Year: 2017

TV REVIEW: RICK AND MORTY – SEASON 03 – EPISODE 05

festreviews Mary Cox, television, Television Reviews, TV Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

rickandmorty1Rick and Jerry go on an adventure.

Director: Juan Jose Meza-Leon (as Juan Meza-León)
Writers: Justin Roiland (created by), Dan Harmon (created by)
Stars: Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer

Review by Mary Cox

“The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy”

As predicted, Beth is visibly struggling with both being single and single parenthood. Her morbid horse hoof statue is indicative that Beth is not thriving in her post-Jerry world. Much like Seinfeld’s Festivus holiday, this season’s seems to be centered around the notion of the Airing of Grievances. Rick finally
gets the chance to directly confront Jerry about “ruining” Beth’s shot at a good future by knocking her up in high school.

As much as I’m loving every episode being a (sometimes literal) therapy session for our characters, using a mid-battle heart-to-heart as the backbone of every episode is getting a little old.

Despite the episode being focused primarily on Jerry and Rick, the understated star of the episode was Morty. We learn that Morty is the mastermind behind the whole premise of the Rick and Jerry episode just because Morty wanted Rick to get off his back for a minute. Morty’s confrontation of Ethan was downright sinister. We’ve seen Morty transform this season from an unwilling and helpless sidekick to a powerful protagonist.

The real question is: what is Morty going to do in future episodes with his newfound power and prowess?

******
“Mary Cox is an entertainment writer from the United States. Her hobbies include making good beer and bad decisions, watching drag queens fight on the internet, and overanalyzing everything. Mary one day hopes to be the person shouting “World Star” in the back of a Waffle House brawl video. She is currently tolerating life in Toronto. You can follow her on Twitter at @M_K_Cox”t

Film Review: THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK (USA 2017)

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , , , ,

THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK.jpgAdrift in New York City, a recent college graduate’s life is upended by his father’s mistress.

Director: Marc Webb
Writer: Allan Loeb
Stars: Callum Turner, Kate Beckinsale, Pierce Brosnan, Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Nixon, Kiersey Clemons, Tate Donovan, Wallace Shawn

Review by Gilbert Seah 

 It has been 5 years since the announcement of the making of this movie and its completion after many delays and re-casting. Surprisingly, THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK turns out not that bad, but it is a far cry from the director’s first and excellent debut, THE (500) DAYS OF SUMMER.

The lead young actor, Callum Turner of THE ONLY LIVING BIY IN NEW YORK appears to be a clone of Joseph-Gordon Levitt in SUMMER, not only in looks but in certain mannerisms. Turner is not bad, charming, while portraying both the strength of a budding writer and a vulnerable player in the artistic world. The casting director seems unable to resist the casting of Wallace Shawn as a talking artist in one of the family’s famous artist dinner parties.

The script by Allan Loeb feels at times like a Woody Allen one, with multiple relationships going on at one time. No one appears capable of keeping a monogamous less honest relationship without sleeping with another and then substantiating it as all right afterwards. Unlike an Allen film, the guilt comes more into play in this story with each lover trying to right a wrong.

When the film begins, a recent college graduate, Thomas Webb (Turner) is given the news that the girl whom he has been seeing and has fallen in love with, Mimi Pastori (Kiersey Clemons) is leaving him to go abroad. They still love each other as they profess, which really means nothing in a film that tries to be as smug as this one, from the very beginning. Thomas ends up sleeping with his dad, Ethan’s (Pierce Brosnan) mistress, Johanna (Kate Beckinsale), while the poor mother Judith (Cynthia Nixon) looks on. It turns out that mother is not that innocent after all, as will be revealed later on in the story (no spoiler to be revealed here.) In the process of all this, Thomas meets, though too coincidentally, a neighbour stranger named W.F. Gerald (Jeff Bridges) who turns out to be his mentor helping him out both in his love affairs and life.

THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK is a likeable film and director Webb (who also did the SPIDER-MAN movies) knows how to make a likeable film. Love triumphs in many ways and always does. Everyone in the script also ends up with his or her own little happy ending.

THE ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK, which turns out to be the title of the book a character writes, will be inevitably compared to a Woody Allen movie for its look on the New York art scene and relationships.

This is the difference between Loeb’s script, Webb’s direction and Woody Allen’s works. Life does not always turn out to be happy endings. Allen’s characters suffer more, for their cheating in their love affairs and in general in how things in life eventually turn out. Life is not all plain sailing that turn out well. That is the reason Allen’s films are more endearing and realistic. And Allen knows how to put in more humour and sarcasm into his works as well. This film ends up a too smug arty fairy tale.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkjhAeF3b1g

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:http://www.wildsound.ca

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

Film Review: BUSHWICK (USA 2016)

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , ,

bushwick.jpgWhen a Texas military force invades their Brooklyn neighborhood, 20-year-old Lucy and war veteran Stupe must depend on each other to survive.

