2005 AFFD Festival Week -- Sunday: The Day Of Best

Deciding to forego The Hero: Love Story of a Spy for more sleep, I started my festival day off with what had to be the absolute audience favorite: Godzilla: Final Wars. It not only had a packed house, but in my experience had the most verbal audience. But it's the kind of film that requires you hoot and holler with amazement at such joys as a giant reptile blowing the head off of a robotic cockroach with a saw blade on his belly and two double-chainsaw hands. There really is no substitute for this kind of fun. It was also the only film in the festival that I could urge my 15-year-old son to see.

How I rated Godzilla: Final Wars: 3
How my 15-year-old son rated Godzilla: Final Wars: 4


The centerpiece film of the festival was Infernal Affairs II. This was another sellout and is my personal choice as Best Film of the Festival. A prequel to its predecessor, IAII is the tale of cops and gangsters, portrayed not as good or evil but just human, raw and flawed and conflicted by their lives. The dual backbones of the film are Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang, in roles they portray in all three IA films. IAII has the dramatic power of a Godfather film, and is far more accessible than films like Cavite and Last Life in the Universe. It wins out, hands-down, as the most impressive cinematic display of the festival, and should be required viewing for anyone interested in film, whether for the purposes of studying the genre, the actors or just to seek out a truly great movie.

How I rated Infernal Affairs II: 4


Next Up: An interlude before the final stretch