AFI Wrap-Up

Despite my rabid posting, I saw a surprisingly small number of movies during AFI Fest 2008. That's right, I saw a total of...three. Blame Halloween, the elections, and everything else that happened the first week of this month. But here are the two that I liked most, and five facts about them.

UN CONTE DE NOEL (website)
1. translation: "A Christmas Tale"
2. director: Arnaud Desplechin
3. stars: Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Almaric (also in 007), Emmanuelle Devos
4. premiered: Last May in France; this weekend in the US
5. awards to date: One nomination - Palme d'Or at Cannes 2008

KISSES (article)
1. filmed in: Ireland, Sweden
2. director: Lance Daly
3. why we liked it: Five reasons - 1)The two kids are cute; 2)The bad world in which they live begs our compassion; 3)The use of color or lack thereof to intensify the mood; 4)The unshakable sense of hope; 5)It's kind of funny
4. awards to date: Two - Won "Best Irish Feature" and "Best Irish Feature Film" (what's the difference, exactly?) at the 2008 Galway Film Fleadh
5. when you get to see it: Oh, if only I knew....

So there you have it; the AFI Film Festival. You're welcome. No, but seriously; next year I'll (try to) do better.

--letop5

tres cool: ENTRE LES MURS [AFI Preview]

Enter the star of the festival. ENTRE LES MURS, or THE CLASS (or literally "Between the Walls"), is the film adaptation of an award-winning novel written by and based on the real-life teaching experiences of François Bégaudeau, a French journalist who played literature teacher for a short time in an inner city middle school in Paris. Interestingly, Bégaudeau is also a movie critic for the French version of Playboy. So what exactly was he teaching these children?

The director, Laurent Cantet, won the Golden Palm (Palm d'Or, the highest prize) at the 2008 Cannes Film festival in May, hence the acclaim of AFI getting a hold of this great film so quickly. Definitely the one I'm most interested in viewing, and definitely going to be a packed showing.

Buy your tickets after reading a few words from AFI:

Laurent Cantet, already a hero to cineastes for his class-strife studies TIME OUT and HEADING SOUTH, breaks into the international spotlight with this Palme d'Or-winning story of Francois who, along with his fellow teachers, is preparing for a new year at a high school in a tough Parisian neighborhood. Armed with the best intentions, these teachers brace themselves against the inevitable discouragement. Can they give their students the best education possible in an unfriendly environment? THE CLASS powerfully presents one high school as a microcosm of contemporary France, with its sometimes explosive cultural and class differences. But this is also a film about everyday heroism. By creating an atmosphere that's neither stuffy nor severe, expecting the highest performance from his students and providing them with the kind of honesty they need and deserve but only rarely encounter, Francois demands success from his students. Of course, faced with the rising standards, some students rebel … Based on the autobiographical novel by Francois Begaudeau, THE CLASS's immediacy and intimacy arises from its use of real students and teachers and from carefully deployed video cameras, which give the story its gritty, street-level feel. And this startling, inspiring story shows Paris like we've never seen it before.

The trailer (in French): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz5svwJqoVU

Press conference with the director (in French):

Entre les murs - Conf de presse
Uploaded by CANNES_LEXPRESS_STUDIOMAG

The film's website (oh, and you guessed it; it's also in French): http://www.entrelesmurs-lefilm.fr/site/

tres cool: L'HEURE D'ETE [AFI Preview]

Did I say Catherine Deneuve was the female Depardieu? I might correct myself and say Juliette Binoche is fast becoming him. But seeing her earlier this year in DANS PARIS, reminded me how much I like her, even if she is a bit...over-worked, we'll say, and that's why I'm looking forward to SUMMER HOURS. Even better news: this one's a comedy. Well, it's a French comedy.

