JDIFF09: Irish Film Board Shorts

My final post about the stuff I saw in Dublin concerns the IFB Shorts. To tell the truth I'd already seen most of them in Cork, but I enjoyed them so much I thought I'd come and see them again.

For my verdict on THE ROOSTER, THE CROCODILE AND THE NIGHT SKY (Padraig Fagan), GRANNY O'GRIMM'S SLEEPING BEAUTY (Nicky Phelan), OF BEST INTENTIONS (Brian Durnin) and THE DOOR (Juanita Wilson), see one of my previous posts from Cork by clicking here. I'd like to change my mind about THE DOOR though and bump it up to 9/10 as well. I'll admit it, I was actually half asleep when I saw it in Cork and only gave it a 7. But it's brilliant, as are the other shorts I've just mentioned.

For my opinion on SPACEMEN THREE (Hugh O'Connor), click here for another post from last year's Cork fest, while my opinion on AN RANGER (PJ Dillon) can be found here. Regarding the latter, I actually like it even more this time round and I could swear it looked a lot better than I remember it looking at Cork. Maybe it was a projection thing; maybe it's because I was sitting much further forward in the cinema? Whatever the reason, it's still a great little film.

So that leaves the shorts which I saw at Dublin but hadn't seen before...

SHAPES (Alan Brennan) is a cracking little horror film which manages to cram more suspense, fright and memorable boogiemen into its five minutes than the majority of Hollywood blockbusting remakes manage in their ninety painful minutes. (8/10)

HOOR (John Kennedy) is an amusing look at three young boys who have saved their pennies for a trip to the local prostitute. Today they will become men. Nicely done with a pleasing punchline. (7/10)

COLOUR CONTAMINATION (Louise Bagnall) is an animated short which sees a man's cosy black and white world turned upside down by an invasion of colour. Sure, it's a bit weird, but it's amusing, stylish and an enjoyable three minutes of craziness. (7/10)

JDIFF09: Chantal Akerman

I only took in two films in the Chantal Akerman retrospective at Dublin, FROM THE OTHER SIDE and SOUTH. Both films are structured in a similar fashion - straightforward interviews to the camera mixed with long, lingering takes on the areas at the centre of the films. The former concerns the plight of Mexicans on the border with the USA and their attempts at crossing it to a new life; the latter film focuses on a town in the American south which has recently seen a horrific racist murder of a black man.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE achieves mixed results. While some of the interviews tell gripping and heartbreaking stories, there are others which don't really add too much to the overall picture. That's also a flaw in the seemingly endless shots of the Mexican towns where these people live, as Akerman points her camera, starts recording and then... does nothing. How long are we expected to stare at a wall, a person sitting in their garden or some traffic?

Doubtless there are plenty of people out there who will tell me it's art, and I'm sure it is, but it's not the kind that excites me. It's certainly not helped by the less than perfect quality of the sound and picture. I realise these things were probably made on a low budget but if you expect me to sit and watch scenes like this there should at least be something to set them apart from a random guy with a camcorder sitting in a street.

The quality also affects the interviews, though that's a problem which is improved upon in SOUTH.

This one is a better film in general. First of all, there is an overall flow to the interviews in SOUTH, building a complete picture and a complete story, as opposed to the somewhat scattershot nature of the interviews in FROM THE OTHER SIDE. The film is also a lot shorter, meaning the prowling shots of the town don't outstay their welcome as they did in the earlier film. Most of all, those same shots seem to serve a purpose, none more so than the final shot which is a simple shot from the back of a vehicle as it drives along a road - a shot which carries a strange power as you consider the victim's gruesome fate.

JDIFF09: YELLOW BITTERN

YELLOW BITTERN: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LIAM CLANCY, to give it its full name, is a documentary which does exactly what it says. To fans of the man and his music (along with his brothers and Tommy Makem) the documentary is undoubtedly indispensable viewing. What is interesting to me however is that this was one of the most enjoyable films of the festival for me - and I'd never heard of the guy.

Having recently watched BBC4's FOLK AMERICA series, I'm rather surprised, since there seems to be a bit of a crossover there, but this tale of the Irish folk musician who went to America and influenced the likes of Bob Dylan on the folk scene was all new.

