Frenchy’s Fracas

 2006 Edition

Well, another interesting year of film festival antics have gone by. I enjoyed myself very much with quite some nice and thought provoking movies. I was quite lucky not to have to watch too many crap movies. My selection of films hasn’t matched the results of the Audience Award (do have a look, willya?) as much as last year, so that’s nice too ;o)
Here’s my list of favorites this year:

Looking at the list, I reckon I should’ve given Running Stumbled higher marks, especially because it’s one of the movies I keep telling people about, but alas.. the vote has already been cast..
Two real documentaries on me list, not bad. Three US movies, wow.. A musical too, WTF?!?

A funny thing is being found by search machines, a really funny thing is when other sites refer to you or link to you.. My ego (lower caps, always) knows no bounds!!
Thanks to the people at Zone 5300 for linking me and especially the people at Cinematical for quoting me on Reefer Madness and Analife, ouch.. heheh..

Conclusion: I’m a very happy puppy, should’ve conserved my energy a bit better, but still a great festival!!
Big thanks to Kayan for helping me out with the schedule, Kayan Rulez! heheh..

_{DISCLAIMER: Dunno if this is necessary, but to keep all parties stress-free: International Film Festival (c)(tm)(r) and images belong to their respective owners. Nothing in this publication is in any way connected to the official site(s) and organisation(s). It’s just a friggin’ blog so back the frag off.. (mail me, if anything bugs you regarding this section of the blog)}

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 2006 Edition

“Reefer Madness“

First off: I do not like musicals, but I really enjoyed this one!
Nowheresville, USA pre-WW2 gets a movie demonstration about the dangers of this new and evil drug: marijuana! The instructional movie tells us about the sad demise of our everyman hero that gets addicted to that Wacky Weed of Destruction.
Plot-wise: it’s a very clever way to show how clever you are as a writer: the layering combined with social commentary is a tricky dance to do.. The songs and dialogue are hilarious!

Conclusion: didn’t know what to expect, but was oh so pleasantly surprised with this movie. Of course it’s (not) another Rocky Horror Picture Show or Little Shop of Horrors, but that’s okay. Great laughs, great movie!

_{DISCLAIMER: Dunno if this is necessary, but to keep all parties stress-free: International Film Festival (c)(tm)(r) and images belong to their respective owners. Nothing in this publication is in any way connected to the official site(s) and organisation(s). It’s just a friggin’ blog so back the frag off.. (mail me, if anything bugs you regarding this section of the blog)}

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“Gravehopping“

Excellent movie about.. well.. uhm.. a guy who earns his living by doing burial speeches, a suicidal and widowed father and a sister and her kid who really miss their man/father. But wait, there’s more! Another sister who’s really quite a few fries short of a happy meal and a quiet but cheerful neighbor.
A typical tragic comedy, East-European style!
Plot-wise: wow.. it’s a well balanced set of interacting stories, with intelligent and witty dialogues and scenes. It’s also very brutal in its sadness, the final scene really took my breath away and I immediately checked the audience’s reaction which was very similar.

Conclusion: A cynic would call this a cynical feel-good movie and I’d agree. I loved its ups and downs of happy and sad moments and characters. Very beautiful movie.

_{DISCLAIMER: Dunno if this is necessary, but to keep all parties stress-free: International Film Festival (c)(tm)(r) and images belong to their respective owners. Nothing in this publication is in any way connected to the official site(s) and organisation(s). It’s just a friggin’ blog so back the frag off.. (mail me, if anything bugs you regarding this section of the blog)}

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“Blue Cha Cha“

Emotionally unstable and probably mentally handicapped girl gets out of treatment to return to her sister’s home. The sister works at a bar (hence the title). The girl has serious problems dealing with love.
Plot-wise: okay plot, it took me a while to figure out the relationship between the two women but that could be due to a small lapse in attention. The end is what I liked best, a simple open ending.

Conclusion: nothing spectactular, nothing too insultingly simple, the main character’s troubled and troubling behavior gets perfectly under the skin, good acting.

_{DISCLAIMER: Dunno if this is necessary, but to keep all parties stress-free: International Film Festival (c)(tm)(r) and images belong to their respective owners. Nothing in this publication is in any way connected to the official site(s) and organisation(s). It’s just a friggin’ blog so back the frag off.. (mail me, if anything bugs you regarding this section of the blog)}

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“Analife“

Crap movie.. Set of stories revolving people and their inner demons, especially about how they do or don’t deal with them. The main character in every story is using voice-over monologue to convey his thoughts to us. The characters use varying levels of violence to get through life. The director uses heavy graphics for effects and presentation, the last ten minutes seemed like a live video graphics performance with some trip-trance music.
Plot-wise: I couldn’t care.. Not for the characters, not for their story.

Conclusion: crap onna stick. I reckon that every festival year you should get to see at least and not more than 1 crap movie, that’s part of the whole experience.. check!

_{DISCLAIMER: Dunno if this is necessary, but to keep all parties stress-free: International Film Festival (c)(tm)(r) and images belong to their respective owners. Nothing in this publication is in any way connected to the official site(s) and organisation(s). It’s just a friggin’ blog so back the frag off.. (mail me, if anything bugs you regarding this section of the blog)}

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