Year: 2017

STEGMAN IS DEAD (Canada 2017) ***

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Stegman Is Dead Poster
Meet Stegman. He’s dead. In this crime comedy, bizarre assassins must come together to unravel the puzzle of Stegman’s blackmail secret, and why he’s already dead on the set of his own porn film.

Director:

David Hyde

Writers:

David Hyde, Stephen Kunc

Stars:

Michael Eklund, Bernice Liu, Linnea Moffat

 

Raven Banner Entertainment distributes low budget films – usually horror flicks or flicks with an edge.  STEGMAN IS DEAD falls into the latter category, with violence and  some foul language thrown in for good measure despite the film’s protagonist being a family man.

A family man with a past crime background, to be more accurate.  He has ‘successfully’ completed a heist in which he had accidentally killed two security guards.  His boss, Don (Michael Ironside) has cleaned up everything but unfortunately all the cleanup was recorded on tape which has been stole by Stegman who is now blackmailing him.

The film attracted attention well before its release, with two nominations at the Golden Trailer Awards in LA, an Award Of Excellence at the IndieFest 2017 Film Awards in the US and a surprising “market premiere” at the Cannes Film Festival programmed by Telefilm Canada as one of their six favourite films of 2017.

Director Hyde focuses the film on a single location (Stegman’s home/studio) and created a colourful array of criminals, each with their own distinct “style.” There are twenty-one speaking roles include a bumbler named Lars (Arne MacPherson), a sadistic Russian named Sergei (David Lawrence Brown), a psycho “terminator” named Kruger (Stephen Eric McIntyre) and a mystery-woman named Evy (Bernice Liu).

This follows Diane’s family, a deceptively pleasant, aging lot of retired criminals who want to give her struggling husband Gus, a leg up.  The father and daughter – the leads of the story – are members of a clan that goes back generations. They revere the fact that they are thieves. They live in an offbeat culture that exists outside normal society. ‘My dad taught me how to steal wallets, I’m teaching my daughter how to steal wall

When the film opens, Mike is in front of his house. The voiceover informs that he is about to rob his own house.  But the police have been to the house first.  He is to recover the tapes that will save his hide and his marriage.

STEGMAN IS DEAD is confidently put together by director, writer and cast who clearly exhibits confidence.  The trouble with confidence is that the film comes out as too smug for tis own good.  A bit more humility will result in flaws being identified and perhaps corrected.  

The film’s dialogue ranges from funny to fair.  His wife warns him:”If you don’t bring back the bacon, you do not get the sausage.”  Or an old guys saying: “No ore tension, now with pension.”  But the film occasionally hits the laughter jackpot as in one scene where everyone at gathering is forced to lie on the ground.  The wife of an elderly tells him, “Keep your arms together”, as he has difficulty going down to the floor.

The film’s setting is Middle America with its low income residences, old cars and dirty roads.  It sold remembered though that this is a Canadian movie.

STEGMAN IS DEAD is not a bad film, efficiently put together with a confident cast and crew.  It contains occasional surprises but one has to watch out for them.  There is one good thing to say about this film – it has spirit!  The film has a limited engagement at the Carlton Cinemas, again a small venue for small budget films and gems.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/223366304

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PARADISE (Russia 2016) ****

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Paradise Poster
Trailer

Follows three people whose paths cross during a terrible time of war: Olga, a Russian aristocratic emigrant and member of the French Resistance; Jules, a French collaborator; and Helmut, a high-ranking German SS officer.

Director:

Andrey Konchalovskiy

Writers:

Andrey Konchalovskiy (screenplay), Elena Kiseleva (screenplay)

Stars:

Yuliya Vysotskaya, Peter Kurth, Viktor Sukhorukov

Shot in black and white in part documentary style with interviews, PARADISE is a harrowing if not compelling study of human behaviour and strife for a better lifestyle (or as the film unfolds, the goal is to achieve a kind of PARADISE) regardless of circumstances.  The circumstances in the film’s setting are not too good – as the setting is a Nazi concentration camp.

When the film opens, the audience sees three different individuals interviewed, whose paths cross because of the devastation of war.  

The first person interviewed is a portly middle-class Frenchman named Jules who has a wife and a son called Emile..  He goes on to talk about his son being called Emile for no real reason, except to show that he is a man dedicated to family.  Director Konchalovsky (who has proven himself with 3 well-known films, RUNAWAY TRAIN, THE ODYSSEY, SHY PEOPLE) allows his audience to form their own opinion or judgement on this not entirely unlikeable character as in the other two, despite him being a French-Nazi collaborator. 

