Found Footage Festival 1-4

Low res gold

Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher host the found footage festival, showcasing their vast collection of video found at garage sales and secondhand stores around america - covering such 80s topics as jazzercise, hunks, inline skating and video dating as well as always relevant rapping training videos, how to seduce women, use computers and train your cat to use the toliet.

Look out for superstar appearances including Hulk Hogan, Goldie Hawn (talking to kids about abortion!), Michael Bolton, Corey Haim and the dad from Growing Pains.


Strangers


Hunks


Monkey Jockeys


YES - my code word was "blue ocean" thanks mum!

Animal Kingdom

This incredibly good looking, great sounding, well acted film is written and directed by David Michod. It's so well executed it's hard to believe it's his first feature.

Set in Melbourne, this tells the story of 17 year old Jay (James Frecheville excellent) who moves in with his grandmother "Smurf" and her 3 adult criminal sons. Smurf nurtures this life style and loathes the police who are surveilling their home with the intent of taking them out one by one. Her performance has been highlighted as stand out but it's not as as strong as newcomer Frecheville or craggy Ben Mendelson as the sinister Pope (If you want to see a truly terrifying crime matriarch check out the television series Funland)

Michod has the knack of achieving some very tense scenes, not scary at all - cops checking out a deserted car, Josh asking his girlfriends dad to give him a ride to the shops or Pope carrying a sleeping girl to her bed - I'm not sure how Michod does it but these scenes are all hand sweatingly tense to watch.

YES - from the beginning you know you're watching something special

Tourist Trap

Ah the sunny, slim 70s.

Some friends are on a roadtrip, get a flat tire, one goes missing the rest end up at a weird dudes house who has a lot of mannequins.

This is really strange - yeah there's a crazy guy but he seems to have magic powers as well. He could have just been a psycho who likes to dress up (as a mannequin) and make his victims into mannequins, but they've given him powers as well for some reason, not that he really uses them for anything apart from making mannequins dance around.

YES - guy really likes mannequins

Afghan Star

Afghan Star is the most attractive and rapturous show in Afghanistan (this is from the shows website - Afghan Star)

This documentary follows the finals of the forth session of Afghan Star, an American Idol style tv show. Four finalists, 2 men and 2 woman sing their hearts out and hope they are voted in by viewers to become the next Afghan Star.

It's hard to fathom the differences each generation of Afghanistan must experience from the liberal 80s to an Islamic State controlled by the Taliban where music and dancing is banned. The actual show is terrible, much like all the other versions of it but there's so much more at stake here - just to see men and woman performing together from all different backgrounds and the audience being able to text their vote and it actually counts, this shitty show becomes a catalyst for change.

Entertaining, sad but ultimately hopeful so much can change in such a short time and the population of Afghanistan is youth heavy so the future can only be one filled with music.

YES - I love the awesome lyrics of the songs "the sting of your eyebrow is like a scorpion sting sting sting !"