What would be a more fitting way for a former child actor to officially start his festival than with a documentary about child actors trying to break through in the states.  The Hollywood Complex follows a dozen or so child actors and their families who are staying at a complex called Oakwood during the 3-4 month pilot season in the states.  To be honest I went to see this because I thought it would be a bit of a laugh, children and their pushy stage parents trying to find fame and fortune in Hollywood.  I was right to some degree with these vibrant young children spouting off some dialogue that only a child could, however between these moments of sheer hilarity were moments that made my skin crawl.  From one set of parents showing their 7 year old YouTube clips of sick and dying children to prepare her for her audition as a sick child on Grey’s Anatomy, to the mother who became a Scientologist to help improve her daughters chances of becoming famous (she got cast in something almost immediately after her mother joined), there were some really stomach churning moments.

I think the reason I really enjoyed this doco was because it showed Hollywood for what it is and didn’t shy away from the harsh realities of being an actor.  It was obvious that the filmmakers set out with an agenda as the film has really nothing positive to say about the Hollywood system and the people that inhabit it.  I’m sure there are exceptions to the rule and that we probably see some of the worst cases in this documentary; however it is a film that does deal with the dangers of setting out to achieve something for purely fame and fortune, and the pressure that it can put on people, especially children.

With last year’s tragic The Wedding Party opening last years festival, I think that it’s fair to say that my bar had been significantly lowered in terms of what I was expecting.  Luckily I was pleasantly surprised with Belgian/French film The Fairy, a film that was also written and directed by its three lead actors.  The film is a slapstick romance which revolves around a man working the night shift at a hotel who is visited by a woman claiming to be a Fairy.  With strong links to the likes of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Jacques Tati’s work, the film itself feels like a series of sketches that have been worked around a really rough storyline.  Unfortunately with this being the case, the longer the movie went, the more the audience became restless – possibly getting antsy to get to the Town Hall for their free booze and canapés.  That said, I still thoroughly enjoyed The Fairy with it’s surreal “Boosh-like” moments which included a strange under-the-sea dance and also the very clever use of rear projection in a chase sequence.

One thing I loved about this film was the fact that the filmmakers all had a hand in the writing/directing and acting side of things.  It was very clear that they played to their strengths as actors and physical comedians which was evident all throughout the film.

The Fairy is by no means a perfect film.  It does drag on a little too long and has a few jokes that fall flat on their face. However this light hearted love story with its genuine laugh out loud moments made for a considerable boost in quality for the Opening Night films that I have seen during my 5 years of attending MIFF.  I’ll take this over The Wedding Party or 2:37 any day!

All that aside I would like to welcome you to what will be our official MIFF blog for 2011.  With our entry for the MIFF blogging competition being unfortunately rejected, and our film Hannah and the Hasbian being rejected then accepted then rejected again we thought we might just push on through with our very own blog.

So where better to kick things off then get some angry notes off my chest from what has been an average start to a festival that I hold very dear to my heart.  I shall do this in dot point form so as not to bore you too much too soon as I’ve still got reviews to come!!

1. As a yearly MIFF goer I usually save up and get the passport so I can go generally nuts and see upwards of 50 – 60 films during the festival, with my personal best sitting at a hefty 64 films in one year.  Unfortunately this year had to be scaled back due to me being unable to buy a pass due to not being a MIFF member……….which costs an extra 100 bucks………on top of the 350 for the passport……………..definitely affordable for your poor film & tv grad.

2. Opening Night – usually a wonderful evening of celebration where the whole film & tv community and some of the interested general public gather in the one location for a film and party to celebrate the opening of the festival.  Unfortunately this year that usual one cinema venue (The Regent or Hamer Hall in previous years) was split over 5 cinemas at Russel Street’s uncomfortable Greater Union.  The shit thing about this being that unless you were a VIP, you didn’t see the speech from the filmmakers or the Premier of Victoria, you instead waited for the one print of the film to get to your cinema which ended up causing a 30-45min delay.  Also the party was split with VIP’s having a separate party upstairs which again is a really great way to promote segregation in our film community.

