New Years Special Deadline January 5th: Fantasy/Sci-Fi Screenplay Festival (Feature, Short, TV Pilot) Save $15 off
Submit here: http://fantasyscififestival.com
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New Years Special Deadline January 5th: Comedy Film and Writing Festival (Save $15)
Submit here: http://festivalforcomedy.com
Submit your Fan Fiction Screenplay to the Festival: http://fanfictionfestival.com
BATMAN BEGINS, 2005
Movie Reviews
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, and Cillian Murphy
Review by Andrew Kosarko
8.3/10 on IMDB fan rating.
Read More Professional Reviews
SYNOPSIS:
Director Christopher Nolan tackles the challenge of re-starting the Batman franchise by delving into a physiological take on the Caped Crusader’s origin story that had never been fully realized in the comics. His approach involved an all star cast lead by Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and takes a realistic approach in explaining how and why a billionaire would dress up like a giant bat and take on the underworld of crime.
REVIEW:
I am a Batman fan. I’m pretty passionate about it I’d say, but by no means as crazy as some of the other fans. I’ve read a good portion…
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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca
MARNIE, 1964
Horror/Thriller Movie Review
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Starring Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery
Review by Steven Painter
7.2/10 IMDB fan rating
Read more professional reviews of Marnie.
SYNOPSIS:
Mark marries Marnie although she is a habitual thief and has serious psychological problems, and tries to help her confront and resolve them
REVIEW:
There are many gems Alfred Hitchcock made that do not get the fanfare other movies of his have gotten. From the 1940s, Foreign Correspondent is underappreciated. In the 1950s it is Strangers on a Train. In the 1960s that movie is Marnie (1964).
Marnie is Hitchcock at his psychological best and probably the last great movie of his career. It is certainly the final movie of an era. It would be the last time Hitch worked with cinematographer Robert Burks, who would die soon after finishing the picture from a heart attack, and legendary composer Bernard Herrmann. The two had artistic differences.
The bad thing about this is that when Hitchcock had a difference of opinion with someone – they left the Hitchcock production company. It happened to Ingrid Bergman and it happened during this movie to Ian Hunter. The screenwriter had worked on several Hitchcock pictures, but disapproved of the rape scene in the novel version of Marnie. He voiced his displeasure over the scene to Hitch and Hitch severed relations with the screenwriter. It was only later that Hunter learned the only reason why Hitch wanted to make the movie was because of the rape scene.
Marnie can be looked at as the last great Alfred Hitchcock movie. It is a fitting tribute to a career that spanned more than four decades up to this point.
Tippi Hedren returns to the screen as Margaret Edgar, also known as Marnie. The original choice for the role was Grace Kelly, but at this time she was Princess of Monaco and it would have looked bad if a princess was playing a kleptomaniac. So Hedren got the role of the psychologically confused kleptomaniac.
Using different names and appearances, Marnie moves from job to job, stealing money from her employers before moving on to another town. One job she takes is with publisher Mark Rutland, played wonderfully by Sean Connery. Mark happens to recognize Marnie’s features from a previous business encounter. He becomes fascinated by her and tries to move in on her romantically. She ignores him as the only love she has ever felt in her life has come from stealing money.
She steals money from Mark’s company and makes a dash for it. Mark discovers the loss and balances it. He then takes off to find out who this wild girl really is. He tracks Marnie down at some stables she frequents, as horseback riding is one of her escapes. He then uses blackmail as a technique to get her to marry him.
The wonderful idea of marriage backfires on Mark as Marnie is cold to any sort of sexual advances. When Mark forces himself on her during their honeymoon, in Hitchcock’s favorite scene, she attempts suicide.
Unable to understand Marnie and still fascinated by her, Mark investigates her past. He ends up bringing Marnie to her mother, Bernice. The mother and daughter have always had a frigid relationship. In one of the best climaxes in all of Hitchcock, it is revealed in stunning detail why Marnie is so cold sexually, why she and her mother express little love for each other and why she despises the color red. The atmosphere around this movie is what makes it great. Credit must be given to Robert Burks for creating the camera angles and photographing exactly what Hitchcock had in his mind when reading the novel written by Winston Graham. Credit has also got to be paid to Bernard Herrmann for his magnificent score. It was the last time the two would work together, but it is probably the best overall score Herrmann gave to Hitchcock. The Vertigo and Psycho ones stand out, but Marnie has a score that perfectly expresses through music the atmosphere on screen.
