Year: 2018

Film Review: WHAT IF?…. (Hungary, Romance)

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Hot with wit and hitting the ground running, WHAT IF…? Is a romantic drama from Hungary directed by Balazs Juszt. It follows a long-parted couple who now meet to pick up their children from dance class. The children they have with other people. The first part of their tale is the world where they recount what might have been- a romance they shared that died too soon, paths that parted too early and the fleeting promise of the world they could have had together. Sexy, witty and filled with sparkling dialogue the two dance the dance of lovers who knew each other once upon a time. The second half, however, shows what the world would be like for them had they stayed together. In this reality, their relationship is no less passionate, but it is ten times darker and more filled with tension. These are the lovers who have had their young love eroded away by a year after year of unaddressed problems.

WHAT IF is a story about never knowing the truth- but instead seeing the polar extremes of possibilities- the world of what might have been at odds with the world that was never meant to be. So what is the world are lovers really live in? What is their happy medium? That, is for the audience to decide.

Gripping, sensual and full to bursting with palpable emotion, WHAT IF…? Is a strong and engaging film. Spectacular performances make this film a powerhouse to watch.

Review by Kierston Drier

Film played at the 2018 ROMANCE Film Festival on Valentine’s Day in downtown Toronto, Canada

WATCH the Audience FEEDBACK Video:

WHAT IF…?, 14min., Hungary, Romance/Drama
Directed by Balazs Juszt

When it comes to relationships, everyone has a story. Whether it’s the one that is, the one that could have been or the one that never was meant to be – one thing is for certain: we can only tell after the fact, and then it’s too late. Then we’re left to wonder, what if…?

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: VIOLET AND JUNE (Romance)

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VIOLET AND JUNE, a six minute Canadian Rom-Com from director Linnea  Ritland, is a delightful and charming in every way a Rom-Com should be. Endlessly popping with color and fun, the tone falls somewhere between the more lighthearted moments in Juno and the more whimsical moments of any great Wes Anderson piece.

Violet is in love. And all the wonderful oh-so-familiar romantic feelings that come along with being in love plague her. Except she is in love with her best friend June. Who has a boyfriend and is otherwise totally unaware of Violet’s affections. Doom, despair and melancholy will follow Violet as she falls into the vibrant and artistic world of her mind’s’ eye, and wrestles with her feelings.

VIOLET AND JUNE is a sweet, simple and utterly adorable comedy about coming out and coming of age. A playful and wonderful romp into the world young love.

Review by Kierston Drier

Film played at the 2018 ROMANCE Film Festival on Valentine’s Day in downtown Toronto, Canada

WATCH the Audience FEEDBACK Video:

VIOLET AND JUNE, 6min., Canada, Romance/Comedy
Directed by Linnea RitlandViolet & June is a short film about falling in love, the terror of being alive in a cold heartless universe, and butts.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

Film Review: JUGGERNAUT (Canada 2017) ***

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Juggernaut Poster
After a lengthy absence, a small town outlaw returns to his hometown, violently obsessed with the notion that his Mother’s death was not a suicide.

Director:

Daniel DiMarco

Writer:

Daniel DiMarco

Stars:

Amanda Crew, Jack Kesy, Ty Olsson

 

This JUGGERNAUT is not to be confused with the Richard Lester film of the same name that starred Richard Harris about bombs planted on a cruise liner.  JUGGERNAUT 2017 is a very different Canadian nitty-gritty family crime drama that America churns out quite well.  This one turns out pretty solid as well.

JUGGERNAUT is the story of two brothers, one good and one bad. Sounds like a parable (Caine and Abel) from the Bible.  Of course, good and bad are relative.  The protagonist is the ‘bad’ one for the obvious reason that not only is the bad one a more interesting character but there is a chance for redemption as well.

Saxon (Jack Kesy) has just been released from prison.  Saxon is, as described in the film, a misanthrope (a person who dislikes and distrusts all human beings).  He re-unites with his older brother, Dean (David Cubitt) in a small agricultural town in British Columbia.  Dean is the town hero, bringing jobs to the town.  Saxon learns from Dean that their mother has passed away while he was in prison, but he believes and goes out to prove that it was not suicide as stated in the death certificate.

