28th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival Coverage

October 17-27

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

Originally posted 10/31/19

Day 1 (10/17)

#PFF28 The Festivities are in full swing Opening Night film #1 PARASITE fantastically nutz and at the same time a commentary on wealth disparities dir Bong Joon Ho pic.twitter.com/nv5QiRb4r9— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 18, 2019

Opening Night Film JUST MERCY starring Michael B Jordan, Jamie Foxx

Philadelphia Film Society bestowed the inaugural HUMANITARIAN AWARD TO BRYAN STEVENSON the subject of the film and the Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative.

For 30 years Stevenson has made it his life’s work to exonerate innocent death row prisoners, try to eliminate excessive and unfair sentencing, confront abuse of the incarcerated and aiding children prosecuted as adults.

Like all movies dealing with actual events of racism, bigotry an injustice of the black race, it’s infuriating. However, Jamie Foxx turns in an Award nominating performance as Johnny D, an innocent man sent to death row before his trial!

After that last Robin Hood movie, Foxx could use this career rejuvenation.

Here’s video of Bryan Stevenson receiving his Award and a Q&A with some of the cast of JUST MERCY:

Day 2 (10/18)

QUEEN OF HEARTS #MiniMovieReview

MAY EL-TOUKHY | Denmark | Danish | 2019

I was supposed to see one film early in the day and then go into work late, but once I’m in film fest mode I either wanna be screening, posting or hanging at the Festival Lounge. And actually this year, with the lounge being at Khyber Pass, there’s WiFi Yay! So I can hang & post simultaneously. Luckily, my supervisor is very understanding of my extracurricular pursuits and said she’d cover for me …

Off I went to see Queen Of Hearts, a slow build about a professional couple – she, Anne a successful lawyer dedicated to supporting the victims of domestic abuse and violence. He, Peter, is a Physician, they’re living pretty good lives, beautiful home, raising twin daughters. But Peter also has a 16 or 17 year-old son, Gustav from a previous marriage whom he doesn’t see very often. Gustav’s been getting into some trouble so his mother thinks it best he spend the summer with his father.

Things are pretty tense at first, but when Anne catches Gustav in a serious lie, she makes a deal with him, if he’ll try harder to fit into the family, she won’t tell his father. This works, but a little too well as they start to bond, and then that bond crosses over to the forbidden.

Anne’s hypocrisy makes an excellent premise. She’s such a staunch advocate for her clients, two of which are underage and yet she refuses to admit to herself that she’s become the predator in her personal life. This Danish Actress Trine Dyrholm is perfect for the part; she’s not particularly attractive, but she’s got an easy sensuality about her. Despite her visage as wife, mother, professional, there’s an air of lust just underneath it all.

T&T the Large Association of Movie Blogs (aka the LAMb) rating: 3 outta 5

#PFF28 Day 3 Spotlight on my favorite thing to do – eat between or during screenings #FilmandFood

Here’s a list of places which will get you a discount with you ticket or badge – https://t.co/ebqJCMdU78 pic.twitter.com/eSdLsba6Ay
— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 19, 2019

JALLIKATTU #MiniMovieReview
Lijo Jose Pellissery | India | Malayalam | 2019

There were two other films showing simultaneously, also getting good word of mouth – WAVES and COME AS YOU ARE, but this story of a bull on a rampage which throws a small village in India into a frenzy, sounded fun, wonderfully wacky, and hopefully charming. The wacky part I got right, just not wonderfully. Although, I admire the filmmaking techniques of dizzying, fast paced shots, syncopated rhythms and the physicality of the villagers on the hunt – at times reminding me of the scene in “Brigadoon” when they’re chasing Harry Beaton.

But in terms of story, it’s sorely lacking, I couldn’t understand the side beefs between (pun intended) some of the men, and the constant tracking of the bull got tedious. Basically, this male testosterone driven, ridiculously loud, day in the life of cranky villagers flick, was a disappointment.

