Still Burn (2018) Neighboring Scenes 2019

Still Burn is a film I like more in theory than in execution. The film is director Mauricio Alfredo Ovando‘s look at his grandfather, a general who became President of Bolivia via the official record, and the memory of his family and affected by his grandfather’s actions. When the film works it is an interesting look at the collection of history and memory and how our connections to people color how we see the world.

Unfortunately the film doesn’t always work. Part of the problem is that unless you know Bolivian history you will be a bit adrift as events are discussed. More than a couple of times I found I was just going with things because I didn’t fully understand what the discussion meant.

The bigger problem is the film is a little too full of clips odd sources and home movies that give us some sense of the family (when they aren’t fleeting) but really don’t connect up to anything. I think much of the first 25 minutes is made up of home movies where – and his family talk about the fleeting images (“Oh that must have been someone’s birthday” or “There is cousin…”) There is so much that I kind of tunes out. Once we get about a third or quarter of the way into the film it begins to come together, but there is always a sense of disconnect.

Ultimately this is noble miss. It is a film I like more in principle than in actuality.

Buy Me A Gun (2018) Neighboring Scenes 2019

Much too meandering and slightly unfocused film set in the near future where cartels control the country and there are almost no women. The plot concerns a man who runs a baseball field and keeps his daughter disguised so she isn't snatched up and carried off.

Good looking film doesn't know who to focus on. Is this the story of the father whose desperate attempts to remain on the good side of his masters make up a good chunk of the film or is it on the kids who wander through the film?  They should have focused on the lives of the kids because that is where the interesting stuff is. In the brief glimpses we get we get an intriguing look at how kids survive in horrible circumstances. The kowtowing to authority stuff is no where near as interesting.

While never a bad film it  never really engages with our eyes and hearts constantly longing for time with the kids over the adults.

Neighboring Scenes 2019: Outer Edge and There Will Come Soft Rain

Outer Edge
Ethereal and trippy drama cum romance about two people who meet, fall in love and come apart and the people who orbit them. More form over content film is going to be a film some people love more than others. With its occasional narration, direct addressing of the audience and mystical feel this is not a film that will click with everyone. Personally I enjoyed the ride to the end but when it was done it didn’t make much an impression, being more of a nice scenic trip somewhere rather than a life changing experience. Of course I recognize that there are some people who will love the film so my advice is if the description of the film intrigues you give it a shot.

There Will Come Soft Rain
Excellent science fiction film about what happens to a bunch of kids when one day the adults fall asleep and the kids have to fend for themselves. Mystical, dreamlike (and echoing Ray Bradbury) the film is one that initially takes the subject of what would happen if the kids are suddenly left alone before veering off in unexpected ways. I was strangely delighted by the film which takes a well-worn sub-genre and turns it into something unique. You will forgive my lack of discussion about the film but half way through I realized I need to see the film again because what the film was different than my expectations and I wasn’t as open to it as I should have been. I need to revisit so I can truly see the film for what it is. Regardless this film is highly recommended for anyone who thinks they’ve seen every version of the end of the world genre.

The Wolf House (2018) Neighboring Scenes 2019

Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León‘s THE WOLF HOUSE is one of the best films you are likely to see all year. I’m still pondering where it stands in the pantheon of animated films. At the same time I’m not sure how big the audience for it will be. The film which is a kind of fairy tale is based on what happened in the the Dignity Colony, a German immigrant community in Chile where abuse ran rampant.

It begins with a live action film about the Colony. A narrator tells us what a great and wonderful place it is and how good the honey is. The film then shifts into an animated tale found at the Colony. It’s the story of Anna, a young girl who is punished for letting three pigs escape. Told she will spend a 100 days without being able to speak with anyone, so she escapes and ends up in a house with two of the pigs. Outside a wolf lurks. As Anna waits for the wolf to go away the pigs morph into a boy and girl. Forming a family, Anna begins to treat the kids as she was taught in the Colony.

Surreal doesn’t begin to describe this ever changing feast for the eye and brain. Using a mix of every type of animation the story and of her charges evolves from moment and moment as reality becomes less certain. It’s incredibly hypnotic to the point that you’ll need multiple viewings to see all the little visual clues and riffs lurking everywhere. I wanted to right down all of the things passing before my eyes but I couldn’t look away because there was simply too much going on. Reality truly is what we deem it to be.

It is all deeply disturbing partly because watching the film in the dark never puts us on any solid ground. Literally nothing stays the same, everything constantly changes to the point where we don’t know what reality is because the images are always morphing. The fairy tale structure further divorces us from reality as does the fact that Anna descends into the cult mindset over the course of the film. There is a kind of creeping madness all through the film and it infects us and our view of reality.

