fnorful

... Was said by Clayton every episode.

Maybe the title of the show should be changed...

Otherwise, pretty average reality show. I've no gripe with the digging of fossils on your own land on your own time... This doesn't purport to represent the industry that includes collectors and museums. It does give a sense of what the high plains ranch country is like. A little bit of generated drama, a little bit of filler script to fill on the hour.

Some good graphics, although repetitive: more detail into digging might have been done, but I'm not sure of the technique.

And frankly, I just LOVE excavators!

The good: photography, massive labor invested in following the animals. The not-so-good: no details about the life of the animals outside of the dramatic "storyline", not about life cycle, size of the group, normal range of behavior, etc...personalizing the animals (except for the penguins, since you can't tell one from another). It's a good series for folks who love big-eyed puppy pictures. Forget it if you are looking to actually learn something.

I saw this as part of the World Tour sidebar of the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. It starts with some pretty compelling mix of plot elements: the last shore leave, the rascal who wants to have as much wine, women and song as possible, the soon to be married mate who wants dinner with the in-laws and the sailor who's obviously come up against some debatable military "discipline".

Unfortunately, the director chose not to have subtitles turned on for this.

I became more and more lost as the movie progressed. Scenes around a card table with three Aussies yelling, one talking and one sub-vocalizing left me with little to go on for critical plot points.

I expect to rent this if possible and re-rate it. But if you have trouble with this sort of dialect at all do check to see if sub-titles are available. This movie had more than enough promise to give it another chance.

Seen in the World Tour sidebar at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival, this tells us of Mihram's efforts to upgrade his standing as an entrepreneur in mid-90's Turkey. He is a "procurer" of whatever people contract him for. In the first scene he has brought a man a cable to replace one recently stolen. Remarkably, the cable is the exact length required. The dawning that Mihram (who didn't do the stealing) is selling the man his own cable is a warm and funny introduction to the tale to follow. But he wants to set up a cell phone franchise, making him a legitimate merchant, and for that he'll need much more money.

An opportunity is presented to help a local doctor get needed medicines, available in neighboring Kazakhstan. This chance to improve his relationship with both God and his wife (and turn a large profit) leads Mihram on the story arc through the rest of his adventure. Deals are made, the local "mafia" is flouted, and an endearing Uncle is recruited to help with the smuggling.

There is a lot of humanity presented, with the characters well understood. Every interaction becomes a negotiation., whether over a card table or at a border checkpoint. The scenes of bartering are wonderfully reminiscent of watching any "relative from the old country" work their magic on a local merchant. All I will say about the reconcilement of the plot is that it is Indie: It makes some sense, it's a little unexpected and it's a bit ironic.

I watched this debut film of Ramin Bahrani at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. It's a very minimal approach to film-making. There is good composition of the many pre-dawn scenes of Ahmad pushing his cart to its location in mid-town Manhattan. The bleak scenery of dark, low-lit streets, garbage trucks, buses and the constant noise of the city mirror Ahmad's internal landscape. We get some small pieces of his story, but it's very incomplete. We don't know why he doesn't try to regain the success he had in his home country, nor why he sabotages efforts by others to help him. How does the girl fit in? My expectation for a movie still remains that I need to be told a story, care about the characters or be wowed by technique. This was like reading the middle four chapters of a depressing book. I have friends who loved this movie because it lacked those elements which I find essential in film. For me, the movie could have been a twelve-minute short, repeated as many times as you find personally satisfying. I did very much enjoy Bahrani's 3rd film, "Goodbye Solo", where the story is still minimal but the characters are extremely well developed. It's worth watching "Man Push Cart" just to see how well Bahrani's core views are being honed in later movies.

and that pretty well sums up the deepest message of this adaptation of "La Princesse de Clèves". Having seen this at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival, I will admit to not having an appreciation of Christophe Honore's other work, have not read the book, nor did I recognize any of the actors. The film is put together reasonably well technically. Everyone is young, thin and good-looking, with many a fine pout below a classic Gallic countenance. There were (too) many relationships to track on a first viewing, and I did not understand the motivation for most of the characters. Why does everyone fall in love with Junie? Why does she break down and cry in class? As a high school-age tale, the self-absorbed interpersonal world is apt, with enough sexual tension and romantic intrigue to satisfy the requirements of this genre.

I saw this in the "Someone to Watch" and "American Independents" sidebars at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival.

