At the movies...

Went to see a bunch o' movies on the weekend. The Cambridge Film Festival was on, and I bought tickets to a few shows online. Two "classics," Leon (aka The Professional) and Taxi Driver, and two new films. The two new films were "A Scanner Darkly," the latest adaptation of a Philip K. Dick novel (he also wrote the source material for Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report, among others), directed by Richard Linklater.

This movie is wicked cool. Wicked hard to understand, but wicked cool nonetheless. Robert Downey Jr. is the man.

Also saw "Superman Returns" on Saturday, since it took two weeks longer for it to be released in the UK than in North America. Pretty good, though quite cheesey at times. In the washroom, however, was the real treat: possibly the most shameless marketing device ever conceived:

You... can't... avoid... looking... at it! 

Sunday, I was able to get tickets to the closing film of the festival, Terry Gilliam's latest film, "Tideland." Filmed entirely in Saskatchewan, I'd heard of it, but hadn't heard much about until the day before, when I read an article saying it was quite strange. Of course, from the director of "Fear and Loathing," "Twelve Monkeys," and "A Fisher King," what else do you expect?

This movie is f$#cked up. Think "Alice in Wonderland," crossed with Hitchcock's "Psycho." Bizarre. However - the added bonus was that the director was in the audience to answer questions afterwards! Coolness...

 
 

No amazing revelations from the Q & A, except that I think he half expected the reception the movie is getting. Mixed at best, with the most common statement being that it's an ego film, with Gilliam showing just how messed up he can be if he wants to.