It's beautifully shot, without a doubt, but the real strength of the film (not to take away anything from the skill with which Alan Gilsenan has put it together) is that Clancy is a man who has lived a full and varied life but is also a very down to earth and likable fellow. He's not just a singer, he's an entertainer and gifted raconteur and I'm glad that, in the guise of this excellent film, I got to spend a couple of hours in his company getting to know the man and his touching life story.

JDIFF09: HEART OF FIRE

HEART OF FIRE (or FEUERHERZ) is the story of a little girl adopted as a child soldier into the conflict in Eritrea after her sister comes to take her home from the school where she has been staying.

The film certainly has a heart, that's for sure; everything seems to have been done with the nicest intentions. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of good performances by the kids and some nice locations, there's little to recommend this one.

The story, what little there is, never seems to get going. From the off, a showdown with the girl's estranged father seems a certainty and yet the payoff never really arrives; aside from that, there's little to the film other than the occasional well-staged action sequence joined together by interminable scenes of people travelling across the country.

JDIFF09: WITHNAIL AND I

I felt a bit left out at this screening since it seemed to be largely made up of people who were more than familiar with the cult British movie as opposed to people like myself who have sat with a copy of the film at home for years without getting round to watching it.

The story of two unemployed, booze-fuelled actors who go on a bender in the countryside with affectionate Richard Griffiths, the film certainly has its share of quotable dialogue and funny moments but it's just not entirely suited to my taste. I can't quite put my finger on what was wrong but I found large parts of it slightly depressing - in that respect it would make for a good (if unusual) double bill of grim 80s Britishness alongside RADIO ON.

I'm glad I finally saw it, and with an appreciative audience, but I think the chances of me ever joining that dialogue-quoting elite are pretty slim.

JDIFF09: MISE EIRE

Undoubtedly the highlight of the festival for me was to see this 50th anniversary screening of what is probably Ireland's most important film, and certainly my favourite Irish film. Of course I've seen it on DVD but to see it on the big screen is special, particularly when it was accompanied by George Morrison receiving JDIFF's lifetime achievement award.

Long-time readers of this blog need no introduction but for the benefit of others, Mise Eire is a documentary from 1959 which details the rise of nationalism in Ireland from 1895 to just after the Easter Rising of 1916. Told entirely using archive material (Morrison is a tremendously important archivist as well as a gifted filmmaker), the film is slickly pieced together and wrapped up in a truly memorable score by Sean O'Riada. Alternating between a melancholy, haunting elegy for Ireland's dead heroes and a rousing, patriotic theme, the score's importance cannot be overstated.

A fitting tribute to a great filmmaker and a great film.

Scottish & Irish film update (23 Feb)

Yes, I know, I still have Dublin and Glasgow film festival coverage outstanding, but there's a whole bunch of Scottish and Irish stuff I want to mention first.

The Cameo cinema in Edinburgh will be showing the Oscar-nominated shorts next month. The live action ones, including Ireland's NEW BOY, will be shown on Monday 23 March.

Filmhouse in Edinburgh has a few of interest coming up. A monthly "Made in Edinburgh" season kicks off in March with a screening of RESTLESS NATIVES on Thursday 12 March. The season continues until August and if they don't use it as an excuse to show the Bill Douglas trilogy I may have to go on a killing spree.

Stanley Kubrick's restored Irish-themed BARRY LYNDON will be showing from the 20th to the 26th of March, again at the Filmhouse. The same cinema will also be showing more screenings of the multiple-IFTA-winning HUNGER (9th and 10th March) and the brilliant footy documentary ZIDANE: A 21ST CENTURY PORTRAIT (10th March), co-directed by Douglas Gordon.

Talking of IFTAs, I just watched the highlights of the ceremony (courtesy of BBC NI) and while it was a bit crap, it was brilliant to see George Morrison get a lifetime achievement award and have the documentary feature award named after him. Wonderful.

GFT in Glasgow are showing a couple of films based on great Scottish books. If you missed them in Edinburgh, check out the GFT programme for March to see screenings of the classic versions of JEKYLL & HYDE and THE LOST WORLD. GFT will also be showing INFINITE SPACE, directed by Scottish documentary filmmaker Murray Grigor, and MORVERN CALLAR by Lynne Ramsay. The latter's nowhere near as good as her RATCATCHER but she's not exactly churned out lots of films so make the most of it.

