Ebertfest 2015 Day 5

Low expectations precede every Sunday showing at the festival.  Sunday is usually the day reserved for musical/music related films, and often these have been the weakest of the festival.

Not so this year.  After a decidedly mixed/mediocre run of films at this 2015 festival, Seymour: An Introduction was a delight.  And then having Seymour Bernstein there, and giving a master class on the stage of The Virginia was as good as the movie itself.  And that is coming from someone who knows next to nothing about playing music.

Ebertfest 2015 Day 4

Wild Tales was my favorite film of the festival.  I just wish it had opened the festival rather than showing on the next to last day, as it would have got the festival off to a rousing start.

There is some merit to Ida in its exploration of an overlooked aspect of The Holocaust.  But the rather thin pinnings of the story are dragged out in pretentious fashion, resulting in an occasionally boring, self-important melodrama.

The Motel Life is forgettable, by the numbers indie filmmaking.

99 Homes, set to be released later this year, is heavy handed in its social message.  A conventional drama like this is not what I would expect from festival favorite Ramin Bahrani.  Still, I found it entertaining based on Michael Shannon's performance, which is very close to being over the top at times.  In other words, if you haven't liked Micheal Shannon in the past, this movie is unlikely to change your opinion.