The Ghost Writer? Forget it, Jake, it's not Chinatown, but a faint echo that ultimately collapses under its own solemn absurdity. Don't worry, I'm not going to spoil a damn thing because the last half hour is so damn stupid it really had to be seen unaware to be appreciated.

Still, to be fair KIm ("Lawrence of My Labia") Cattrell and Olivia Williams inject a little life into proceedings as Alistair Campbell with tits and a Cherie Blair analogue with battery acid for blood. There should be an set of Oscars for best performance that was a damn sight better than it really needed to be.

Are we still getting your more thorough piece Craig? It seems unlikely I'll get to many this year, with flus, holidays and work commitments, but would be good to know what to look out for on return or DVD. Might try to catch the Sam Hunt movie later on though.

Oh yes, as we speak, I'm reducing my rapturous paean to Claudia Cardinale's expressive cleavage to slightly less fetishistic proportions.

I'm reducing my rapturous paean to Claudia Cardinale's expressive cleavage to slightly less fetishistic proportions.

Why bother? The reduction I mean. Always preferred... no, that would be too obvious, even for me ;-)

Exit through the gift shop is pretty great.

In the Incredibly Strange section, Splice was good fun, if entirely predictable.

"Collapse" was intriguing; essentially an hour and an half of Michael Rapport's face telling us how he thinks the world will end.

Rapport is engrossing; you feel like he's talking to you, not the interviewer or the camera, and everything sounds just plausible enough (and he sounds so authoritative) to keep you interested.

Of course, I'm both scared that he's the logical endpoint of my existence and that, even though I've never met him, he's already got me into trouble (he wrote the book Jeanette Fitzsimmons liked that Matt Nippert had me comment on that then got the 9/11 Truth people on my back for two weeks).

The Two Escobars was a great doco. If this was a movie you would think the entanglement of the lives of Pablo Escobar, the meglomaniacal drug lord, and Andres Escobar, the ethical and talented football player, far-fetched. That it was true makes for a remarkable and ultimately tragic tale. Try and see it if you missed it at the festival.
The Joan Rivers doco was surprisingly good - very funny and she is one tough old broad. Interesting insight into the obssesive nature it takes to last 45 years in showbiz. Not to mention botox.
Not sure about Housemaid - a Korean thriller - was gripping until the end when it went all The Omen like, but crikey - those Koreans are a bit raunchy. Some nervous laughter during the sex scenes! The baby-boomer generation is well represented. Very keen to see Winter's Bone, it got a good review from Roger Ebert.
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100616/REVIEWS/100619992/-1/RSS

Not sure about Housemaid - a Korean thriller - was gripping until the end when it went all The Omen like, but crikey - those Koreans are a bit raunchy.

Oh yes... but it's been really interesting seeing how South Korean film-makers like Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook (in much the same way as J-Horror in the 90's and Hong Kong before that) are obviously aware of Euro-American genre and arthouse cinema, but give it a distinctive spin.

If anyone on this site is a fan of anime, I saw Summer Wars over the weekend and it was excellent. Stylistically, it makes use of all the visual conventions of anime - it's no TekkonKinkreet. And in some ways the boy gets manipulated by girl romance felt a bit predictable. We're not talking deep, complicated emotions, although certainly ones most of us could relate to. However it's the getting from Point A to Point B that takes you through some adventures. There were a number of places where things happened that I was not expecting at all. Outside of the main romance there are some interesting family dynamics.
It also highlights the way Japanese culture retains some of its ancient and unique characteristics, while updating itself into an extremely modern society. I've often thought Japan should be an example to those more reactionary cultures that think that to advance technologically means losing all of what makes them unique. Japan is living proof that this is not necessarily the case. The defeat of the bad guy in this film is a prime example - I doubt that you would see such an enemy defeated in this way in any Hollywood movie, that's for sure.
If you are already a fan of anime I highly recommend it. If not, this may be the one to pull you in.

I agree Jen, Summer Wars was enjoyable.

But it paled when, later that day, I saw The Illusionist. The narrative is a simple coming of age and end of an era tale of a young girl and aging entertainer. Melancholic and visually charming and disarming. Not quite as good or as dark as the Triplets of Belleville but nonetheless worth the price of admission.

Pianomania a study of a piano tuner with Steinway, Stefan Knupfer. A man who passionately, and tirelessly seeks to provide the worlds best concert pianists with the pitch perfect instrument to play. Not easy as the pianist can be demanding, most of them would be strangled and buried in my back yard within a week, but he is so incredibly attentive and patient. Engrossing study of obsession or as he calls it "specialisation" of the highest order.

Looking forward to Extraordinary Stories and my entire day with the Carlos!