T&T LAMB rating: 2.5 outta 5

#PFF28 Day 3 Shout out to all the outstanding Volunteers!@MonnaeTate @PhillyFilmSoc #philadelphiafilmfestival @RitzTheatres pic.twitter.com/lFSWBefACp

— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 19, 2019

Day 3 (10/19)

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE #MiniMovieReview

Céline Sciamma (Tomboy-2011, Girlhood-2015) | France | 2019 | 120 Min

Set in 1760 Brittany, on the northern coast of France, the film recounts a love story between a female portrait painter and her reluctant subject. The film opens in an art class, as Marianne (Noémie Merlant), teaches other young female artists how to really look at their subject in order to draw. Her painting example depicts a female figure in a darkened background with her dress on fire. As Marianne looks longingly at it, the film goes back in time to fill us in on who this mysterious figure is, and how this painting came to be.

Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) has been taken out of a convent, now next in line to marry a wealthy gentleman from Milan after the death of her sister. She wants no parts of the marriage including the portrait, which seems to be an expected gift given to a groom in these social circles.

We never meet the groom or any other males. The main cast are all women, the film from the point of the female gaze. The cinematography is gorgeous, as you would imagine, many scenes taking place on a lonely beach or looking down at the ocean from high cliffs. Although, the majority of scenes are set inside a large home, which you get the impression was once grand when the family had more income, it’s now in beautiful decay, full of sparsely furnished rooms.

Marianne is instructed to pretend to be a companion to Héloïse and to study her face while they walk along the beach, so as to create the portrait in secret. Their romance builds slowly. Sometimes too slowly for my taste, but I have to always remember to adjust my expected pacing when watching foreign, subtitled films. The Greek tale of Eurydice and Orpheus is also weaved into their romance with an interesting take on the myth.

Tinsel & Tine @LAMB rating: 3.5 outta 5

(From L-R): Sam Rockwell, Scarlett Johansson and Roman Griffin Davis in the film JOJO RABBIT. Photo by Larry Horricks. © 2019 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

JOJO RABBIT TAIKA WAITITI | USA | English | 2019 |#MiniMovieReview

Writer/director Taika Waititi (Thor Ragnarok) created a Wes Anderson-esque offbeat Anne Frank-ish comedy, which won the People’s Choice Awards at TIFF. JOJO RABBIT is set near the end of World War II. Jojo Betzler, played by a remarkable young actor (Roman Griffin Davis) who could give both Jacob Tremblay (Room) and the Stranger Things kids a run for the money) is a German 10-year-old Nazi enthusiast so zealously ready to join the Third Reich, his imaginary friend is a wacky Adolf Hitler (played by Waititi). This is Roman’s first professional role and he really seemed to understand the whole tone of the movie and how to play it straight with humor, that not easy, even for a seasoned actor.

Jojo’s is more than excited to head off to Nazi youth camp, but soon discovers his heart is too tender and independent thinking to truly be a good Nazi. First realized when asked to kill a rabbit by wringing its neck; unable to find his inner killer; it earns him the derisive moniker of JoJo Rabbit. JoJo’s mother (Scarlett Johansson) forever sporting another fabulous German, yodeler ensemble, down to the brightly colored saddle shoes (which are significant to the major outcome of a later scene.) is loving, funny, and doesn’t hide the fact from Jojo that the Nazi party line is not hers – Walking past the hanged corpses of Jews and resistance fighters in the town square, she forces him to look. “What did they do?” he asks. She replies, “What they could.” but she also accepts her son’s fanaticism at least partly because it protects him and she respects his right to find his way.

Sam Rockwell, has now played 2 racists, a womanizer, a Nazi & George Bush, he’s officially type-cast as a bad guy 😀

Making light of the atrocities of the Holocaust in order to ridicule the hatefulness, is not new, probably best done in Roberto Bengni’s Oscar winning Life is Beautiful. But where that film had an escapist bent. JoJo Rabbit’s focuses on the absurdity that comes from demonizing others out of fear and racism. I personally feel over-saturated by Holocaust and Slave narratives, however, like Harriet there’s always another angle and reason to remind people this happened and should never come close to happening again.

