TIFF 2016 Movie Review: PLANETARIUM (France/Belgium 2016)

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

PLANETARIUM (France/Belgium 2016) **
Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski

Starring: Natalie Portman, Lily-Rose Depp, Emmanuel Salinger

Review by Gilbert Seah

PLANETARIUM is beautifully shot period piece on the lives of two sisters who care too much for each other.

The setting is Paris in the 1930s, where two sisters, American spiritualists Laura (Natalie Portman) and Kate Barlow (Lily-Rose Depp), are winding up a world tour. Seemingly adept at communicating with the dead, the women are somewhat less experienced with the business of the living.

Nevertheless, their astonishing exhibit of apparently supernatural powers piques the interest of powerful French film producer André Korben (Emmanuel Salinger), who retains their strange talents for his wildly ambitious new film project. Laura and Kate are soon swept up in a scheme that, fusing art and the occult, portends a dark shadow soon to be cast over all of Europe.

The film is better than it sounds.

Portman inhabits her role similar to the one she did in her directorial debut A TALE OF LOVE AND DARKNESS. But director Zlotoskski’s film feels very detached and one can hardly feel sympathetic for the sisters or even for the film producer. All pretty things aside, the film is quite the bore.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV3k-L10A2M

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: CARRIE PILBY (USA 2016) ***

September 18, 2016September 18, 2016 festreviews 2016 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized 2016 movie reviews, Bel Powley, Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne, CARRIE PILBY (USA 2016) ***, gilbert seah, Susan Johnson, TIFF movie review, TIFF movie reviews

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

CARRIE PILBY (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Susan Johnson

Starring: Bel Powley, Nathan Lane, Gabriel Byrne

Review by Gilbert Seah

Being too smart might be detrimental to ones life. Based on Caren Lissner’s best-selling 2003 novel, CARRIE PILBY is a story of a awkward teen who graduated Harvard at the age of 19 and lives in a small NYC apartment paid for by her London-based father (Gabriel Byrne).

Carrie (Bel Powley) has no job, no purpose and no friends because she actively dislikes just about everyone (rating them “morally and intellectually unacceptable”) as only a teenager can.

Her one regular contact is her dad’s therapist friend, Dr. Petrov (Nathan Lane in rare role of an unfaithful straight man), who after a fruitless series of weekly visits finally sets Carrie some homework: a five-point plan to get her life together. As they say, nothing goes as planned. The plan results in her life turned more upside down. Johnson’s film takes half the film to get its footing.

The first half is really annoying with Carrie spurting out too much clever dialogue and the script getting too smug for tis own good. It treats its audience as simple folk that need a twist in every segment or needing a punch line after a dialogue.

The film gets more tolerable in the second half even turning to winning when Carrie finally gives up on the plan.

Part coming-of-age, part father/daughter relationship and part romance, CARRIE PILBY is a chick flick that finally rises, like is character at the end.

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: BOYS IN THE TREES (Australia 2016)

September 18, 2016September 18, 2016 festreviews 2016 movies, movie, TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized 2016 movie reviews, BOYS IN THE TREES (Australia 2016) **, gilbert seah, Nicholas Verso, TIFF movie review, TIFF movie reviews, Toby Wallace, Gulliver McGrath, Mitzi Ruhlmann

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

BOYS IN THE TREES (Australia 2016) **
Directed by Nicholas Verso

Starring: Toby Wallace, Gulliver McGrath, Mitzi Ruhlmann

Review by Gilbert Seah

BOYS UNDER TREES contains an exciting premise – a coming-of-age story with gay overtones set in a small Australian town where the protagonist seeks to leave for the big city. The action takes place during Halloween where goals and Aborigine black magic exists.

The story unfolds over the course of an afternoon and deep into Halloween night, what occurs are also on the border separating the comforts of daytime and the eeriness of twilight. Some of the suburban territories they stumble into seem to contain a parallel realm of supernatural forebodings.

But the parallel universe theme does not really work and serve to confuse than to fascinate. Verso’s film is also so slow moving that one feels that it should have ended long before its short running time. The film also puzzles with a lot of questions like:

Is the snow in one scene real and if false who is supplying it and why is it toxic? Why is the girl in a different place for no reason?
Why is the Aborigine in the white suit appearing for no reason?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gfx7L-pXCUg

Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.

Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month: http://www.wildsoundfestival.com

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: AQUARIUS (Brazil/France 2016) ****

September 18, 2016September 18, 2016 festreviews 2016 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized 2016 movie reviews, AQUARIUS (Brazil/France 2016) ****, gilbert seah, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Sonia Braga, Maeve Jinkings, Julia Bernat, TIFF movie review, TIFF movie reviews

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

AQUARIUS (Brazil/France 2016) ****
Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho

Starring: Sonia Braga, Maeve Jinkings, Julia Bernat

Review by Gilbert Seah

Filho’s AQUARIUS is again set in Recife, the seaside neighbourhood that he made famous in his last film NEIGHBOURING SOUNDS.

Though that one was mainly set at night, AQUARIUS is mainly shot in bright sunlight for most of the scenes. AQUARIUS focuses on an individual: Clara (ex-Brazilian sex symbol, who still maintains her looks, Sônia Braga), a retired music critic and the sole tenant of an older apartment block being bought up by ruthless condo developers.

After surviving a bout of cancer and the loss of her beloved husband, Clara is hardly about to let herself be bullied by the “generous” offers or insidious charms of Diego (Humberto Carrão), the American-educated scion of a powerful local real-estate firm. Diego tries everything in his power to force Clara out of her home, including (hilariously, but not for Clara) hosting a noisy orgy in the suite above Clara’s — one that leaves a putrid mess in its wake. The second half of the film is how Clara fights back. Filho builds up the suspense right up to the climatic confrontation.

