EIFF official site

'Hot Enough for June' : overview/round-up for Tribune

preview article for Tribune magazine
Somers Town preview for EIFF website
my video interview with Brian Cox for EIFF website
review of EIFF opener, The Edge of Love




>> reviews for THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

*****
With a Girl of Black Soil  
  "A skillful but somewhat familiar-seeming example of tough-childhood cinema gradually builds into the latest Korean masterpiece."

****
Somers Town  
  "A marvelous, pitch-perfect evocation of teenage friendship in modern London."
Three Miles North of Molkom   
  "Accessibly engaging chronicle of a new-age festival takes participants and audience on a worthwhile 'spiritual journey.'"
Time To Die 
  "A delightful study of an elderly lady, her house and her dog."

***     
Trouble Sleeping  
  "Multi-character drama about Edinburgh refugees gets full marks for effort but is often let down by amateurish execution."
We Went To Wonderland
  "Rough-edged, genial family travelogue has some intriguing, timely cultural subtexts."
Dummy      
  "Intense British drama of family grief is undermined by script problems."
Mum & Dad       
  "Economic, effective British shocker breaks little new ground."
Bigga Than Ben      
  "Caspian star adds unexpected marquee value to scrappy tale of Muscovite youth in London."
The New 10 Commandments       
   "Compendium of shorts on topical human-rights themes is predictably uneven, but hits more often than it misses."
Faintheart    
  "By-the-numbers British comedy has plenty of heart, but laughs are ... faint."
Left Bank   
  "Slow-burningly atmospheric Belgian horror careers into incoherent absurdity."
Fairytale of Kathmandu   
  "A controversial, troubling documentary on innocence and exploitation that raises more questions than it can answer."
Paradise   
  "A bittersweet hour of love, marriage - and wallpaper - Swedish-style."
Wellness     <<< NEW 3.AUGUST
  "Uncomfortable journey into the dark side of the American dream is rough-edged and bleakly comic, but ultimately a bit 'so what?' "
Jesus Christ Saviour     <<< NEW 3.AUGUST
  "Immaculately-reconstructed chronicle of a chaotic spoken-word performance is an offbeat time-capsule curio."
The Upsetter     <<< NEW 3.AUGUST
  "Vibrant but over-conventional profile of legendary and wildly unconventional musician/producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry."

**
Helen
  "Overwrought pseudo-existentialist drama looks terrific but strains for significance."
Warsaw Dark
  "One of the world's leading cinematographers directs a pretentious, overcooked underworld quasi-thriller."



>> for TRIBUNE
The Visitor
  "... this old-style crowdpleaser must be measured an admirable success."


>> for JIGSAW LOUNGE
{brief "mop-up" reviews of these titles will be posted by the end of August}
   new films
Encounters at the End of the World (UK release tbc)
A Film With Me In It (UK release tbc)
Of Time and the City (UK release 31.Oct.08)
The Princess of Nebraska (UK release tbc)
Red (UK theatrical release unlikely)
sleep furiously (UK release tbc)
Summer (UK release-date tbc)
Transsiberian (UK release-date tbc)
   Jeanne Moreau retrospective
The Adolescent
The Bride Wore Black
Diary of a Chambermaid
Jules et Jim
Lift to the Scaffold
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



JL's best of the festival (new films only)
9/10   With a Girl of Black Soil
8/10   Encounters at the End of the World; Of Time and the City; Somers Town
7/10   Donkey Punch; The Fall; sleep furiously; Summer;
            Three Miles North of Molkom; Time To Die; The Visitor
6+/10 The New Ten Commandments; We Went To Wonderland



CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF FILMS SEEN

Tue 17    
TROUBLE SLEEPING : [5/10] : UK 2008 : Robert RAE : 103m :  FH1 press : THR review
HELEN : [4/10] : UK 2008 : Christine MOLLOY & Joe LAWLOR : 78m : CW3 press : THR review

Wed 18    
WE WENT TO WONDERLAND : [6+/10] : UK 2008 : Xiaolu GUO : 72m : FH2 press : THR review

Thu 19    
MUM & DAD : [6/10] : UK 2008 : Steven SHEIL : 84m : seen at FH2, press/industry screening : THR review
LIFT TO THE SCAFFOLD : [8/10] : Ascenseur pour l'échafaud : France 1958 : Louis MALLE : 89m (BBFC timing) : FH1 public (complimentary ticket) 
WARSAW DARK : [4/10] : aka Izolator : Poland 2008 : Christopher DOYLE : 87m (EIFF timing) : FH2 press : THR review
OF TIME AND THE CITY : [8/10] : UK 2008 : Terence DAVIES : 74m : CW2 public (£8.00)
sleep furiously : [7/10] : UK 2008 : Gideon KOPPEL : 94m : CW6 public (£6.40)

