we're blocked over there.) Naturally, as the opening ceremony was taking place, I was happily ensconced in a cinema, fourteen days into my heavy-duty MIFF experience. With only one day left, here is my penultimate wrap-up of what I've been seeing...

WR - MYSTERIES OF THE ORGANISM

This was another "Hey, I've got two hours before my next film, gonna see something random!" session. So many choices! Should I see the new Chabrol film? DIARY OF THE DEAD? No, thinks I, I'll go to WR, whatever that is. I only knew two thing about this film going in. One, it was playing at the Forum. Two, my friend Paulie was seeing it. When the film had finished, I still only knew two things about the film: one, Forum, two; Paulie. What the hell is this film? I know this sounds like I'm exaggerating, but the most accurate description of this film I can muster is: somebody ate a 70s porn film, then ate a Stalinist propaganda film, then vomited into a projector. If you ever see WR, you'll realise how right that description is, but I do hope for your sake that it never comes to that. The MIFF guide tells me that it's a film from 1971 that was banned in Yugoslavia, the home country of the director. The guide then goes on to tell two incredibly big lies: the film is "insanely brilliant" and "continues to entertain today". It does neither of those things. It just left me dumbfounded. It's the most bizarre extremes of 1970s counter-culture merged with a misinterpretation of "experimental film". Unless you like exclaiming "WTF?!?" for eighty-five minutes straight, don't bother. (MIFF, I heard a reliable rumour that you overbooked yourself this year. If you'd like me to help cut some of the flab next year, I'm more than willing.)

SPIDERBABY: DIRECTOR'S CUT

This is close to the most fun I've had at MIFF this past fortnight. It's a 1968 horror directed by Jack Hill and starring Lon Chaney Jnr. A family of in-breds tries to protect their property from long-lost relatives who wish to profit off it. I don't know much about Jack Hill, but I can guarantee you one thing: he walked into a cinema, saw teens at a horror film laughing as much as they were frightened, and realised that the key to schlock horror films was the comedy. SPIDERBABY does feel like we're being winked at a bit (and thus, robbing us of the pleasure of laughing at the film), particularly given one of the characters is called Mr Schlocker. Subtle. But honestly, this is an hilariously bad, consistently-entertaining film, and the print we saw was in amazing condition. As we reached the end and the words "The End" came up, I was thinking "Please have a question mark, please have a question mark..." and bam, a question mark appeared. I shouted "YES!" and clapped my hands in glee. Why can't all films make me do that? This is a terrible film, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

PERSEPOLIS

Ah, PERSEPOLIS. The film that lost me the Best Animated Feature category in my Oscar pool. (I know, it seems stupid to bet against RATATOUILLE, but PERSEPOLIS was the underdog and if it had won, I'd have looked like a genius.) Here I was expecting a weighty drama about growing up Iran; instead, I got a really funny and surprisingly honest comedy that didn't lose an ounce of weight by making its audience laugh. A masterful film that leaves you yearning for a repeat viewing. If we don't get a wide release of this here in Australia, there's something very wrong. Absolutely essential.

BRANDO

Hey, who wants to watch a three hour documentary about Marlon Brando? Hey, who doesn't? Give me a bathroom break and you can make it four hours! BRANDO attempts to tell the personal life and the career of the man who utterly redefined film acting. It does a great job, although because of its length and, consequently, its comprehensiveness, some stories and facts are notable by their absence. Still, it's not a fluff piece, and we get the negatives as much as the positives. Not the definitive doco it seems to want to be, but still a damn good watch and worth the 180 minute running time.

SOMERS TOWN

As I said last year, THIS IS ENGLAND was exactly the type of film I didn't want to ever see (a kitchen sink drama set in Thatcher's England), and ended up being one of my personal best films of 2007. Naturally, Shane Meadows's next film, SOMERS TOWN, earned an immediate booking. SOMERS TOWN is a really nice, small film; not the timeless masterpiece that THIS IS ENGLAND is, but still a great watch and a terrific character piece. ENGLAND's Thomas Turgoose returns for another great performance, and newcomer Piotr Jagiello is equally great as the teenaged Polish immigrant "Tomo" befriends. Meadows is a filmmaker who should probably be better known than he is, particularly as he is (from what little I've seen) two for two so far.

GONZO: THE LIFE AND WORK OF DR HUNTER S THOMPSON

It seems to be par the course for there to be a Hunter Thompson doco every year, but as long as they keep making them, I'm going to keep watching them. Containing a lot of footage I'd already seen on the Criterion FEAR AND LOATHING disc, this doco is still a worthwhile watch. The life of HST is told briefly, with a lot of weight given to particular defining moments in his life; when he ran for Sheriff, when he joined the Hell's Angels, when he covered McGovern's campaign, etc. The film features a fair few interviews, as well as readings from his works by Johnny Depp (who also figures prominently in the Brando doco, above). As with BRANDO, there's something about this film that doesn't feel like it's covered everything, but maybe it's not supposed to. There's certainly nothing about Thompson's life that screamed "completist", and I have no objection to the filmmakers irising in on the most interesting aspects of his life. If you're a fan of Thompson, then GONZO is something you should definitely seek out.

GLASS: A PORTRAIT OF PHILIP IN TWELVE PARTS

I'd run into the ACMI projectionist earlier in the day, and asked her if she could do anything to delay the GLASS doco at 5pm, as the 3pm GONZO screening went for 118 minutes, leaving me only two minutes to run from the Greater Union to ACMI. I don't know how much effect my words had; as we ran into the cinema, I'm pretty sure we caught the start of the second of twelve parts, as this film is divided into chapters. It's a nice device utilised by the film's director (SHINE's Scott Hicks), and somehow fits with Glass's style. I certainly learned a lot about the composer that I didn't know, and the way the film cheerfully announces which part of Glass's life it's about to centre on (ie: his spiritual side, or a symphony he's writing, or his family life) actually makes it feel less uneven than the chapter device sounds. Aside from the somewhat contrived manner that Hicks appears to insert himself into the film, and the questionable inclusion of personal moments that feel intrusive rather than enlightening, it's a fascinating doco that does something few others do: it provides genuine insight. The interviews with Scorsese and Woody Allen are terrific coups, and the stuff with Glass's young kids is priceless. A really nice, novel doco.

Well, you can probably tell that I'm suffering from review fatigue... it's okay, only one day of films to go. I'll be catching five consecutive features tomorrow, and providing the coverage of those -- plus the final wrap up of the festival -- immediately afterwards. Keep an eye out!

Peace out,

Latauro

AICNDownunder@hotmail.com