Speed-reviewing

I just spent half an hour in an internet cafe typing up a review of the last three days. Then they rebooted the computer without giving me time to save, so I lost it all. Here's hoping I can remember in 15 minutes what it took me 30 to compose. If not, this may be a partial review, and the rest will have to follow.

OK, back to Sunday, and Cineworld. The last film of the course was "Summer 04", a German film about a family on holiday who are disrupted by the young girlfriend of the son, and the arrival of a new neighbour. It's beautifully filmed, but oddly has no soundtrack at all - the only time you hear music is when the neighbour plays it in his car, which is a little disconcerting. The ending felt wrong too - a sudden jump forwards in time, with no real sense of why that had happened. It was very much a European arthouse film, nice enough but not really my thing. There was a Q+A afterwards (which apparently didn't shed much light on anything) but I didn't stay because I had a ticket for "Little Miss Sunshine" which is my film of the festival (and last I saw was leading the Audience Award poll, so my prediction was wrong, but I don't mind - much as I loved "Clerks II", I think "Little Miss Sunshine" is the better film). It's a lovely film, "comedy with a heart" as Shane Danielsen described it - so although you're laughing a lot, the characters are warmly drawn. It's the story of a mad family driving from Arizona to California so their daughter Olive can enter a beauty pageant; Alan Arkin was great as the Grandpa who was kicked out of his nursing home for reading porn, and the little girl who played Olive was fabulous, pitch perfect.

Then I met up with V Cute Bloke from the course to have a drink and a chat, then we went to meet Viv and Lizz to see the late night comedy. We were looking for them at Underbelly on Cowgate; unfortunately they were at Udderbelly in Bristo Square. Cue mad dash and randomly parked car - however we got there on time, and it wouldn't be the Fringe if you didn't arrive breathless and sweaty for a show at the last minute at least once. So, we settled down for "Moovers and Shakers", a selection box of comedy, some stand-up, some musical routines; Mark Watson was very good, as was Justin Edwards as "Jeremy Lion: Children's Entertainer". Some of the musical sketches were bit hit and miss, but it was a good show to end the week on.

And now VCB has headed home to Rome, Viv and Lizz have headed south to return to normal life, and A arrived at Waverly on Monday for part II of Edinburgh 2006.