A couple more days from my EIFF schedule

Hmmm, last night's promised update never quite materialised, did it? My PC crashed just as I was about to start and as it was 1:30am I took that as a sign that I should just go to bed instead. But to summarise another couple of days, here's what I saw on Friday and Saturday last week.

I apologise if today's entry is riddled with spelling mistakes. It's almost 2am, I'm tired and I want to go to bed so I can't be bothered proof reading it. I should also point out that if any of my thoughts (not just from today) make you want to see any of the films at the EIFF, some of them will have repeat showings as part of "Best of the Fest" on Sunday - tickets available now and only a fiver.

EASY LIVING

This Mitchell Leisen film was another comedy but this time with a lot more slapstick. Most of the humour has actually aged well (a lot better than many comedies of the 30s and 40s) and is still laugh out loud funny. Good start to the day (I followed this with Mark Thomas at the Book Festival, which was entertaining and informative).

SPECIAL

A real-world superhero film, sort of. It's a low budget indie film from America, about a guy who agrees to test a new kind of drug but unfortunately suffers side effects, namely the belief that he has superpowers. Naturally, especially since he's a comic geek, he chooses to dress up as a superhero and fight crime, which is slightly hampered by his complete lack of superpowers.

It's a neat idea and well executed in places (I liked the way the point of view kept changing between what the hero believes is happening and what is actually happening). Unfortunately the majority of the supporting characters are two-dimensional nobodies - the hero's two friends in particular look very much like someone watched too many Kevin Smith movies and tried (but failed) to imitate them.

ANTS IN THE MOUTH

Competent thriller set in pre-Castro 1950s Cuba. Begins to wander a bit towards the end, but it's an entertaining throwback to classic noir.

MIDNIGHT

Another comedy from Mitchell Leisen and another triumph as per EASY LIVING. Notably, Billy Wilder was involved with the writing, which could explain a lot of the humour.

NEO NED

He's a young skinhead neo-Nazi racist; she's a black girl who believes herself to be the reincarnation of Hitler; naturally they fall in love. The most bizarre relationship since Elvis and JFK in BUBBA HO-TEP (what do you mean you've never seen BUBBA HO-TEP?) is a success, and it's largely due to the two leads but especially Jeremy Renner in the title role. Violently confrontational and yet touchingly sweet with a wonderful feel good ending.

MR PILIPENKO AND HIS SUBMARINE

Documentary about a man who dedicates 20 years of his life (to the chagrin of his wife) to building a submarine, despite being pretty poor and, more importantly, living in the middle of the Ukrainian steppe. Interesting subject that could have been delightful in better hands but this one suffers from the fact that so much of the character interaction appears to be staged and also from the second half of the film being interminably slow-moving.

COLOUR ME KUBRICK

The story of Alan Conway, a man who, in the early 90s, conned a lot of people by convincing them he was Stanley Kubrick - despite looking nothing like him and knowing very little about any of his films. John Malkovich clearly has a ball in the title role (and gets to wear a series of outrageously camp outfits) but the film takes too long over what is a very thin story and what results is a series of cons on various people that seems to take up most of the film before anything else eventually happens.

TWELVE AND HOLDING

While not quite as dark as MYSTERIOUS SKIN when it comes to looking at childhood trauma, this film certainly has its share of dark material, detailing the lives of a bunch of kids and their problems, all of which kicks off with the twin brother of one of them being accidentally burned to death.

It's not all doom and gloom though - there's plenty of humour and the film benefits from having a cast of young kids who not only manage to avoid being annoying but actually turn in great performances (and the aformentioned Jeremy Renner pops up doing a fine job again). I guess the closest thing I can think of to a precursor is STAND BY ME but I'm certainly not suggesting that if you like one you'll like the other. Nevertheless, this is one of the stronger films I've seen in the festival.

SHEITAN

Mad French horror film that finds a bunch of youths falling victim to a family of inbred mentalcases in a farm in the French countryside. Vincent Cassell is a delight as the toothy headcase who is father of the family and the final minutes are totally, unbelievably mental; but really the Belgian film CALVAIRE (which aired at the EIFF a couple of years back) already covered much the same ground.

I may have another update tomorrow night or, failing that, sometime at the weekend. Stick around!