ICMF-FF7: Main Slate

[djpal]

Apples (2020) 8/10

I saw this film when it was released and really liked it. Frankly though I remembered nothing about it since then. Watching it again I was struck by how little we learn throughout the film. It's hard to see how all of the pieces add up. What is the connection between the various activities he forced to do? (Why is he forced to see "Chainsaw Murder"??) I think the director's most recent film, Fingernails, is much more successful in how its parts add up to a whole. Still, there is something touching about the lead performance as subtle as it is and the film certainly is ambitious.

[msainy]

6. Totsukuni no shôjo / The Girl from the Other Side (2022)
Very pretty to look at with great world building and characters, but nothing much in term of story. Apparently it's based on a 53 chapters manga of the same name, but I don't know how much is adapted of it, very little I'm sure.

The manga looks beautiful too.
Rating: 5/10

[pitchorneirda]

My ratings and (quick) thoughts so far:

1. Nitram 7/10: I don't think this movie was disrespectful to anybody; we're clearly not asked to sympathetize with "Nitram"; but it doesn't spare anybody that's for sure.

2. The Timekeepers of Eternity 6/10: I knew nothing of this project and delved into it blindly until I saw David Morse and had to look up why he looked so young(-ish), and to know more about it improved my viewing. Good story and good atmosphere, I'm rather confident it's an improvement of the original series, but 1 hour felt a bit short.

3. Playground 5.5/10: in sync with Hurluberlu here, the camera work is salient, but it felt repetitive and formulaic

4. Apples 5/10: I was left cold by this one but I might give it another go before the end of the festival in light of matthewscott8's and msainy's comments

5. The Girl from the Other Side 5/10: all style (4/5), no substance (1/5)

[cinewest]

Is there an archive of films shown at past ICM festivals?

[zzzorf]

Is there an archive of films shown at past ICM festivals?

Yes there is, they are updated every year by tommy_leazaq and he posted them in the General Announcement thread before the festival began.

ICMFFF all section - all edition lists s have been updated


Main Slate
Animation
Arthouse
Documentary
Africa
Asia
Indies
Europe
Just Before Dawn
Latin America
LGBTQ

Also once the festival is over I am going to do up a Festival Awards winner post containing all the winners from previous years and I will add these links in that post for easy finding in the future.

[cinewest]

I missed the, thanks

[Obgeoff]

My final leaderboard:
1. Ninjababy (2021, Flikke) 8.3
2. Apples (2020, Nikou) 8.0
3. Great Freedom (2021, Meise) 7.8
4. Playground (2021, Wandel) 7.2
5. Corsage (2022, Kreutzer) 7.0
6. Totsukuni no shojo (2022, Kubo) 6.6
7. Ballad of a White Cow (2020, Moghadam/Sanaeeha) 6.6
8. The Timekeepers of Eternity (2021, Maragkos/Holland) 6.3
9. Maryjki (2020, Woszek) 6.1
10. Nitram (2021, Kurzel) 5.8

[msainy]

7. Maryjki / Marygoround (2020)
Colorful and vibrant, almost to a fault. At times it feels like a music video or an overproduced commercial, but when a scene gets right it's magical. I can't say the same for the story because I don't think I understood a lot of it. Not even sure if it was symbolism, something relatable to women, or just absurd for the sake of weirdness ( I admit ignorance). So this lady just turned 50 and reached Menopause (I'm not even sure I worded that correctly) so now she has to use blue and pink patches in certain order or she'll start hallucinating, again I'm not sure if this is real or the filmmaker is just making things up for the sake of the story. These patches made the woman take risks she never dared to before, gave her freedom and courage, whether directly or just because she's not afraid of getting pregnant (and the shame of it, since she's very religious). Even her name, Maria, suggests symbolism.

She can't focus at work anymore, which is another world full of eccentric and intriguing characters, my favorite being the random oater enjoyer manager, whom she has a crush on. So she goes out and tries her luck elsewhere, which ultimately culminate at the dinner scene where all logic goes out the window in a bizarre fashion reminiscent of Lynch absurdity. There's also a three and half minute of uninterrupted shot of weirdness in the middle.

Other random things I didn't understand include: the freezer and its content and the orange thing she ate (caviar?).

