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I went to Montrèal for a couple days and caught a little of the film festival. Here are the reveiws of what I saw:
Student Film & Video Festival: 8/10
These nine shorts were, for the most part, enjoyable and in some cases funny.
#1-Contretemps-I didn't know what the word meant until after I saw this, but now that I think about it, it fits. It has various people and things going "against time". It was weird, but I still give it: 6/10.
#2-Gaston le Meilleur Ami de la Femme (Gaston, the Best Friend of the Woman)-Amiable cat animated short. Though the title isn't that great, the plot revolves around a cat (I'm guessing Gaston) getting a bath from his (her?) owner, with the outdoor cats laughing at him. But, in the end, Gaston gets the last laugh. It's pretty funny; but the animation leaves something to be desired (but that's the director's style). "Gaston" earns a: 7/10.
#3-A Human Fable-Funny, black-and-white story about a regular office worker who doesn't want to be human anymore, so he goes to the "She-Bitch" to get transformed, and he must complete some tasks. It was funny the way that they blended reality, fantasy, and Rocky and Bullwinkle (a wandering forest spirit just happened to hear him...). The transformation at the end was funny, too, and "A Human Fable" gets: 8/10.
#4-La Tèlèvisè (The Television)-Weird French short (that thankfully doesn't have any words so I could understand it) about a man who wakes up, finds a blood stain on the wall, cleans it off, and does his normal routine of watching T.V. and running. It's meaning could be that he blows his brain out from doing nothing but mindless things, but the director could have had different intentions, so "La Tèlèvisè" gets: 7/10.
#5-La Spyrinthe (Spyrinthe)-A French one that was spoken in French so I didn't understand it. According to the applause, neither did the French-speaking audience. It was either something to do with the military or a prison. I give "La Spyrinthe", only for because it was short: 2/10.
#6-Button-A mother, getting her son dressed for school, finds that he's missing a button, so she takes one off of her shirt and puts it on his. She then goes to work and says that she needs to get a button or else she will be fired, and she's behind on the rent. Her son comes home and finds a button, and she feels better. Weird, that it means that so much power can be contained in such a little thing. Not really anything to write home about, so I give it: 5/10.
#7-Diary of an Insomniac-A man wakes up every night and finds that he had a giant nosebleed or something; he has lots of blood on his face. He doesn't know what caused it, so he videotapes his nights and watches them during the day. He has no life anymore; he lives only to find out what happens. Ends abruptly, so you have to make up your own ending (I like that); the cat probably had some symbalism. It had some more symbalism that I couldn't grasp, but I still give "Insomniac": 9/10.
#8-The Temptations of Mrs. Anderson-A man who looks like Einstein (presumably God) is trying to tempt Mrs. Anderson (she needs to pass the required task). Switch to Mrs. Anderson's house: it's an idyllic 1950's house, with the woman ironing all day, with the hair styles and the sayings (oh, swell). So many temptations of lust come her way, but she manages to pass. Her husband, on the other hand.... It's funny and a good idea, so "Mrs. Anderson" is: 8/10.
#9-Big Shoes to Fill-The last short is the only one in widescreen and the longest: 15 minutes. It begins with an Andy Richter-looking guy who's a serious lawyer (he likes to think), but he gets a call from his doctor and tells him that there's bad news. The lawyer goes down to the doctor's office and he is diagonsed with having a clown tumor on his humorous. He then states that his parents, and his family, were clowns and he was "amused as a child". He then, against his own will, takes on a slow transformation to a clow. It's funny and original (even though it was based on a play), and seemed to have the most characters of any short; "Shoes" is: 8/10.
Lewis and Clark: Great Journey West: 6/10
Not as good as some other IMAX documentaries (such as Shackleton, which is 8/10 for me). That could be because I know what happens, but it seems unlikely that all of those pratfalls occured on the way west instead of going back home, too. The noise was unecessarialy loud; sometimes it felt like the seat was shaking. It hurt my ear drums. It was interesting enough though.
