IFFR 1999: The end

IFFR 1999, the end

Project A, Survival Guide to the IFFR 1999

Review: American History X

DIRECTOR: Tony Kaye

CAST: Edward Norton, Edward Furlong, Beverly D'Angelo, Jennifer Lien, Stacy Keach, Guy Torry

Oh man, talk about icing on the cake! This was one hell of a surprise movie that took the festivalcake all together. An intelligent movie of epic proportions about right wing extremism in California. From the pictures it's very clear this is a movie made by a photographer and ad director. Everything is composed so clear, so full of detail and so balanced that anyone who watches this is immediately focussed to every second he sees. It doesn't even feel like a two and a half hour ride, because there's not a moment spent in vain. Every part: the story, the music, the dialog, the flashbacks, the colors, the black and white, is exactly where it should be. This is the kind of movie that is so powerful it will make anyone think and maybe even change his mind. The kind of movie I will watch again and again.

Recensie: No Trains, No Planes

DIRECTOR: Jos Stelling

CAST: Dirk van Dijck, Katja Schuurman, Ellen ten Damme

Dus dit is de film waarmee het filmfestival afgesloten moest worden? Ik denk dat festivaldirecteur Simon Fields zich rotgeschaamd moet hebben. Dit wanprodukt van Nederlandse bodem is de zoveelste film op rij die het niet waard is om vertoond te worden. Flinterdun verhaal, gebaseerd op een boek wat waarschijnlijk niet veel beter zal zijn, stereotype karaktertjes, gespeeld op een manier die zelfs door de leden van de plaatselijke toneelvereniging beter neergezet kan worden.

Review: Fishes in August

DIRECTOR: Yoichiro Takahashi

CAST: Keni Mizuhashi, Ayumi Ito, Ren Osugi

With every Japanese film I get more and more convinced they are masters at making philosophical cinematic statements. This movie about a pubescent boy in the twilight of maturity finding out about new feelings, situations and relationships the hard way is refined and magical. Excellent.

Review: The Item

DIRECTOR:

CAST:

The Item is not about the story at all, it's all about the feeling of seedyness and gore in B-film and bad horror, splatter and comic books. It's an over the top magnification of all things gory. In that it succeeds, but it would have been nice if there was some storyline to enjoy instead of only some absurd dialog, a weird sex scene and lots and lots of blood.

Review: Rush Hour

DIRECTOR: Brett Ratner

CAST: Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker, Elizabeth Peña, Mark Rolston

I know we should be overly excited about a new Jackie Chan movie, since we're named after one of his films, but this just doesn't cut it. The action is excellent and the fighting is carefully orchestrated and fun, but the rest is just total bullshit. A very flimsy storyline and silly casting make it bad. Especially the pairing of Jackie Chan to oddball Chris Tucker, who is merely doing an Eddie Murphy ripoff act. Not good.