During the first weekend of February, I drove some 100 miles north to the beautiful seaside town of Santa Barbara to attend their annual film festival. I saw some great movies and several bad ones during my two-day excursion. The most memorable for me was the Czech film "Clownwise" (dir. Victor Taus) which brought me tears for its poignant story of enduring friendship and the spiritual healing true forgiveness brings to all of us.
I also liked the Swiss film "Sam" (dir. Elena Hazanov) and the powerful Lithuanian drama "The Gambler" (dir. Ignas Jonynas). I felt so lucky to have met many filmmakers and actors during the two days I was there. I chatted with Anne Heche and Scott Speedman after the screening of Scott's latest film, the romantic-drama "Barefoot". I had several selfies taken with the directors of "Clownwise" and "Sam", too!
During the month, I also decided to finally watch several DVDs that a good friend loaned to me and some that I have owned for sometime now.
I watched a '60s Cuban film called "Los Dias Del Agua" but it had not subtitles, hence the "Qualified Rating" --- I liked the imagery and I think I was able to follow the story somewhat which has some resemblance to the classic Filipino movie "Himala" (dir. Ishmael Bernal.)
Here are the movies that took so much time from me during the month of February 2014.
Mount Joy (US) - 3 Stars
Sam (Switzerland) - 4 Stars
Cold Eyes (Korea) - 4 Stars
Night Has Settled (US) - 2 Stars
The Gambler (Lithuania) - 5 Stars
Barefoot (US) - 3 Stars
Clownwise (Czech Republic) - 5 Stars
Late Spring (Korea) - 2 Stars
Algunas Chicas (Argentina) - 1 Star
Short Term 12 (US) DVD - 4 Stars
Enough Said (US) DVD - 3 Stars
A Hijacking (Denmark) DVD - 5 Stars
Philomena (UK) - 5 Stars
Los Dias Del Agua (Cuba) DVD - Qualified Rating
The Imposter (UK) DVD - 5 Stars
Don Jon (US) DVD - 3 1/2 Stars
Enemy (US/Canada) - 5 Stars
The Breakfast Club (US) Streaming - 4 Stars
Bona (Philippines) DVD - 5 Stars
The Lone Ranger (US) DVD - 2 Stars
The Counselor (US) DVD - 2 Stars
My favorite movie this month is "Clownwise." I loved the filmmaking and the measured approach to the storytelling. I was also impressed by the brave artistic decision not to resort to the lazy storytelling trick of inserting flashback scenes to a conversation. Amazing film!
My other favorites this month include "The Gambler" --- my good friend and super film buff, Georges, and I debated lengthily on what the final scene meant. I took it as a good one while he picked the opposite. We were not able to arrive at a common conclusion but we both loved the movie. Our debate proves that a good film can have many meanings to a truly invested audience.
"Enemy' --- the bewildering new film from Canadian filmmaker Denis Villenueve and "A Hijacking" --- a suspenseful, truly riveting film from Denmark, a much better movie than "Captain Phillips" - not that I should compare any movies at all, complete my runner-up list.
XXX
Raymond Lo
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