First half of my Festival reviews can be found here
Thursday Night (cont'd)
After the shorts finished, I watched The Athlete, a biopic about Abebe Bikila, an Ethiopian who ran the 1960 Olympic Marathon barefoot and won the Gold. Four years later, in Tokyo, he became the first to win consecutive Olympic Marathon Golds (this second time, with shoes). Tragedy struck before he could try for a third Olympic Gold in Munich when a car accident left him a quadriplegic. Still, his determination (and an operation) upgraded his status to paraplegic after which he proceeded to participate in the 1968 Paralympics in archery and win as a dog sledder in Norway. The story was inspiring and the cinematography was outstanding, but the movie was a bit disappointing. This was the only talk back I was able to attend—star & co-writer/director Rasselas Lakew was present and gave some great insight to the film. His answers definitely made me appreciate the film a little more, but I wasn't able to stay for the whole talk back because I had to run to see... ***
...a documentary called Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone. If you're like me (and probably most of the world), you've never heard of Fishbone, however they've influenced dozens of bands you have heard of (e.g. No Doubt, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jane's Addiction, etc.). Formed in 1979 Los Angeles, Fishbone was a black rock band that fused ska, funk, metal and punk in an amazing way. The music of this film is great and the story of one of the most influential bands of the 80s is intriguing. However, the middle drags on a bit too much ***1/2
