Wellington film festival 2004

There were a lot of marvellous films to be seen, and I wish I had the time to do a proper write-up - well, maybe I'll get round to it before the next film fest comes along!

Films I saw:

In my Father's Den

Another classy New Zealand film, shot by Stuart Dryburgh - of "The Piano" fame - in Central Otago. What else can you want! Well, a good script, great actors - which this one boasts as well!

Fahrenheit 9/11

An eye-opener in more than one respect

Hero

One word: Beautiful!

Touching the Void

Riveting feature-documentary

Seducing Doctor Lewis

Nice and entertaining

Zelary

Beautiful WWII drama from the Czech republic

20:30:40

A funny and moving look at 3 women's lives

Last Life in the Universe

Another quirky Asian film, beautifully shot

Coffe & Cigarettes

Building to a slow but hilarious climax

Before Sunset

Didn't get to see it at the film fest, but later in the year - hmm, 2 people talking for an hour and a half manage to keep that many people's interest, that alone is an achievement!"

Homegrown: works on film

Great New Zealand short films. Out of the six or seven, four deal with death or dying. :-o

A Real Man

A very strange French film. Still not sure if I liked it... but I certainly remember it!

Guerilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst

A very special movie experience - and a story so unbelievable it would never work if it was fiction.

Festival Express

Slightly underwhelming look at a bunch of 70's rock idols boozing themselves for a week on a train tour through Canada. Worth seeing for Janis Joplin's performance though.

Lightning in a Bottle

Fantastic music documentary, celebrating the history of the blues. Not a dull moment!

Michel Gondry Retrospective

Uh, ah - will have to look that one up, it's gone from my memory... a yeah, a couple of music videos stood out, especially one for Bjork

Queen of the Gypsies: A portrait of Carmen Amaya

Great film about a great lady

Spike Jonze Rarities

Some good stuff, but too much packaging and not enough substance

The Digital Space

I think I fell asleep - or walked out. Which is not necessarily a comment on the quality of the films, seeing that I was really sick all those two weeks.

My Neighbor Totoro

Didn't get to see it at the film fest, only on dvd - great Anime classic

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Possibly the most beautiful Miyazaki movie I have seen

Porco Rosso

Always worth dragging oneself out for Miyazaki!

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin

Ehehehehehe.

Come Drink with Me

Features Zheng Peipei, the witch lady from "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon"- and worth seeing for her performance alone!

The Battle of Algiers

A film classic, but its greatness somewhat escaped me - or perhaps I was just filmed out at that stage

Frodo is Great... Who is That?!!

A film about Figwit - and the best Lord of the Rings documentary ever!

The Making of the Lord of the Rings, Part One: The Fellowship of the Ring

Costa Botes "alternative" Making-off- though most of his best footage is on the dvd extras already, and I didn't quite get in how far he offered a substantially different point of view on the filming process... yes, people have fights and disagreements sometimes, doh.

Bad Santa

The most hilarious bad taste politically incorrect Christmas comedy I've seen

Old Boy

Err, should have saved myself that one, especially since seeing five movies in a day did nothing good for my throat infection.

Primer

I didn't quite get the plot, but apparently it was really cool.

Films I wish I had seen but didn't make: Travellers and magicians, The saddest music in the world, Pupendo, Mister V, Zatoichi, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring, Kitchen Stories, Tropical Malady, Evil, Maria Full of Grace, The Return, Children of the Migration, Control Room, The Corporation, Hone Tuwhare - the return home, Kaikohe Demolition, Marti: the passionate eye, Persons of Interest, The Story of the Weeping Camel, The Yes Men, Screaming Men, The Cat Returns, Tokyo Godfathers, The Triplets of Belleville, Tamala: A Punk Cat in Space