Movies 2006, Part 2 of 4

Battlestar Galactica, season 2 (½)
The first half, which is still great, and now I want to see the second half but I can’t and I’m ANTSY.

Gilmore Girls, season 1
I really like this show.

The Apostle
Robert Duvall’s labor of... love? Art? I watched it because I saw it compared loosely to Steve Taylor’s movie, The Second Chance, and wanted to see a film that depicted an American Christian subculture without mocking or demonizing it. So, mission accomplished on that front. It was an ok movie overall, although not a movie that is designed for or accomplishes communication of an eternal spiritual truth. It’s more about the man than the message or the God behind the message. Which is fine. Those movies are worth making too. But my search for art that convincingly communicates faith and truth continues.

Gilmore Girls, season 2
I really like this show.

Philadelphia Film Festival Begins Now.

District 13
A fantastic cross of Escape From New York and Rumble in the Bronx, except in Paris. Really fun.

To Die In San Hilario
A gentle comedy about redemption that I was so, so bored during.

Strange Circus
I’ve filled my quota of Japanese creepshow child molestation movies for the year now, thanks.

Iceberg
I guess I didn’t know I was a humorless drone until everyone in the theater who wasn’t me laughed like hyenas on nitrous oxide. This flick was amusing, but not what I think of as “funny.” Also a tall man sat in front of me and blocked my view of the subtitles, which would have been more criminal if the movie had more than a dozen lines.

The District!
Funky-dorey animation from Hungary. The story crossed the line between gritty urban street etc and goofball hijinx more than I wanted. But I’m not sorry I went.

The Shutka Book of Records
A documentary about a gypsy town that turned out to be mostly dull.

Joni’s Promise
I dig it! This Indonesian flick was not “challenging” film festival fare, but the festival is turning out to be more boring than anything else, so I’ll take a fun, crowd-pleasing comedy with a splash of romance. I liked it so, I’ll even go so far as to say I’d watch it again. (gasp) Also the soundtrack was cool.

The Web site used to be at Janjijoni.com, but it's down as of this writing, and who knows what the future brings? Instead, go to your non-Blockbuster movie outlet and give it a shot because it's a fun date movie as well as for other fruits.

Adventures in Animation
A series of animation shorts paying tribute to the graphic novel. Some were great. Some were not. Such is the anthological way.

Kamataki
Slow, but not boring. The story of a spiritually lost Canadian young guy who finds some truth in the art of Japanese pottery-making. Actually pretty nice.

Thus Ends the Philadelphia Film Festival.

The Promise
A wuxia movie about people in love and doing things etc which I liked while I was watching it. Reviewers seemed underwhelmed, and maybe if I watched it again I would understand why. But I don’t want to.