When working out my schedule I start with the final day, to make sure it's as stacked as possible with sure bets, easier watches and fun titles. Let's see how well I did this time.The Face of an Angel [UK, Michael Winterbottom, 4] Director goes off the rails in Siena after agreeing to make a true crime movie based on a tabloid frenzy murder case still wending its way through the Italian justice system. In this fictionalization of the process of fictionalizing the Amanda Knox case, Winterbottom weaves another of his moody, questioning anti-narratives.
Haemoo [South Korea, Shim Sung-Bo, 4] Desperate fishing boat captain agrees to take on a load of illegal immigrants. Nautical noir keeps on raising the stakes.
What We Do In the Shadows [New Zealand, Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement, 4] Vampire housemates face the stresses of life in modern Wellington, NZ. Hilarious deadpan mockumentary from the team that brought you Eagle vs. Shark.
By the last day most of the filmmakers have gone home and Q&As become thin on the ground. But Clement was there, fresh from seeing a bunch of other Midnight Madness titles, and like a trouper did his Q&A without breaking the documentary conceit. Only one audience member failed to "yes and" him.
This won the Midnight Madness Peoples' Choice Award.
Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2 [HK, Johnnie To, 3.5] Financier (Louis Koo) who lost out in a previous love triangle romances the boss of the woman he pines for. Glossy farce gives To lots of room to exercise his mastery of spatial relationships in a comic context.
Ending is either a letdown or a setup for a third installment. If B, also A.
A Hard Day [South Korea, Kim Seong-hun, 4] After he kills a man in a hit and run, on the night of his mother's funeral and an internal affairs raid on his detective squad, a cop goes to increasingly complex lengths to cover it up. Pulse-racing action-thriller with a wicked sense of humor.
And that's it for another year--all over but the sleeping. And laundry. And more sleeping.
Somewhere in between those key activities I'll compile my full capsule review list in handy reference format, for posting tomorrow.
Until then, did I mention sleep?
