confessions of an amateur cineaste

* Lars von Trier’s new film The Boss of It All… is an office comedy. I know. The trailer is basically the best thing ever… “from the director of [many seriously depressing films] comes an office comedy”. I thought it was very funny, but it being von Trier it is pretty wanky in regards to many things, including comic film, the stage, & corporate culture. I will probably wind up buying it, though, because Jens Albinus is brilliant in the role of the actor chosen to play “the boss of it all”.

* Far and away the most awesome SIFF experience was the world premiere of Blood on the Flat Track: Rise of the Rat City Rollergirls. Basically the entire league was at the movie, all dressed up and excited beyond belief. I have never been to a screening with that kind of energy before. It blew Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings midnights out of the water, for serious and true. Objectively, it would have been a stronger documentary if it had included some outside voices, but who cares? It’s derby! It’s awesome! It was clearly a labor of love, as is the entire derby culture. For. The. Win.

* Press around Confession of Pain has made a lot of the connections to Infernal Affairs, but sadly, it isn’t as good. I was in it for Tony Leung & Takeshi Kaneshiro, and they were both worth the watching. It’s definitely not the sort of role I am used to seeing Leung in, and that was awesome. It was a fine story & good cinematography, and of course the cast was great, but the story didn’t zing with me like IA’s did.

* My last film was probably the best, The Bubble, a queer-themed film set in Tel Aviv. It starred the charismatic Ohad Knoller (who played Yossi in the heartbreaking Yossi & Jagger) & was excellent all-round except I look forward to the day when Fox makes a queer film where no one dies. Though at least in his films, people die because of politics & war rather than their sexuality, which is a nice change.

…and, that’s it for this year! Coming soon — three free previews, and a whole whack of titles from Netflix. Rock on.