Next is handsome high-ranking German SS officer Helmut, who once fell madly in love with Olga and still harbours feelings. They re-kindle their old flame and embark on a twisted and destructive relationship.

The third and most important in the story is Olga.  Olga, a Russian aristocratic immigrant and member of the French Resistance, is arrested by Nazi police for hiding Jewish children during a surprise raid.  As her punishment, she is sent to jail where she meets Jules and later Helmut who offers her a safe haven to South America as an escape both for her from the concentration camp and for him from the defeat of the Nazis in the war.

The best thing about PARADISE is the film’s authentic look in terms of period and atmosphere.  Everything else too from the costumes, wardrobe, sets look directly as if they were derived from old photographs.  The camera moves in and out the seemingly crowded spaces in the concentration camp.

Konchalovsky also shows the rift between the Jewish prisoners.  They fight among themselves for food and for the attire off someone who has just died.  The kapos (the prisoners selected to act as guards) are also looked down upon in the film.  Besides the grim look of the camps, Konchalovsky also shows the splendour enjoyed by the rich.  Servants stand by to serve the rich and fortunate as they play tennis in the latest fashioned attire.  Helmut looks particular sexy in his outfits among the females.

But the film’s main goal is the message that is revealed only at the end of the film – on how humanity and kindness can still exist amidst the futility of war.  The film’s theme can be summarized using the famous words of German philosopher Karl Jaspers: “That which has happened is a warning. It must be continually remembered. It was possible for this to happen, and it remains possible for it to happen again at any minute. Only in knowledge can it be prevented.”

PARADISE arrives though a year late, with all the accolades after winning the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival.  Definitely a film worth seeing!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzIthDhMjC4

 

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BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL (Japan 2017) ***

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Blade of the Immortal Poster
Trailer

Manji, a highly skilled samurai, becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle. Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul. He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Hiroaki Samura (manga), Tetsuya Oishi (screenplay)

Stars:

Takuya mura, Hana Sugisaki, Sôta Fukushi Ki

If you have not heard of Takashi Miiki, this is the opportunity to get acquainted with the Japanese writer/director who has made 99 films so far with this one BLADE OFTHE IMMORTAL based on Hiroaki Samura’s ground-breaking and award-winning manga, being his 100th film.  Most of his films, violent as they are never get a commercial release in Canada.

Miiki is famous for action samurai films but he is also well known for his modern horror flicks, especially AUDITION, which is one film guaranteed to make one cringe – imagine steel wire supported by bricks dismembering ones foot.

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL follows the hero of the story, Manji (Takuya Kimura), a highly skilled samurai who becomes cursed with immortality after a legendary battle.  Haunted by the brutal murder of his sister, Manji knows that only fighting evil will regain his soul.  He promises to help a young girl named Rin avenge her parents, who were killed by a group of master swordsmen led by ruthless warrior Anotsu. The mission will change Manji in ways he could never imagine.

In period samurai pieces, interest is often lost without personalizing the story.  This one has Rin who hires Manji to avenge her father –  a story reminiscent of TRUE GRIT.

For amusement, Miiki inserts a debate on what is good and what evil is, only to tear apart the concept a few moments after.

  The straightforward samurai revenge flick is built around the platonic, primal ideal of what a samurai movie can be.  Still, as in Miiki’s films, BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL is a non-stop symphony of murder and steel filled with unbelievable weapons, gruesome amputations, rivers of blood, and charismatic warriors. It is a 2 hour 20 minute saga, though interest never flails.  It features spectacular fight scenes with a whole array of imaginative weapons, and a climactic battle reportedly involving some 300 people that took more than two weeks to film.

Miiki takes his time to establish his villain.  The villain is one Anotsu, not just a villain with no character.  He has his principle of fighting one on one, and not playing with children as he deems it vulgar.  He is a pretty boy with luscious lips, always decked in a gorgeous robe, obviously better looking than the hero, who has a scar right across his face.  That is Miiki’s weird humour that makes his film and his characters stand out against others.

Miiki remembers too that in spite of all, BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL is an action sword fitting flick.  So, the battles and fights are well choreographed and exciting enough to satisfy die hard fans.  There is a little combination of horror and action in the film, but the horror is not as disturbing as in his other films like AUDITION.  Still, there are a lot of chopped off hands, feet and limbs. 

