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ABOUT MY FATHER (USA 2023)
Directed by Laura Terruso
ABOUT MY FATHER is a romantic and father and son relationship comedy with Robert De Niro playing the father and writer/lead actor and writer Sebastian Maniscalco playing the son, Sebastian.
Sebastian informs his traditional Italian immigrant father Salvo about his plan to propose to his American girlfriend Ellie (Leslie Bibb), and Salvo insists on joining them for a weekend with her parents. Despite the clash between their two cultures and initial perception of having nothing in common, they eventually become a single, unified family by the end of the summer holiday weekend. The Elite family is British, with descendants originally from Portsmouth and also immigrants to America.
Robert De Niro reprises the role of the difficult father that he made famous in the MEET THE PARENTS franchise, though he goes alone as the difficult Italian father. De Niro was born in Greenwich Village and is American, though as good and influential an actor that he is, is quite convincing playing an Italian, even speaking Italian in a few of the film’s scenes. De Niro plays both comedy and drama (particularly as gangsters) well and has a gangster movie WISE GUYS coming up. He and the main lead and writer Maniscalco have worked together before in Martin Scorsese’s THE IRISHMAN in 2019. Maniscalco is himself born American though from Italian immigrant parents. Sebastian Maniscalco wrote the script loser based on his own life and experiences, so there is a lot of decent humour in it.
ABOUT MY FATHER could be described as a romantic comedy as the story concerns his character eventually getting wed at the end. But it takes second place to the other story - the one between the acceptance of his character and his father who means well but shows it in all the wrong ways. There is nothing really innovative in the two stories but at least the film is sufficiently funny with more than a few laugh out moments. It is always good to see De Rio doing comedy, as this man is also quite good in this field. The film can be considered to be a series of comedic set pieces strung together by the common theme.
The best of these comedic set pieces is the tennis match where Sebastian and his difficult mother-in-law to be Tigger are partners in a tennis match against her son and Ellie. “She likes to win,” Sebastian is told. At first not to offend his father, he pretends to make mistakes but the funniest parts occur when he shows that he is actually quite good as he had taken tennis lessons. Another funny part is Tigger’s Julie Andrews style haircut.
Most of the supporting cast including Maniscalco have their experience in comedy. Sebastian Maniscalco is himself a standup comic while Anders Holt , David Rasche, Kim Cattreall and Brett Dier also have their background in comedy. Cattrall is the funniest of the lot playing the upper class Ivy-league senator mother-in-law to be.
ABOUT MY FATHER is released by Lionsgate that has not got a hit since their DIVERGENT and HUNGER GAMES franchise when their stock was way up. Lionsgate desperately needs a hit but ABOUT MY FATHER, though not bad is not it. ABOUT MY FATHER is released in theatres May the 26th, 2023
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CRACKED (Thailand 2022) ***
Directed by Surapong Ploensang
Directed by Surapong Ploensang and written by Eakasit Thairaat, Onusa Donsawai, Pun Homchuen and director Surapong Ploensang CRACKED marks a terrifying new Thai horror film, in which an inherited ‘haunted’ painting may be worth a thousand screams, just as a picture is worth a thousand words,
Ruja (actress/model Chayanit Chansangavej) returns to Thailand from New York with her young daughter Rachel to settle her late father's estate. Included in her inheritance are two mysterious portraits of a bewitching woman that she is told are worth a fortune, if only they weren't damaged. Desperate to sell the paintings, Ruja hires Tim (K-pop star Nichkhun), an art restorer, to prepare the canvases for sale. But the cracks in the paint have begun to reveal long-hidden secrets, and as strange phenomena begin to emerge around them, Ruja and Rachel quickly realize their lives are in grave danger.
Thai movies are not often distributed in North America. No one can be sure what can be expected - especially of films in the horror genre. The Thai film industry is already quite established and this product shows signs of a solid film industry. CRACKED has high production values. It’s production sets, lighting, sound and suspenseful atmosphere is impressive and put into relevant use
Director Ploensang uses the effect of audience anticipation well and can be observed in many scenes like the one where Ruja sees her father’s two paintings for the first time. The first one was returned to her father, the owner after the buyer had killed his entire family and then himself, He then left a note by the painting: “I am returning you to the owner.” The second painting was never sold but a millionaire is willing to pay a fortune to both of them. When Ruja asks when she would get the money, she is questioned: “Soon’t you wish to know how your father died?” The paintings have some cracks that can art restorer need to fix. The cracks are where the horror begins and forms the title of this horror film.
Horror films succeed often when they scare audiences so that they do not know what will happen next. In THE EXORCIST and POLTERGEIST for example, unexpected horror occurs behind the locked doors. Every time the camera moves into a scene in the room, there is great anticipation of some horror. In CRACKED, bits of the painting is peeled away to reveal a bit of a secret….. the more that is peeled, the more will be revealed. The handsome art restorer is eager to find out the secret but Ruja just wants her and her daughter to leave the place.
If the events look confusing, everything is neatly tied up at the end with explanations leaving no stone unturned. The film lacks strong credibility with some silly exorcism bits at the end but the film’s strength is its creation of menace and atmosphere in its first half.
CRACKED premieres in VOD and DVD on May 26, 2023 from Film Movement, founded in 2002, the North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City.
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THE HOLE IN THE FENCE (El Hoyo en la Cerca)(Mexico/Poland 2022) ****
Directed by Joaquin del Paso
At a secluded exclusive summer camp in the Mexican countryside, under the watchful eyes of their adult guardians, boys from a prestigious private school receive physical, moral and religious training to turn them into tomorrow’s elite adults. The discovery of a hole in the fence sets in motion a chain of disturbing events as the boys devolve into a Lord of the Flies-like mob mentality that creates and spreads hysteria in this profoundly disturbing coming-of-age drama that unravels like a horror movie while drawing on actual events.
THE HOLE IN THE FENCE is a film that reveals all the horrors that can result from the worst of human behaviour. When power is in a few hands and cannot be questioned, power is abused. And also the abused victims torture themselves when they are at a loss of what to do. The kids’ parents are wealthy and privileged and pay a lot to have the children educated and become men in the process. Many of the fathers have gone through the identical process when younger. But what goes in is quite horrifying. There is bullying and violence, both physically and mentally with no way of escape except maybe for escape through THE HOLE IN THE FENCE, as the title of the film indicates.
As the kids are the age of puberty, the question of budding and emerging sexuality arises and the script written by the director with Lucy Pawlak realizes the fact and includes the subject in the story. Edwin, an elder who dispenses medicine to the boys as a sort of medic, is observed getting a hard-on by the boys when giving mouth-to-mouth. during an incident. Another disturbing scene has Edwin seen drugging a boy and then likely, but not shown on screen, so one is never 100% sure, abusing him. The boys also talk of dicks and other sexual related things. Coming-of-age becomes more complicated in the closed and abusive environment faced by the boys.
The film features an original haunting score by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein (STRANGER THINGS).
Things come to a boil when one of the kids, Diego goes missing. Blame is on everyone’s agenda. The kids notice Diego is missing and start questioning each other on who had seen him last. With unfruitful results they blame one another for Diego’s disappearance. The adults start looking for Diego in groups. The villagers are blamed for Diego’s disappearance. “Get the kids out of here!” screams one villager in response. The film shows Diego climbing through the hole in the fence from the school compound to get out but leaves the audience guessing as to where he eventually is.
Though a bit slow moving with the plot unfolding slowly, the film might either be too annoying to the impatient but the anticipation and mystery and ultimately horrors of the situation as it (the plot) unfolds is rewarding entertainment for the more patient audience.
The Mexican-Polish psychological drama/thriller that premiered at Venice and the London Film Festivals arrives via VOD and opens in L.A. On May 26th.
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L’IMMENSITÀ (Italy/France 2022) ***1/2
Directed by Emanuele Crialese
Couples stay together for a number of reasons. If the main reason is love, then the couple’s relationship is strong and lasting. In the film L’IMMENSITÀ, the couple live together because they have three kids and have to look after them. This is a formula for relationship disaster, not aided by the fact that the children also pose more problems for the couple. The story of this family forms the premise of this intriguing and absorbing emotional Italian drama starring the beautiful Penelope Cruz in the title role.
The film title is taken from an Italian song, which was first performed by Johnny Dorelli and Don Backy (the songs were sung by two artists) in 1967 and became 9th at the Sanremo Song Contest. The Italian word translates to immensity in English which in simpler terms means ‘the extremely large size of’.
The film is set in Rome, 1970s. Clara (Cruz) and Felice (Vincenzo Amato) have just moved into a lush new apartment with their three children. From the film’s initial scenes, it is clear that they no longer love each other, yet cannot seem to leave each other either. Their three children are the only thing that keeps them together. Although mentally fragile, Clara is a fun and caring mum, who in one segment turns setting the table into a song-and-dance routine with the kids. Felice, on the other hand, is prone to temper. The dance sequences are a solid lift-me-up in the film as can be observed by the family’s kitchen dance sequence and the uppity and hilarious dance numbers of the black and white variety shows seen on TV..
But the story also shifts to the children. Adri is the eldest daughter while the middle son is a plumb boy and the youngest an innocent and charming girl. Their preteen daughter Adri (Luana Giuliani) now identifies as a boy and wants to be called Andrea (Italian for Andrew) – his dogged pursuit bringing the already unstable family to a breaking point. Meanwhile, Andrea falls for a girl (Penelope Nieto Conti) after sneaking out to visit a Roma (gypsy) camp.
The film’s most dramatic and insightful segment is the one where Adri hides under the bed of her parents as Felice forces Clara to have sex with him. “I don’t want to,” Clara screams. To protects mother, Adri screams from under the bed: “She does not want to.” following which the father drags her to her bedroom. It is the 20-minute mark of the film which has now packed quite the punch, showing the fragile and volatile relationship among members of the family. Less said of the story the better, so that there are no spoilers revealed,
L’IMMENSITÀ is inspired by Italian filmmaker Emanuele Crialese’s own experience growing up. The director is best remembered for his award winning effort RESPIRO back in 2002 also about a free-spirited woman. L’IMMENSITÀ debuted at Venice 2022, where Crialese publicly revealed that he himself is a trans man. L’IMMENSITÀ opens May 26 in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal! The film opens June 2 in Ottawa and throughout the summer in other cities.
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INFLUENCER (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Kurtis David Harder
An INFLUENCER is one who influences someone - and in the case of modern age social media, this means one who regularly puts up postings on a subject of interest, in this case travel. The new horror flick INFLUENCER follows one such person as she travels to Thailand and getting into near-death trouble.
While struggling on a solo backpacking trip in Thailand, social media influencer Madison (Emily Tennant) meets CW (Cassandra Naud), who travels with ease and shows her a more uninhibited way of living, but CW's interest in her takes a darker turn. Madison in reality, hates her job as a travel influencer but manages to keep this unknown to her viewers, therefore smiling all the time on camera but frowning otherwise. She cannot wait to leave Thailand as her boyfriend Rory (Rory J, Saper) knows., until CW shows a part of Thailand that totally astonishes her. CW abandons Madison on an isolated island and assumes her identity on social media so that no one notices her missing. Not even her boyfriend, Ryan. CW attempts the same con with newly arrived Jessica (Sara Canning). CW invites Jessica to a huge mansion, which was Madison’s place. But when Ryan arrives unannounced to surprise Madison, all hell breaks loose. CW has to explain why Madison is not around and the reasons is at her place, This is whee the film gets more and more interesting. The audience sees CW at
INFLUENCER shares a similar theme as Alfred Hitchcock’s second last film - the suspense thriller London-set FRENZY involving a neck-tie serial killer, played by Barry Foster. FRENZY deals with the familiar Hitchcock theme of an innocent man played by Jon Lynch overwhelmed by circumstantial evidence and wrongly assumed to be guilty. The only difference is that the identity of the killer, as in the film INFLUENCER is known to the audience early in the film. As Hitchcock himself had said that if the killer’s identity is known, then as compared to a whodunit, every time he appears on-screen, the would be suspense and fear that he would strike again. In both FRENZY and INFLUENCER, the killer’s best friend initially trusts the killer and only slowly figures out that the best friend is a killer. It is not often that thriller films have this theme and INFLUENCER makes this welcome change. As a result INFLUENCER is extremely entertaining and different, marred only by too many loose ends in the story.
It also helps that the relatively young but yet to be discovered cast deliver solid performances, particularly Naud as CW. The cinematography of Thailand and its surrounding sea and islands is also captivating.
The main loose end in the story is the reason CW goes back to the isolated island where she deserted Madison. She does that at the end of the film, the only possible reason for that in the script being to give the film a satisfactory close. Another glaring flaw in the plot is how Madison survived all the many weeks without freshwater and food.
Point to note is that the director Kurtis David Harder is Canadian.
INFLUENCER opens for streaming on Shudder this week.
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IT AIN’T OVER (USA 2023) ***½
Directed by Sam Mullen
The doc IT AIN’T OVER is the biography of the life and rise to fame of Peter Berra aka ‘Yogi Berra”. He was an American professional baseball catcher who later took on the roles of manager and coach. He played 19 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) and was an 18-time All-Star and won 10 World Series championships as a player—more than any other player in MLB history. Berra had a career batting average of .285, while hitting 358 home runs and 1,430 runs batted in. He is one of only six players to win the American League Most Valuable Player Award three times. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest catchers in baseball history and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
First person accounts include granddaughter Lindsay Berra, Yogi’s three sons (Tim, Larry and Dale), plus a legion of former Yankee greats (Derek Jeter, Joe Torre, Mariano Rivera, Willie Randolph, Don Mattingly, Tony Kubekand, Ron Guidry). The film begins with Lindsay talking to the camera giving an excellent intro of her grandfather. Also featured are sportscasters Bob Costas and Vin Scully and super-fan Billy Crystal – plus photos and eye-popping archival footage (like Yogi leaping into pitcher Don Larsen’s arms after that perfect World Series game - something kids would do). Berra famously said, “I’d be pretty dumb if I started being something I’m not.” The film lovingly makes clear he stayed who he was for the benefit of baseball and everyone else.
Yogi’s contributions to MLB history are incalculable, but his legacy might be even better remembered for what he contributed to the American language. The doc speaks of Yogi Berra's “yogi-isms” which are some of the most well-known quotes in the world. Two of his quotes are continually mentioned in the film with one of them forming part of this film’s title: “It ain’t over till it’s over.” and “When you come to the fork in the road, take it.”
Director Sam Mullen has made ALLEGIANCE and the likeable rom com AMIRA & SAM. One observable note about director Mullen is his ability to recognize little things about life that he has included in his films. This can be seen in IT AIN’T OVER as well. The intimate moments that he has included in the doc such as the reading of one of Yogi’s love letters to his wife are what makes the doc stand out.
The doc might not appeal to non-baseball fans - one for the reasons seen in one of his quotes. “If the people don’t want to come out to the ballpark, nobody’s going to stop them.” If no one wants to see a baseball doc, no one will stop them. But there is always still lots to offer in the doc that are not related to the game. The audience gets to see the life of a humble, funny little man who grew famous. It is a good human story and everyone loves a good human story. One of his other favourite quotes that can be used to solve world problems is: “I tell the kids, somebody’s gotta win, somebody’s gotta lose. Just don’t fight about it. Just try to get better.”
Though Yogi Berra passed on in 2015, his legacy lives on. Truly IT AIN’T OVER for this remarkable baseball player.
The film opens May 26 in Toronto (Hot Docs Cinema) and Vancouver!
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THE LITTLE MERMAID (USA 2023) *
Directed by Rob Marshall
Finally arriving after filming complications as a result of Covid-19, THE LITTLE MERMAID is one of the most anticipated Disney live action fantasy musicals. The film is directed by Rob Marshall from a screenplay written by David Magee. Co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures, DeLuca Marshall, and Marc Platt Productions, it is a live-action adaptation of Walt Disney Animation Studios' 1989 film of the same name, itself loosely based on the 1837 fairy tale of the same title by Hans Christian Andersen.
Ariel (Halle Bailey), the youngest daughter of the kingdom Atlantica's ruler King Triton, (Javier Bardem) is fascinated with the human world but mermaids are forbidden to explore it. After saving Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) from a shipwreck and falling in love with him, she becomes determined to be with him in the world above water. These actions lead to a confrontation with her father and an encounter with the conniving sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy), making a deal with her to trade her beautiful voice for human legs so she can discover the world above water and impress Eric. However, this ultimately places her life (and her father’s crown) in jeopardy.
To provide comic relief are three of Ariel's animal friends. Daveed Diggs as the voice of Sebastian, a loyal crab and King Triton's trusted servant and court composer who watches over Ariel. Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, a dimwitted northern gannet and a friend of Ariel's to whom she provides inaccurate descriptions of any human/surface world object Ariel finds. Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, an anxious yet noble tropical fish who is Ariel's best friend. Unfortunately, they are not funny, thanks to the script by Magee, not known for his humour. He wrote A MAN CALLED OTTO, LIFE OF PI and FINDING NEVERLAND.
THE LITTLE MERMAID follows the formulaic route of many a Disney hit but thesis one lacks imagination and innovation. The only one standout is the musical number “Under the Sea’ with a whole variety of fish and other sea creatures.
There are no catchy songs in THE LITTLE MERMAID. Is it that difficult to pen a catchy tune with memorable lyrics? The online that comes close is “Under the Sea'' which is played once again during the closing credits. Musicals in the past contains songs that audiences will go away whistling as in musicals like MARY POPPINS (not MARY POPPINS RETURNS), THE SOUND F MUSIC, OLIVIER!, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN to name just a few.
THE LITTLE MERMAID is part fairy tale part action movie, especially at the end. There is a girl fight too at the end between the mermaid and the villain. One wonders what the Disney people are thinking regarding the film’s target audience. Action fans obviously will avoid girly fairy tales like this film and the action fight set pieces, with Melissa McCarthy with squid tentacles are too scary for kids.
