Julia's Eyes
Director: Guillem Morales
Stars: Belen Rueda, Lluis Homar
Country of Origin: Spain
Why I Chose this Film: I loved the plot synopsis (woman slowly going blind of degenerative disease finds her already blind twin hanged in the basement) plus Guillermo Del Toro produced this film that also stars the lovely Belen Rueda, the star of the 2007 Del Toro produced The Orphanage.
The Rundown: While it gets a little wishy-washy melodramatic with some subplots that could have been eliminated, in my opinion, there are several noteworthy spooky moments. As Julia's impending blindness becomes inevitable, the tension is ratcheted up to a nice degree with a decent twist about the identity of the killer. While the ending borrows mercilessly of from Wait Until Dark, that awesome 1967 thriller starring Audery Hepburn, Morales manages to give it his own unique spin. And Rueda is always a treat to see, so I love that I managed to be at the world premiere where she showed up, along with the director and produce Guillermo Del Toro. 7/10
Beginners
Director: Mike Mills
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Melanie Laurent, Christopher Plummer
Country of Origin: US
Why I Chose this Film: A fan of Mike Mill's 2005 film Thumbsucker, I was keen on this project learning Plummer would be playing a 75 year old dad coming out of the closet. I also have loved the gorgeous Melanie Laurent ever since she played Isabelle Huppert's in the 2007 L'amour Cache and I'm happy that Tarantino gave her a delicious breakout role in Inglourious Basterds, 2009. And Ewan has a very gay friendly year with I Love You Phillip Morris at last scheduled to be released stateside this December.
The Rundown: I loved this movie, which is more of a mid-life crisis movie for the McGregor character than it is a coming out story about his 75 year old father. Plummer is extremely moving and touching in his role as a crusty old man getting to experience a life he couldn't have lived when he married the mother of his child in the 1950's, waiting until she passed away to come out. Meanwhile, McGregor develops a comical and realistically quirky relationship with a traveling actress played by Laurent. My husband attended this screening and found it boring, but I found this film sad, beautiful, pathetic, life affirming and I was completely enchanted. I felt that Mills hit all the right notes with a quiet little story. Look for some great appearances from Mary Page Keller and Goran Visnjic. 10/10
Dirty Girl
Director: Abe Sylvia
Stars: Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Tim McGraw, Mary Steenbergen, Dwight Yoakam and Jeremy Dozier
Country of Origin: US
Why I Chose this Film: I loved the description and word of mouth surrounding this film. I'm familiar with Juno Temple and her involvement with a number of high profile films in supporting roles---also, great word of mouth and stellar supporting cast.
The Rundown: Hands down, may be one of the best films I've seen in a long time, and certainly one of the best first features I've yet to see. Dirty Girl is a growing up comedy/drama set in 1980's Oklahoma about the self professed "class whore" and a chubby gay boy struggling with an abusive father and a passive mother. This is Juno Temple's star making performance, and quite an impressive first screen role for newcomer Jeremy Dozier. A film about growing up, discovering yourself, friendship, and a fabulous gay 80's soundtrack featuring several tracks from Melissa Manchester (who showed up for the premiere) Dirty Girl is an extremely moving, satisfying and entertaining film. 10/10
Cold Fish
Director: Sion Sono
Stars: Mitsuri Fukikoshi
Country of Origin: Japan
Why I Chose this Film: I've been eager to see Sono's last feature for some time, the 4 hour long Love Exposure (2008) and I've also been meaning to watch the cult favorite Suicide Club (2001) for some time as well. I happened to catch his Strange Circus (2005) some years back and remember it as ultra-violent and very strange.
The Rundown: Let me first say that my husband saw this film with me and absolutely hated it. While I can understand his negative response, I found the film compelling and subversive in it's way. An exercise in controversial ultra violence (but nowhere near something like, say, Ichii the Killer, 2001 from Takashi Miike) Cold Fish tells the tale of a tropical fish store owner, who happens to be a psyhcotic serial killer. Purportedly based on a true story of a dog kennel owner from the 1980's, Sono sets his tale in early 2009. Lots of gore, extreme violence and rape of women and strange and violent bloody sex of course aren't very funny, but there is a lot of black comedy threaded throughout Sono's feature---which made me laugh uncomfortably and guiltily several times. While it's frustrating to watch our lead character be so passive as to become a serial killer himself only because a more powerful and established tropical fish store owener is telling him what to do, the results, while based on a true story, are every telling about a cultural problem in Japan---standing up for what you believe in as an individual. While Sono's film depicts the ultimate nightmare and extreme of a possible predicament, it's not so implausible as to be written off as a straight up horror film. While it may not be for everyone, it definitely is compelling and controversial---and worthy of discussion. 9/10
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