The Girl From Monaco – Anne Fontaine – France

A criminal lawyer takes on a high-profile murder case, but the drama happens more outside the courtroom than in. He befriends his newly assigned body guard, and falls for a beautiful weather girl who turns his world upside down. It’s an enjoyable comedic romp until it unforunately takes an ill-advised dark turn and ends up in odd territory that doesn’t feel right.

God’s Forgotten Town – Juan Carlos Claver – Spain

A horror film about a town where all the residents dissappeared 50 years ago. A small TV crew is sent in to do story and gets wrapped up in a story involving ghosts, nazis and a holy relic. It’s not as good as it sounds. The story is uninspired and the direction and style are flawed. It had a promising opening, but quickly turned into a third-rate horror film.

Bitter & Twisted – Christopher Weekes – Australia

The death of a young man causes problems for his family, and for his girlfriend. This amatuer effort has some good performances, but not much else. The characters are not fleshed out, and those that are have the same stories of characters in hundreds of other films. It has its moments but is ultimately forgettable.

King of Ping Pong – Jens Jonsson – Sweden

Two brothers contend with the snow, their drunk father, their mother, her boyfriend and each other in this slow drama. The overweight older brother is the best ping pong player at the rec center, but he still gets picked on. The younger brother is a ladies man who is clearly the apple of his father’s eye. He seems to have it made. Unfortunately, the older brother finds out a secret that can change all that. This meandering film loses its focus after the first few minutes and never really regains it. The two leads are good, but the film has no footing and goes on way too long.

Emodiment of Evil – José Mojica Marins – Brazil

Coffin Joe! Those familiar with the first three Coffin Joe films from the 60′s and 70′s will be happy to see the titular horror icon is back. This film starts when Coffin Joe is let out of jail after 40 years. He quickly gets a gang together and sets out to make himself a son. The film is full of the expectied surreal and graphic elements. It’s a good mix of modern sets, slick gore, and Coffin Joe’s old-school horror charm. A worthy conclusion(?) to a seminal horror franchise.

A Game for Girls – Matteo Rovere – Italy

A group of rich highschool girls go through life controlling and manipulating all the people around them.  Things come to a head when the new young teacher tries to help them when one of them tries to commit suicide. The leader sees her lifestyle falling apart and sees this teacher as the cause. She fights back in the only way she knows how. It’s a fair film with some major problems. The tone is off for most of it, and none of the characters have any redeeming qualities.  It’s nothing unique.

The Hurt Locker – Kathryn Bigelow – USA

It’s an action movie at heart, but a very good one. The film follows a bomb diffusion squads last days of deployment during the Iraq war.  The characters are beleivable, and the tension is palpable. It’s everything you could want, minus any real sentiment. I don’t know how accurate it is, but it sure felt authentic and it had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

The Tour - Goran Markovic – Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina

A small theater company gets caught in the middle of a war, and end up performing for both sides while they are trying to find their way home. It’s well acted and directed, but the characters make some illogical choices just to move the plot along. There is a message about equality that runs through the  whole thing, but its just too in your face.

White Night Wedding – Baltasar Kormákur – Iceland

This is a cleverly told tale of a professer and his failing marraige, told parallel to the story of his second wedding. Information is revealed nicely using this parallel structure, and both tales climax at the end of the film. Besides the nice structure, the film has some great characters and some good dark-comedy running through the whole thing. It was a nice little enjoyable film that stumbles a bit at the end but has much going for it.

Able – Marc Robert – USA

Amatuer horror tripe. Worthless. Still, I have to give all the people involved credit. They at least they had the guts and drive to make a feature film! And they got it into a film festival! I just wish I didn’t have to see it.

Magic Hour – Koki Mitani – Japan

This is an overlong  but funny gangster comedy. To protect himself from being killed by his mob boss, our young hero says he knows the most feared mystery assassin in the business.  He doesn’t, but he does hire an actor to impersinate him, claiming that the mob are actors and the situations are staged. There are some very funny bits, but at 2 1/2 hours there is are alot of things that would have been better left out.

Loose Rope – Mehrshad Karkhani – Iran

This tells the story of two brothers struggling to survive as livestock transporters. To pay off a debt, they buy a cow and have to deliver it to the big city. Things go wrong from there. This film is disjointed and has no clear direction, themes, or symbolism. It’s deliberate pass sets up nothing, and their is no real payoff.  It’s not worthwhile, and it’s pretty gross.

All Inclusive – Rodrigo Ortuzar – Chile

Hidden truths come out during a family’s trip to an all inclusive resort. Unfortunately, those truths feel like they are thrown in just to create drama. The characters are one-dimensional, and things just wrap-up too perfectly for it to feel real. The location is nice, but the sentiment is manufactured and fake.

The Stone of Destiny – Charles Martin Smith – Great Britain

This is an entertaining crowd-pleaser. A young Scottish man decides to steal back the Stone of Destiny from England. His uber-nationalism needs an outlet, and the stone rightfully belongs to the Scots, so its a no-brainer. Unforunately, the stone has been in Westminster Abbey for hundreds of years and it won’t be an easy task. But him and his ragtag group of patriots are going to give it a go. It’s fun, if slight. The characters are plain and the drama is melodramatic, but the film works on a crowd.