IMDB says, "Two brothers and a sister witness the disappearance of their childhood memories when they must relinquish the family belongings to ensure their deceased mother's succession." But for a more flourishing synopsis, here are a few words from AFI:

Hélène (Edith Scob) gathers her children and grandchildren at her French country estate to celebrate her 75th birthday. Their gift of a tricky-to-use mobile phone, however, seems to symbolize the 21st-century pressures that are closing in on her precious way of life. The growing sense the exquisite Hélène—the niece of a famous artist—has of her own mortality leads her to bequeath her most valuable artwork and furniture to her closest family: her eldest son Frédéric (Charles Berling), daughter Adrienne (Juliette Binoche) and brother Jérémie (Jérémie Renier). Director Olivier Assayas’s gently beautiful meditation on connection and loss traces the journey of one family’s treasures from their home to their final resting place in glass cases, where they receive only the passing consideration of museumgoers (like Hou Hsiao-hsien’s FLIGHT OF THE RED BALLOON [AFI FEST ’07], SUMMER HOURS was commissioned by the Musée d’Orsay to celebrate its 20th anniversary). As he did in his LATE AUGUST, EARLY SEPTEMBER, Assayas uses elliptical jumps in time and unexpected shifts in perspective to tell an ensemble story in oblique, multilayered fashion. Gradually, carefully, Assayas shows how family ties, even in decent and affectionate families, inevitably erode over time. The haunting late-afternoon melancholy is well served by Eric Gautier’s fluid camera and, combined with Assayas’s confident, inventive storytelling, makes SUMMER HOURS a bittersweet elegy about love and memory and the ways in which we hold them.

Trailer (in French): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzLvHaE64cQ

tres cool: UN CONTE DE NOEL [AFI Preview]

This is the movie I'm second most excited about seeing at this year's festival, among the French entries. Not only does it feature the female counterpart to Gerard Depardieu (that would be Catherine Deneuve, appearing in almost every French film in the past two years, even the animated ones), but it co-stars Mathieu Amalric (of last year's depressing but beautiful LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLON, which I saw but about which I apparently failed to write), it's directed by Desplechin AND it opened at the New York Film Festival earlier this month to favorable reviews.

Frankly, given the above, I don't care what it's about. But for those who might, here are a few words from AFI:

AFI FEST honoree Arnaud Desplechin (LA SENTINELLE, MY SEX LIFE … OR HOW I GOT INTO AN ARGUMENT, KINGS AND QUEEN) has demonstrated a knack for working with ensemble narratives. His latest is set during a bittersweet holiday season, when three generations of the Vuillard family gather at their home for what may be the last time. The matriarch, Junon (played with witty cool by Catherine Deneuve), has been stricken by a rare genetic condition. And her adult children, Henri (Mathieu Amalric from MUNICH), Elizabeth (Anne Consigny) and Ivan (Melvil Poupaud of DIARY OF A SEDUCER, BROKEN ENGLISH), and their wives and girlfriends, played by Desplechin regular Emmanuelle Devos and Chiara Mastroianni, are all at each other’s throats, replaying long-simmering resentments about financial misdeeds and thwarted romance. Desplechin mixes and matches dark comedy, psychological anguish and philosophical speculation, creating a world both entertaining and unpredictable. He renders the interaction between characters—their frivolous games, seething resentments and frustrations—so vividly that they seem as familiar as people in our own lives.

And here's the trailer (English version): http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi979632153/

tres cool: L'AIMEE + LA VIE DES MORTS [AFI Preview]

The only thing better than getting to see a movie for free in Fire City is...well, nothing. Maybe getting free popcorn, too? But another treat that ain't half mauvais is getting to see two movies for the price of one. During AFI, I'll get that chance--and so will you, if you buy a ticket to see these two films from Arnaud Desplechin, the great director behind the Emmanuelle Devos starrer ROIS ET REINE as well as LEO, EN JOUANT DANS LA COMPAGNIE DES HOMMES, and another 2008 AFI premiere, UN CONTE DE NOEL.

A few words from AFI:

Two lesser-known works by the master of contemporary French cinema showcase his versatility and explore themes of family and transition: his award-winning debut LA VIE DES MORTS tells the story of a reunion built on a tragedy, and the documentary L'AIMEE reconstructs his own family's past.