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL premiered at Cannes and at the Reel Asian International Film Festival in Toronto.  

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M2F4-oTNF4

 

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ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. (USA 2017) ***

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Trailer

Denzel Washington stars as Roman Israel, a driven, idealistic defense attorney who, through a tumultuous series of events, finds himself in a crisis that leads to extreme action.

Director:

Dan Gilroy

Writer:

Dan Gilroy

Stars:

Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo |

 

Writer/director Dan Gilroy’s ROMAN J. ISRAEL is a film that tries very hard to be perfect, just as its subject, ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ (Denzel Washington) tries to be.  But perfection is a state that is almost impossible to achieve with regards to the film and its subject, and this point comes clear at the end of the film.  Which is a shame considering writer/director Gilroy’s noble intentions.

The film begins with a document in the making, with a plaintiff and defendant named the same person Roman J. Israel, Esq.  The film flashbacks three years earlier to explain how this state of affairs comes to be.

Gilroy introduces his man, Israel as a noble man, but one that is not respected by many as this is a man not of the world, but of humbler means but with proud aspirations.  He works in a small law firm with his partner taking on small cases that matter in terms of human rights and fairness.  The partner does all the court appearances while Israel all the ground work.  When his partner, the firm’s front man, has a heart attack, Israel suddenly takes on that role.  He finds out some unsettling things about what the crusading law firm has done that run afoul of his values of helping the poor and dispossessed, and he finds himself in an existential crisis that leads to extreme action.  

Into the his world arrives two people that make a difference.  One is Maya (Carmen Ejogo) who looks up to him and who he eventually falls in love with.  The other is the head of a well established and successful law firm, Arthur (Colin Farrell) whom his partner taught and inspired in law school.  Arthur takes Israel in, hoping to find his conscience that he has almost lost in the world of business and law.

What stands out in this incredible story is Roman’s downfall.   Like any other man, he is tempted by the good life.  Roman takes a bite of the apple in the garden of Eden.  The apple arrives in the reward money Roman quietly takes from one of his cases.  And he is found out.

A lot of the film rests on Oscar Winner Denzel Washington’s performance.  Roman is the main subject who is in almost every scene.  Roman not only undergoes a character change once but twice from good to bad and to good again.  The character also undergoes a rites-of-passage where he learns about life itself.  But the surprise and prized performance comes from Colin Farrell.  Farrell douses his unkempt and portly appearance he donned in THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER and THE LOBSTER to reveal a sexy business executive, a Mr. Perfect looking sharp and sexy in his  perfectly tailored suits and groomed hair.   He finally shows his transition from action actor to star commanding the screen presence in this film so magnificently.

One wishes ROMAN the film would have come out more powerful.  The main problem is the film aiming too high.  A classic movie arrives with minor flaws, some dull parts and surprises just as what life dishes out.  Gilroy’s ROMAN J. ISRAEL, entertaining though it may be, is just too meticulously planned.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CItEtnp3nPY

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Film Review: JUSTICE LEAGUE (USA 2017) ***

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Justice League Poster
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.

Director:

Zack Snyder

Writers:

Chris Terrio (screenplay by), Joss Whedon (screenplay by)  »

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa

 

JUSTICE LEAGUE is the d.c. comics team of superheroes (conceived by Gardner Fox and first appearing in the 1960 comic) who join together to battle super villains. The seven original members were Superman, Aquaman, Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, Batman, and Wonder Woman.  These members rotate and have also included lesser known action heroes like Atom and Plastic Man.

In JUSTICE LEAGUE the film, the league is made up of the leader, Batman (Ben Affleck) , Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa)and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) formed to honour Superman (Henry Cavill) after his death.

The story takes place months after the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where Superman dies.  As the world mourns Superman’s death, the Justice League is formed by Batman to face the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf (an unrecognizable Ciaran Hinds) and his army of Parademons, who are on the hunt for three Mother Boxes on Earth.

Considering the (critically not commercially) disaster of all the films so far in the D.C. extended universe excepting WONDER WOMAN, director Snyder plays his film safe so it cannot be crucially panned.  The story is left simple and straight forward so nothing can go wrong.  Batman forms the league, the league fights the villain and wins and the film ends.  The mood is kept relatively serious with humour in the form of a few punch lines thrown in periodically.  Of all the superheroes, Wonder Woman has the most screen time and jokes about her sexiness (kept non-feminist) plentiful.

