From pique to peak, my interest in the NZFF has seen a dramatic rise over the past half decade. Naturally, that interest level supervenes on my interest in cinema altogether, but don’t let that take away from the greatness our annual movie bonanza brings. My movie count may not be in the 20+ region (like 15% of you caffeine-blooded film-manic Flicksters), but each title potentially ooze quality (or hilarity)(or kick-asserty). There’s every chance they’ll fail miserably too. I’ve had my heart broken before. Nevertheless, in my flustered ignorance, here are my expectations of the following films I’m attending this year.
13 Assassins
Akira Kurosawa’s classic plus six. It’s simple maths, people. A group of assassins band together to take down an evil lord (and his army). Director Takashi Miike (of Audition fame) was given this script and told to go nuts. And nuts is what I want to see (please don’t quote that out of context). I find it slightly odd that this is categorised under Ant Timpson’s Incredibly Strange section. It seems pretty straightforward, and that’s what I’m hoping for. Well, actually what I’m REALLY hoping for is a bodacious two-hour samurai massacre, filled with an audience as blood-thirsty as I.
Arrietty
My love for Studio Ghibli matches that of Pixar, so their take on The Borrowers automatically secured itself a place on my list. Given how highly I praise them, my expectations match that height accordingly. So pretty much, I’m predicting Arrietty to be nothing short of amazing. This includes Ghibli’s trademark quality storytelling ability, masterful awe-inducing animation and that same intoxicating sense of wonder I got from seeing Ponyo at the Civic. Oh, and no English dub is a definite plus. It would be a tragic rarity for Arrietty to disappointed me. Then again, Ghibli has disappointed me once before.
Hobo With A Shotgun
The champions of the Tarantino and Rodriguez make-a-grindhouse-trailer competition took their winning idea and made it into a feature-length film. With Rutger Hauer at the helm, it looks set to put the B back into Bitchin’. While Planet Terror and Deathproof failed to capture the charming essence of the B-movie scene (opting more on tacky gimmicks), Hobo With a Shotgun seems to truly ‘get’ it, fully understanding what makes those drive-in essentials so damn entertaining. If you’re still in doubt about this one, check out their other short Treevenge. This is one hobo I can’t wait to ride shotgun with.
WARNING: The following short is amazingly violent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vaiv7kAXBzM
I Saw the Devil
I’m somewhat of a whore for manic Korean thrillers. Old Boy kicked my ass to the curb and from the few things I’ve heard about I Saw the Devil, I’m assuming I’ll receive that same joyful beating. I’ve purposely avoided seeing anything else on it, so I’m halving my expectations.
Jiro Dreams of Sushi
There’s always a space reserved for one documentary at every NZ International Film Fest. It was a tough race between Jiro and Miss Representation, but raw fish edged out Western gender discourses by a split fraction of a nose hair. There are two reasons for this:
1) The documentary explores the ins and outs of an 85-year-old master class sushi artist and his ten-seater bar located in a subway station, considered to be the finest place for sushi in Japan (and thus, the world). That premise alone fascinates me.
2) I freakin’ love sushi.
My expectations: I’ll leave with traumatic hunger pains.
KNUCKLE
OK, so maybe there’s room for TWO documentaries, but this one was more of a family decision than my own (father, brother, me, Irish blood, ya see). Nevertheless, KNUCKLE grabbed my attention, and it’s not solely due to its caps-locked title. The idea of two rival Irish families ritualistically participating in semi-annual bare-knuckle fighting is incredibly strange (hence the Incredibly Strange section) and incredibly intriguing. Spanning over a decade, I’m bound to leave the cinema with a sense of fulfilled fascination. Or with a need to punch someone, drink something, tap dance in me Leprechaun hat and other such stereotypes.
Metropolis
What do I expect from this classic German sci-fi? It’s the most difficult prediction I have to make on this list. Having never seen Metropolis before, it’s a treat to be able to witness it first on the big screen. I’ve stapled my predictions down to two possible reactions. I may leave impressed and fascinated at the universe created by filmmakers living at the birth-end of cinematic life. Then there’s every chance this 1927 classic will show its dried-up prune-ish wrinkles. At 150 minutes length, I just hope I can leave appreciating something out of it. Surely I will. Probably.
Nosferatu
The other film in the terribly old category heralds no ambiguous expectations from me. Nosferatu is going to astound. That is a truth. With the Auckland Philly leading the charge, my soul will be presented on a platter for this classic to devour. Like Metropolis, I haven’t seen a single moving frame of Nosferatu (aside from one particularly brilliant episode of Spongebob Squarepants). This won’t be my first NZFF live cinema experience (I gave that pleasure to Gold Rush), but it will definitely not be my last (I‘ll give that pleasure to Fantasia which, lets face it, will never happen).
Supinfocom
Me and my brother always make an attempt to catch one short film screening of anything during the fest. We’ve delved from homegrown dramas to ‘toons for kids, but the most gruelling experiences are the sets involving pretentious art house Euro-trash. However, no matter what genre the collection revolves around, there will always be the one short that takes us by surprise. Of course, that’s always followed by one that reeks of shit and balls (I blacked out for 5 minutes at one of them). So what do I expect from the Supinfocom animated shorts collection? The exact same thing.
Space Battleship Yamato
I’m not particularly aware of the Japanese source material that Space Battleship Yamato derives from (my brother picked this one). Regardless, I’m prepared to have my eyeballs dunked in a CG tsunami. Plot’s gonna come second as far as I’m concerned. It’s premise is super wacky (space-fleets, Gamilons and time-warping, oh my!), and I’m totally down with that. My main fear is how the film will balance its story with its set pieces. I’ve had two hours of my life taken away due to deceptively drab, irritating, convoluted storylines in the past (goddamn you, Sky Crawlers). Here’s hoping Yamato differs.
The Trip
Being that I am one of the four people in the entire world who felt disappointed by Sideways, I expect this wine-filled Coogan-Brydon road-movie to hit the target that Giamatti-Church somehow missed (for me at least). The movie will be hilarious. I have no doubts about that. However, the trailer gives us little more than two comedians on tour batting one-liners and freakish celeb impressions back and forth (as fantastic as they are). I do wonder how much heart there will be hidden under the hood (if any at all). I’m prepared to be surprised… if that’s even remotely possible.
Troll Hunter
Awwwwwwwww heeeeeeeelllllllllllllll yyyyyyyyyyeahhhhh! Now that I can pry open my crossed fingers, I will proceed to retract them and punch the air in absolute delight knowing that Troll Hunter is getting a slot in the fest. Ever since Cloverfield, the found-footage genre has been suffering from over-saturation, especially in the fantasy/horror genre. This Norwegian film manages to stand out however, choosing to ditch the straight-faced approach of its competitors and opting for more balls-out awesomeness. The other movies on this list have me imploding with unprecedented anticipation, but I’m predicting Troll Hunter to be the one I remember most fondly.