Rating: 6/10

[blocho]

Playground (2021)
Watching this movie awakened a memory for me. It was a memory of how I felt as a child when I watched movies that depicted children. I felt very strongly that the movies I saw were beyond inaccurate. They were false, often egregiously so, constructing a fake world of sentimentality around the life of kids. They usually had none of the complexity, confusion, or awkwardness of childhood. This movie does. I suppose I’ve been waiting for it for most of my life.

I should note a few problems. First, the movie limits itself to the school setting. Not a moment of the movie happens outside its grounds. So even though the relationship between the protagonist and her brother is crucial to the narrative, their home life is unrealistically absent. Second, the filmmakers decided to keep the camera’s focus on the lead character at almost all times. Even when other characters are speaking, we usually don’t see them but rather her. I think keeping the camera at the height of a kid was the right choice, but the focus on one person only makes the movie more of a character study than an interpersonal narrative, which feels like a mistake. Third, this movie follows Bloch’s Rule of Children in Movies (see below) because of course it does.

Those objections aside, this was a wonderful evocation of what the original title describes, a world within and slightly apart from ours. By the way, I’m continually amazed by how good child actors have become.

7/10

Blocho’s Rule of Children in Movies

Most movies about school-age children do not depict them in school. The minority that do focuses mainly on social and extracurricular activities. The very few that focus on the classroom almost always show lessons and activities that are highly unrealistic. All this occurs even though, besides sleeping, classroom learning is the most common activity for most children.

[msainy]

8. Ninjababy (2021)
I think what drew me most is that I can literally put a name of someone I know in real life on each of the characters in this farce (yes, even Dick Jesus) about a woman who got deep into pregnancy without realizing, or wanting, it. The script plays it smart by trivializing big decisions and making a big deal of small things. It doesn't overdramatize the situation but also doesn't make a mockery of it. Most jokes work well and the intimate moments are really touching. The songs selections of mostly post-punk Norwegian music is cool. But above all the lovable, funny, and relatable characters are the strongest point of the film.

It's also my first Norwegian film I think it's the first time I hear the language.

Rating: 8/10

[mightysparks]

Mila (2020) 6/10
Having watched Embers earlier this year--another film about an amnesia epidemic--it was hard not to compare the two. They are two very different films and I thought Embers tackled the idea in a much better way. But in regards to this film I liked what it was going for but not in the way it did it. It was a little flat to me, the acting style, the humour, the overall style. Maybe it needed to be weirder, a little funnier and have a little more oomph? I also found myself losing interest in the last third so it felt a little stretched thin. I did really like the moment he sees the dog again though.

[cinewest]

Not sure I'm going to get to anything else from the main slate (I may try the centerpiece), but I really enjoyed Mila (Apples), which is among my very favorites, so far. Very tight and well conceived, sticking to the main character, his attempts to hide from an overwhelming truth, and his gradual process of emotional recovery. Also reminded me of a couple of other films from the Greek Weird Wave, which makes use of bizarre set ups as a means of accessing and delving into some kind of human unrest or tragedy that exists below the surface. Solid 8

[msainy]

9. Nitram (2021)
I want to compare this to two other ''mass shooting'' films that I really like: Elephant and We Need to Talk About Kevin. Of the three, one can argue that Nitram might be the most important one, it doesn't glorify killing but rather shows us the perpetrator as a weak person who's awkward and mentally disturbed. No one will think he's cool or wants to copycat him (matthewscott8 made some good points about this). However I enjoyed the other two a lot more and I think they're far superior to Nitram. Not a sleight against the film but I'm trying to articulate why I didn't enjoy this even if I think it delivers a better message overall. Maybe being fiction gave room to the other two to tell a better story, with structure and twists and character development, all were absent because Nitram is mainly a case study about the incident (and maybe about mental illness and mass shooting in general).

Now there are things that were done masterfully, the guns store scene in specific was horrific (you don't have a license? We can't sell you handguns but take this semi-automatic rifle and shotgun).

Rating: 6/10

On another related note, the first time I heard about the massacre was during a comedy special by Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, the bit is here if you're interested: part 1 part 2

[peeptoad]

...because Nitram is mainly a case study about the incident (and maybe about mental illness and mass shooting in general).

Interesting. I took it as more of a case study of a mentally ill individual who would eventually perform a heinous crime, not a case study of the crime/act itself. Maybe the drawback is that the audience knows the crime that will ultimately be committed at the very beginning of the film, which could lessen the experience. But as a true story I don't see how that could be worked around; I agree with what you said about the others given more freedom due to being fictional (though I still need to see Elephant actually). I wasn't as much a fan of 'Kevin though it wasn't bad either.

