C'est Non Un Blog

I’m going to try and keep a SIFF diary this year of everything I see. Notes, reviews, stories of waiting in line and dying of self-induced starvation. As you all now know, this will be no easy task. I’ve already bought tickets to 57 SIFF movies for 24 straight days of movie watching and for me to even watch all of those movies without cracking, much less write about each one, is going to be a huge task. But I think it will be an interesting exercise for me to give you a look into what goes into this particular kind of madness that I call all my own.

First up is a movie that is not even part of SIFF, but dammit, if they can screen it at Cannes, I can sure as hell screen it at my SIFF. It had that festival vibe to it anyway. There was a huge line to get into Cinerama, even 40 minutes before the movie started, and guys were handing out slices of Costco pizza and bottled water to those waiting to get in.

—–Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)——

As fun as this movie is and as glad as I am to see Harrison Ford back making good movies, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed with this one. Maybe it is the built up anticipation for a new Indiana Jones movie. Maybe it is the fact that George Lucas has somehow managed to screw up everything that he touches lately. Whatever it is, while I enjoyed watching this movie I had almost no emotional reaction to it as soon as the theater lights went up.

Perhaps it is had to do with the fact that the franchise seems to be steeped even less in reality than it ever was, even after being told in countless press before the film opened that Jones would now reflect a more mature (ie: old) Harrison Ford. Indy is even more like a superhero in this one, being beaten and blown up almost every ten minutes or so, and yet the only thing that really tells us that he’s “older” is the fact that he walks a little slower now. Where is the Indy of Raiders of the Lost Ark who was so tired of fighting masked bad guys that he just pulled out his gun and shot the last sword swinging nutjob?

Also, while I can be a big fan of CGI, it does take away from the realism of some of the stunt work in the movie. It is hard to feel frightened for a character when you can tell that he’s not in a real situation. All that said, what does work well are the actors in this computer-generated version of the 50’s. All the main players bring you into the journey, even if the reality of the situation pushes you back out again. My favorite parts usually took place in a crypt, because what more do you really need for an Indiana Jones movie other than a dark cave, booby traps, spider webs and a fedora?

(SEE)

…more movie madness to come…

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SIFF Tickets, 2008, originally uploaded by themaneatingcow23.

This giant stack of paper are my SIFF tickets. Looking at them all together puts things in perspective, no? Bye, bye month of my life!

I finished writing all the schedules, picking out all the movies, tearing out all of my hair. Ladies and gentleman, we have a SIFF schedule. From May 23 to June 15 I plan on seeing 57 SIFF movies with only one day off! (And by one day off, I just mean I’m going to work that day and go directly home after I’m done.)

57 movies in 24 days. That’s not counting regular movies like the new Indiana Jones movie that I still plan on seeing. Yeah, I think I’m crazy too. This, compared to 36 movies that I saw last year. If I don’t kill myself it will be a miracle.

Just three more days before the madness starts…

The glorious Seattle Internation Film Festival is yet again upon us and from May 22 through June 15 my days will be filled with more movies than I think I’ll physically be able to handle. But all is not well in the world. Not only do I have to figure out my SIFF schedule, which is pain enough in the ass, but I also have to write three weeks worth of schedules because Jon is out of town. I have to put two hard enough puzzles together into one ginormous seemingly impossible puzzle of my own destruction. My brain is already ready to explode.

SIFF better be worth it, dammit…

I was talking to my mother the other day about how I have more free time than I had before in NY, and yet I seem to have less time to actually do things. Blaming this on the fact that I have about a gazillion interests that I can never say no to, my mother then told me about how even as a little kid I would be playing with a truck, book open in front of me, while sitting down watching Seasame Street on the TV. She said that she never had to worry about me running away because I always had my nose in something. Which is pretty much me in a nutshell now. Same pile of crap around me, just the material has changed.

Marvel plans to launch its 2010 film slate with the release of the sequel, Iron Man 2, on April 30, 2010, followed by the launch of Thor on June 4, 2010. Additionally, Marvel is planting its feature film stakes for summer 2011 with an Avengers-themed summer – a two-picture project which will debut on May 6, 2011 with The First Avenger: Captain America (working title), followed by The Avengers in July 2011.