another good one

so now - well into the week of the Sarasota Film Festival and I have seen fifteen films so far- have eight more on my schedule-

a very intense week - and I gave half a thought to skipping tonight's movie but it is one of the featured films and sold out early- it is called The End of the Tour...... but more on that later- first let's get to last night's film - a comedy about immigrants to NYC that I liked very much.  I don't pretend to be a film critic- I just call em as I see em-

This one was one Phil and I saw together and he liked it less- said the characters were losers... but I liked most of the characters and found the contrast between the wife and the mistress an interesting study in character/personality...

the multi-national cast was excellent- and while I don't think the dialogue was witty in the Woody Allen way I did laugh pretty frequently and there were some really funny scenes throughout the movie and some very nice relationships between the characters.  The different strands of the story all tie together in the end as paths cross along the way.  I would give it a thumbs up for watching at home- no need to look for it on the "big screen" this one will work just as well on a good sized home TV.

And speaking of home viewing- you can see my second favorite film RIGHT NOW at home - the 29 minute masterpiece of comedy "Down In Flames" seriously funny- I made Phil watch it last night on the Internet - and he also roared throughout the film--- this one is worth seeking out... sign in to the website and email for a password and you can watch the film online.  The website is downinflamesfilm.com - ENJOY!!!!

and here is tonight's movie selection - which I will rush to from the Tampa airport after dropping off Phil for his flight to Chicago...

we will see how this one turns out- has the Hollywood cast (which is not always a plus) and of course the David Foster Wallace buzz word-- again not always a good thing - but I will get back to you on this one...

meantime - do yourself a favor and go online an request a password to see Down In Flames!

The best! followed by The worst!

So today I saw a terrific movie- the very best so far - and it will be tough to top this one... and then I also saw the worst so far and I wonder if I will see one in the next nine movies I am seeing.... we will see-

first the best - it was in the vein of The Usual Suspects and The Spanish Prisoner - two of my all time favorite movies--- an excellent and atmospheric detective story about an author who writes best selling potboilers about a Japanese police detective...

I thought this film Man from Reno was a fabulous noir story and saw several points along the way when it could have been ended but it kept flipping over into a new mystery each time... many layers of narrative and excellent performances by both the Sheriff and the Author... Really EXCELLENT- seek this one out and do your best to see it!!!!!

and here is the worst film so far--- three hours of tedium and meaningful looks from the completely unlikeable characters...  communism as the complete and total lack of nurturing? I am not sure-  but I know there sure was much ado about milk in this film... which actually seemed to be one very long film very serious about itself "art" film with a comedy thrown in the middle for a small breath (very small) of relief.... miss this one - actually RUN AWAY if someone you know tells you that they want you to go see it with them!

tomorrow - we see Welkome Home - which is bound to be better so stay tuned!

three more films

So three up and three more done... at the SFF 2015... so today's offerings were excellent. And the thumbnail reviews were as follows-

we started with a good documentary about the last Kosher factory on the lower east side - Streit's Mazto, the American Dream.
Followed by a beautifully filmed western with good character development - Slow West...
and for our final film of the day - a really mouthwatering movie about the Pulitzer prize winning food writer Jonathan Gold which ended up being both poem and paean to LA.

all three of these films are recommended! and in the case of City of Gold, HIGHLY recommended.  I would urge anyone who loves food to go see it- or even if you don't and you like travel shows or watch the food network or Diners, Dives and Drive-ins etc... this is a fab film for all those categories!

only a month ago we read of the planned closing of the LES Streit's facility and their impending move to NJ which gave the film and elegiac quality... time passes and the world moves on...

here are two posters from movies I saw yesterday and liked- especially the spectacularly funny "Down in Flames"

had lunch yesterday in an old timey sandwich shop (founded in 1958) across the street from the theater- good deli style/greek food

tomorrow I am slacking off and only seeing two films-

the second one interested me because of our planned trip to Bulgaria in the fall - more to come, as always!

one more new restaurant

Last night we finally got over to SOMA Creekside in "downtown" Bradenton... and had a really nice meal.  We brought a fabulous champagne from Waris-Larmandier and a 1990 Pernand Vergelesses. We ordered all kinds of things to try to see if this was a place we would return to when we returned and decided YES...

yes the Cuvee Sensation was sensational! It's been sitting in the cellar since the millennium and is still so young!

and this Delarche burgundy was delicious!

here are the various menus -

an excellent tuna ceviche!

above- tater tots- not amazing but good enough- and below -fried green tomatoes which were very good-

a blurry seabass which tasted wonderful-

a worthy calamari with peanuts- and a sweet chili sauce!

we tried the last four of the five desserts - the winners were the blood orange mojito popsicle and the caramel brownie- with the strawberry cheesecake coming in close behind...

Tina offered us excellent service along with good suggestions- and we would definitely return again...

at the movies

this morning I headed off for my most full day of movies ever- at the Sarasota Film Festival and the films ran the gamut from funny to touching to weird and excellent to abysmal....

so let's get right into it-

the first ones I saw were a group of shorts- and here are my thumbnail sketches on these- 

weirdest- Melvin (milk man in meltdown)

weird- Grange to Garage (the "carlings" were cute!- LOL)

amusing- Mulignans (a 5 minute rant against gentrification that hits the target)

funny- 5 ways 2 die (you just don't know until you know) 

funniest- Down in Flames IF YOU EVER GET A CHANCE TO SEE THIS ONE DO NOT PASS IT UP!!! (literally laughed the whole way through and so did the rest of the audience)

intellectually interesting with two excellent performances- Sure Thing 

Another winner in this- I am just a tad too young to have really seen Tab Hunter in his prime but my oh my what a prime it was- that guy was stunningly beautiful- the essence of a beautiful youth - I completely understand the heart broken teens... one of those guys you wish was playing on your team- but alas - no... he was much more interesting than I ever knew, Olympic level figure skater and horseman... he sings - he acts - and his partner of thirty years has given us a wonderful portrait of an intensely private man who has found peace in his life.  but oh my god- that smile was swoon inducing!

my next film was the amazingly terrific Homme Less- an exploration of the life of a NYC fashion photographer and actor and former model who lived as a man with no home for more than five years... he slept on the roof top of a building where a friend of his (who did not know this) lived. He had keys to the building from an earlier stint as an apartment sitter and just kept coming back.  He looked more than 100% presentable- all the time -  despite shaving in the men's room at a pubic park and showering at the "Y" etc... an incredible story of fortitude on his part. Worth seeing, as it will make you re-think who might pass you on the street and yet be homeless - it would never cross your mind...

and finally - Phil joined me for this HOT MESS of a film- despite two very good performances from Pacino and Holly Hunter - this film was completely bizarre and I kept wondering how soon it could all be over. The cat was cute....so so so two hours I will never ever get back in my life- SKIP it -really - Don't bother - go have a beer or two instead...

so there is day one of my week of the SFF... and up tomorrow are the following three for both of us-

back with more reviews tomorrow night!