IMELDA

If there is any sanity left in Hollywood, the Oscar for best documentary will not be given to Michael Moore this year. The honor should go to Ramona S. Diaz's fascinating and hilarious bio-pic on Imelda Marcos:

Lisa and I saw it over the weekend and were thoroughly mesmerized. While Ms Marcos had sought to have the film banned in the Philippines, it was actually a surprisingly sympathetic - or at the very least fair - portrayal of the woman.

I generally have no love for kleptocratic Asian first ladies, especially Imelda - who wielded considerable political power during the worst days of the Marcos dictatorship. However, I have a considerable amount of fondness for crazy people and Imelda proves herself to be completely freakin' bats.

Within the almost two-hour flick, Imelda philosophizes while drawing strange doodles linking Apple computers to God the Creator; she shows her insurmountable vanity by complaining that a blade used in an assassination attempt wasn't pretty enough and she reveals her complete obliviousness to any criticism or mocking of herself.

While she doesn't come off in a particularly good light, she does not seem in any way evil. Just totally off her nut.

Yes, it was disturbing on many levels. But it was also by far the funniest film I've seen all year. I could not recommend it more strongly (and not just for Asiaphiles).

The trailer is here. The official website is here. And some professional reviews are here.