Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
It’s always great to see returning reviewers like Memento Man, but it’s just as cool to see brand new reviewers pop in with something to report from the slopes of Park City, like with this guy, who has news on BRICK, one of the 45 movies starring Joseph Gordon Levitt playing at the festival this year:
Hi Harry and the Ain't-it-cool-news
I’ve been visiting the site for a long time, but never had anything to contribute. Well I'm at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City this year so i thought I'd send in a few quick reviews of what I have managed to see thus far:
Brick
I managed to catch the first public screening of Brick last night which was a treat. I loved the idea of film noir in a high school, sadly I don't think it was excuted as well as it could have been. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a decent actor, but wasn't convincing as the film's lead. Solid performances were turned out by Lukas Haas as the criminal kingpin of the film and Nora Zehetner as the femme fatale. The script is very much the film's strong point - witty and fast paced dialouge, a mostly serious tone but taking advantage of the idea of detective film noir in high school to make a few very funny jokes. In terms of direction, Rian Johnson does very little to disguise that it is his first film, you sense that he isn't sure about his approach to his own screenplay, but he is on his way to developing his own style and hopefully will continue to direct unique pictures such as this one for the rest of his career.
Shorts Program II
This was the documentary short program and overall it was very good and worth the money. The Children Of Leningradsky by Hanna Polak was first up and explored the lives of homeless children, it had some pretty confrontational images and stories in it (being confronted never turns me away from films) however it feels as if Polak is just attempting to shock us about what is going on rather then emotionally connect with the children. The children often are only allowed to tell horror stories rather then their motives and reactions in them.
Following that was The Last Days of Jonathan Perlo, an interesting doco surrounding Jonathan Perlo's friendship with Hollywood actor Scott Plank. It is very well done, using mainly footage shot by Plank and give an intimate exploration of Perlo, friendship and the effects of Perlo's mental illness on himself and those around him.
Next up was Love and Laundry, only 7 minutes long documenting the love between two people in Cuba, it was short, sweet and incredibly hopeful concerning the idea of love.
Finally there was Family Portrait, which explored the family Gordon Parks had photographed for Life magazine. Two of the members discuss the tradgey the family had gone through, been the only ones left of a 12-member family. Unlike Polak, filmmaker Patricia Riggen allows her characters to tell of what happened to their family cumilating in an emotional release which draws the audience in and allows them to connect with these individuals.
This is my first time writing reviews, so I hope you find these useful.
S. Hilton
Very useful. Thanks so much, and keep it up as the week continues!
"Moriarty" out.