[msainy]

...because Nitram is mainly a case study about the incident (and maybe about mental illness and mass shooting in general).

Interesting. I took it as more of a case study of a mentally ill individual who would eventually perform a heinous crime, not a case study of the crime/act itself.

I don't think it's either/or. Both takes can be right to certain degrees without being contradictory. For me, when I read the intro in the OP I knew that we were watching a person who will eventually commit this crime, but I didn't know anything else about the person or the history of the attack, hence my experience was like (so this is the backstory of that incident).

[matthewscott8]

I just remember a couple of decades of people asking why do mass shootings happen. I don't think you can watch Nitram and still ask the question afterwards. I think you can watch Elephant and ask it afterwards, van Sant very clearly said he doesn't know why. I don't know about We Need To Talk About Kevin because I haven't watched it.

[peeptoad]

...because Nitram is mainly a case study about the incident (and maybe about mental illness and mass shooting in general).

Interesting. I took it as more of a case study of a mentally ill individual who would eventually perform a heinous crime, not a case study of the crime/act itself.

I don't think it's either/or. Both takes can be right to certain degrees without being contradictory. For me, when I read the intro in the OP I knew that we were watching a person who will eventually commit this crime, but I didn't know anything else about the person or the history of the attack, hence my experience was like (so this is the backstory of that incident).

I agree it's not either/or - black/white... I just took the film to explain or deal with primarily the perpetrator's backstory and detailed events leading up to vs. the criminal act itself or any aftermath, etc. (basically the bolded- what you have in parentheses above). It's a backstory not about the actual event itself.

eta. We Need to Talk about Kevin is more nonlinear (from memory- it's been over 10 yrs since I've seen it), but I think it actually began with the aftermath events and then recouped the events leading up to, but it also jumped around from past to present throughout. So it kind of showed both past and the aftermath, though I don't recall a strong or prolonged focus on the criminal act itself (i.e. the physical actions of the crime in a "present" sense).

[flavo5000]

Here's my first chunk of reviews for the main slate!

Corsage (Marie Kreutzer, 2022) 5/10
I completely get what Kreutzer is trying to do here but other than some nice cinematography and some well-chosen music cues, I feel like the film doesn't take the punk ethos far enough. The most obvious precursor to Corsage to me is Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette, and while that movie has its flaws as well, it at least fully commits to the tone.

The Timekeepers of Eternity (Aristotelis Maragkos, 2021) 7.5/10
I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Taking a very creaky '90s mini-series with over-the-top acting and VERY dated special effects, stripping it down to its core and enhancing it with very cool animation effects helps focus in on the fun Twilight Zone-esque premise of the story that the bloated original often strayed from.

Un monde a.k.a. Playground (Laura Wandel, 2021) 7.5/10
Maya Vanderbeque totally deserves all the praise she has been getting. Some have wished for a broader spectrum of interactions here, with her brother, her parents, other adults, etc. I think that would have resulted in an inferior movie. This is intended to be a visceral and propulsive emotional narrative and while some may see the ending as trite, I found it to be true to the emotional core of a 7-year-old child.

Große Freiheit a.k.a. Great Freedom (Sebastian Meise, 2021) 6/10
A strong central performance and a great soundtrack just isn't enough for me to get fully invested in what is essentially a pretty by-the-numbers prison drama. The ending even feels predictable and inevitable.

Nitram (Justin Kurzel, 2021) 7/10
Can one condemn a film for accomplishing what it sets out to do, in this case humanize and show sympathy for a deeply disturbed person? The comments about this film remind me a great deal of the discussion around Bob Fosse's Star 80, another film that delves into the mindset of a murderer where we as the audience get very little insight into the victim. I thought it was quite good and honestly did not need to see people getting gunned down to achieve a kind of emotional resonance. It's been interesting following Kurzel's career, starting with the much more visceral and disturbing Snowtown Murders, he veered off into MacBeth and the Hollywood machine of Assassin's Creed. But after that failure, he seems to be comfortable back in Australia making true crime films (he did a Kelly Gang film right before Nitram). Like David Gordon Green, I think Kurzel has a knack for these more slow-burn character studies, and he would be wise to stay the course and not get distracted by Hollywood again.

