Munich Fantasy Film Fest 2013 - Conclusion

The MFFF2013 is over and it is time for a report, as I did last year for the MFFF2012.
I have watched 19 movies (exactly as many as last year) and all the reviews can be found under this link. The histogram of ratings is shown below:

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow)
	Actors: Jeremy Renner (The Avengers), Gemma Arterton (Byzantium), Peter Stormare (Starship Troopers, Minority Report), Famke Janssen (The Faculty, X-men 1-3)
	Country: D, USA
	Genre: Action, Fantasy
	Conditions of visioning: 08.09.2013, HD VOD, 11" computer screen
Synopsis: The two kids from the tale have grown up to become witch hunters.
Review: If I was in a bad mood I would say that this movie is typical of the brainwash Hollywood is delivering us nowadays. Maybe I am specially sensitive to that because I have just seen 19 smaller budget movies at the Munich Fantasy Filmfest and all of them, even the bad ones, were more original than this blockbuster. The good thing with this movie is that it is easy to watch (in my case on a hangover day in an airport lounge). Also I find Gemma Arterton sexy, especially in leather. The twists in the screenplay keep the viewer interested altough you see them coming minutes ahead. There is a historical village, antique weapons made of wood, iron and leather, and ugly witches with fantastic powers. Tommy Wirkola makes a good job after having been spotted for his nice Dead Snow, and one cannot complain about the look of the movie, the action, the rythm and the fight scenes. It is just that if you think a little about it, nothing makes sense. It is interesting to compare this view of witchcraft with the one Rob Zombie proposed in The Lords of Salem: diametrically opposed.
Rating: 4 /10

V/H/S 2 (2013)

	Also Known As: S-VHS
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener (The ABCs of Death, Hobo with a Shotgun), Gareth Evans (The Raid), Gregg Hale, Eduardo Sánchez (The Blair Witch Project), Timo Tjahjanto, Adam Wingard (You're Next)
	Actors: Lawrence Michael Levine, Kelsy Abbott, Adam Wingard
	Country: USA, CDN, RI
	Genre: Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 06.09.2013, CINEMA theater, MFFF2013 and 13.09.2013, Sao Jorge Theater, MotelX2013
Synopsis: A couple of detectives is hired to break into a house and have a look at the video tapes found there.
Review: This anthology (film a sketches) follows exactly the same principle as the first V/H/S and my positive review of the format applies to this second episode as well. Moreover it includes a new set of ideas for horrific sketches filmed with consumer cameras: digital eye, GoPro-type sport camera, amateur documentary VHS-recorders, spy-cams, building security cameras. I liked a lot the stories and the editing of the found footage, except for the usual abuse of audio and video noise. My favorite story (A Ride in the Park) is the one of a cyclist attacked by zombies and becoming one. What is funny is that we follow his adventures through the GoPro camera attached to his helmet. The segment with the digital eye (Phase I Clinical Trials) is very interesting because of the unique point of view, even more involving than when in the first V/H/S a guy had a spycam inside his glasses. One of the segments (Safe Haven) is about a sect in Indonesia and it is pretty gore and horrific. The least good is the last one (Slumber Party Alien Invasion) because very shaky and noisy, but it is also the shortest. As in the first V/H/S the segment envelopping all others (Tape 49) is quite OK.
Rating: 7 /10

100 Bloody Acres (2012)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2012
	Director: Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes
	Actors: Damon Herriman, Angus Sampson, Anna McGahan
	Country: AUS
	Genre: Comedy, Horror
	Conditions of visioning: 05.09.2013, CINEMA theater, MFFF20123
Synopsis: Two brothers run a fertilizer factory, based on blood and bones, and not always of wild animal nature...
Review: An australian horrific comedy was tempting. I missed it at the BIFFF2013 but decided to see it this time at the Munich Filmfest. The couple of brothers is the usual dumb/evil pair. The three hitchhikers that got into trouble bring the usual humour, romance and stupidity. The movie is well-made and contains some funny ideas but nothing really original, and after thirty minutes it runs in circles and you don't laugh anymore. Only some disgusting moments make you react once in a while. Unfortunately that was not enough for me.
Rating: 4 /10

The Philosophers (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: John Huddles
	Actors: Maia Mitchell, Bonnie Wright, Freddie Stroma
	Country: USA, RI
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 06.09.2013, CINEMA theater, MFFF2013
Synopsis: In a private school in Jakarta, a class of brillant students practices a thought experiment for their last day of Philosophy lesson: a nuclear apocalypse occurs and they have to chose ten people out of twenty to survive in a bunker.
Review: The look of the movie (from its trailer) motivated me to go see it: when the students practice though experiments, their characters are transported into the imaginary world consisting of a beautiful landscape, a bunker and nuclear explosions all around. Discovering the concept of the movie and hearing philosophical discussions during the first half hour was also interesting. But then I found that the decisions of the characters were too arbitrary: at some point you cannot even try to particiate to the experiment yourself because of too many variables and surprises in the movie. And the choices made in the last experiment in the last half hour finished to kill an otherwise good concept.
Rating: 4 /10