Marnie is a complex movie. I could go on for paragraphs and paragraphs about all the little interesting things contained in it, but I’ll leave you to discover that for yourself. Robin Wood, the film theorist, proclaimed that if you don’t like Marnie then you aren’t a fan of Hitchcock. Then he went a step further and said if you don’t like Marnie then you aren’t a fan of movies. I fully agree with his statements.
Also, 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:www.wildsound.ca
Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month:http://www.wildsoundfestival.com
2015 Poetry Contest – Last Deadline January 15th
Submit a poem that’s about the year 2015 and get it made into a movie.
http://festivalforpoetry.com/
Watch the best of January 2015 Poetry Readings performed by actress Reetu Bambrah. Click the images and watch:
 NOT SO AMAZING POEM FOR AN AMAZING GIRL – Poetry Reading by Abhishek Jha |  T H E I N T E R N M E N T – Poetry Reading by Melodic Rose. |
 Flame – Poetry Reading by Carolyn Hucker |  Star Attraction – Poetry Reading by Agata Zema |
 On A High – Poetry Reading by Patsy Jawo |  The Other Side – Poetry Reading by Patsy Jawo |
 Who are we – Poetry Reading by Patsy Jawo |  My Joseph, My JAM – Poetry Reading by Poet Adrienne Miranda |
CHICKLAND played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:
CHICKLAND, 11min, France, Comedy/Sci-Fi
Directed by Stanislav Graziani
Bubu and Toufik think they are the next Steve Jobs and Martin Zuckerberg… They have implanted a chip in their brain, which gives them access to the web… giving them instant access to universal knowledge. For their first experiment, they test it on picking up girls…
Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:
Chickland left me a little bit on the fence. With the growing dissemination of devices like the Google Glass, and the expansion of Virtual Reality technology Chickland is a bit of a terrifying reminder of a reality that we could all soon be living in. Nevertheless, director Stanislav Graziani did a good job at balancing out the miracles of new technology, with the limitations of our own human psyche, providing a slightly less dystopic view of the future.
The hardest thing to understand about the film was the age range of the actors involved. The male actors seemed far too young to be approaching the girls they were trying to pick up, although perhaps this was done on purpose, considering the end result of their experiment. The end of the film itself is also a bit reassuring, emphasizing the humanity of even the most technologically oriented minds.
There isn’t much that can be said about Chickland without revealing much of the film’s plot. It’s a peek into the future, into what life might look like if Google Glass ever really catches on. Of course there are certain differences. It’s not likely that the Google Glass “victims” of the future will have no suspicion of the tactics being used on them. Then again perhaps this was what Graziani was indicating in his depiction of the boy’s interaction with the math student.
Students of art might also find this film a little insulting in how easily the one boy was able to fake being a literary connoisseur, while his counterpart struggled to prove his math prowess. Nevertheless both the boys’ reactions to “completing the task” at the end of the film showed a lot of emotional sensitivity, one that most young boys of that age would normally not be so ready to admit or expose.
Chickland is an interesting experimental look into what our future might look like, how our grandchildren might date, find partners, or explore their sexuality. It sparks a lot of thinking about where our technological pursuits are heading, what it might truly bring us in the future. This wasn’t by any means one of my favourite short films to watch, but it certainly carried some interesting ideas that will inspire you to consider how natural human emotion is able to coexist with the calculated patterns of digital technology.
THE LAST POST played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:
THE LAST POST, 15min, UK, Comedy/Social Media
Directed by Adam Preston
A halfwit is invited to speak at the funeral of a girl he only knew through the internet.
Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:
Hilariously cringe-worthy. There’s no other way to describe this one. We all now a girl like her; updating her social media constantly, her life seems near perfect, everything she does is amazing, and fun, everything she eats is delicious, and if you wanted you could find out everything about her. Well, almost everything. As we all know social media and online profiles only give us little peeks into a person’s life. No matter how often you update it, how much content you add to it, it’s hard to know the real truth of who a person really is purely through their social media profiles.