Ramin Bahrani's work improves dramatically with this story of a Senegalese cab driver trying to make a life in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The story arc of his relationship with William, a fare who contracts for a one-way ride a couple of weeks in the future is well-drawn and quite satisfying. All of the prime relationships in this story are deftly developed: Solo's quest to "save" William (from what is clearly a suicide trip), Solo's efforts at providing for his second family (with concomitant tension from Wife #2), the effect of step-daughter (?) Alex on William, William's mystery relationship to the young man selling tickets at the local multi-plex.

The film was excellent technically. Bahrani likes "dark", yet the framing and focus provide for a nice intimacy with the characters. The "money" scene at the end (not giving away the plot here!) is beautifully framed, raw, elemental, vertigo-inducing without looking down.

Having not liked Man Push Cart (his first film) I feel that with this movie I have found a middle ground with Bahrani: I cared about the characters and I was told a story. But Bahrani likes mystery. And here there is a lot of mystery, very satisfying mystery. Worth seeing twice (which I did!).

I saw this in the Pan-African Images Sidebar at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival.

It's an interesting mix of local South African dialect and English, with Rapulana Seiphemo extending his lead role from "Tsotsi" which is appropriate, since the story line is derivative of that film. This is about the adult Tsotsi could readily become: an ambitious gangster, a Sowetan Robin Hood whose crimes often mirror what the legal ethic endorses, but for the character Kunene it's more about his community.

A couple of historical quotes figure large in this. Although Marx is attributed as the author of the "all property is theft" line in the movie, Marx considered this statement by Proudhon as "self-refuting". But it does seem an apt theme to the story of a culture in flux after its colonial disenfranchisement. Al Capone's "the bigger the crime the bigger the payoff" summarizes the operational ethic quite well.

A somewhat raw film (which is why I gave it a 5… I grade "bell-curve") this is still an interesting movie from a developing South African market. See it if you get the chance!

I saw this in the 10% Cinema sidebar at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival. Symons' documentary takes a fairly conventional approach in describing how nearly 12,000 men and women have been discharged from the military as part of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Many of these folks have "mission-critical" skills (such as speaking Arabic) and have served honorably until they "came out".

Good historical footage is included, with a nice counterpoint between Harry Truman integrating the armed services (pretty much by presidential proclamation) and Bill Clinton's attempt to keep a campaign promise and get the same rights for gays which was transmogrified by political compromise, giving us a policy that still actively (they do "ask"!) discriminates against the gay community.

This movie supports the gay community in the military and the military establishment as a whole. It's clear that it's the policy that is being implemented "because it's an order", not the majority of the soldiers who are comfortable serving with whatever people make up their unit. Several people are followed, including protest groups and a gay soldier serving in Iraq. I felt although there was a reporting bias (in that its point-of-view is from one side of the issue) it reported in a fair and non-strident fashion, providing a "close-up and personal" view of individuals who very much want to serve (and have served) their country and their travails at attempting to do so honorably and honestly.

This was one of my top 5 films at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival.

In the introductory narrative we are told that "all the events are true". A short story is told of how a cow was stuck in the bog, dug out 6 months later and gave birth to a two-headed calf (one human, one bovine). This sad animal causes distress to the town and is put back into the bog.

Well. We may not know where this is going, but it's sure to be interesting.

Robert (Jakob Cedergren) has a troubled past in Copenhagen and is re-assigned to a remote Danish town, where he is quickly embroiled in its odd business. Does Jorgen (Kim Bodnia), the local force to be reckoned with, actually beat his wife Ingerlise (Lene Maria Christensen)? Is that why their daughter takes her dolly for a walk in the evening, with the squeaky wheel heard by all in the village? Why is the bicycle shop deserted, but the music blaring?

And what is in the bog?

The theme of the small town that runs by its own rules is well presented here. No one wants to get the "big city" involved. Abuse is known but ignored. The Marshall fits in in that everyone seems to have a secret in this town. A twisted ethic exists in just what needs to be done, whether the Marshall is supposed to punch out a pre-teen shoplifter (if he doesn't, Dad Jorgen will), you are supposed to say "mohn" instead of the usual Danish word for hello, the doctor supplies narcotics to the hairdresser/call-girl, and your clothes need to be put on the line to dry in a just-so order. And what do you do about the abused wife, who may just be playing her version of crazy with the newest Marshall?

The various plot twists, the machinations of the local card-playing cabal looking for a new fourth, the (lovely) cat who says "mohn": all provide fit companions to the Bog. The Bog is metaphor here as a place where secrets reside, the past sometimes remains hidden and the future lies in wait. The bog is as much a character as the townspeople and the townspeople are the bog.

The film alternates between disquieting views of the flat fields and frenetic twists (big and small) in the plot. I could not imagine a single scene being left out. Lovely and tense, this Euro-Noir film is well acted and well filmed; a good bet for those who like quirky and creepy.

