Last night and tonight featured the best and the worst two films I have so far seen at MIFF, and this afternoon also delivered the worst and the best letter I have ever had the pleasure of receiving from Telstra.
Telstra, for those of you who haven't been listening, is allegedly a telecommunications company. See here for my previous mystifying dealings with Telstra this year. Now, should Telstra ever choose to entirely fund a Standing There Productions feature film, I am sure I will find it in my heart to forgive them. But I will never forget this journey:
1. Over six months ago: closed my account with Telstra
2. Since then, keep receiving bills from Telstra for 67 cents every month
3. Bills have "DO NOT PAY UNTIL NEXT BILL" written next to the 67 cents
4. Then, the next month, receive exact same bill as above
5. This happens for months
6. Call Telstra, express doubts regarding efficiency of system
7. Assured by Telstra communications expert that this problem has now been solved
8. Today, receive two page bill for $0.00
9. Written next to this "total" are the words "PAYMENT IS NOT REQUIRED".
10. There is a little graph comparing my bill totals to this time last year - handy!
... If you wrote Animal Farm or 1984 or whatever in contemporary times, I reckon Telstra would have to rate a mention.
Movies:
Most bizarre film EVER (requires sitting patiently and attempting to understand Japanese humour) is Funky Forest: First Contact . I'm certainly not running around telling everyone to go and see it, because you could love it, or you could hate it. I loved it. It was genuinely insane but it still worked on a narrative level. The dialogue was great. The images were brilliant. The ideas were whacked. The official site is here (takes a year and a half to load and lots of it is in Japanese, but who cares).
And the worst film so far? Gabrielle. French film. Tortured discussion by two tortured French people about their tortured relationship. For two hours. One of those ones where you sit there thinking "LEAVE HIM! KILL HIM! SOMETHING!". Also, almost the entire thing was out of focus. So glad I invited my friend Claire for a fun night out to the movies.
Have also seen over last two nights:
Guernsey - I've seen films like this a thousand times but it was well done.
Slumming - excellent performance in a really good film by a guy who has a genuinely fluid face. It is as though his face melts between horror, pain, joy, and mental instability, all at the one time. (Kind of like my face during Gabrielle ). Good to see a film that isn't a comedy but has the guts to be funny, too. Really liked this one.
In other news - one project deadline down, two to go. Such a good feeling to get your homework in on time.