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Blache DuBois is the role that Blandshitt was born to play since it's the one time she can overact without anyone being able to criticize her for doing so.

Anyway, the opening weekend of Tribeca is over and so is my time there. Here are my thoughts on the movies I saw:

Polisse: My personal favorite of the four. Maïwenn has an amazing talent for powerful and emotional moments that leave a strong impact on you, and I'm not even talking about what she does with the subject matter (it's a movie about the French CPU, child protection unit, so think SVU but less bland and monotonous). She has an enormous ensemble that works together really well, creating an environment that's so realistic and engaging to me. Parts of it were hysterical even though you were supposed to be uncomfortable with the constant abuse and molestation. Unfortunately, this movie was PLAGUED by structural issues. Maïwenn could invest in a better editor, because going from scene to scene is as unpredictable as it was in Margaret but without the thematic explanation to back it up; characters are introduced and disappear even though it's clear that Maïwenn meant for the audience to pay attention to them. There's one family in particular that she gives a backstory to, and later ends up dealing with the CPU, but there's literally no reason why she introduces us to them but not any of the other victims in the film. Also, the film is a bit heavy handed and over the top at points. Maïwenn could learn a bit about "less is more", but the movie was so engaging and entertaining and powerful that I wasn't too bothered by any of this. Marina Foïs was the acting MVP for me, but the entire ensemble was outstanding and will likely get a nomination from me for ensemble cast by the year's end.

Maïwenn was at the screening and spoke to us afterwards. She's a bit cold and gives off a bitchy vibe but what she had to say was... interesting. She definitely had her own vision for the film in spite of the fact that she couldn't necessarily articulate it well (and I don't think that it was just a language barrier, because even when she'd speak French I would have difficulties figuring out exactly what she was getting at). Highly recommended.

The Revisionaries: A documentary about the Texas textbook standards and the attack on... let's call it common sense, but they'd call it "secularism" or "atheism" I think. The first half focused on the attack on evolution and the second half focused on attacks from historical POVs. I'm not a big documentary person but I enjoyed this one. It was totally one sided and ridiculed the Texas conservatives a lot, but I think even if they tried to be a bit more impartial it'd come off looking like the Texan politicians were psychotic. The first half was much stronger than the second, because trying to follow the historical arguments was really difficult- but that's kind of the point, because a strategy they used to promote religious agenda was confusion and manipulation. I'm wondering if this will end up in the Doc race at next year's Oscars, but along with the short films this is the category I know the least about. Recommended.

I'm not sure who gave the Q&A after this, but Michael Moore was at my screening in the very back row. I said hi to him quickly and he said hi back, and that was the extent of that celebrity encounter. I'm sure he loved the movie just based on its subject matter.

War Witch: And perhaps this will be Canada's foreign language submission, if it qualifies? I mean, if Water got nominated from Canada I don't see why this won't. This won Best Actress at the Berlin Film Festival and I can see why. It's a gripping, hard to watch film that's really anchored by a realistic and emotional performance from Rachel Mwanza as a child soldier; she's almost certainly untrained and the opposite of Blandshitt in every possible way, thank god. Whether she's firing a gun against her will or giving one of her rare smiles, she really captivates you and keeps your attention. It can't have been easy to shoot a lot of those scenes- I won't even get into them because they're spoilery and gruesome. Also, the Albino boy (the actor is... Serge something, I can't quite remember his last name) deserves more praise. Great performance from him too. I was not as hot on the film as a whole like some people, but it's beautifully put together and its somewhat predictable storyline is really eclipsed by some great direction, cinematography, and whatever they did to make the "ghosts." Highly recommended.

Director Kim Nguyen was there but unfortunately I didn't stick around because I had a train to catch.

The Girl: This was morally and thematically a bit of a misfire for me, and I mostly blame the director/screenwriter for that. This was actually THE film I wanted to go to the festival for and it ended up being my least favorite. It starts off far too mannered for its own good and lacks the grittiness that makes this type of story compelling (it deals with a coyote but I'd call the main drama a mix between the plots of Frozen River and Julia, the one starring Tilda Swinton). The main character is not very likable like, at all, and the main problem with the film IMO is that you don't get a sense of whether or not she's actually changed by the end. That's not to imply that she has to have changed, but there's a really bad dose of ambiguity there that serves little purpose in regards to the rest of the film- they set up this very selfish, irresponsible, ambitious character and seem to stop her arc right before it's managed to reach its destination. Very unfortunate. I was not a fan of the little girl in the film, but Will Patton was good. And of course Abbie Cornish, the film's star, was pretty spectacular. Not quite as good as Mwanza but very accomplished. I am a huge Abbie Cornish fan (her performances in Bright Star, Somersault, and Candy are three of the best of their years) and she's what made me want to see this film. I was cringing early on because she talks with a Texas accent and she was clearly focused more on how she was saying her lines rather than what she was saying, but Abbie is an actress who really excels at physical acting anyway. And to my pleasant surprise, 75% of the movie is actually in Spanish (guestimation) and Abbie speaks almost the entire final half in Spanish. It's weird how much her performance improves in her non-native tongue.

Abbie Cornish was at the screening, which made me literally hyperventilate. I actually saw her walk in 10 minutes before it started- I thought it looked like her, but it wasn't even the first weekend showing of this movie so I convinced myself it was probably just a lookalike. But then they announced that after the movie was over Abbie and David Riker would be giving a Q&A and I knew that I was in the presence of a legit goddess. She was SO cute and adorable at the Q&A, it reminded me of why I love her so much. The guy sitting next to her looked like Stanley Tucci but it probably was just some random bald man.

JVJrule wrote:

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OMG I saw Polisse too. We were probably both there since Maiwenn was at the screening. Was it Friday night? And I totally agree, I loved it but I had problems with it (I wasn't too fond of it being a string of Law & Order episodes, just so much better; and like you said, some were way OTT and the structuring was just off), but that cast is great, the stories are all powerful, and that scene with the cellphone girl was HILARIOUS. Maiwenn did come off a tad cold, but I think it's just 'cause she's French. Lol. I would say to people to watch this film though, it's both uncomfortable but with a great sense of humor around it.

Yup! We were definitely at the same screening I was dying during the cellphone scene. It was weirdly funny and uncomfortable at the same time- so many moments like that in the film, and it's where Maïwenn excels as a filmmaker IMO. The people behind me did not like the movie at all- at least the guy didn't. He said he thought that most parts were flat out terrible, but I really can't see that at all. I can get not liking it but there's too much great potential mixed with successful output for me to ever consider it terrible. I think it will be very popular in this thread in a few months (or even now... I think the torrent is out there!), not necessarily loved by everyone but a definite talking point.

I heard that Take This Waltz was sold out really quickly, so good job on getting in. The woman behind me at The Girl was super pissed she couldn't get into the Friday showing (I think it was Friday).