SIFF '08 Retrospective: Part III

This will be my last post on SIFF for this year. Once again, I had a great time with friends checking out films across some of Seattle's unique theaters. This post I'll be doing some ranking of the films seen this year AND last year. I'll take a brief look back on last years films. Also, a list of films I missed this year at the festival that I'm still interested in seeing.

SIFF '08 Films I Saw:

1. The Home Song Stories
2. The Fall
   
3. American Teen
4. Ben X
5. Nocturna
6. Staub (Dust)

SIFF '08 Films I'd Still Like to See:

• Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone
• Some Assembly Required
  
• Encounters at the End of the World
• Bigger Stronger Faster*
• Song Sung Blue
  
• Stranded: I've Come From a Plane that Crashed on the Mountains
  
• Man on Wire

SIFF '07 Retrospective

SIFF '07 was my first film festival ever and boy was it a fun ol' time. Their "Find True Film" advertising campaign was great, with very humorous commercials. The official poster (seen left) embodies the city of Seattle, all the way down to the geoduck! I saw 6 films in '07. I'll rank what I saw. Click the title link to go to the official website and click the 'Netflix It' to see the Netflix profile so you can add it to your queue!

1. The King of Kong - The ultimate video game/underdog doc about a Redmond teacher taking on the world record for Donkey Kong is still one of my favorite films in last couple of years....even though the direction could have been a little more objective. The 'Fistful of Quarters' subtitle was added after the limited release, still don't think it's necessary. Q & A at The Egyptian was awesome, it's actually in the DVD extras. Netflix It! (on Watch Instantly too)
   
2. Monster Camp - Documentary on the Seattle chapter of LARPing group NERO (New England Role-Playing Organization). It introduces the layman to LARP as well as delving into the lives of some of the groups players. Very fun and entertaining film here, nothing incredibly profound here. It was great to see some of the players in the movie come dressed to viewing that I attended. This had a limited release this year, expect it to eventually come out on DVD. Netflix It!
3. Rocket Science - A very indie film about a high school boy with a stuttering problem who decides try out for the high school debate team. In my previous entry about the doc Resolved, I had mentioned this film. It was a witty coming of age film, I don't think there was anything really outstanding about it especially compared to the likes of a film like Juno. Director Jeremy Blitz also did the film Spellbound (spelling bee, not Hitchcock), so he must really like academic competitions. Netflix It!
4. Fido - Canadian comedy placed in an alternate fifties reality where a war broke out against humans and zombies. The humans won and the zombies have become domesticated pets. The premise of the film is great and the first half of the film builds up a lot of momentum, but I feel like it struggles to finish off with a solid plot and resolution. I'd say give it a view if zombies are your thing, you'll get a kick out of it! Netflix It! (on Watch Instantly too)
5. Eagle vs. Shark - A New Zealand comedy very much in the vein of Napoleon Dynamite: about hilariously socially awkward people. This was my introduction to half of The Flight of the Conchords, Jemaine Clement. This film is not all completely funny, it has some incredibly sad moments and some of the humor I felt guilty laughing about. This is a must for Conchords fans. Netflix It!
6. Noise - An Australian film about a cop with tinnitus who tries to hunt a killer who slaughters a number of people on a public train, not the recent film about noise pollution starring Tim Robbins. This film was quite slow, the only reason I saw this because the word tinnitus was floating in the description. It does play a part in the film, but not as prominently as it could have been. I'd pass on this film, but if you're interested in it you can watch it on DVD now. Netflix It! (on Watch Instantly too)