Other Movies Watched

Princess and the Call Girl - lame softcore porn. Really pretty girl who can't act at all.

Charleen - a short documentary by Ross McElwee about his high school poetry teacher. I am a big fan of his work.

Dance Hall Queen - not a good movie, but not bad either. Shot on DV in Jamiaca, it is about a drink vendor who transforms herself into a dancehall reggae queen. Pretty good music and a few good performances, notably one by a 15 year old girl, her daughter. It really stood out. I also have a fondness for the DV look blown up to 35mm. Movies like the Celebration, 28 Days Later, Inland Empire, and this Dance Hall movie really have a nice color palette and feel to them. I know these were all shot on different cameras, but they share a quality that is missing from the newer generation of DV and certainly HD. I don't exactly know how to explain it...but it almost reminds me of earlier color film when the latitude of the stock wasn't so great and you got blowout when bright.