In wrapping up all of my festival screenings, this list of 10 is loaded with disappointments, though none of them major. Laurent Cantet's The Class is astounding, as is WALL·E, the only two of these ten worth getting excited about. Though both efficient on some levels, Waltz with Bashir and The Wrestler failed to live up to the excitement surrounding their earlier festival showings. I should, hopefully, have more to say about Burn After Reading as soon as I get my new computer (mine died this past week, leaving me with fairly limited access). Oh, I would urge you to avoid Garden Party about as strongly as I possibly can.
La Crème
The Class [Entre les murs] - dir. Laurent Cantet - France - Sony Pictures Classics - with François Bégaudeau
La león - dir. Santiago Otheguy - Argentina/France - Water Bearer Films - with Jorge Román, Daniel Valenzuela, José Muñoz
OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies [OSS 117: La Caire, nid d'espions] - dir. Michel Hazanavicius - France - Music Box Films - with Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo, Aure Atika, Philippe Lefebvre, Constantin Alexander, Saïd Amadis, Laurent Bateau
WALL·E - dir. Andrew Stanton - USA - Pixar/Walt Disney Studios - with Jeff Garlin, Ben Hurtt, Elissa Knight, Fred Willard, Sigourney Weaver, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy
Les Autres
Burn After Reading - dir. Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - USA/France/UK - Focus Features - with George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, J.K. Simmons, Elizabeth Marvel
O' Horten - dir. Bent Hamer - Norway/Germany/France - Sony Pictures Classics - with Bård Owe, Espen Skjønberg, Ghita Nørby
Priceless [Hors de prix] - dir. Pierre Salvadori - France - Samuel Goldwyn Films - with Gad Elmaleh, Audrey Tautou, Marie-Christine Adam, Vernon Dobtcheff
Waltz with Bashir - dir. Ari Folman - Israel/Germany/France - Sony Pictures Classics
Wrestler, The - dir. Darren Aronofsky - USA - Fox Searchlight - with Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood
The Bad
Garden Party - dir. Jason Freeland - USA - Roadside Attractions - with Vinessa Shaw, Willa Holland, Richard Gunn, Erik Smith, Alexander Cendese, Christopher Allport, Patrick Fischler
4 comments:
I quite liked The Class and The Wrestler, but I don't see all of the hoopla over Wall-E. I think the 1st act is very good, and once it goes to space it goes down the tank. I thought the happy ending was forced, too.
Thanks for your response. It's perfectly timed in that I've been going over my feelings toward WALL·E for a few days now, and everything you're saying is correct. I wish I could remember which critic said so, but he described the film's robotic romance as "Chaplinesque," and that sort of consumed my thoughts. The film certainly goes downhill once the humans are introduced (not to mention that I absolutely hate the way Pixar animates people). I probably shouldn't have been as easy on it.
Like the new blue layout.
I've been waiting/wanting to see WAll*E eversince/eventhough someone told me it could've been perfect were there no dialogue at all.
That's exactly right. Had the humans, and thus the dialogue, been cut out, it would have been perfect. Not that I don't appreciate Disney's cynical view of how the world will turn out.
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