Brisbane International Film Festival: Launch

Brisbane film fans rejoice! After a longer than usual fourteen month wait between outings, it is again time to gather in masses, watch movies and be merry during the city’s annual celebration of all things film, the Brisbane International Film Festival 2010. Moving from its traditional July to August home to a summery November slot on the events calendar (November 4 – 14 to be exact) in its nineteenth year, the 2010 festival marks the first under incoming director Richard Moore (taking on the role after overseeing the 2010 Melbourne offering, and the three prior), as well as the first away from the now sadly defunct and greatly missed Regent cinemas. So what lies in store for Queensland cinephiles throughout ten glorious days of the best that international cinema has to offer? Fresh from the fantastic launch event (featuring a pitch perfect presentation by Moore), we bring you the highlights of the 2010 program, as well as a promise to keep the BIFF news and reviews coming throughout the duration of the festival.

As always, there is truly something for everyone in the extensive and eclectic BIFF 2010 program. From 3D cane toads on opening night (Cane Toads: The Conquest) to John Woo kung fu to close the program (Reign Of Assassins), possibly the world’s first ‘womantic’ feature (the Brisbane-based comedy Jucy) to the utterly indescribable (Tommy Wiseau cult phenomenon The Room), the new look festival – in a new timeslot and new venues (Palace Centro and Barracks cinemas, and Tribal Theatre) – has assembled an amazing line-up, with films for young (well, 18 and over for the most part, given the severing of links between BIFF and Cine Sparks) and old.

For fans of big-name cinema, look no further than the Australian premiere of Sophia Coppola’s Venice Golden Lion-winning Somewhere (a coup so recent that it is not even listed in the official printed program), or the George Clooney-starring, Anton Corbijn-directed The American. Add Naomi Watts and Sean Penn in Doug Liman’s Fair Game, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams in Sundance Grand Jury entrant Blue Valentine, Gotham award nominee Winter’s Bone and the animated adventure Megamind for the kids, and the more commercial-leaning contingent of entries is well and truly covered, with Welcome To The Rileys (starring James Gandolfini, Melissa Leo and Twilight‘s Kristen Stewart) and Brit caper comedy Wild Target rounding out the mix.

Award winners also feature prominently in 2010, with the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or recipient Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives likely to attract significant interest. Juliette Binoche’s acclaimed turn in Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy continues the Cannes flavour, whilst 2009 Golden Lion winner Lebanon joins the above-mentioned Somewhere in representing the best of Venice. The recipient of the highest accolade at the recent Sydney Film Festival also makes the list, with Xavier Dolan’s Heartbeats joining his debut piece I Killed My Mother alongside other Sydney and Melbourne screeners (I Love You Phillip Morris, Howl, Brotherhood, Life During Wartime, Little Sparrows, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, and The Illusionist) as content familiar from other festivals.

In the Australian corner, the “Local Heroes” crop includes Guy Pearce and Miranda Otto in first-time filmmaker Simone North’s thriller I Am You, Bill Bennett’s Uninhabited, Jaws (also screening in a dive-in cinema special event alongside Deep Blue Sea) meets Open Water in The Reef, and True Blood‘s Ryan Kwanten in Red Hill. North, Bennett and Kwanten have also been announced as guests of the festival, with the latter certain to draw a crowd. Red Hill also forms part of the “Shock Corridor” section, with Gregg Araki’s Kaboom (described as Twin Peaks, Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Donnie Darko combined), absurdist road movie Rubber and Mexican cannibal flick We Are What We Are also on the bill.

Finally, the documentary section has received a boost, with Bill Cunningham New York, Joan Rivers: A Piece Of Work and the Adrian Grenier-helmed Teenage Paparazzo among the best known pieces. Topical HBO production and Sundance Special Jury prize winner Gasland ranks among the highlights the section (with director Josh Fox slated to be in attendance), whilst other offerings such as Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child, When You’re Strange: A Film About The Doors (part of the “Beatbox” music program), William S. Burroughs: A Man Within, Machete Maidens Unleashed! and Spine Tingler! The William Castle Story also noteworthy alongside fellow Sundance winner Restrepo, Last Train Home, Google Baby, Freakonomics and more.

Of course, the above is a mere taste of what is on offer amongst the twenty-three Australian premieres, three world firsts, and more films than you can poke a stick at, with South Korean effort The Actresses, French comedy Copacabana, the five and a half hour Carlos the Jackal epic Carlos, the beautifully named Mother Teresa Of Cats and even Jim Henson’s first non-Muppet film The Dark Crystal all screening. With Gaspar Noe’s Enter The Void, Michael Rowe’s Camera d’Or winner Leap Year, UK indie apocalypse film Monsters, Aussie rom-com The Wedding Party and a four feature tribute to cinematographer Jack Cardiff (including Hitchcock goes Down Under in Under Capricorn), BIFF 2010 has, as Moore so eloquently put it, “snap, crackle, pop, kick, bite and relevance”. What more could one want from a film festival?

Tickets for the 19th St. George Bank Brisbane International Film Festival are on sale today, with the festival running from November 4 – 14, 2010.

DVD Bits can be found on Twitter @DVDBits. DVD Bits is at http://www.dvdbits.com.