A few incidents are too predictable. The first girl Saxon meets happens to be Amelie (Amanda Crew).  When Amelie confesses that she is Saxon’s brother’s fiancee, one can tell that thee is an affair that is just waiting to happen. 

There is a debate about bad person doing a good thing versus a good person doing a bad thing.   It is too obvious that the audience is made to consider which one Saxon is.  Not that it really matters to the plot.

To enhance the film’s nitty-grittiness, DiMarko often shoots in dimly lit settings with moody period music and songs.  Veteran actors Stephen McHattie (as bad guy Hank Sr.) and Peter McRobbie as the father also add to the atmosphere. The film has a side plot regarding Saxon’s estranged relationship with his father who favours Dean over him.  Here, there are EAST OF EDEN overtones especially felt during the reconciliation (well, sort-of) scene.

DiMarco paints a good character out of this chosen hero.  Saxon is described as dumb but not stupid.  Kesy, portrays Saxon with a rugged charm that eventually wins Amelie over.

The story moves along at a good pace but suffers from an odd ending which at least is unpredictable.  But he shoot-out ear the end is a bit of a cop out stretching the story’s credibility.

JUGGERNAUT is a satisfying small Canadian film that achieves what it set out to do, entertain with a story set in a grim atmosphere.  The film opens this week with a VOD/Digital release on March 27, 2018.  The film marked its world premiere at the Shanghai International Film Festival in 2017 as part of the Panorama program and was also screened at the San Diego International and Whistler Film Festivals.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBOs-_RB28o

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Film Review: 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE (UK/USA 2017)

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7 Days in Entebbe Poster
Trailer

Inspired by the true events of the 1976 hijacking of an Air France flight en route from Tel Aviv to Paris, and the most daring rescue mission ever attempted.

Director:

José Padilha

Writer:

Gregory Burke (screenplay by)

Stars:

Rosamund Pike, Daniel Brühl, Eddie Marsan

 

There has already been 2 television movies (released theatrically outside the U.S.) on the 1976 rescue/hijack event, VICTORY IN ENTEBBE and RAID ON ENTEBBE  including the  documentary OPERATION THUNDERBOLT.  I have not seen the doc but the two made for television movies were quite bad.  So, is this new 2017 version the definitive Entebbe film?  (Note that the closing credits list the film as a 2017 production though there is a statement on screen stating that there is presently no peace alliance between Israel and Palestine with the date, March 2018 flashed on the screen.  The only explanation is that the statement was put into the film in 2017 and not in March of 2018.)

Who else then to direct the Entebbe raid true story than Brazilian director, José Padilha who helmed the excellent documentary BUS 174 way back about the hijacked bus in Rio de Janeiro?  But despite the impressive cast and crew, 7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE that unfolds from Day 1 (June 25th,1976) to Day 7 is incredibly boring.

The film is based on the real life rescue of the hijacked Air France passengers in Uganda by Israeli forces.  The plane was hijacked from its Athens, Greece departure by a group of 4, 2 Germans, Brigitee Kuhlmann (Rosamund Pike) and Wilfred Bose (Daniel Bruhl) and 2 Palestinians.  Instead of centring on the actual raid and heroics, the script by Gregory Burke focuses on the conflict between Israel and Palestine.  The film itself begins with a reminder of the fact that an Israeli state was formed in 1947 and fighting between Palestine and Israel has been going on ever since – the fighters for liberating the land back to Palestine known to the Palestinians as Freedom Fighters but as terrorists to the Israelis.  The film contains a lot of talk behind the scenes of the planning, between Minister of Defence, Shimon Peres (the always excellent Eddie Marsan in extreme makeup) and Israel Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (Lior Ashkenazi).  There is also a debate on the insufficient funds in the defence budget.  One of the soldiers has a girlfriend in dance.  He is advised by a fellow soldier to have her join the army or be forever apart.  This explains the dance scenes in the film.

