October, 2000.

The Cinema Lounge Discussion Group

By Brian Niemiec

For those of you who couldn’t make it to September’s meeting, you missed a spirited discussion of the films of summer. Debates waged over the philosophy of The Tao of Steve and there was a tidal wave of opinion over the sea-worthiness of The Perfect Storm (sorry, couldn’t resist). Then, we talked about which films we’re looking forward to and which we’re dreading for the remainder of the year. Some expressed anticipation for the follow-up to The Blair Witch Project, Quills and Unbreakable while others echoed trepidation over How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Castaway and The 6th Day (Arnold cloned? One is enough!).

You won’t want to miss our next discussion on October 16th. (Note: we will not be meeting on the 9th in observance of Yom Kippur). Join us as we talk about the highly-anticipated re-release of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. This phenomenal horror film was nominated for ten Academy Awards, but only won two. Why is Hollywood frightened of horror films? We’ll take a closer look at Hollywood’s love/hate relationship with horror and discuss why it’s not taken seriously as a genre. Be sure not to miss this one.

And mark your calendar for November 13 when we discuss groundbreaking foreign films from the 1940-1960 decades and the present state of foreign releases.

The Cinema Lounge is held at 7:30 p.m. at Borders Books, 5333 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Café Espresso, 2nd Floor.

The Film Society Is Sold Out!

By Michael Kyrioglou

Memberships to the DC Film Society for this season have surpassed the 700 mark. That's truly fantastic. But, much as we would like to have the entire DC area know that membership has its privileges, we need to stay within our means and serve our loyal members (hint: that's you!). To continue to ensure access to preview screenings for our current members, we will no longer accept any more members for the 2000-2001 season (which runs through March 2001). We apologize for the predicament but are elated about the demand for the Film Society and its events. We attribute our success to our annual Oscars party and trailer programs, as well as great word of mouth from you ... and word of mouth is what we do best. Please have your friends and associates check back with us at the beginning of 2001 to get in line for the next season with the Film Society.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival

by Jim McCaskill

The 54th Edinburgh International Film Festival is over. Mid August is festival time in this ancient city as film holds its own with the Fringe, Tattoo, Book, International and Television festivals. They all vie for your limited attention and budget. Each one tempts you with exceptional performances. Film had my attention this year.

BEST OF FILMS: Billy Elliot (not only my personal favorite but was also the Audience Award winner). If you missed the preview show, see it when it is released in October. Other excellent films: County Kilburn (a close second for my favorite--somewhat in the mode of Waking Ned Devine), Season of Men a good follow up to Silence of the Palace, 101 Reykjavik, The House of Mirth (Academy Award nominees here in this adaptation of Edith Wharton's first novel), Eu Tu Eles (Brazilian entry in Best Foreign Language Academy Award and a late December release along with major studio money make this an odds on choice. This film is based on a true story of a woman in Brazil who has 3 husbands. Looks like polyandry may enter our vocabulary.), In the Mood for Love, Pane e Tulipani (Italian film, mother runs away from home, may be released as Bread and Tulips), Luzhin Defense (Emily Watson may also get an Academy Award nomination for her stellar performance).

FILMS WORTH SEEING: Angels of the Universe (two Icelandic films on my list, other being 101 Reykjavik), Little Vampires (kidflick that adults may like, scene of batcows hanging from the rafters is great and Jim Carter as Rookery creates a wonderful over-the-top villain. A good film even if the writers do not know the difference between vampires and cannibals.), Marshal Tito's Spirit (that returns to turn a down trodden community into a tourist mecca, and The Junction.

A FILM SOME PEOPLE WILL LIKE WHO LIKE THIS KIND OF FILM: Hotel Splendide hopes to be a cult favorite. I found it interesting, puzzling and disgusting. Won't go into details except that the heating system works on human waste. If Agatha Christe had stayed at this hotel, she would have murdered the lot.

FILM THAT I FOUND DISAPPOINTING: Aberdeen (most disappointing, could have been great but isn't, harmed by lead who is overheated and under dressed through much of the film), Purely Belter (title means nothing to the Brits either), There's Only One Jimmy Grimble (awful performances by adults, kid is good) these last two are football films aimed at the younger viewer, and Love and Sex that is defiantly not aimed at younger viewers.

