Howdy! Do you feel like seeing two completely different kinds of films this coming Sunday, March 29, 2015, which share a presenter (me) in common? If so, then head on down to the Charles Theatre in central Baltimore to see the first one, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner, 2014), at the Cinema Sundays series, at 10:30am, and then head on up to the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore (JCC) in Owings Mills to the see the second one, 24 Days (Alexandre Arcady, 2014), at the Jewish Film Festival, at 3pm.
Kumiko – which I saw last year at the 2014 Maryland Film Festival (it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and then also played at SXSW) – has received mostly positive reviews. I had very mixed feelings about the movie, but found it visually quite compelling, and a must-see for fans of the film Fargo. For those of you who are, indeed, fans of that film, or of the FX series inspired by it – or both – it is a very interesting riff on the original story. The movie, based on an urban legend, tells the tale of young Kumiko, living in Tokyo with her pet rabbit, who becomes convinced that the buried treasure featured in the Coen Brothers’ Fargo actually exists. So she abandons everything and heads to Minnesota in search of that thing dreams are made of, that may only be the stuff of dreams. Made by another pair of brothers – David and Nathan Zellner – the movie is rich in atmosphere and features a wonderfully offbeat performance from Rinko Kikuchi (Babel, Pacific Rim) as Kumiko.
I haven’t seen 24 Days yet (though I will before Sunday), but the JCC selection committee always chooses great movies.
I hope to see some of you at one of the screenings, if not both!
chrisreedfilm 