#PFF23 EXTRA ORDINARY The ectoplasm vomit made me put away my popcorn, but otherwise, I got a kick out of this film 😂

— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 20, 2019

Day 4 (10/20)

PARADISE HILLS #MiniMovieReview

Alice Waddington in her directorial debut | USA | English | 2019

Short Synopsis: A band of misfit girls plot to escape the fairytale island of Paradise when they realize that its picture-perfect exterior masks a far more sinister reality.

I haven’t read any other reviews on this movie and I don’t think I want to cause I can see where they’ll say it spins off the rails or it’s cheesy. They can say what they want, it was totally up my alley! I was completely take in by this semi-distopian Alice in Wonderland/Stepford Wives influenced future where if you don’t like someone’s personality or they won’t conform, you send them away to a “spa” for a couple weeks and they come back docile and manageable. The commentary it makes on what it still takes to be your own person and not be silenced as a female is imaginatively played upon.

The setting is gorgeous, the costumes & set design imaginative and I was entertained throughout.

Starring: CAST: Emma Roberts, Danielle Macdonald, Awkwafina, Milla Jovovich

Below is Q&A with director Alice Waddington. I noticed when the credits rolled filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo listed as co-writer. He wrote one of my favorite films of 2017 COLOSSAL, in the video you’ll hear me asking about his influence…

SWALLOW #MiniMovieReview

CARLO MIRABELLA-DAVIS | USA | English | 2019

Check back Not written yet… But check out the Q&A with the filmmaker

Day 5 (10/21)

THE TRUTH #MiniMovieReview

HIROKAZU KORE-EDA | France, Japan | English, French | 2019 |

Check back haven’t written yet…

#PFF28 THE REPORT is another noble attempt, like Spielberg’s The Post to breakdown for Americans willing to listen, about how f’d up things are behind the scenes of our gov’t. But how much of Daniel Jones (Adam Driver) dogged integrity happened and how much is Hollywood Heroism? pic.twitter.com/cDocFsI9ii
— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 22, 2019

Day 6 (10/22)

Well I think he was right to change the time period to 1950’s Noir, but at the same time, after the character Frank Minna (Bruce Willis) smirks his way to an early demise and Lionel (Edward Norton) starts his investigation, it soon becomes one of those “Maltese Falcon”/”Chinatown” type story that I tend to get bored following …

Edward Norton is the writer/director/lead of #MotherlessBrooklyn, a passion project that took him 20 years to get to the screen, based on a 1999 novel by Jonathan Lethem. The story centers around solving the murder of Frank Minna, a private dick/hustler with a team of 4 misfit associates. His most loyal misfit is Lionel Essrog (Norton) who’s hell bent in figuring out what happened partly because his compulsive disorder manifesting in Tourette syndrome won’t let his head rest; but mainly cause Minna accepted him as a weird, fellow orphan when they were kids, taking him in under his wing looking out for him ever since, so he feels he owes him.

There’s a B plot that takes a look at early gentrification in Brooklyn, involving a pretty, black female, Laura (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Alec Baldwin‘s character is based on a real life white tycoon of the time period bent on a “Manefest Destiny” of sorts, involving building bridges. From here the story gets a bit murky, but the sets look credible and the overall production value very good. Loved the lighting behind the horn player at the jazz club. And in terms of noir romance, there’s a sweet chemistry between Norton & Mbatha-Raw; it’s nice how her touch calms his Tourette’s to a degree.

Still, on the whole, I didn’t love “Motherless Brooklyn”, although there’s stuff here to warrant some nominations in the swiftly approaching awards season.

Day 7 (10/23)

Day 8 (10/24)

THE VAST OF NIGHT #MiniMovieReview

ANDREW PATTERSON | USA | English | 2019

Check back not written yet…

In terms of family dynamics Noah Baumbach has given us the dysfunction of “The Squid and The Whale”, a couple going through a mid-life crises in “While We’re Young” and now “Marriage Story” is not about what happens during a marriage, but rather what takes place once the towel has officially been thrown in.

