Mainly Safety Not Guaranteed stuck out from the MIFF program because it starred the appealing Aubrey Plaza (Parks and Recreation - though the jury's out re: in real life or whatever 'in character' version of it the internet passes for), but it turned out to be a really sweet and often funny film about regrets, finding yourself, young(ish) love and time travel.
There's a scene in the film's second half where the eccentric, troubled time travel machine inventor plays Aubrey Plaza's character a song (written for his dead girlfriend) on the zither as they sit outside by a fire, which sounds and at first seemed unbearably precious, but which changed my how I felt about it, winning me over, as the song and scene went on; it felt like a turning point in my response to the film.
Anyhow, the algebra of Indie movies: a bit of Donnie Darko (significantly lightened up) with a touch of Garden State etc, a dash of Margot at the Wedding 'realism' and a slight Wes Anderson (time travel machine = jaguar shark in The Life Aquatic?) vibe...perfect for a Friday night.
We'd decided to do two back to back, and next up (supposedly 11.30 but started more like midnight) was Killer Joe. The MIFF volunteer/usher got us nervous beforehand by taking it on himself to warn the queue that the film had some very disturbing scenes, and telling people to vomit into bags (rather than into our laps, presumably); it is a nasty film, Matthew McConaughey doing well with one of those roles that allows him to make overt what has always been latent in his filmic personality (nb: I've always disliked him anyway) as the sadistic, murderous titular character who comes into the orbit of a redneck Texas trailer park family to their cost. Not the kind of film I'd usually watch, but it was hard to look away from.
(w/ Meribah)
There's a scene in the film's second half where the eccentric, troubled time travel machine inventor plays Aubrey Plaza's character a song (written for his dead girlfriend) on the zither as they sit outside by a fire, which sounds and at first seemed unbearably precious, but which changed my how I felt about it, winning me over, as the song and scene went on; it felt like a turning point in my response to the film.
Anyhow, the algebra of Indie movies: a bit of Donnie Darko (significantly lightened up) with a touch of Garden State etc, a dash of Margot at the Wedding 'realism' and a slight Wes Anderson (time travel machine = jaguar shark in The Life Aquatic?) vibe...perfect for a Friday night.
We'd decided to do two back to back, and next up (supposedly 11.30 but started more like midnight) was Killer Joe. The MIFF volunteer/usher got us nervous beforehand by taking it on himself to warn the queue that the film had some very disturbing scenes, and telling people to vomit into bags (rather than into our laps, presumably); it is a nasty film, Matthew McConaughey doing well with one of those roles that allows him to make overt what has always been latent in his filmic personality (nb: I've always disliked him anyway) as the sadistic, murderous titular character who comes into the orbit of a redneck Texas trailer park family to their cost. Not the kind of film I'd usually watch, but it was hard to look away from.
(w/ Meribah)
