KEY POINTS:
23:30 Half Nelson was good. Ryan Gosling is hot. Aside from that, I have nothing much to say. My brain has switched off and exhaustion has set in.
Waiting for a film to start (don't remember which one, they've all blurred into one another now) I added up the
minutes of each film.
Today I watched 529 minutes of film, which is up nearly an hour from yesterday.
Likewise, Tuesday's schedule saw me staring at screens for 517 minutes,
compared to yesterday's 478. I'm thinking there's something in that extra half hour that really gets you. Saps the last of your energy and
concentration.
By the end of tomorrow I will have seen 2449 minutes - or close to 41 hours.
At exactly 15 minutes past midnight on Saturday morning, this ordeal will finally be over.
The countdown is on...
20:30 Okay, I get it. America has issues. It's a big place with a lot of problems that provide endless fodder for film makers. But enough already.
I never thought I would say this, but I'm sick of the America bashing, Over the past four days I feel like I've been smacked over the head with the same message "America is screwed and it's all Bush's fault". Yes, I'm sure it's a fair enough sentiment but there are other problems in other places as well so get over it.
Having said that, of all the anti-Bush films I've seen recently, none is as to-the-point as Death of a President. A fictional film based on the assassination of George Bush. Yes, it was good, well made and the rest but I just don't care anymore.
So one more film for the night. The third in a row at The Civic. My back is suffering and I am getting increasingly angsty. Well, part angst, part excitement. It will all be over soon. Just over 24 hours to go...
18:06 Right - so it's been a while since my last post. Turns out I mucked my timetable up completely and was booked into two films that ran into each other so had no time to update.
The first was Drama/Mex which was quite literally a Mexican drama. It was... alright. It might have been better had the subtitles not been translated by someone with a degree in Spanglish. Last time I checked, "You're a real stick up" is not a common term of endearment in English. I'm not too sure what it was meant to mean but it was just one of many odd translations that led to raised eyebrows.
Following on from that was Control - the story behind Joy Division and the death of lead singer Ian Curtis. It was fantastic, despite the fact I missed the first 15 minutes (I'm sure they were excellent as well...)
So my Zen-like state of this morning quickly dissipated after some wanker nearly ran me over on Wellesley St as I made my way up to SkyCity. While that alone wasn't enough to kill my inner-peace completely, the annoying women that talked the entire way through Drama/Mex were. This has been a recurring problem throughout the festival but these women took it to new levels.
Still, I am surviving. Not long to go now. Next up, we're seeing Death of a President, which is said to be excellent so here's hoping...
13:20 Hmm, something strange just happened. As I left the Academy Cinema and looked at my schedule, I realised I have a full hour and a half until my next film - and I have no idea what to do with myself.
Yes I have to update the blog (which clearly I am doing) but after that - what? I know there are about a million things I need to sort out and do but I just can't be bothered. It's as if I've entered a Zen-like state where nothing really matters. The universe will work itself out.
Normally this would freak me out entirely as I am not a very Zen person. Rather the opposite in fact. But today, I just don't care. I am sitting in the sunshine in Aotea Square, happy to watch the seagulls fight.
Yesterday I hypothesised that my brain had undergone a fundamental shift, it had stopped analysing information, and merely observed it without further thought. Today I am further convinced this is true.
I only hope it is a temporary shift because, while it is quite nice not to be constantly questioning things and stressing, it is also quite disturbing. I rather feel as if I have become anaesthetised to the world. I am numb.
In other news, I am starting to think I might like to make a film. A documentary. No idea what on, but having seen so many in the past four days, I am convinced I could do it - and do a better job than some of the efforts I've seen recently.
For instance, King Corn, which I saw this morning: Two guys discover they are made out of corn (that is the simplistic way they phrased it - what actually happened is they found their bodies contained high carbon levels, which are a direct result of a corn saturated diet) and went on a quest to discover why.
What they learned was that corn - in some form or another - is in nearly everything we eat: meat, soft drinks, junk food, bread, etc.
Essentially, they spent months of their lives and several thousand dollars to tell people that modern society's diet is crap and is killing us. Shocking.
What was most annoying about the film, was that it could have been interesting if the film-makers had just asked the right questions of the right people.
They discover that corn is in everything we eat because there is so much corn being produced. The reason there is so much corn is because the American Government is paying farmers to grow it. But they never ask why. They never track down the politicians responsible for the policy and question them.
Anyway - this afternoon's agenda includes a Mexican drama, title Drama/Mex, a documentary on Joy Division - Control, and the movies Death of a President and Half Nelson.