The dance sequences appear at length not only at the start and end of the film, but interspersed at other points during the film.  Besides the soldier’s girlfriend being in dance, what are the dance sequences really doing in a supposedly action film?  The dance metaphor, if there is one, surely escapes me.  Anyway, too much time is wasted watching the dancers in tights prancing around on stage.  The dance sequences go right into the closing credits.

Acting is surprisingly good with a jolt of hilarity provided by Nonso Anozie in the role of Dictator Idi Amin.  Bruhl and Marsan also stand out.

The individual film scenes are well directed by Padilha.  But the problem is that they all do not come together as a whole or for the right purpose.  A film that stresses the needed peace agreement between Israel and Palestine should not be one that centres on heroic Israeli forces rescuing a hijacked plane.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuTBea8_-LY

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Film Review: A WRINKLE IN TIME (USA 2018)

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A Wrinkle in Time Poster
After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.

Director:

Ava DuVernay

Writers:

Jennifer Lee (screenplay by), Jeff Stockwell (screenplay by) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon

 

A WRINKLE IN TIME is the new Disney family fantasy based on the 1962 science fantasy novel written by American writer Madeleine L’Engle.   The book won the Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award.  This is Disney’s second film adaptation following the 2003 TV movie.

The film follows daughter, Meg (Storm Reid) who with the help of Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Whatsis (Reech Witherspoon) and accompaniment of adopted brother (Deric McCabe) search for her 4-year missing scientific father, known as Dr. Murry (Chris Pine).  They encounter different characters and strange animals and things before finally  rescuing the father after wining the fight of light vs. the darkness.

Music and soundtrack are not impressive.  The ending song “I believe (in me)” by DJ Khaled is the typical ‘America is great, I can do anything’ mentality that President Trump so often engages that non-Americans are sick of. The soundtrack has the ‘wowing’ sound that is supposed to enhance at the audience’s ’wow’ factor.  The music also goes up and down in mood as if to constantly remind the audiences how to feel during the film.

The script and film concentrate more on the rescue of Dr. Murry that on the universal fight of good vs. evil.  The result is a rather sappy film.  The family reuniting scene does not bring tears into the audience’s eyes as the film is bad that there is little emotion to be felt anywhere.

The film delivers mixed messages among them: “Be a warrior:” “I can do anything”; and others.  But unfortunately the negative message of putting work before family also comes through.  There is also an odd moment when the camera shows that Meg has forgiven her taunting schoolmate, Veronica.

The cinematography By German D.P. Tobias A. Schliessler is impressive and the film looks occasionally stunning though all this would be put better into perspective if the film was not all over the place.

The film is enough to give one a splitting headache.  Besides the screeching children – young actor McCabe has an especially high-pitched shrill voice.  If he not taunting his sister when ‘possessed’  he will certainly be taunting the audience with his voice.  The other scene is the bouncing ball scene whee a dozen or so boys in a neighbourhood simultaneously bounce their basketball as they go: “Thump, thump, thump…” indefinitely.

A WRINKLE IN TIME is noticeable for making a point of having a higher percentage of African Americans and women working in the film.  Director DuVaernay’s resume includes only one past documentary MIDDLE OF NOWHERE and SELMA, quite different for big budget sci-fi films.  Making the Murry family mixed, the husband white (Chris Pine) and the mother black (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) for no apparent reason except to be currently politically or racially correct, does not really work either.  

Disney has had a solid string of hits, the latest being the Oscar winning animated COCO and the box-office hit BLACK PANTHER.  A WRINKLE IN TIME, which is plain awful puts a huge wrinkle in this trend of hits.  It is noticeable worse than the second of Disney’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND movies and prove that good intentions do not necessarily turn out good movies.  The element of wonder is missing in this fantasy picture.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4U3TeY2wtM

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Film Review: THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT (USA 2018)

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The Strangers: Prey at Night Poster
Trailer

A family staying in a secluded mobile home park for the night are visited by three masked psychopaths, to test their every limit.