Can't find any trailers for these, but regarding L'AIMEE, here's an interview with the director (in French) about the picture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn9-v2qY6fM

tres cool: TOKYO! [AFI Preview]

I watched the trailer, and to be honest, I can't tell what this film is about. But it's a compendium of creativity from three great directors: Michel Gondry (SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND), Bong Joon Ho (THE HOST) and Leos Carax (MAUVAIS SANG). IMDB describes the film as "A cinematic triptych of three Tokyo-set stories." I guess that says it all. With these directors at the helm, though, it shouldn't be anything interesting.

A few words from AFI:

This triptych of shorts hover in a state of surrealism that might feel natural only in Tokyo, as auteurs Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-ho transform elements of the mundane to tantalizing visual aphorisms. Gondry's INTERIOR DESIGN begins when a young man and woman move to Tokyo to pursue (his) dreams of filmmaking. Soon, they are lost in endless grids of towed cars and buildings that “refuse all contact with each other.” Feeling smothered by her boyfriend’s self-proclaimed genius, the heroine’s anxiety escalates until she undergoes an uncanny metamorphosis. In Carax’s MERDE, the delicately woven surface of consumer utopia is ruptured abruptly with the appearance of an otherworldly being from the sewers. His name is Merde. He does not speak our language. The jostling crowds and pervasive media are frenzied as the enfant terrible assaults everything in his path: eating cigarettes, flowers, tipping baby strollers and licking schoolgirls. His acts invoke furor, repulsion and hilarious religious ardor in the masses. Finally, he is incarcerated, but is this the end, or just the beginning? Bong Joon-ho's SHAKING TOKYO treats us to a look into the nest of a hokikomori- a man socially crippled by a spatial ailment that keeps him from leaving the stale security of his home. Then, when an earthquake strikes, Bong asks sadistically, what might happen if a hokikomori fell in love? These stories of individuals whose isolation is exacerbated by their fantastic debilitating urban spaces offer hallucinatory portraits of a city that are fleeting, terrifying and sublime.
-- Aliza Ma

link to teaser/trailer: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1214128517/bctid1541073040

AFI Film Fest French Film Schedule

...in chronological order (see below...way below).

There are five French film screenings. Perhaps they heard I was coming. And hence we have--
LETOP5 SUGGESTS FIVE FRENCH FILMS FOR NOVEMBER (alphabetically):
1. A CHRISMAS TALE (UN CONTE DE NOEL) - stars Catherine Deneuve!
2. THE CLASS (ENTRE LES MURS) - won Palme d'Or at Cannes Film Festival!
3. L'AIMEE + LA VIE DES MORTS - two Desplechin films for the price of one!
4. SUMMER HOURS (L'HEURE D'ETE) - stars a blonde-haired Juliette Binoche!
5. TOKYO! - part one was directed by Michel Gondry!

The AFI show dates and screening times, alas, do overlap here and there, but that's nothing that can't be remedied with some scheduling. You will see them all if you want to, trust.
- A CHRISTMAS TALE shows: Sunday, Nov 2 at 6.45pm & Friday, Nov 7 at 7.30pm
- THE CLASS shows: Sunday, Nov 2 at noon & Saturday, Nov 8 at 10pm
- L'AIMEE and LA VIE DES MORTS shows: Sunday, Nov 2 at 12.45pm
- SUMMER HOURS shows: Saturday, Nov 1 at 3pm & Wednesday, Nov 5 at 7pm
- TOKYO! shows: Saturday, Nov 1 at 3pm & Saturday, Nov 8 at 9.30pm

That is confusing. Well, to satiate your inner croissant-loving francophile, letop5 suggests the following schedule:
1. See TOKYO on Saturday, Nov 1st at 3pm.
2. See L'AIMEE + LA VIE DES MORTS on Sunday, Nov 2nd at noon forty-five.
3. See NOEL on Sunday, Nov 2nd at 7pm.
4. See SUMMER on Wednesday, Nov 5th at 7pm.
5. See CLASS on Saturday, Nov 8th at 10pm.

Voila. Now let me figure out what each of these movies is about. If they're showing at the festival, I assume they're "tres cool." But I guess we'll see.

letop5 presents...2008 AFI Film Festival

Clearly, clearly, clearly--and at least from everything that is evident about me from any number of my online haunts--clearly, I am a Francophile. Francophile, cinephile, not a pedophile, maybe a bit of a food-o-phile (otherwise known as a "foodie")...yeah, my vices are evident. Film, food and France, mostly. No porn, just movie trailers.

