Day 7 - Weak Competition

Keep driving, Marty! We're getting the hell out of that competition.

Everyone says it's a weak competition this year. People say this every year, but this year my mate Ingo said it, and he's my most trusted source for movie opinion, even if he is a German film student. I can't help but agree, though I can't remember the competition being that much stronger in other years.

For what it's worth, here's my incomplete round-up.

HOWL - The story of Allen Ginsberg's obscenity trial + embarrassing animations. Quick capsule review: Turdburger

MY NAME IS KHAN (out of competition) - Bollywood style 9/11 soap featuring annoying autism acting. Quick capsule review: Please stop doing that face.

IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE - tense Romanian young offenders drama. Quick capsule review: stark, scary and well-acted. But should he should chill out about his mum.

SHUTTER ISLAND (out of competition) - Scorcese does Hitchcock. Quick capsule review: Lightweight and silly, but very entertaining.

A WOMAN, A GUN AND A NOODLE SHOP - Chinese re-make of the Coens' Blood Simple, re-imagined in medieval China, as a farce. Quick capsule review: Bizarre and weirdly perfect in its old-fashioned way.

EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP (out of competition) - Banksy documentary. Quick capsule review: Fucking brilliant.

CATERPILLAR - Japanese amputation fun. Quick capsule review: AAARRGGHH!

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (out of competition) - American liberal lesbo-comedy. Quick capsule review: Really good acting and lovingly realized characters. But they may extremely annoy you, and there are a lot of bad bits.

HOW I ENDED THIS SUMMER - Russian movie set on an Arctic weather station. Only two characters. One of them makes a decision near the beginning which makes absolutely no sense and therefore ruins the rest of the film. Quick capsule review: JUST TELL HIM!

Where does this leave us? Only one stand-out film (EXIT). The rest: Meh. What's for dinner?