film fest missive from randy

"One stellar film so far, "Everything is Illuminated".. did you read the book? obviously lots in the audience had... Elijah Woods as geeky nerdy American Jew who goes to Ukraine to find the lady who helped his grampa escape the Nazis.  The audience roared with laughter the first part and then it got very serious; I bet on this one for the audience favourite...the Ukrainian yout, yes yout who is his guide and translator needs an Oscar..."Are you carnal with many girls?"  rarely has English been spoken so funnily.  Can't believe me saying this but i think Terry Gilliam went too far with Tidewater; filmed in Saskatchewan, naturally the Prairies never looked so beautiful or surreal but the story was very, very scary with a mean woman who specializes in taxiderming critters of all kinds, get it?  Jeff Bridges' acting was not wooden but definitely stiff for such a laid back guy....No Lebowski there plus the injections of doses of sexuality around a 10 year old girl had me squirming.  Good new Holocaust film last nite from Hungary called FATELESS about a 14 year old Jewish boy; definetly not in the caliber of Europa Europa but a very straightforward poignant scene by awful scene exposition.  Two films tonite and friday and then the marathon 4 on Saturday including me and Ji and Wallace and Grommit; can hardly wait...." [Randy's Reviews-15-September-2005]