Denver Film Festival

We had a great time at the Denver Film Festival this weekend. Jill came down for 2 movies and I saw 10 movies (in less than 3 days). Some quick comments on some of the movies I saw:

Pan's Labyrinth
My favorite at this year's fest. I guess you'd classify it as a fairy tale for grown-ups. With its parallel stories of a young girl's move with her mother to live with a fascist general and the girl's fairy tale adventures involving a bunch of imaginative creatures, this is a one-of-a-kind movie.

Volver
Pedro Almodóvar's latest is as good as some of his best films. Another great one. Penelope Cruz does a great job in this one.

Behind the Mask / Chalk
Two hilarious mockumentaries. Behind the Mask follows a guy who dreams of one day living up to the standard set by his idols: Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Myers. Being a psycho killer sure requires a lot of cardio work. Chalk follows a first year teacher and the teachers he works with. Jill could relate to this one a lot. Hilarious for teachers and everyone else. The rendition of the Safety Dance on piano is priceless.

Climates
Very artsy-fartsy and slow, but a great film none-the-less. There is a great shot of falling snow at the end that reminded me of the famous shot from "In Cold Blood" where the rain falls on the window pane. I liked this one a lot, but it's definitely not for everyone.