AFI Film Festival

We Need to Talk About Kevin: 2011 AFI Fest

Written by Meredith Alloway Friday, November 11, 2011, 7:35 PM

Word on the street was that this film flopped. I was more than excited to see it, until I was warned not to. Something fantastic about the rush lines at film festivals is that you meet a plethora of fellow movie fans. They’ll make that hour long wait fly by but also fill your head with their own movie reviews and opinions. See this! Don’t see this! This is awesome! This sucks. I got the “this sucks” line many times for We Need to Talk About Kevin. Something in my gut told me…decide for yourself. And I’m glad I did.

They were all wrong. It was wonderful.

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Play: 2011 AFI Film Festival

Written by Ryan Mason Friday, November 11, 2011, 10:47 AM

After the credits rolled for Ruben Östlund’s Play, I nearly expected Ashton Kutcher to bust into the theater with cameras. No way was this a real audience. Clearly I, along with some of my fellow moviegoers, were being Punk’d. Or, even better, unknowing participants in an elaborate sociological experiment to see how adults react to bully-like behavior while watching a movie about kids dealing with bullies. I truly hope it’s the latter because those scientists must’ve been thrilled to see how quickly we non-children humans devolved into near mayhem over things that could’ve been handled with the simplest of communication methods.

Let me explain, and in doing so, you’ll see why it’s relevant to the excellent Swedish film, Play.

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Law of Desire: 2011 AFI Fest

Written by Meredith Alloway Wednesday, November 09, 2011, 1:49 PM

Once the credits started rolling after the film ended, my first thought was, “How have I never seen this film?” Law of Desire was released one year before I was born, in 1987. I’ve had twenty-three years to catch up; I should’ve had more Almodóvar in my life and less MTV.

The film, as writer/director Pedro Almodóvar discussed during the interview before the screening, dealt with issues that Spanish cinema had been turning a blind eye to for years. The subject matter was provocative in the 80s, and still maintains its risk factor today. It revolves around a gay successful filmmaker, Pablo Quintero (Eusebio Poncela) who is dealing with the creation of his new screenplay along with his affair with a young man names Juan (Miguel Molina). His sister Tina (Carmen Maura) is his closest companion both artistically and emotionally, and has a plethora of problems of her own. Tina’s last love affair abandoned her, leaving her to look after her daughter.

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Pedro Almodóvar (Q&A): 2011 AFI Fest

Written by Meredith Alloway Wednesday, November 09, 2011, 1:42 PM

A swarm of people floods into the Chinese Theatre, looking for open seats; quite a turn out for one of the few films at the 2011 AFI Film Festival previously released. I’d never been in the Chinese Mann Theatre before; I try to stay far away from Hollywood Blvd, but it’s absolutely gorgeous. Somehow knowing that so many brilliant people are crammed into one place makes it even more magnificent.

Pedro Almodóvar, guest artistic director of AFI this year, will be screening his 1987 film Law of Desire. It was one of his first feature films, and also gave rise to the young Antonio Banderas’ career.

Pedro comes out in front of the big screen to uproarious applause and sits down with his interpreter to have a short discussion before the film is screened. The interviewer asks him about his views on genre. His new film The Skin I Live In, about a plastic surgeon that creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage, using a mysterious woman as his guinea pig and muse, blurs the lines of genre boundaries.

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With Every Heartbeat (Q&A): 2011 AFI Fest

Written by Meredith Alloway Wednesday, November 09, 2011, 12:00 AM

The film ends to satisfied applause and out of the crowd comes the unlikely writer/director and producer of the film. As most filmmakers at festivals prove, they’re humble, dressed in jeans and tennis shoes, and never as glamorous as the movie stars; it’s wonderful.

Alexandra Therese Keining makes her biggest feature debut yet with this film, taking on role as both writer and director. Josefine Tengblad produces as well as acts in the movie, playing Frida’s (Liv Mjones) understanding girlfriend Elin.  

After a few welcoming statements, I jolt my hand up, knowing these talkbacks only allow for a few questions and a lazy arm will never get a word in. I ask, “How did you go about intimate scenes in the film? They were absolutely wonderful and did you allow the actors to improvise or have them follow the script?”

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