FILM REVIEWS:
BETWEEN THE TEMPLES (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Nathan Silver
Which race or religion would one immediately think of when the word ‘neurotic’ is mentioned? Neurotic Jewish old women are often portrayed in films but always in the form of entertainment. When the film BETWEEN THE TEMPLES opens, the audience sees neuroticism at its fullest. The protagonist is a cantor (the one singing at the temple or synagogue) as a job who cannot sing and one who’s two mothers, one of whom is played by the Filipino Dolly de Leon who was first seen in the artistic hit TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, While getting drunk act the local bar, he meets his old music teacher and they form a strong relationship that tells the rest of what can be called an endearing story rich with Jewish norms.
Jason Schwartzman (a Wes Anderson regular) and Carol Kane (veteran actress of films way back) star in Nathan Silver’s BETWEEN The TEMPLES, an off-beat Jewish comedy about a floundering cantor who finds his world turned upside down when his grade school music teacher enters his life as a bat mitzvah student.
Since his wife’s sudden passing, cantor Ben (Schwartzman) has lost his voice, perhaps his faith and definitely his zest for living. He’s now even living with his two mothers (Caroline Aaron and Dolly de Leon) in their upstate New York house. But then one night at a bar, he runs into Carla (Kane), his former music teacher. He’s drowning himself in mudslides. He gets punched ninth the face after an altercation with another customer (John Magary, who also is the film’s editor). She’s there for weekly karaoke. Although born Jewish, Carla explains
why she never had a bat mitzvah. And would Ben take her on as a student?
Despite a good 30 years apart in age, the two have a lot in common. Both are widowed, Carla’s out of a job, and Ben can’t figure out why he still has one, given he can’t sing. Ben teaches Carla about the Jewish faith and she gives him exercises to restore his voice. It’s obvious the two are smitten, much to the surprise of Carla’s son (Matthew Shear), Ben’s mothers and the rabbi (Robert Smigel) who tries to match up Ben with his daughter (Madeline Weinstein), although the rabbi does warn Ben: “She’s a mess.”
The restaurant scene at the Chained Duck with the oversized menus is the film’s prized hilarious segment.
Schwartzman plays the role of a typical neurotic non-winner the type that is a mamma’s boy, in this case, a two mamma’s boy. Cane is always a pleasure to watch whether she is doing drama or comedy. Despite the complexity of life, the characters and actors’ large age difference, their chemistry plays well, a fact that makes the movie work and reveals the wonders of life experiences, whether bad or good and what one can learn from them. Though one might complain of the script’s lack of focus on any problem, that is actually the way life plays out. Like life, the film is best enjoyed by just sitting back and seeing how it plays out.
BETWEEN THE TEMPLES made its debut at Sundance this year and opens on August 23in Toronto (TIFF Lightbox), Vancouver and Montreal! The film also opens throughout the summer in other cities.
Trailer:
BLINK TWICE (USA/Mexico 2024) ****
Directed by Zoe Kravitz
When tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala, sparks fly. He invites her to join him and his friends on a dream vacation on his private island. It is supposed to be paradise, but is it? Wild nights blend into sun-soaked days and everyone's having a great time. Nobody wants this trip to end, but as strange things start to happen, Frida begins to question the reality., especially when the friend she has brought with her disappears. Something is wrong with this place. She'll have to uncover the truth if she wants to make it out of this party alive.
The best looking actor in the film is not one of the females but Levon Hawke, making his debut as a minor character, also called Mr. Nobody or Mr. Nothing. Tall, lean, blondish white, he could be a model for any design house. Hawke is the son of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke and is a sight for sore eyes.
The film’s changed title name from PUSSY ISLAND to BLINK TWICE which is not that catchy, is understandable. The film tackles the #MeTooMovement while punishing the males for their sins. Calling the film PUSSY ISLAND would diminish the purpose of the movement. With the new title come catchy phrases like: “Are you having a good time? (at the private island resort?)
The film has to be credited for its sharp camera placement as well as film editing by Kathryn. Shots of close-ups of the head of a snake, the faces of the guests and broken items all add to the shock effects of the movie creating the best of a psychological thriller, murder mystery and dark comedy.
Zoe Kravitz daughter of Lenny Kravitz, makes this impressive debut in a film that has already received accolades at previews everywhere. The film is scripted by Zoë Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum.
The film contains a twist ending that though is not that credible but given the mood of the film is completely acceptable, The audience is expected to believe a whole lot of nonsense, which fortunately is very entertaining nonsense that propels the plot to a higher level. Director Kravitz paces her film well, building up suspense to the very climax. A few individual black comedic set pieces deserve mention, The best of these is the dinner segment in which Frida and the other girls after taking the snake venom, have regained their memories of being abused, unknown to Slater King and his cohorts. The females have to act as if they are still under the influence while they are clearly getting over it. It is an extremely tense and imaginative thought-up scene both brilliantly funny and scary at the same time.