IN A CATEGORY BY THEMSELVES: Dancer in the Dark (did nothing for me but others liked it, clue: I saw it at the industry show in a huge theatre where only 20 people showed up), and the already released Nurse Betty. Make up your own mind about these.

FILM SHOWN CONTINUOUSLY IN HELL: Daybreak (club/crime life in Edinburgh, total mess).

Awards also went to: Last Resort (Best new British film), Aljandro Gonzales Inarritu for the controversial Mexican film Amores Perros, and to Aidan Gillen (Best British Newcomer, last seen here in Queer as Folk) for his role in The New Comer.

The bulk of the films are shown in Filmhouse, Cameo, and ABC. A few are in such places as Lumiere Theatre at the Museum of Scotland. Edinburgh is very walkable city so if riding the bus is not your thing a thirty minute walk will take you to most sites.

Edinburgh is a wonderful, stylish city. Some of Europe's top restaurants, shops. While Edinburgh has a range of hotels from magnificent Victorian piles of stone (The Balmoral and The Caledonian) to simple B&Bs you need to make reservations early. January may be too late in some. Scottish Tourist Board (011 44 131 333 2167) can assist you in find quarters but good guide books, such as readily available Time Out Guide Edinburgh and Scotland the Best, provide details and vital information on the city, such as carry 50p coins for the buses. They don't give change. I usually stay in B& alley on Gilmore Place as it is a ten minute walk to most venues - they are not terribly stylish but exceedingly convenient and inexpensive. Edinburgh is an easy travel from Washington. You just change planes in London.

In August this capital of Scotland is entertainment central with events that run the gamut from Wagner's operas, a Macbeth or six - want one in Mandarin or a walkabout Macbeth that moves around the city taking you to appropriate sites and ending up in Greyfriars Kirk cemetery. The Fringe Festival is a cacophony from the superb Cappell Sebaldina Nurnberg honoring J S Back's 250th anniversary by performing his Mass in B minor to a midnight puppet show with two guys, strings and certain dangling male parts (don't ask, I couldn't get tickets). If all else fails you can learn first hand the joys of single malt whisky. Of course, too much can lead to rubber legs and loud singing.

When the Festival is at its peak the streets are thronged with festival goers; clowns and jugglers, buskers and actors line the Royal Mile demanding your attention and presence at their performance. There is an excitement and shear creativity in the air. It is one giant block party grown to fill a city.

Your day can begin with Shakespeare for Breakfast (croissant and coffee provided) or Breakfast with an Author at Charlotte Square (same breakfast there) and end with a Late Night Romp film (10 movies including Anatomie, a new film from Germany, New Zealand's The Irrefutable Truth about Demon's) at midnight.

Tickets for all festivals can be purchased on the internet by visiting the gateway to all festivals and holidays in Scotland. If you are just interested in film, the Film Festival's website is usually up and running in late June. The Scotsman newspaper has great information. The cost per film is less than $10 and they do have discounts for those over 62. The most expensive ticket in town is for the opera and that is less than $50.

Look for me in Edinburgh next August. I'm the one wearing stout walking shoes and carrying an umbrella who is making a mad dash between shows. But that could be thousands.

Moose and Movies Come to Toronto

By Ron Gordner and Jim McCaskill

Our arrival found Toronto not only to be invaded by the native and outlander film goers and film industry, but with Moose In The City. Yes, hundreds of fiberglass life-size moose of various colors, names, and demeanors can be found posed all over the city. Our favorites were Strawberry Moose and Cr*me, Moose and Squirrel (Rocky and Bullwinkle), and Moose-tse-tung. Thank goodness the moose did not join the Rush Lines for films.

The 25th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held on September 7-16, 2000. Of the 1,832 films submitted to the festival, 329 films were chosen, including 178 world or North American premieres from 56 countries; 253 were full-length films. TIFF has become known as The Festival of Festivals and ranks first or second with the Cannes Film Festival in importance. Many films are picked up by distributors for Fall 2000 or Spring 2001 release. Hollywood also likes to parade their Oscar potential films early to create an industry and word of mouth buzz. The usual fall line up of major films for Oscar contention has made TIFF more important than when it was created in 1984.