THE LITTLE MERMAID is ultimately quite a bore. The humour is lacking and so is the fairy tale element. The need for a happy ending ends up with a cop out happy ending which as everyone can guess is the one where the prince gets the mermaid as his true love.
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TIN & TINA (Span 2023) ****
Directed by Rubin Stein
TIN & TINA is director Rubin Stein’s debut religious thriller feature starring Milena Smit as Lola ('Parallel Mothers' by Pedro Almodóvar) and Jaime Lorente as Adolfo ('Money Heist’).
TIN & TINA are the names of the two ultra-religious children adopted by couple Lola and Adolfo after an accident (yes, a horrid one) that renders Lola unable to bear children. They are so named after some patron saint, so says the abyss at the convent where the adoption takes place. ‘They look weird and they are older,” the words are uttered but the children are adopted anyway. What follows next snd throughout the story is too nasty to be true, and will not be revealed in the review as the less said the better less spoilers be revealed. Safe today, be prepared for the unexpected.
TIN & TINA is remarkable storytelling enriched by director Stein’s constant usage of the audience anticipation factor and suspense. From the very start when wedding vows are exchanged, the audience knows something will go wrong when the priests announced: “for better or for worse, what God has joined late no man put asunder.” The ultra religiøs tone of the horror is also worthy of Hitchcock. Like Hitchcock, there are bouts of weird hunour, as in the one scene where the kids watch DRACULA on television for the very first time.
Credit should be given to the makeup artists who create an absolutely creepy and evil look not only of the children but of the mother Maria. Her initial smile at the wedding is also super-creepy, aided by her extra-white makeup.
TIN & TINA is a surprisingly effective Spanish suspense thriller full of suspense and impending terror. Director Stein makes it clear that something evil is always about to happen, and when it happens, it will be something unexpected and truly horrible. TIN & TINA is an absolute delight.
TIN & TINA is directed by rising Spanish director Rubin Stein, Rubin Stein is one of the "10 Spanish Filmmakers on the Rise" by 'Variety'. His black and white suspense-based short film's trilogy called 'Light & Darkness' has been screened at more than 500 film festivals all around the world, receiving more than 100 international awards, highlighting a nomination for the European Golden Méliès and a nomination for the Goya Awards.
The film streams on Ntflix from May the 26th.
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VICTIM/SUSPECT (USA 2023) ***½
Directed by Nancy Schwartzman
VICTIM/SUSPECT follows its subject Rachel de Leon, a journalist at The Center for Investigative Reporting who discovers a number of legal cases across the United States, where young women are charged by police for making false rape accusations, despite being truthful. She started as an intern and decided to open a study of her own. She eventually got far more than she had bargained for. Rachel who co-produced this intriguing doc with director Schwartzman follows a few of these cases doggedly among some 52 general cases she had traced following this troubling trend. It is a case of rape victims who reports to the police who eventually accuse them of lying, thus becoming suspects for false accusations.
There are films that matter and docs that are meant to be seen. The Netflix original doc VICTIM/SUSPECT is definitely one of these.
It really angers the audience when Rachel hits a brick wall in her investigations and work for one prime reason. The police will not talk. The police will not cooperate. The reasons are immediately obvious as they have nothing to gain and everything to lose. And they have obviously been hiding from the truth and are themselves guilty of a crime. And they are cowards The crime investigator and sheriff decide not to participate in interviews till a detective, Detective Cotto, was suggested. Why Detective Cotto? He was the only investigating detective who admitted to the police using videos for the purpose of a ruse. (A ruse is an action used to deceive a person.).
The film through Rachel examines the purpose of the investigating officers when handling rape cases. There are too many cases and too few officers and thus a result of the system would reward officers who get most of their cases dismissed. One way this is done is to close the rape cases meaning that the victims have to recant their accusations. The investigating officers often use foul means for the purpose. The means are revealed in the film. The officers would show videos of the crime scene often with false footage. For example, they would show footage of a couple making out, then claiming that the couple was of the victim and attacker.
One of the film’s most interesting segments has a police officer (who agrees to be interviewed for the film) revealing how easy a victim can be coerced into recanting her/his rape statement. He says that the victim, often an 18 or underaged female who is so troubled with the incident, can be easily threatened by being accused of making out or drinking underaged. Officers are also trained in investigative techniques in order to tag a suspect to make a confession.
The doc paints Rachel De Leon as a diligent hero, helping the victim/suspects in what should have been the work done by the police. Often, she says that the police do not often interview the accused or investigate them at all.`
VICTIM/SUSPECT is an informative and entertaining though often disturbing little doc that needs to be seen on an important subject that matters. It premiered January at Sundance at opens on Netflix for streaming May the 26th.
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YOU HURT MY FEELINGS (USA 2023) ***½
Directed by Nicole Holofcener
If the latest American comedy, YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, directed by Nicole Holofcener (known for WALKING AND TALKING), bears similarities to the comedic styles of Woody Allen and Neil Simon, it's no coincidence. Holofcener comes from a Jewish family and has a personal connection to Allen, as her stepfather produced some of his films. In fact, she even had the opportunity to be an extra in TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN and SLEEPER. Her first real job in the industry was as a production assistant on Woody Allen's A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHT SEX COMEDY in 1982. With YOU HURT MY FEELINGS, Holofcener once again demonstrates her talent and delivers an entertaining and accomplished work.
The film revolves around Beth (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a novelist who also teaches writing classes, and her husband, Don (Tobias Menzie), a therapist who charges too much. When Beth accidentally overhears Don expressing his dislike for her writing to her brother-in-law, Mark (Arian Moayed), it not only hurts her feelings but also shatters the trust she had in him. Don argues that his love for her is more important than his opinion of her book. This misunderstanding creates a significant rift in their relationship.
Director Holofcener skillfully balances humorous and dramatic moments throughout the film. Some of the funniest scenes take place in Don's office, where he deals with a couple, Jonathan (David Cross) and Carolyn (Amber Tamblyn), who constantly bicker and can't seem to agree on anything except their desire for a refund. Both Beth and Don present compelling arguments about support and honesty, effectively conveying their perspectives.
One of the film's highlights is the presence of veteran actress Jeannie Berlin, an Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress for her role in THE HEARTBREAK KID, directed by her mother, Elaine May, based on a Neil Simon play. Berlin portrays Georgia, Beth and Sasha's mother in the film. In one scene, when Beth tells the doctor, "Her leg hurts," Georgia quickly retorts, "I can speak for myself." It's refreshing to see Holofcener resist the temptation to deliver the expected line, typical of a Neil Simon play, and instead adds a subtle twist.
The only drawback is the rather predictable happy ending. The script introduces significant problems faced by the characters, including the trust between Beth and Don, Beth's strained relationship with her son Elliot (who blames her for his own writing troubles), and Mark's career struggles. Unfortunately, the film opts for convenient and unrealistic solutions to these problems, as it assumes audiences prefer happy endings. Nevertheless, YOU HURT MY FEELINGS succeeds as a sweet and enjoyable comedy about relationships, surpassing the attempts made by Woody Allen in this genre. Holofcener masterfully blends humour and pathos in a concise 83-minute film, providing light entertainment without the shallow nature of recent disappointments like FAST X AND THE LITTLE MERMAID.
YOU HURT MY FEELINGS opens in theatres May 26th, 2023.
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- Written by: Gilbert Seah
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- Category: Movie Reviews
FILM REVIEWS:
CARMEN (Australia/France 2022) **
Directed by Benjamin Millepied
Benjamin Millepied, former principal dancer of the New York City Ballet and choreographer of the film BLACK SWAN makes his directorial debut in CARMEN, a modern-day interpretation of Bizet's classic opera. The film opens with a breathtaking dance performance in the Mexican desert, where the mother of the protagonist is tragically shot by a gunman. The surreal and impressive scene sets the tone for the rest of the film, which features dream-like dance sequences and a majestic score by three-time Oscar nominee Nicholas Britell.
CARMEN, the film tells the story of Carmen, a fiercely independent young woman who flees to the US after her mother's murder. Along the way, she meets Aidan, a border guard and Marine suffering from PTSD. Their journey together leads to a budding romance, but it is a poor imitation of the love story in the original opera. Solid performances are delivered by both Melissa Barrera and rising star Paul Mescal, looking really buffed as a marine should, compared to his physique in his last film AFTERSUN.
One of the film's strengths is the presence of Rossy de Palma, a regular actress in Pedro Almodovar's films, who plays the mercurial owner of La Sombra nightclub, a sanctuary of music and dance where Carmen and Aidan find solace and their unwavering love for each other. However, the film's attempt to blend reality with dance and music is uneven, and the dance and music sequences often feel disconnected from the rest of the story. The climactic dance scene between Carmen and Aidan is impressive, but it feels out of place in the film.
Despite its flaws, "CARMEN" is an ambitious film that showcases Millepied's talent as a director and choreographer. The impressive dance and music sequences, as well as the strong performances by the cast, make it worth watching. In particular, Paul Mescal's (AFTERSUN) performance demands mention and shows that he is a talent to watch in the future. "CARMEN" opens in Toronto and Vancouver on May 5th, and in Montreal on May 12th, with more cities to follow throughout the spring and summer.
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THE FORGER (Der Passfalscher) (Germany 2022) ***1/2
Directed by Maggie Peren
THE FORGER, the new German WWII suspense drama recounts the true-life story of the spirited Cioma Schönhaus, who created documents that saved hundreds of lives of Jews in Nazi Germany. Cioma is at the age of 21 in the film ’s setting. Cioma has barely come of age and goes through romance, survival and life’s dangerous lessons. The real Cioma died at the age of 93 in 2015 during the 4th draft of the script. The real forger, Cioma was interviewed four times for the film and what is witnessed on the screen is a remarkable and winning account of a young man trapped in dangerous times.
Berlin, 1942. Cioma Schönhaus (Louis Hofmann) is a young Jewish man who won't let anyone take away his zest for life, especially not the Nazis. Cioma audaciously adopts the identity of a marine officer to escape being deported like his family before him. Drawing on his art school background, he joins a network of underground rescuers and becomes infamous for his masterfully forged IDs – created with just a brush, some ink, and a steady hand – that save the lives of hundreds of Jews by allowing them to escape the country. Meanwhile, he throws himself into the city's nightlife and even finds a fragile hope for love during the darkest moments of the war.
Ironically, Cioma Schönhaus survived the Holocaust by hiding in plain sight in Berlin. He even says in the film that he does not attempt to hide his true identity. Sadly, he is alone with no family, which makes him more daring. The young Jewish man’s parents and grandmother were deported to death camps in the East, but he stayed behind thanks to an exemption allowing him to work in an armaments factory. When his job ended, he remained in the city illegally, took off his yellow star, assumed the more Germanic name Peter Schönhausen, and blended in.
Director paren’s film moves at a moderate pace and she pays great attention to detail. She shows Comas at work, the arduous painstaking and meticulous difficult task of the forging process - the process that needs to be seen for the film to be credible. Berlin is shown without the usual fanfare Nazi flags or large number of troops, which is necessary because Cioma was largely in hiding during most of the story. The film also shows that everyone is farid and suffers during the Nazi times - even the Germans were afraid. Everyone has to survive on rationing coupons and black marketing was pronounced. All the activities add to the authenticity and credibility of the period and atmosphere of the film. Director Peren does not resolve to cheap theatrics to make a point.
25-year old blond German rising star Louis Hofmann plays the forger with solid effect. The real Cioma shown in part images has black hair. Hofmann would have done better with dyed black hair to look more jewish and his bond hair makes him look like a real Nazi German.
At the end, when the Gestapo closed in on Schönhaus and all those close to him or who have worked with him were getting caught, he forged a German Wehrmacht soldier’s identity card and holiday pass for himself and fled on a bicycle to Switzerland, where he lived for the rest of his life. The bicycle part is not shown on the screen bu th escape to Switzerland was mentioned in the closing credits.
THE FORGER will be available for purchase and rental on all major digital platforms, including Apple TV, Amazon, Vudu, Google Play, and Kino Now, on May 2.
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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL 3 (USA 2023) ***
Written and Directed by James Gunn
After the sequel to GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY with GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 made $870 million out of a $200 million production, it is inevitable that Vol.3 be made. It will be of no surprise that this one will also be a big box-office hit. So as expected, louder and more of the same is the motto, so Guardians of the Galaxy fans should be thrilled with this second sequel.
Marvel Cinematic Universe and action hero movies always share the common tread of a nasty villain and a story involving saving oneself, one’s family, the world or universe. In the case of this film, it is saving the universe. On a minor note, the story also involves saving the life of one Guardian member, Rocket (Bradley Cooper) injured in a fight. In the case of the apparent destruction of the universe, the villain says, I am not destroying the universe but perfecting it. Then he humorously corrected, You are not perfecting it. You are not accepting the universe the way it is,.” As for villainy, the film contains a really good villain in the form of Chukwudi Iwuji playing the High Evolutionary, giving the term narcissism a new meaning. Will Poulter, the British newcomer to the franchise, steals the show from his first appearance coming in like a rocket destroyer. The other memorable performance belongs to Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, the supposedly stupid member but the one with a good heart and of course also the one with some cool dance moves. He has a way with the story’s lost children.
The film has a varied and very pleasant soundtrack that was not limited to 1970s pop songs compared to the first two films, instead spanning multiple decades. Songs include those from artists like Bruce Springsteen (“Badlands”), Earth Wind and Fire (“Reasons”) and even the Beastie Boys (“No Sleep till Brooklyn”). The film opens with an acoustic version of "Creep" by Radiohead, which noticeably provided "a much different tone from the beginning than the other two films”.
As in the other two Guardian films, the film contains an even balance of action and humour without resorting to excessive gore, blood of violence, making the film suitable for family fare. Beware of a few lewd though harmless jokes. The actors appear to be having loads of fun, as seen by the many choreographed dance sequences and the spirit rubs off on the audiences. Though this is not the sort of film that will enthral critics, the film is enjoyable enough without too many lagging moments.
The film runs the longest of the three, with a running time of 150 minutes i.e. 2 and a half hours. It is expected that the film contains a few dull parts, but to director Gunn’s credit, there are a few major surprises as well. The special effects are especially stunning.
The film contains some nice surprises with the appearances of Howard the Duck voiced by Seth Meyers and James Gunn, the film’s writer/director playing Lamb-Shank.
The money making machine opens May the 5th.
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TRIALS TO TRIUMPH (USA 2022) ***
Directed by Dan Ratner, Greg Romano, and Misa Garcia
Primarily, TRIALS TO TRIUMPH is the story of Freddie Stevenson’s meteoric football career, the crash that followed, and his reinvention. But the doc also digresses other mini-accounts of other football celebrities and their trials. There is not one but three directors. The doc understandably feel unfocused as it without notice, jumps from one to another athlete’s story But the audience gets to witness primarily stories of struggle & redemption from Freddie Stebvenson as well as minor stories of Maurice Benard, Delvin Breaux, Tony Gaskins, and more and see them overcome the odds in these powerful, real conversations.
TRIALS TO TRIUMPH was directed by Dan Ratner, Greg Romano, and Misa Garcia. This inspirational documentary based on Stevenson’s Best-Selling memoir features interviews with Freddie Stevenson, Maurice Benard, Dasia Torres, Neno Torres, Tyrell Lyons, Tony Gaskins, Dr. Dan Ratner, Delvin Breaux, Terris Stevenson, Sylvia Stevenson, and Ryan Green. It was produced by Dan Ratner, Greg Romano, and Freddie Stevenson.
Life is resilience, says his coach. And Freddie’s life shows it. The major part of the doc has Freddie talk to the camera as well as those close to him, relatives like his father and mother and also his then girlfriend.m His girlfriend says: “ He would go to the gym and give 110%. His father and mother were always there to support him and offer the pain and struggles their son had to go through. It is inspirational not to hear the words from Freddie himself but of the words of those close to him as observations also tell the whole story.
There is an extended talk by Freddie’s father at the beginning of the film explaining how much hardship with limited opportunities available for coloured folk. He confesses to drug dealing, hiding the fact from his son, Freddie and how he was sentenced to prison. His incarceration followed by him becoming a born againChristian. The film almost gets preachy about Christianity but gaudy stayed away from the issue. Though this testimony has nothing to tell with TRIALS TO TRIUMPH, the segment is actually the film’s most interesting part as it deals with real life problems of the coloured folk.
One of the key issues omitted in the doc, the larger problem that is responsible not only for Freddie’s football injury but for the injuries of all footballers is the fact that football is a dangerous sport with already documentation of a very high percentage of permanent injuries arising from professional football players, particularly in the injury of head concussion, which fortunately Freddie does not suffer from. It is hinted that Freddie after recovering from an injury and offered a job back into football realizes the fact, and hesitates before accepting the position in the NFL. But the problem is systematic and more serious. North America is the only country in the world that champions this sport. The closest Europe has is rugby and Australia has, isastraluaq rules football.
Gravitas Ventures will release TRIALS TO TRIUMPH on digital platforms on May 2, 2023. The film has a running time of 1 hour 35 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA.
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ALEX BORSTEIN: CORSETS & CLOWN SUITS (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Scott Ellis
ALEX BORSTEIN: CORSETS & CLOWN SUITS is a deeply personal and wildly fictitious account of one woman’s attempt to f*** with perception. A night of comedy, music, and waxing rhapsodic. The title is so-called because the standup comedienne performs her act wearing a modified clown suit and a corset.
