Son of Rambow

ST. LOUIS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL | November 8-18, 2007 Film Editor Pete Timmernann gives his highlights for the St. Louis International Film Festival. You can also see what the rest of our critics have to say about their choice picks in the Film Festival section.

I didn't uncover any unqualified gems among the SLIFF feature films I screened, but some have enough good points to make them worth your time and money, while others are in the "don't bother" category.

Practically everyone carries a bag (especially members of the press), so not having a bag lets you breeze past the inevitably long line to get your bag checked, which often means the difference between a decent seat and an awful seat, missing the first few minutes of a movie, etc. So, I wear a coat. Mine currently has a film of sweat all over the inside of it, and it is gross.

This turned out to be a great idea, as I’d never heard Breillat speak before, and she was just as fiery as I wanted her to be. For example, when one reporter asked her what her limits are in terms of content and the unpleasant subject matter she favors, she shot back (in French, the following quote is the translation offered by the onsite interpreter), “There are no limits. Only society has limits.” She also says that she instructed Asia to not read the book that the film is based on, because it is too long.

Outside on the Croisette right now is the gala premiere of Death Proof. They were blaring “Little Green Bag” a minute ago. I’m sure “Misirlou” will be played in short order.

Outside on the Croisette right now is the gala premiere of Death Proof. They were blaring “Little Green Bag” a minute ago. I’m sure “Misirlou” will be played in short order.

Outside on the Croisette right now is the gala premiere of Death Proof. They were blaring “Little Green Bag” a minute ago. I’m sure “Misirlou” will be played in short order.

This morning was the press screening of the new Gus Van Sant film, Paranoid Park, which is about a young skateboarder who accidentally kills a security guard and then decides not to tell anyone. As it sounds, the film plays very much like how Van Sant tackling a Larry Clark movie would be.

Although this year’s festival has so far perhaps been better to me both in terms of films and experiences than any other festival I’ve ever been to, it is dispiriting when you see five films in a day and four of them are disappointing, boring, or outright bad.