Slowly inching my way through some movies.

Last night I watched the middle third of Pervirella and the first fifteen minutes or so of Lovers of the Arctic Circle. Obviously it's not fair to presume to review films one's only partially watched, but I think it's fair to offer some provisional responses.

Pervirella gets rather lewder in its middle section, but the lo-fi spectacle and cheeky subversion of banal adventure storytelling keeps things perky. One of my favorite bits is a brief shot where a cheap forest model has a crude digital superimposed shot of two characters to make it look like they're walking through the forest. It's crudely crafted, which seems to be the point; the equivalent of letting us see the strings on the spaceship models (which this movie also does). The movie's inspiring in a "look what we can do in our garage" way. I'm amazed by the negative reviews this thing gets on the Netflix website; dissing this movie for the acting is like criticising a Twinkie for not having enough riboflavin.

Lovers of the Arctic Circle is shaping up to be a tasty romance; the camera swoops around, capturing the vertiginous feeling of young love. The editing is crisp and brisk, the shot compositions precise. A confident storyteller wants to remind us of what romance can be, in life and in the movies. Good. I'm looking forward to finishing this one.