Director:

Johannes Roberts

Writers:

Bryan Bertino (original screenplay), Ben Ketai (screenplay) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Christina Hendricks, Bailee Madison, Martin Henderson

 

THE STRANGERS: PREY AT NIGHT serves as a loose sequel to the 2008 horror schlock THE STRANGERS that was written by Bryan Bertie who also co-wrote this sequel with Ben Ketai.

A family – mother, father, estranged daughter and her brother spend a night at a mobile campground owned by their uncle only to find him murdered and cut up.  ‘The strangers’ make the family their next target who hold up in one cabin.  The strangers wear various masks and dispatch their victims with weapons like knives and axes.  The killers are Dollface (Emma Bellomy), Pin-Up Girl (Lea Enslin) and the man in the mask (Damian Maffei).

It takes 30 minutes before the first victim is discovered, in this case, the uncle.  (Alfred Hitchcock took a full hour to reveal the first victim in THE BIRDS).  Director Roberts spends the time investing in the family issues.  Parents Cindy (Christina Hendricks) and Mike (Martin Henderson) love each other, but have problems with the youngest daughter, Kinsey (Bailee Madison) who they are sending to boarding school.  The son, Luke (Lewis Pullman) is the model child, playing baseball while obeying what mummy and daddy ask.  When daughter storms out at one point, brother is sent after her to calm her down.  They discover the body while the parents go in search for them after a weird visitor asking for Tamara show up twice.

At this point, horror fans will likely ask themselves that with this super slim storyline, what tactics will be used to pass the time.  The answer is a variety of them like: the family playing silly games; false alarms like a dog that appears out of nowhere and scare them and never show up again in the campground or in any part of the movie; useless dialogue and lots of walking around.  (The family spends a lot of time running from the predators.)

The next question horror fans will ask is which of the 4 of the family will be dispatched first or is the script going to keep them alive.  The answer comes right after the 30 minute mark when poor mother gets a knife right in the back.  At least this solves the enmity between mother and daughter that was pre-eminent during the first 30 minutes.  Father gets it next, pretty badly while in the car leaving the younger siblings to care for themselves.  “Leave us alone.”  is the line that is screamed out to the strangers and repeated a number of times in the film.

Several obvious question come up – the most important of which is the reason the strangers are on a killing spree.  Daughter gets to spring this magic question to one of her stalkers right before dispatching off with her.  And her answer: “Why not?”

Same reason millions of moviegoers are paying good bucks to see low-budget slasher flicks like this one: Why not?

Roberts is a British director specializing in cheap horror flicks, his first being SANITARIUM, a 5000 quid production released around the world.  THE STRANGERS shows a little promise but nothing really something to scream about.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdPz3NKf9fg

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Film Review: MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER (Canada 2017)

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The true story of 2 enemies from the Iran-Iraq war; one saves the other’s life on the battlefield, then they meet again by sheer coincidence 20 years later in Canada. Inspired by their …See full summary »

Director:

Ann Shin

 

Base on her short documentary about an Iraqi and Iranian who became good friends, MY ENMEY, MY BROTHER is an expanded full length feature that is a basically an enactment of the documentary.

The film tells the real-life story of two former enemies from the Iran-Iraq war who become blood brothers for life.  The film begins with Najah in his town of Basra in Iraq.  The camera pans to show the roads, vehicles and sights of Basra, a good educational experience for many who have never seen the sights of an Iarqi city.  The film traces the young Najah, falling in love and getting married with son in the sight of Allah.  But things turn bad.  The Iran-Iraq war led to him being imprisoned for 17 years.  Finally freed, he finds Basra totally destroyed and he is unable to find his wife and son.  Najah now lives in Vancouver.

The other characters in the film is Zahed.  When the audience first sees Zahed, he is a Iranian child soldier.  

Director Shin has her political say as well, blaming the Russians and Americans, the two countries that benefit monetarily from selling arms to Iran and Iraq.  Clearly as always, it is the individuals who suffer.

