SIFF #4 - Hissy fits and lustful glances

So as my nice long weekend chock full of fun--including SIFF, Lisa Gerrard-a-palooza, and my freakin' birthday--was coming to an end, I found myself a little spent, after running around and getting things done that I have been avoiding (you know, like vacuumning and washing out the cat bowls). So don't judge me for just seeing one film, Ten Canoes (6/8) on memorial day, and skipping out on another screening Which Will Not Be Named.

However! At Ten Canoes, I ran into may annual SIFF pal Z, whom I got to catch up with, hearing about what her Fool Serious self had caught so far, and I got to hear some juicy gossip. Apparently, both screenings of Paris je t'aime were pretty much sold out, including the 11am screening on Memorial Day (it's unusual for a morning screening to be sold out). So EVERYONE wanted in on this one, including a huge link of Platinum Phancy Pants Holders and regular Full Series Pass Holders. You can see this coming: They have to let in a certain amount of passholders, then everyone who bought a ticket (obviously), then more passholders, if there is room. There wasn't room, and the passholder line got cut off. Not only that, but the last man to NOT get in threw a fit. A screaming fit. A threatening everyone SIFF-related and their mother fit. Hollering and hollering how, goddammit, he had a PASS and should be let in, DAMMIT! Apparently, there was almost a fist fight. My friend Z, also turned away, simply blamed herself for not checking the early notices that said the screening was full, and was just disappointed she didn't have time to get to another theater. The great thing about all this is that the movie is being released... next week. DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!! ARRRGHHH!!!

So, as for Ten Canoes, I had heard that some people were catching this second screening because they liked it so much the first time around. As for me, this Australian aboriginal fable took a few minutes to get used to. An amiable narrator tells a story within a story, one ancestor learning about another... at tale of one young man lusting after his brother's youngest wife, which leads inadvertently to all hell breaking loose between tribes. The film has a certain easygoing charm, and a very deliberate pace. The narrator even tells one of his own characters to not get restless, waiting for something exciting to happen. The actors are all quite fine, despite the fact that I couldn't repeat any of the characters' names if you paid me. People who enjoyed The Gods Must Be Crazy would enjoy this one.

BUZZ: I have heard good things from several people about Fair Play, which is supposed to be rather shocking, and got a very high recommendation for Sounds of Sand.