Directors: Cary Murnion, Jonathan Milott
Writers: Nick Damici, Graham Reznick
Stars: Dave Bautista, Brittany Snow, Christian Navarro

Review by Gilbert Seah
 

 BUSHWICK is a working-class neighbourhood in the northern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighbourhood, historically a community of Germanic immigrants and their descendants, has been predominantly Hispanic in the late 20th century. The neighbourhood, formerly Brooklyn’s 18th Ward, is now part of Brooklyn Community Board 4. It has been the scene of extreme looting during the 1977 blackout. This low income working-class venue has been chosen as the setting for directors Murnion and Milott apocalyptic tale of destruction, chaos and survival.

When the film opens, directors Murnion and Milot prompts the audience to evaluate their most dreaded fears. As 20-year old Lucy (Brittany Snow) chides her boyfriend for being scared of being in the dark while leaving the underground (subway), he replies that he should get some incentive for not being scared As they converse, they notice that they see no one else. The place is deserted. Then appears from nowhere a man screaming as he is inflamed. The two run to the street level where the boyfriend is shot and she left alone. Lucy then meets Stupe (Dave Bautista) and the two newly met companions bind together to figure out what is going on. The script does not reveal the answer till half way through the film.

The film, written by Nick Damici and Graham Reznick is well shot by Lyle Vincent with an atmosphere of the end of the world scenario. The trouble is that audiences have seen all this before in a dozen or so films of this nature. With only two main characters, the film becomes not only more minimal but hardly credible. How and why has so much happened in the so few minutes that Lucy is in the underground? Do the audience really care? There is hardly any excitement created as no one really cares about these two characters. Also, any reason for this has been already put together in one movie or other.

The script is devoid of humour. The only funny part appears to be the name of the main character – Stupe. The film is quite violent in terms of wounds see on screen like Lucy’s shot-off finger and Stupe’s wound.

Actors Bautista and Snow do their upmost best to keep their characters interesting. The scene where Stupe has to pull out chard of metal from his leg, with Lucy looking on while burning it with red hot metal for at least 5 seconds to kill the germs, seems to be put there to gross out audiences but still with little effect.

The film is nothing more, than running around, shootings, more running around and even more shootings. More people get killed, then more running around and shootings. The film contains a lot of false hopes One is the search for Father John in a church.

Another appears to be evacuation by helicopters at a park. But when the climax comes, nothing much makes much sense. This film is clearly as the saying goes, a film with no head and no tail.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKvNp0PEkHY

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:http://www.wildsound.ca

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

Died Today (August 20th) Jerry Lewis, Comedy Legend, Dead at 91

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jerry lewis.jpgBorn: March 16, 1926 in Newark, New Jersey, USA
Died: August 20, 2017 (age 91) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Married to:
SanDee Pitnick (13 February 1983 – 20 August 2017) (his death) (1 child)
Patti Lewis (3 October 1944 – 27 January 1983) (divorced) (6 children)

QUOTES:

I get paid for what most kids get punished for.

The doc told me I had a dual personality, then he lays an $82 bill on me. So I give him forty-one bucks and say ‘Get the other forty-one bucks from the other guy’.

Every man’s dream is to be able to sink into the arms of a woman without falling into her hands.

[on Stan Laurel] His magic was, he loved the regular man. He loved plain people, and he loved being one of them. He enjoyed participating in the art of going out into the world and getting in trouble.

My dad used to say if you don’t get nervous, you don’t care. When I hear that first applause, my heart spreads across my chest, and I’m as happy as a pig in s..t!

[on the 1996 remake of The Nutty Professor] I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around and all you’re going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it.

Why do you want to be the President of the United States? (The West Wing S3 E7 Review)

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matthewtoffolo's avatarMatthew Toffolo's Summary

Power should be confined to those who are not in love with it. – Plato

the_west_wing_season_3.jpgGONE QUIET, The West Wing Episode 7 from Season 3.

Directed by Jon Hutman

Episode written by Aaron Sorkin.

Story by Julia Dahl, Laura Glasser

As the 2016 US election came to an end, I couldn’t help but go back to my all-time favorite Network television show, “The West Wing”. The fantasy world of Aaron Sorkin/John Welles feels a lot safer to me than the actual reality of a Donald Trump presidency. No, this is not a Donald Trump bashing article. If you want to ready one, I’m sure there are 1000s to choose from in a quick Google search. My question is why Trump actually wanted to be the President?

