IFF Boston

Woo hoo! The film list for the Boston Independent Film Fest is FINALLY up!!

To be honest, I'm not AS excited for this fest as I was for last year's. Maybe because there was less buzz coming out of Sundance? I was kinda hoping for any of the following; Animal Kingdom, Blue Valentine, happythankyoumoreplease, Betty Anne Waters, Centurion, Ondine, Four Lions, 12th and Delaware, Exit through the Gift Shop, Cold Weather, Cane Toads: The Conquest, Buried, Splice, Tucker & Dave vs. Evil... Granted, I'm pretty sure all of those will get released in Boston eventually (maybe not Cane Toads), so I probably should be taking the time to catch things that might not get distribution (like La Mission, From Inside, or The Escapist last year). Also, I know nothing about the Mountain Goats, but I just heard there is a documentary about their performance at Pomona put together by Rian Johnson called Life of the World to Come, which I would love to see at some point, but no luck here.


However, PERRIER'S BOUNTY!!!! YAAAY! I can't wait. I just... God, it looks fantastic: Check out the trailer here.

There are a couple that have been well reviewed, like 8: The Mormon Proposition and The Oath, which I just can't see myself going to. I'm generally less of a Docs person anyways. However, Marwencol (a man survives an assault by building an elaborate model world in his backyard) just got a lot of love at SXSW, as did War Don Don (about Sierra Leone), and Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work (self-explanatory) got great reviews at Sundance. Some of the others I'll have to look up to find out more about them. Erasing David looks interesting - a guy tries to go off the grid and see if he can escape detection. Anne Perry: Interiors I'm definitely going to try to see since I find it fascinating that someone who was a teenage murderer grew up to write murder mysteries and I've ALWAYS wanted to know more. I've seen the trailer for October Country, and thought it was a feature, not a doc, so I'm intrigued there. Do It Again could be interesting - it's about trying to reunite the Kinks. I've heard of American: The Bill Hicks Story (meh), Dirty Pictures (nah), Lemmy (meh), Life 2.0 (meh), and Taqwacore: The Birth of Punk Islam (maybe). Finally, there's a doc on exotic animals as pets called The Elephant in the Room, but I'm not really sure what it would have to say, other than: Bad. Idea.

However, being much more of a features, gal, here's the section that I'll probably be at (other than Perrier's Bounty. Yay again!):
Cracks - Eva Green, whom I love, as a new teacher at an all female boarding school. Looks kind of thriller-esque.
Down Terrace - My wish-this-were-Animal-Kingdom movie. I'm being unfair - this does look interesting in it's own right. Filmed in something like 8 days, a father gets out of jail and wants to figure out who snitched on him.
The Extra Man - came out of Sundance kind of blah, but I think this is going to be the opening film, since Kevin Kline is coming? Anyways, Kevin Kline & Paul Dano. I like them. I'll probably go see it.
The Freebie - got some good reviews coming out of Sundance.
I Am Love - SWINTON!
The Killer Inside Me - Ah, the most controversial film of the year so far. Supposed to be violence that is actually shocking and disturbing, rather than glamorized. So of course everyone's up in arms. Will I go watch Jessica Alba being beat to a pulp? Maybe. I watched Sin City...
Life During Wartime - Todd Solondz's latest, which would be more exciting if I had seen Happiness.
Machotaildrop - This looks so weird.
Winter's Bone - Won all the awards at Sundance.
Cell 211 - A Goya-winning thriller from Spain about a prison.
Looking for Eric - Ken Loach's new film. I love him as a director, but the subject matter doesn't look too appealing.
The Good, the Bad and the Weird - a Korean spaghetti western with mixed reviews.

Also? Don Hertzfeldt's latest, Wisdom Teeth. :) My spoon is TOO BIG!

I think I'm going to buy myself a pass. It's a gift for myself for my birthday, and then I won't be stressed about getting to large films in time for a great seat.

So - not much that I'm dying to see, but I think it'll be interesting. Maybe I'll end up at more docs this time. I do wonder which are the After Dark selections. Cell 211? Killer Inside Me?

Now I wonder if B-Side software is going to still be running to help plan scheduling? Has anyone bought Festival Genius from them?


Of the films I'd like to see that are not at the fest, the following have been picked up for distribution:
Animal Kingdom - Sony Pictures Classics - 6/3/10, but has been moved around a bit
Blue Valentine - TWC, 12/31/10
Betty Anne Waters - Fox Searchlight - ?
Centurion - Magnet - ?
12th and Delaware - HBO Jul/Aug
Exit through the Gift Shop - ? - 4/16/10
Buried - Lionsgate - 9/24/10
Ondine - Magnolia - 6/4/10
Splice - Dark Castle - 6/4/10
Nowhere Boy - TWC, 10/8/10

As far as I can tell, these have not been picked up yet: happythankyoumoreplease, Tucker & Dave vs. Evil, Cold Weather, Cane Toads: The Conquest and Four Lions.

Of the IFF Boston films, I believe the Good, the Bad and the Weird, Perrier's Bounty, Looking for Eric, Father of my Children, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work, I am Love, Down Terrace, Winter's Bone, and the Killer Inside Me have all been picked up. Probably a few of the others, too, but I need to go do other stuff now. ;)