Greetings
and Salutations folks! Welcome to Day Four of my trip to Cinequest 28! Today is the day that the festival kicks off into high gear. And today I
saw SIX films today!! So let us begin the reviews, shall we?
The first film I saw today was at the 3 Below, but before that there was a short. ROBOT AND SCARECROW takesplace a concert, where a scarecrow from the neighboring field meets the concert’s dancing AI robot. The two fall in love with each other, butthe romance only lasts for that day!
I was completely blown away the short! It was the most polished, stylized, and visually stunning short I’ve ever seen! The directing and cinematography was gorgeous, editing was invisible (which is very important) and the CGI of our two leads . My favorite short of the
festival thus far!!
The Spanish movie PEACHES (Melocotones) is about Diego
and Laura, a couple that is trying to rekindle their relationship, due
to Diego being unable to divert from the schedule, which makes him
predictable and boring. So he takes her resort that stayed at three
years ago. When her macho ex-boyfriend shows u, all hell breaks loose,
until Diego realizes how to fix everything: he simply builds a time
machine. And that's where the fun begins!
I
couldn’t believe what I was watching! I absolutely loved this movie!
With its tongue firmly planted in its cheek, the movie is a homage to
1980’s films, complete with cheesy infomercials, bad sci-fi props, Casio
soundtrack, and cheesy special effects. Filmmakers have been making
retro-styled 80's movies for about six years now, but it was so
refreshing to see a film that was from another country and what they
bring to the table. Director Hector Valdez is an incredibly talented filmmaker and I hope to see more of his work here at Cinequest! Somewhere
in the Caribbean, in a future that never was…one of my favorite foreign
films so far of the festival!! 5 out of 5 stars!!
Click here to view the film's Redwood City screenings.
Film number two was the Indonesian export SKULL (Tengkorak). A devastating earthquake has rocked Indonesia
and reveals an unbelievable discovery of a nearly one-mile-long,
170,000-year-old skull. With this revelation, it sparks a flood of
controversy among scientists, government officials, and religious
leaders, who wish to preserve the peace and not to reveal any details
about the skull. But when college student Ani (Eka Nusa Pertiwi),
who works at the skull research center, discovers a conspiracy about
what the government is hiding about the skull, her life becomes in
danger and must rely on an unlikely hero (Yusron Fuadi).
The
film is an amalgam of sci-fi and fantasy films, with a hint of
political commentary. I was thrown off at the beginning of the film,
thinking I was watching a documentary. Instead, I was watching a movie
from a very gifted filmmaker. Yusron Fuadi is an up and coming director from Indonesia,
a country that doesn't release too many film withing the sci-fi genre.
He set-ups and compositions are great and engaging, the camera sweeps of
the country were beautiful, and the ending was very spiritual and
hauntingly poetic! The cast was fantastic as well, bringing a level of
realism that I very much enjoyed. After the screening, Fuadi and Pertiwi participated in a very fun and informative Q&A with the audience. Overall, this might be the hidden gem of the whole festival! 5 out of 5 stars!!
Click here to view the film's Redwood City screenings.
The film drama FACADES focuses on Alex (Natali Broods), lovely married woman who works as a translator, who one day visits her day Jean (Johan Leysen), only to discover that her mom has disappeared without a trace. It also doesn't help that her father is suffering from
dementia.
Now she must care for her father, which leads to a series of
revelations that Alex was hiding for years, only to resurface at this,
her most vulnerable time of her life.
Another fine
example of European films addressing topics that are often over in
American movies. Focusing on infidelity, family dynamics, elderly health
issues, sex, and confronting ghosts from the past, the movie takes Alex
and makes her the vessel the audience is transported in. We relate to
her and we sympathize with her. Life has been hard on her and it leaves
scars on Alex - mentally, emotionally and physically. An examination of
the human condition and what we do for our family, even if it means
lying to them! 5 out of 5 stars!! Highly recommend!!
Click here to view the film's final Redwood City screening.
I made my way to the Hammer Theatre Center for the fourth film of the day for me. The imaginative TOMMY BATTLES THE SILVER SEA DRAGON is a musical about Tommy Silver, a young man who struggles to overcome the guilt of his mother’s death. On a quest for
absolution, Tommy finds himself on trial in a courtroom crowded by his
inner demons. His confession alternates between flashbacks and fantasies
as we journey into Tommy's budding romance with girlfriend Carolyn,
whose experience as a woman is overshadowed by the weight of Tommy's
maternal loss. Dream and reality blur as the Prosecutor and his agents
infiltrate Tommy’s memories, dragging him back to the courtroom of his
convoluted psyche. Can Tommy break the cycle of guilt before it destroys
him and the one he loves?
Combing elements and themes from Broadway shows like Rent and Next to Normal and with visuals from Michael Godry, Luke
Shirock wrote, directed, and wrote the music for the film. The end
results were simply astounding! It felt like someone punched me in the
chest with a Buick. The movie
For
film number five I made my way back to the The California Theatre to
see my next screening, which also had a short film before it. HOME
is about a young man named who spends time with his grandpa and tries
to build a relationship with while probing him some life lessons he can
bestow upon him. And the answer from his grandpa is to shoot everything
and everybody in sight. Silly and funny short that tickled my funny
bone.
The main feature THE GO-GETTERS tells the tale of
If you’re a fan of Canadian exploitation movies (of Canuxploitation as it’s affectingly called), then you’re gonna this cinematic export. I laughed so hard during the screening that I thought I was gonna bust a gut!
The sixth and final show of the day was the excellent midnight screening of SHORT FILM PROGRAM 5: MINDBENDERS. So I was expecting to have my mind bend extremely bad! Wait, that came out wrong. Anyway, here are the shorts that I saw:
Arcane:
Cargo:
Contact:
Defunctionary:
Filippa:
Immersion:
Information Superhighway:
Pie:
Steve's Kinkoes:
Strangers:
Valentina:
Yoshua:
And
that was Day Four of my cinematic trip to Cinequest. So far I'm at 17
films in 4 days! Getting closer to my 60 films for this year goal!!
Remember the festival will be running till March 11th so there's plenty
of time for you to join in on the fun here in Downtown San Jose! To view
the festival's film schedule and purchase tickets and passes, visit
their website at www.cinequest.org.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the show!