Najah and Zahed meet in Vancouver 30 years after Zahed, an Iranian child soldier saves Najah, a wounded Iraqi soldier’s life, they are now about to embark on an emotional journey back to Iran and Iraq for the first time in 20 years. The film chalks their journey takes them into the heart of present-day conflicts in a region ravaged by war and ISIS. Their quest is a surprising affirmation of redemption and humanity.

Najah and Zahed play themselves in this documentary which is really a series of re-enactments.  If the film starred actors instead, the film would be classified a non-fiction film instead.

But the film is till not without flaws.  Director Shin seems too intent to re-enact everything even Najah’s childhood.  The audience is not told how Najan and Zahed came to immigrate to Vancouver.

Nevertheless, the story is an extremely moving one and therefore makes the film compelling to watch.  The likelihood that an Iranian saves an Iraqi, an enemy is in itself slim and the fact that the two actually meet 20 years late and discover themselves is nothing short of a miracle.  The scene where Zahed has a meal with Najah’s family is nothing short of inspiring, demonstrating there is still good in human beings.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42YFUwCnWzE

 

Special to the screening: War Games

Accompanying the theatrical release of MY ENEMY, MY BROTHER is the world premiere of EYE OF THE BEHOLDER a dramatic and spectacular 30-minute FREE VR experience made available in the lobby for all theatre goers prior to the screening. Set in a conflict zone, players encounter another soldier in a bunker who may be friend or foe. Whether the player decides to collaborate with or combat the other in the ensuing challenges, determines who gets out alive. This short VR experience questions how we pre-judge others, and is a teaser for a longer VR game that will be released later in 2018.

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Film Review: NELLY ET SIMON: MISSION YETI (Canada 2017)

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Mission Kathmandu: The Adventures of Nelly & Simon Poster
Quebec City, 1955. Nelly Maloye, an ebullient novice detective, accidentally crosses paths with Simon Picard, an ambitious research assistant in anthropology at the local university. Backed…See full summary »

Directors:

Pierre Greco (co-director), Nancy Florence Savard (co-director)

Writers:

Pierre Greco (co-writer), André Morency (co-writer)

Stars:

Sylvie Moreau, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge, Rachid Badouri

 

A Quebecois animated feature, it would be assumed that English Canada would get the English version.  The film opens after premiering at TIFF kids 2018.

The film is set in Quebec 1956.  The Nelly and Simon of the title are two friends that embark on an expedition in the Himalayas in search of the Yeti, a sort of missing link.

Nelly Maloye is a very amateur private eye who stumbles into the research lab of Simon Picard.  Picard is a young anthropologist.  Frustrated and nearing the end of his research grant, Simon has yet to find evidence of the existence of the elusive Yeti and prove his hypothesis that the Yeti is the missing link in human evolution.  Given a three-month reprieve by his wealthy yet suspicious investor, Simon reluctantly accepts Nelly’s help as they set out on a mission through the Himalayas in search of the Yeti.  Using an explorer’s journal that supposedly contains the location of the mythical creature’s den, the two must learn to combine their methodological and improvisational approaches if they are going to be able to navigate the challenging terrain. 

Nelly and Simon caters mainly for younger kids, judging from the humour.  The animated humour contains lots of slapstick (Simon, the sherpa all falling down in the underground cave and swept away in the underground stream; the dancing and laughing Yeti tribe).  The characters frequently gesture with frantic movements and there are kid anecdotes like good luck or bad luck story told to the sherpa.  The animation looks great, though not concentrating on detail – similar to a cross between the look of the INSPECTOR GADGET cartoons on TV and the look of the Belgium comic book “The Adventures of Tin Tin”.  The use of shadows enhance the atmosphere of the private investigator’s world.

The film aims at a message (though too obvious) for the younger folk too, that all species (like the Yeti) need to be respected and not turned into a circus.  The bad guys are once again the establishment like Simon’s boss and Simon’s financier, Edward who wants to make money from the discovery of the Yeti.  Edward is clearly the villain of the piece, and he gets what is coming to him (in slapstick terms) at the end.