Of the new superheroes, Ezra Miller (WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN) puts in some fresh life as The Flash with his cute schoolboy looks and humour.  In the other hand,  Cyborh turns out pretty boring, as he complains of his super powers half the time.  Aquaman has little screen time, perhaps the filmmakers just whetting audience’s appetite for the new upcoming AQUAMAN film by James Wan.

The dialogue ranges from good to plain awful.   Good: When Batman is asked of his superpowers, his reply is :I am rich and wealthy.”  The awful:  words to Wonder Woman: “You smell good” followed by  “I have smelt you before.”  But one should expect better writing for a $300 million blockbuster.

The fight scenes at the end are executed with the expected pyrotechnics (nothing really stands out) that likely cost a big bundle.  Of the $300 million, $25 million went into 2 month of re-shoots and into the post-production digital removal of Cavill’s moustache which he had to sport for his MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 6 role.

At a massive cost of $300 million, the film should make a profit considering the success of the other films in the D.C. extended universe and the huge fan base.  Never mind if the film critically bombs.  Anyway, Warner Bros. has already had a swell year with hits like IT, THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE and of course, WONDER WOMAN.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cxixDgHUYw

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Novel Prologue Reading of FORBIDDEN, by F. Stone

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BUY ON AMAZON

Performed by Elizabeth Rose Morriss
1. What is your novel about?

Synopsis:  Gunfire echoes within the walls of a Middle East police compound. Screams of terror are brutally silenced. Police captain Hashim Sharif captures one survivor, Eliza MacKay.

Sharif becomes the reluctant keeper of his city’s bloody secret – and the witness, MacKay. His corrupt superiors have a gun rammed against his skull – maintain the cover-up. Disloyalty to the mayor will be rewarded with being buried alive.

Whatever the cost, his government’s honor must be restored. Secretly, Sharif hunts forensic evidence. Who is responsible for the murder of fifteen American volunteers? And, why did MacKay lie about her identity? He can’t trust her. Her mental illness is going to get both of them killed.

When he receives orders to dispose of MacKay, his Muslim faith is tested. Murder an innocent in cold blood? He will…

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Novel Transcript: Is it over yet?, by Naila Amin

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Performed by Elizabeth Rose MorrissWhat is your novel about? 

What is your novel about? 

My novel explores forms of personal growth, the process of healing written in a creative fantasy style. It’s intention to find paths beyond conventional ones to heal inner trauma of child sex abuse and generational toxic patterns, which go unnoticed in Muslim, Pakistani families. The novel is a discovery of self, life, love and hope, which dies at the hands of obligation and cultural conformity. The novel intentionally seeks to exist outside of ‘preferred’ expectations and the awakening of sleeping souls.

What genres would you say this story is in? 

It is written in the hope to encourage self development, spirituality, healing and fantasy. So, I would say it was a unique blend of genres.

How would you describe this story in two words?  

Enchanting truths

What movie have you seen the most in your…

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Novel Reading of Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey, by Ellen Evert Hopman

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Performed by Elizabeth Rose Morriss

BUY on Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/Priestess-Forest-Ellen-Evert-Hopman/dp/0738712620

Get to know the writer:

What is your novel about?

It is the first book in a trilogy that spans from second to fifth century Ireland and Scotland. It describes what happened when the very first missionaries showed up in Ireland (from Gaul), written from the point of view of the Druids. The main characters are female Druids who are herbalists and healers. There are also warriors, battles and ancient Celtic spirituality and poetry as well as a glossary of Old Irish terms.

What genres would you say this story is in?

This is a spiritual work as well as a work of historical fantasy. People who are interested in Celtic history and spirituality will find it interesting.

How would you describe this story in two words?
Celtic spirituality.

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

I…

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Chapter 1 Reading of Killer Conversations by Stephanie Parker McKean

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Performed by Elizabeth Rose Morriss

BUY ON AMAZON: https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Conversations-Just-Thought-Stranger-ebook/dp/B00TINB9B4

Get to know the writer:

What is your novel about?

Never Judge another person: there but for the grace of God go I.

What genres would you say this story is in?

Killer Conversations was named one of the best mystery novels of 2017, but it also falls into the Romance, Suspense genre.

How would you describe this story in two words?

Choices matter.

What movie have you seen the most in your life?

The musical “Brigadoon.”

What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the
most times in your life?)

God Is In Control

Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

“Sea Jade” by Phyllis A Whitney

What motivated you to write this story?

A lone walker who made the same circuit every day, never looking at anyone or speaking to anyone. He was young and…

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