Amelia's Picks

The 2008 Tribeca Film Festival has sadly come to a close. I had a ton of fun and saw a grand total of 20 films. Again, a huge thank you to Debbie and Amanda for incredible passes! Its impossible for me to give one answer for an overall favorite film at this year’s festival. Therefore, I have decided to divide my recommendations into categories.

• For a beautiful love story: Strangers
• For a good laugh: Bart Got a Room (especially if you’re from Florida) or War, Inc. (if your in a politically sarcastic mood)
• For the beauty of depression: Katyń (you might not want to but you really should)
• For an amazing thriller: Love, Pain, and Vice Versa (Hitchcock fans, this is a must see)

That’s all until next year! Are you a film junkie?

Rachel's Picks

Rachel's picks are: Katyn; Love, Pain, and Vice Versa; and Man on Wire

A President to Remember: In the Company of John F. Kennedy

Sadly, there wasn’t anything new to this story and we all wish it had a different ending. This documentary was an intimate view of JFK from his campaign for the Presidency all the way through to his funeral. This behind-the-scenes filming focused mainly on the office but still caught a many wonderful moments when personality, humor, and the American royalty of the Kennedy family shown through. The love shown by crowds in the States and across the world was astounding when one remembered our present day political climate. The most poignant moment came when John visited Ireland and read a poem about returning to once again see the face of the river Shannon. And he promised that he would return soon to do just that. But as an audience member you knew his time was running out and this would be his last trip to his grandparents’ home country.

This documentary achieved its goal of reminding the American people of possibly the most beloved of all American presidents. The dedication, sincerity, sacrifice, love, and joy that JFK brought to this country made the audience fervently wish that the upcoming election had brought then such a candidate.

Man on Wire

Philippe Petit is still performing and we caught his performance in Washington Square Park after the screening.

Man on Wire was a brilliant documentary but I almost wish Philippe Petit, the Man on Wire, hadn’t been there. The documentary did a fantastic job of honoring the art of this crazy guy while humorously portraying his stunt as some sort of high-level bank heist. Philippe Petit, an “oh so French” man, rebelled against his strict French parents by becoming a street performing and centering his life on high wire walking. He taught himself to walk the wire on a self made rig behind his family’s garden in France. From there he tackled the towers of Notre Dame and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. But his goal was always to walk on a wire between the two World Trade Center towers.

Philippe convinced many of his friends and his faithfully devoted girlfriend to help in his quest and this perfectly ‘70s group of French teens plotted for years. Once in New York, two Americans were recruited for unknown reasons. The French friends described them simply as “losers”. Someone said they believed one of the Americans showed up stoned. In response, the American said, “I smoked pot everyday for 35 years. There’s no reason to believe I didn’t smoke on that day”. At that point I couldn’t believe anyone had survived this stunt.

But they did. Philippe was let off by agreeing to perform for children. His French friends were expelled from the US and never allowed to return. His relationship with his dedicated French girlfriend was over when he slept with a fan that walked up to him as he was let out of custody. It turned out Philippe wasn’t really a nice guy.

The most stunning feature of the documentary was the beauty of the images of a man suspended in midair in some of the world’s most gorgeous locations. The black and white photographs of Philippe walking across Notre Dame with the Eiffel Tower behind him were breathtaking. Other than that, the reenactments and stories from this completely unprofessional group of teenage friends were hilarious. Kudos to director James Marsh for putting these stories together in such a unique way.

War, Inc

(This happened to be playing in a beautiful old theater)

The fact that we were sitting across the aisle from Michael Moore should have been a hint of the politically driven film we were about to see. War, Inc. was a hilarious spoof of a possibly terrifying future. It was Jarhead meets Spaceballs.

The film takes place in the future country of Turaqistan, in a time where companies have more power than nations and can wage war independently. John and Joan Cusack play some sort of undercover mercenaries living in a bizarrely westernized and highly militarized development in “the Emerald City”. Now that I think about it, Ben Kingsley’s character did play a man-behind-multiple-video-screens sort of persona. There were many not-so-subtle references to present day events and political figures. The addition of Hilary Duff as some sort of Asian equivalent to Brittney Spears was amusing. And sadly a few of her songs (written by John Cusack) were really catchy.

In the end, the film doesn’t make any profound statements. Its only point seems to be “if we continue down this path, here’s what our future could look like so lets make fun of it”. Advertising on tanks and Middle Eastern leaders wearing Croc sandals was pretty funny. And Joan Cusack fulfills her lifetime comedic potential. Two questions remain: How does John Cusack never age? And does anyone else think he looks like he’s wearing eyeliner?

Life in Flight

I completely blanked on the name of this film and then I thought, “Oh right, the pigeons”. Life in Flight was a less heart-warming version of an ABC Family movie. Cute successful guy meets cute successful quirky girl and eventually we know what will happen. Except in this case the guy is married and has a son so its no longer family-friendly material.

The story was pretty ho-hum and some of the dialogue was awful. Cute guy’s wife, played by Amy Smart, was an absurd character but that might just be a mixture of bad dialogue and less than stellar acting. The 30-something stay at home mom ended up looking like a petulant teenager in most scenes. Cute guy, played by Patrick Wilson, was average until he started spouting out the ridiculous dialogue. The best performance by far was the adorable Lynn Collins as cute guy’s love interest. She makes me want to be a redhead.

Life in Flight wasn’t an unpleasant hour and it definitely gets extra points for not being a depressing film. But we’ll probably forget about by next week.

Love, Pain, and Vice Versa

Love, Pain, and Vice Versa (along with iced coffee) turned out to be a fabulous way to start the day. The three of us clung to our seats and each other for most of this Spanish thriller. The director, Alfonso Pineda Ulloa, later said that his main influence was Hitchcock, and he did quite an incredible job of creating his own brand of psychological thriller.

The most interesting aspect of this film is the sequence of the story. Love, Pain, and Vice Versa focuses on a man and a woman who interact mostly in their dreams and nightmares. The sequence of events is in no way linear and sometimes the audience doesn’t know if their watching reality, a dream, or a dream foreshadowing reality. The director admitted in the talk back, “I loved the first cut of the film but I was the only one who could understand it. My producers kept asking me to add more and more scenes but I didn’t want to underestimate the audience”. I felt like raising my hand and telling him he might have overestimated me. But it turned out I had most of the sequencing correct and after a short discussion, the whole film came together. Its much more interesting if you have to be actively involved in piecing the film together.

There was one stunning shot in the film that captured the story in its entirety. I felt like I could have been looking at a photograph entitled Love, Pain, and Vice Versa. Over all, the film was an adrenaline rush with intense characters and a engrossing but not overly complex storyline. It was in no way a light film but we left the theatre wide eyed and energized.