And hence, AFI Fest is going to be my addiction at the end of the month. Not only does it feature two of my vices (France and film) in tandem, on repeat, for about a week, but it also is mostly showing at the Gritwood ArcLight, and I think we know of a couple not-too-shabby food spots in the area. Baja Fresh, for one! <---That's a joke.

But I'm going to start profiling the French films showing at this year's AFI Fest, should any of you potential readers and perusers be so artistically curious. If you read about one you like, holla at a girl, 'cause you better believe I'll be ready to see it. For starters, here's a tip for you:

- See THE CLASS (en fait, il s'appelle ENTRE LES MURS) with UCLA Extension: http://www.uclaextension.edu/emailblasts/9461A.html

We'll be in touch.

WE EAT THE CITY II (Taste of Santa Monica)

Let's say you lived in a city that had tons of great restaurants. Like tons. Let's say you wanted to eat at all of them, but they were all fairly expensive, and you had both a shortage of time, money and patience, but a surplus of hunger. Let's say this city heard about you and decided to have a yearly, day-long, reasonably-priced food festival that featured the dishes of forty of said city's great restaurants, all for your immediate and repeated consumption. Oh, what a wonderful city that would be.

Welcome to Santa Monica.

I know I usually nickname places and people, but Santa Monica--previously and soon-again-to-be "Beach City"--deserves her props, because Taste of Santa Monica is not just a novel idea, but also a delectably delicious one.

Taste of Santa Monica, in its seventh session this year, features the notable offerings of the best of Beach City's eateries for one entrance fee that lets you try them all. Drinks are on you, but if you bring your own water, order your tickets in advance from my fabulous friend Goldstar and then park on Main Street instead of closer to the pier, the whole day costs you twenty-five bucks. $25! For samples from FORTY restaurants that are ALL GOOD and leave you STUFFED and HAPPY?!?! In the words of Cartoon SaMo: "This must be what heaven is like."

The event lasted from 12-4pm, but we didn't need the whole time. Starting off at about 12.30, it took us two hours to visit every booth, and even though not everyone in our foodie group of five tried every booth, we all departed with our stomachs full and our feet a little tired, but we felt very proud of our progress. It's definitely going to be a 2009 must-do.

Top Five Tastes, Savory:
1. EL CHOLO MEXICAN RESTAURANT - Green corn tamales (sweet tamale filled with aged cheddar, cheese and ortega chili): Not only was the texture spot on--not at all overcooked, despite the hurried festival delivery--but the portion was a whole tamale (!), and it came paired with a crunchy almond & brown-sugar cookie that almost pushed El Cholo to be one of our top sweet picks. [Website]

2. FAIRMONT MIRAMAR HOTEL - Wild mushroom tartine with an apple frisee salad: One of our first good finds. The mushrooms, served chilled atop a tuffled fromage blanc, were perfectly seasoned, and the salad beside them light and delicious. [Website]

3. LA VECCHIA CUCINA - Penne zingram (pasta served with sundried tomatoes, leeks, zucchini, fresh tomatoes tossed in an olive oil and garlic sauce): Usually I say "pasta is pasta," I'm hardly ever that interested in noodly carbs, but this pasta took the cake with its light, aromatic sauce and two types of tomatoes. Yummy! [Website]

4. OCEAN & VINEAT LOEWS SANTA MONICA BEACH HOTEL - Lobster/shitake ravioli lobster reduction: We ate it too late to truly appreciate it while ingesting, but in post, we were all talking about it! Apparently, hotel food is better than airport food--by a lot. [Website]

5. WOKCANO - Tuna tartare...served on a Dorito: Years of Doritos early in my pre-pubescent youth has made me hate Doritos. So when I saw this, I wanted to groan, "What the f, you lazy fools, can't you give us some real crostini?!" but after deciding to calm down and give it a try, I was more than pleasantly surprised. I've never really liked Wokcano, but this uncooked tuna was the best of the day (it's California; there was a lot of tuna sushi around), and the Dorito...reluctant to say it, but it added a pleasant kick. [Website]

