Girlfriend
The story follows a man with Down's syndrome living in a small town. The actor had good screen presence and was quite funny in many of the scenes; it's not often you see a developmentally challenged person in a lead role in a film, so I appreciated his efforts. Because I'm not used to seeing a character like this, it kept the movie interesting in what would otherwise be a somewhat standard soap opera plot. The ending was controversial because of the actions of the titular girlfriend that our protagonist is romantically pursuing. I know it was controversial because it prompted perhaps the silliest audience question I've ever heard in a director Q&A session: "Why did it end like that?"
3 out of 5
Fire of Conscience
Hong Kong action movie in the vein of John Woo's classics. While not as over the top as Woo's films, it still had some decent shoot-out scenes and an engaging detective story. The highlight was a totally random childbirth sequence in the midst of explosions and fire. The experience was also made more entertaining by the man sitting in our row who would bust out in raucous laughter whenever grenades appeared on screen. Apparently an aficionado of grenade-related humour.
2.5 out of 5
And that's it until next year.
