12 Must See Movies
By Bruce Fessier  - Link to Article
The Desert Sun January 7th, 2005

Get out your pencils or recording devices of choice and get ready to plan this week’s film festival experience.

There are 200 films from 60 nations screening in the Palm Springs International Film Festival through Jan. 17, including 42 Oscar submissions. They’re categorized by the festival in every way imaginable, as you’ll see by reading the back of The Desert Sun’s official program. But, even if you check every film on the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), as we do in the daily film festival special sections starting today, it’s tough to pick the best of the fest before the fest.

So we asked Executive Director Darryl Macdonald to narrow the films to five major categories and pick the best of the best. Here are his dominant dozen:

World Cinema Now

"Americano," U.S.: After surviving Spain’s running of the bulls, Chris McKinney, played by Joshua Jackson, gains the confidence to win the heart of a Spanish beauty. "American movies are often thought of as coming in under the radar (in world cinema), but this is one of the best films in the festival," said Macdonald. "Dennis Hopper has a minor role, but his part is very indicative of the film. It’s a film of small and unexpected pleasures you get on that kind of journey of discovery."

Breaking up the love fest
Saturday, Jan. 8: 02:23 a.m.
Friday's world premiere of "Americano" was moved to a larger theater at the last minute to accommodate greater-than-expected demand and I'm not surprised: It seemed that well over half the audience was either directly involved in the production or came with someone who was. In the end, there were actually a few empty seats in the larger venue.**

The stacked theater led to a big, gushy love fest at the Q&A following the screening. Writer/director Kevin Noland and most of the young, tight-knit cast participated, minus lead actor Joshua Jackson. Dennis Hopper was also a no-show despite daughter Ruthanna Hopper's substantial role in the film.

Most interesting note from the Q&A: They actually shot the actors running with the bulls -- and had to do it twice -- cameramen with equipment in tow and all. No one was hurt, which is good because they didn't have any insurance.

The love fest culminated in one woman's comment that she loved it so much she couldn't think of one single criticism. Well, I hate to break it up but I have a few. The film offers some clever insights and definitely has its bright spots, however I found it all-around pretty uninspiring, its characters underdeveloped and I could have done without the Dennis Hopper character/scenes altogether.

Leonor Varela is simply marvelous in the female lead though, a shining beacon that managed to keep salvaging my waning interest in a meandering film that seemed more like a vehicle for someone's collection of travel notes than a well-developed storyline.

Verdict: Wait for the DVD.

** The rain has got to be hurting Rush ticket sales -- who wants to stand out in this weather for the chance to maybe get to buy a ticket? On the other hand, if you are willing, your odds are looking pretty good.

- Desert Sun Times writer, Julie Albertson for the film festival blog