One wishes that for this grand adventures set in the mountains and with the discovery of a tribe of (Shrek-looking ) Yeti’s, the film could have been funnier.  Perhaps the Quebecois jokes did not translate well into the English version.

For adults, the film can be a bit childish, especially with the introduction of a rather unfunny chatty myna bird named Jasmin.  The film also lags in the middle.  Still there is no excuse for an animated feature not to cater to both adults and kids, films like SHREK and even the fairytale BEAUTY AND THE BEAST serving as examples.

SIMON ET NELLY is an ok family animated feature but one wishes it could have been catered more to the adults.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvukQXpI3Ws

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Film Review: THOROUGHBREDS (USA 2018) ****

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Thoroughbreds Poster
Trailer

Two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. Together, they hatch a plan to solve both of their problems-no matter what the cost.

Director:

Cory Finley

Writer:

Cory Finley

Stars:

Kaili Vernoff, Paul Sparks, Svetlana Orlova

 

THOROUGHBREDS is about two upper-class teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindling their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart.  Before one can dismiss this as a boring teen chick flick (though it is a bit of a teen chick flick), THOROUGHBREDS is a deliciously black comedy that won the Best Film Award at the Denver International Film Festival and nominated for Best Film at the London Film Festival.  And it is a very good film!

When the film opens, Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) is tutoring Amanda (Olivia Cooke).  These two have been friends before but have not seen each other for a while.  Apparently, Amanda’s mother has hired her, besides the tutoring, so that the isolated Amanda can have a friend.  Amanda is a person who feels nothing, though she has learnt to fake feelings that include crying on cue.  Lily on the other hand, feels everything.

As the plot thickens, they decide to do away i.e. kill, Mark (Paul Sparks), Lily’s stepfather as he is a complete dick and besides doing her and her mother no good, does no good for anyone else in the world.  They blackmail the local drug dealer, Tim (Anton Yelchin in his last role) to do the killing while they stay away as an alibi.  However, when Tim chickens out and never shows up, the story gets nastier.

THOROUGHBREDS demonstrates the worse in men, without any sexual allegations (as going on in today’s current events) involved.  This is personified in Lily’s stepfather, Mark.  Mark is self-centred, obnoxious, rude and plainly a bad human being.  Finley’s script is clever enough to reveal this side of the male character.

Another brilliant touch is the character development undergone by both Lily and Amanda.  It is not really character development but character change.  As the story progresses, Amanda’s character flows into Lily’s and vice versa.  By the end of the film, it is difficult to distinguish the two, as the two start to work together.

The film also brilliantly contains one line that poses a very important question to everyone: “Do you think your life is worth living?”  This line also explains Amanda’s reason for going through her final deed in the story.

The soundtrack is varied.  The suspenseful moments are accompanied by a tribal soundtrack complete with the sound of bongo drum beats and screeching while other moments by classical songs like “Ava Maria”.

Finley’s music is divided into untitled chapters, each one radically different from the previous.

One might complain that the film’s pace is a bit slow, but the film is nevertheless compelling.  One might also complain that the characters are distant and one cannot feel close to the characters.  This might be true but one should not feel close to characters on a black comedy.  The film also contains some Hitchcockian moments that would do the Master of Suspense proud.  Warning: spoiler alert (skip the bold italics but I wish to make the point.)   The actual killing of the stepfather is not shown on screen, but the segment showing the blood on the gloves and apron of the murderer is more effective.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2017 under the title THOROUGHBRED.  Indie news accurately describes the film as HEATHERS meets AMERICAN PSYCHO.  If you like your entertainment twisted, you are in for quite the ride!  
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qylb0dvPOf8

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TIFF Cinematheque Presents – Filmmaker in 5: Sidney Lumet

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TIFF Cinematheque Presents – Filmmaker in 5: Sidney Lumet

In the first of the series Filmmaker in 5, the late director Sidney Lumet is selected with 5 of his notable films to be screened from March 10-16th.

