Photo A Day #107 Double Feature at the Picture Show

Hooray! Tonight was my first successful attempt at attending Sydney Film Festival. C and I had a double feature booked and we had a great time. We watched Beasts of the Southern Wild and Moonrise Kingdom. There was a sign in the lobby saying that Sydney used to have 28 theatres and there is now only two left. The State Theatre is one, and I've finally been inside, after years of looking longingly at the Art Deco sign. It's so sad to think that 26 other beautiful buildings (and many more) have been demolished over the years.

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Waterfalls!

The interior is lavish, with beautiful sculptures and molding. A lot of Sydney is shiny and new, so I love these few gems that we have in the city.

I was surprised that I enjoyed both films, and didn't fall asleep! Beasts of the Southern Wild is about a small community living in "The Bathtub", a settlement in the bayous of Louisiana. A young girl named Hush Puppy must deal with the the reality of life when her father falls ill and the polar ice caps melt, sending the world into an apocalyptic mess. The community struggles to survive the ensuing flood while prehistoric creatures that have thawed out roam the wasteland. I suspected that this film might be amateur, but I was pleasantly surprised! It had lovely cinematography and an interesting story. The 'beasts' were pretty understated and it never descended into gory monster movie silliness. There were a few heavy handed metaphors, but overall, I recommend this film, it was refreshing and interesting a beautiful to watch.

On to Moonrise Kingdom. Since I was already in the theatre, I had the pleasure of watching the rest of the sold out audience arrive. There was a red carpet and fancy photographer for the premiere, though for who, I'm not sure. From the opening sequences, this is what you would expect from a Wes Anderson film. Very composed shots, symmetrical locations and quirky characters. I'd quite happily pinch Suzy, the 12 year old main girl character's wardrobe. The story follows Suzy and Sam, who quits the Khaki boy scouts early on, as they run away from home together to pursue their true love. They camp out and attempt to stay one step ahead of the scout troop, Suzy's parents, the local policeman and the island's mailman. There are some really cute moments, the scene where Sam says "I made you some jewelery. Are your ears pierced?" is hilarious. There were quite a few funny moments, and lovely scenes between the 12 year olds falling in love. It reminded me of so many little quirks of childhood, I love it when a film feels 'authentic' in that way. Another winner from Wes. And I got to say "been dere" quite a few times as I explained here.

I managed to get tickets to the sold-out morning session of Faust tomorrow, after Wednesday night's failure to see the film. It's a 3 day weekend here in Australia, I'm looking forward to that extra day! I hope you have a fantastic weekend, whatever you get up to,

Kitty
xo