I saw this movie at the 33rd Cleveland International Film Festival, where it bore the honor of being the Opening Night flick. As such, it worked well, being an accessible, pleasant crowd-pleaser. Based on producer Mike Cram's own story, it follows the travails of several young adults seeking to make their own way in the business world by marketing their own inventions.

Dallas Roberts as Matt, Ayelet Zurer as his wife Gina and Jeremy Renner as business partner Sam make up an interesting triangle (of sorts). We are thrown into Matt and Sam's business with opening scenes that represents the failures they have had up to this point: numerous failed "can't miss" inventions are mentioned, we find they are not at all business-savvy as they are involved with a unctuous telemarketer (played with a shark-wide smile by Richard Kind) and we find out about their shared gambling addiction. Oh, and Matt gets his ideas by standing on a small mountain surrounded by numerous communication dishes and "listening". Gina provides the regular income in the family, and has been through enough as an addict's co-dependent. She gives Matt his last "last chance", putting us into the heart of the story.

There are enough unpredictable elements to provide a good narrative structure, with pretty good acting all the way around. The film was fine technically, I was told a story and I cared/knew about the characters. I especially liked the scene of "grand-theft cactus" and the conclusion up on Matt's mountain, ambiguous in a satisfyingly Indie way.

Lightbulb delivers a good package of entertainment, some comedy and a load of empathy for anyone who has endeavored to make their own way in the world.

...and perhaps we may be able to avoid having the (promised) sequels.

Damn, I hate being harsh on a movie, especially a biker movie, but this gored my ox... or would have if my ox hadn't already swallowed its own tongue in an effort not to continue watching this eminently un-watchable movie.

First, it's hardly a "biker" movie, just some home-footage quality (as is the whole film) of motorcycles occasionally thrown in. At least most of the riders looked competent (they didn't drag their feet on the pavement while moving off in first gear), but the competence evaporated once the acting and script kicked in. The basic effects were either lame (reddish kool-aid for the blood: hasn't anyone seen any of the real stuff?) or cartoon-ish monsters, creating an unneeded disconnect and having no shock or artistic value.

The script was a mess and the acting amateur. The sound was good, however.

Skip this (and the sequels) and instead see "From Dusk to Dawn" for a really good vampire/biker tale or "CC and Company" which although it's a stinker, at least it has some memorable scenery-chewing.

This well-done document provides both information and human interest in its two stories.

Told in parallel, we follow two Jehovah's Witnesses. Joseph Kempler is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. He lost his faith as the deaths mounted and the horrors of the concentration camp unfolded for him. Yet in his camp, a separate barracks housed the Jehovah's Witness prisoners, partly to segregate them from the non-Aryans and partly to reduce the proselytizing. These were political prisoners who by following the tenets of their religion refused to swear allegiance to the Fuehrer and the Fatherland. They could leave if their would sign a "loyalty oath". As Joseph lost his faith, he become aware of these protesters, was able to attend clandestine meetings, and eventually took on their religion. We are told his story, including his reconciliation with family members (including a daughter he had pretty much abandoned).

The other story is about twenty-something Seth Thomas, who follows the faith along with the rest of his family. His "auto de fe" comes about with his need for a transplant to replace his (congenitally) diseased liver. He can't have blood products, so the medical establishment won't do the transplant. Eventually UCLA (?) agrees to do an experimental bloodless surgery. With huge risks, he agrees; and his father will provide the partial liver donation. The whole family is faced with the risk of losing two members but are steadfast in their belief that's it's the right way to live (or die).

A lot of history is filled in around these two stories. We find how many of our rights are due to the fights the Jehovah Witnesses have undertaken: they do not vote, they do not protest(?), but they do litigate.

If you are the type to answer that particular knock on the door with "No thanks, get lost", this movie will make you want to ask a few questions, if for no other reason than to exercise nearly-found respect.

A very nicely done movie; this could be a good first feature preceding "Night on Earth". It's a bit more straight-forward; save the Jarmusch for dessert.

The unifying plot element is a soccer match in Moscow between teams from Spain and Turkey. The secondary element is luggage insurance: in each of the four vignettes the recovery of money for lost baggage is either desired or assumed. (No deeper meaning.) The Englishwoman in Moscow gets ripped off. The German in Istanbul is trying to rip off. The Hungarian pilgrim in Spain only wants his photos of the holy places returned. The French couple are trying to make their so far unsuccessful trip to Berlin more profitable than it has been.

