It's MIFF Time.

It's that time again. The time of year when I disappear for a few weeks, into a cloud of little sleep and many movies. In case any of you were hoping to hang out with me over August, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint. I'll be unavailable for comment IRL, unless of course you want to meet up with me at the ol' cinematorium. The Melbourne International Film Festival is well and truly filling up my schedule.

It appears that in the last few posts of note on here I've been a little overly excited. I don't know how to feel about that. Perhaps it's a genuine enthusiasm for the things that are going on around me. Perhaps it's the fact that I usually blog when I'm highly caffeinated and as a result uncomfortably energetic. Perhaps it's a little from Column A and a little from Column B. Either way, I look at my calendar and I can't help but be very pleased with my upcoming movements. I actually haven't been to MIFF since 2009; both last year and the year before I was overseas. Which is fine of course - don't even get me started on what I was doing this time last year - but I can hardly wait to get stuck back into it.

SO.

In case anyone was wondering where I'll be spending my time over the next two and a half weeks, here you are:

SHUT UP & PLAY THE HITS
LCD Soundsystem's farewell concert. This is one of the few films I wish I had to foresight and good thinking to find a buddy for. I usually prefer to get my moviefilm on solo, but I think this one'll be a ripper of a film to see in a team.

VHS
Horror film, something about finding a VHS tape. Perhaps it is a haunted VHS tape? Will terrify. Hopefully. I hope to be terrified. I hope I barely make it home with my sanity because everything is so terrifying after walking out of the theatre.

THE SESSIONS
I like John Hawkes, so I'm seeing The Sessions. Guy who has a #dark disease of some sort wants to have sex, so enlists Helen Hunt to help him out. 

MOONRISE KINGDOM
I wouldn't be a self-respecting hipster type if I didn't see Moonrise Kingdom as soon as is humanly possible. So I am. While this isn't the sort of Dark Knight Rises anticipation that's been all the rage in my brain recently, I am really pumped for this. My love of Wes Anderson began right about the time I accidentally watched Bottle Rocket when I was about fourteen. So, a while ago. Hence the excitement.

THIS AIN'T CALIFORNIA
Skateboarding in East Germany! Same as the way I am attracted to people who understand physics and math, I'm one of those rather cliched ladies who find themselves drawn to skaters. This is probably because numbers make no sense to me and I'm far and away the most uncoordinated person I know. As in, I'm no good at skating. I'm attending this with a like-minded lady, and I'm looking forward to it immensely.

VIOLETA
I originally saw the trailer for Violeta while actually in Chile, and cursed the fact that it was to be released there after I returned to Australia. As you can imagine, I was very pleased to see it on the program for MIFF. I'm not so pleased with the international title it's received - Violeta Went to Heaven - but I guess them's the breaks. The titular Violeta is Violeta Parra, the Chilean singer. I heard her music for the first time earlier this year at a barbeque celebrating my mother's family's 30th anniversary of arriving in Australia. By about halfway through one of her tunes the majority of the family was in tears, so I suppose she's a significant figure in Chilean history. 

Seriously though, I'm going with my family and I think we'll fill the cinema. 

INTERNATIONAL SHORTS #1

Short films. I'm not sure what's on, but I'm looking forward to the surprise.

SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED 

I've been a fan of Mark Duplass since I saw Humpday at MIFF '09. I am currently re-watching Parks and Recreation. This looks pretty damn cool. Reporter and a couple of interns track down a guy who takes out an ad searching for a time travel companion. Romance and hilarity ensue.

THE ANGELS' SHARE
Ken Loach. Down on his luck soon-to-be-father Scottish dude on probation steals whiskey. Looks fun.

NO

Another Chilean flick! Starring Gael Garcia Bernal, about Pinochet's 1988 referendum. Won big at Directors Fortnight at Cannes. 

So. Those are the flicks I have tickets to currently. As soon as payday rolls around, I'll be buying tickets to Bestiare, War Witch and an animation shorts screening. I also feel like my list is currently a little too heavy on the American side so I'll be looking to check out something Swedish, as well as at least one of the films screening as part of the Accent on Asia program. Basically I'm seeing the ten listed, plus at least five more. 

See you on the other side!