Fight Club

This film, though it came out in theaters here, I had never seen it before. It was kind of weird and creepy but I guess I got the whole idea behind the movie. Edward Norton, plays the narrator and can't sleep for months due to his illness of insomnia. His doctor advises him to go to group therapy meetings, where he cries, and somehow these meetings are the only way he can sleep at night; that is, til he meets Marla Singer, who is a faker at these meetings just as much as he is.
Through this weird encounter with Marla Singer, they decide to split up the group therapy meetings so they don't run into each other anymore, they exchange numbers to keep in touch though. Norton, then "meets" Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a soap salesman, on a business trip, Durden just happens to know how to make homemade dynamite. Norton comes home, to an apartment that was just blown off the 15th floor. Norton calls Tyler asking for a place to stay, Tyler takes him in, and they start to have this little bromance while living together.
These two men start the Fight Club, which happens to just be a bunch of men, with simple rules, fighting everything out of them, when it's done, it's done and that's that. To me, the Fight Club kind of represented the average joe, constantly being pushed down by society, looking for an outlet of excitement and a sense of belonging to something bigger than themselves.
Tyler who seems to be the brains of the whole operation, kind of preaches to the men, about how they are the ones doing the "dirty" work, they are just the average man being dominated by those that are part of the upper class society. They try to go against every concept of the matrix of domination, but the weird thing is, they're all men, the only woman in the film is Marla, who is constantly being taken advantage of and shunned everytime she comes around.
I felt like this was the perfect portrayal of the problem with male masculinity. In the end, we find out that Tyler Durden doesn't really exist, and that Norton just created him in his mind, as a sort of more manly portrayal of himself. Tyler does all the things that Norton wouldn't have done. Tyler seems like the new, upgraded version of Norton.
Eventually Fight Club turns into Project Mayhem, none of the men have names, and they go against "the man" in other words all the norms of society. These men feel an insecurity of some sort, that they have to prove themselves to one another through membership of Project Mayhem. They only find satisfaction in pleasing one another and going by the rules of Project Mayhem.
Though this film was kind of weird, it turned out that I liked it. The fighting was brutal and it seemed everyone was in some state of disillusionment, but I guess that's how we are when we just function and set into our niche in society. The Fight Club was trying to go against that niche and against all forms of consumerism.

The Topp Twins

First off, I'd like to say that The Topp Twins was a great movie, I loved it. I think the best part of the movie was the humor and laughter that came along with it, making it sentimental and funny altogether.
This true story about Jools and Lynda Topp, both twins from a small farming town in New Zealand is very inspiring. They had a great impact, not only in their own community but pretty much around the world, using music and laughter to grab everybody's attention.
Jools and Lynda, lesbian twins, admitted that it was hard for their parents, but in the interviews throughout the movie, their parents loved them the same. The Topp Twins, used their talent of music and their natural humor to become activists for the LGBTQ community in New Zealand. They learned how to make everything dealing with issues in the LGBTQ community very light and funny, but made sure it was brought to the people's attention, along with nuclear weapons in New Zealand, and the rights of the Maori people. They used their status and popularity to defend what they believed in, and everyone loved the manner in which they demonstrated their beliefs.
This movie clearly demonstrated how media can have such a big effect on the minds and opinions of people in any given society. The twins wanted to show that they were normal, affectionate people, just like everyone else, with a plus, they were corky and talented, qualities that seemed irresistable to the people of New Zealand.
They fought for Gay and Lesbian rights, especially through their music and comedy acts. I thought it was wonderful how they supported the Maori people, the people that are oppressed in their own land, like Jools said in the beginning before the movie, it's not our land, we just live there. They demonstrated respect for the culture and the peoples' land.
This was my first time ever attending any type of film festival and it was a great experience. This movie was definitely a good one to start out with. It was very inspiring and just plain funny.