Maryjki a.k.a. Marygoround (Daria Woszek, 2020) 6.5/10
This certainly feels like a style-over-substance exercise. At times, it totally works in that capacity too. It does spend a bit too much time early on getting going but the last half of the film is a neon-soaked metaphor through menopause that's pretty cool (never thought I'd talk about menopause being cool, yet here we are).

[St. Gloede]

I think the discussion around Playground is very interest, as I, like Flavo, think the film would by necessity be weaker (or an entirely different experience) if it included the home life. The way the film made the school, and in particular the playground feel like a complete world is one of its greatest strengths. Diluting it with what I would probably see as sideplots or unnecessary context of the characters, would take a lot away from it.

[blocho]

I think the discussion around Playground is very interest, as I, like Flavo, think the film would by necessity be weaker (or an entirely different experience) if it included the home life. The way the film made the school, and in particular the playground feel like a complete world is one of its greatest strengths. Diluting it with what I would probably see as sideplots or unnecessary context of the characters, would take a lot away from it.

I think you're right that limiting the narrative to life at school makes the movie more focused and impactful. But it's also a bit unrealistic, isn't it? I know these characters go home and interact with each other and their concerns with what's happening at school must affect their interactions at home. But maybe this isn't a bad thing. Maybe it's a necessary fiction in a realistic story.

[matthewscott8]

I think the discussion around Playground is very interest, as I, like Flavo, think the film would by necessity be weaker (or an entirely different experience) if it included the home life. The way the film made the school, and in particular the playground feel like a complete world is one of its greatest strengths. Diluting it with what I would probably see as sideplots or unnecessary context of the characters, would take a lot away from it.

I think you're right that limiting the narrative to life at school makes the movie more focused and impactful. But it's also a bit unrealistic, isn't it? I know these characters go home and interact with each other and their concerns with what's happening at school must affect their interactions at home. But maybe this isn't a bad thing. Maybe it's a necessary fiction in a realistic story.

the focus on the school seems like a strength of the movie and makes it the second prison movie on the main slate in my view. Yes the kids go home at the end of the day and noone is really pretending otherwise. Still, the dad is breaking the rules by talking to his kids in the middle of the day and has to be careful not to be caught... that's kind of crazy (and realistic). And the behaviour of the kids to one another is very prison like, and rings true to my own experiences.

I don't know if my memory is built like others but my memories of school and home are very separate things. Also very hard for parents to intervene as that makes the kid look even weaker. I never discussed the insane shitty side of school with my parents. I essentially viewed adults as insane, and not sure I was wrong.

We only spend 71 minutes in the environment, much shorter than an actual school day and it's still scary af.

[AdamH]

I think the discussion around Playground is very interest, as I, like Flavo, think the film would by necessity be weaker (or an entirely different experience) if it included the home life. The way the film made the school, and in particular the playground feel like a complete world is one of its greatest strengths. Diluting it with what I would probably see as sideplots or unnecessary context of the characters, would take a lot away from it.

I think you're right that limiting the narrative to life at school makes the movie more focused and impactful. But it's also a bit unrealistic, isn't it? I know these characters go home and interact with each other and their concerns with what's happening at school must affect their interactions at home. But maybe this isn't a bad thing. Maybe it's a necessary fiction in a realistic story.

the focus on the school seems like a strength of the movie and makes it the second prison movie on the main slate in my view. Yes the kids go home at the end of the day and noone is really pretending otherwise. Still, the dad is breaking the rules by talking to his kids in the middle of the day and has to be careful not to be caught... that's kind of crazy (and realistic). And the behaviour of the kids to one another is very prison like, and rings true to my own experiences.

I don't know if my memory is built like others but my memories of school and home are very separate things. Also very hard for parents to intervene as that makes the kid look even weaker. I never discussed the insane shitty side of school with my parents. I essentially viewed adults as insane, and not sure I was wrong.

We only spend 71 minutes in the environment, much shorter than an actual school day and it's still scary af.

I watched it earlier today and I agree with you on this. I was bullied for a couple of years and I didn't say a single word to anyone (at school or at home) about it until many years later. For me, my home life was entirely separate from my school life. I don't think it's unrealistic not to show the parts at home. The film isn't trying to say there is no home life, it's only showing one part of their life and I think the prison-like feel that brings to it enhances the film.

[msainy]

I rather agree with bolcho's take that it's a bit unrealistic, character development happens only at school. Yeah they might not talk about bullying at home but they're also not discussing the issues they have with each other. Usually when siblings fight at school they'll eventually make up at home gradually, this gradual progress was absent because we were limited to the school setting, which has gaps when they're supposed to be at home, without any character development during them.