In each there is good acting and a great presentation on the language barrier. It's comforting to know it's not only Americans who can't speak the language. The lack of understanding is secondary to the half-understandings and slight misunderstandings, often made even more comedic by the (very slight) national profiling in play. None of the characters seem too much like their own national stereotype, yet most assume the other nationalities have a particular character.

And although I listed this as containing spoilers, I won't tell you who wins the soccer shootout (you'll need to stay through the credits for that!).

This is a strong statement about the problems encountered during the last four national elections. It effectively addresses these by focusing on House Representative Cynthia McKinney's travails as she butts heads with the Powers That Be.

It's a strong message about voting and voting rights, showing how politics are always played with the electorate; this time it's the Republicans, but it's so true of either of the major parties. A significant point in Inaba's documentary is how NOT VOTING BENEFITS THE POWERS THAT BE. Irregularities in the last four elections are highlighted, with McKinney's in-out-and-back in journeys providing a focal point.

Some of the facts will only be known to political cogniscenti; people who worked the elections and saw first-hand how minority voters were effectively disenfranchised (often abetted by "minority" politicos who both made rulings on the elections and acted as party leaders in their own states (e.g. Harris in Florida and Blackwell in Ohio).

And aside from a short but interesting foreshadowing of McKinney's tendency to believe in her own self-importance and its subsequent (and recent) self-inflicted wounds from her own hubris, this movie still has relevance. It should show up again this fall before the 2006 elections, in primarily a grassroots mode. See it. Get upset. And then go out and help with the vote. And vote.

This won the audience award at the 1999 Cleveland Int'l Film Festival and was brought back for the Director's Spotlight on Freida Lee Mock in 2006. Like her other works, it's a quality product taking a deep look at a time/event that resonates strongly in the American psyche.

The look back in time to the prisons that held our Viet Nam era POWs is done effectively, with voices of the POWs themselves over pictures of the "Hanoi Hilton" and other 1960's vintage Hanoi. Mock presents a powerful portrait of the prisoners, the brutality, the political wills of the times.

It's not Mock's role to say that history repeats itself, for we see the same issues in 2006 in the POW issue that we see portrayed in her film. Political pawns for both sides, expendable as individuals, tools of a national leadership's will, individuals struggling to survive; it has not changed.

This is an excellent companion piece to another of Mock's works, "Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision" chronicles this architect's part in creating the Viet Nam War Memorial.

Having seen (and absolutely loved) Kim Ki-Duk's Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring this was a must-see at the Cleveland Int'l Film Festival this year.

Alas, it's just not magical enough.

I liked that the Old Man and the Young Girl never had dialog; it was the juxtaposition of the paying, fishing clientèle that was at odds with their relationship. As well, the use of the bow as a weapon was certainly effective, but the use of the bow as a badly-dubbed musical instrument was cheesy at best.

The plot was contrived, an ancient tale sent in contemporary times, uselessly introducing an anachronistic element into the plot line. The use of magical realism was spare and poorly timed, not being acceptable as a shift from the mostly concrete concerns and sensibilities of the rest of the movie.

This was a movie that got more and more disappointing as I watched it. The advice of more broadly-schooled Kim Ki-Duk fans would be good to follow: look for his "masterpieces", not this or other "more mainstream works".

This is a first-time effort by director/writer Marquette Williams. As such, it's not bad, but still looks like an initial effort at documentary making.

The concept and subject are interesting: inner city kids taking to the rodeo instead of the street. But there's not enough of the rodeo culture, almost enough of the personal stories, and almost no view into the "workings" of the competition itself.

There is a heavy reliance on the dialog of the cowboys themselves to explain what's going on, and much of this is hard to understand. More "talking heads" could have been used to describe the industry, the cultural backdrop and the rodeo environment.

It is visceral, though. More than any movie treatment I've seen on the rodeo, you get a tremendous sense of the power, excitement and explosive danger of the bull-riding event.

This is still a good "message" movie, showing an alternative to the gang-banging lifestyle so often celebrated in the popular movie world. It's worth a watch, and worth waiting for Williams' next work.

It is so hard to separate the impact of the Viet Nam War Memorial from the tale behind its conception and execution. The memorial itself is so incredibly moving you can only react with incredulity when reminded how much opposition there was to its message and to its author.

People who revel in divisiveness (like Pat Buchanan) are featured among the opposition to this memorial partly on aesthetic and partially on racial grounds (Maya Lin is of Asian, i.e. "gook" heritage, don't you know!).

Her journey is well documented from her original entry into the contest (as part of a self-designed course on funereal architecture at Yale) to her part in the public debate.

