Slipstream

I skipped the first movie for today out of laziness and also because I wasn't completely thrilled about picking it in the first place (Children). I slacked off for most of the day instead and caught up on errands.

When I got to the Egyptian later in the afternoon for Slipstream, they were rolling out red carpet in preparation for Anthony Hopkins' arrival for the award ceremony after the movie. I walked in and pretended it was for me! Then I found a seat and waited.

Slipstream was Anthony Hopkins' baby project -- directed, produced, starred and even scored by himself. As the film began, I was immediately pleased to see this wasn't something ordinary. Not only because I love to see something different, but because someone as well-known as Hopkins was putting something experimental out there as a labor of love.

That feeling of being pleased started to diminish fairly rapidly, as the film progressed further and further into a weird storyline, then seemed like it was becoming decent again, then shot itself down further with a couple of old tired cliches, then ended very unsatisfyingly. The visual effects in the film weren't even particularly original either, or used very effectively, and in some cases were outright annoying.

I'm not even going to venture to write a plot summary for the movie since SIFF's website does a better job of that. I really wanted to like it, but it just failed in so many ways. The only redeeming quality that I could point out is John Turturo came through with an excellent performance.

Audience Watch: An irritatingly obnoxious man sitting in the row behind me kept making random comments during the movie in a normal conversational voice.