That being said, I don't find this to be a bad thing at all. Being restricted to school made the film very unique and memorable.

[msainy]

10. The Timekeepers of Eternity (2021)
So there's a lot to unpack here. I have never heard of the original mini-series so I might get some things wrong:

1. This is essentially a condensed experience of a 180 minutes show, trimmed down to 60 minutes, cutting out the unnecessary padding and combing scenes together to deliver a more focused vision of the same narrative.
2. Special "paper'' effects were used as a creative tool. It adds more to the experience, builds tension, fills weird gaps with interesting parts.

Now I don't how controversial this take might be, but I really believe a similar treatment would make a lot of films, and especially tv, way better than how they exist now. even without the extra effort of the paper effect (which was great) one can improve on existing media simply by re-editing them. Yes it would change the vision of the artist but the majority of existing media are being ok'ed by executive levels with various goals and objectives that don't include artistic value, far from it in fact.

I really like the work done here, but I can't say that the source material was any good in the first place, for various reasons that the makers of this project were not responsible for (story, acting, development, etc) so I find rating this to be a little tricky. Do I admire it? yes, a lot. Did I enjoy it? not very much.
Rating: 5/10

[msainy]

This concludes the main slate for me great selection of films that I'd probably wouldn't watch if it wasn't for the festival. Thanks for everyone involved.

Here are my ratings in one post for easy access if needed.

ratings

1. Mila / Apples (2020) 9/10
2. Un monde / Playground (2021) 8/10
3. Ninjababy (2021) 8/10
4. Corsage (2022) 7/10
5. Große Freiheit / Great Freedom (2021) 7/10
6. Ghasideyeh gave sefid / Ballad of a White Cow (2020) 6/10
7. Maryjki / Marygoround (2020) 6/10
8. Nitram (2021) 6/10
9. Totsukuni no shôjo / The Girl from the Other Side (2022) 5/10
10. The Timekeepers of Eternity (2021) 5/10

[matthewscott8]

Very pretty to look at with great world building and characters, but nothing much in term of story.

The Girl From the Other Side or life?

I have got volume I of this winging its way to me. So may be reporting back on film vs manga.

In life all we have is each other, and the natural world, I think that's what the film feels like to me. Enough with stories.

[msainy]

Very pretty to look at with great world building and characters, but nothing much in term of story.

The Girl From the Other Side or life?

I have got volume I of this winging it's way to me. So may be reporting back on film vs manga.

In life all we have is each other, and the natural world, I think that's what the film feels like to me. Enough with stories.

[djpal]

Nitram (2021) 9/10

Don't quite get the dissatisfaction people have with the film. I thought it was expertly crated and beautifully acted by all of the leads. It's a really detailed portrait of a very disturbed young man who never should have had access to guns. I also appreciate the decision not to show the most violent moments on screen.

[DavidAConrad]

OK, time to get started with reviews! I still have a couple to watch, but I'm getting antsy. I'll post one review a day, in the order I watched them.

PLAYGROUND

What I liked:
* As the parent of two preschoolers, a brother and a sister who are currently very close, I do stress about their future school experiences. I worry more about school shootings than bullying (more on that in the NITRAM review), but bullying was certainly part of my life at this age. This movie's depiction of bullying doesn't feel particularly authentic to my memory, and its dialogue about it is absurdly on-the-nose, but it is a reminder that this difficult-to-resolve problem is still out there among all the other problems.
* There's a light metaphor about the sandpit and how it may hold the memories (at least) of kids who've walked this path before. I enjoy that and wish we'd spent more time on it.
* Nora's relationship with her teachers is interesting. I want more of that relatively fresh angle.

What I disliked:
* Like last year's featured documentary, I find this centerpiece pick underwhelming. The bookend shots feel gimmicky, the plot points cliche, the performances average.
* The close-in camera keeps us eternally locked on Nora, but we still don't feel particularly close to her and don't really see this "world" (UN MONDE is one of the laziest titles out there, isn't it?) any differently than we would through a more distanced cinematic language. I feel pointlessly adrift, and I doubt that's the point, because I don't think that's how the all-seeing Nora feels.
* The strengths and liabilities of familial bonds in a setting like a playground is an interesting dynamic to explore, but only one moment - when Nora attacks her brother - seems to have anything to say about it. Apart from that brief scene, I'm not sure what Laura Wandel wants us to get that we haven't gotten from a lot of other movies.