The Desert Within – Rodrigo Plá – Mexico

This intense drama of religious fanatacism is brutal, surreal and utterly engaging. During religious prosecution in early 20th-century Mexico, a tragedy befalls a couple and their eight children when the father attempts to bring a preist to his ailing wife. To atone for his sins, he and his childrenset out to build a church of god in the desert, away from all the other people. His unwavering beleif in God is incredible, and it sends his family down a dangerous path. The film has an excellent slow burn pace and a wonderfully surreal edge. It’s masterful film-making telling a strong story.

Landscape #2 – Vinko Moderndorfer – Slovenia

This slick thriller tells the story of an apprentice theif who, while stealing a painting, accidentally gets a hold of some documents that people are willing to kill for. It’s a simple premise that allows for some great tension. The story is tight and the style is perfectly suited to set the tone. It’s a very good film that kept me suprised and entertained.

Lemon Tree – Eran Riklis – Israel

At the Israeli-Pakistani border, a poor Pakistani women tends to her grove of lemon trees that have been there for fifty years. The lemons are her only source of income.  Unfortunately, the Minister of Defense moves in across the border and says that the grove is a security threat becuase it can allow cover for terrorists who want to get close to him. A legal battle ensues. The film does its job and jerks some tears from those easily manipulated.  I found it rather forgettable.

GS Wonderland – Ryûichi Honda – Japan

GS stands for Group Sounds. It was a fad in Japan back in the late 60′s early 70′s. It’s when male musical groups dressed in stupid outfits sing canned songs to screaming teenage girls.  Into this atmosphere walk three would-be musicians and one female singer who want to make it big. Together, with an eager manager, they create the “The Tightsmen” and hit it big when young girls fall for the female group member who has disguised herself as male. It’s cute and colorful, but nothing special. It has its moments, but overall it’s a standard pop studio peice.

I’d Rather be a Shellfish – Katsuo Fukusawa – Japan

A long film about the true story of Japanese soldiers being convicted of war-crimes by the USA after WWII. The story was interesting, and the film had some good cinematography. The problem was that the writing and direction was so overly dramatic. Loud inspirational/sad music. Slow motion on pained expressions. Heavy handed symbolism. It was eye-rolling at times, and that heavy-handedness really ruined the film.

Don’t Look Down – Eliseo Subiela – Argentina

This oddity was a fresh change of pace. It’s a unique film that doesn’t really have a real story. It follows a young man (a stilt walker), who literally sleep-walks into the life of a young eccentric girl after his father dies.  She sets out to teach him the ways of tantric sex, and together they can make him travel the world through his climax. There are some very surreal touches, and the direction and tone are spot on. It was a small film that doesn’t give you many takeaways, but it was beautiful and unique.

For My Father – Dror Zahavi – Israel

A suicide bomber gets a second chance at life when his vest malfunctions. This was a good film with some interesting characters, but the drama is forced. The ending wraps everything up, but it takes the easy way out and avoids some more interesting and heavier outcomes.

The Brothers Bloom - Rian Johnson – USA

The second film by Johnson after the tremendous Brick. It turned out to be  perectly enjoyable studio film. The premise is straightfoward. Two brothers grow up con artists and want to pull off one last giant con before retiring. The story is intentionally hard to follow. Is what is happening real? Or is it part of the con? Rachel Weisz is great as the rich mark and Rinko Kikuchi is great as the brother’s explosive-loving partner, Bang Bang. The film is fun throughout, but the style and unique flair I hoped for was not present. Its better than most, but not great.

Kisses - Lance Daly – Ireland

Two young irish children run away from home in this charming little drama. The film starts in black and white, and shows the troubled home lives of these two 13-year old neighbors. After an intense incident, they both run away from home to try to find the brother of the boy, who had run away years earlier. The film slowly turns into color as they get further away from home. The mood changes from excitement and discovery to dark surrealism. The two young leads are fantastic, and really bring their roles to life. At the end, nothing has changed, but everything is different.

Goodbye Solo - Ramin Bahrani – USA

An immigrant cab driver befriends a crusty old man who he beleives wants to commit suicide. In two weeks, the old man wants to be driven to the top of a mountain and left there. Solo, the cab driver, senses something is wrong and tries to force his way into the old’s man life and put a stop to what is going to happen. It’s a smart, sensitive movie. Bahrani knows what information to reveal and when, and the two leads give perfect performances. This will be an indie hit, and deservedly so. It’s a simple story that is well-told. The film stays away from melodrama and draws the viewer in naturally like a good film should

The Chaser – Na Hong-jin – South Korea

This slick, popular thriller tells the story of a pimp who goes on an odyssey to catch a serial killer who has been murdering his girls because the police are hand-cuffed by their own bureaucracy. It’s a good tense film. It has the right mixture of action, horror and humour. The pacing is good, and it leads right to an ending that you would not expect, but fits perfectly. At times, its overlong and over-dramatic, but it is a big-budget peice of slick entertainment that kept me entertained.