The humour, mostly black works well. A few references to movies are made, and those catching them will be pleased. One is the Christian Slater character being introduced and then after a girl being introduced as Heather. (Slater rose to fame with his first film called HEATHERS).
BLINK TWICE opens in theatres on August 23rd. One of the freshest films of the year and the film gets my vote for this year’s Best First Feature.
Trailer:
THE CLEAN UP CREW (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Jon Keeyes
(Review is withheld till August 19th upon request.)
Whenever, there is blood, corpses, or rubbish leftover from a crime, the clean-up crew is called to clear the mess. When the crew comes upon a stash of money, all hell breaks loose.
THE CLEAN UP CREW is an upcoming American action crime thriller film shot in Ireland with many of its characters speaking with an Irish accent (even Melissa Leo who is an American actress), written by Matthew Rogers, directed by Jon Keeyes, and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Melissa Leo and Antonio Banderas. The film boasts an impressive cast of an Academy Award Winner, a Golden Globe Winner and an Oscar nominee. The cast includes Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Alex; Melissa Leo as Siobhan; Antonio Banderas as Gabriel; Ekaterina Baker as Meagan; Laurence Kinlan as Danny and Andy Kellegher as Jack among others.
The film opens nonchalantly with two characters, Officer James (Conor Mullen) and mob kingpin Gabriel (Antonio Banderas) in a tense meeting, weapons drawn in which the dirty cop is bargaining for a share of the racketeering Gabriel is involved. They agree on payment. But three years after ( as the film also moves forward) late payment appears to be missed with Officer James once again showing up at Gabriel’s door.
The next scene has two men from each side trying to exchange the suitcase of cash payment only to, instead result in a disastrous shootout leaving all four dead. A Clean up Crew is called, made up of Alex and his girl, Meagan (Ekaterina Baker) and their hard boss, Siobhan (Leo), and a psycho worker. They discover the suitcase and decide to take the cash with the two sides now after them.
As cliches go, when there is money, there is greed. This turns the members of the clean-up crew against each other. Meg convinces Alex to steal the money. Nothing is expected here, except to see how each twist in the story plays out. To the script and director’s credit, it is unfair to say that this time waster is a forgettable one, as there are a few nuanced well thought action and dramatic scenes, if not super impressive but could be described as memorable,
There is nothing really fresh in the storyline, something that audiences have seen time and again in a British gangster movie, British or American in one form or another. Still, the film, running at an efficient 95 minutes is a fast and entertaining watch primarily for the reason that the impressive cast take the script by Matthew Rogers quite seriously. Director Jon Keeyes, an American film director, producer and screenwriter made his first movie, AMERICAN NIGHTMARE, which became a cult hit and has never been out of distribution.
THE CLEAN UP CREW from Saban Films opens on August 20th on demand and on VOD.
(Please note that the review would have been posted last week but the filmmakers via the publicists are kindly asking for all reviews and reactions to be held until Monday, August 19th.)
Trailer:
THE CROW (USA 2024) **
(to be posted weekend)
THE DELIVERANCE (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Lee Daniels
THE DELIVERANCE is a film, as the titles indicate at the start, simpered by true events. It deals with a family moving into a new house - apparently haunted by a family’s death last occurring there. the closing credits also inform that as of today, strange occurrences are still happening on the property though the house has been bulldozed down.
Director Lee Daniel is best known for the breakout film PRECIOUS. The film did not with faults but it displayed promise, especially in outlandish over-the-top direction, The same trend is observable in the new horror/ inspired by a true story THE DELIVERANCE.
The film is clear to distinguish, and once again in the dialogue later in the film the difference between deliverance and exorcism. But the difference though noted, does not make that much difference in the film.
To match Lee’s over-the-top direction are also two excellent performances. One is from Academy Award Nominee Glenn Close, an excellent actress who should have won hr deserved Oscar by now by have not. Here she plays the white mother of Ebony (the reason is that she sleeps with bald men), a mother who ignored the abuses of Ebony’s father, a fact that Ebony (Andra Day)has never forgotten, less forgiven, Alberta is also suffering from cancer is undergoing chemo. Yet she flirts with men as if she is still in her youth. She looks both gorgeous wth her curled hair wedges, showing her bosom, while also looking frumpy with her home clothes and bald head, her hair lost from the chemo. The other performance belongs to Mo’Nique who plays a stern about Ebony’s care for her children. Childs Care Worker delivers in contrast an understated role that is both sympathetic and stern.
The actors playing the three troubled children are also good. Anthony B. Jenkins plays Andre, Ebony's youngest son; Caleb McLaughlin plays Nate, the eldest son while
Demi Singleton plays Shante, Ebony's daughter.
