MSPIFF: Day 12

I guess one of the chances you take in picking titles out of thin air is picking some duds. I elected to wait and see Tyson when it opens here next month (not exactly dying to see it), and check out some offering that might vanish into thin air. I chose Taarka because it is from Estonia. (Name one film you've seen from Estonia! Having Arvo Pärt in the soundtrack doesn't count.) And I decided to see The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle on a recommendation. (I won't hold it against you, if you are reading.) Neither film did anything for me. Bummer:

Taarka (2008) directed by Ain Maeots

This is the story of an infamous and ultimately famous folk singer, Taarka (1865-1933), who hailed from the outer reaches of Estonia of the ethnic minority Setos. Taarka was brash, outspoken and had a knack for having children out of wedlock. She sustained on the paltry earnings of her singing until she was 'discovered' by a Finnish eccentric. The film is much more strange than the synopsis sounds; as a matter of fact, it was down right wacky. Building the story through incongruent flashbacks, the film was in turns harsh, silly and interesting, but totally irreconcilable: a very strange historical drama. (Check out the twenty second trailer linked above.) Not Recommended. (Not that it matters; this film will never come around again.)

The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle (2009) directed by David Russo

On the other end of the spectrum is this very strange contemporary drama. Of course words like "contemporary" and "drama" don't really have a place in this non-conformist film. Technical merits aside, this film flopped like a little blue fish that emerges out of the butt of a hip slacker type. Dory is our hero, who is searching for his reason(s) to live after his job and his religion don't work out. He gets a job as a janitor and does a little dumpster diving for some cookie, chemically altered cookies that heat up in your mouth, that is. The cookies have an adverse effect resulting in some sort of cookie love-child that incubates in the stomach. Russo seems to be a wizard at digital effects and interesting visuals, but the haphazard lifeless story only come into its own in the last ten minutes. Everything that precedes is some silly shit you come up with after one too many bong hits: some of it is funny and some of it not. I spent most of the movie trying to figure out if I had seen one of the actors in another movie, because that was infinitely more interesting than the inane story. (As it turns out, I hadn't seen the actor in another movie, but it gave my mind something to work on.) I'm sorry to say it, but: Not Recommended.