GFF was fantastic this year! Great line up, and incredible appearances by cast/crew and supporters of the films.

LWL is definitely one of the best films I have seen, not only during the festival, but of the last 12 months. A stellar French cast, including the stunning Marion Cotillard, Dustin Hoffman-lookalike Francois Cluzet (also seen in Tell No One) and this drama was directed by Cotillard's partner and Tell No One director Guillaume Canet (who's transition from actor to director has been seamless).

The film has a fairly straightforward plot - a group of friends decide to go ahead with their annual vacation despite a member of the gang's involvement in a serious accident. Their discussion regarding the go-ahead with the holiday is similar to that of the teenagers in a horror film, who all selfishly agree to cover up an accidental murder, only for it to come back and haunt them.

Cotillard brings to this film what Hollywood has yet to allow her to bring by constantly casting her as a glamorous/femme fetale character. In LWL she is at her best, raw and natural, providing both laid back charm, hilarious outbursts of anger and heartbreaking emotion. Personally, French cinema gets the best of Cotillard because they allow her to run around playing football, sweating in a pair of shorts and with her hair a mess! Cluzet is absolutely hilarious also, his chemistry with the young Vincent is great. One of the only downfalls for me was that the music for the film, including Damien Rice and CCR, may seen a little obvious to a British audience. A 9/10 for me!

Balibo was incredibly moving, with avery insightful and politically and historically informative Q and A from Anthony LaPaglia. The film, for its low budget of $3.5 million, has stirred many a feather in the Indonesian government and media across the world. It is a masterpiece, and a true homage to the six Australian journalists who were murdered when Indonesia invaded East Timor in 1975 and the world turned a blind eye. A labour of love for LaPaglia, it took 7 years and 14 scripts to get the film made, and I truly enjoyed it. My only problem was that as the film is primarily focused on Roger East, the journalist who followed the 'Balibo five' to East Timor after they disappeared, it is at times confusing to follow who is who among the other five. An 8/10!

You Instead is, in a way, like no film you will have ever seen. Shot entirely on location at T in the Park, the humour is derived from many of the crowd shots, the ridiculous drunken antics and outfits, and the general banter that is synonymous with the festival. A really original idea and I have an incredible amount of respect for the cast and crew for being able to pull off this film, as it has an wonderful authenticity. Some great chemistry between the main actors, played by Luke Treadaway and Natalia Tena, and a solid support from local talent. The relationship between the two leads could have used a bit of expansion as their dialogue wasn't enough to convince me that their feelings would progress as quickly as they do. The situation in which they find themselves handcuffed also seems a little contrived, and could easily have resulted from a more realistic source. Not the best romance I've seen blossom in a film, but definitely one of the best backgrounds/locations/soundtracks and original idea for a movie. 7/10!

Low Points - New Low, Howl

New Low was one of the quirky comedies I was looking forward to as part of the festival, having been likened to the sensational In Search of a Midnight Kiss. BLASPHEMY! New Low was funny, but in a way, completely redundant as a film. Borrowing/stealing the dark, borderline depressing humour of Kevin Smith films, New Low follows a video store worker an his relationship with the mean girl and the nice girl, all while confiding in his much-funnier-than-him best friend. Do you think I just read the synopsis of Clerks? I feel like that is what the writer of this film did. And then made a less funny version of the Kevin Smith classic. This film wasn't terrible, but it was recycled plot, characters and style of comedy. Trust me, just watch Clerks instead.

Howl was the film I was most looking forward to this year. As a huge fan of Allen Ginsberg, I was thrilled to learn that the man of the Hollywood hour James Franco would be portraying Ginsberg in this film following his early years at University in New York, how his writing of his most famous and controversial poem Howl came about and the consequent obscenity trial that followed its publication. Now Franco is really strong in the film, but he only features in about 1/3 of it. The rest is taken up by a rather anti-climactic court case with Mad Men's Jon Hamm looking exactly as he does in Man Men, and David Strathairn as a fumbling prosecutor who is trying to argue that the poem is unsuitable for public viewing. This feels completely disconnected to Franco's interpretation of the hours of interviews Ginsberg did regarding his work, life and the trial. The final third of the film is utterly ridiculous, absurd and so out of place in the film that I very much wanted to leave the cinema as a result. A CGI animated interpretation of the poem, set against Franco's recital, features all through the film. It is weird and does not seem to have any significance whatsoever to the rest of the film. The poem itself is chaotic in parts, but its flows. And it works. And it is brilliant even to this day. Howl, as a movie, does not achieve any of these things. Sigh. Trust me, just read the poem instead. (Or Supermarket in California!)

