This may have been my last day at the press screenings for Tribeca. This means that I will not be in theater four bright and early with the great crew headed by Carly, Neal (who left Tuesday) and the other wonderful people who helped me wake up six of the past 8 mornings. You guys and girls made it worth getting out of bed in the morning. Seriously, knowing I could kibitz for a couple minutes with you got my days off to a great start. If I do get in tomorrow I'll see you all bright and early.
I'm completely understanding how people carry and use their bible every day since my Tribeca Press book has been my life line these past 8 days. Everything I needed to know was there. How ill I survive without its answers?
While the day ended in theater four, it did not begin there which meant it was an off day. I saw four films and wasn't thrilled with any of them.
TRISHNA is Michael Winterbottom's adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Its about a young woman who gets involved with the son of a rich tycoon. It kind of looks good but that's about it. I never connected with anyone, and very little of it felt real. Worse the films style of constant motion wither in the rapid editing or camera movement made me think this was a new film in the Bourne series. I need not see it ever again.
LOLA VERSUS is a cutesy smart ass film about a young New Yorker who in the wake of being dumped by her fiance looks into other options. I love the NYC locations. I think the script is frequently witty. The trouble is not only are the characters overly vapid and of a cliche New York type, the film moves along covering territory that we've seen any number of times, especially in its cliche inde style. Its not bad, but at the same time, why couldn't this cast and this director ad writers have done something truly worthy of their talents?
KNIFE FIGHT well acted story of a political trouble shooter and his clients. Things get complicated as a doctor tries to convince him to help her run for Governor of California. The film trades gripping drama for long speeches about the way things really are. I wanted a movie to be entertained not a polemic where the characters spout off position points. Give it points for an attempt at being more than just mass entertainment, but take them away because it's neither entertaining nor all that informative.
Truly uninformative, especially if you know anything about the subject, is BROKE, an ESPN work in progress film about how athletes go broke after they quit the game. A series of rapid fire talking heads shot against fancy backgrounds, this film is a simple relating of things we already know. Why is this film is 80 minutes long? There is a germ of a good idea here, but it need to be completely re-edited. The rapid fire cutting means that no one builds up steam and no one puts anything in perspective. It's a five minute puff piece blown all to hell. Its not bad, but completely unnecessary, especially if you know anything about the subject. Its absolutely the weakest documentary I've seen connected to ESPN by a good measure.
And with that I headed home.
Pwrhaps I'll be back tomorrow, perhaps not...
I'll keep you posted. However I should point out that reviews from Tribeca continue until next Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment