Nightwatch: The sound of cinema

Sound Unseen is back, slightly slimmer this year but still able to blast your eyeballs and eardrums. It's true sensory overload with a dozen movies that take you inside the music. The film festival started Wednesday, but most movies will be screened this weekend. Here's a look at each film, with reviews of four favorites.

'Daft Punk's Electroma'

*** out of four stars.

9:15 today.

Call it "2001: A Daft Punk Odyssey." The French duo known for pop-friendly electronica directs this feature film, channeling their inner Kubrick for excruciatingly long takes and lots of pontificating. It's the story of two robots (dressed in the usual Daft Punk outfits) on a quest to become human in a world of robots. There's no dialogue and no Daft Punk music (Curtis Mayfield, Brian Eno and others fill the soundtrack). Strange? Yes. But it's worth a look if you enjoy pretty images and a simple message wrapped in layers of artifice. Lesson of the day: Just be yourself, silly robot. (74 min.)

'Yellow'

*** out of four stars.

9:15 Sun.

What a strange little movie. Mailroom guy meets library girl. They date, fall in love and sing. Yep, it's a musical. But don't expect the sweep of, say, "The Sound of Music" -- this is a minimalist musical. Bare-bones music accompanies the characters as they sing their feelings, often while sitting on a couch or at the kitchen table (the songs were recorded live during filming). It feels awkward, but maybe that's the point. "Yellow" captures the uneasiness of dating like few other movies. It helps that the film looks gorgeous. Bedrooms and offices never felt so lush -- and worthy of song. (101 min.)

'Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer'

***½ out of four stars.

5:30 p.m. Sat. and 5:15 p.m. Sun.

Wow -- now this is how you make a jazz documentary. Anita O'Day is a jazz singer often mentioned in the same breath as Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. The film explores her entire 60-year career in a fast-paced medley of vintage performances and candid interviews, right up to her death in 2006. What a life it was -- a firecracker who scoffed at feminine conventions early on, battled heroin and alcohol addiction for decades, but outlasted nearly everyone. The film shows everything, stitching it together in a style that brings the classic aesthetic of jazz-record covers to life. (90 min.)

'The Old Weird America: Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music'

*** out of four stars.

7:15 Sun.

After saving thousands of early folk records from being melted down during World War II, collector Harry Smith released the "Anthology of American Folk Music" in 1952, which many say ushered in the folk revival of the '50s and '60s (the songs gave a young Bob Dylan something to work with). This film tells Smith's story with footage of today's musicians performing the anthology's songs at various concerts during the album's 1997 re-issue (including Elvis Costello, Beck and Nick Cave). A must for folk fans. (90 min.)

The rest of the fest

'You're Gonna Miss Me'

7 p.m. today.

Roky Erickson was a psychedelic-rock pioneer and Janis Joplin's biggest influence. He also went crazy. The movie explores his tragic decline with heartbreaking beauty. (92 min.)

'Girls Rock!'

3 p.m. Sat.

Coolest. Summer. Camp. Ever. At a rock 'n' roll camp for girls (ages 8 to 18), young ladies learn to thrash like they've never thrashed before. (91 min.)

'Silver Jew'

7:45 Sat.

Once dubbed a Pavement side project, David Berman's early-'90s cult band, Silver Jews, reunited for a world tour in 2006, with the Israel leg captured here. (51 min.)

'Air Guitar Nation'

9:15 p.m. Sat.

Yes, there really is an Air Guitar World Championship (held in Finland). This doc follows wannabe rock gods on their way to air-guitar glory. (81 min.)

'The Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose'

3 p.m. Sun.

The story of two guys who melded the impossible -- folk music and psychedelic -- and became cult icons. (87 min.)

thorgen@startribune.com • 612-673-7909