Adam Preston has somehow managed to perfectly balance the tragedy and comedy of our excessively interconnected lives. Using the knowledge you can typically gather from a person’s social media accounts Preston writes a hysterical eulogy for one such social media star. This is certainly one film where credit needs to be highly awarded for performance. The Last Post’s main character had me tearing up with laughter non-stop.
Admittedly Preston could have added to the comedic value of his short by having the funeral attendants accept the eulogy as a sincere tribute to the deceased. Nevertheless his actual choice of direction didn’t detract from the hilarity in any way. I also feel obliged to question Preston’s choice of the social class of the deceased and her family. It seems a little reductionist to have her and her family be from a region with a certain reputation for ignorance, simplicity, and poverty. It might have been a little more interesting if they had been from a posh family. However, part of the reason for this could have been to increase the threatening demeanor of the two bully brothers.
The Last Post is more than just a hilarious short film; it’s a commentary on today’s modern, digitally centered society. I had a very odd feeling as soon as the film was over because after having laughed the entire way through the film, I found myself pondreing deeper issues as soon as it was over. Comedy is for everyone, and comedy that is pertinent to current issues is all the more worth it. It kind of suits all flavour preferences; if you’re up for something more serious, this movie will work for you, if you’re up for a good laugh, add this to your list, heck it even has a little violence if that’s your cup of tea! I think you can see where I’m going with this one. Definitely give The Last Post a watch, whatever your inclination. It will be worth it.
SHOOT GRANNY played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:
SHOOT GRANNY, 5min, Spain, Comedy/Musical
Directed by Olivier Kowalczyk
Shoot Granny or when an ordinary tea time between three friends turns into an improvised Gymkhana. On a music of Todd Terje.
Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:
Shoot Granny garnered a really good laugh from the audience, with great reason. It’s common to hear complaints about loud, partying teenagers, but what happens when those loud partiers are actually your grandparents?
The director Olivier Kowalczyck says he was inspired by his work as a doctor; disappointed by how they seemed to perscribe anti-depressants to help seniors sleep rather than provide them with any real psychological support. He claims to have felt like more of a drug dealer than a doctor, and this thought led him to create the storyline for Shoot Granny.
Thankfully Kowalczyck has managed to turn this upsetting subject matter into quite a hilarious repartie. With the background knowledge of this film in mind it might be easy to reprimand Kowalczyck for his comedic approach, but in actual fact what he has done by injecting comedy into this topic is open it up to a much wider public that might otherwise want to ignore the issue. Kowalczyck also manages to add a stronger element of agency to the elderly, allowing us to relate to them as people who like to enjoy themselves, just as we all do, rather than as victims with no control over their ailments.
Some members of the audience seemed a little put off by the loud music, or by the fact that the film didn’t carry subtitles, but Shoot Granny could very well be played on mute and still get its message across. Someone once told me that a film is only truly good if it is able to be played in black and white, and silently while still achieving the same level of emotional impact. Despite the fact that its bright, psychodelic patterns and blaring music adds greatly to the story, I still believe this film would achieve the same purpose without these elements. I think anyone would benefit from watching Shoot Granny, who knows, it might help you approach and understand again, or your elderly loved ones, with just a little more affection and care.
Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca
POINT BREAK (USA/China/Germany 2015) *1/2
Directed by Ericson Core
Review by Gilbert Seah
POINT BREAK is a remake of the Kathryn Bigelow 1991 hit film starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves. Bigelow is a female director able to create big hits with strong male content action films like THE HURT LOCKER, ZERO DARK THIRTY, STRANGE DAYS and my favourite and her first film, NEAR DARK. Director Ericson Core has tough shoes to fill.
The surfing definition of POINT BREAK refers to the type of long-lasting wave found off a coast with a headland or point. A point break is formed when a swell moves around the land almost at a right angle to the beach and a break which begins near the point gradually progresses along the wave. Bigelow’s film involves a FBI agent going undercover to infiltrate a gang of bank robbers disguising themselves as surfers.
The difference in the new POINT BREAK is a series of robberies done by not surfers but extreme sport specialists. They do the big surf in the last climatic scene but engage too, in other sports such as snowboarding, rock climbing and wingsuit flying.
