Apologies for the slow email responses, but I’ve been traveling a bit after the APG opening, and now I find myself in Savannah, Georgia for the annual film fest here. I’m judging this year, soon to hand out awards for Best Feature Doc, Best Narrative Feature, and Best Short.
Those will be announced Saturday night, so I’m not at liberty to weigh in on those films. But I did catch a lot of stuff out of competition, too, including Grant Heslov’s MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, Jason Reitman’s UP IN THE AIR, Oren Moverman’s THE MESSENGER, Vallee’s THE YOUNG VICTORIA, James Ivory’s CITY OF YOUR FINAL DESTINATION, Almodovar’s BROKEN EMBRACES.
In a single day, I watched four features and four shorts. Reminded me of the days when your folks would drop you off at the movies and you’d watch back-to-back double features. But it’s great for a filmmaker to expose himself to this happy onslaught of cinematic energy; it can’t help but open your mind to new ways and new styles.
And here’s just one of my take-away thoughts from the festival: In her native tongue, Penelope Cruz is a really exceptional talent. Go see BROKEN EMBRACES.