Alex Borstein is a three-time Emmy winner and one of the stars of the hit series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The film is set to release this first Amazon Original comedy special. She comes with a string of accomplishments. Borstein is a multi-hyphenate talent who acts, produces, voices the character Lois Griffin on FOX’s Family Guy, and wrote for Showtime’s long-running series Shameless. She also starred alongside Laurie Metcalf and Niecy Nash in HBO’s Getting On, where she brought the vulnerable character of Dawn Forchette to life. Getting On rose to critical acclaim during its three seasons, as it followed the daily lives of nurses and doctors struggling with the dark comedic realities of caring for the elderly in an overwhelmed health care system. Borstein has won two Primetime Emmys, two SAG Awards, and two Critics Choice Awards for her turn as Susie Myerson on Prime Video’s award-winning series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also took an Emmy home for her voice-over work as Lois Griffin on FOX’s long-running mega-hit, Family Guy.
This is an hour and 30 minute unique comedic special that will lead audiences into Alex Borstein’s mind through a marriage of humour and music. Corsets & Clown Suits is equal parts provocative and whimsical. Borstein’s self-penned performance showcases her captivating form of storytelling with the help of her muse and maestro, Barcelona-native musicians, Eric Mills and Salva Rey.
In 1997, Borstein grew in fame once she became a cast member on the third season of the sketch comedy show MADtv. She originally joined the cast as a featured player, but was upgraded to the repertory mid-season. Borstein was best known on MADtv for her character Ms. Swan (owner of the Gorgeous Pretty Beauty Nail Salon)
So the magic question is whether Alex, short for Alexandrea, is funny enough to entertain for an hour and a half? The answer is yes, though the laughs begin to lag in the middle and the singing parts, though quite melodic, are not as hilarious as they are supposed to be.
It is the perfect evening to enjoy standup comedy at home without the inconvenience of dressing up and going to the theatre. And without being singled out and insulted by the standup comic, which happens quite often in comic performances. Alex insults a number of married couples in the audience in her fiancé route. No one is immune to her verbal attacks, including her own mother and father, present in the audience.
Linda shows her talent in other forms besides delivering verbal jokes. At one point, she croons “Hamilton’ - the musical and in another, argues her funniest moment on the stage, does a baby llama impression after the baby llama has squeezed itself put of mama llama’s ass. The funniest moments are the ones most audiences can identify with, as in the routine on McDonald’s.
Linda is foul-mouthed and funny but not overtly so. She speaks nasty only when there is a good nasty joke coming on and not otherwise. Still children should stay away, even though Linda first appears onstage in a clown suit.
Besides the special being mainly Alex’s standup routine, the special is bookended with skits of what happened before her act and what happened after. The first is amusing with a striptease act done 60’s night club style and the second staged at a restaurant with jokes taken out of her routine.
The special opens on Prime Video April the 18th.
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BEAU IS AFRAID (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Iris Aster
BEAU IS AFRAID is the highly anticipated horror film from the director of the hit successes of MIDSOMMAR and HEREDITARY, proving him the one director to watch in the vein of M. Night Shyamalan. Truth be told, Aster has at least not had a single flip yet, though his best film is his first and the next best his second film with BEAU IS AFRAID, an indulgent occasional mess but extremely well executed in parts as his weakest, especially in narrative sense. But the concept of BEAU IS AFRAID, an entire total nightmarish account of a loser’s life, has apparently been in the mind of director Aster for more than 10 years and finally morphed into this movie. If a director gets to do what he or she wants with free reign, this could sometimes spell trouble.
The film centres on Beau Wassermann (Joachim Phoenix), the son of a famous and wealthy businesswoman, Mona (Patti LuPone). He grows up without a father, who his mother says died during an orgasm (which was also when Beau was conceived), a hereditary medical condition that she claims was passed down to Beau. As a teenager, Beau meets and falls in love with a girl named Elaine (Parker Posey). The two kiss and Beau promises to remain a virgin until they meet again as adults.
BEAU IS AFRAID has sequences that are hallucinatory, some that do not happen and some that are true. Director Aster does not fully explain nor make it clear which is which, so the film is up to grabs as to what the audience interprets. Intros sense, the film is quite a challenge and clever, if one does not get too frustrated at what is seen on screen. The first part of Arbiter’s film unravels at its best, many segments extremely well shot and layered in terms as to what is happening to Beau. This is the scene, looking like a Khafka-ishhorror, where he is at his apartment, which was built onstage, in a whole lot of horrors occur outdoors which he witnesses - a naked man stabbing random pedestrians; two homeless people fighting and rolling around in the street, a person screaming for help and others. These occur while he has his keys stolen from the door, while his water in the building shut off, just as he needs water to take his medication for his mental well-being. “Always take it with water,” says his therapist on the prescription.
As a horror film, the sets and art direction are excellent. The film was largely shot in Montreal, Canada with two blocks taken for the filming process. The architectural mansion , which is nothing short of gorgeous, is a real find that serves as the climax of the film where Beau finally confronts his mother, who is apparently not dead but alive. The key confrontation between the two veteran actors deserves mention. Phoenix mainly hams it up, winging his performance compared to Patti LuPone the stage actress who plays the mother uttering long lines of dialogue as if performing on stage. The two contrasting methods of delivery mark the best part of the film.
Not for everyone, but by no means flawless as well, BEAU IS AFRAID succeeds as a nightmarish journey in which the end might not turn out as to what Beau has wished for. Running at 3 hours, BEAU IS AFRAID might very well be the longest running horror film to be remembered. But it is also one that demands to be seen.
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CHOKEHOLD (Boga Boga) (Turkey 2023) ***
Directed by Onur Saylak
CHOKEHOLD is a Netflix original movie from Turkey - a drama/thriller. Netflix offers North American audiences to view quality international films for all over the world. CHOKEHOLD - original title Boga Boga falls into this category of films
The film, directed by Onur Saylak and written by Hakab Gublay begins impressively with the description of a sky that is cloudless and yet there is no sun to shine on brightness. Yet the man is happy, so goes the voiceover before the screen opens and the audience sees exactly what is described in a grey cloudless sky on the screen. The happy man in this case is Yalin.
Yalin and Beyza, a couple from Istanbul, move to a village in Assos from Istanbul to start a new life. However, from the first day they settle, the villagers treat Yalin with hostility. Soon, their threatening attitude intensifies and a young man attacks Yalin.
The theme of new movers to a new village incurring hostility has been fond fodder for films ever since Sam Peckinpah made THE STRAW DOGS in 1971 with newcomers to an English village played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan George, the film remade in 2011. In CHOKEHOLD. Yalin has been in the village before, as is indicated by a conversation with his grocer.
But in CHOKEHOLD there is a reason for the villagers' hostility. It is revealed on TV that Yalin had been released from prison for embezzlement of millions, while the country is suffering from a financial crisis. The whole village likely has seen the news on TV and Yalin is attacked by the young man for this reason. Worst still, the young man is killed by Yalin, as incidents slowly spiral out of control.
The rocky landscape of rural Turkey is put in full view and use in the film. Despite the barren and unwelcome look, the landscape is still stunning. It reflects the trouble Yalin and Beya both face in the village.
Though a dramatic thriller at heart, there are bouts of humour some, good enough to effect a laugh-out loud moment. Take the conversation scene between Yalin and the grocer where the grocer describes a previous incident with his father who had hither. That is the first and last time my father ever hit me, says the grocer, who then asks Yalin advice about what to do with the gold he had received at his wedding. His father suddenly appears and, upset with his son revealing secrets to Yalin, hits him again on the head.
The film moves at a moderate pace that is conducive to a thriller of this nature,
CHOKEHOLD, the title of the film is so called for the reason that the couple is not allowed to breathe a life in the village as their supply of survival is cut off. A more literal reason for the title is that the young man attacks Yalin with a chokehold.
A worthy thriller set in a foreign setting for an additional element of awe, CHOKEHOLD is solid entertainment made simply and effectively without any use of explosions, car chases or special effects. The film streams on Netflix beginning April the 21st.
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JOYLAND (Pakistan 2022) **
Directed by Saim Sadiq
Pakistani family confronts emotional intimacy and social expectations when their son begins performing with a trans dancer, in Saim Sadiq’s staggering debut feature — winner of the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and the Queer Palm at the Cannes Film Festival. Haider Rana (Ali Junejo), a quiet, unemployed husband to a vociferous, employed wife, Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), has a seemingly happy arranged marriage and ordered family life, living under the same roof as the rest of the Rana clan. Amidst pressure and ridicule from his father, Haider finds work as a backup dancer for the trans performer Biba (Alina Khan), opening his eyes to another way to love — and another way of life. Mumtaz, meanwhile, is frustrated with the expectations of patriarchal society. Soon their desires collide, forcing them and their family to reckon with what has been buried for so long. The film plays as a comedy in its first half, poking fun at the Pakistani culture and norms before getting serious in its second half. The second half gets a bit confusing and a few plot points that do not make sense. Still, from Pakistan, JOYLAND is quite an achievement in progress for gay rights.
TO CATCH A KILLER (USA 2023) ****
Directed by Damián Szifron
TO CATCH A KILLER boasts the direction of Argentinian Damian Szifron whose 2014 Cannes debut WILD TALES not only wowed everyone but went on to earn a nomination for Best International Feature. Though it did not win the Oscar, the film entertained audiences and critics alike. WILD TALES is comprised of six short stories involving the subject of revenge that explores the extremities of human behaviour involving people in distress. TO CATCH A KILLER, though a dramatic thriller explores the same.
After more than 10 years director Szifron returns, oddly enough with a detective thriller set in the American City of Baltimore. But like WILD TALES, TO CATCH A KILLER contains lots of sardonic wit from start to finish and is a totally enjoyable watch from start to end, the equivalent of a page turner, thanks to director Szifron. The film also marks the debut of actress Shailene Woodley. Shailene broke into fame playing George Clooney’s daughter in Alexander Payne’s THE DESCENDANTS in 2011. She co-produced as well as stars as the lead in TO CATCH A KILLER, a remarkable debut.
The film begins impressively on New Year's Eve in Baltimore. It is the eve of the New Year. 29 unconnected victims are shot and killed by a mass shooter who blows up the building destroying all the clues. The police are puzzled. A talented but troubled police officer, Eleanor Falco (Shailene Woodley) is recruited by the FBI's chief investigator, Geoffrey Lammark (Ben Mendelsohn) to help profile and track down a disturbed individual terrorizing the city.
The rest of the movie is the hunt for the killer while developing the relationship between boss and recruit. The often brilliant script, written by both the director and Jonathan Wakeham, plays well as a whodunit, together with clues and false leads. It is more a thinking film than an action thriller, though never lacking in suspense. All the while, the script also takes a look at social issues of America tackling current headliners like terrorism, gun-laws, immigration, racism and LGBT relationships.
This is that rare film that makes one cry for the film’s gay character. Not more to be said about the fact lest the film’s surprise be spoiled. The film heralds gay relationships in just a few distinct scenes.
The film begins light and then transcends to dead seriousness while making a point of America’s problematic issues. It is a wild card for the film to tackle such serious issues, that many a commercial audience might not appreciate. One flaw is the film getting too extreme in getting a point across, such as the repetitive mention of Eleanor’s drug use.
TO CATCH A KILLER is a surprising little gem that opens on the 21st of April that appears to have come out of nowhere. A suspenseful whodunit thriller filled with sardonic wit and superior performances from the two leads, it is a compelling brilliantly executed film that marks the best of detective films to date.
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BAYI AJAIB (Indonesia 2023) ***
Directed by Rako Prijanto
Indonesian horror movies are a genre in itself. Every year, there are well over 100 films released by the Indonesian film industry with no shortage of films to be seen in the genre.
This means that most of these Indonesian horror films were made in a matter of weeks, which is quite an impressive feat. The one common thread found in many Indonesian horror films is that it is based on local ghost stories and folklore, teaching more about Indonesian culture, the setting often being in Indonesian villages. A few staple themes include class and revenge. Indonesian cinema is rife with angry, vengeful spirits that haunted mansions. A lot can be learnt about Indonesian culture by watching these films. (Editor’s Note: Indonesian films are a personal favourite as my mother’s family lives in Jakarta, Indonesia and speak Indonesian Malay.) This film is shot in Indonesian and Portuguese.
BAYI AJAIB which means Magic Baby (a more appropriate title would likely be Demon Baby) is Award Winning (Indonesian Maya Awards) Director Mako Prijanto’s third movie - and his first foray into the horror genre.
The film begins with a scene in which the protagonist, finding a shiny rock in the river in the village of Hirupbagja., screams: “I am rich,People will no longer look down on me. They will bow down and respect me.” As the saying goes: Be careful of what you wish for. He soon marries Sumi and lives a prosperous life as a landlord. When their child, Didi, was born, his soul was possessed by Albert Dominique's spirit, which was thirsty for blood and terrorized the villagers. The villagers had warned that it is the eclipse and women and children should stay in less they be taken by demons. The baby was born at the moment of the eclipse. Kosim tries to cover up this fact because he is currently running for the new Village Head. He must be able to beat Soleh, who has already won the sympathy of the villagers. But when the spirit threatens his family's life, Kosim decides to free Didi from the influence of Albert Dominique. To do this, Kosim must confront Dorman, a black sorcerer who wants to avenge his great-grandfather on the people who have destroyed his life. Plenty of Indonesian folklore. Director Pronto films often in the blackness of night. The film possesses a great atmosphere of dread, horror and fright in an Indonesian superstitious village setting. The film has a fair share of gore, blood, violence and scary scenes including a climactic exorcism with a levitating body. The special effects are sufficiently appropriate without any over doing.
BAYI AJAAIB opens on streaming May 19th 2023 on Netflix. A worthy Indonesian horror film!
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THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE (Chile/France/USA/Germany 2022) ***
Directed by Francesca Alegria
Chilean director Francesca Altria’s first film THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE is an ambitious and lyrical film about the environment, human beings and their connections. If the film’s title sounds confusing, so is the film and it takes a while to fu=igure what is going on. Director Algeria tackles many current social problems, perhaps taking a bit too much on her plate.
The film begins with a motorcycle accident (or suicide?) in a river. The woman emerges from the water just as the camera shows shoals of dead fish on the beach. There is, according to the film, a riot protesting the poisoning of the river by a chemical factory. This is Magdalena (Mía Maestro), who drowned herself decades ago. Now she is back from the dead as if time stopped – still gorgeous, still dressed in the boiler suit she wore when she drove her motorbike deliberately into the river. Magdalena’s husband collapses when he spots her bike suit outside a mobile phone shop. Their adult daughter Cecilia (Leonor Varela) – just a girl when her mother died – drives from the city with her two kids to look after him at the family’s dairy farm. Cecilia has a trans daughter who wants to be a boy, much to mother’s chagrin but these days one has to let one’s offspring choose their gender. Then there is also the relationship between Cecilia and her mother contrasting the one between her and her trans daughter. It is a bit confusing before one can figure out exactly what is happening, not that the story will lead into any concrete solution. Yes, it is a poetic tale and if one resigns the film to this fate, director Algeria’s film works as an emotionally compelling contemplation of nature and human emotions.
As for the cows, there are lots of them Cecelia returns to the dairy or cow farm. As fro cows singing, they might be, but the audience is not shown any of the singing or moog ons screen. One thing that is interesting to learn is that the calves are not fed their mother’s milk or there will be no milk left to be sold for the farm to earn a profit. The difficulty of daily farming is one of the subjects covered in the film. The cows are. however shown to be gentle and shown to be creatures to be cared for. There is a long scene in which a calf is carefully cared for by a human, a very well crafted and naturally charged scene.
Though there is no happy ending, redemption is possible and can arrive in different forma, as the ending of the film shows.
THE COW WHO SANG A SONG INTO THE FUTURE, which premiered at Sundance opens May 19 at the Quad Cinema in NY and May 26 at the Landmark Nuart in LA, followed by national expansion. The film is yet to have a Canadian release date.
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DARK NATURE (Terreur Sauvage)(Canada 2023) **
Directed by Berkley Brady
Director Berkely Brady lends her hand into the genre of horror with a totally female perspective. From Calgary, her film is gorgeously shot in the stunning landscape of the Albertan side of the Canadian Rockies.
DARK NATURE begins uncomfortably with the relationship of the protagonist Joy (Hannah Emily Anderson) and her husband. They begin to have sex, but the result is far from gratifying. He is angry and abusive. He then apologizes for acting like an asshole and she forgives him. The same cycle of events, though not always sex related, keeps recurring. He keeps physically and mentally abusing her, and she keeps taking him back. Something's got to give. And it does! This is how the film begins.
The film moves to the present which follows Joy, a survivor of domestic abuse, joining her friend Carmen and her therapy group for a secluded weekend retreat in the Canadian Rockies. Led by the enigmatic and indigenous Dr. Dunnley - whose methods are experimental and sometimes dubious - the experiment shatters the line between reality and illusion. Joy begins to suspect that she is being stalked by her attacker (that could be her husband or someone else or something), when in reality the whole group will be forced to face a threat even more terrifying than the monsters of their past.
The first half of director Brady’s movie is pretty good. There is a solid sense of horror and evil lurking and one can never tell what really is happening. The mystery and beauty of the Canadian Rockies add to the conflict of Joy’s feelings. The girls in the mysterious mountains is reminiscent of the Australian classic horror by Peter Weir PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975) where a group of schoolgirls disappear under the watch of headmistress Rachel Roberts.
Unfortunately things turn south during the second half. Once the mystery is revealed that a monster of some kind is lurking in the hidden cave, the film turns into a monster/victim gory fest. The mystery is gone and there is nothing left to surprise the audience except to provide the customary escape from monster narrative. Of course a few of joy’s company are sacrificed on the way. The other thing that hurts the movie is the obvious overdone male hating theme. The husband is depicted as a totally sadistic villain with no redeeming qualities. The film’s cast is also largely female with hardly a male, good or bad, in sight. Dr. Dunnley’s character is the most amusing with her insistence that healing is her forte. Her mumbo-jumbo medical tactics are just enough to annoy the hell of any sane and rational person. It is not surprising (spoiler alert here!) that she is one of the first to be killed off, to the delight of the audience.
DARK NATURE ends up a two star movie but a 4-star if it ended halfway without the appearance of the cave monster with no explanation of where it came from. The film will be released wide in theatres across Canada and the US starting May 19th, 2023.
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LE OTTO MONTAGNE (THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS) (Italy/Belgium/France 2022) ***½
Directed by Felix van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch
It is a long running time of 147 minutes for this epic journey of two males experiencing life and all that life can deliver. The film opens with two boys, both at the same age of 12, Bruno and Pietro meet each other for the first time in a remote mountain village at the base of the Alps. Pietro’s mother rents a house in the mountain village and arrives with him. Pietro is the boy from the city who is always alone and this is the first time he has a companion in the form of a playmate Bruno, the only boy in the village of fewer than 200 inhabitants. Once the first road of the village was built, instead of attracting more people to live in the village of Grano, more villagers left, as Bruno explains to Pietro. The boys play in the mountain countryside, beautifully photographed building dams in the river, wrestling in the grass and splashing water in the streams - an idyllic setting for growing up as boys.
Directors an Groeningen and Vandermeersch realize the power of the setting of the film, which is adapted from the award-winning novel by Paolo Cognetti, portraying through observant detail and stunning landscape photography the profound, complex relationship between Pietro (Luca Marinelli) and Bruno (Alessandro Borghi), who first meet as children there. Pietro and Bruno remain as boys during the first 30 minutes of the film.
“The next morning my father returned to Turin.” The memory of that morning will last forever.” so says Pietro. Indeed the scene of Pietro, with him, his dad and Bruno is one of the film’s most suspenseful and dramatic scenes. The scene also shows important facts about the boys and their relationships with each other and their respective = fathers. It is a complex and very well thought-out scene and one of the best of the film in terms of information rendered in a subtle manner.
The transition of the two protagonists from boyhood to 31-year old men is unfortunately abrupt, occurring at the 45 minute mark of the film. One would automatically try to associate each man with the respective boys that the audience remembers instead of imagining the men as individual characters. Another topic that is ignored is puberty. The friendship of the two boys is extremely strong with a tight bond formed between the two. The subject of homosexuality is conveniently ignored in the story. One would expect these feelings to surface up in some form or other judging from the fondness each boy has for the other.
The main lead of the film Luca Marinelli, still relatively unknown in Canada, is a famous star in Italy. Quite a few of his films have screened locally at the Contemporary Italian Film Festival.
The film ends up a slow but captivating epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set in the breathtaking Italian Alps. THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS (Le Otto Montagne) is formed in Italian with a little local Italian dialect.
The film is the Winner of the Jury Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
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FAITHFULLY YOURS (Netherlands 2022) ***½
Directed by André van Duren
The Netflix Dutch thriller FAITHFULLY YOURS is a film about lies and liars. Every character in the film is a liar and a cheat of some sort. The question is who succeeds the greatest liar of them all. The film begins with the famous quote from none other than George Bernard Shaw: “The liar's punishment is, not in the least that he is not believed, but that he cannot believe anyone else.” There is also a fictitious book written by one of the characters in the film entitled “To Lie the Truth”. At its best, the occasionally brilliant script from no fewer than three writers, Elisabeth Lodeizen, Paul Jan Nelissen and André van Duren teases and plays with the subject.
Using each other as alibis, two friends sneak off to indulge in secret affairs, but their elaborate web of lies unravels when one of them goes missing. One is a judge who makes judgement in family court, often deciding which spouse wins custody over the children. Bodil’s best friend and herself head to Belgium via train to indulge each other’s affairs, while fooling their individual husbands. Bodil keeps Isabelle’s phone which the husband has put a tracker on, so that her husband thinks Isabel is with Bodil the night. But the next morning, Bodil finds her friend missing with a photo of her friend brutally murdered. The judge becomes a suspect. Bodil has to testify to the police, but to keep her friend’s and her secret safe, she muddles the truth. Things are not what they seem as the husbands are also not as innocent as they appear to be. At the half way mark of the film, one is prone to guess the identity of the killer. My guess of who the responsible one is, was half correct, yet there is much that cannot be predictable in the story owing to the huge web of intrigue carried out. The script also fools the audience with a few false clues.
The sex scenes are tastefully executed without the need to show much nudity and for the segments that nudity needed be shown, it is blurred out and left to one’s imagination. The film is also more gruesome in the description of the murder (for example the fine detailed description of the garrote i.e. to kill (someone) by strangulation, typically with an iron collar or a length of wire or cord."he had been garroted with piano wire”.
FAITHFULLY YOURS is a well written taut little mystery Dutch thriller about lies, deception and murder that holds attention for start to finish.
FAITHFULLY YOURS was awarded the Golden Film Prize. The Golden Film (Dutch: Gouden Film) is a film award recognizing domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. The Golden Film, initiated to stimulate the Dutch film industry, is awarded to films from the Netherlands once they have sold 100,000 tickets. Since its introduction, the Golden Film has been awarded to more than 100 films. The film was theatrically released in Netherlands on 22 December 2022 and premieres in North America on Netflix 17 May 2023. Worth-seeing, for sure!
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FANFIC (Poland 2023) ***
Directed by Marta Karwowska
What does the film title FANFIC (Netflix original Polish movie) really mean? The words at the artist of the film describe it as: a short story masking the wonder of fictional and real characters.
There has been in recent weeks three films on transgender characters - L’EMMENSITA, THE EIGHT MOUNTAINS and now from Poland FANFIC. Each film tackles the trans issue differently and each rather successfully and with sensitivity. FANFIC is arguably the most aggressive of the three, delving right into the issue head on with anger and without retribution. All three films deal with teens transitioning and coming totems with their gender. Acceptance, particularly by their parents, is the key.
Nothing works, says the trans at the start of the film. She is stealing her father’s meds so that she feels better snd will not harm herself. She attends regular therapist sessions but wants to quit unless her therapist gives her meds. “Nothing works!” she cries. And she is desperate and angry half the time.
The plot of the movie written by director Marta Karwowska and Marta Karwowska follows two high school students who create a confusing yet intimate relationship. Each of them faces personal problems individually, sexually. A teenage student faces a major gender identity crisis as she starts growing up. While trying on boy’s clothes, she discovers that she is more comfortable wearing them and continues to wear them, much to the teasing of her classmates. Her father also insists that she changes back to her old female dressing, blaming himself .that he has not spent enough time with her for her problems. Trapped inside her own body, she feels uncomfortable and looks for ways to change herself. Moreover, she also goes through body dysmorphia and constantly tries to cover up the parts that make her a woman. The other is gay, the fact made known only half way through the film when she asks him and he replies that he is homosexual.
The film is a little messy at the start but the film starts to get its bearings after the first third of the film. The film can be praised for the honest portrayal of the emotions teens go through when they question their sexuality, what trans and homosexuality mean or otherwise. There is also a brief discussion in the classroom scene when the sexuality topic is brought up.
FANFIC also deals with the sex issue. Should a girl who trans to a boy have sex with a boy or a girl? The film is daring enough to tackle this issue while many films on trans conveniently avoid the topic. The trans here falls for a gay boy and the two attempt sex with daring and bravery not knowing how it might turn out.
The film gets a little preachy at the end with voiceover lines like “Everyone is okay. No one is a mistake.” The film has already succeeded on its own terms and the director should be confident of that.
FANFIC begins streaming on Netflix as an original; movie on May the 19th.
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FAST X (USA 2023) *
Directed by Louis Leterrier
FAST X bears striking similarities to the latest JOHN WICK 4 film, both of which prioritize expensive, stunning, and spectacular action sequences at the expense of other aspects. With a production cost of $340 million and a runtime of 142 minutes, FAST X showcases a nuclear sub appearing in Antarctica, Dwayne Johnson wielding weapons during the end credits, a nonsensical yet sexy martial arts fight between the female leads, and fight sequences that lack continuity. While the action sequences are impressive, the overall plot becomes increasingly over-the-top and ridiculous, keeping audiences hooked to see what director Letterier and his crew will come up with next. From the start of the film, featuring a car chase involving a heavy vault hijacked and dragged by two cars, to a fiery round bomb threatening to destroy Rome, no scenario seems too outrageous for the film's narrative.
Throughout numerous missions and against impossible odds, Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his family have consistently outsmarted, outmaneuvered, and outdriven their adversaries. However, in FAST X, they face their most formidable opponent yet: a terrifying threat from Dom's past, driven by a desire for blood revenge and determined to dismantle Dom's family and everything he holds dear. Dom's journey takes him from Los Angeles to Rome's catacombs, from Brazil to London, and from Portugal to Antarctica. Along the way, new alliances are formed and old enemies resurface. The stakes intensify when Dom discovers that his 8-year-old son is the primary target of the vengeful antagonist Dante (Jason Momoa). FAST X boasts an impressive ensemble cast, including returning members Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Jason Statham, John Cena, and Scott Eastwood, as well as Academy Award winner Charlize Theron.
The responsibility for the chaotic mess that is the 10th installment of the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise, FAST X, is difficult to attribute to a single individual. Justin Lin, the Taiwanese American director who gained prominence after his 2002 film BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, has had his share of poorly received films, such as the heavily formulaic ANNAPOLIS. However, to his credit, he has directed several successful FAST AND FURIOUS films. In FAST X, Lin was replaced by French director Louis Letterier, known for his work on the action-packed TRANSPORTER films, although Lin maintains producing and writing credits.
FAST X features a plethora of notable cameos, including Dame Helen Mirren, Rita Moreno, and Dwayne Johnson, among others. However, it is Jason Momoa's performance as the narcissistic and deranged villain that steals the show and leaves a lasting impression.
One would think that films would have been done with sexist scenes such as the scantily clad girls posing with the fast exotic cars. If FAST X, a total mash-mash of action special effect sequences hastily put together without thought of narrative, continuity or meaning is the future of film, then moviegoers have not much to look forward to.
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IT’S QUIETER IN THE TWILIGHT (USA 2023) ***½
Directed by Billy Miossi
IT’S QUIETER IN THE TWILIGHT centres of the Voyager program.
The Voyager program is an American scientific program that employs two robotic interstellar probes, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2. In the film, the audience learns that they were launched in 1977 to take advantage of a favourable alignment of the two gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, to fly near them while collecting data for transmission back to Earth. The NASA project was approved. After launch the decision was taken to send Voyager 2 near Uranus and Neptune to collect data for transmission back to Earth.
At present, the Voyagers are still in operation past the outer boundary of the heliosphere in interstellar space. The film explains that the heliosphere is the the sphere of the solar system, which contains the sun, the Earth and its planets. Outside is interstellar space where no earthly ship has ever travelled. The Voyagers were to collect and transmit useful data to Earth.
Voyager did things no one predicted, found scenes no one expected, and promises to outlive its inventors. Like a great painting or an abiding institution, it has acquired an existence of its own, a destiny beyond the grasp of its handlers - the words of Stephen J. Pyne.
The Voyager program is covered in detail and is tremendously intriguing for several reasons. One is the awe of space. Space and the unknown have always fascinated mankind and director Miss spends a fair amount of time on the topic explaining the far reaches of the solar system as well as the various planets in the system. Second is the technology involved. The technology is only explained briefly, understandable as the details will not be understood by non-engineers or scientists. But the essentials such as the need to make the voyage when the planets are aligned to take advantage of shortest distance can be understood. Other facts like using the orbit of the planets to gain speed for the voyagers is mentioned but the reason is not explained. The final is the element of humankind involved. 45 years after the launch of the Voyager space mission, the team that dedicated their lives to the mission now must save it. Director Miossi speaks to a few of the team , many now in their senior years to talk about the project. The team members are: SUN MATSUMOTO, ENRIQUE MEDINA, FERNANDO PERALTA, JEFFERSON HALL, TODD BARBER, SUZY DODD, and CHRIS JONES.
One wishes that more of the discoveries made by the voyagers be mentioned. For example, at Uranus, Voyager 2 discovered a substantial magnetic field around the planet and ten more moons. Its flyby of Neptune uncovered three rings and six hitherto unknown moons, a planetary magnetic field and complex, widely distributed auroras. As of 2023, Voyager 2 remains the only spacecraft to have ever visited the ice giants Uranus and Neptune.
It might be quieter in the twilight but in this twilight it is simply amazing. For its subject(s), IT’S QUIETER IN THE TWILIGHT is one of the most astounding documentaries to hit screens in 2023. The doc is available on May 19th on VOD.
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MASTER GARDENER (USA 2023) **
Directed by Paul Schrader
Writer/director Paul Schrader has a superb body of work that includes the scripts of RAGING BULL and TAXI DRIVER as well directing films like my favourite AFFLICTION and BLUE COLLAR, HARDCORE, THE CARD COUNTER and CAT PEOPLE among others. His latest film THE MASTER GARDENER which also contains very troubled characters, unfortunately fails to engage and trudges along like a plant seeking nourishment being planted under poor conditions.
Deep within the lush grounds of Gracewood Gardens, horticulturist Narvel Roth (Joel Edgerton) tends to more than just plants. With a meticulous hand and unwavering devotion, he's created an idyllic sanctuary for his demanding employer, Mrs. Haverhill. Sigourney Weaver). But when troubled great-niece Maya (Quintessa Swindell)
arrives seeking apprenticeship, Narvel's perfectly cultivated life begins to unravel, unearthing secrets from a violent past that threaten to destroy everything he holds dear.
Like Robert De Niro and other Schrader troubled characters, Edgerton’s Roth also has a hidden past. Roth used to be a neo-Nazi and his skills and violent nature, though hidden, are waiting for a chance to re-emerge. Yet this man seeks forgiveness and redemption that obviously will not come easy. Yet, he sleeps with both his employer as well as her grand niece.
The sets and gardens are stunning and make up what else Schrader’s film misses. performances particularly Weaver’s and Edgerton’s are superior despite the slow and messy script that just teases the audience of things that will happen but only at the end but with little shock that is evident in other Schrader films.
MATSER GARDENER had its world premiere at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2022.. The film is scheduled to be released in the United States by Magnolia Pictures on May 19, 2023
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A NEW OLD PLAY (China 2021) ***
Directed by Qiu Jiongjiong
There are two big factors that initially turn one off from venturing into watching this occasionally magnificent and stunning period Chinese epic. The fritz is the almost 3 -hour running time and the second is the generally little known history of Chinese opera and its function in the twentieth century. But this is education and a grand one in the making. As a boyinnSingapore, I walked to the back of the stage of one such opera and noticed the singers in action, voicing extremely high notes loud and clear, nothin that I have heard being so astounding - an early experience I could never forget. This film A NEW OLD PLAY brings back immediately that childhood memory, expands on the subject and mesmerizes. A NEW OLD PLAY is understandably difficult to watch though not without its rewards.
The film opens in the dark of night with shadowy figures on the screen that can be made up of a man slowly pumping up, slowly the tires of a bicycle. It turns out that Qiu Fu, a leading clown-role actor in 20th-century Sichuan opera, departs this world and must reluctantly set off for the Ghost City under the escort of two underworld officials, the underworld being hell of course. Qiu Fu is familiar with the two escorts, him having performed operas with characters from the underworld - ever so often. Along the way, he meets old friends. As they recall the past, earthly scenes creep into the mists of the Netherworld.
The story is based on the family history of the film’s director Qiu. It depicts the birth of the New-New Theatre and Opera School—in Sichuan Province, in the nineteen-twenties—as a by-product of the civil war and the Nationalist Party’s victory. The troupe’s founder, a soldier and a true lover of Sichuan opera called Pocky (Qiu Zhimin, the director’s actual father), welcomes a seven-year-old foundling named Qiu Fu (Chen Haoyu), rejected by the other opera troupe, as observed in a stretched out but comical dinner scene alike to OLIVER TWIST in which the poor street urchin is derived from getting a helping of porridge. who becomes his prize student. During the Second World War, the company joined the resistance to Japanese occupation. After the adult Qiu Fu (Yi Sicheng) emerges into a star performer, he realizes his dreams. But the changing political times have drastic consequences on the opera.
As power shifts, the troupe is cast loose to wander meaninglessly through a broken world. Despite this unsettled destiny, shaped by war, famine and political turmoil, Qiu Fu becomes one of the finest clown-role performers in Sichuan opera. And yet, one day he finds himself clapped in a pigsty as a political revolution rages outside.
In the director’s own words, the film is a slice of his own history and his family’s; but also a travelogue of minstrels wandering together through this world and the next. They are his immediate forebears, and this is his ‘pre-biography.’
A NEW OLD PLAY, though not a bad film will be a hard sell to Canadian audiences as it is overlong and deals with a subject unfamiliar and likely uninteresting i.e. Sichuan opera.
A NEW OLD PLAY has a digital release on May 16 2023, coming to Prime Video, iTunes, & Vimeo-On-Demand.
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? (UK 2022) **
Directed by Shekhar Kapu
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? is a romantic comedy that delves into the age-old question posed by its title within the context of arranged (or assisted) marriages. The film explores the notion that love can blossom even when a couple has only met once before their wedding, as arranged by their parents. Drawing inspiration from films like Woody Allen's LOVE AND DEATH, where characters navigate the possibility of falling in love despite their arranged union, this movie takes a similar approach. It introduces the audience to the groom's parents, who have a successful arranged marriage and hope to replicate the same for their son with the comical assistance of Mo the Matchmaker.
The story revolves around Zoe (played by Lily James), a successful documentary filmmaker in London who is addicted to dating apps but seems to attract the wrong partners. On the other hand, her childhood friend Kaz (portrayed by Shazaad Latif from STAR TREK: DISCOVERY) decides to embrace the tradition of arranged marriage, following in his parents' footsteps. Zoe accompanies him on his journey to Lahore, documenting his arranged marriage as her new project. Along the way, Zoe starts questioning her own approach to finding love and wonders if she could glean something valuable from the Pakistani tradition.
