Milwaukee Film Fest Day 3: Planet of Snail

Day 3 of the film festival and Planet of  Snail was the movie of the day.

Planet of Snail is about Young-Chan a deaf blind man living in South Korea.  He is married to Soon-Ho who has a spinal disability.  The two communicate through  special tapping. The movie is a glimpse into their daily life as simple things like changing a light bulb becomes very difficult. Young-Chan is a poet and we here snippets of his poetry throughout the movie. The movie is told observational style and there is not much background info given. We learn about how they met during a conversation he has with old school buddies.  It really is just a snippet of life for these two. 

The movie is inspirational as we watch this amazing couple through out their day.  You can see they really love each other as they have their funny moments and serious moments.  The biggest problem I had with the movie was that it is slow at parts and it just didn't keep my attention. 

Overall 3 out of 5.  Inspirational but slow.

Milwaukee Film Fest Day 2: V/H/S

 

On Day 2 of the  Milwaukee Film Fest I was only able to see 1 movie but it was one of the movies I was most excited to see.  After it's premiere at Sundance earlier in the year rumors were that people were passing out and getting sick during the screening which only got me hyped to see it.  When I saw that The Milwaukee Film Festival was showing it at midnight it was a must see even though it is available on VOD. 

V/H/S is a found footage horror movie similar in style to The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity.  What sets this movie apart is its graphic nature.  The filmmakers are not afraid to show anything on screen from nudity to disembowelment.  The premise of the movie is that a group of guys are paid to steal a VHS tape from this house but not sure which one they watch several of them.  Each tape is its own short horror movie and the only similarity is that each one is shot hand held style.  Each short is directed by a different director and each has there own take on the genre.  

There are 6 stories in total and some I liked better then others but there is no denying that the movie as a whole was very good and creepy.

As far as negatives go there are a few slow parts and the shaky camera thing does get annoying at points.
Overall 4 out of 5 stars creepy and disgusting.

 

Milwaukee Film Fest Day 1: Starbuck

Opening night film at the 2012 Milwaukee Film Fest was the French Canadian comedy Starbuck.
Starbuck is about David Wozniak (Patrick Huard) a slacker who donated sperm under the name Starbuck. For a period of time his sperm was the only sperm used and consequently he is the biological father of over 500 children. Some of the children, now grown up, sue the sperm bank to release his identity. David is now faced with the choice to come out and accept his new role or avoid responsibility as has been his nature all along.

With a silly sounding premise I wasn't sure what to expect from the movie, but it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Writer and Director Ken Scott managed to make it funny as well as a heart warming story about family.  Patrick Huard pulled off the role as the slacker with a heart of gold perfectly.

The biggest issue I had with the movie was the subtitles were hard to read. I felt I missed some of the jokes because the white subtitles didn't show up very well on the white background. Not sure if it was just because I was in the back but it appeared that others around me were having the same trouble. The other issue I had personally was knowing that they are remaking the movie with Vince Vaughn in the leading role.  So for part of the movie I kept trying to figure out how Vince Vaughn would play the part.  Not known for his subtle acting skills it would seem that the movie would lose some of its heart.  But with Ken Scott back writing and directing I hope he can recreate the magic of this one. 

4 out of 5 stars. Funny and heart warming.