South of the border, there are some screenings of interest at the BFI. On 23rd April they'll be showing the new version of MAN OF ARAN, the classic documentary given a new score by British Sea Power. They will also be showing a preview of the screen adaptation of FIFTY DEAD MEN WALKING on 9th April.

Talking of BFI, they now have a Youtube channel (www.youtube.com/BFIfilms) which features some really great archive footage including a load of Scottish stuff.

Freakpit Oscar Diary 2009

My coverage of the Dublin and Glasgow film festivals will continue shortly. In the meantime, it's time for an interlude for the annual Oscars event. Not much pre-event coverage from me this year, but I couldn't resist another summary of the awards ceremony as it happens. Or as it happens here in the Freakpit at least.

23:30 An hour and a half before the show even begins and I'm already wondering why I bother watching Sky's tabloid-style coverage. And they've not even got round to plastering Claudia bloody Winkleman across my TV yet. Just Fern Cotton and her mad devil eyes.

00:58 I don't believe it. The UK coverage is going to be Claudia Winkleman AND Gok Wan? WTF. That's where my money is going? Here's an idea for you Sky, if you're going to throw your cash around and steal the Oscar coverage away from free channels, at least spend your money on some decent presenters and guests. And you know what else? I really, really don't give a shite who made the bloody dresses.

01:53 Cheesy yes, but Jackman's opening routine was pretty enjoyable. Penelope Cruz gets the first award speech out the way and already we've ticked off the "art is important" and "I'm just a kid from a little town called..." cliches ticked off the list. She didn't cry though.

02:12 First few awards out the way, no really big upsets. Apart from how upset I am. So far it's £15 down for a return of 32p. Not looking good.

02:29 Okay, this will be far and away my worst ever gambling performance at the Oscars. I am now onto the comfort eating already, so it's one Mars muffin and a bottle of Red Kola while I try to figure out who the hell those presenters were. (Apparently someone from TWILIGHT and someone from MAMMA MIA)

02:49 That's a double snub now then for my celtic cousins with both IN BRUGES and NEW BOY missing out in their categories. More importantly, I'm losing a serious amount of money.

03:37 Okay, there are still no real upsets on the cards at all. Fair enough, I was happy for Heath Ledger's win and that MAN ON WIRE got the documentary award... but it's really not doing me any favours on the gambling front.

04:03 Wow, that guy that did the music for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE really knows how to disappear off the stage quickly. Bemused looks all round. As for the UK TV coverage... as if Winkleman wasn't bad enough, it appears Stephanie Beacham is auditioning for a role as the world's most miserable bag. Someone needs to slap her until she cheers up, or get someone else into the studio who might look like they want to be there.

04:58 Well in the end there were barely any upsets at all. The only one that I really got was Penn winning over Rourke but that wasn't really enough to stop me making a monumental loss on the gambling front. Thankfully MAN ON WIRE winning at the BAFTAs a few weeks ago means I'm still overall in profit on the awards ceremonies this year. As for the Oscars, I'm a bit disappointed - I like Danny Boyle so happy to see him win there, but SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE simply wasn't the masterpiece it has been painted as and in that respect I found this year really disappointing.

05:00 As tempting as it is to stay and watch another half hour of post-ceremony chat between Winkleman and someone from the News of the World (he said sarcastically), I'm off to bed. It's five in the morning.

JDIFF09: WERE THE WORLD MINE

This film is a musical, and it takes place in a high school. That would give me legitimate cause to refer to it as a "high school musical" but just in case that looks like a cynical attempt to draw in extra blog hits by mentioning the phrase "high school musical" I'd like to point out that this film is nothing to do with Disney's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL. So I won't mention it.

The film, inspired by Bill Shakey's Midsummer thingy, tells of a boy who fancies another boy in his school and, during the course of staging the school's Shakespeare musical, he manages to bewitch the object of his desire into fancying him - however, in the process he takes it a bit too far and turns most of the town gay.

The film is a serious misfire. Much of the supposed humour seems to stem only from watching previously homophobic people become gay. It's funny at first but pretty quickly runs out of steam. It might be different if there were an engaging story and cast at the heart of the film but there is very little story except that everyone's gone gay and the cast are largely free of any screen presence whatsoever.

Being a musical, there would still be hope for the film if it could produce a few memorable musical numbers but it fails on that front too. There's something endearingly ludicrous about musicals but here that just doesn't really transpire - the sets and dances are pretty mundane and the songs completely forgettable.