While the film attempts to put a unique spin on the romantic comedy genre by incorporating elements of Pakistani culture and arranged marriages, it occasionally falls back on clichés. It comes as no surprise when Zoe eventually falls in love with Kaz, as their connection is heavily hinted at throughout the story. Director Shekhar Kapur, known for his successful films like BANDIT QUEEN and ELIZABETH, makes the most of the script penned by British writer Jemima Khan. Khan, who lived in Pakistan for ten years with her former husband, Pakistani ex-cricketer Imran Khan, describes the film as "a love letter to Pakistan."
Adding to the cast, Oscar winner Emma Thompson delivers comic support as Zoe's overly concerned and anxious mother, constantly hoping her daughter will settle down and have children. However, Thompson's talent is underutilized due to the generally unfunny script. Jokes involving FaceTime and her dog's eating habits fall flat and fail to generate laughter. Conversely, Azmi Mirza shines in her portrayal of Kaz's mother, delivering humor effortlessly through her character.
The film's soundtrack, composed by Nitin Sawhney with contributions from British-Pakistani record producer Naughty Boy and musician Joy Crookes, stands out as a highlight. The soundtrack includes an original song by Naughty Boy titled "Mahi Sona," featuring a special vocal performance by Lily James. Kanika Kapoor and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan also make noteworthy contributions to the soundtrack.
Despite a few innovative additions to the romantic comedy genre, such as the incorporation of Pakistani culture and vibrant Bollywood-style dance sequences and scene shot in Lahore, Pakistan, the film falls into the familiar tropes of Harlequin romance, ultimately becoming totally predictable. The outcome of the lead characters finally coming together comes as no surprise.
WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT? opens in theatres across Canada on May 18th.
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ANGEL APPLICANT (USA 2023) ***½
Directed by Ken Meyer
In the documentary ANGEL APPLICANT, filmmaker and protagonist Ken Meyer turns the camera on himself, offering viewers a sensitive and beautiful glimpse into the experience of living with a rare autoimmune disease called systemic scleroderma. The film opens with Meyer sharing his diagnosis, which he shares with celebrated Swiss-German artist and Bauhaus teacher Paul Klee. Throughout the film, Meyer draws connections between his own corporeal experiences and Klee's expressive artwork, using his skills as a commercial art director to create stunning images that deepen our understanding of both the art and the illness. The result is an earnest and vulnerable memoir, disease diary, research project, and artist portrait all in one. Despite its focus on illness and suffering, the documentary is full of unexpected magic and uplift, making it a rare feel-good film. Meyer finds comfort in Klee's art, which he sees as a strange language of cryptic code meant just for him, sent by an empathetic messenger showing him a defiant way forward through the pain. Klee's paintings are worth the price of admission alone, and demonstrate that not everything needs to be explained to be understood. Overall, ANGEL APPLICANT is a moving and inspiring testament to the power of art and the human spirit in the face of adversity.
Festival Screenings
Sunday May 2nd at 5:15 PM - At TIFF Bell Lightbox
Wednesday, May 5 at 2:30 PM – At Scotia Bank
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FILM REVIEWS
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET (USA 2023) ***½
Directed by Kelly Freeman Craig
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET is an American coming-of-age period comedy drama film written for the screen, co-produced, and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Judy Blume. Blume is an American writer of children's, young adult and adult fiction. Among her best-known works are Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (1970), Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing (1972), Deenie (1973), and Blubber (1974). Blume's books have significantly contributed to children's and young adult literature. She was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2023. The film cannot have been more timely.
After rejecting several offers to adapt her book in the 49 years since its publication, author Judy Blume sold the film rights to James L. Brooks and Kelly Fremon Craig, who worked together on The Edge of Seventeen, with Craig set to write and direct. It is a worthwhile wait as this is a solid and faithful adaptation of Blume’s novel, capturing all the nuances, trials and spirit of teen youth. A studio bidding war over the distribution rights was won by Lionsgate. This is a rare departure for Lionsgate who now distributes dire action films and is in desperate need of a hit since their TWILIGHT and DIVERGENT young adult hits. ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET is a solid teen film that caters to both adults and the younger folk, and this film and future adaptation of Blume’s books might just be the thing Lionsgate needs.
The film begins in1970 when the protagonist, Margaret, is 11 years old. Margaret Simon's family moves from New York City to the New Jersey suburbs. Her mother is Christian and her father is Jewish, but Margaret was raised without an affiliation to either faith. She frequently prays to God, beginning her prayers with, "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret.” Margaret feels uncomfortable with her lack of religious affiliation. For a school assignment, she studies religious beliefs, hoping to resolve her faith-based issues. Her study includes attending different places of worship to learn about religious practices. Her Jewish grandmother, Sylvia Simon, takes Margaret to Rosh Hashanah services and hopes her granddaughter will embrace Judaism.
Other Grade 11 issues Margaret faces include anticipation of her first menstruation (which is humorously explained in less than a minute), boy crushes, breast envy among other things that are only important to kids that age.
But director Craig has done a faithful adaptation that works for a variety of reasons. The antics the girls are up to are simple, real and what many an audience experience in their youth. For example, to prevent slow growth of their breasts, the girls believe in doing breast exercises while chanting: “We must, we must, we must increase out Bust!”. There is the cute boy next door; and of course for the girls the worry about their upcoming first period. For Margaret, she worries both for her breast size and also, praying to God that she would not be the last to get her period. These are worries that youngsters deem important but are in reality not. Thirdly the performances by all the young cast are excellent, believable, sweet and endearing, especially Abby Ryder Fortson in the lead as Margaret. Veterans Rachel McAdams and Academy Award Winner Kath Bates are both a delight to watch playing Margaret’s mother and grandmother respectively.
ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME MARGARET will win the hearts of many for its humour, drama, story and look at a slice of ordinary real life that every female goes through.
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FREAKS VS. THE REICH (original title: Freaks Out!H (Italy/Belgium 2020) ***
Directed by Gabriele Mainetti
FREAKS VS. THE REICH is the sophomore effort of director Gabriele Marinetti best known for his film THEY CALLED ME JEEG, never distributed in theatres but had a showing at Toronto’s local ICFF Italian InternationalFilm Festival and was voted by the crisis jury (of which I was a member) as Best Film. Tee director tackles a more ambitious and more difficult film. Despite its tacky title, the film is a serious piece that covers strong emotional characters. The characters in this case are circus performers, or freaks at the half penny circus.
During World War II in occupied Rome a group of circus performers endowed with supernatural powers band together to fight the oppressive Nazi regime’s occupation of Italy in FREAKS VS. THE REICH, a fantastical historical action-adventure. It all starts when Israel, the owner of their circus, disappears in the attempt to find a getaway overseas for them all. Not everyone agrees to go with him, but one can understand the reason as Israelis a Jew. The four friends are in disarray. Without anyone looking after them but above all, without the circus, they lose their social placement and they feel only as sideshow attractions on the loose in a city at war
Looking to flee the Nazi menace for the shores of America are four super-powered circus performers: there’s beautiful, young, electrically-charged Matilde, Cencio, an albino with the ability to control insects, Mario, a dwarf graced with magnetic powers, and Fulvio, a strongman covered from head to toe with hair. Matilde gets the most attention in the film, and the story includes a coming-of-age element as well from her point of view. She is able to light electrical bulbs but anyone who touches her can feel an electric shock. She has a father figure, Israel who is captured by the Nazis.
On their heels is the psychotic Franz, an ether-addicted, six-fingered Nazi who runs the nearby circus, Circus Berlin and believes that the supernaturally gifted quartet will help him turn the tide of the war, delivering the ultimate victory for Hitler and the Reich. Franz is a freak himself gifted with certain powers like being able to look into the future. He has seen Hitler shoot himself. Franz Rogowski (recent film, UNDINE) plays Franz, with madcap intensity.
At its best, FREAKS resembles a Federico Fellin as Fellini loves to have segments in his films involving the circus in one form or another (FELLINI SATYRICON and 8 ½). The characters here are part of a circus and a few of the film's segments are as weird as those found in a Fellini movie. Even the music score of the film (the music is by both Michele Braga and the director himself) resembles a bit of the music of Fellini’s frequent composer Nino Roa.
FREAKS has an overblown ending that blows away the film’s credibility and whatever strength it has built. It opens VOD/Digital on April the 28th.
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PETER PAN & WEDNY (USA 2023) ***
Directed by David Lowery
PETER PAN & WENDY is the new 2023 American fantasy adventure film directed by David Lowery (PETE’S DRAGON) from a screenplay he co-wrote with Toby Halbrooks. A live-action adaptation of Walt Disney's 1953 animated film Peter Pan, in turn based on the 1904 play Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up (also known as Peter and Wendy) by J. M. Barrie, the film contains the story already everyone is familiar with - which is shame, as three are little to no surprises left in the story, no matter how hard the filmmakers try.
The film stars Alexander Molony (in his film debut) and Ever Anderson in the title roles. Jude Law makes a welcome presence as an unrecognizable Captain Hook, Yara Shahidi, Alyssa Wapanatâhk, Joshua Pickering, Jacobi Jupe and with Molly Parker and Alan Tudyk as Wendy’s parents.
Wendy Darling, a young girl afraid to leave her childhood home behind, meets Peter Pan, a boy who can fly and refuses to grow up. Alongside her brothers, Michael and John, and a tiny fairy, Tinker Bell, she travels with Peter to the magical world of Neverland. There, Wendy encounters an evil pirate captain, Captain Hook, and embarks on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that will change her life forever.
The film is handsomely shot, no doubt in Canada in the provinces of Vancouver and Newfoundland. The sea and rocky cliffs are well used to get effect. The live-action fight sequences are done with a touch of fantasy and derring-do. The segment with Captain Hook jumping across the crocodile looks both amazing and scary. There are lots of special effects like the golden fairy dust throughout the story.
The cast is largely eclectic with indigenous actors portraying the natives of Neverland. Wendy and siblings and family are white where everyone else is not. Films these days do the best to give all non-whites an equal opportunity.
The film went through delays due to the Pandemic. It was supposed at one time to have a theatrical release but it now arrives to direct streaming on Disney+ from April the 28th. Too and as the magnificent landscapes would look really good on the big screen.
POLITE SOCIETY (UK 2023) ***
Directed by Nida Manzoor
POLITE SOCIETY (perhaps a reference to the novel A TALE OF TWO CITIES - the best of times; the worst of times) belongs to the category of cross-cultural comedy that made films like EAST IS EAST and its sequel and BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM great commercial successes. When POLITE SOCIETY opens, there is a shot of a field and shop houses at the far end that is immediately recognizable as Shepherd’s Bush (to me anyway, a frequent London visitor) in London England. There, shops of Indians and Pakistanis are common, in a slightly poorer neighbourhood than one is used to see in London, England.
Ria Khan believes that she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends' help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists, in the name of independence and sisterhood.
The subject of sisterhood is effectively captured by the camaraderie of the two sisters. Lena films Ria doing her Kung-Fu kicks though Ria often falls flat the floor. The sisterhood is about to be broken when Lena is to be wed off to a handsome beau whose looks can be quite deceiving. It is up, to Ria and her fight technique to save Lena from impending doom. And with the help her eclectic classmates, including a bully that eventually warms up to her - yes, a cliched storyline included.
Football in BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM is replaced by sort of sci-fi storyline in which the protagonist’s sister has been selected by an evil mother to have herself cloned. It is odd that writer/director Manzoor chooses to blend in this fantasy/horror to a real life comedy of family and sisterhood. It is fun to watch, but the blending is odd and out of place. It seems that as long as the audience is kept on their toes, it is ok for director Manzoor to incorporate it in her film.
The fight scenes are nothing too spectacular and are executed more for humour than anything else. “I am the Fury”, yells Ria often,,just before she engages in a fight. Truth be told, Ria is not that good a fighter but not for want of trying. Director Manzoor’s film is full of colour, especaully the Pakistani dresses from the saris to the groom’s handsome uniform. The cast is mainly Pakistani with a few locals though the film is set in London. The two leads playing the sister and the relatively unknown cast do a credible and spirited work.
POLITE SOCETY is definitely crowd-pleasing, and it presses the right buttons, though too predictably. Besides the weird storyline, there are few surprises as what will happen at the end, though following a well worked formula often works into a lively and entertaining film. Critics might frown for reason of the film’s feel-good cliched and well work material.
Focus Features and Universal Pictures Canada will be releasing POLITE SOCIETY in theatres on April 28th, 2023.
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RADIANCE (VERS LA LUMIERE) (Japan 1987) **½
Directed by Naomi Kawase
RADIANCE or TOWARDS THE LIGHT, the English translation of the French title VERS LA LUMIERE is a drama/romance made back when that got a premiere at Cannes and a release in Japan in May of 1987. RADIANCE has never made it to North America but will finally be seen when it gets a VOD/digital release on April the 28th 2023.
So, what is so special about the film RADIANCE? Or is it more the director Kawase that is of nterest? The darling of Cannes, Kawaseq had her films often premiered there with her serving on the Cannes jury once as well. Born and raised in Nara, Japan, KAWASE graduated from Visual Arts Osaka in 1989. Her films, EMBRACING and ‘KATATSUMORI’ received international recognitions and awards at the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in 1995. With her first feature, SUZAKU (1997), she became the youngest filmmaker to receive the Camera d’Or at the Festival de Cannes with her. At the Festival de Cannes, she has also won the Grand Prix with The Mourning Forest /MOGARI (2007), the Carrosse d’Or in 2009, and also served as one of the jurors for the competition in 2013. In 2015, KAWASE was bestowed with the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture. In 2017. RADIANCE was selected as one of the competition films and given the Ecumenical Jury award.
As the film opens there is narration by Misako (Ayame Misaki) as she creates movie audio descriptions before a class of blind people. Her passion and her commitment to her work leads her to create scripts full of colours and textures in order to make them as accessible as possible to blind audiences. She tests it on a group of 10 blind people. At one of the pre-premiere screenings, she meets Nakamori (Masatoshi Nag ase), a renowned photographer who gradually loses his sight and ability to practice his craft. Nakamori's strong character makes him the only one to firmly criticize her scripts. He complains of her being too intrusive with too many descriptions filling in the gaps, leading to confusion, He helps Misako see the coldness of her careful descriptions. Despite the differences that arise between them, both manage to create a strong relationship that allows them to explore a world previously invisible to their eyes. In the last scene of the film, the old man struggles to climb a small dune, at the top he stops facing the setting sun. This reflects the message transmitted by his impassive face without imposing a vision on the viewer.
The budding romance between Misako and Masaya is a slow one. They begin at loggerheads. The chief complaint about Misako’s verbal descriptions of movies is that she puts in too much thus being intrusive and not leaving much to the imagination. Director Kawase takes the point to heart as her film is extremely sparse.
One scene has Masako punch Nakamori, calling that the act feels good. In real life, director Kawase was charged with fist punching one of her staff, leading to problems on the set of one of her films.
RADIANCE is a slow but sincere work, as are the other films by Kawase. This could be the reason her films are an acquired taste for many.
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SISU (Finland 2022) ***1/2
Directed by Jalmari Helander
The word SISU as the film informs the audience not once but twice during the film is a word depicting a white-collared energy, of a spirit that never gives up - a word with no English equivalent. There is a lot of fucking issue in this violent gory horror flick that premiered last year in the Midnight Madness Section of TIFF.
In cinematic terms, it means a hero or protagonist that refuses to die. In the twilight of World War II, a solitary prospector (Jorma Tommila) strikes a rich vein of gold in the wilderness of Lapland in Northern Finland. Making tracks with his new-found bounty for the nearest town, the man runs afoul of a retreating detachment of Nazi soldiers led by an odious SS Obersturmführer (Aksel Hennie), who set their sights on claiming the gold for themselves. Unfortunately for these stormtroopers, this is no ordinary miner, but rather a mythic one-man army who epitomizes the quintessential Finnish concept of SISU. In the hero's refusal to die, he undergoes a whole lot of graphic beating that might be too intense for even the most seasoned horror fan to watch.
The film has been appropriately selected to open the Midnight Madness of TIFF. Watch out for the hanging scene where a nail from the wooden post gets nudged into his wounded leg.
Total maniac mayhem but also extremely entertaining.
TRIALS TO TRIUMPH (USA 2022) ***
Directed by Dan Ratner, Greg Romano, and Misa Garcia
Primarily, TRIALS TO TRIUMPH is the story of Freddie Stevenson’s meteoric football career, the crash that followed, and his reinvention. But the doc also digresses other mini-accounts of other football celebrities and their trials. There is not one but three directors. The doc understandably feel unfocused as it without notice, jumps from one to another athlete’s story But the audience gets to witness primarily stories of struggle & redemption from Freddie Stebvenson as well as minor stories of Maurice Benard, Delvin Breaux, Tony Gaskins, and more and see them overcome the odds in these powerful, real conversations.
TRIALS TO TRIUMPH was directed by Dan Ratner, Greg Romano, and Misa Garcia. This inspirational documentary based on Stevenson’s Best-Selling memoir features interviews with Freddie Stevenson, Maurice Benard, Dasia Torres, Neno Torres, Tyrell Lyons, Tony Gaskins, Dr. Dan Ratner, Delvin Breaux, Terris Stevenson, Sylvia Stevenson, and Ryan Green. It was produced by Dan Ratner, Greg Romano, and Freddie Stevenson.
Life is resilience, says his coach. And Freddie’s life shows it. The major part of the doc has Freddie talk to the camera as well as those close to him, relatives like his father and mother and also his then girlfriend.m His girlfriend says: “ He would go to the gym and give 110%. His father and mother were always there to support him and offer the pain and struggles their son had to go through. It is inspirational not to hear the words from Freddie himself but of the words of those close to him as observations also tell the whole story.