Fri 20     
DUMMY : [5/10] : UK 2008 : Matthew THOMPSON : 88m : CW10 press : THR review
THREE MILES NORTH OF MOLKOM : [7/10] : UK 2007 : Robert CANNAN & Corinna VILLARI-McFARLANE : 110m : CW6 public (£6.40) : THR review

Sat 21     
WITH A GIRL OF BLACK SOIL : [9/10] : Geomen tangyi sonyeo oi : S.Korea/Fr 2007 : JEON Soo-il : 87m : FH3 press : THR review
DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID : [7/10] : Le journal d'une femme de chambre : France/Ity 1964 : Luis BUÑUEL : 96m : FH1 public (£6.50)
TIME TO DIE : [7/10] : Pora Umierać : Poland 2007 : Dorota KĘDZIERZAWSKA : 109m : CW10 public (£8.00) : THR review
THE VISITOR : [7/10] : USA 2007 : Thomas McCARTHY : 103m : CW3 public (£6.40) : Tribune review
RED : [6/10] : USA 2008 : Trygve Allister DIESEN and Lucky McKEE : 93m : CW6 public (£6.40)

Sun 22    
JULES ET JIM : [6+/10] : aka Jules and Jim : France 1962 : Francois TRUFFAUT : 102m : FH1 public (£4.50) - digital projection (grrrr!)

   ~  ~  ~

Tue 24    
WELLNESS : [6/10] : USA 2007 : Jake MAHAFFY : 89m : CW6 public (£6.40) : THR review
THE UPSETTER : [6/10] : USA 2008 : Ethan HIGBEE, Adam BHALA LOUGH : 90m : FH2 public (£6.40) : THR review
SUMMER : [7/10] : UK 2008 : Kenny GLENAAN : 82m : FH1 public (£6.40)

Wed 25    
BIGGA THAN BEN - A GUIDE TO RIPPING OFF LONDON : [6/10] : aka Bigga Than Ben - A Russians' Guide to Ripping Off London aka Bigga Than Ben : UK 2008 (copyright-dated 2007) : S. A. HALEWOOD : 82m : FH2 press : THR review
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD : [8/10] : USA 2007 : Werner HERZOG : 99m : FH2 press
TRANSSIBERIAN : [5/10] : Spain/Fr/Ger/Lith 2007 : Brad ANDERSON : 111m : CW7 press
PARADISE : [6/10] : Paradiset : Sweden 2007 : Jerzy SLADKOWSKI : 58m : CW6 public (£6.40) : THR review
JESUS CHRIST SAVIOUR : [6/10] : Jesus Christus Erlöser : Germany 2008 : Peter GEYER : 84m : FH1 public : THR review

Thu 26    
THE NEW TEN COMMANDMENTS : [6+/10] : UK 2008 : various directors : 101m : FH2 press : THR review
THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA : [6/10] : USA 2007 : Wayne WANG : 78m : CW6 press

Fri 27    
FAINTHEART : [5/10] : UK 2008 : Vito ROCCO : 90m : CW : THR review
THE ADOLESCENT : [4/10] : L'adolescente aka An Adolescent Girl : France 1979 : Jeanne MOREAU : 92m : FH1 public (£6.50)
THE BRIDE WORE BLACK : [5/10] : La Mariée était en noir : France 1968 (copyright-dated 1967) : Francois TRUFFAUT : 106m : FH1 public (£6.50)
A FILM WITH ME IN IT : [6/10] : Ireland 2008 : Ian FITZGIBBON : 88m approx : CW2 public (£8.00)
FAIRYTALE OF KATHMANDU : [6/10] : Ireland/UK 2008 : Neasa NI CHIANAIN : 62m : FH2 public (£8.00) : THR review
LEFT BANK : [6?/10] : Linkeroever : Belgium 2008 : Pieter VAN HEES : 102m approx : FH2 public (£8.00) : THR review


key : FH = Filmhouse; CW = Cineworld
underlined timings are hand-timed, rounded up or down to the nearest minute




Seen beforehand:
[8/10] Somers Town
[7/10] Donkey Punch
           The Fall
[6/10] Elite Squad
           Just Another Love Story
           Let the Right One In
           Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day 
           Timecrimes
           Vogelfrei
[5/10] Eat, For This Is My Body
           The Edge of Love
           The King of Ping Pong













still online: 2007 coverage