Non-Music Related Big Chill Festival Activities

When I wasn't being dragged around by my far trendier festival buddies to see a band entirely made up of drummers, I managed to escape to the tranquility of the cinema tent.

Upon my first visit, it took me a good 5 minutes to work out that the originally programmed Son of Rambow (2007), was actually the family classic The Railway Children (1970). And whilst it wasn't exactly my cup of tea (children running around being all Victorian-y), I couldn't help but fall for it's overall good nature and simple storytelling. When my mates finally caught up with me I was quite reluctant to leave, but I could hardly say I wanted to skip out on some D'n'B just so I could see what happens to Bobbie, Peter, and Phyllis. Bit of a festival faux-pas. Last thing I saw was they found a disgruntled Russian man. Hope everything turned out ok...

My next visit was another surprise, although not quite as pleasant. Obviously made in an era where colourful musicals like The Umberellas of Cherbourg (1964) were very popular, Les Bicyclettes de Belsize (1969) is an almost exact copy, except British and without the charm or French tongue-in-cheek. Instead it's 30 minutes of nauseating musical numbers, strung together by some of the most bizarre directing I have ever seen. If you think you can stomach 3 minutes of this tripe, 'Julie's Song' is below.



Luckily, the next film was a bit of a fave of mine. Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005) is not so much a film, but a series of well put together short stories about children and adults living in an LA neighbourhood. Recently, I've been on a bit of a tirade about so-called 'indie' films; slagging them off for their broad meandering themes and contrived plotting. MAYAEWK is an exception to this trend because it keeps to a single theme and completely nails it. The concept, adults acting like children and children acting like adults, is not an original idea by any means (Freaky Friday anyone?), but it's never been done so naturally before. Harsh yet sweet, romantic yet cynical - this is truly a unique Independent movie. It also helped that the audience I was with actually 'got it', as some of the more extreme scenes (all of which are inferred and never seen) put a lot of people off.

Plus the 'poop back and forth' scene is just hilarious.