Films are chosen by programmers and put in several categories: Gala Presentations, Masters (well respected directors), Special Presentations, Perspective Canada, Contemporary World Cinema, Discovery (1st time directors), Planet Africa, Reel to Reel (documentaries), Dialogues (retrospective favorites of attending directors), and Midnight Madness films. Special Irish commissioned films from famous directors of several Beckett plays were also an added highlight-Krapp's Last Tape directed by Atom Egoyan and starring John Hurt was the most heralded.

TIFF is a great place to sample Canadian films. Perspective Canada included: the witty horror film Ginger Snaps, about 2 teenage sarcastic loser sisters and werewolves; waydowntown, Gary Burns' voyeuristic comedy about a corporate trainee's bet in the maze of offices, parking garages, food courts, and malls in downtown Calgary, and Maelstrom, with a talking trout(s) as narrator of harrowing interconnected tales of a young woman's downward spiral and others that enter her sphere.

Special programming included a Stephen Frears retrospective tribute of many of his films and the presentation of his latest film Liam, the portrait of a Liverpool Irish Catholic working family's struggles during the 1930's Depression. The wonderful depiction of little Liam's Catholic schooling is dramatic, subversive, and funny; and may empower some of the same picketers to queue outside your local theatres that objected to The Priest several years ago.

Themes or patterns found in this years programmed films seemed to be either about Fact is Stranger and Better than Fiction, and Women's personal and cultural identity crises. Many of the better films were taken from news items that were developed into screenplays. These included: Greenfingers, a British film with Helen Mirren and Clive Owen, about prisoners who become remarkable gardeners; Me,You, Them, a Brazilian film about a woman who maintains 3 husbands and their children (1 to each) at the same time; Iron Ladies, a Thai film about a feisty volleyball team made up primarily of transsexuals and transvestites; Burnt Money, an Argentine film based on 2 gay robbers in the 1960's; Sous le Sable the haunting French tale of a woman (Charlotte Rampling) who loses her husband on the beach; and the Dish, an Australian film about broadcasting the 1969 moon walk.

Women were well represented in the number of directors this year and the themes of self-discovery or cultural roles. Liv Ullmanns film Faithless deals with a marital breakup and is scripted by Ingmar Bergman. The Italian film Bread And Tulips details a housewife's escape from her family and her boring life. The gutsy Iranian films The Day I Became A Woman, and The Circle portray the lives of women in modern Iran and fear of imprisonment. Innocense from Australia finds an elderly married woman trying to recapture the love of her youth. Chunhyang, a South Korean beautiful epic told in part with the musical Pansori, tells the tale of the title character, a teenage peasant girl and her loyal fight to remain faithful to her young noble husband.

Our favorite film was The Last Resort, a British film about a Russian women and her son who come to England to enter into a marriage, or not. As the list below reflects, Iran, France, Canada, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the U.S. had particularly interesting and good films this year. We also always seek out the few Icelandic films made and are never disappointed.

The following are our composite recommendations and some that reflect high buzz from the festival:

MUST SEE FILMS: Almost Famous (U.S.), Best in Show (U.S.), Billy Elliot (U.K.), Burnt Money (Argentina/Uruguay/Spain), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Taiwan), Chunhyang (S. Korea), The Circle (Iran), The Day I Became a Woman (Iran), Faithless or Trolosa (Sweden), George Washington (U.S.), The Gleaners and I (France), Greenfingers (U.K./U.S.), In the Mood for Love (Hong Kong, China), Innocence (Australia), The Last Resort (U.K.), Liam (U.K.), Me, You, Them (Brazil), 101 Reykjavik (Iceland/Norway/Denmark), The Smell of Camphor, The Fragrance of Jasmine (Iran), A la Verticale d'Ete (France), Way Downtown (Canada)