Away from the visceral gut punch there are all sorts of things to ponder, but you'll for give me if I leave you to discover them since I am still processing, and because you truly need to see how they are presented so you understand what and how exactly the film is making its points.

This is one of the best films I've seen this year. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to walk on the dark side and have their heads messed with.

THE WOLF HOUSE plays Saturday night at Lincoln Center as part of Neighboring Scenes. For more information and tickets go here.

Murder Me Monster (2018) Neighboring Scenes 2019

For most of its running time Murder Me Monster is a nifty police procedural about a serial killer in a rural village in the mountains that feels like David Lynch and HP Lovecraft had an evil love child that was delivered in the third row of the local art house. And then things get weird and I’m not quite sure what I think.

Opening with one hell of an opening shot where a woman stumbles through some sheep and into the frame. Her eyes are searching around for something as blood dribbles off her neck. Her eyes go wide as her head falls back and her head begins to tear off. She then reaches up and tries to put her head back on… From there we get the story of a local cop who tries to sort out who is behind the killings (more people die) and whether his lover’s husband has anything to do with them.

Dark, moody and incredibly brooding this is a film that grabs you and draws you in and takes you into the heart of darkness. Director Alejandro Fadel has a lot on his mind and he is going to get it out in some long discussions that add to the oppressive mood. Fadel plays this as a serial killer flick with supernatural over tones for much of the film. Yes we know there is something in the darkness well before the officials, but the fact that they don’t know colors what they talk about.  And once we all know what the hell is going on it changes everything but still keeps us feeling rather disturbed.

How you feel about the movie is going to be altered once we get a good look at the monster in the darkness. A disturbing beast that clearly crawled out of someone’s psychotic sexual dreams, it’s a beast that is destined to go down in movie monster lore for all time. You may chuckle at it a little bit, I did, but my ultimate reaction was “that’s just fucked up”. And while I am not a fan of the tail, he rest of the beast is going haunt you forever…

…but as good as the monster is on a purely visceral level it makes no sense. There is a point where you realize that what the creature doesn’t really fit with what happens in the film. Don’t get me wrong it looks good, it and the mood created by the rest of the film deeply disturbs but there is going to be moment either during the film or after where you’re going to realize it, and several other things, doesn’t make sense...however the feeling on unease will never leave you.

My quibbling aside Murder Me Monster disturbs, deeply, from start to finish and is highly recommended for anyone who wants to see a deeply visceral highbrow horror film.

Festivals upon Festivals all week long

I hope you all have been enjoying the coverage of The Winter Film Awards International Film Festival that has exploded this weekend. I want to let you know that the plan is to continue to bring you coverage through the end of the festival next weekend. So if you're enjoying it be happy more is coming.

If you haven't been  enjoying it I just wanted to let you know that we'll be having a lot of other coverage of three other festivals this week as well...

The Museum of Modern Art's Documentary Fortnight starts Friday and we'll have a little coverage. While I would like to do  more life, and a schedule that din't thrill me has gotten in the way. Forgive me for saying I'm trying to rekindle my love of doing Unseen by seeing films I want to see and MOMA's slate, while having some great films (which I saw already) didn't have a ton of new stuff I needed to see. Watch for coverage to drop closer to time.

Lincoln Center's Neighboring Scenes runs next weekend it has some great,and some greatly disturbing films. We are going to have coverage of half dozen or more titles and there are some winners there. I highly recommend, with the warning they are dark and disturbing, THE WOLF HOUSE and MURDER ME, MONSTER both of which ill mess with your head something fierce.

One of the great festivals of every year The New York International Children's Film Festival hits Friday and we will be wading in. Look for as much coverage as I can muster over the next four weekends. Again life is interfering and while I will miss the opening night for probably the first time in a decade I am attending several full days of screenings. I have only seen one film so far, PENGUIN HIGHWAY, which I saw last year at Fantasia so look for a repost later in the week. Reviews of everything else will come as I see the films....and we may end up with reports from my niece who is psyched up for her first day at the festival.

Last I want to let you all know that the awesome Queens World International Film Festival which runs March 21 to 31 has announced it killer slate (go here) and it has tickets on sale. I haven't had a chance to really look at the slate yet (working on this weeks four festivals has kicked me to the curb) but I know it's all good, it always is. If you want to get tickets for something great then buy a ticket for PALACE which I've seen and will be reviewing shortly. For more information on the rest and all the insanity connected to the fest go here.