Though Baumbach’s films aren’t explicitly autobiographical, he frequently draws from his experiences, as all writers do really, but in this case, many viewers will see parallels between Baumbach’s divorce from Jennifer Jason Leigh in these characters. Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) a Hollywood actress who had become the “it” girl before meeting Charlie (Adam Driver) a struggling New York playwright and director. During the course of their marriage tables get turned where she becomes merely the talented actress in his plays, and he’s now considered the creative genius and toast of New York theater. Some of this is what has led to their decision to split up, but rather than drag in lawyers and make things nasty for themselves and their eight-year-old son Henry (Azhy Robertson), they’ve decided to do the whole conscious uncoupling thing and just hire a mediator to emotionally coach them through this divorce.

If I have any issues with the movie, which I thoroughly enjoyed, it would be that I rarely was on Nicole’s side; despite Charlie having had an affair with his stage manager, it’s written so that Nicole’s often the source of where the contention begins. It’s obvious, as much as Baumbach probably wanted to be fair to each side, he slanted things toward Charlie’s pain and bewilderment. Even a comical scene involving Nicole’s mother (Julie Hagerty) and sister (Merritt Wever), played like a farce, becomes a moment of betrayal as Charlie is blindsided by being served divorce papers. And another heartbreakingly funny scene where he’s trying to bond with Henry during his Halloween visit and Nicole suggests they have separate Halloween’s with their son, which becomes an epic fail by the time Henry gets to Charlie.

Once things turn legal we get some fantastic performances by Laura Dern (who’s working all the time now) she plays Nicole’s chic, smart, feminist, compassionate shark of a lawyer, Alan Alda plays an avuncular lawyer who’s seen it all and knows there’s no such thing as a non-messy divorce, and Ray Liotta as a crude, we play to win attorney.

What makes “Marriage Story” work is the honesty of the performances — and the agonizing aspects of these two trying to shield their young son from the turmoil of it all. They never completely lose sight of the things that made them fall in love, but sadly, it’s not enough to hold them to one another.

Discussing that quality, the filmmaker cites Jean Renoir’s quote: “The awful thing about life is this: Everyone has their reasons.”

Day 9 (10/25)

How many have you seen at #PFF28 so far?
— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 25, 2019

Eh, you didn’t miss much with UNKNOWN SAINT. WOUNDS might be grosser than it is scary (although still scary).
— Keith🍕🤺 (@PhillyFilmFan) October 25, 2019

#PFF28 you were 💯% right, WOUNDS was grossly buggy, but hardly scary, it builds some dread, but as afraid as I was going in, I’m also disappointed it didn’t go darker.
— Tinsel & Tine (@tinseltine) October 27, 2019

Day 10 (10/26)

BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR Check back for #MiniMovieReview

EVA ORNER | USA | English | 2019

THE PLACE OF NO WORDS

MARK WEBBER | USA | English | 2019

A family grapples with death after young father Mark is diagnosed with a terminal illness. When his 3-year-old son Bodhi poses the simple question “Where do we go when we die?,” the father and son explore a fantastical world in their imaginations to help process their emotions and discover universal truths about being human.

There’s a dreamy air to The Place of No Words, despite the film’s earthy, naturalistic makeup. Webber relies heavily on natural lighting and handheld shots in both the fantasy and real storylines, further blurring the two together. It’s a filmmaking style that Webber dubs “fantasy reality cinema,” in which the filmmaker attempts to bring out the inherent beauty of life. See Q&A below…

Check back for Kristen Stewart in

SEBERG

Day 11 (10/27)

CLEMENCY

28^th Philadelphia Film Festival Award Winners

Best Documentary Feature

Leftover Women, Director Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam. 2019, Israel.

Best Narrative Feature

Queen of Hearts, Director May El-Toukhy. 2019, Denmark.

Pinkenson Award for Best Local Feature

Clemency, Director Chinonye Chukwu. 2019, USA.

Honorable Mention for Best Direction

Maybe Next Year, Director Kyle Thrash. 2019, USA.

Archie Award for Best First Feature

Adam (Morocco), Maryam Touzani. 2019. Morocco, France.

Best Short Film

Broken Orchestra, Director Charlie Tyrell.

