MILWAUKEE, MINNESOTA -- Allan Mindel, dir

©2003
studio: Tartan Video
production company: Albert & Tuey Productions, Empire State Entertainment, Framework Entertainment Group, Modern Digital
dir: Allan Mindel
cast: Troy Garity, Alison Folland, Randy Quaid, Bruce Dern, Hank Harris, Debra monk, Josh Brolin, Holly Woodlawn
screenplay: Richard Murphy

A young man who's been labeled mentally ill is left on his own after his mother's murder. Confused and alone, he's targeted by two different con artists out to make off with his inheritance. [from IMDb.com]

#####

Wonderful cast -- great performances. Bruce Dern is subtle but strong, as always. I've never been much of a fan of Randy Quaid -- his performance was typical. Alison Folland, whom I'd never heard of, was pretty good. Troy Garity was okay, but his character was rather ill-defined. And there, I think was the problem.

There was little definition to anything here.

Just what was Albert's affliction? Did it matter? Well, kind of, since he's suddenly on his own and people are trying to take advantage of him. As a viewer I don't know how capable he is of watching after himself.

I didn't mind the super powers with fishing. Kind of strange, quirky, as an indie film should be.

The stock characters just didn't help: the idiot savant, the hooker with the heart of gold, the long-lost father, the convincing villian. Just too stereotypical, and the story did nothing to diverge from what we expected.

Oh, and it does take place in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Minnesota is in the title because ... well... I'm not 100% sure why it's in the title. I guess it's just eye-catching.

NEIL GAIMAN'S A SHORT FILM ABOUT JOHN BOLTON - Neil Gaiman, dir

©2003
studio: New Video Group
production company:
director: Neil Gaiman
cast: John O'Mahony, Marcus Brigstocke, Carolyn Backhouse, Jonathan Ross, Tree Petts, John Bolton, Judith Clute, Jayne Setchfield, Denise Worme, Bette Marenko, Katie Lawrie, Martin Cordier
screenplay: Neil Gaiman

A 'documentary' exploring the dark, horrific paintings of artist John Bolton.

#####

This was classic horror. It was eery. It made me uncomfortable. I didn't want to watch, and yet I couldn't help myself.

I was actually believing that all was a real documentary, but a few comments made by the art dealer, the gallery owner, made me start to wonder. She pushed it just a little too much. And then the artist himself seemed a little too uncomfortable in his quirkiness (true quirkiness is very comfortable).

Certainly by the time we are off to visit the artists studio it is clear that we are in for something odd and that it just isn't real.

But it certainly made me shiver in the way good horror will.

PARIS, JE T'AIME --

©2006
studio: First Look Pictures
production company: Victoires International, Pirol Stiftung, Canal+, X-Filme Creative Pool
dirstors:
Olivier Assayas (segment "Quartier des Enfants Rouges")
Frédéric Auburtin (segment "Quartier Latin") (transitions)
Emmanuel Benbihy (transitions)
Gurinder Chadha (segment "Quais de Seine")
Sylvain Chomet (segment "Tour Eiffel")
Ethan Coen (segment "Tuileries")
Joel Coen (segment "Tuileries")
Isabel Coixet (segment "Bastille")
Wes Craven (segment "Père-Lachaise")
Alfonso Cuarón (segment "Parc Monceau")
Gérard Depardieu (segment "Quartier Latin")
Christopher Doyle (segment "Porte de Choisy")
Richard LaGravenese (segment "Pigalle")
Vincenzo Natali (segment "Quartier de la Madeleine")
Alexander Payne (segment "14th arrondissement")
Bruno Podalydès (segment "Montmartre")
Walter Salles (segment "Loin du 16ème")
Oliver Schmitz (segment "Place des Fêtes")
Nobuhiro Suwa (segment "Place des Victoires")
Daniela Thomas (segment "Loin du 16ème")
Tom Tykwer (segment "Faubourg Saint-Denis")
Gus Van Sant (segment "Le Marais")
cast: Florence Muller, Hervé Pierre, Bruno Podalydès, Leïla Bekhti, Julien Beramis, Cyril Descours, Thomas Dumerchez, Daniely Francisque, Audrey Fricot, Salah Teskouk,
Christian Bramsen, Marianne Faithfull, Elias McConnell, Gaspard Ulliel, Julie Bataille, Steve Buscemi, Gulliver Hecq, Axel Kiener, Frankie Pain, Marina Moncade, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Aurélien Blain-King, Xing Xing Cheng, Hélène Patarot, Barbet Schroeder, Li Xin, Javier Cámara, Sergio Castellitto, Emilie Ohana, Miranda Richardson, Leonor Watling, Juliette Binoche, Martin Combes, Willem Dafoe, Hippolyte Girardot, Roxane Pelicier, Dylan Gomong, Emmanuel Layotte, Madeleine Malroux, Simone Malroux, Yolande Moreau, Isabelle Patey, Paul Putner, Sara Martins, Nick Nolte, Ludivine Sagnier, Lionel Dray, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Joana Preiss, Seydou Boro, Aïssa Maïga, Fanny Ardant, Bob Hoskins, Olga Kurylenko, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Alexander Payne, Rufus Sewell, Melchior Beslon, Natalie Portman, Gérard Depardieu, Ben Gazzara, Gena Rowlands, Margo Martindale
screeplay:
Tristan Carné (idea)
Emmanuel Benbihy (feature film concept and transitions)
Bruno Podalydès (segment "Montmartre")
Paul Mayeda Berges (segment "Quais de Seine") &
Gurinder Chadha (segment "Quais de Seine")
Gus Van Sant (segment "Le Marais")
Ethan Coen (segment "Tuileries") &
Joel Coen (segment "Tuileries")
Walter Salles (segment "Loin du 16ème") &
Daniela Thomas (segment "Loin du 16ème")
Christopher Doyle (segment "Porte de Choisy") &
Gabrielle Keng (segment "Porte de Choisy") &
Kathy Li (segment "Porte de Choisy")
Isabel Coixet (segment "Bastille")
Nobuhiro Suwa (segment "Place des Victoires")
Sylvain Chomet (segment "Tour Eiffel")
Alfonso Cuarón (segment "Parc Monceau")
Olivier Assayas (segment "Quartier des Enfants Rouges")
Oliver Schmitz (segment "Place des Fêtes")
Richard LaGravenese (segment "Pigalle")
Vincenzo Natali (segment "Quartier de la Madeleine")
Wes Craven (segment "Père-Lachaise")
Tom Tykwer (segment "Faubourg Saint-Denis")
Gena Rowlands (segment "Quartier Latin")
Nadine Eïd (segment "14th arrondissement") &
Alexander Payne (segment "14th arrondissement")

Stories of love from the city of love.

#####

What was this all about? Was it truly some short films under one title? I kept waiting for something to tie them together. Something more than the end credits rolling and the various actors meeting.

Some of the shorts were quite interesting, though none of them really seemed to tell a story by themselves.

I liked moments of this, but thought that I should have liked more of it in general.