3. You can no longer buy just a film ticket to Opening and Closing night – JUST the film & party tickets.

4. Once spanned across the city at venues such as The Capital and The Regent Theatres, the festival now relies solely on GU, The Forum, ACMI and occasionally Kino as screening venues.  GU taking the bulk of the films which is unfortunate considering it’s a really bad place to watch movies.

5. Festival crowds have seemed increasingly more abusive towards volunteer festival staff this year round.  My favourite being the person in Norwegian Wood who told an old man who had returned from the bathroom and was struggling to find his seat in a packed out session to “SIT THE FUCK DOWN!”  Just damn brilliant.

Anyway with that off my chest I now present you with my first 4 days of festival madness!

We didn’t really plan to go and see this film – we were supposed to head to another film on the other side of Miami, however the large taxi ride didn’t really seem that appealing. So instead, we decided to stay at the same theatre, and just see whatever was up next. I misread the program, and was expecting to see a depressing, but critically acclaimed South African movie. However, what we ended up seeing was a crazy musical masterpiece! This is probably one of the best films I’ve seen at the festival. The only problem was – within the first 20 minutes of the film, the movie stopped, the lights went up, the fire alarm went off, and we were forced to evacuate the building! Boy, oh boy! We haven’t had much luck this week with theatres! Luckily though, after the fire department did what they do, we got to go back in the theatre and watch the rest of the film. The only issue – we missed about 5 or 10 minutes! What a pain! Never-the-less, even taking to consideration the unexpected intermission, this was a very clever, and aurally epic film!

In this film, two classically trained, but rebellious and expelled musicians aim to do something completely out of the box. With the help of four crazy drummers, from all different walks of life, they attempt to perform their avant-garde masterpiece, “Music for One City and Six Drummers”. Divided into four very unique movements, they use all kinds of things (i.e. bulldozers, heart beat monitors, power lines and bank vaults) – to create really cool music. Tagged as the world’s first “musical terrorists” by the authorities, a tone deaf police detective, who’s a descendant of a distinguished musical family – but actually personally hates all form of music, is then set on a mission to track down these innovative, yet absolutely insane performers, after they kidnap a famous television journalist, and execute their first moment, “Doctor Doctor Gimme Gas (in my ass)”, by performing music on the patient after they forcefully put him to sleep, and dance around the operating theatre, under the observation of a closed-circuit security camera.

This is a seriously quirky film, with one of the best soundtracks I’ve come across in a long time. It has some really funny moments, and some scenes that just made everyone in the whole audience look at one another and go “what”? It’s intelligent, and just makes you want to tap your feet to the beat of the film. As the last film we got to see at the festival – it was great to end on such a high. I highly recommend you check this film out! Such a great film!

Unfortunately, due to horrible traffic in South Beach, Miami, I missed the start of this film – which is a real shame, as I’m sure I missed some really important set-ups and character development. I also ended up having to sit in the aisle of the theatre, as it was completely sold out, which wasn’t tremendously comfortable. However, regardless of what actually happened at the start of the film, or the fact that my seat was in fact the floor, as soon as I started watching, I was instantly hooked. This is a really sweet movie, and there was definitely a few people exiting the theatre with tears in their eyes.

It’s a simple story about a mother and son relationship. The son is a highly regarded Icelandic film director, who has recently put all his money and attention towards a movie about a whole lot of “old people” escaping from a retirement home. The mother is an aging woman who has recently lost her husband, and is slowly starting to loose her mind as well, due to Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately the film, “Children of Nature” (which is actually the director of the film poking fun at his own Oscar-nominated film) doesn’t do to well at the box office, and is set to drive the man broke. Undaunted – he sets his sights high. If he gets an Oscar nod, then he hopes that Icelanders will rush to the theatre and he’ll be “back in the black”. Unfortunately, apart from his mum, no one seems to actually like the film.

This films deals with a problem that a lot of families have all over the world – what’s the best way to deal with aging parents, especially when they start needing more and more care and attention when they get older. How long can a widowed elderly person stay at home, before a nursing home becomes a much “safer” option? This is a semi-autobiographical story (it’s a tribute to the directors own mum) told with a huge amount of compassion and humour. It looks great, and is very moving. Although this kind of film has been done before – you can just tell that this film was created very close to the directors heart, and he really put a lot of love and attention to it. It’s fairly predictable – but I guess that’s just life – you live, then eventually, you pass away, hopefully after an amazing journey. This film has some great moments – both heart felt and seriously funny. Worth checking out…

After seeing the movie poster and promotional stills for this film – who wouldn’t want to go and see it? Nim is just so darn cute! Project Nim was the name of a Columbia University experiment led by psychologist Herbert Terrace seeking to discover how much chimpanzees and humans could communicate through sign language.