Director Daniels portrays family drama well. Did Ebony hither children” Is she a good mother though she drinks heavily and smokes the occasional wed,
Glenn Close is brave enough to show her ‘ugly’ side, especially in the scene with her possessed by the demon, with a bald head and sharp teeth.
The film is gripping and scary during the first three quarters only failing in the last quarter when Lee goes overboard with the exorcism, sorry deliverance, complete with the possessed child breaking her straps and crawling up the sides of the walls of the hospital.
The first sign of something going wrong in the house is the existence of flies amidst a terrible odour emitted from the basement, late shown to be a dead cat. The fly use is very effective as the first time one fly buzzed around, I thought that there was a fly in the theatre before soon realizing it was a fly in the film.
THE DELIVERANCE is currently playing at the TIFF Lightbox before opening on Netflix on August 30th.
Trailer:
INCOMING (USA 2024) **
Directed by Dave Chermin
INCOMING is a 2024 American teen comedy film written and directed by Dave Chernin and John Chernin, in their feature-length debut. Four teenagers navigate through their first-ever high school party Before one can dismiss this high school teen comedy as a waste of time, one must remember that there are a few classics in this genre, among them John Hughes’ films like THE BREAKFAST CLUB.
Other memorable and well-made high school films include Greg Beeman’s LICENCE TO DIVE (1988) in which the young Corey Hairm makes it his life’s quest to get a licence in order to get a hot date and Olivia Wilde’s BOOKSMART in which Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever learn that one can get into the best universities without studying all the time and giving up partying.
The question is how INCOMING will fare. Or will it simply be funny enough to remind them of one of their high school days?
Unfortunately, this teen film is in plain words, u funny. The jokes are infantile, such as making a speech in front of a mirror and then kissing it - only to get the door slammed in the face among other silly antics. All the characters are also ‘unfunny’.
The film tries too hard to cover all areas like family relationships, trying to be cool and political correctness. With a minor gay theme and Ben’s girlfriend being coloured, it is obvious that the film is not going the]way it is supposed to be. Also included are gross-out jokes like fart and shit jokes and sex jokes, Again all unfunny!
INCOMING is a Netflix original film opening this week for streaming,
LOVE, 2000 (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Jacqueline Joseph
The Pandemic that changed the world, mainly for the worse, is finally almost over. But in insight, the world underwent a lot, and many of those in the competitive sporting world were affected the most, with the Olympics postponed, and almost cancelled for the sake of saving lives. The doc LOVE, 2000 concentrates on tennis players.
LOVE, 2000 is an entertaining story of hope about athletes from all over the world who came to NYC to compete on the global stage at the 2020 US Open, using their rackets and voices to unite people and help lead NYC and the world forward during unprecedented times.
A captivating players' eye view inside the "secure bubble" at the first live international event held during the Pandemic, the groundbreaking 2020 US Open, which "changed the game" on, and off, the court.
Players from the US, Europe and Asia share their journeys competing at the most activist tennis tournament ever in New York, the epicenter of the global Pandemic and where some of the biggest protests in the world took place.
A unique global lens through which to explore the role and power of sports to lead, inspire, unite and spark change in society. A moment in tennis, sports and world history unlike any other. A once-in-a-lifetime story set in New York, but international in spirit and impact.
The doc includes the experiences of world top tennis players as they speak to the car about what they had gone through. The impressive list of players includes:
Frances Tiafoe (USA), career-high #10, 2022 US Open semifinalist – upsetting Rafael Nadal en route to becoming the first Black American to reach the semis since Arthur Ashe, 2019 Australian Open quarterfinalist and 2020 ATP Tour Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award recipient, established Frances Tiafoe Fund through the USTA Foundation to use tennis to change the lives of under-resourced youth and be a force for positive social change
Jamie Murray (Great Britain), career-high #1 doubles player, 7-time doubles/mixed Grand Slam Champion, 2020 ATP Tour Fan Favorite Doubles team
Rohan Bopanna (India), career-high #1 doubles player, 26 titles, 2024 Australian Open Men's Doubles Champion and 2017 French Open Mixed Doubles Champion and was awarded the Padma Shri honor by the President of India in 2024
Kristie Ahn (USA), career-high #87 and WTA Tour Board member who reached the round of 16 at the 2019 US Open
Bradley Klahn (USA), career-high #63 and 2010 NCAA Champion
Diede de Groot (Netherlands), #1 wheelchair tennis player, 41 Grand Slam titles, winner of a singles Grand Slam in 2021/2022/2023 and a "Golden Grand Slam" in 2021 (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open and Tokyo Paralympic Gold Medal)
Yui Kamiji (Japan), #2 wheelchair tennis player, 28 Grand Slam titles and Tokyo Paralympic Silver Medalist
But most of them have nothing really concrete to say, except complain about the Pandemic and just serve to show that many if not all the tennis players want to play. Myself, I am a tennis player and the courts closed in Toronto because the Pandemic had a big effect on me. They locked the public courts but us players climbed over the gates to play. So the obsession with tennis is clearly understandable in the film. As the celebrities on film say: “If there is no tennis, there is nothing!”