The films are:

12 ANGRY MEN

PRINCE OF THE CITY

SERPICO

DOG DAY AFTERNOON

NETWORK

Though Lumet has never won an Oscar for any singular film, he did receive a Life Achievement Oscar.  Yes, he has made over 50 or so movies including MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS recently screened by TIFF Cinematheque.  He is well-known to be able to elicit the best performances from his actors.  His last film BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman was a minor classic. 

Thee are many fond traits that can be observed from his films.  For one, he is a kind director who examines the sufferings of the common individual.  His films are thus,often angry films such as NETWORK where people scream outside their windows: “I am as mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore!” or SERPICO where the angry cop, mad at the corruption of the NYC Police Department takes it out on his girlfriend.  His girlfriend is given a 3-minute rant as Beatrice Straight did in NETWORK winning her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.  Lumet’s films often contains very angry individuals or as many as 12 as in 12 ANGRY MEN.  Lumet was kind enough to offer a sensitive look at the gay man, in one of the earliest films to deal with homosexuality with sensitivity and positivity.

A more complete series would perhaps be something TIFF Cinematheque should look at.  I have not seen Lumet’s controversial EQUUS (the play about a young man blinding horses) or BYE BYE BRAVERMAN.

Below are capsule reviewed my favourite 3 of the 5 films to be screened.

DOG DAY AFTERNOON (USA 1975) ****
Directed by Sidney Lumet

 

My personal favourite Lumet film that was banned in movie anal-retentive Singapore where I was living at when DOGDAY AFTERNOON was released.  It was banned of the reason the bank was robbed in the film – the money used to pay for a sex change operation for one of the homosexual robbers (Al Pacino).   The entire film is the robbery and attempted getaway.  As expected Lumet’s film is a compulsive watch from start to finish not only from the excitement of the robbery but equally from the drama of the robbers and the hostages.  The entire enterprise is treated by Lumet as a circus with spectators cheering the robbers (the other played by John Cazale) on.  The cops are clearly the and guys who cannot be trusted.  The audience is also on the robbers side.  Pacino and Cazale deliver outstanding performances with Lumet accomplishing a rare achievement of a lengthy credible sag baed on jet a magazine article of the robbery.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF1rtd8_pxA

NETWORK (USA 1976) ****
Directed by Sidney Lumet

Lumet’s most outrageous film (understandably being based on a Paddy Chayefsky script), a farce on the dealings on a TV network that came away with 4 Academy Awards including three for acting.  Beatrice Straight won the Best Supporting Actress for what was a 3-minute performance.  “I am as mad as hell, and I am not going take this anymore!”  This is the magic line that also won Chayefsky the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.  This script contains many monologues she he actors get to dream and strut their stuff.  Peter Finch (who won the Oscar posthumously for Best Actor) plays a news anchor that sends his news show ratings soaring sky high after he threatens to blow his brains up on live television.  The madness escalates in all ways leading to a crazed climax.  The film’s last line which summarizes the entire film: This is the story of Howard Beals, the man who was killed on live television because he had poor ratings.  The film did not get as high praise as expected likely because it was all too crazy, but its is undoubtedly extremely entertaining and totally amusing.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cSGvqQHpjs

SERPICO (USA 1973) ****

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Written by Waldo Salt and Norman Wexler, adapting Peter Maas’s biography of NYPD officer Frank Serpico, who went undercover to expose corruption in the police force, SERPICO is a film about another very angry man by Lumet.  Serpcio (a brilliant performance by Al Pacino) is so mad because almost everyone in the NYPD is on the take and there is no one he can turn to.   After witnessing cops commit violence, take payoffs, and other forms of police corruption, Serpico decides to expose what he has seen, but is harassed and threatened by his peers.  His struggle leads to infighting within the police force, problems in his personal relationships, and his life being threatened. Finally, after being shot in the face during a drug bust on February 3, 1971, he testifies before the Knapp Commission, a government inquiry into NYPD police corruption.   Lumet’s film traces all the events with conviction and gusto, even inciting the audience’s anger at the corruption going on.

Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtTRYns

 

 

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