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🍿 My sixth MIFF film was Les Fantômes or Ghost Trail (2024) ★★★½

A rectangular image with a review of the movie Les Fantômes (Ghost Trail) (2024). The movie poster is on the left and the review on the right side. Across the bottom is a rating of Poor Okay Good Great with Good selected. The review reads: Hamid is a Syrian exile, having lost his wife and young daughter. The underlying narrative is a hunt for a war criminal by the small group he is part of. A relatively straightforward cat and mouse chase, the film builds its tension by showing the impact the torture, the unresolved grief at losing his family as well as worry for his mother left behind is having on Hamid. The film wavers a little in the middle and the build up of tension just sort of disappears at the end but reaches a satisfying conclusion.
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🍿 My fifth MIFF film was Ghost Cat Anzu (2024) ★★★

A rectangular image with a review of the movie Ghost Cat Anzu (2024). The movie poster is on the left and the review on the right side. Across the bottom is a rating of Poor Okay Good Great with Good selected. The review reads: A manga adaptation, this anime has the titular ghost cat being a bit of a deadbeat, talking rubbish, being sarcastic, farting; all while dispensing wisdom and helping a young girl deal with loss and sorrow. It offers some commentary on debt and gambling while showing how friendships are important. The animation style is quite visually appealing and I enjoyed this as a change of pace.
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🍿 My fourth MIFF film was Timestalker (2024) ★★★½

A rectangular image with a review of the movie Timestalker (2024). The movie poster is on the left and the review on the right side. Across the bottom is a rating of Poor Okay Good Great with Good selected. The review reads: A quirky black comedy with Agnes reincarnated through history, repeating the mistake of thinking she is in love with Alex. A fatal attraction hundreds of years in the making. A great bit of fun, with Nick Frost as her spurned beast of a husband seeking retribution across the years. It did feel like a series of skits rather than a cohesive whole as Agnes slowly learns romantic obsession can be tedious and unfulfilling.
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🍿 My third MIFF film was Grand Tour ★★

A rectangular image with a review of the movie Grand Tour (2024). The movie poster is on the left and the review on the right side. Across the bottom is a rating of Poor Okay Good Great with Okay selected. The review reads: Filmed in black and white, in 1917 Molly chases her fiancée Edward across Asia after he gets cold feet. A mix of current day and past, with a storytale narrator, Molly’s part of the story has more interest than Edward’s. While a visually appealing travelogue, the lack of dialogue and the mash of past and present just didn’t click with me.
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🍷 “I have a hunch you’re someone who enjoys a digestive or sweet wine after lunch” as he slips me the dessert wine list - waiter knows his stuff.

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There are two 30 something women having a very deep and meaningful conversation, very loudly, in this small wine bar. I had to order another glass of red as I’m very invested.

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🖊️ A 15% off sale = more notepads and a new rollerball.

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🍿 My second MIFF film was Brief History of a Family (2024) ★★★½

A rectangular image with a review of the movie Brief History of a Family (2024). The movie poster is on the left and the review on the right side. Across the bottom is a rating of Poor Okay Good Great with Good selected. The review reads: Lots of reviews have mentioned the similarity with Saltburn and Parasite and they weren’t wrong. The motives of Yan Shuo as the new friend ingratiating himself into the family aren’t entirely clear and build up to an unexpected ending. A great score underpins this commentary on the former one child policy.
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🍿 My first Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) viewing was Viet and Nam (2024) ★★½

Gorgeously shot on 16mm film, a queer romance set in 2001 with two young miners exploring their secret relationship while Nam prepares to leave Vietnam for a better life. A parallel story of the search for the grave of Nam’s soldier father shows the continued impact of the war 25 years later. A slow burn with a non linear timeline, more about mood than plot.
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I do love a dimly lit little bar with knowledgeable bartenders who make a great drink. The blend of the three whiskies (Japanese/Scotch/Australian) in my first was almost sinful and the (can’t label it) bourbon and gin mix in my second most definitely was. A surprising taste I wasn’t expecting.

A marble top bar. In the foreground is a white plate with a bar snack and immediately behind it is a whisky drink with a large cube of ice. There’s a glass candlelight on the bar behind and in the background are the dimly lit bar shelves and bottles.A marble top bar. A glass with a slightly opaque liquid in it is on the bar. A spirit bottle beside it with the label “Melbourne Moonshine. Single cask barrel aged moonshine”. A second spirit bottle is behind the glass and in the background are dimly lit bar shelves.