Berlinale Film Festival 2022 (Giant Massive Round-Up)

Against all odds, the 72nd Berlinale International Film Festival not only took place during a period of peak COVID case count, it seems like a pretty successful example of how such in-person events can operate under such conditions. After an odd two-part mix of online and outdoors in 2021, everything went back indoors, even thought the atmosphere around the Berlinale Palast in Potsdammer Platz felt more subdued than previous years. There were more schnelltest centers and COVID security checkpoints than food trucks and festivities. But we were there, in the theaters, taking part in the communal festive experience of cinema once more. Here are the 26 movies I was able to set eyes on…

Lions Love @ Aquarium Drunkard

1968, Los Angeles. It’s a time and place that was recently brought back to life in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It was also the year the French filmmaking couple Agnes Varda and Jacques Demy both shot films in Los Angeles. Demy’s Model Shop has been cited as inspiration for Tarantino’s film. But it in a way, I find Varda’s Lions Love to be the more interesting look at the city in this crucial year. Certainly, as a counter-culture counterpoint to Tarantino’s film, it offers a lot to consider. I wrote about it over at Aquarium Drunkard.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonJanuary 6, 2022film criticism, film review, movies, Lions Love, Agnes VardaComment

Doctor Death @ Aquarium Drunkard

Just in time for the holidays, a brilliant 30-year-old home movie that proves there is no minimum age requirement to producing feats of cinematic wonderment. Head over to Aquarium Drunkard and have a look at my love letter to the post-apocalyptic mini epic that is 1989’s Doctor Death.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonDecember 2, 2021movies, Doctor Death, film reviewComment

Deadlock @ Aquarium Drunkard

I put down some words and thoughts on Roland Klick’s DEADLOCK for Aquarium Drunkard’s Videodrome feature.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonOctober 1, 2021movie, Deadlock, Roland Klick, movie reviewComment

Straight to Hell @ Aquarium Drunkard

An article on Alex Cox’s STRAIGHT TO HELL, written for Aquarium Drunkard’s Videodrome column.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonSeptember 7, 2021movie, straight to hell, alex cox, movie review, filmComment

Half-Cocked @ Aquarium Drunkard

A piece on 1994’s HALF-COCKED for Aquarium Drunkard’s Videodrome column.

aquarium drunkardSean EricksonSeptember 7, 2021movies, half-cockedComment

Berlinale Film Festival 2021, Industry Event, Final Day

Final day of the online press screenings includes a mesmerizing Vietnamese fever dream, a dreary Swiss drama, and a lovingly melancholic animated short. Plus, some final thoughts on this First Round of 2021’s two part Berlinale Film Festival.

Berlinale Film Festival 2021, Industry Event, Day 5

In this installment, we look at the final Competition movies available. This includes the moving documentary MR BACHMANN AND HIS CLASS, the genre-defying Netflix doc A COP MOVIE, and a seven-minute movie that packs quite a punch: YOUR STREET.

Berlinale Film Festival 2021, Industry Event, Day 4

It’s a trifecta today: a brilliant three-chapter Japanese film WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FANTASY, the impressive Iranian tragedy BALLAD OF A WHITE COW, and the psychedelic mind-bending document of Hawaii that is Fern Silva’s ROCK BOTTOM RISER.

Berlinale Film Festival 2021, Industry Event, Day 3

Day Three of the Berlinale Industry Event online screenings includes a look at Céline Sciamma’s PETITE MAMAN, Alexandre Koberidze’s WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY?, Soi Cheang’s cops vs serial killer movie LIMBO, and another trip to Hungary in Benedek Fliegauf’s FOREST - I SEE YOU EVERYWHERE.

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