Cine Sparks: Dear Lemon Lima

Translink Cine Sparks, the Australian film festival for young people, began 2005 in conjunction with the Brisbane International Film Festival. Designed to showcase world cinema to younger audiences, it has presented an exciting variety of features over the past six years, including breakout hits (Son Of Rambow), recent classics (Ponyo), family favourites, (The Wizard Of Oz), and plenty in-between. With the main festival moving to November for the first time in its nineteen year history, 2010 marks the debut of Cinesparks as a stand-alone event. Thankfully, the quality of screenings and the joy of the festival experience remains, with an interesting and eclectic mix of films assembled complete with international guests, world views, and a program of features and shorts for young and old alike.

American independent film Dear Lemon Lima opened the 2010 festival (with writer / director Suzi Yoonessi in attendance), immediately capturing the youthful spirit of the event. A coming of age comedy feature based on Yoonessi’s short film of the same name, it stars a cast of unknown adolescents alongside Melissa Leo (Frozen River, Everybody’s Fine) and Beth Grant (playing a similar role to that in Donnie Darko) as it unravels the fantasy and reality of thirteen year old Vanessa Lemor (newcomer Savanah Wiltfong, a real find).

With her heart in shreds after preppy boyfriend Phillip (Shayne Topp, winner of the outstanding performance award at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival) decides he’d rather be friends, Vanessa secures a scholarship to attend his private school in an attempt to win him back. That the scholarship is earmarked for students of Eskimo heritage, and that Vanessa considers herself more aligned to her single mother than her Yup’ik father, merely highlights the discord between Vanessa and her new educational institution. Immediately cast as an outsider, she bands together with a group of fellow misfits to win Phillip back, but ends up teaching the rest of the school community – and herself – a valuable lesson about acceptance and belonging in the process.

There is a lot to like about this sweet and uplifting debut feature from emerging talent Yoonessi. Capturing the idiosyncratic humour of Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, Gentlemen Broncos), the whimsy of Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen, Amelie, Micmacs), the cool of writer Diablo Cody (Juno, Jennifer’s Body) and the heart of Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World, Art School Confidential), it is kitsch, cute, and at times endearingly clumsy, just like the characters it depicts. Yet it masters the art of speaking with its audience, rather than to or about, in a film that feels authentic as it addresses themes of multiculturalism, identity, social stereotyping, and young love. For anyone who has ever had their heart broken, felt out of place, or been told that they weren’t good enough, Dear Lemon Lima is an underdog story with colour and character, in an insightfully witty treat for audiences of all ages.

The Translink Cine Sparks program is currently screening across a variety of Brisbane venues until Friday 6 August.

DVD Bits can be found on Twitter @DVDBits. DVD Bits is at http://www.dvdbits.com.

Melbourne International Film Festival: I Love You Phillip Morris

To many members of the population, the name Philip Morris is synonymous with big tobacco, with the British-formed multi-national company a titan of the industry. Hence when a film entitled I Love You Phillip Morris comes around, you can be forgiven for thinking that you’re in for a satire along the lines of Jason Reitman’s first feature Thank You For Smoking, or a whistle-blower drama akin to Michael Mann’s Oscar-nominated The Insider. Yet the important thing to note in the title I Love You Phillip Morris, is that this Phillip spells his name with two ‘L’s, not one. For indeed this is not a film about cigarettes, but a film about a different man with the same name as the founder of one of the world’s largest tobacco operators – a small-time Southern criminal who became the cellmate and lover of infamous U.S. con artist, imposter and prison escapee Steven Jay Russell.

The name Steven Jay Russell may not be well known in Australia, however his escapades are well worth hearing about. In the directorial debut of Bad Santa scribes Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, it features the underrated dramatic talents of Jim Carrey (in a performance on par with his brilliant BAFTA-nominated turn in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind) as Russell and The Men Who Stare At Goats star Ewan McGregor as Morris, in a true story of life, love, and prison breaks (adapted from Steve McVicker’s aptly-titled biography “I Love You Phillip Morris: A True Story of Life, Love, and Prison Breaks”). As Carrey’s twangy narration informs, Russell was once an avid church-goer, police officer, and happily married father living on the U.S. East Coast. However, a mid-life realisation about his sexuality set him on the path to Miami amidst a complete transformation of his lifestyle and outlook, and the expensive upkeep of his new life and boyfriend (Rodrigo Santoro, Che) drove him to commit fraud and commence a new life as a con man. Inevitably ending up in prison, he encounters Morris, with their attraction mutual but unsupported by the penitentiary system. What follows is a rollercoaster ride of schemes, dreams and the path to living around the law, guided by Russell’s love for one Phillip Morris – a love that prison bars could not contain, and society could not temper.

Given its real life origins (subject to legal woes) and controversial subject matter (including a number of apparently graphic sex scenes in the original cut), I Love You Phillip Morris struggled to secure distribution in the U.S. despite receiving significant acclaim at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Indeed, it is still struggling for release in a number of international markets, and at the date of writing seems destined to play film festivals in Australia before making its way to DVD. This lack of attention is unfortunate, for I Love You Phillip Morris is simply terrific. Featuring the best work from Carrey and McGregor in years (and a reminder of Carrey’s phenomenal and chameleonic talents when given the right material), a smart and witty script adapted by the directors from McVicker’s novel, and a cracking pace that neither hurries nor languishes, it combines the highlights of the heist and escape genres with dashes of dark humour and irreverence to create a film best described as a wicked delight. Slick but not sleazy, hip but not just for hipsters, I Love You Phillip Morris is a traditional love story with a definite modern twist, in a must-see feature devoid of genericism but full of heart.

I Love You Phillip Morris screens again on Thursday 5th August 2010 at the Melbourne International Film Festival.

DVD Bits can be found on Twitter @DVDBits. DVD Bits is at http://www.dvdbits.com.