There is an extended talk by Freddie’s father at the beginning of the film explaining how much hardship with limited opportunities available for coloured folk. He confesses to drug dealing, hiding the fact from his son, Freddie and how he was sentenced to prison. His incarceration followed by him becoming a born againChristian. The film almost gets preachy about Christianity but gaudy stayed away from the issue. Though this testimony has nothing to tell with TRIALS TO TRIUMPH, the segment is actually the film’s most interesting part as it deals with real life problems of the coloured folk.
One of the key issues omitted in the doc, the larger problem that is responsible not only for Freddie’s football injury but for the injuries of all footballers is the fact that football is a dangerous sport with already documentation of a very high percentage of permanent injuries arising from professional football players, particularly in the injury of head concussion, which fortunately Freddie does not suffer from. It is hinted that Freddie after recovering from an injury and offered a job back into football realizes the fact, and hesitates before accepting the position in the NFL. But the problem is systematic and more serious. North America is the only country in the world that champions this sport. The closest Europe has is rugby and Australia has, isastraluaq rules football.
Gravitas Ventures will release TRIALS TO TRIUMPH on digital platforms on May 2, 2023. The film has a running time of 1 hour 35 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA.
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FILM REVIEWS:
BLACKBERRY (Canada 2023) Top 10 *****
Dorectedby Matt Johnson
BLACKBERRY sees the rise and fall of the company, Research in Motion (RIM) through their main product the smartphone, a smartphone that combines, text, the internet and the phone using their famous clicking keypad. The film follows the founders of RIM, two friends, Mike and Doug played by Jay Baruchel (who also executively produced the movie) and director Matt Johnson himself. They hire the fired CEO of another company Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) who turns the product of RIM into a success and the companying a billion dollar company. This is where the film soars the audience to feel-good highs as then underdogs take on the world. The film’s second half sees, sadly the company’s downfall as greed, pride and of course Apple’s iPhone, with no keypad) revolutionaries the smartphone industry.
Many stars shone in BLACKBERRY Among them is dismartrector/actor Matt Johnson. hailing from Toronto itself and seldom heard of American actor Glenn Howerton, only previously seen before in limited TV series, the most notable being IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA. Howerrton down a bald wig to look like the balding character, a high-flying CEO and Harvard Business graduate, Jim Balsillie who arguably can be the one considered the genius the rise of Blackberry (or the company behind it, Research in Motion) as well as its downfall. The first question that will come to many an audience’s mind is: “Where did this guy come from?” Absolutely perfect in the role, Howerton stable to swing the audience to his side as he champions the BLACKBERRY product and also get the audience to despise him when he brings the company down. The film should bring this talented young actor, who looks much younger than his bald character to fame. Ironically, Johnson and Howerton are both comedians at heart, transiting successfully to comedic drama in the film.
The film looks like the period it is set from the 80’s to early 20’s from the props (Cathode ray tube monitors, range of Blackberry products on display, landlines in the office), wardrobe, set decor and even the choice of its throwback music soundtrack.
BLACKBERRY is the excellent case of Canadian moviemaking that does almost everything right especially in acting, directing, and writing, making modern Canadian history and high-tech both entertaining and a pleasure to watch. BLACKBERRY will be a strong contender (the film gets my vote anyway) for the Toronto Film Critics Association Best Canadian Feature next year.
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to rule the world, only to find that no one would listen? This is the intriguing story of how a group of geeks took over the world, which has been adapted into a true-story film featuring real people from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The film focuses on the rise and fall of Research In Motion (RIM), a small Canadian company that initially lacked business acumen, but changed the tech industry with the invention of the world’s first smartphone. Who better to direct this movie than Matt Johnson (THE DIRTIES, OPERATION AVALANCHE), a gifted director known for his remarkable films featuring geeky characters and stories? With his growing popularity, Johnson is the perfect choice to bring this incredible tale to life on the big screen.
BLACKBERRY depicts the success of RIM through its main product, the smartphone, which combined text, internet, and phone capabilities using its iconic clicking keypad. The movie follows the founders of RIM, two friends named Mike and Doug, played by Jay Baruchel (who also served as an executive producer) and director Matt Johnson himself. They hire Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton), the fired CEO of another company, who transforms RIM's product into a billion-dollar success story. The film takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride of feel-good emotions as the underdogs take on the tech industry. Unfortunately, the film's second half depicts the company's downfall due to greed, pride, and the revolutionary impact of Apple's iPhone, which lacked RIM's iconic keypad.
BLACKBERRY boasts a talented cast, including director/actor Matt Johnson, who hails from Toronto itself. The film also features Glenn Howerton, an American actor who was previously seen in limited TV series, with his most notable role being on IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA. Howerton dons a bald wig to look like the balding character, Jim Balsillie, a high-flying CEO and Harvard Business graduate, who is arguably the genius behind the rise of Blackberry (or the company behind it, Research in Motion) as well as its downfall. Howerton's superb acting skills swing the audience to his side as he champions the BLACKBERRY product, and also garners their despise when he brings the company down. The film should bring this talented young actor, who looks much younger than his bald character, the recognition he deserves. Ironically, Johnson and Howerton are both comedians at heart, who make a successful transition to the genre of comedic drama in the film.
BLACKBERRY is set in the period from the 1980s to the early 2000s, which is reflected in the props, wardrobe, set design, and even the choice of the throwback music soundtrack. This film is an excellent example of Canadian moviemaking that does almost everything right, especially in acting, directing, and writing. It makes modern Canadian history and high-tech both entertaining and enjoyable to watch. BLACKBERRY will undoubtedly be a strong contender for the Toronto Film Critics Association Best Canadian Feature next year (and it certainly gets my vote!).
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BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER (USA 2023) **
Directed by Bill Holderman
Writer/director Bill Holderman and the main cast returns to the big screen after the successful box-office hit THE BOOK CLUB in 2014 that cost only $14 million to make and made $104 million. Four women have attended a monthly book club for 40 years, bonding over the suggested literature, and have become very good friends. The plot of that film has the 4 women read the well-known and naughty Fifty Shades of Grey and are turned on by the content. Viewing it as a wake-up call, they decide to expand their lives and chase pleasures that have eluded them.
Book Club: The Next Chapter , the sequel follows our four best friends as they take their book club to Italy for the fun girls trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.
The returning four are:
Vivian (Jane Fonda), who owns and builds hotels, runs into Arthur (Don Johnson), a man whose marriage proposal she turned down 40 years before. They begin a flirtation, but she has always refused to settle down because she enjoys her independence. The magic question which no genius needs to get the incorrect answer is whether they will wed in the end. The story here has a surprise wedding planned by the other 3for Vivain but there is a hitch getting to the wedding on time.
Diane (Dian Keaton who has star billing) is recently widowed, and her daughters would like her to move closer to them in Arizona because they perceive her to be in danger as she lives alone.
Sharon (Candice Bergen) is a federal judge who's been single since she divorced her son's father over 18 years ago. Sharon is flaring with a police officer (Giancarlo Giannini)
Carol (Mary Streenburgen) has a successful marriage to Bruce (Craig T Nelson), who has recently retired, but they have recently rekindled their intimacy.
Holderman’s lazy script fails to explain the reason the film is called BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER. Nothing is mentioned of how the 4 met or the notion of any book club. Without the first 10 minutes of screen time, the audience sees each of the 4 women change among half a dozen outfits for no reason - a point emphasizing that Hollywood is just too much money to spend on garbage. Which is what the script is - falling into cliched territory with hardly any surprises on the way. The film is also an ego trip for the 4 ageing actresses - stars in their heyday, credit given to them, but are now resolved to playing ladies that are still able to have sex and get any handsome men their hearts desire. Needless to say, the script contains a huge number of lewd jokes to say that these four women are still cool.
The script co-written by Holderman and Erin Simms does contain a few laughs at the first third, judging from the screening I attended, though none came from this reviewer. This film is strictly for fans of Fonda, Keaton, Bergen and Steenburgen. And even then - there is a huge strain to enjoy this sequel as the original was barely passable.
BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER opens in theatres May the 12th.
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CALL ME KATE (USA 2023) ***½
Directed by Lorna Tucker
(photo of Hepbrun in LION IN WINTER)
She is known as Miss Hepburn but she would insist: CALL ME KATE. The doc on the 4 time Academy Award Winner - the most times every actor or actress have ever won the coveted Oscar (MORNING GLORY and in her last 3 films: GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER, THE LION IN WINTER and ON GOLDEN POND; the LION IN WINTER being my fondest role of Hepburn). Her most famous films include BRINGING UP BABY, THE PHILADELPHIA STORY and THE AFRICAN QUEEN.
The doc begins with the name Katherine Hepburn repeated a few times in voiceover, making the audiences wanton to repeat the star’s anew as many times as well. She is introduced by the legendary Angel Lansbury.
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (she lived to 97) was an American actress whose career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over six decades. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited personality, and outspokenness, her personality the first thing that is highlighted in the doc, cultivating a screen persona that matched this public image, and regularly playing strong-willed, sophisticated women. Her work was in a range of genres, from screwball comedy to literary drama, and earned her various accolades, including four Academy Awards for Best Actress—a record for any performer. In 1999, Hepburn was named the greatest female star (and indeed she is) of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute.
Nostalgia flows from the beginning of the doc to the end. It repeats from the black and white archive footage, shots from other old films particularly the famous ones and the return to the look of old movies.
The dad point in Kate’s life, that many of hr fans are unaware of is the death of her eldest brother by suicide from hanging. She had gone to fetch Tom one morning for breakfast and found him hanging in his room. She took the body down and laid the cold body on the bed. Her parents dealt with the grief by instructing the family never to mention Tom and as if Tom had never lived. Bit Kate would live life for both of them. Tom had told her the night before his death that he had loved her but she did not think too much of that,
The film’s most touching moments is the love relationship between Kate and her husband and good friend Buddy. They married but she realized thatch had too much difference in personality. She wanted to go back to New York. But Luddy, her husband, in the words of the doc realized that he had married a madwoman.“Whatever you want to do Kate…. I love you.” And Judy packed up their bags and moved to New York with Kate.
The magic question asked to Hepburn as in an episode of the Dick Cavett show is what inspired? Hepburn credits her success to intelligent and inspiring parents and experiences that she went through before the age of 15.
If Katherine Hepburn has never inspired you, this doc on Hepburn certainly will inspire you and with great admiration for her determination, ability and body of work delivered with a huge dose of nostalgia .
CALL ME KATE is a Netflix original; documentary streaming beginning May th 12th. The doc makes an easy and light entertaining watch at home.
CARMEN (Australia/France 2022) ***
Directed by Benjamin Millepied
Benjamin Millepied, former principal dancer of the New York City Ballet and choreographer of the film "Black Swan," makes his directorial debut in CARMEN, a modern-day interpretation of Bizet's classic opera. The film opens with a breathtaking dance performance in the Mexican desert, where the mother of the protagonist is tragically shot by a gunman. The surreal and impressive scene sets the tone for the rest of the film, which features dream-like dance sequences and a majestic score by three-time Oscar nominee Nicholas Britell.
CARMEN tells the story of Carmen, a fiercely independent young woman who flees to the US after her mother's murder. Along the way, she meets Aidan, a border guard and Marine suffering from PTSD. Their journey together leads to a budding romance, but it is a poor imitation of the love story in the original opera. Solid performances are delivered by both Melissa Barrera and rising star Paul Mescal, looking really buffed as a marine should, compared to his physique in his last film AFTERSUN.
One of the film's strengths is the presence of Rossy de Palma, a regular actress in Pedro Almodovar's films, who plays the mercurial owner of La Sombra nightclub, a sanctuary of music and dance where Carmen and Aidan find solace and their unwavering love for each other. However, the film's attempt to blend reality with dance and music is uneven, and the dance and music sequences often feel disconnected from the rest of the story. The climactic dance scene between Carmen and Aidan is impressive, but it feels out of place in the film. Actor Mescal’s dance looks pale in comparison to Barrera’s.
Despite its flaws, "CARMEN" is an ambitious film that showcases Millepied's talent as a director and choreographer. The impressive dance and music sequences, as well as the strong performances by the cast, make it worth watching. In particular, Paul Mescal's performance demands attention and shows that he will continually be a talent to watch in the future. CARMEN opens in Toronto and Vancouver on May 5th, and in Montreal on May 12th, with more cities to follow throughout the spring and summer.
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EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH (Belgium 2021) ***
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THE MELT GOES ON FOREVER - THE ART AND TIMES OF DAVID HAMMONS
(USA 2022) ***
Directed by Judd Tully and Harold Crooks
At the beginning of the doc on the black American artist who refused to follow convention - David Hammons, an explanation is given as to the reason the doc is called THE MELT GOES ON FOREVER. In one of Hammon’s artistic stints, he sells snowballs. When a customer buys one, the snowball is given to her in a plastic bag, which she keeps in her freezer for 6 months till her mother asks her to throw it out. It is then that this customer realizes that this was the work of David Hammons.
THE MELT GOES ON FOREVER chronicles the singular career of the elusive African-American art star David Hammons from Watts rebellion era ’60s L.A. to global art world prominence today. Hammons’ category-defying practice – rooted in a deep critique of American society and the elite art world – is in the words of one art critic “an invitation to confront the fissures between races” as the artist seeks to go beyond the dominant culture and his own to a new one for the 21st century.
Featuring eminent artists, curators and critics, a rich trove of archival footage, animation, and an evocative soundscape, The Melt is a record of the work of an artist who constantly defies the establishment and remains subversive at every turn.
For many unfamiliar with the work of Hammons, the doc provides invaluable insight of an artist who works on the fringe, often in poverty unable to buy expensive art materials and how he managed his own success. His works are often shown on full display in the doc, many meticulously and painstakingly done like the poles made up of beer caps.
THE MOTHER (USA 2023) ***1/2
Directed by Niki Caro
New Zealand female director Niki Caro and Jennifer Lopez join forces in an above average action drama THE MOTHER. Caro is famous for the New Zealand film, WHALE RIDER followed by the Disney live action hit, MULAN.
Jennifer Lopez plays the unnamed mother who is also a former high profile assassin. While fleeing from dangerous assailants, this former assassin comes out of hiding to protect the estranged daughter she left behind. Films about a strong woman protecting a child has been successful box-office fare in the past, as is evident by the two GLORIA films, particularly the first one directed by John Cassavetes starring his wife Gena Rowlands playing an ex-gangster moll protecting her neighbour’s boy, the son of the mob’s accountant turned informant. In THE MOTHER, the strong woman is protecting her daughter who she is forced to give up for the daughter’s safety. There is a play of emotions, though excessiveness is kept at bay.
THE MOTHER must be complemented for its extremely well executed and exciting action scenes. All the tension is achieved primarily through sharp editing. In the most impressive of these - the kidnapping of the daughter, now grown up and in school is superb taut edge of your seat suspense. From one camera shot of empty cartridges flying off the mother’s rifle to the look through the rifle’s sighting scope, to the falling of the shot dead bodies, the arrival of additional vehicles to the kidnap of the girl, there are about a dozen appropriate edits within the span of a few seconds. The other impressive similar scene arrives at the beginning of the film where two interrogating FBI agents are taken out - a foreshadow of the action to come. A chase with the mother on a motorbike is done with the use of a hand-held camera, the jittering framing adding to the nerve-wrecking situation. Comically too, are the procession of schoolgirls and a wedding just waiting to be run down by the mother’s bike and the chased prey.
Segments are set in Havana in Cuba. This is indeed rare for an American film to be shot in Cuba and the film sure looks as if it did. In reality, the film was shot in the old town of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on the Spanish island of Gran Canaria to substitute vapour Havana in Cuba. The Gabinete Literario, located there, was used as a casino. The south of the island was also chosen to film a party in a villa. Principal photography also took place in Vancouver, Canada.
Je-Lo, as is expected of Je-Lo the star singer actress with the great bod to show off, gets to show it off when she has to change her clothes in a car - a weak excuse to show off her body.
THE MOTHER is a Netflix original Jennifer Lopez movie and marks one of her better outings, streaming beginning Friday May the 12th.
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A NEW OLD PLAY (China 2021) ***
Directed by Qiu Jiongjiong
There are two big factors that initially turn one off from venturing into watching this occasionally magnificent and stunning period Chinese epic. The fritz is the almost 3 -hour running time and the second is the generally little known history of Chinese opera and its function in the twentieth century. But this is education and a grand one in the making. As a boyinnSingapore, I walked to the back of the stage of one such opera and noticed the singers in action, voicing extremely high notes loud and clear, nothin that I have heard being so astounding - an early experience I could never forget. This film A NEW OLD PLAY brings back immediately that childhood memory, expands on the subject and mesmerizes. A NEW OLD PLAY is understandably difficult to watch though not without its rewards.
The film opens in the dark of night with shadowy figures on the screen that can be made up of a man slowly pumping up, slowly the tires of a bicycle. It turns out that Qiu Fu, a leading clown-role actor in 20th-century Sichuan opera, departs this world and must reluctantly set off for the Ghost City under the escort of two underworld officials, the underworld being hell of course. Qiu Fu is familiar with the two escorts, him having performed operas with characters from the underworld - ever so often. Along the way, he meets old friends. As they recall the past, earthly scenes creep into the mists of the Netherworld.
The story is based on the family history of the film’s director Qiu. It depicts the birth of the New-New Theatre and Opera School—in Sichuan Province, in the nineteen-twenties—as a by-product of the civil war and the Nationalist Party’s victory. The troupe’s founder, a soldier and a true lover of Sichuan opera called Pocky (Qiu Zhimin, the director’s actual father), welcomes a seven-year-old foundling named Qiu Fu (Chen Haoyu), rejected by the other opera troupe, as observed in a stretched out but comical dinner scene alike to OLIVER TWIST in which the poor street urchin is derived from getting a helping of porridge. who becomes his prize student. During the Second World War, the company joined the resistance to Japanese occupation. After the adult Qiu Fu (Yi Sicheng) emerges into a star performer, he realizes his dreams. But the changing political times have drastic consequences on the opera.