This documentary tells you the story of what happened during this period in the 70s, where a bunch of young and inexperienced students and scientists tried to train and raise Nim as their own little child. Personal boundaries were blurred between teacher and student, human and animal. No one really had any idea what they were doing, and as a result, people got hurt – including poor Nim. This is a really simple documentary, that is basically just driven by interviews and tied together with whatever footage and stills they could lay their hands on. There was a lot of re-enactments, and a lot of stock footage of doors closing, and the like, just to fill in the gaps. Although director James Marsh (who also did the Oscar-winning film Man on Wire), did a great job of tying a story together with only a small amount of actual footage to play with – the whole movie, I just felt so sorry for little Nim! He was mistreated at every turn, and I just felt like a lot of heart-ache and injuries could have easily been avoided if some common sense was introduced. This is a really interesting film, with some seriously interesting characters – but it’s a simple documentary, with a very “BBC” feel to it. There was a lot of dull shots throughout the film, just to fill in the spaces left by the interview audio. It’s definitely worth watching – if only to see the adorable Nim cuddling an equally cute kitten.

We have seen a lot of documentaries and low-budget films so far at this years festival – however Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within is certainly at the other end of the spectrum. Having already enjoyed public and critical acclaim, Elite Squad 2 is the current all-time largest box office ticket seller and highest-grossing film in Brazil, ahead of massive Hollywood blockbusters such as Avatar. This film was epic – it had massive action sequences, a soundtrack that shook the walls of the theatre, and even an opening title sequence that makes Michael Bay look like a wimp!

Admittedly, I’ve never seen the first movie in the series – however, director José Padilha explained prior to the screening that it was a movie designed to expose many of the hardships of life in Rio’s favelas in the late 90′s, where the streets were filled with violence and drug trafficking. This film however, set in the present day – takes a slightly different look at the same world, 13 years onwards.

The film opens in the Bangu 1 High-Security Penitentiary, where the inmates have basically taken over the whole jail, with a little help from a bunch of corrupt police and government officials who have turned a blind eye at all the right times. There are three gangs in the prison, and one gang leader is on a mission to kill off all his competition. BOPE - a government special forces unit of the Military Police is sent to take control of the situation, along with Human Right Aids member Diogo Fraga, who is charged with the task of making sure everything is done above board. However, things get really messy, when the BOPE team basically take out all the inmates. After Diogo Fraga tells the world what happened, Lieutenant-Colonel Roberto Nascimento and the second in command Captain André Matias are then accused of unethical execution of the prisoners. Matias is then transferred to the extremely corrupt Military Police, and Nascimento is kicked out of BOPE and forced to work in intelligence, alongside a corrupt Secretary of Security.

To complicate things on paper (although it’s very clear in the movie), Nascimento’s former wife is now going out with Fraga, and Nascimento’s son Rafael is having real issues with his biological father. Meanwhile, on the streets, Nascimento and the BOPE expel the drug dealers from several slums – however, with all the gangsters now out of business – a new enemy evolves. The militia, led by Major Rocha and supported by the Governor, the Secretary of Security and politicians interested in votes, have basically decided to offer citizen’s “security” in exchange for money. Everything is basically illegally taxed – and if you don’t pay up, you get killed. Nascimento is basically manipulated to help this group – vanquishing the criminals in the slums and poor communities, only to have a corrupt group of police officers now with free range to exploit the poor population.

This film is full on. It’s bold, powerful and ambitious – but what shocked me the most, is that when I was watching the film, I thought I was just watching a fictional big-time action movie. Apparently not! From what I’ve read and have since been told – this movie is incredibly realistic as to what it was like during this time, which is terrifying. There are so many deaths – so many people in the highest levels of government that are simply corrupt and just plain evil. But what scared me the most, is that in the theatre, whenever the “good guys” were put in a situation where they could actually kill off a “baddie” – the audience when crazy with cheering and clapping, regardless of how brutal the revenge was going to be. It’s a little scary to think that the only way to take on all the corruption and violence is to retaliate with the same actions.

