Ebertfest 2008, Day 4

Seen: Saturday, April 26, 2008
The following films played on day four of Ebertfest 2008:

Hulk (2003)
I loved Ang Lee's Hulk when it was released in 2003, and I still love it now in 2008. It was
unfairly criticized, I think, when it came out, and what I haven't figured out is if that's because its critics truly sees Lee's film as a poorly made movie, or if it is simply suffering from the syndrome of inauthenticity as deemed by comic book fiends. As I understand it (and I think the lately summer comic book-inspired summer releases are subject to this too) most criticisms fall into the latter category. But for me, well, I don't know if I've ever read a comic book cover to cover at all, in fact I know I haven't. It just doesn't bother me that the green gargantuan might look or act different, or have a whole other story line that never existed in the printed comic of yore. But film is a different medium and a comic adaptation is sure to differ in one way or another. The filmed Hulk will inherently be vastly different from its source material, and there are new possibilities for a director bringing this flat figure to life onscreen. Always, I say my favorite part of Hulk is how Lee styled the split screen frames to mimic the look of the comic book. What a brilliant way to intercut both the different happenings in time among characters, or to simply show multiple points of view of the same action--which is what occurs at the climax of Hulk as the bloated Bruce Banner is perched atop a hill on the streets of San Francisco.

But all of that aside, I can sympathize with the plight of the comic book nerd. Well, not really. But if those lovable bespectacled graphic art hounds need a release for anger, dear god let it be for this year's The Incredible Hulk. I don't keep a "worst of" movies list, but if I did it'd surely be at the top.


The Band's Visit (2007)
Also seen was director Eran Kolirin's The Band's Visit, which was fun and funny, and a very nice look at Israeli landscape that is all but Martian to me. Kolirin, like Lee, was also on hand at the festival to talk with the audience. I’m pretty sure his was one of the better received films of the festival.














Housekeeping (1987)
Ditto for Bill Forsyth’s Housekeeping starring Christine Lahti. The story centers around two sisters left orphaned as little girls whose quirky and sometimes erratic aunt Sylvie (Lahti) moves in to care for them. Unfit for motherhood herself and still stuck in perpetual adolescence, home life resembles more of a slumber party than a structured, safe environment. But since it’s Ebert’s festival, here’s a quote from his review in 1988: “At the end of the film, I was quietly astonished. I had seen a film that could perhaps be described as being about a madwoman, but I had seen a character who seemed closer to a mystic, or a saint.” I think that says it nicely.







The Cell (2000)
Now, my question is, who is this director Tarsem Singh who plops down one of the most horrifying, terrifying films in recent history then falls off the face of the planet? Where did he come from? Where is he now? Well, he was at Ebertfest for a bit of audience Q&A, and he did have a more recent release, The Fall, for which I barely recall a single advertisement (It toured through festivals then landed a nationwide release last May).


Read more about Ebertfest Day four as it happened live at Scarlett Cinema!