Is Trump simply attempting to “Make America Great Again”? Or was their other reason why he ran? I think it’s an important question to…

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Interview with Storyboard Artist James Doh (Captain America, X-Men: First Class, Drive)

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matthewtoffolo's avatarMatthew Toffolo's Summary

 James Doh is one of the most sought after Storyboard Artists in the industry today. His imprint is on most of the top action movies in the last 15 years. In 2016 alone, he worked on “The Conjuring 2”, “Suicide Squad”, and “Star Trek Beyond”. He’s currently working on the upcoming blockbusters “Ghost in the Shell (2017”, “Aquaman (2018)”, and “The Predator (2018)”.

Go to his website at http://www.jamesdoh.com/

It was an honor to chat with him about his craft:

Matthew Toffolo: You have worked as a Storyboard Artist on over 30+ productions in the last 15 years. Do you have a favorite experience?

James Doh: It is sometimes rare to work with other storyboard artists, but through the years I’ve had the good fortune of having met some great colleagues.

That will probably be what I remember most from my work experience.

I’ve been fortunate to work with and…

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Interview with Editor Sarah Lucky (Grace and Frankie)

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matthewtoffolo's avatarMatthew Toffolo's Summary

graceandfrankieIt was a pleasure having editor Sarah Lucky answer some questions on the editing process and the art of being a great editor.

 Matthew Toffolo: Tell us about the GRACE AND FRANKIE experience? How is editing the show?
 
Sarah Lucky: I can’t say enough good things about my experience on Grace and Frankie.  The crew is one of the best I’ve worked with, especially the 3 female producers at “Okay Goodnight” Marta, Robbie and Hannah.  The cast is a dream come true for me.  Obviously their careers speak for themselves.  
  

You’ve been an Assistant Editor on many high profile films. What is the typical day for an Assistant Editor on a big budget film? 
 
A typical day for an assistant, during shooting, is getting the footage ready for the editor to cut.  We ingest all of the footage and arrange it into scene bins.  tTen we…

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Interview with Cinematographer Tobias Datum (Imposters, Mozart in the Jungle)

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matthewtoffolo's avatarMatthew Toffolo's Summary

tobias_datum.jpgIt was a pleasure to have the very talented Director of Photographer Tobias Datum answer some questions.

Go to his website for more information: www.tobiasdatum.com

 Matthew Toffolo: Is there a project to date that you’ve worked on that you’re most proud of?

Not really. I do love all the things I have worked on. I put my best effort into all of them.

Sometimes they turn our great, sometimes they are less successful (according to my personal opinion) but I have yet to have a bad experience making a movie (knock on wood).

What was the biggest thing you learned working on the many shorts that you DP’d?

Shorts can be a great opportunity to try things out. They have a very different rhythm from features and are less forgiving than a longer project can be. You need to find your groove on set a lot faster because the…

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Interview with director Jake Gutwillig (SHELTERED)

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matthewtoffolo's avatarMatthew Toffolo's Summary

 SHELTERED was awarded “BEST MUSIC” at the April 2017 Horror/Thriller FEEDBACK Film Festival

 Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Jake Gutwillig: A lot of different things motivated me to make this film, for example thematically telling a story about how challenging parents and authority truths is important. Though the biggest factor is that as much as I enjoy watching films, there’s nothing I love more than making films. The various phases of production, the hard work and teamwork that is being on set, and the satisfaction that comes with creating strong collaborative relationships while completing a hopefully strong short that a whole team can be proud of. I also really want to and plan to make a feature film and this short, among others I have made was one of the biggest stepping stones for me as a director, writer, producer with all that occurred and…

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Interview with director Cibele Santa Cruz (THE MAN FROM THE SWIM LANE ASIDE)

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matthewtoffolo's avatarMatthew Toffolo's Summary

THE MAN FROM THE SWIM LAND ASIDE was the winner of “Best Performances” and “Best Cinematography” at the April 2017 Female Film Festival.

Matthew Toffolo: What motivated you to make this film?

Cibele Santa Cruz: I received an email from a great friend with just a text, that ended up being used in the last scene of the movie, after he swimmed in the middle swimming lane. It was my inspiration to write the whole script. To tell the path of a man in search of love.

From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this short?

It took me about 6 years.

How would you describe your short film in two words?

Love and Search

What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this
film?

The biggest obstacle was the the fanancial. The whole filmming, I did with what…

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