Street Fight - Reaction

A compelling documentary, which should induce anger or outrage in any viewer, about the 2002 electoral race in Newark between the underdog, a Stanford- and Yale-educated Rhodes scholar, and the mayor, head of the political machine and doer of mean, underhanded, sometimes criminal tricks. The mayoral battle shows examples of corrupt power and racial politics (despite that both candidates are African-American). The sleazy mayor resorts to negative ads, to outright lies, and even to criminal activity. If my description of the candidates seems one-sided, it's because the maker of the documentary clearly has a perspective. But then, that's pretty natural because one side provided access and the other did not.

Although the documentary is about a dirty campaign in the microcosm of local Newark politics, the themes aren't limited to Newark. Indeed, it feels like an election that could've taken place in any third-world country. It touches on first amendment issues: freedom of the press (e.g., denying access of the documentary maker to the mayor's public events) and freedom of speech (e.g., selective police prosecution of people who erect signs supporting the underdog). Furthermore, the simple fact that the documentary only covers intangibles about the candidates, not issues, makes a statement about politics.

This is the director/producer's first full-length movie. He paid for it out of his own pocket. I'm glad he made it.

My Best Friend (Mon Meilleur Ami) - Reaction

[French]

A lovely, sensitive, sweet French comedy-drama about an antiques dealer who needs to find a true friend, not a contact or business associate. Given the setting and the way unexpected twists appear, the clearly contrived premise may even stray into sit-com territory. Nevertheless, the result is a good, rewarding film that may be called a romantic-comedy--just one about male friendship rather than romance--or better yet a "buddy movie." The great acting is a nice bonus.

Although my description may make the film sound light, it's actually pregnant with sentimental humanist themes about the difficulty of making new friends and about the meaning of friendship. Or, if you're thinking a little darker, it could be about using gifts to compensate for social alienation. That is, should you buy your friends? Regardless of how you read it, the director has made "cannily crafted entertainment" (Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com) that combines "sympathy for his characters with a quick wit, a dark undertow and a love of human peculiarity" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times).

Dirty Dancing - Reaction

A fairly entertaining, sweet dancing movie / summer love story set in a hotel in the Catskills. Made in the 80s but portraying the early 60s, it's about loss of innocence. In the grand view, this means America's loss of innocence and class struggles. In the local view, it refers to a particular girl's journey into womanhood.

The story, not unlike Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story, has simple characters, played straight. Nevertheless, the movie holds up to multiple viewings.

There's a spot about an hour into the film when it could've ended.

I found the writer/producer commentary interesting and detailed.

Incidentally, the film briefly includes an amazing tap dancer. (I don't know his name.)

The War Within - Reaction

A scary, unsettling, topical drama about a man who is wrongly (?) picked up as a terror suspect and is interrogated/tortured. (We see this through some disturbing, gruesome flashbacks.) The man leaves prison with a hatred of America. The "mostly well wrought" (source of quote) film about a "mild-mannered zealot" (source of quote) is mainly marred by the portrayal of the main character. I wish I could read him more. It could be poor acting. It could intentional. Given the commentary about what was intended in certain scenes, I believe it was the latter, which I think was a poor directing choice. In contrast, the supporting character, the old friend, is particularly good.

The title, The War Within, refers to the war within a man, within a family, within America, and within Islam. The film deals with the American dream (as seen through a New Jersey family), how we influence the younger generation, the interplay between immigration and assimilation, and whether we can truly know the people close to us. Also, obviously, the movie directly addresses the point that America's secret prisons where torture occurs can create terrorists.

In the special features, I observed the deleted scenes were deleted for a reason: they change the feel of certain relationships or reveal things in the wrong order.

District B13 - Reaction

[French]

A decent, mindless action movie with slick stunts. It's about a bomb in a French barrio. Set in the near future. I especially liked that much of the action involved parkour. (One main character is played by one the founders of parkour.) Plus, the occasional slow-motion Matrix-like shots were a nice touch. The film obviously touches on the recent social unrest in the poor districts near Paris.

The DVD itself is remarkably bad.

• The previews were for movies that looked so bad, I'll forever remember the name of the production company and in order to avoid its movies.
• The menu screens on the DVD had what appeared to be bad artwork, like that one sees in a video game, as the background. They could easily have taken an arbitrary frame from the movie and it would've looked better.
• The English dubbed audio was enabled by default. Although it was bad and I switched it off after a few lines, my real complaint here was that this foreign film assumed the viewer wanted to watch the dubbed version. This is the first film I've seen in a long time that made this incorrect presumption.

On the other hand, the DVD's hour-long making-of documentary was quite well done.

Row Hard, No Excuses - Reaction

A striking, intense, personal narrative documentary about two men who enter a competition to row across the Atlantic. (Don't think about ordinary rowboats--these are sizable boats because they must hold all the food for the multi-month journey.) The film is about the hardships they encounter, both physical and emotional, which are not what they expected / planned for. Despite me not being that interested in the rowing aspect, it's a pretty good movie, skillfully edited together from the videotapes the rowers made while en route and footage the director recorded before and after the journey.

The movie speaks about what it means to consider one's self a success and why people do the things they do. Relatedly, it deals with the men's relationships with their fathers. Thus, it explores "masculinity, midlife, and ambition." Also, it shows different ways people work together in teams constantly in each other's presence under intense conditions for weeks on end.

After the screening, the director and one of the men answered questions from the audience. They told some great stories. (Q&As are one reason I love film festivals.) One story described how the men were nearly hit by a huge cargo ship in the middle of the night, and how the sailors on the ship were perplexed why anyone would want to row across the ocean. Judging by the questions, most of the audience rowed. (Incidentally, the starring men were generally emotionally distant in the film. Judging by the one starring man at the Q&A, this impression was justified.)

Sexina: Popstar, P.I. - Reaction

A super-campy, fun film about a pop star, a la Britney Spears, who fights crime. It's infectious. I'm not sure why it's so much fun. It's not a rational reaction. Deserving special commendation is the great opening song in the style of a Bond theme, and the awesome, fake bear attack. My only complaint is that the film is a little too long--near the end, it becomes a bit sappy and therefore slower.

Many cast and crew members answered questions after the screening.