As power shifts, the troupe is cast loose to wander meaninglessly through a broken world. Despite this unsettled destiny, shaped by war, famine and political turmoil, Qiu Fu becomes one of the finest clown-role performers in Sichuan opera. And yet, one day he finds himself clapped in a pigsty as a political revolution rages outside.
In the director’s own words, the film is a slice of his own history and his family’s; but also a travelogue of minstrels wandering together through this world and the next. They are his immediate forebears, and this is his ‘pre-biography.’
A NEW OLD PLAY, though not a bad film will be a hard sell to Canadian audiences as it is overlong and deals with a subject unfamiliar and likely uninteresting i.e. Sichuan opera.
A NEW OLD PLAY has a digital release on May 16 2023, coming to Prime Video, iTunes, & Vimeo-On-Demand.
TWICED COLONIZED (Canada/Denmark/Greenland 2023) ***
Directed by Lin Alluna
TWICE COLONIZED has been chosen to open the 2023 Hot Docs in Toronto for many reasons, the more important ones being its timely subject matter, the film being Canadian and that the film is made by and concerns indigenous people.
The film centres on Inuk activist Aaju Peter and marks a Toronto homecoming for Peter after her 2006 film, ANGRY INUK chronicled her campaign to preserve the Inuit seal hunt, the film that won the audience award at the 2016 fest.
The doc follows Peter as she continues her fight for Inuit, Indigenous, and First Nations communities to have a say in discussions about their own affairs. Warning: It is a very angry film as can be witnessed in the film’s first 10 minutes as Peter lashes out her points of view on several key issues like the seal hunt and the mining while emphasizing that the Inuits are children of ice, and all human beings are children of the sun.
“We knew from the moment we watched this potent film that it was the right doc to open our milestone 30th-anniversary Festival,” said Hot Docs Artistic Director Shane Smith in a statement from the festival. TWICE COLONIZED doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable truths as it sharply addresses Canada and Denmark’s colonizers past and present. It brings this urgent and crucial story to life. Captivating, riveting and angry. However, the film is clearly one-sided and though relevant and crucial points are made, there is always some good that has come from colonization that is not mentioned. Neither are there any solutions offered. At the start of the film, Peter complains of having to live in Denmark as she was singled out to move there as she was a top student in her school. Her father championed the fact. Peter complained about having been taught to brush her teeth daily and use the fork and spoon during meals. Brushing teeth is a plus and a positive lesson. Also, the education that Peter received eventually allowed her to be a lawyer to fight for the rights of her people. If she was not taken out of her indigenous school, she would not be able to accomplish what she has accomplished to this date. She also complains that seal-hunting is the right of her people. She claims that unemployment and teenage suicide rates among the Indigenous are the highest in the world. The rest of the world has advantages that her people do not have. True, but she is unwilling for any compromise. Also seal hunting is extremely cruel and should be banned or at least the number killed be limited as a compromise. Her experiences at the residential schools are omitted in the film with the excuse that she had been uprooted so many times that she cannot remember her childhood.
TWICE COLONIZED premiered in the World Cinema Competition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Alluna and the director, Peter and other guests were on hand at the Hot Docs premiere on April 27 ahead of Twice Colonized’s theatrical release on May 12.
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BALLOON ANIMAL (USA 2020) **
Directed by Em Johnson
BALLON ANIMAL is a coming-of-age story of a 24-year old female balloon animal artist, Poppy (Katherine Waddell) who works closely with her father (Ilia Volok) in a circus environment. Her father is the boss of the Valentine Travelling circus.
Poppy Valentine, a young circus performer who has grown up in her family's traveling circus, begins dreaming of what life would be like outside of its fences. Now in her mid-20s and with more un-welcomed responsibility weighing her down, she is desperate to figure out if this life is for her. As she slowly begins to take time for herself, finding independence and even love, she strains her relationship with those around her in the tight-knit circus community. Amidst her overprotective father, stressful circus expectations, and a blossoming curiosity for a life of her own, Poppy must decide if the risk is worth leaving everything she's ever known behind.
A very simple story told simply - perhaps too simply. At one point in the film Poppy and her two girlfriends from the circus make it out together on a night of the town - the one they are performing at. At the local bar that they visit, one of them says: “this is pathetic, there are only about 4 people in here.” The same can be said of the film. Though BALLOON ANIMAL is set in a circus environment, the amount of ‘circus’ shown is quite pathetic. There are no circus animals at all shown, no circus acts at all and believe it or not, not even a clown. One of Poppy’s friends says she is an trapeze artist but not trapeze swings are shown at all. The other claims to be a kids clown. Again not clowns or clown costumes are seen. The only circus act shown is a sorry introduction the circus show that lasts some 3 minutes or so. There is one scene where Poppy sits in the empty seats of a ferris wheel. The excuse given in the film is that the season of the circus is over and that the perfjoamcne are therefore done. Will the audience fall for it?
Another unexplained situation is the difference in accent between Poppy and her father. Her father has a clear East European accent, which is unexplained at all, while Poppy speaks totally American.
Waddell is supposed to be a 24-year old, but she looks in her mid-30’s. The Paris stylist of the film has her hair dyed in various colours from green to blue and other supposedly ‘youthful’ colours. Again, will the audience fall for it? The boy that Poppy’s a fling with, a pimpled face skinny lad, looks so much younger than her. Despite the fact, Waddell tries her best to be convincing. Ih she, and all her friends are at the age of their characters, it can be safely said thatbtheyare doing a good job.
BALLOON ANIMAL is available on VOD on Friday, April 7, 2023 in North America on Amazon Prime Video, Vudu, Comcast/Xfinity, Charter, Cox and other viewing platforms.
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OPERATION FORTUNE (RUSE DE GUERRE)(UK/USA 2022) ***
Directed by Guy Ritchie
The new Guy Ritchie action comedy begins with a gang of Ukrainian mobsters stealing a device known as "The Handle"; it's worth estimated at billions of dollars. The British government person in charge (Eddie Marsan) hires Nathan Jasmine (Cary Elwes) to retrieve the Handle before billionaire arms dealer Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant) can sell it to the highest bidder. Nathan hires super-spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) to lead a team made up of Sarah Fidel (Aubrey Plaza), JJ Davies (Bugzy Malone() and others. The team travel to Madrid, seeking the courier intended to transport the hard drive containing the data from the Handle. Their search is interrupted by a rival of Nathan's, Mike (Peter Ferdinando) who seems to have also been hired to retrieve the Handle. Sarah manages to copy the hard drive's contents first. Learning that Simmonds plans to host a charity gala in Cannes, the team decides to infiltrate it by blackmailing Simmonds' favourite movie star, Danny Francesco (Josh Haretnett), into helping them distract Simmonds. Simmonds encourages Danny to spend some time in his Turkish villa in Antalya. Orson infiltrates the Ukrainian mafia house to hack their computers, disguising it as a robbery. The British government warns Nathan that the Handle is an advanced AI that can be programmed to defeat any security system in the world. The story is by coincidentally timely, with the current banking crisis at hand.
OPERATION FORTUNE is typical Guy Ritchie and his fans should not be disappointed with what his new movie provides - which is more of the same in terms of stylized British crime action comedy. It also stars action Jason Statham who’s collaborated with Ritchie many a time. If one wants to watch a serious crime caper auctioneer, the best of the best is THE SQUEEZE (1977) directed by Michele Apted. Director Ritchie has made his mark with his best film LOCK STOCK ANDTWO SMOKING BARRELS and his worst films like SHERLOCK HOLMES where he butchered the classic by swapping a mystery clue whodunit with fast editing action nonsense.
Fortunately, OPERATION FORTUNE falls in his spirit of LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS. The film contains exotic locations with filming shotgun Qatar and scenic Turkey. There is a car chase involving a vintage classic though the car chase which also involves helicopter is not really one to be remembered. There is sharp dialogue, expressive wardrobe worn by the stars as well as expensive set decor of the rich and wealthy. The characters that are equally flamboyant includes Danny, a Hollywood famous movie start and a billionaire arms dealer. So, there is plenty if opportunity for show. In fact, the film looks better that its $50 million budget spent on it.
OPERATION FORTUNE plays like Jason Statham as a Guy Ritchie type James Bond complete with tuxedo and suave fighting skills. The film is aided by spirited performances particularly by Plaza, Hartnett and Grant. Grant has been getting a lot of publicity for his ‘rude’ humour after the Academy Awards red carpet interview and his recent villain role in DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS. Aubrey Plaza is one of the most underrated actresses of the day, following her hardly seen comedy EMILY THE CRIMINAL. Gorgeous Hartnett surprises here with his stint at comedy.
OPERATION FORTUNE opens in Toronto April the7 th, though it has already opened internationally before the date.
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OUT OF THE LOOP (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Michael Alexander
"Out of the Loop" is a 2022 documentary directed by Michael Alexander that focuses on stand-up comics in Chicago. The film features interviews with many lesser-known comics in the city, including Deon Cole, Hannibal Burris, Godfrey, Lil Rel Howery, Jeff Garlin, and the late Judy Tenuta. They share their experiences and stories about the trials and tribulations of starting their comedy careers in a polarized and segregated industry.
While the material may be somewhat limited, the documentary achieves its aim of providing an entertaining and informative look at the comedy scene in Chicago. Director Alexander poses basic questions to the comics, such as when they realized they wanted to become comedians, where they first performed, and what their influences are. These questions help put their experiences into perspective and highlight the challenges they face, especially for female comics of color who often face additional obstacles due to their race and gender.
Despite its focus on the entertainment industry, "Out of the Loop" also serves as an educational look at a different field. The documentary is interesting and funny, with comics telling jokes even during their interviews. After watching the film, viewers may be inspired to watch other comics, both famous and aspiring, to compare their standards and what makes a master comic.
"Out of the Loop" has a running time of 1 hour and 28 minutes and will be released on digital platforms by Gravitas Ventures on April 11, 2023. The documentary is not rated by the MPAA.
Trailer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19cVmMgrTq2vLQhinGhWhurOnTaB3pBaC/view
SIMULANT (Canada 2022) ***
Directed by April Mullen
Director April Mullen raises a thought-provoking question about the consciousness of artificial intelligence in her new sci-fi thriller. Set in the future, the film features Faye (Jordan Brewster), a woman who activates her late husband’s Simulant Evan (Robbie Amell), an android replica programmed with his memories, after a fatal car crash. Sims, which can dream and make love, are introduced in the story, stretching the limits of credibility. Faye struggles to love Sim Evan, but cannot bring herself to deactivate him. She seeks help from a programmer Casey (Simu Liu), who illegally hides Evan from authorities and helps him gain consciousness and become more human. Evan is determined to win back his wife's heart but must avoid capture by government agent Kessler (Sam Worthington), who oversees Simulant Compliance and the deactivation of dangerous and sentient Sims.
While the film's first act can be confusing due to the sudden introduction of characters like Casey and the coincidences of events, it eventually finds its footing. The story's surprises of revealing who is human or a sim can also be disorienting. The film contains a bit of action in segments where agent Kessler hunts down deviant Sims, who appear to have superhuman abilities. The audience is allowed to take either side, sympathizing with the Sims for their limited human qualities and desire for more powers such as overriding human commands. The Sims are controlled by four strict precepts, which are enforced and informed to the audience at the start of the film. If a sim disobeys a precept, it is known that the sim has been altered by Casey.
Director Mullen effectively utilizes the gritty landscape of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and its nearby rural lands to create the film's setting with some futuristic-looking alterations. The film contains elements of eeriness, a technical-styled score, fascination, and a futuristic art deco atmosphere, all essential to the success of a sci-fi film. Although not flawless, Simulant has the potential to engage audiences and spark discussions about artificial intelligence and its intersection with human consciousness.
Simulant opens on April 7th in theaters across Canada.
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THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE (USA/Japan 2023) ****
Directed by Aaron Horwath and Michael Jelenic
Live action adaptations have more often than not failed with horrid films. THE FLINTSTONES Warner ]Bros. Looney Tunes and The Marios Bros have seen similar fates. After the critical and commercial failure of the 1993 live-action Mario film, Nintendo became reluctant to license its intellectual properties for film adaptations. But surprisingly THE SUPER MARIO BROS MOVIE, a completely computer-animated adventure film based on the Nintendo's Mario video game franchise, with special appearance of Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) is surprisingly inventive, hilarious and completely entertaining. The film has the feel of the Minion films as it was animated in the Illumination (The Minions) Universal Studio in Paris, France. Based on the Nintendo game, THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE is a U.S. and Japan co-production with a French touch.
The film combines both the elements of fantasy and reality. Being sucked by an oversized pipe in the underground sewers of Brooklyn Mario (Chris Pratt) finds himself in a colourful land filled with polka dot coloured mushrooms called the Mushroom Kingdom. The running joke is that Mario hates mushrooms. “Who does not like mushrooms?” screams Mario’s dad at the dinner table. In reality the Marios Bros are "blue-collar guys”, Italian-American plumbers from Brooklyn. There is also a little romance between Mario and the Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) from the Mushroom Kingdom, before Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island retconned them as lifelong residents of the world of the Mushroom Kingdom.
Entertaining the film is, but not necessarily for the whole family. Though basically a fairy tale fantasy complete with princess castle and all, there is one very dark and eerie scar sequin in which little children might have nightmares watching. This is when Luigi ends up in Darklands, pursued by monsters with large jaws as he jumps over flowing lava in the dark for his dear life. Another is the big fight segment, gladiator style between Mario and Donkey Kong.
Brian Tyler composed the score for the film, working closely with longtime Mario composer Koji Kondo to incorporate themes from the games within the film's score. The composition features an orchestra, choir and bands, as well as "Italian instruments, accordions, live drums, mandolins and whistling human voices. Songs from Jack Black and Keegan-Michael Key were improvised for the film. Donkey Kong is introduced in the film accompanied by the title theme music from Donkey Kong 64, the "DK Rap", composed by Grant Kirkhope.
The film works too largely because of its humour. Comedians Seth Rogen and Jack Black voice characters and tokens infections laugh can immediately be recognized. The humour is largely of the goofy sort that adults should also appreciate, with lots of references to the Nintendo game like the Italian stereotyped but still funny jokes, the jumping around and thereferences to the games like jumping over planks and pipes.
THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE has a Wednesday opening and is projected to earn at least $73–105 million domestically on its opening week.
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- Written by: Gilbert Seah
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HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE (USA 2022) **
Directed by Daniel Goldhaber
HOW TO BLOW UP YOUR PIPELINE is a well-intentioned but unfortunately poorly executed environmentally friendly thriller drama that is all over the place trying especially hard to be a thriller like Henri-Georges Clouzot’s LA SALAIRE DU PEUR but failing miserably. Director Goldhaber ends many segments with an exciting part, like an explosion and then interrupts it with the background story of one (or two) of the activists. It is confusing at first as it goes back in the time-line not to say that it makes little purpose to employ this technique, unless one is making a series in which the end intrigues the viewer to watch the next episode. The virus young subjects leave much for the audience to care for. They just do what they think is right. The film gives mixed messages on what to do with the environment. Should everyone be as destructive by blowing up other pipelines and destroying property? The film also opts out for a cop-out happy ending. One might lay part of the blame to the film’s source material, Andreas Malm’s controversial 2021 non-fiction treatise of the same name.
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KIDS VS. ALIENS (Canada 2022) ***
Directed by Jason Eisener
The new horror comedy streaming on Shudder may sound cheesy based on its title, but that is because the film fully embraces its cheesy nature. However, this does not necessarily detract from the film's entertainment value. Director Eisener successfully leans into the film's cheesiness, resulting in an over-the-top and highly entertaining horror comedy.
KIDS VS. ALIENS is part of a group of Canadian films that are often erroneously recorded as American, despite not referencing any specific location. Although the film could easily stand in for America, it is evident from the absence of American accents, the scenery, and the presence of Canadian actor Calem MacDonald, that the film is Canadian. The movie was shot around Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where the director was born and was financed by the provinces of Ontario and Nova Scotia. The film is reportedly based on the director's own childhood experiences.
Although the story revolves around kids and teens, KIDS VS. ALIENS is not a children's movie, as evidenced by the frequent swearing by the young characters and the graphic violence and gore that involves lots of blood and gooey substances. Actor Calem MacDonald delivers a standout performance as the traitor boyfriend villain, Billy, who ultimately gets his comeuppance. MacDonald's impressive physique is also on display in a bedroom scene where he takes off his shirt, showcasing his toned body that perfectly complements his good looks. Hailing from Nova Scotia, where the film is produced, MacDonald is a rising star who has appeared in Canadian series such as TRAILER PARK BOYS and the CBC comedy MR. D.
For a low-budget Canadian horror comedy, KIDS VS. ALIENS boasts impressive special effects and lighting that create a convincing atmosphere of an alien invasion at a beachside residence. The movie is set to stream on Shudder, the horror streaming service, beginning on April 14th.
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QUEENS ON THE RUN (FUGA DE REINAS) (Mexico 2023) ***
Directed by Jorge Macaya
As the breezy title implies, QUEENS ON THE RUN is a light (with some laugh- out loud moments) action comedy - more comedy than action, that aims to entertain simply with a simple story for its hour and a half running time. For the reason the film does not aim high, it succeeds as a female feel-good, road trip comedy but do not expect anything in the vein of THELMA AND LOUISE.