I liked this film. It looked fantastic. It sounded AMAZING. It had more bangs, explosions and twists and turns than anything else I’ve seen at the festival thus far. I also loved the fact that the whole film was basically driven by a film noir style voice over. Although there were some really full-on action sequences, there was also some really powerful scenes that were just driven by dialogue. But what I liked most about this film, is that it inspired me to learn more about Brazil, and their troubled past. I honestly cannot believe that the BOPE logo was actually a skull and cross-bone – it seems completely inappropriate for a government organisation to be promoted like that! A seriously eye-opening film, that I highly recommend you check out!

One thing that has really surprised me thus far at the festival is just how many fantastic documentaries have been on show! Boundary-pushing Oscar-nominated Morgan Spurlock is a true expert in his field. With profitable and Internationally successful films like Super Size Me and Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? under his belt, I had quite high expectations for The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, but Morgan delivered. This is a hilarious, educational and seriously well crafted documentary that is based around such a simple, yet such a clever concept.

In Super Size Me, Morgan questioned how junk food affects our bodies – in this movie he investigates how modern advertising messes with our minds. Using the same style as his previous films – where Morgan basically takes you on a personal journey, where he talks to camera as if you’re in the room with him – in this film he takes the quest to the comic extreme by seeking corporate sponsors to entirely finance his movie – approaching major brands (such as Pom Wonderful and Hyatt hotels), and really obscure brands (such as Mane ‘n Tail Shampoo – a shampoo suitable for both humans and horses!). Why would any organisation in their rightful mind support this crazy venture? Because Morgan promises to promote their product as the greatest – drink, shoe, hotel, car, you name it – in the world, then he documents what they expect in return.

While using brands in film promotion is certainly not new for Hollywood (just look at films like I, Robot), it certainly is new territory for documentaries. Morgan exploits the phenomenon to new heights (possibly even to the absolute upper limit!), with everything from branded pizza boxes, in-flight film promotions to basically branding a whole primary school. He also explores the other extreme, where he visits a Brazilian city, where all advertising has been legally banned – there is not a single billboard or poster in the whole city!

This film is fantastic – the revelations throughout the film are both hilarious and horrific. He skilfully raises our awareness of how product placement works in entertainment, sports, and even school. He also shows just how far companies and advertising agencies go to craft a commercial that scientifically is proven to be effective with its’ viewers.

I love Morgan Spurlock. Although he certainly has his skeptics – he’s no doubt one of the kings of commercially viable, and internationally successful documentaries. This film was a joy to watch – and what was equally as good was the question and answer session after the movie. Morgan is such an intelligent and inspiring man – I cannot recommend his films or seeing him in person highly enough. Although his films are obviously a comedy – they also generate a huge amount of discussion and really highlight some very important issues in society. I love this man’s work – and can’t wait to see what he does with his next doco which is already in pre-production!

Despite the occasional dodgy film, we have been so lucky to see so many quality films so far at the festival. Page One: A Year Inside The New Work Times, for me now however has definitely been a highlight. This is a serious slick, fun, enthralling and inspiring documentary that has been skilfully been put together with an incredible attention to detail.

As the title clearly suggests, this film offers a completely unprecedented look into the inscrutable New York Times newsroom for a year long period. With the Internet rapidly surpassing print as the world’s main source of news, and traditional newspapers and media outlets are going bankrupt left, right and centre, this film chronicles the media industry’s transformation from print to digital and also the industry’s reaction to game-changers such as the Apple iPad and WikiLeaks. The year was also full of dramatic changes, as internally the company struggled with massive cutbacks and lay-off’s, and outside of the office everyone debated it’s future within the public eye.

The film follows some amazing characters such as David Carr (an extremely intelligent and seriously witty columnist who overcame a crack addiction to become a world renowned reporter) and Brian Stelter (a young blogger come reporter who loves stirring up trouble) as they work behind the media desk, tracking the print industry and it slowly changes and evolves – which is ironic considering their own paper is seriously struggling to stay profitable and useful. Meanwhile, traditionally hardcore rigorous journalism -such as struggling and fighting for on-record quotes, animated debate and collaboration in between the office cubicles, and skilful pitching and negotiating for the page one spot – is all alive and well.