Student Choice Award

The Australian Dream, Director Daniel Gordon. 2019, Australia, UK.

Filmadelphia Audience Award

The Nomads, Director Brandon Eric Kamin. 2019, USA.

Audience Award

Knives Out, Director Rian Johnson. 2019, USA.
Come As You Are, Director Richard Wong. 2019, USA.

The 28^th Philadelphia Film Festival is made possible through the generous support of its sponsors, including:

Official Sponsors: AKA, Philadelphia Style, Alkemy X, 6abc, Xfinity, iHeart

ORIGINAL POST PRE-FESTIVAL

#PFF28 REELS AND DEALS

Be sure to follow Tinsel & Tine on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Stories during The Philadelphia Film Festival

The 28th Annual Philadelphia Film Festival (#PFF28) will open this year with Michael B. Jordan in JUST MERCY

EACH IMAGE below Linked to filmadelphia.org

The Opening Night Party (Oct 17) will be at the FITLER CLUB
(24 S. 24th Street) 11pm – 2 am

The Festival Awards Ceremony (6:45pm) and Closing night film
KNIVES OUT – along with Closing Night Party at SUGARHOUSE CASINO
(1001 N. Delaware Ave) 10:30-1:30am takes place Fri. Oct 25th
although the Fest continues through Sun. 27th

in between will be 120 films from 41 countries during the 11-day event.
Also be sure to stop into the FESTIVAL LOUNGE (KHYBER PASS 56 S. 2nd Street Upper Level) between screenings to grab a bite, get a drink and share your thoughts on what you’ve seen!

Some of the categories have changed names (see video above to hear Artistic Director Michael Lerman talk about the updated titles) most notably the films that used to be called Centerpiece Screenings are now all Gala Openings. These are the films that get you ahead of the game for Awards Season!

Galas

Harriet, Director Kasi Lemmons. 2019, USA.
The Irishman, Director Martin Scorsese. 2019, USA.
Jojo Rabbit, Director Taika Waititi. 2019, USA.
Just Mercy, Director Destin Daniel Cretton. 2019, USA. Opening Night Gala
Knives Out, Director Rian Johnson. 2019, USA. Closing Night Gala
Marriage Story, Director Noah Baumbach. 2019, USA.
Motherless Brooklyn, Director Edward Norton. 2019, USA.
The Two Popes, Director Fernando Meirelles. 2019, USA, UK, Italy, Argentina.
Waves, Director Trey Edward Shults. 2019, USA.

In going through the Guide
Here’s My Picks for Films in Other Categories:

EACH IMAGE linked to filmadelphia.org

MASTERS OF CINEMA – presented by aka.
THE TRUTH –Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda

VARDA BY AGNES -Dir. Agnès Varda

SPOTLIGHT – presented by Modern Luxury Philadelphia Syle

HONEY BOY – Dir. Alma Har’el

PARADISE HILLS – Dir. Alice Waddington

WORLD VIEW presented by Ch 6 ABC

DIVINE LOVE – Dir Gabriel Mascaro (various Countries)

JALLIKATTU -Dir. LiJo Jose Pellissery (India)

CINEMA DE FRANCE

I LOST MY BODY – Jérémy Clapin

VISIONS OF CHINA
SO LONG, MY SON Dir Wang Xiaoshuai

MADE IN THE USA presented by alkemyx

THE VAST OF NIGHT – Dir. Andrew Patterson

FILMADELPHIA

MAYBE NEXT YEAR – Dir Kyle Thrash

CLEMENCY Dir Chinonye Chukwu

Screenings for the 28^th Philadelphia Film Festival will take place at the below theaters:

Ritz East (125 S. 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106)
Ritz Five (214 Walnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106)
Philadelphia Film Center (1412 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19102)

Tickets will go on-sale for Philadelphia Film Society members on Friday, October 4^thand to the general public beginning Monday, October 7^th.

Check Out the Full Line Up of Films & Events

Be sure to follow Tinsel & Tine during the festival on social media see feeds on Home and PhillyCalendar pages also stop back to this post for an end of the fest Roundup!