The doc recaps and captures the dismal times the world, including tennis players endured. Though nothing really new is put forward that audiences have not experienced or known of, the doc does remind one of human resilience amidst crises.
LOVE, 2000 is available on demand on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, August 23.
Trailer:
SECRET LIVES OF ORANGUTANS (UK 2024) ***
Directed by Huw Cordey
SECRET LIVES OF ORANGUTANS follows a multi-generational orangutan family through their treetop triumphs and travails in this immersive documentary narrated by David Attenborough.
Orangutan is a Malay/Indonesian word. It means humans of the forest. The pronunciation in Malay is ‘oh-rung-oo-ton’, not rang-a-tang which the Western world pronounces.
The Netflix original doc, narrated by David Attenborough has the word pronounced correctly.
Orangutans are red apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. The nones in the film are found and filmed in the North of Sumatra in a region bounded by a river which protects them from civilization. But they are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus Pongo, orangutans were originally considered to be one species. The orangutans are the only surviving species of the subfamily Ponginae, which diverged genetically from the other hominids (gorillas, chimpanzees, and humans) between 19.3 and 15.7 million years ago.
The most arboreal of the great apes, orangutans spend most of their time in trees. The doc informs that some of them spend their entire lives never setting foot on the ground They have proportionally long arms and short legs, and have reddish-brown hair covering their bodies. Adult males weigh about 75 kg (165 lb), while females reach about 37 kg (82 lb).
The doc is privileged to be narrated by Sir David Attenborough, now 98 years of age. Sir David Frederick Attenborough is a British broadcaster, biologist, natural historian, and writer. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the nine nature documentary series forming the Life Collection, a comprehensive survey of animal and plant life on Earth
The secret lives refer to the lives of three females- hence the doc’s female slant. The three females are the 60-year-old Friska, her daughter Ellie and Ellie’s daughter Eden. The audience is informed that these observations of their lives were both possible in the past but are now made possible by filming using small drones. First observed is the mother and daughter, and keep the mother in sight in order to learn how to eat. Eden as the daughter has to follow mum and learn how to eat and what to eat.
The doc is pleasant to watch because of the pleasant music played throughout the soundtrack and Attenborough’s soothing voice. The film is also family-watching fare, with little violence and gore. There are no scenes of animals killed as prey. Even male dominance is decided by a test of strength rather than a fight. Fascinating is that orangs eat termites. One scene has one holding a termite’s nest and eating it. Besides being interesting, one can appreciate the difficulty of filming the oranges as well as devising a story about them. The doc contains a bit of humour, generated primarily from Attenborough’s insights on mammals.
SECRET LIVES OF ORANGUTANS, a Netflix original documentary is available for streaming this week on Netflix.
Trailer:
STRANGE DARLING (USA 2023) ***
Directed by JT Mollner
Nothing is what it seems when a twisted one-night stand spirals into a serial killer's vicious murder spree. The stories, 6 chapters in all begin with Chapter 3 which introduces the audience to both these characters - the supposedly demon after the lady who escapes on a variation of a slasher version of NATURAL BORN KILLERS.
The film unveils in 6 chapters, each with a different title in the order as shown below:
Chapter 3: Can you Help me, Please?
Chapter 5: Here, Kitty Kitty Kitty
Chapter 1: Mister Snuffles
Chapter 4: The Mountain People
Chapter 2: Do you like the Party?
Chapter 6: Who’s Gary Gilmore?
… followed by an epilogue.
As can be observed, the story is not told in chronological order. The order is clearly in the order of nastiness, each chapter, nastier than the previous with the ending in a very, very nasty climax. STRANGE DARLING is indeed the nastiest film to be seen on the screen this year. Whether the nastiness would entertain one is of course, up to the individual’s taste, but the film is to director JT Mollner’s credit, is quite well put together with a solid build-up. The cinematography is impressive and is by actor Giovanni Ribisi who also lends his voice to one of the story’s characters.
The film is mostly a two-handler with predator and prey. The opening credits introduce actress Willa Fitzgerald as the Lady and Kyle Gallner as the demon, but the labels begin to blur as the story unfolds. The first chapter introduces these two characters. The predator chases the lady into the woods, and she takes refuge in a house where he hunts her down with the words: Here, Kitty Kitty Kitty.
STRANGE DARLING opens in theatres on August 23rd and can be said to be seen to be believed. Inspired by true killings in America.
Trailer:
