Rotterdam, 1/29.

"In its 37th year, [the International Film Festival Rotterdam] defines itself by its independence — specifically its focus on young filmmakers, many of whom are from developing nation," writes R Emmet Sweeney at IFC News, noting that the Tiger Awards Competition is exclusively for first- or second-time filmmakers. "So far, I've seen five of the Tiger contenders, and the most impressive is Waltz in Starlight, directed by noted Japanese still photographer Shingo Wakagi." Also reviewed are Pen-ek Ratanaruang's Ploy and Matsumoto Hitoshi's "brilliantly eccentric" Dai-Nipponjin.

At european-films.net, Boyd van Hoeij is reminded of Aki Kaurismäki and Roy Andersson, but Ping-pongkingen - Jonsson's feature debut after a long career in shorts and commercials - lacks an overall cohesiveness that makes the slightly askew worlds of Kaurismäki and Andersson come alive. Nevertheless, Jonsson is clearly a talent to watch, and the chemistry between the actors adds a nice warm glow to the otherwise wintry landscapes." More from Jonathan Romney in Screen Daily.

Ardvark at Twitch on Tomas Alfredsson's vampire movie, Let the Right One In, "It's a genuine surprise just how delightful a genre-mash this movie is. For of all gory movies I've ever seen, this is without a doubt the sweetest. And of all sweet movies I've ever seen this is without a doubt the goriest!" Also, TBS "is a tense, scary and on occasion even funny thriller, no mean feat considering the dreadful subject."

For Reverse Shot, Genevieve Yue offers her takes on Rail Road Crossing and Own Death.

Posted by dwhudson at January 29, 2008 3:41 PM