Yellow Ball (PART 1 OF 3)

 

Yellow Ball (PART 1 OF 3)

 


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Subj:I enjoyed the delightful movie!


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From: diane@vancouver.ca
To: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Fri., September 5, 2014 4:43 PM
Pacific Daylight Saving Time

Hi Kato,

Nice to hear from you and thanks so much for the review on the film.
I'll look at it on Monday when I return from my weekend reveries.

I do recall seeing "The Scent of Green Papaya" years ago, but can't remember it clearly at all.
Maybe I'll reserve it one of these days, and thanks for the recommendation.

I just returned from a matinee at International Village of Woody Allen's latest "Magic in the Moonlight."


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I must say it was delightful.
The cinematography is superb, so is the witty dialogue (Colin Firth shines in this one).
And the romance, the magical music of the late 1920's, all came together to provide a most pleasurable romantic comedy, with a bit of substance underlying the whole affair.
Quite a surprise ending as well.

It didn't hurt that it took place in the lovely Cote d'Azur, where my boyfriend and I just returned from visiting my brother in June.


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We really enjoyed this movie ... when we arrived at the theatre we were the only two there.
How can they keep these theatres profitable? Egads.

Another couple came later and sat behind us, but it was just the four of us in this huge theater.
Unbelievable!
It is Friday afternoon, nice day---no rain to keep folks home.
It's just so unbelievable!


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... guess you're looking forward to the upcoming VIFF (me, too!).
I've already picked out 10 must-sees and the guide isn't even out yet.
... looks like it's going to be a fantastic year.
... hope to see you at the some of the films, kiddo.

Have a good weekend, Kato

We've got tickets to "The Tempest" at Bard-on-the-Beach tomorrow afternoon with our breakfast group.
Reviews have been positive and the weather is expected to be sunny and warm.
So we're all excited.


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Love, Diane ~

 

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You're looking forward to

the upcoming VIFF for sure!


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From: denman@infoseek.jp
To: diane705@yahoo.ca
cc: barclay1720@aol.com
Date: Thur., September 18, 2014 6:27 PM
Pacific Daylight Saving Time

Hi Diane,

Unfortunately, I'm going to leave for Japan in October.
Naturally, I'll be busy preparing for my annual migration.
I'll have to write some articles in advance.
Although VIFF will open on September 25, I'm afraid I won't have enough time to attend the events.

Diane, you've already picked out 10 must-sees, eh?
I took a look at the festival program.

My picks are as follows:

 

1) Force Majeure


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Echoing The Hunt’s psychological intensity, Ruben Östlund’s riveting drama features another desperate man whose world crumbles around him.

After an avalanche at a ski resort in the Alps, a family’s narrow escape is overshadowed by husband/father Tomas’ cowardice in the clutch.

It seems that running for his (own) life is a slight his wife Ebba just can’t shake.
"Precisely calibrated… Visually stunning… Emotionally perceptive…"
(Variety)

 

2) Foxcatcher


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Employing an unsettling mix of suspense and absurdity, Bennett Miller (Capote) delves into the bizarre true story of Olympic wrestling brothers (Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo)
and their well-heeled, mentally imbalanced sponsor (Steve Carell, combining arrogance and anguish to monstrous effect).

"Powerfully disturbing… This insidiously gripping psychological drama is a model of bleak, bruising, furiously concentrated storytelling."
(Variety. Winner, Best Director, Cannes 2014.)

 

3) The Golden Era


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Fresh from Venice, Ann Hui’s masterly new film tells the life story of China’s greatest modern woman writer Xiao Hong, brilliantly played by Tang Wei.
In the background, Japan’s invasion of China in the 1930s.

In the foreground, a woman in love with a feckless man, negotiating the sexual and political rivalries of her day with honesty, clarity and beauty.
(Tony Rayns)

 

4) The Horses of Fukushima


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Much of Matsubayashi’s prize-winning documentary was shot inside the “exclusion zone” around the crippled nuclear power-plant at Fukushima.

He finds a stable of horses injured in the tsunami, and follows their rehabilitation to take part in a local horse festival.
Very movingly, we watch one horse overcome its traumas… and one man overcome his fears.
(Tony Rayns)

 

5) In Search of Chopin


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It’s always a pleasure to present VIFF favourite Phil Grabsky’s (In Search of Mozart, In Search of Beethoven) latest beautifully made, exquisite-sounding inquiry into the life and music of one of classical music’s great composers.

Now it is the Polish maestro’s turn… "Grabsky has astutely woven together an indelible portrait, offering us a rich and personal insight into Chopin the man and his music."
(Urban Cinefile)

 

6) Something Must Break


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While identities and genders are alluringly fluid in Ester Martin Bergsmark’s narrative debut, the desire for connection is unrelenting.

Initially trepidatious to explore a feminine side, Sebastian—who sometimes prefers to be called Ellie—falls hard for Andreas, a straight man.

But when Andreas proves a fast friend but reluctant lover, Ellie rushes to the fore.
(Winner, Hivos Tiger Award, Rotterdam 2014.)

 

7) Two Days, One Night


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Marion Cotillard gives her rawest performance as a woman desperately trying to save her job and discovering the meaning of solidarity and self-worth.

"A tense dramatic situation and a subtly magnificent central performance… add up to an outstanding new movie from the Dardenne brothers: impassioned, exciting and moving—a Twelve Angry Men of the 21st-century workplace."
(Guardian. Winner, Sydney Film Prize, Sydney 2014.)

 

8) The Vancouver Asahi


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Back in the 1930s, in Vancouver’s old Japantown, a group of Canadian-born kids launched their own baseball team, the Asahi.

Ishii’s lavish-scale entertainment chronicles their battles against failure, racism and prejudice—and the brief moment of triumph they enjoyed before Pearl Harbor changed everything.
An epic tale, rich in humour and humanity.
(Tony Rayns)

In any case, I'd like to hear about your picks once the festival is over.
Now, I've just written an article.


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■"Love@Magic"

...hope you'll enjoy it.

Your smiling and romantic Bohemian, Kato
with a lot of love as always...

(To be followed)