Various historical clips are presented along with current analysis by many of the key players in this effort.

Secondary to the memorial itself as a "must see" this movie deserves serious consideration both as a historical documentary and a well-made movie in its own right. Freida Lee Mock's works have impact, are relevant and resonate so well with those who have lived, or want to know more about, the history of the United States in these particular turbulent times.

This was a wonderful surprise at the (Cleveland) CIFF, a well-made dark comedy.

Adam is a neo-Nazi on a sort of Danish "probation for reprobates", where society's sinners are given a gradual re-introduction to public life under the guidance of Ivan, a parish minister. Adam needs to negotiate a "program" for his several weeks stay; despite his efforts at being arch and cynical Ivan takes him totally in seriousness, setting "baking an apple pie" as Adam's goal. A battle of wills ensues between Adam and Ivan, with wonderful comedic support from Gunnar (Nicolas Bro in another wonderful role) the ex-tennis player and Khalid (Ali Kazim) as a not-yet-reformed terrorist.

Everyone is coping here, but the central character is clearly Ivan (perhaps the funniest I've seen Mads Mikkelsen!). He comes across as "Pangloss" with a twist: "everything is for the best" in this world only in that the devil conspires to make everything a test of man's faith. He is completely deluded yet completely steadfast. This rational irrationality is perhaps the greatest challenge to Adam; no matter what he does Ivan retains his faith…to a point where the comedy simply takes another course.

Not to give away the delight of this comedy's surprises, the characters cope with life, each other, are exasperated and exasperating, consistently inconsistent…the trials of Job are well played out in this barely disguised absurdist romp.

And also a long way round to nowhere.

There's not a lot to hold interest in this film. Lacking a sense of place or any sense of geography, the characters movements are only seen as purposeless wanderings.

Martin is seen growing up, and in parallel years later, somewhat grown up and going off to the city. This seems almost like a discontinuity in the plot. The girlfriend he meets in Mexico City is truly creepy. We're left wondering what metaphor she really provides: is she just plain crazy and damaged in her own particular way or is she symbolic of all Mexican life?. At least Martin's father tells him when he's young "you are born poor and will die poor", passing on his Latin view of what life's all about.

When Martin returns home, it must be the unbearable lightness of being that causes him to kill his father, burn the house, and then run off taking his mother and step brother with him.

The final revisit in the "present" by the stepbrother offers no real closure. It's just this lousy life goes on. There's no history, except perhaps for the old crazy man.

Almost a documentary, this is a very well made biography of director Ann Marie Fleming's great grand-father. As a view into a period it enlightens so many disparate historical events; it seems Sam was an global perambulator, sometimes skirting and sometimes being involved in many geopolitical happenings, but always in pursuit of his work and his loves.

The format mix of film, interviews, comic book cutouts and animation holds interest over the hour and a half of run time. We get a strong sense of who this man was, and are only left to wonder why we didn't know more about him already.

It would seem that Henry Chinaski takes Polonius' advice to heart. This adaptation shows a character who is always true to himself, no matter the consequences. Matt Dillon's portrayal of Chinaski is solid; his self-effacing style makes him way more likable than might be otherwise. Lili Taylor does a lovely job as his sometime girlfriend Jan. Their scenes together are always interesting (with or without bandages), with the characters being constantly developed.

The dialog has lots of pop. Somewhat a film noir, somewhat a comic book, the film has a nice feel with the first person narration of Chinaski taking us on his tour. It could have been in black and white but is nicely filmed in color. One of those slightly rare movies as at home at a film festival (Cleveland's, in this case) or at your local theater.

Bride of Silence is a slow but visually-appealing movie.

We get different views of Ly An's story (and of her son, Hien) from the different "husbands" in her saga. The story arc unwinds through flashbacks seen from differing points-of-view. Each story has its own surprises (many culturally-induced). The story then settles into a common/true story where much is still left to the (Western) imagination.

Without a sense of the Vietnamese ethic (especially the 18th century one) this can be a hard movie to comprehend. We are never sure of motives, we can only guess at the grand plan, and we are not sure of whether the end is metaphor or a literal happening.

A mood piece, best viewed with your senses alert for point-of-view, nuance and subtlety.

This is a hard movie to comment on: nothing spectacular but nothing to rant against.

The several story lines each have their interest and each develop reasonably well. The level of satisfaction you find may be more directly related to where you are in your journey than the particulars of each story.

There's nothing new here, although several other comments indicate the typical appeal for nationalism (i.e. one of the Cuban protagonists) or the "unusual" (the paraplegia love interest).

A nice slice of life en Espanol... well-suited for the Spanish film buff.