Ice Hockey Game

Speaking of sports, I was lucky enough to go to a local ice hockey game a few weeks ago. I'm a big fan of ice hockey (Mighty Ducks anyone?) because of its fast pace and violent tendencies! However, the seats I've had at Dallas Stars or New Jersey Devils games have been pretty high up from the rink, so you don't get the full force of the action. However, one of my sorority sisters has an internship with Fox Sports and got us tickets for the Allen Americans game she was covering. They're a local team that are affiliates of the Dallas Stars, and I was really excited to attend and things were improving by the minute.

While we were having a few pre-game drinks in a nearby bar, a man approached us saying he had two suite tickets and couldn't make the game. Naturally we took them off his hands. When we arrived in the suite, we realized it was the owner's box and we were hanging out with some pretty influential people. It turned out one of them, the man who built the arena we were in, was married to a woman from Perth. So we found ourselves with free suite tickets, access to the free bar and liquor cabinet and the home team even won! Good banter and good times all round.

Sorority Life

Apart from crashing ice hockey boxes, I've been extremely busy with my new sorority life, taking part in fundraisers for breast cancer awareness and education, as well as mixers with some of the fraternities on campus. Last week, we went to the Sigma Chi graffiti party. The Public House bar on campus installed black lights and we were all given glow pens to write on each other's t-shirts or dresses. It was a lot of fun and they raised a lot of money for their own philanthropy.

They also helped us when we needed guys to play in our Field Day, an athletics event which included a relay course, wheelbarrow race and other games. I thought I was being smart by recruiting the three tallest and biggest guys I knew for my team only to realize the events included leap frog. Me trying to leap over three 6'4" football players does not a winning team make! Or at least until it came to the final event which was capture the flag, a combination of American football and well, flag capturing. We rocked it, and took home the trophy. Not bad for a team led by a foreign girl!

Banishing a Myth

I'll wrap things up by crushing a widely believed myth. If you go to Florida for Spring break, it's not like you see in the movies. It's crazier. Parties on the beach all week long, getting sunburned in March, going to the biggest nightclub in the United States and finding out the wet way that as well as ten rooms and bars it also has an outdoor pool. We spent St. Patrick's Day taking green shots and playing the infamous "Never Have I Ever" drinking game. Note to self: what people admitted to in that game in Florida, I really wish would have stayed in Florida!

New York with my mum

But this month, I'm playing on the Zeta/Delta Sig softball team (hitting the ball with the bat is a lot harder than it looks) and spending the weekend in New York with my Mum! So I'll be in a proper Empire State of Mind. Chuck Norris jumped from the top of the Empire State building you know? He landed on his feet.

Greetings from across the pond! My name is Roisin Brady, I am 22 years old and I’m a third year Journalism and English student at Edinburgh Napier University. However, I have spent the last four months in Texas, home to the Dallas Cowboys and Chuck Norris (he really can believe it’s not butter).

I decided to apply to be an exchange student for two reasons: I studied in Ohio in my last year of high school and loved it; and in the current employment environment, students who want to delve into the world of Journalism need to do everything they can to set themselves apart. So here I am.

Texas

So let me summarize my first semester at the University of North Texas. Academically, it is the most amazing experience of my life. The classes I took include American Literature (I got to read some incredible stories from the Harlem Renaissance and the Beat Generation and my lecturer looks exactly like Colonel Sanders) and Creative Non Fiction Writing (I have to write about my own life, which is basically four months of very cheap therapy, and our final exam was a reading of our work in a local bar). The only down side is that attendance is compulsory and missing classes results in marks being taken off your final grade. But if sporadic lecture attendance is part of your academic charm, never fear! Not all American Universities abide by the particular code.