The story of the new POINT BREAK involves a young FBI agent, Utah (Luke Bracey) infiltrating a team of extreme sports athletes he suspects of masterminding a string of unprecedented, sophisticated corporate heists. He engages in this quest as redemption after losing his brother in an extreme sport accident. Deep undercover, and with his life in danger, he strives to prove these athletes are the architects of the mind-boggling crimes that are devastating the world’s financial markets.
Newcomer Luke Bracey delivers a weak performance. With his blond hair and chiseled body, he looks like a model in many scenes with his perfect blond hair flung across his face. Delroy Lindo playing Utah’s boss fairs worse. All he does is bitch about Utah’s job. Utah takes the risks and fights the bad guys but his boss keeps complaining and giving Utah a hard time. Edgar Ramirez (an up and coming star, his last film JOY), who plays bad guy Bodhi, cannot help much either.
The film contains some good scenes involving extreme sports. The rock climbing, surfing and motorbike segments are well shot. But the action and fight sequences lack any excitement.
The plot lacks credibility. The eight ordeals that Bodhi seeks make little sense. He ends up completing seven with the last one left in limbo. Utah somehow manages to figure out all the ordeals Bodhi has completed, something hardly believable.
POINT BREAK which costs close to $100 million only made $10 million domestic the first weekend. However, being a Chinese and German co-production, it opened elsewhere a week before North America grossing a remarkable $50 million, which helps the poor domestic numbers. Still, POINT BREAK is far from being a satisfying action flick. The film sags after the first 15 minutes and picks up just a little towards the end. The open ending does not help either. Action fans prefer closure. Open endings are more suited to artsy films which POINT BREAK definitely isn’t.
POINT BREAK ends up the most boring action film of 2015.
Also, 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:www.wildsound.ca
Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month:http://www.wildsoundfestival.com
Family on Board played to rave reviews at the November 2015 FEEDBACK Film Festival.
Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Video from the Festival:
FAMILY ON BOARD, 15min, USA, Drama
Poetry by George Pogatsia
On his way to report to prison, Mike Petito reflects on his life and anticipates what lies ahead … that’s when catastrophe strikes.
Review of the Short Film by Amanda Lomonaco:
Family on Board encompasses so many different elements and genres that it seems almost impossible to put it all into a few reductive paragraphs. In fact I find it difficult to even fit it into one single genre. Despite all this confusion, or perhaps exactly because of it, most of the audience seemed to really enjoy it. Considering the ominous title and the manner in which the film ends I have a feeling that the mish-mash of genres was very much intentional to make the twist ending even sharper.
People’s reactions to this film seem to be largely dependent on how they interpreted the ending. Like many of the films shown at WILDSound, Family on Board ends quite ambiguously, leaving viewers to imagine for themselves how they believe the story ended. This became all the more evident during the feedback session, where several audience members voiced a plethora of opinions about the end, that I would have never even considered.
Many people also seemed a bit taken aback by how the film begins. Some were put off by the intense violence depicted, others seemed to find the beginning weak, and the performance of the thieves to be unconvincing. I have the feeling this beginning also weighed heavily on how people imagined the films’ ending. With a film that has so many turns and shifts it’s hard to say which points actually influenced the audience’s reaction the most.
Although George Pogatsia goes through a lot of effort to convince us that the main character is a positive member of the community with nothing but good intentions, at times his benevolence seems a little forced or exaggerated. Despite the crime he committed and his ownership of a gun, the main character seems like the kindest and most caring person in the world, going out of his way to help every stranger that crosses his path. The need for this juxtaposition is understandable in order to attract audience sympathy, but it perhaps could have been carried out a little more subtly and had the same, if not a greater, impact. Nevertheless, the familiar famous faces scattered throughout the main character’s “benevolent” sequence do help distract from this exaggeration, if only a little.
Family on Board is definitely a film for lovers of crime dramas and unsolved mysteries. Certainly Tony Sirico’s presence is bound to bring a smile to many a lover of The Sopranos or Goodfellas. There’s a lot to absorb in this film, and it will take you through a bit of a roller-coaster, but who doesn’t love a good old fashioned roller-coaster ride?
Festival Reviews 