The director introduced this film by telling us that it started life as a short film - I'd quite like to see that, as this feature feels very much like it's still a short film, expanded way beyond the running time required to run out of ideas.

JDIFF09: THE WORLD IS BIG AND SALVATION LIES AROUND THE CORNER

When a young man suffers amnesia as a result of a car crash which also kills his parents, his grandfather takes on the task of helping him find himself in this Bulgarian film which is probably the best of the new films I've seen at Dublin so far.

The cast do a grand job with a script that knows when to fire up the emotions and when to exercise restraint, and it all looks beautiful whether it's the flashbacks to the early 80s spent in a refugee camp or the present day scenes which unfold like a combination of road movie and tourism advert against some stunning scenery.

The script is a slowburner but that only makes it all the more satisfying when the film creeps to its emotional payoff and an ending that ought to bring a few tears to the eyes to cinema audiences everywhere - assuming it gets a release.

JDIFF09: SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK

Written and directed by king of weird Charlie Kaufman, SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK focuses on theatre director Phillip Seymour Hoffman as he tries to come up with a new play while battling illness and failed romances.

I hated this film. Hated, hated, hated it. There's come great acting, a decent score too, but there was just something about it that grated. The combination of gratuitous weirdness for the sake of weird, the general air of misery and despair, of doomed love, of hopelessness, the obsession and simulataneous triviliasation of death, the general mood of cynicism, pessimism and general mean-spirited unpleasantness. I don't know, there's nothing there that I've probably not enjoyed in other films, but on this occasion it really got to me and when the two hours finally dragged to a close I just left the cinema feeling really, really angry.

A horrible film.

JDIFF09: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TIME TRAVEL

Three friends meet in a pub (two geeks and one non-geek, the geeks being led by Chris O'Dowd) and stumble across a rift in time which happens to be occupying the gents' toilet. Hilarity and sci-fi shenanigans ensue.

Or so you'd think. Despite the occasional funny gag, laugh-out-loud moments are thin on the ground and for a comedy it's not that funny. Since the comedy is its primary purpose that's not good and the prospect of scoring a few extra points with decent sci-fi action never happens since it descends into the usual time travel questions and the effects are seriously hampered by the limited budget. This is a British film after all.

You could still scrape by in a film like this if you had the right chemistry but sadly it isn't to be. The three leads don't ever feel like three guys who hang out regularly and as lovely as Anna Faris is, she never feels like anything other than the token American guest star.

All in all a missed opportunity.

JDIFF09: EAMON

It was a packed house for the world premiere of this new Irish feature film from acclaimed short filmmaker Margaret Corkery, which tells the story of a hyperactive young boy, his selfish mother and her current boyfriend.

The lead peformances are all terrific and the film is a visual delight but it doesn't really feel like a finished product to me. The Q&A mentioned afterwards that it was the result of the Catalyst Project and that the script began with a workshop and was banged out in 20 days. Unfortunately it could probably have done with significantly more time being polished.

It feels like an easy criticism to make of a feature film from a predominantly shorts-based director, but the film really does look like a short film expanded to feature length. There's a lot of time spent emphasising the problems of each character and not enough getting the story moving. In short, we end up with a film that spends too much time getting to its destination and not enough time when it gets there.

Like HELEN, which I saw in Edinburgh and is playing in Dublin this week, the film leaves me in no doubt that the director is a major talent when directing but really needs a better script. The film feels, in both story and visual terms, like EDEN and RATCATCHER but never quite strikes the same balance of arty direction and solid script.

It's a very promising first feature but not without its flaws.

GFF09: Demons in the Dark

Another short film collection from the Glasgow Film Festival, this time encompassing weird little films from around the world.

DENNIS (Mads Matthiesen) is about a shy man with an enormously well-built body who still lives with his mum. Deserting her one night to go on a date, he soon finds things aren't looking as promising as they did to begin with. The film boasts a striking look - dark and gritty but also quite colourful in places - and the lead role overcomes the lack of dialogue to really pull you into his story.

STAND UP (Joseph Pierce) is a dark and disturbing stand-up comedy routine delivered in animated form, allowing the director to play around with the images brought to mind by the comedian's ranting. It's very dark indeed but a powerful little film that really delivers a punch.