This film is fantastic – it really gives you such a unique insight into such an interesting and vibrant world that outsiders rarely get to see. Mixing sometimes hilarious, sometimes deadly serious interviews with fly-on-the-wall footage, archive footage and some very slick graphics – this film is very intelligently cut together. It’s the kind of film that you could watch for hours and hours – I would have been more than happy to sit in the theatre for another 60 minutes just to see what would come out of David Carr’s mouth. Probably my favourite part of the whole documentary was watching the debates between the traditional media outlets (such as The Times) and new media outlets, such as online aggregators and companies like Gawker (with their “Big Board”). This is certainly a relevant film – and is definitely worth checking out. I can’t wait for the sequel, as it’s going to be an extremely challenging and interesting few years for everyone at The Times as they struggle to get a viable pay-wall into place, and expand their business into new and exciting ways…

As I’m sure you know if you’re read our website, or some of the past film reviews on this blog, that I am currently travelling with two other people with vastly different tastes in films than myself. However, despite this fact – we all categorically hated this film. I feel really bad saying this – especially considering this is the first festival this film has been to thus far – but I have to be honest, I can’t think of one single redeeming feature of the movie. And trust me, out of our small group – I was probably the one who hated it the least.

The story centres around a San Fernando Valley (area code – 818) family – an aging and absolutely insane former TV queen Alyssa Rampart-Pillage (Emmy winner from the hit medical drama “HMO Nurse”), her equally insane husband, who runs Bernie’s appliance empire – and their blonde, spoilt and basically just plain dumb, three kids. When their environmentally radical daughter Topanga protests outside the new Berie’s air conditioner superstore, claiming that one of their major products is built by a company that is destroying native rainforests overseas, things get very much out of hand when the protesters burn down the store. When Topanga goes home to confront her father, after a heated argument, Bernie accidentally pushes her backwards, and she tragically slips on a golf ball and falls down the stairs, breaking her neck and dying. With some of the worst ghost special effects I’ve seen in a long while, Topanga comes back to haunt her father. After a night of being tormented by his dead daughter, tripping over then reading some kind of spiritual book – he is awakened, and decides to “go green” and give his family fortune to charity. Alyssa however, will have none of this – but there’s simply no reasoning with Bernie. The solution? Alyssa with the help of Bernie’s business manager and cousin decide to kill him. It looks like the perfect crime, until the kids figure out that Mum killed Dad – and they make a vow to stop at nothing until they bring their mum to justice.

This film is simply – horrible. Although there were certainly laughs in the theatre, I didn’t really think a single joke or scenario was remotely funny. The film looked bad – with very wide shots with flat lighting, and seriously strange framing choices. I think they were going for a real day-time soapy feel – but it just didn’t work. The sound was horrible – with a lot of the on-set recordings distorting, and a lot of noticeable background noise in a lot of the shots. I just didn’t get this film at all. Maybe it’s because I’m not from the “Valley” or used to a world where being a celebrity can mean you can get away with murder. But still, I honestly can’t think of one positive thing to say about this film – which can’t be a good thing.

This film was painful to watch, and I couldn’t honestly wait until it was over. However, as I said, lots of people in the audience laughed, so I’m sure there’s an audience for this kind of film. Funnily enough, after the screening we went to an after party, and when we mentioned to a bunch of Mexican film-makers that we just saw a horrible film – their first guess was (818) – so it wasn’t just us, they hated it just as passionately. That said, we spoke to another Miami resident who loved the film. So maybe it just has a really specific audience, and the rest of the world will just never “get it”. I just find it sad that so much time and money was wasted on something that only has a really small audience.

Sorry for rant! I really hate being so abusive to other film-makers, as I know first hand how hard it is to make a movie. However personally, if this was my film, at least I’d be happy that it caused a reaction – whether that be positive or negative. As we exited the cinema – there certainly was a lot of discussion! I think this film is worth watching, just to see which side of the fence you fall. I think you’ll either love it or hate it with a passion!