Rum and Popcorn

Leeds International Film Festival 2023

Conann

I thought I was going to hate this but absolutely loved it. It’s insane - a retelling of Conan, something something, female cast, lots of gore - makes almost no sense and is lavishly over the top. A lot of unforgettable scenes!

Daaaaaali!

Such a joy. Concentric and eccentric in equal measure. An attempt to interview a proud, self important Dalí escalates wildly - it’s relentlessly absurd, with a cascade of actors, times, realities. My sort of thing.

Fallen Leaves

A very small Finnish tale of two lonely people. Working insecure jobs, drinking dangerously, and hanging about in odd bars, this is an awkward, mumbled romance but it was quite compelling

Fanfare

Gloriously bonkers Dutch film about a village falling out and forming two rival factions, each with their own brass bands. Cue people getting pushed into lakes, cows rampaging through a cafe and lots of elaborate schemes to hide a band’s worth of instruments from the local policeman. Lovely

Goodbye to the Dragon Inn

Oh. No. I do love a bit of slow cinema but this wasn’t for me. I quite liked the shots of the cinema but the sort of humorous, sort of spooky half narrative of the guy wandering around the cinema was tiresome