WORTH SEEING FILMS: Amores Perros or Love is a Bitch (Mexico), Angels of the Universe (Iceland), Bread and Tulips (Italy), Bunny (U.S.), The Contender (U.S.), Djohmeh (Iran), The Dish (Australia), Eureka (Japan), Ginger Snaps (Canada), Girlfight (U.S.), The Goddess of 1967 (Australia/Hong Kong, China), Gohatto or Taboo (Japan), Harry, He's Here to Help (France), The House of Mirth (U.K.), Iron Ladies (Thailand), Krampack (Spain), The Luzhin Defence (U.K.), The Maelstrom (Canada), The Princess and the Warrior (Germany), The Season of Men (Tunisia/France), The Shadow of the Vampire (U.S.), Signs and Wonders (France), State and Main (U.S.), Sous le Sable or Under the Sand (France), A Time for Drunken Horses (Iran), The Truth about Tully (U.S.), La Ville est Tranquille (France), The Waiting List (Cuba/Spain/France/Mexico), When Brendan Met Trudy (Ireland), The Widow of St. Pierre (France/Canada), Yi Yi or A One and a Two (Taiwan), You Can Count on Me (U.S.).

AVOID THESE FILMS: Beauty (U.S.), Brother (Japan), The Captive (France, Belgium), Farewell (Germany), The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz (U.K.).

FILM I'D RATHER EAT RAT THAN SEE AGAIN: Turbulence (Cuba).

STILL NOT SURE WHAT IT WAS SO MAKE UP YOUR OWN MIND: Songs from the Second Floor (Sweden/Denmark/Norway).

AWARD WINNERS WERE: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Tiger, Ang Lee's historical action-romance, won the People's Choice Award. This film is very different from his previous films - The Ice Storm and Sense and Sensibility. Crouching Tiger is set during the Qing dynasty in China and stars Chow Yun-Fat as a martial arts warrior longing to retire. Any film with sword fight in tree tops has to be a winner. The Dish (Australia) a comedy about the 1969 moon landing, finished second among audience voters. Volkswagen Discovery Award, voted by the 775 accredited press corp went to George Washington (USA) and 101Reykjavik (Iceland/Norway/Denmark/France). These are very different films as George Washington looks at the American South and Reykjavik is an erotic film about sexual confusion and youth culture in modern Iceland. Information on these and other finalists can be found on their website.

Since we have come to TIFF for several years, we have faired better each year getting tickets and learning the ins and outs of the festival. The first year Day Passes (limit of seeing 25 films before 6 pm) and just showed up and stood in lots of rush lines. Now we get the Festival Passes (at an early bird cost of $278 Canadian, for up to a limit of 50 movies, except galas at Roy Thompson Hall), a programme book with film abstracts couriered a week before the festival, and we fax our choices into the box office for an additional fee to guarantee getting most of our first film choices. This year we got all our first choices. TIFF compared to other major festivals is affordable, well organized, and includes screens in several large theaters (many in close proximity). Jim has recently returned from the Edinburgh Festival with suggestions and reviews. We also check various sources like Film Comment, Variety, and film.com reviews of Cannes films, and Premiere magazine, upcomingfilms.com, and splicedonline.com to determine some films that already have been purchased and have distribution dates to help make decisions when 8 or 10 films may be playing at the same time. Once in Toronto, the local newspapers and Now and Eye papers have reviews that may cause last minute exchanging of tickets or running to the theatre box office the morning of the screening to see if tickets are still available or if you need to rush. The larger theaters this year during the weekday periods seemed to have large number of tickets for available in the morning for quite a number of films.

With the exchange rate around 65 cents Canadian to every 1 U.S. dollar the benefits are many. Delicious food of any kind and varied ethnicities can also be found easily near the main theaters. Industry screenings are now also in the Varsity theaters and industry professionals, actors, directors, etc. move easily among the friendly public crowds.

In summary it was a great festival, we collectively saw over 57 films in ten days and a record 70% of the films we saw had attending directors, producers, and/or actors that usually stayed for a questions and answers session. Although there was not one film that blew the competition away like Shine or American Beauty had done in earlier fests, there a higher percentage of better made films and far less clunkers than we have viewed in past fests.

You can find out more about the festival's website.

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July, 2000