atherton@unixg.ubc.ca (Bruce Atherton) (05/30/91)
Mini-Reviews from the 1991 SIFF
Film reviews by Bruce Atherton
Copyright 1991 Bruce Atherton
I've been going through serious withdrawal from lack of seeing a
film festival (Vancouver's is in August). I could have gone to
Melbourne for the film festival there, but I opted to drive the three
hours to Seattle instead, and I spent the weekend seeing seven movies.
Here is what I caught. A rating based on four stars follows each
micro-review.
HERMAN (Norway) - D:Erik Gustavson. Anders Danielsen Lie,
Elisabeth Sand, Bjorn Floberg, Linn Aronsen, Jarle Kulle.
This is a movie about a young 11-year-old boy who is going bald,
and how he deals with it. It reminded me a lot of MY LIFE AS A
DOG, but this character is much more interesting. I was
surprised at how much I enjoyed this movie. ***1/2.
TWENTY-ONE (Great Britain) - D:Don Boyd. Patsy Kensit, Jack
Shepherd, Patrick Ryecart, Rufus Sewell, Sophie Thompson.
Katie is 21 years old in New York. Addressing the camera, she
explains the events which took place in England that caused her
to leave. This reminded me a little of SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT.
Patsy Kensit is marvelous in the lead, straightforward and
humorous. ***.
(World Premiere)
CROOKED HEARTS (U.S.A.) - D:Michael Bortman. Vincent D'Onofrio,
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Peter Coyote, Peter Berg, Cindy Pickett.
A movie about members of a family that are all a bit too
dependent on one another. I love Peter Coyote as an actor but
here his character is very flat so there is not much he can do
with it. Of the others, only the narcoleptic daughter was very
interesting. I think the lead (Peter Berg) was terribly miscast.
His voice-over put me in mind of BLADERUNNER (yes, that bad). *1/2.
THE BORROWER (U.S.A.) - D:John McNaughton. Rae Dawn Chong, Tom
Towles, Don Gordon, Antonio Fargas.
I love campy humour, so I was looking forward to a movie about an
alien criminal sentenced to Earth who has to steal the heads from
people and wear them in order to survive. Unfortunately, there
is not a lot of camp here, just lots of blood and guts and gore
and veins in the teeth. If you find blood funny, maybe you'll
like this movie. I didn't. 1/2.
BLOOD OATH (PRISONERS OF THE SUN) (Australia) - D:Stephen Wallace.
Bryan Brown, George Takei, Terry O'Quinn, John Bach.
The credits said BLOOD OATH, the programme said PRISONERS OF THE
SUN. Whichever title this movie is released under, go see it. It
is a very moving drama about prosecuting Japanese for war
crimes on a little island called Ambon just after WWII. Out of
1100 Australian prisoners, only 300 survived over a two-year
period. A fascinating look at justice and how little there is
in a war, this was nominated for nine Australian Film Institute
Awards. ****.
(World Premiere)
RUBIN AND ED (U.S.A.) - D:Trent Harris. Crispin Glover, Howard
Hesseman, Karen Black, Michael Greene.
This was my favorite movie of the weekend, but then I like some
pretty strange things. This movie is one of the stranger ones.
Rubin (Crispin Glover) loves his cool mod-striped bell-bottoms,
his enormous platform shoes, and his dead cat that he keeps in
his refrigerator until he can find the perfect place to bury it.
His mother (whom he lives with) doesn't think he is social
enough, so she takes away his privileges until he brings home a
friend for supper.
Ed (Howard Hesseman) is a loser trying to make good in a Zig
Zeigler-type self-help program. He has to bring in someone to a
seminar to prove his worthiness. If ever two characters were
destined to meet, it's these two. I won't mention what comes
next except to say that if you like bizarre, you'll love this
movie like I did. Crispin Glover spoke afterward and he seems
every bit as weird in person as on screen. ****.
(World Premiere)
STAN AND GEORGE'S NEW LIFE (Australia) - D:Brian McKenzie.
Paul Chubb, John Bluthal, Julie Forsyth, Margaret Ford.
This is a light, sweet, funny, and harmless movie. It is about a
40-year-old barber who decides he needs a new career and joins
the Weather Bureau. He hopes to meet a girl so that he can get
married and move out of his parent's home, and sure enough he
meets a woman named George, a kindred spirit. The characters are
all interesting and the movie has some good laughs. It manages
to be touching without being sloppily sentimental. **1/2.
That's what I've seen so far. I may be going again next weekend,
I enjoyed it so much.
--
atherton@unixg.ubc.ca
Bruce_Atherton@mindlink.bc.ca