Monthly Archives: June 2011

Sasha (2010)

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[identities.]

Sasha is Dennis Todorovic‘ first film, starring Sascha Kekez, Predrag Bjelac, Zeljka Preksavec, Yvonne Yung Hee, Jasin Mjumjunov, Ljubisa Gruicic and Tim Bergmann.

Plot:
Sasha (Sascha Kekez) and his family return from Montenegro (where they’re originally from) to Germany (where they’ve been living for most of Sasha’s life). Sasha is looking forward to coming home, mostly because it means that he will see his piano teacher Gebhard (Tim Bergmann) again. But when Gebhard tells him that he will move to Vienna for a job, Sasha’s world quickly collapses and he’s faced with a few difficult choices.

Sasha was definitely my favorite film of the Identities festival. It’s funny, intelligent, engaging, has an incredibly charming cast and will just leave you grinning from ear to ear for the rest of the day, maybe even the week.

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Links

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Art

Soviet War Memorial turned into superheroes.

Books

First Science Fiction Novel Published in ChiShona.

Sideways Award Nominees.

Bram Stoker Award Winners.

Locus Award Winners.

Recommended Reading in honor of LGBT pride month.

Movies

The 25 Best Animated Movies, according to Time Magazine.

New Immortals Trailer.

The hotness in this film… I need a fan.

Politics

American Comic Reader faces charges in Canada for having mangas on his laptop.

How Violent Sex Helped Ease My PTSD.

Science

Quantum magic trick shows reality is what you make it.

TV

Doctor Who Black and White Episode Posters.

Darren Aronofsky will direct the pilot of Michael Chabon’s and HBO’s Hobgoblin.

Christopher Eccleston in the next season of Game of Thrones? Yes, please!

True Blood Paper Dolls.

Completely Different Things

How the perception of colors depend on time and culture.

Romeos (2011)

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[identities.]

Romeos is Sabine Bernardi‘s first film, starring Rick Okon, Maximilian Befort and Liv Lisa Fries.

Plot:
Lukas (Rick Okon) is on his way transitioning from female to male and part of this is that he does his voluntary year (the alternative to the obligatory military service in Germany), where he catches up with his best friend since childhood, Ine (Liv Lisa Fries). Through Ine, he meets Fabio (Maximilian Befort), gorgeous gay Italian playboy. Fabio and Lukas hit it off, only that Fabio doesn’t know that Lukas started out his life with female body parts.

Romeos is sweet, well-acted and for people who are not familiar with transexuality, it’s a good start into the subject. But with the didactic approach the film risks boring the more knowledgable audience and despite the honest emotions portrayed, this does happen.

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The Select (The Sun Also Rises)

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[Last play I saw at the Festwochen.]

The Select (The Sun Also Rises) is John Collins‘ adaptation of Ernest Hemingway‘s novel, starring Mike Iveson, Matt Tierney and Lucy Taylor.

Plot:
Jake (Mike Iveson) is an American journalist in Paris. He spends his time mostly in bars, drinking, when he runs into his old university friend Robert (Matt Tierney). Jake also keeps crossing paths with Brett (Lucy Taylor) who he is in love with. Brett seems to return the feeling but both of them don’t seem to be cut out for a stable relationship, especially not with each other.

While there are very good parts to this play, I never really connected with any of the characters. That way, it gets boring quickly and I spent most of the play trying not to fall asleep.

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Les Chaises [The Chairs] – DNF

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[Festwochen.]

The Chairs is a play by Eugène Ionesco. It was directed by Luc Bondy, starring Micha Lescot and Dominique Reymond.

Plot:
An old man (Micha Lescot) and an old woman (Dominique Reymond) are preparing for one last party before they die. The man has something to tell the world, something important. But as the time passes, all that seems to be arriving are imaginary guests and more chairs.

This was actually the first play I ever walked out of before it was finished. Not only that, since there was no break where I could sneak out, I actually made people get up so I could leave. It was honestly completely unbearable.

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The Runaways (2010)

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[identities.]

The Runaways is Floria Sigismondi‘s adaptation of Cherie Currie‘s book, starring Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart and Michael Shannon.

Plot:
Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) dreams of a career as a rock musician. When she meets producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon) by chance, she suggests to him an all-girl rock band. Shannon jumps at the idea and helps her find the members for the band. When they stumble upon the 15-year-old Cherie (Dakota Fanning), Fowley knows that he has found the missing ingredient for the success of the band – The Runaways.

I enjoyed the Runaways. It’s not the best movie there ever was, but it has some wonderfully interesting characters, a great soundtrack and good performances.

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Prayers for Bobby (2009)

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[identities.]

Prayers for Bobby is Russell Mulcahy‘s adaptation of Leroy F. Aarons‘ book. The script was written by Katie Ford and the film stars Sigourney Weaver, Henry Czerny and Ryan Kelley.

Plot:
The Griffiths are a very devout Presbyterian family. So when their son Bobby (Ryan Kelley) comes out, this leads to a serious rift in the family. Spearheaded by his mother Mary (Sigourney Weaver) there are several attempts to “heal” Bobby, which ultimately leads to total estrangement and finally Bobby’s suicide. This in turn leads Mary to question her own belief.

Prayers for Bobby is pretty much the definition of “tearjerker”. Holy motherfucking crap, how I cried. Thankfully, it’s a tearjerker in the best sense: in the end you arrive snifflingly at a happy place. And it has the heart certainly in the right place.

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Mother and Child (2009)

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Mother and Child is Rodrigo García‘s newest film, starring Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Jimmy Smits, David Ramsey, Shareeka Epps and David Morse.

Plot:
35 years ago, Karen (Annette Bening) was a teenage mum and gave up her daughter for adoption – a fact that she never really got over. She’s grown to be quite eccentric and still obsessed with her lost child, when new co-worker Paco (Jimmy Smits) starts to break through her shell.
Elizabeth (Naomi Watts) is a successful lawyer and knows exactly what she wants – and a child or any kind of stable relationship is definitely not part of her plans since she’s pretty traumatised by having been given up for adoption herself. But an affair with her new boss Paul (Samuel L. Jackson) fits perfectly.
Lucy (Kerry Washington) can’t have children herself. Therefore she and her husband Joseph (David Ramsey) are looking to adopt.

Mother and Child was a weird bit of film. It wasn’t bad but there were quite a few what the fuck moments. In the end it dies of its own seriousness, despite the good cast.

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