DEAD DOG (Edward Jeffries) is a tale of one man's love for his dog and the lengths he'll go to when he thinks it's been injured. Nicely shot, the film boasts some slick editing and a couple of truly memorable scenes but felt to me like it didn't quite know how to end.

TERMINUS (Trevor Cawood) is a fantastic Canadian film that defies description. Beautifully shot with some terrific special effects, all I can say is that it is weird but in a lovable way, a crazy story about a commuter who upsets a rather strange creature. Like I said, there's no easy way to describe it, but it's brilliant.

LIFE OF A PIGEON (William Campbell) is a nice little pseudo-documentary in which a crew follow round a Glasgow man with a fondness for pigeons. Once he gets a drink in him however, it's no longer a friendly little chat about his favourite birds. Darkly humourous, it feels like a Scottish take on MAN BITES DOG. Another excellent little film.

AMATORUL (Marian Crisan) is a funny story about a man who earns extra income by spending his spare time letting people abuse him for money. It's a great idea with a likeable lead actor and some nice gritty black and white photography but the longer it goes on the more you begin to feel like the film has lost its way and in the end it's a case of ending with a whimper, not a bang.

KARAOKE (Carolina Hellsgard) follows the trials of an aging actress as she attends various auditions without success. Possibly the most competently shot film of the selection, but nothing much happens and I couldn't escape a feeling of "what's the point?" by the time it finished.

GFF09: Scottish Short Film Showcase

THE PROBLEM WITH PETS (Catriona Craig) is a funny little tale about a little girl who loves animals but begins to suspect that her mother's new boyfriend is deliberately killing them all. Good performances, a funny script and the contrast of a bright colourful setting with some very dark humour make this one a minor triumph.

FOUR FUR A FIVER (Silje Eirin Aure) is a documentary about the plight of Paddy's Market, a Glasgow working class institution which has been around since the 1800s but now faces closure as the lease expires and Glasgow councillors brand it a "crime ridden midden" home to drugs, prostitution etc. The film might work slightly better expanded with the full story but as the full story isn't yet known you can't really hold that against the film. What has been delivered is an nice little film with an interesting insight into the kind of Glasgow that the tourist board don't sell you.

SAMANTHA (Siri Rodnes) was the only one of the films I didn't really get. After the death of her grandmother, a young girl cuts loose and spends her time partying and getting wasted. And that's about it. Fair play to the filmmakers though, there are some really good performances and the film has some striking visuals and boasts some very good editing. Alas it's the story which has left me cold though.

FLASHED (Julian Krubasik) is a terrific little gem of a film with a simple (but odd) concept - a man stumbles across a photo-me booth which photographs the future. The story is clever but simple at the same time and deliveres a wonderful twist and some very nice effects. Excellent.

IRENE (Lindsay Goodall) is an acclaimed documentary short about three generations of women in the same family (the filmmaker, her mother and her ailing grandmother) and how they cope with the eldest suffering the onset of Alzheimer's. It's a wonderful film that is both devastatingly sad and also very touching. The only thing I'd say in terms of detraction is that while a lot of the humour is genuinely funny material, there was the odd moment where I found myself laughing at something funny that Irene said only for it to suddenly dawn on me that she'd only said it because of the failing faculties that have stricken her. Moments like this made me a little uncomfortable as I'm not sure whether I should be laughing or not, but that's a minor quibble with what is otherwise a terrific film.

I'M IN AWAY FROM HERE (Catriona MacInnes) is a tale of two men with disabilities and the adventure they have as they wander off from their youth club and take a stroll round Edinburgh. The story drags a little in places but strong central performances, good location work (the film was shot around Leith and Portobello) and an effective in-your-face shooting style compensate for it.

GFF09: NOSFERATU

David Allison, who recently played the GFT with his ST KILDA TAPES project, returned as part of the Glasgow Film Festival with his live score performance of the classic silent German vampire movie.

Using predominantly guitar the performer gradually layered other sounds on top of it and added the voiceover of a young Scottish lady (it makes sense in context, trust me) and created a very atmospheric soundscape against which the tale of Dracula (okay, Orlok) unfolded.

It's not the first time I've seen this version of the Dracula tale with live accompaniment but it's certainly the best.