The film also reveals the class system, prejudices and culture of the Brazilian society.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bBcLImYBgQ

ubmissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.

Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month: http://www.wildsoundfestival.com

Died Today (September 18th): Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970)

September 18, 2016 festreviews Died Today, Uncategorized Died Today, jimi hendrix, september 18th

Jimi Hendrix (1942–1970)

Born: November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, USA
Died: September 18, 1970 (age 27) in Notting Hill, London, England, UK

Died at 27 years old, making him a member of the “27 Club”; The 27 Club is a group of prominent musicians who died at the age of 27. Other members include The Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones, singer Janis Joplin, The Doors frontman Jim Morrison, Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.

I will be dead in five years’ time, but while I am here, I will travel many highways and I will, of necessity, die at a time when my message of love, peace and freedom can be shared with people all over the world.

Died Today (September 18th): Frank Morgan (1890–1949)

September 18, 2016 festreviews Died Today, Uncategorized Died Today, Frank Morgan (I) (1890–1949), september 18th

Frank Morgan (I) (1890–1949)

Born: June 1, 1890 in New York City, New York, USA
Died: September 18, 1949 (age 59) in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA

Married to:
Alma Muller (11 March 1914 – 18 September 1949) (his death) (1 child)

Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch in The Wizard of Oz (1939) said that whenever she saw the scene in the film where Frank Morgan as the Wizard is giving Dorothy’s friends gifts from his “black bag” (a diploma for the Scarecrow, a ticking heart for the Tin Man, and a medal for the Cowardly Lion), she got teary eyed, because “Frank Morgan was just like that in real life – very generous”.

THE STRATTON STORY
1949
dir. Sam Wood
Stars:
James Stewart
June Allyson

The Wizard of Oz
1939
dir. Victor Fleming
Starring
Garland
Frank Morgan

The Good Fairy
1935
dir. Wyler
starring
Margaret Sullavan
Frank Morgan

The Shop Around the Corner
1940
dir. Ernst Lubitsch
Cast
Margaret Sullavan
James Stewart

Happy Birthday: Jack Warden (1920–2006)

September 18, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday, Uncategorized actor, Happy Birthday, Jack Warden (1920–2006)

Jack Warden (1920–2006)

Born: September 18, 1920 in Newark, New Jersey, USA

Died: July 19, 2006 (age 85) in New York City, New York, USA

Married to: Wanda Ottoni (10 October 1958 – 19 July 2006) (his death) (1 child)

All the President’s Men
1976
dir. Alan J Pakula
Starring
Robert Redford
Dustin Hoffman

…And Justice for All
1979
dir. Norman Jewison
Cast
Al Pacino
Warden

The Replacements
2000
dir. Howard Deutch
Starring
Keanu Reeves
Gene Hackman

BULLETS OVER BROADWAY
1994
dir. Woody Allen
Starring:
John Cusack
Dianne Wiest

From Here to Eternity
1953
dir. Fred Zinnemann
Cast
Burt Lancaster
Montgomery Clift

12 Angry Men
1957
dir. Sidney Lumet
starring
Fonda
Lee J. Cobb

Shampoo
1975
dir. Hal Ashby
starring
Julie Christie
Warren Beatty

ED
1996
dir. Bill Couturie
Stars:
Matt LeBlanc
Jayne Brook

BRIAN’S SONG
1971
dir. Buzz Kulik
Stars:
James Caan
Billy Dee Williams

Happy Birthday: Robert Blake

September 18, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday actor, Happy Birthday, Robert Blake

Robert Blake

Born: September 18, 1933 in Nutley, New Jersey, USA

[About his roles as Tony Baretta and Father Noah Hardstep in Baretta (1975) and Hell Town (1985), respectively]: There are more similarities than differences. They both care a lot about people and they both get impatient with the system if the system seems to be keeping them from doing their jobs. And they both ain’t afraid to do a little scuffling to get the job done.

Happy Birthday: Greta Garbo (1905–1990)

September 18, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday Greta Garbo (1905–1990), Happy Birthday

Greta Garbo (1905–1990)

Born: September 18, 1905 in Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
Died: April 15, 1990 (age 84) in New York City, New York, USA

[in 1932, about her recreational preferences] If I needed recreation, I liked to be out of doors: to trudge about in a boy’s coat and boy’s shoes; to ride horseback, or shoot craps with the stable boys, or watch the sun set in a blaze of glory over the Pacific Ocean. You see, I am still a bit of a tomboy. Most hostesses disapprove of this trousered attitude to life, so I do not inflict upon them.

The Joyless Street
1925
dir. Georg Wilhelm Pabst
Starring
Werner Krauss
Asta Nielsen
Garbo

Flesh and the Devil
1926
dir. Clarence Brown
starring
Garbo
John Gilbert

Anna Christie
1930
dir. Clarence Brown
Cast
Greta Garbo
Charles Bickford

Grand Hotel
1932
dir. by Edmund Goulding
Garbo
John Barrymore

Ninotchka
1939
dir. Ernst Lubitsch
Starring
Garbo
Elvyn Douglas

CAMILLE
1936
dir. George Cukor
Stars:
Greta Garbo
Robert Taylor

Happy Birthday: Beth Grant

September 18, 2016 festreviews Happy Birthday actor, Beth Grant, Happy Birthday

Beth Grant

Born: September 18, 1949 in Gadsden, Alabama, USA

Beth Grant won SAG Best Ensemble Award two years in a row with Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and No Country for Old Men (2007).

As of 2016, has appeared in four films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Rain Man (1988), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), No Country for Old Men (2007) and The Artist (2011). With the exception of Little Miss Sunshine (2006), the other three are winners in the category.

THE ARTIST
dir. Michel Hazanavicius
Star:
John Goodman
Missi Pyle