4 female ex-schoolmates decide to abandon their individual lives (not too funny here nor too convincing) and decide to take a road trip (with no husbands, no children just naked) they had always wanted to take. The motive is rather: “No matter what age, life is an adventure. It’s never too late to start over. No matter what age, there is a beast inside us waiting to wake up.” Of course, no surprises - they literally bump into some trouble which they get out of eventually based on their female verve and unity.
Nothing special, this Netflix original from Mexico serves as an entertaining and forgetful time-waster. Extra bnus for female audiences, which is the targte audience for this movie. Males - be prepared for abuse! But fun abuse!
RENFIELD (USA 2023) **
Directed by Chris McKay
RENFIELD is the new comedy horror fantasy that takes liberties on the Bram Stoker Dracula novel and updates the tale to modern times. The film’s central character is Dracula’s (Nicholas Cage) servant Robert Montague Renfield (Nicholas Hoult). Renfield finds a new lease on life in modern-day New Orleans when he falls in love with Rebecca Quincy (Awkwafina), a traffic cop, and decides to finally stand up to his creator in hopes of finally breaking free of his servitude.
Performances-wise, Nicholas Cage does a remarkable job as the deranged vampire, hamming it up the best he can and succeeding immensely bringing in most of the film’s pleasures. Hoult is the pretty boy hero and Awkwafina does what the rapper/ comedienne does best - doing Awkwafina as most audiences are familiar with in her roles such as in CRAZY RICH ASIANS.
The romance portrayed by Rebecca and Renfield is a strange one - as strange as one is human and the other a half monster. There are no kisses or sex, not even the holding of hands or a light peck on the cheek. It shows perhaps that love can overcome all boundaries. Or perhaps the romance could have just been left out more conveniently in the story.
RENFIELD in the Bram Stoker 1897 novel is Count Dracula’s servant. Arguably this insect eating half vampire is more interesting than his master, the count himself. In Stoker’s Dracula, he is the deranged, fanatically devoted servant, helping him in his plan to turn Mina Harker into a vampire in return for a continuous supply of insects to consume and the promise of immortality. Throughout the novel, he resides in an asylum, where he is treated by Dr. John Seward. The devotion in the novel is left intact but everything else about RENFIELD appears to be changed for ‘artistic entertainment’ purposes, which in the film’s case is for comedy fantasy horror.
The film contains lots of swearing, blood and gore and action fight scenes. The amount of blood seen is understandable as Dracula is a blood drinking vampire, but the insect eating scenes are more disturbing. There are lots of gore from broken limbs to decapitation, but all done in the fun and spirit of entertainment. Everyone swears in the film, particularly Rebecca, The action scenes are exciting enough though more could have been done in improving their continuity.
The best thing about the film occurs at the end during the closing credits. The film is deliberately made to look all scratched up like the old horror movies of Dracula and other horror classics, with dancers that are mentioned in the credits but can hardly be seen performing owing to the blurred images.
As a fantastic comedy horror, the film fails as both a comedy and a horror. The comedy is childish and bland though the storyline is just passably modified to suit current times. The film is definitely a horror fantasy though hardly an entertaining one, a rather muddled up blend of too many ingredients in one pot.
SWEETHURT (Australia 2022) ***
Directed by Tom Danger
From down under, arrives a new quirky comedy of the young entitled SWEETHURT. A play on the word “sweetheart”, the story is about being hurt when or after falling in love. There are two interlocking stories here one with a young indigenous male and another with a female. Bit are trying to get over their breakups.
In the director (Tom Danger( and scriptwriter’s (Logan Webster) heartfelt look at love and heartbreak as a young adult, SWEETHURT follows Jacob (Rav Ratnayake), who embarks on a road-trip to a small, beach-side town with his two best friends Mike and Drew, (Mehdy Salameh, Logan Webster) as well as his sociopath sister, Abby (Sam Germain), for what promises to be a fun weekend of going through their newly-deceased grandfather's stuff. When friends get together with an empty house in view, a party is just waiting to happen. And when a party is waiting to happen, all hell will break loose. Upon arrival, Jacob's true motivations are revealed; his ex-girlfriend, Olivia (Alannah Robertson) now with some new hunk Tyler, lives in the town, and Jacob wants one last shot at probably disappointing her again. Meanwhile, in the second story, Skye (Tyra Cartledge) has just had her heart broken, and the only one who can pick up the pieces is her best friend Carly (Rhiaan Marquez) - together, they go on a voyage through the night as Skye struggles with her burgeoning sexuality, having to deal with perverts, pirates, and worst of all - her parents. There is also a baby goat, of course.
The film features a pop-punky, fist-pumping, skateboardy soundtrack, evoking the ripped-jean vibes of the late 90s/early 2000s. SWEETHURT features pop-rock legends Third Eye Blind, current glam-rock megastars The Struts, underground pop-punk royalty Mest, as well as a collection of modern and classic bands from all over the world, creating a nostalgia-soaked instant classic of young adult angst, romance, friendship and partying until you pass out.
SWEETHURT is not as good or as hilarious or even as original as it wants to be, but not for want of trying. Take for example, the dialogue that tries so hard to be original and funny - the one referring to the scenic route, which means meeting up with the average guy before dumping him for a hotter one, once the average guy has introduced all his better looking friends.Audiences have seen films with wilder parties, crazier stories with young teen love anode course much funnier teen comedies with teen angst. Still SWEETHURT is amusing and entertaining and watchable for its short running time of 92 minutes.
SWEETHURT has made its rounds at various film festivals, already screened at Byron Bay Underground Film Festival, New Jersey International Film Festival, and Sydney Underground Film Festival.
Gravitas Ventures will release SWEETHURT on digital platforms on April 18, 2023. The film has a running time of 92 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA.
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ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Peyton Reed
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA is the long awaited and much anticipated sequel to ANT-MAN that entertained Marvel fans in 2015 with action combined with much comedy.
As in all MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films, there is little story but a simple premise to go on. Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly), along with Hope's parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) , and Lang's daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), go on a new adventure exploring the Quantum Realm that pushes their limits and pits them against Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).
The action super hero here, in diminutive size in Ant-Man , (Rudd) an Avenger and former petty criminal with a suit that allows him to shrink or grow in scale while increasing in strength. After the events of Avengers: Endgame (2019), Lang has become a well-known celebrity to the public, as well as the author of an autobiographical book titled Look Out for the Little Guy, which tells a different version of how he helped save the universe. When the film opens. Lang is signing copies of his book, a task that Cassie frowns down upon. Cassie wants to save the world. But she lands her family and the multiverse in grave danger instead.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA can be considered the most family friendly Marvel action franchise. In this film, family values are stressed. Even the grandparents (on the mother’s side) are brought into the picture. It is all about the daughter growing up right with solid values. The film is also funnier and often quite cartoonish, making the film suitable for little kids. Noticeably too, is the lack of swearing and violence.
The funniest and most winning creature in the film is MODOK (an acronym for Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing), a character with an enlarged head and baby limbs. He is Pyn’s old friend Darren. When MODOK first appears on the screen, Scott or ANT-MAN’s first reaction is “Darren?” to which he replies: "I am now known as the ultimate weapon.” Vassie tells him: “Don’t be a dick.” later on in the film, words that the ultimate weapon then takes to heart to redeem himself. Not only is MODOK ridiculous to look at with his skinny arms and legs, but the character is given the funniest lines. One can forgive a string of film faults when given the good laughs provided by MODOK, the character that saves the movie.
QUANTUMANIA is likeliest the funniest of all the Marvel super action hero movies - no complaints about that. Lead actor Paul Rudd is also a comedian and director Reed has basically directed all comedies, such as BRING IT ON. Special effects, action, sets are typically what is expected from a Marvel film, but best is to see QUANTUMANIA for its humour.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA opens widely in theatres on February the 27th.
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BOY FROM NOWHERE (Canada/Philippines 2022) ***
Directed by S.J. Finlay
The Philippines has been given a bad rap by Hollywood lately. In Jennifer Lopez’s SHOTGUN WEDDING, her character’s wedding is hijacked by supposedly Filipino pirates and in the Julia Roberts and George Clooney vehicle TICKET TO PARADISE, Filipino rebels descend on their daughter's wedding. Both films ended up being filmed in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic respectively. BOY FROM NOWHERE is based on true events with Filipino rebels. This film was shot in the Philippines.
Shot guerrilla style in dangerous parts of the southern Philippines, BOY FROM NOWHERE is S.J. Finlay’s feature film debut. It features a cast of non-actors whose lives closely mimic the tale of a boy caught up in a chain of events beyond his control. After losing his father and home when his fishing village is burned down in an attack, a lost and gentle young boy named Gary sets off inland to find his mother and her tribe. “Why is my skin not as dark as the others?” Gary is curious and wonders of his origins and he asks his father the question. Vulnerable and malleable, he battles hunger and solitude, drifting into the wrong crowd as he is brainwashed into becoming a child soldier for the local rebel faction until further loss leads him to find a more meaningful purpose for his life.
The film is beautifully shot showing the beauty of the Philippine countryside. But Gary ends up in the city of Malaybalay, far from home. Malaybalay, officially the City of Malaybalay is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 190,712 people.
The underwater shots of Gary swimming (his tribe is fishermen) and of Gary playing basketball are well executed and worthy of mention.
It is obvious that the topic that director Finlay wishes to bring to the audience's attention is the existence of child soldiers. Gary is recruited through a young friend slightly older than himself, who ends up being shot into film. The film is based on real life characters and the friend actually survived.
Finlay’s film is sympathetic to the rebels, despite their guerrilla tactics and acts of violence to further their cause. The audience gets to hear their arguments and disgruntling against the government, one-sided that they may be. But it is the peaceful way of rebellion that director Finlay wishes to make known. It is farming to put food in the mouths of families, a fact more important than fighting and killing. The climax of the film has Gary decide whether o go with the guerrillas or the farmers.
Director Finlay pays tribute to quite a few classic movies in his film.. Gary sings during a karaoke session THE SOUND OF MUSIC Roger and Hammerstein song “Climb Every Mountain” which symbolizes his quest to succeed beyond all odds.
The film is shot in Basaya & Tagalog (English Subtitled) and opens on Amazon on February the 17th, 2023.
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CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (aka SWORD OF DESTINY)
(Taiwan/Hong Kong/USA/China 2000) Top 10 *****
Directed by Ang Lee
Hailed by critics and audiences alike, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON the martial-arts sword saga has been on the list of many’s top10 films of 2000. 22 years later and February the 17th sees the 4K restoration on the big screen where epics such as this, should be seen and experienced.
The star of the piece is the legendary Green Destiny sword in which the bearer is able to wield exceptional power. The trouble and the story begins when a thief that turns out to be young Chinese warrior steals this sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation. Set against the breathtaking landscape of ancient China, the story is of two women whose fates intertwine. Shu Lien (Michelle Yeoh) is a warrior who, in the name of honour, has long suppressed her feelings for legendary fighter Li Mu Bai (Hong Kong action star Chow Yun Fat). Jen (Zhang Ziyi), on the other hand, is a young aristocrat who longs for a life of crime and passion. When a famed sword belonging to Mu Bai is stolen, Shu Lien and Jen come face to face – not only with each other, but also with their destinies.
The film has everything an epic has to offer - adventure, action, romance (times two), a journey, the fight between good and evil and all in a period backdrop of beautiful ancient China with excellent cinematography by Peter Pau, of the bamboo forests where the climactic fight takes place and the barren desert and mountains. The musical is composed by Dun Tan with cello solos by world famous Yo-Yo Ma. The stunning fight cinematography is by Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix).
The cast is excellent, especially a younger Michelle Yeoh who is nominated this year for her performance in EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE. But the prize performance belongs to Martial Arts film veteran star of many Shaw Brothers sword fighting action films, Cheng Pei-Pei as Jade Fox, the villain of the piece. Cheng Pei-Pei wowed audiences in her debut film, the Shaw Brothers production COME DRINK WITH ME directed by the legendary King Hu who went on to make classics like DRAGON INN, LEGEND OF THE MOUNTAIN and A TOUCH OF ZEN. Ang Lee’s film clearly pays a wonderful tribute to King Hu’s action films. It is Ang Lee’s first action film and he manages a feat that Chinese director Zhang Yimou failed in his Martial-Arts epics like HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS. Lee combined the fight choreography with edge of the seat excitement, the latter being lost in Zhang’s films. The flight of the combatants across the roofs and the tops of the bamboo trees are perfect examples of Ang’s and his team’s mastery.
In case one has forgotten, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON went on to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film now known as the Best International Feature. The film is definitely worth another viewing, especially after 22 years.
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MARLOWE (Ireland/USA 2022) **
Directed by Neil Jordan
When it was announced at Cannes that Neil Jordan (THE CRYING GAME) would be directing a new Philip Marlowe movie with Liam Neeson in the titular role, there was much commotion and hype. Added to the top cast were heavyweights Diane Kruger (INGLORIOUS BASTERDS), Jessica Lange, Alan Cumming and Danny Huston. The question is whether the film will meet up to expectations.
Based on the novel The Black-Eyed Blonde, the 1939’s-set film in Bay City, California with the oil and movie businesses in full swing, sees private detective Marlowe (Neeson) hired to find the ex-lover of a glamorous heiress. Initially it looks an open and shut case, but Marlowe soon finds himself in the underbelly of Hollywood’s film industry and unwittingly drawn into the crossfire of a legendary Hollywood actress and her subversive, ambitious daughter.
Who is this Marlowe character? In the words of Marlowe himself in the film: “I am just an ordinary Joe trying to earn a buck while staying out of jail.” The script also steals from other movies as in the scene when Marlowe says: “I am too old for this,” taken from the LETHAL WEAPON franchise.
Director Jordan plays it safe with the production values - sets, props as well as dialogue and references. Perhaps too safe! This film lacks punch! He pays homage also to film noir films kill Roman Polanski’s CHINATOWN in which a character (played by Faye Dunaway) is seen with a damaged eye shot with a bullet on the film set. There is always too much said that happening and it does require a lot off audience concentration to follow- a case of too much concentration paid by the audience for little reward.
The one positive aspect of the film is the creation of the Raymond Chandler atmosphere. “I have never ever seen a sober driver” says the owner of a drinks club in the city. At the film’s beginning , the audience first sees the femme fatale at Marlowe’s office, complete with silhouette. There is much dialogue that illustrates the precision of Marlowe’s detective skills.
Neeson’s Marlowe is an ok portrayal for all that it is worth. It is a far cry from his TAKEN franchise. His character is often referred to as a big man, and Marlowe does gets his fair share of beating up the baddies. As in all the Marlowe films, Marlowe will get himself beaten up.
The best Raymond Chandler Marlowe film remains Robert Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE with Elliot Goulding he title role followed by THE BIG SLEEP and FAREWELL MY LOVELY. Other films like Roman Polanski’s CHINATOWN and the Humphrey Bogart films put this one to shame. The ingredient missing in Jordan’s MARLOWE is the shock (or surprise) element. The big twist in the plot at the end (for example when the villain tuned out to have raped his daughter so that the Faye Dunaway’s daughter was also her sister) or the lesbian dancing partying neighbours in THE LONG GOODBYE were what made the old film noir films different Jordan uses action as an alternative in his film..
MARLOWE will open in theatres on Wednesday, February 15th.
Trailer:
OF AN AGE (Australia 2022) **
Directed by Steve Stoleski
OF AN AGE comes with the heading ‘one of the most romantic films ever seen’. Whether the words are true to anyone is up to the individual. But there are a lot of darkly lit scenes in which faces are hidden and cannot be seen.
OF AN AGE is a gay falling in love film, sort of Harlequin-style. There is a slight obstacle though one could do with a stronger one, which obviously will be overcome for the two star crossed immigrant Aussie lovers to come back together again. Audiences have seen all this before. There is nothing really new in the film and director Stoleski takes his time with his film just trudging along without much happening. Stoleski begins his film with a 5 - 10 minute solo dance sequence in which the audience is introduced to the main character, Kol (Elias Anton) where the actor gets to display his talent, not so much in dance but for showing off his body, with lots of twists, turns and grinding.
One wonders the reason this mediocre film got made and picked up by Universal and Focus Features. The film is born and bred in Melbourne, Australia and the director had won a few talent awards and given money to do the movie. Goran Stolevski was born and grew up in North Macedonia before migrating to Australia as a teenager. He completed a Bachelor of Creative Arts at the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts. He won the Ruben Mamoulian Best Director Award at the 2016 Sydney Film Festival with You Deserve Everything, before attending the Berlinale Talent Campus and MIFF Accelerator as well as receiving the $50,000 Lexus Fellowship for his short film My Boy Oleg. Stoleski appears to be a Melbourne prodigy. OF AN AGE is Stoleksi’s second full-length feature, his first being a horror drama.
Set in the summer of 1999 as an 17-year-old Serbian born, Australian amateur ballroom dancer Kol experiences an unexpected and intense 24-hour romance with a friend's Ebony (Hattie Hook) brother, Adam (Thom Green).
The film begins with the girl, Ebony waking up on a beach not realizing how she got there and what had happened to her. She scrounges a coin to make a telephone call to Kol, who happens to be dancing and showing off his body to the audience. She is in quite a state and wants him to borrow a car to pick her up immediately. The car he borrows ends up to be from her brother, Adam which is how the two meet. Yes, they meet in the car. Apart from these sequences, that have nothing much to do with the story but wasting time. The film is generally a slow trudge with nothing much really happening. It does not help that Stileksi’s camera is always up close with closeups of faces and objects. If only he would pull back the camera more often. This kind of film creates a false sense of urgency, making the audience often more uncomfortable than not. It also does not help that Stoleksi plays with the sound editing so that it is often not easy to decipher the words uttered by the characters. They, speaking with an Australian accent does not help North American audiences either.
Focus Features and Universal releases OF AN AGE on February the 10th, and exapns on the 17th just after Valentine’s Day.
Trailer:
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