Feuchtgebiete (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: David Wnendt
	Actors: Carla Juri, Christoph Letkowski
	Country: D
	Genre: Comedy
	Conditions of visioning: 05.09.2013, Cinemaxx
Synopsis: Body hygiene is fully overestimated for Helen. Her parents are divorced and she wishes them to come together again. She finds warmth only in her best girlfriend Corinn, with whom she breaks all taboos. As Helen gets wounded by intimate shaving, she is kept in the hospital for a long time. She sees an opprtunity to bring het parents meeting during a visit.
Review: The movie, such as the controversial book by Charlotte Roche, breaks taboos. This way women loose their immaculate image. Dirty persons are otherwise only men, in movies and books. It seems to be like a feminism struggling for equality. The scenery is applied to make the disgutsting scenes rather funny, but for a couple of them, this was not enough and it is really disgusting. For fans of scatology, this is your movie! For others, get prepared. It is not so easy to accept almost two hours of this kind of jokes. Therefore I am happy, not to read the book, because it would have taken me more than two hours... Carla Juri has the talent of giving a lot of energy to the movie. The o-tone also gives some rythm. If the scatology would have been only half an hour, this could be a good movie.  After this kind of movie, it is time to go to the MotelX...
Rating: 5 /10

Run and jump (2013)

	Also Known As: Voll und ganz und mittendrin
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Steph Green
	Actors: Maxine Peake, Will Forte, Edward MacLiam
	Country: IRL
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 02.09.2013, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview
Synopsis: Vanetia Casey, the spirited and impossibly optimistic center of the Casey family, is working hard to get life back to normal after her 38 year-old husband, Conor, suffers a rare stroke which changes his personality. Tweedy American doctor, Ted Fielding, arrives in Ireland to stay with them for two months: his research grant providing the Caseys with essential financial aid.
Review: The story of Vanetia is close to the modern case of single-mothers that are raising alone a child. In this case, there is still a bit of hope, as the husband is physically present. The consequence that the optimism is diluted with practical thinking, isolation and loneliness. The story is told with calm. The scenery is full of close-ups that increase the intimacy, as the intimacy of the doctor-observer to the family. The play of Maxine Peake goes from joy to sadness and she brings these feelings very well. That is great acting. I had the impression that the movie is very slow, but this might actually enhance the intimacy with the family. I would have wished other rythms on other scenes. For a first movie, it shows already good capabilities and visions. I will watch the next movie of Steph Green, for sure.
Rating: 6 /10

RED 2 (2013)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2013
	Director: Dean Parisot (Galaxy Quest)
	Actors: Bruce Willis (Die Hard 1-5), Mary-Louise Parker (Red Dragon), Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Malkovich (Transformers 3), Helen Mirren
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 26.08.2013, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview
Synopsis: Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device.
Review: This sequel of RED plays a bit more on the apparently innocence of older people, especially Helen Mirren. The efforts on binding relationships between characters is also higher than in the first RED, especially the rivality between Zeta-Jones and Parker. In general, the scenery and acting are quite good. Nevertheless the continuous travelling from A to B around the world and continuous action scenes do not let much space for developping story and characters. This makes the characters becoming caricatures with one or two aspects.
Rating: 5 /10

Cidade de Deus (2002)

	Also Known As: City of God
	Year of first release: 2002
	Director: Fernando Meirelles
	Actors: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Seu Jorge
	Country: BR
	Genre: Drama, Action
	Conditions of visioning: 30.08.2013, DVD
Synopsis: Brazil, 1960's, City of God. The Tender Trio robs motels and gas trucks. Younger kids watch and learn well...too well. 1970's: Zé Pequeno has prospered very well and owns the city. He causes violence and fear as he wipes out rival gangs without mercy. His best friend Bené is the only one to keep him on the good side of sanity. Buscapé has watched these two gain power for years, and he wants no part of it. Yet he keeps getting swept up in the madness. All he wants to do is take pictures. 1980's: Things are out of control between the last two remaining gangs...will it ever end?
Review: The story give a deep view in the life of one favela of Rio de Janeiro. It shows the dilemma of the gangs to choose between stealing money to their own people and make them weaker or organising them to make them stronger. This is well done via both gang lead characters. It shows also the daily life of the people, who just try to live peacefully with their family and live honestly, and how they get involved in the business against their will. It shows also how the "good" society plays the game by encouraging the drug business even if on the other hand this society tries to show a red card against it. Very good scenery, with changing rythms (slow, fast) and atmospheres (violence, suspense, comedy) building the drama of life. On top of it, it is based on a real story. This gives also hope to get out of this City of God.
Rating: 8 /10

Invitation to MotelX2013

MotelX is the international horror movie festival of Lisbon taking place from 11th to 15th of September 2013. It is part of the European fantastic film festival federation, Méliès.