Chicago International Film Festival 2011 Movie Reviews - "Holidays by the Sea" and "C
The 2011 Chicago International Film Festival was a great success.
It gathered together dozens of the top film producers in the world and hundreds of avid film goers.
Two films that were presented at this year's festival were "Holidays by the Sea" and "Chico & Rita.
" These films got mixed reviews, especially from me.
Holidays by the Sea The first film that I saw was "Holidays by the Sea.
" This was a french genre film that tried to mimic the creative film stylings of Jacques Tati.
What this means is that the filmmakers attempted to add elements of physical comedy and French innuendos throughout the film for comic effect.
Unfortunately, they fell a little short of Tati's high standards.
Overall the film was okay.
It had a number of enjoyable parts and a good collection of highs and lows.
The problem that I had with this film, however, was that it was too disconnected to be a good film.
There was limited dialogue, storyline holes and a general lack of cohesiveness to the plot and character interactions.
I think that it would have been a better film had the filmmaker focused more on telling the story and lesson the comic elements which turned out to be more of a distraction than an element of entertainment.
Chico & Rita Another film that I watched was "Chico & Rita.
" Obviously this was not a French film nor a derivative of the film stylings of Tati.
What it did offer was a retro animated feature that utilized music and the visual arts to tell a story of love, betrayal, infidelity and heartache.
The story was based in 1948 Cuba.
The main characters were lovers, both musicians and both passionate about life and their arts.
Things got complicated as the story progressed and issues of love and infidelity were explored.
What I liked about this film was that it was visually interesting and musically stunning.
I loved the musical arrangements which really enhanced the enjoyment of this film.
I also liked the retro look of the animation used to tell this story.
It offered an authenticity that I believe would have been lost in a CGI production.
What I didn't like about this film was that it relied too heavily on the animation and the music.
The characters were not able to convey the story on their own.
This film would have been better had the filmmakers spent a little more time developing the storyline.
It gathered together dozens of the top film producers in the world and hundreds of avid film goers.
Two films that were presented at this year's festival were "Holidays by the Sea" and "Chico & Rita.
" These films got mixed reviews, especially from me.
Holidays by the Sea The first film that I saw was "Holidays by the Sea.
" This was a french genre film that tried to mimic the creative film stylings of Jacques Tati.
What this means is that the filmmakers attempted to add elements of physical comedy and French innuendos throughout the film for comic effect.
Unfortunately, they fell a little short of Tati's high standards.
Overall the film was okay.
It had a number of enjoyable parts and a good collection of highs and lows.
The problem that I had with this film, however, was that it was too disconnected to be a good film.
There was limited dialogue, storyline holes and a general lack of cohesiveness to the plot and character interactions.
I think that it would have been a better film had the filmmaker focused more on telling the story and lesson the comic elements which turned out to be more of a distraction than an element of entertainment.
Chico & Rita Another film that I watched was "Chico & Rita.
" Obviously this was not a French film nor a derivative of the film stylings of Tati.
What it did offer was a retro animated feature that utilized music and the visual arts to tell a story of love, betrayal, infidelity and heartache.
The story was based in 1948 Cuba.
The main characters were lovers, both musicians and both passionate about life and their arts.
Things got complicated as the story progressed and issues of love and infidelity were explored.
What I liked about this film was that it was visually interesting and musically stunning.
I loved the musical arrangements which really enhanced the enjoyment of this film.
I also liked the retro look of the animation used to tell this story.
It offered an authenticity that I believe would have been lost in a CGI production.
What I didn't like about this film was that it relied too heavily on the animation and the music.
The characters were not able to convey the story on their own.
This film would have been better had the filmmakers spent a little more time developing the storyline.