GFF09: THE DUNGEON MOOR KILLINGS

Jim Hickey, who previously gave us FINDING BOB MCARTHUR, returns to Glasgow with another extremely low budget offering about the misadventures of a group of young Scots out in the Dumfries wilds who come across some rather sinister goings on.

Once again the budgetary constraints are obvious and the acting competent but hardly top notch, however that's not really what the film's about. This is all about getting out there and getting a film made rather than spending years getting finance and in that respect the strength shouldn't really be in the film so much as in what it hopefully inspires in other filmmakers.

That said, it's not without positives. There are some genuinely creepy moments, the cheap and nasty synth score gives many scenes an 80s video nasty vibe and there are some cracking gore effects. It's hardly original (judging by the Q&A I wasn't the only one thinking BLAIR WITCH PROJECT meets WILD COUNTRY) but then horror films rarely are. The former is a particuarly relevant comparison since it was an example where the low budget look worked in the film's favour - THE DUNGEON MOOR KILLINGS doesn't quite manage that but it's not far wrong.

Above all else though, for all its faults, it deserves praise for proving that Scottish people can actually make genre films (to illustrate this point, try naming five other Scottish horror movies). Who knows what we might be able to do if we actually got given any money.

Gobsmacking Cinema: THE BABY (1973)

Directed by Ted Post, who gave us the wonderful BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES, and improved no end by a Gerald Fried score that is by turns ominous and unmistakably seventies, this thriller has to be seen to be believed. I almost called it a horror movie, but to be honest I don't know how to classify it.

The story, which borders on ridiculous from the off, centres around a grown man with the mind of a baby, his domineering mother and the kind-hearted social worker who takes a special interest in the case. So far, so daft.

It gets odder though. As if the sight of a grown man wearing a nappy and making baby noises isn't strange (and vaguely uncomfortable) enough, the real action is yet to come. How about a sexual advance on him by a babysitter? How about that same babysitter having the crap beaten out of her by the man's mother?

Still not doing it for you? Okay, lets throw in a trippy birthday party, hints of incest and the impromptu use of tasers.

If I've still not convinced you, well, first of all, what's wrong with you? And secondly, you should still see this film anyway. It's colourful, it's totally deranged and it's like nothing else you've seen. You'll spend the whole film wondering if you should feel amused or disturbed.

Best of all, the highlight is saved for last. I won't spoil it here, but let's just say that the expected sensible action of the social worker taking some kind of court action against the mother never quite materialises, and the final scene... well, I still don't know if it's amazingly downbeat or stupidly happy but it's certainly interesting.

With no big names attached to it and presumably many markets not knowing what to make of such a crazy film, it's understandable that it has faded into obscurity. I'm not about to proclaim it as a classic (well, actually, maybe I am, though a classic of what I'm not sure) but urge anyone with a chance to see it to do so. Love it or hate it, you certainly won't forget it.

A drunken happening

Okay, I've been too lazy to write anything for a few days, so why not get someone else to do it for me?

A while back, I made a comment about M. Night Shyamalan's film THE HAPPENING in an email to a friend of mine. Alas, when he decided to respond to my email he'd just got back from a night out and was rather drunk.

That didn't stop him typing at length however, and one paragraph in particular filled me with such delight that I just had to reprint it here (yes, I did get his permission... once he'd sobered up). It's like gonzo journalism for the blogging age.

I should also state that I in no way condone the excessive use of alcohol, whether in pursuit of blogging greatness or not.

Anyway, here's that review, reprinted in its entirety, without any editing from me - because the crazy typing is where its drunken charm lies, really.

The Happening was a pile of shite, and i cant believ i actuakly wasted time watching it! Mark Whalberg, what was hw doing? Cause it wasnt acting!!! "I'm talking to a plastic plant! I'm still doing it!" WTF????? I didnt even enjoy it on a it's so bad its good kind og
f level. One of the worst films ever! M Night Symamthingy should justr give up now!!!

Brilliant. In the same email he did also write Firslty, Ghostbusters II is great! It's almost as good as the first one. It was on chanel 5 last weekend. You've just got t love the Statue of liberty 'higher and higher' bit, which is one of cinema's greatest ever moments!!! so make up your own mind as to whether that makes his opinion more or less valuable.

For what it's worth, I do recommend watching THE HAPPENING, precisely because it is so mind-bendingly awful that it is outrageously enjoyable. Evidently my drunken friend disagrees.