But forget about the work, ‘cause really, that is not what my friends back in Scotland ask me when I chat to them on Facebook or Skype. Usual enquiries include, “do you live in a dorm?”, “do they all drink out of the red cups like in the movies?” and “who are all the hot guys in your photos?”.

Yes, I live in a dorm. Kerr Dorm to be exact, which houses about 1000 students and my roommate Kristen is a very cool lesbian from Austin (I kid you not). Yes, when there are parties every one drinks out of the red cups, it’s still pretty surreal to see. And the hot guys and either my friends who are part of the Phi Kappa Alpha or Kappa Sigma fraternities. They’re so much fun, are exceptionally good at Beer Pong, and if I had a sister, I wouldn’t let them anywhere near her!

But it’s not all frat parties and 2pm lectures with the KFC Colonel. Since I’ve been in North Texas, I regularly make the 30 minute drive to Dallas to go clubbing or see some bands, like the Swell Season. Austin is also a great night out, with all the rooftop clubs and piano bars on the infamous 6th Street. But my favourite part of Texas is the San Marcus outlet malls. Abercrombie & Fitch, Nine West and Victoria’s Secret all at prices that put Primark to shame. Shopping Nirvana, my friends, shopping Nirvana.

So far, I’ve learned a lot from my time in Texas. Like if you go swimming in a river and accidentally split your head open, it’ll cost you $800 on your insurance (I have a new found appreciation for the NHS). And that having a Scottish accent in Texas will get you free drinks, band recommendations from American Apparel employees and 5000 Miles by the Proclaimers played pretty much everywhere you go!

March – Veritas

Howdy y’all! I hope you are all settling back into classes and that the Scottish weather doesn’t suck too badly. Contrary to popular belief, Texas isn’t a sauna all year round and unfortunately it’s pretty chilly outside. But at least I have been able to put my Scottish wardrobe to use this month – most of my winter clothes from home have been bundled into a box under my bed since I arrived here at the end of August!

Things have been ridiculously hectic since my last column in January. Of course, there was Superbowl Sunday – football, half time shows and way too much food. However, probably the most exciting development is that, after a lot of consideration, I decided to take the plunge and join a sorority - an organization made up entirely of females that own a house on campus and participate in the Greek life.

Sororities

Greek life is the events and parties hosted by the fraternities and sororities at universities all across the United States. I’m pretty sure that you’ve all seen some movie that has featured a sorority house, or sorority girls. Before I came to UNT, the Hollywood perception of Greeks was basically all I had. What I didn’t realize was:

1) Their campus houses, where a lot of the girls live, are REDICULOUS. They make MTV Cribs looks average.
2) Sororities are dedicated to their philanthropies. The charities that they raise money for are a main focus of their group and they take it very seriously.
3) It is really expensive to join a sorority. For one semester, it works out about $1200. You guys can do the currency exchange!

All that being said, I met various girls from the many sororities at UNT and decided that the girls of Zeta Tau Alpha were the nicest, most outgoing of them all and that they had the balance of partying and class focus that I’m looking for. The Zeta girls are fun, and don’t seem to be the superficial, nasty girls that I expected from the movies. And at the end of the day, I’ve had such a blast here over the last six months that helping with their philanthropy – Breast Cancer Awareness – seems like the best way to keep my good karma flowing.

Carnival Week in New Orleans

Now - from American traditions to American travel. One of the main reasons I wanted to apply to a Southern State University was so that I would be able to travel to New Orleans, Louisiana for Mardi Gras. This February holiday is a weeklong celebration that climaxes on what we call Pancake Tuesday (Fat Tuesday as it’s known here is the States). The carnival week in New Orleans is world renowned and was especially infamous this year because just one week before, the New Orleans Saints won the Superbowl. My friends - that is a whole lot of partying to be done!

After managing to book a motel room in the dodgiest part of the French Quarter (accommodation at Mardi Gras starts to get booked up months in advance) myself and about fifteen other exchange students spent three days and nights partying on Bourbon Street, collecting hundreds of beads, drinking Hurricanes at the infamous Pat O’Brien’s bar and dancing our way through the parade floats. It was a chaotic carnage, and one of the best weekends of my life. That’s another tick on my “Things to Do Before I Die” list!
Next up – Spring Break in Florida!