IRON SKY (2012) review

Iron Sky (2012) (1st viewing) d. Vuorensola, Timo (Finland)

Where did the Nazis go in 1945? To the moon, of course. Appro po of this deliriously energetic sci-fi comedy, little time is wasted on explanations or justifications and that is absolutely as it should be. Given circumstances, as insane as they might be, as accepted wholeheartedly, thanks to the conviction of the performances and the handsome production design, all marshaled by director Vuorensola’s giddy pace throughout. A lot of comedy is derived from political satire (such as the Sarah Palin-like U.S. President’s desperate angling for re-election), as well as a healthy absurdist stripe throughout, the most prominent running gag being Christopher Kirby’s African American astronaut-turned-Aryan homeless guy. It’s silly, it’s clever, it looks great, and even if it isn’t funny all of the time, the darn thing moves. Also notable for the fact that of its 7 million Euro budget, 1 million came directly from interested and invested fans themselves, easily one of the biggest consumer-based funding efforts in history and every penny of it appears onscreen with superb visual effects and art direction.

BIFFF Day #9 (Saturday, 4/14)

Following the late night adventures (and extended clean-up required) of the Vampire Ball, Gert and I decided to rise a little later than usual, and with no interviews on tap, we pretty much showed up at the start of the film programming (4pm) and stayed the course until the final offering of the day. Just movies, chatting with the lovely press ladies, my exponentially expanding circle of journalist and filmmaker friends (funny how spending a week watching movies with the same people can prove to be such a bonding experience) and my now-standard dinner of an orange and baguette loaf – usually eaten during the 8pm feature. Overall, it was a solid cinematic prix fixe, highlighted by the Korean thriller Poongsan and the crowd-pleasing Finnish Nazis-on-the-moon sci-fi comedy Iron Sky.

Sorry I don’t have any interesting stories to tell for Saturday – everyone was pretty well wiped out from the previous night’s adventures and the conversations primarily centered around the celebs we had met over the course of the week (general consensus – Mick Garris is the nicest man alive, and everyone’s glad that Friedkin has left the building) and the films we were recommending to one another if they hadn’t been caught already. After all, we are now in the home stretch – only three more days of competition left!