Runner Up, THE ORGANIC PANIFICIO - Fresh bruschetta with crostini and truffle cheese sacchetti: Three cheers for three cheese pasta! [Website]

Top Five Tastes, Sweet:
1. ACADIE HAND CRAFTED FRENCH CREPES - Nutella crepe: What's not to love? And it was fun to watch the crepe makers flips their wrists so expertly. Crepe-making is truly an art, meaning crepes are edible art. Thank you, France. [Website]

2. EVERGREEN TEA HOUSE - Iced matcha green tea: So refreshing and just barely sweet. I went back for seconds. [No website]

3. HOTCAKES BAKES - Red velvet cupcake: Served in a one-bit size with a healthy (or unhealthy) dollop of cream cheese frosting, this cake just may be Sprinkles' rival. Guess I'll have to go back and do a cupcake bake-off. [Website]

4. SPN FOR MAHATMA RICE - Basmati Bombay dream rice pudding: Very dreamy. The rice was a smidge undercooked, but I'll forgive them for the smart addition of bitty almonds they decided to sprinkle on top. [Website]

5. IL FORNAIO - Assorted yummy cookies (though they also had bruschetta al pomodoro and prusciutto melone): I skipped on the savory and took a cookie to go--a buttery number with strawberry jam baked into its soft middle. Delicious, and a wonderful pair to the iced matcha. [Website]

So full, so happy, hooray for heavenly food.

HUMBOLDT COUNTY

Thanks to the wonder that is my university alumni association, I saw an early screening of a South by Southwest Festival favorite, the feature film HUMBOLDT COUNTY. A fellow alum (Danny Jacobs, older) wrote, directed and quasi-starred in it, hence its visibility, and a group of friends and I, subject to the beck and call of free appetizers and a cool afternoon spent at CineSpace (sans the sketchy dance crowd that fades its glory by nightfall), went to watch.

It was okay. I wanted to like it more, but man, was it boring. I think the overall messages, however, were pretty good. I noticed two: "Lead the life less traveled," and "Legalise pot, or at least leave the growers the frick alone." It humanised the drug culture of the ever-shat-upon Humboldt County with the apparent attempt to make you embrace their choice of lifestyle and, perhaps, envy it. But unlike the main character in this quasi-stoner flick, I'm not pre-med and hating my life. I'm poor and hating my financial circumstances, but otherwise, I'm pretty happy about my life. That isn't why I didn't like it though. Let's go back to the "boring."

The film was purposely slow, I think in part due to an attempt at showcasing the acting chops of its star, newcomer Jeremy Strong. Problem is, his acting chops are not...yet...chopped. He's a newbie, and you feel it. In one scene he impressed me--and yeah, it's a scene where he cries; gosh, I'm so predictable!--but overall, he bored me. I did get the munchies watching this film, though. Mostly because the freebie hors d'oeuvres were served at the end, around 7pm, and I hadn't eaten since morning.

Props to Mr. Jacobs for completing a project I can, at this stage, only one day hope to achieve, however. I can't deny him that.

the plot: "Feeling trapped? Run to Humboldt."
the thought: "Only works for some people."
in five: 3/5, for a first film attempt

smoke it or don't: http://www.humboldtcountymovie.com/

COLCOA Film Festival

COLCOA stands for "City of Lights, City of Angels," and it's my favorite film festival of the year in Fire City--officially, I just decided--because it's the French Film Festival. Offering a fanfare of world, US, California and Los Angeles premieres, COLCOA graced me this year with two films "tres attendus" (that means "very awaited"): Cedric Klapisch's PARIS and Claude Lelouch's ROMAN DE GARE, the latter of which I'd missed seeing while living in Paris. I also caught Jan Kounen's latest mean feature, 99 FRANCS, and saw the slightly bland but harmless comedy, LA VIE D'ARTISTE. In order, from love to "bof" (that means "whatever"), I rate them....