Flickchart ranking:
Loses to LOS OLVIDADOS
Loses to HACKSAW RIDGE
Beats THE HOURS
Beats PAY DAY (Chaplin short)
Loses to 50/50
Loses to MYSTERIOUS SKIN (the Gordon-Levitt section of the chart)
Beats A MORNING BATH (actuality)
Loses to HERCULES UNCHAINED
Loses to CORBETT AND COURTNEY BEFORE THE KINETOGRAPH
Loses to IN TRANSIT
Loses to EXECUTIVE ORDER
Loses to ASK FATHER (Lloyd short)

2876/3573 (20%)
3/10 points

[djpal]

The Girl From the Other Side 6/10
The tone and central relationship of this film are very sweet but I feel like this film belongs in a completely separate category from the others in this slate (Animation? Japanese Animation? Art/Experimental?) The plot is a bit unclear. The second half fizzled in a way that lost my interest. I don't have a lot of experience with Manga or Anime so I'm not the best to judge the merits of a work like this though. There IS something warm and melancholy about it and the score is quite beautiful it just isn't as satisfying as some of the others.

[djpal]

My final rankings:
1. Great Freedom (2021) 9
2. Nitram (2021) 9
3. Ninjababy (2021) 8
4. Apples (2020) 8
5. Ballad of a White Cow (2020) 8
6. Playground (2021) 8
7. Marygoround (2020) 7
8. Corsage (2022) 6
9. The Girl From the Other Side (2022) 6
10. The Timekeepers of Eternity (2021) 6

[matthewscott8]

I am reading The Girl From the Other Side now. I am already besotted by the first few pages. It reads from the back like a Japanese book. The girl Shiva and "monster" the Teacher are together from page one.

[mightysparks]

Ninjababy (2021) 6/10
I have been interested in this for a while since the scenario of this film has been one of my biggest fears since I was a kid. Quite liked the characters and found them realistic. I also liked the way it dealt with Rakel's disinterest in being a parent and the way it ended without defining her by a partner or child and instead her career/main interest. But the humour of the film didn't always land with me, it was sometimes overly sentimental for no reason and I wasn't that interested in the search for an adoptive parent. I would've preferred a focus on Rakel just getting about her life as much as possible while dealing with the traumatic events. I also hated the line where she says she's a horrible selfish person for not wanting a kid as it kinda felt like the film agreed with that and also the way it punishes her at the end

Spoiler

with the kid still being part of her life.

Totsukuni no shôjo (2022) 5/10
Found it difficult to engage with this beyond surface level. It looks pretty, there's a nice quiet vibe about it and there are hints of an intriguing world. But it felt like I was lacking too much context and information. The kid was also really annoying but luckily spent about half the film sleeping. I didn't care about their relationship either. Could've built on the mystery more too, I just really didn't know what it was going for.

[DavidAConrad]

APPLES

What I liked:
* I don't do a lot of rewatching (I hear you folks say they're good for the soul), but I do like movies that make me WANT to rewatch them. This is one that's so strewn with symbolism that it would surely reward multiple viewings. I can imagine an argument for the apples being the fruit of knowledge (the movie goes so far as to say they're good for memory), but on first viewing I think they're representing something more generalized - the freedom to do what you want and what you like.
* Our main character is reluctant to go along with the science experiment or conspiracy that's being inflicted on him, but it's interesting that a lot of what he's being asked to do is stuff that a normal person MIGHT choose to do in a situation where there were no consequences to them - crash a car for the heck of it, have a one-night stand, maybe join a rally and throw a Molotov cocktail (they decide not to ask him to do that one - yet). We never learn where they're going with all this, but whatever it is, he surely gets out at the right time, just as we "normal" folks think we know where the lines are.
* I wonder if it was tempting to write this as an overtly dystopian film, wherein the amnesia pandemic has upended society in some clearer way, but we're still in a moment before that's fully happened. I expected some plot points along those lines, or some whodunnit twists, but those are left to the imagination, and I appreciate the freedom that gives us to keep thinking about it. (Freedom again; I think that's a big theme here.)
* I feel like the curving hallway in the hospital near the beginning is a SOLARIS homage. In any case, it's always good to see that slow cinema is alive and well.
* I liked the score.

