After a quick trip to the southeast quandrant of the US, I was back in line for another festival film.  Kanikôsen was a novel that was adapted to a graphic novel which is now adapted to a movie (actually, there was another film adaptation in 1953). The title refers to the crab-canning boat in which the story takes place. The setting: early 20th century, summer, in the waters between Japan and Russia. The Japanese boats are in a competition for “national pride” to can more crab than their fellow boats. This one we’re on is losing the competition and the boss is not happy. He and his second beat the workers, demanding harder work, more efficiency, greater output. An idealistic worker, Shinjo, tries to lure his brothers into a better life through mass suicide. After that fails, he leaves the boat on a dinghy (I’m a little hazy on the details of this as it was past my bedtime and I might have nodded off) and is subsequently rescued by a Russian boat, where he sees how happy the workers are in their current lives. Shinjo returns to his cannery boat and rallies his fellow workers. There is humor, there is tragedy, there is drama. [Kanikôsen screens again 31 May, 8:30pm at the Egyptian.]

My motivation for seeing Nowhere Boy was that young John Lennon was played by Kick-Ass Aaron Johnson. The late Beatle, even as an awkward teen, was a far cry from the shy, dweebish wannabe action hero, and I thought it would be interesting to see the one so soon after the other. Even knowing going in that the story was about John Lennon, at times I would forget and think I was watching Paul McCartney’s story (confusing!). I’m not sure why – maybe I haven’t watched A Hard Day’s Night enough times (just the once), or maybe I can blame it on Mr. Johnson or the screenwriter for not making a caricature of Lennon’s younger self (joke!). It was a tragic story, and the guy sitting in the next seat assured me it was accurate, since Britain’s Channel Four was involved. I see that the story is taken from Lennon’s sister’s memoir, so I’m satisfied. Great performances all around, and a pretty good story even if you forget John, Paul, and George grow up to be famous. [Nowhere Boy plays again at the Admiral on 27 May at 7pm]

Afterward, I headed down to Dragonfish for some happy hour vittles, which was kind of a strange experience in which I forgot to get my sake card punched. Karen joined me, and then we headed to Pacific Place for Farsan. Funny and sweet, this is Swedish film about a Lebanese immigrant looking for love. The main character, Aziz (played by the writer/director’s real-life father) is a widower who is requested by his son to find a new wife as a distraction. The son cannot have children of his own, so he’s hoping to sneak an adoption by ol’ Pops. While the humor is generally not slapstick, there is one very hilarious kitchen scene involving Aziz’s milquetoast boss and his wife. [Farsan plays again at Harvard Exit on 29 May at 9:15pm.]

In which I see the second of two short film collections. This one is entitled Pandemonium Boulevard. How it’s described in the catalog: “And then, quite suddenly, all hell broke loose.” It’s a fantastic description, but the films didn’t all live up to the hype. “How I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse” was corny and predictable, and felt too much like a rip-off of “The Sarah Connor Chronicles”. “In The Dark”, starring my main man Wil Wheaton, was a funny little tale of a man planning his first murder, but it wasn’t scary. Some nice creepiness came from “Culebra” and “Off Season”. The former showing a supernatural consequence of illegal immigration (my fear of tunnels is magnified when the tunnel in question is a sewage pipe). The latter starred Bill Sage and a dog and had a real good isolation vibe. I was happy to see Mr. Sage again; he’s a regular in Hal Hartley films – one of my favorite directors. The Hungarian “Epilogue” was a visually interesting and enjoyable take on guilt, but, again, not scary.

As I did last year, I’m counting my days at the festival, not the days of the festival itself. Technically the day before was Day One, as that was the Opening Night Gala, which I did not attend. I heard it was a fun time at Benaroya Hall with lots of good local eats available for the guests, and a good movie to boot (The Extra Man).

I began my festival at the Neptune at 7 o’clock (six, if you count time standing in line) with Tucker & Dale vs. Evil, a grizzly comedy of errors. In summary, it’s about a couple of hillbillies being menaced by a bunch of college kids in the Virginia woods, and it’s a hilarious rendition of teen slasher flicks. You’ll recognize the hillbillies from “Firefly” (Alan Tudyk) and “Reaper” (Tyler Labine). You might also recognize the female lead as Cerie from “30 Rock” – I recognized her, just couldn’t remember from where. Mr Labine and some others involved in the making of the film  – the director and the cinematographer, I do believe – were on hand for a Q&A afterward, which I skipped in favor of a quick dinner and more line waiting down at SIFF Cinema. [Tucker & Dale screens again on 22 May, midnight at the Egyptian.]

I don’t usually partake in the short film collections, but this year I’m taking in two. The first was Animation for Adults.  Seven of the thirteen films were from the USA, including the grotesquely funny Wisdom Teeth and Bill Plympton’s Santa, the Fascist Years. My favorite selections were 0 (Zero) out of Canada – beautiful calligraphic brush strokes appearing and disappearing from paper, The Wonder Hospital from USA – a surreal trip of colors and shapes, and France’s The Little Dragon – a loving homage to Bruce Lee and toys and an audience favorite. Also featured was Latvia’s only submission to the festival, Wings and Oars, which was a bit incoherent but visually appealing. I wanted to like Man and Cat (Australia), but it was so mish-mashed with a variety of animation styles that I was too distracted to enjoy it. [Animation for Adults plays again 6 June, 9:30pm at the Neptune.]