1. J'adore ROMAN DE GARE. It's the film that introduced me to the genius of Claude Lelouch, the French director who has been making films for 50 years--who has made 41 films to date--and sadly whose films, for some reason, I hadn't previously seen. It beautifully combines four major film genres (psychological thriller, romantic comedy, drama and mystery...and AWESOME!) and keeps you guessing right up to it's suddenly cliche but somehow still delightful conclusion.
PLOT: Nothing is what you expect. (Vague, but that's the plot.)
THOUGHT: Start thinking and enjoy it.
IN FIVE: 4.5/5

2. Je veux achete 99 FRANCS. This film is dark, twisty and wonderful, right from its greasy opening shots: move from fabulous overblown street advert, to man attempting suicide (and succeeding), to washed up ad exec recovering from a bad drug trip--and the journey has just begun. It hates the ad industry it extols from start to finish, and it isn't scared to stab itself in the eye. And I don't even know what that means, but that's the truth. Oh, and the soundtrack was off the hook.
PLOT: Everything is definitely for sale.
THOUGHT: Might as well buy it.
IN FIVE: 4.5/5

3. Comme la ville soi-meme, PARIS m'a vraiment boulverse. Maybe that's because I'd wanted to see it for so long. I first caught the trailer from the L'AUBERGE ESPAGNOLE director about two months ago online, and I'll admit, it made me cry. I longed to go back to that city the minute she appeared on scene. And naturally, the film lived up to the fantasm (is that a word?) of images I'd conjured in my head based on the romantic trailer alone. Like a bittersweetly un-violent version of CRASH, Oscar winner of '06, PARIS pans a city and its regulars with an unflinching eye, catching them at their best, their worst, their most alive. And yes, it made me cry. Again, great music.
PLOT: There is nowhere like here.
THOUGHT: So can I get there?
IN FIVE: 4.5/5 (notice a trend? perfection is hard to attain)


4. Je ne veux pas etre coincee dans LA VIE D'ARTISTE. No thank you. The one "bof" of the weekend, the Fitoussi film chronicled the sadly depressing lives of a number of struggling artists fumbling towards failed ecstasy in the City of Lights. That's not why I wasn't that intrigued--I can deal with a depressing movie, don't worry--it's simply this film...had no salt, no spark. It was a little typical, a little too French. It was a cornucopia with no fruit. And again, I don't know exactly what that means, but it's the truth.
PLOT: Being famous is mostly luck.
THOUGHT: The rest is probably fruit.
IN FIVE: 2.5/5

THE FESTIVAL: http://www.colcoa.org/2008/home/index.asp

THE FILMS (in the order i saw them):
99 francs - http://www.99francs-lefilm.com/
roman de gare - http://www.lesfilms13.com/romandegare/
paris - http://www.lefilm-paris.com/
la vie d'artiste - http://www.hautetcourt.com/fiche.php?pkfilms=129

LES CHANSONS D'AMOUR

http://www.bacfilms.com/
plot : Singing about love and loss.
thought : Definitely the food of love.

LES CHANSONS D'AMOUR was officially selected to this year's Cannes Film Festival, but besides that, I didn't know a thing about it ; I just wanted to get in while the getting was good, since UGC Theatres (though I love them) don't usually carry artsy movies. This one was artsy. Artsy and lovely and current and tragic and beautiful and surprising and worth it.

Seperated into three parts, (1) Le Depart (2) L'Absence and (3) Le Retour ("the depart, absence and the return," respectively), this movie dialogues a threesome on the rocks, two girls and a boy who have lived happily for some time and what happens when their lives take a turbulent change. But really CHANSONS treats it all : for the short-lived lesbians, the unsuccessful threesomes and the closet gays--and any parents and relatives--this is your musical. The scenes of Paris are lovely, and the duets are great ! Perhaps I'm naïve in appreciating their wonder because I didn't understand all the lyrics (French is even harder to comprehend when sung--trust me), but I'll stand by my declaration all the same. Christophe HONORE delivered a film replete with romantic sentiment that doesn't get too thick, a bit of bawdy, a bit of tawdry, and just enough heartache to make you want to ache. It's a beautiful little film.

Overall rating : 4/5