What I disliked:
* There may be a built-in reason for it, but I'd think one of the first things I would do is shave the beard so I could see what I looked like. The technological limitations of this world seem a little convenient - Polaroids? No facial identification, no security cameras to find out what these people were doing when they became amnesiacs? It's a little unfair to ask these questions when that's not what the movie is about, but they did cross my mind during the long stretches.
* The movie's handling of women feels limited. Both women with substantial screentime are femme fatale types - the scientist who's in on the scheme (and who may have known him before he "lost" his memory) and the love interest who's possibly under orders to get close to him.

Flickchart ranking:
Beats The Odd Couple
Loses to Why We Fight: War Comes to America
Loses to The 36th Chamber of Shaolin
Loses to Germany: Year Zero
Beats Mulan (original)
Loses to A Man Escaped
Loses to Les Vampires
Beats A Day at the Zoo (Tex Avery short)
Loses to Silent Running
Loses to Tokyo Twilight
Loses to The Fearless Vampire Killers
Loses to The Man Who Skied Down Everest

1662/3575 (54%)
7/10 points

1. Apples
2. Playground

[msainy]

It reads from the back like a Japanese book.

So Arabic reads from right to left too, which makes manga feels natural, but translated from English comic books (or French like Tintin) were flipped to make it right. some weird side effects came out like people were always shaking hands with their lefts and on panel text was flipped. So I'm glad English translated manga made the right call to flip the book instead of the pages.

[flavo5000]

It reads from the back like a Japanese book.

So Arabic reads from right to left too, which makes manga feels natural, but translated from English comic books (or French like Tintin) were flipped to make it right. some weird side effects came out like people were always shaking hands with their lefts and on panel text was flipped. So I'm glad English translated manga made the right call to flip the book instead of the pages.

Some early manga releases did actually flip the pages but fortunately manga publishers in the US eventually saw that manga fans are totally willing to read the books the correct way.

[DavidAConrad]

THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY

What I liked:
* I like the weirdness of King horror, the figuring out what's wrong with the world. The mystery is always better than the answer, but it's a fun little bubble to live in while it lasts.
* I would still like to see the original ending, since I gather it differs from this version. But since I don't usually care for King adaptations, I appreciate having a Cliff's Notes version that literally whitewashes the 90s-TV-ness of it all.

What I disliked:
* An exercise in digital filters, a few neat moments notwithstanding (like the crinkled ray coming out of the gun), does not a movie make. It's the cinematic equivalent of posting a selfie with cat ear stickers.
* Chopping the length comes at a cost of character beats and tension. There are always people standing around whose lines didn't make this cut, and almost every plot point feels rushed. To an extent that's good, because it allows the tone to remain surreal and therefore scarier. But since King is a very plotty writer, we still have to hear about matches lighting and guns firing and planes flying (and hairpieces and wallets and dental bridges remaining in place, but not clothes??) without actually walking through the logic of them or feeling the characters' anticipation about whether their ideas are right or their plans will work.
* This cut tries to inhabit the psychology of the paper-tearer, but even if that's King's focus, it's not a deep enough well to sink into. There's just too much repetition with his dad, and his breakdown takes too long to play out. It might have been more interesting to try to "see" the story from the blind girl's point of view, even if there's probably not enough there to sustain the experiment either.

Flickchart ranking:
Loses to A PLACE IN THE SUN
Loses to CLOVERFIELD
Loses to WHY WORRY?
Beats KING JOHN
Loses to THE SCORE
Loses to KUMIKO, TREASURE HUNTER
Loses to THE PLAY HOUSE
Loses to THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
Loses to RAVENOUS
Beats A BUG'S LIFE
Beats MIDNIGHT (from last year's Asia slate)

3362/3593 (6%)
3/10 points

1. Apples
2. Playground
3. The Timekeepers of Eternity

[pitchorneirda]

These are not digital filters, the frames were printed and edited by paper collage

[matthewscott8]

Flickchart ranking:

haha this is a brutal way of rubbing a bad rating in. I can deal with 3/10, I really feel like my heart is breaking when I see "loses to Cloverfield" though

[hurluberlu]

Flickchart ranking:

haha this is a brutal way of rubbing a bad rating in. I can deal with 3/10, I really feel like my heart is breaking when I see "loses to Cloverfield" though

2876/3573 (20%)
3/10 points

Not familiar with Flickchart, how do these ratings work ?