Year: 2018

Film Review: FLOWER (USA 2016)

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Flower Poster
Trailer

 Submit your Screenplay to the Festival TODAY
 
A sexually curious teen forms an unorthodox kinship with her mentally unstable stepbrother.

Director:

Max Winkler

Writers:

Alex McAulay, Matt Spicer|1 more credit »

Stars:

Zoey Deutch, Kathryn Hahn, Adam Scott

The film begins with teen Erica (Zoey Deutch) giving a blow job to a sheriff Dale (Eric Edelstein) in his cop car while being filmed on the cell phones by Erika’s friends  (Dylan Gelula, Maya Eshet).  They threaten Dale, extort money, split the money and go their own ways.  An exciting start of the film, no doubt and what transpires through the rest of the film matches the incident in terms or surprise and vulgarity.

The story settles on Erica and her mother (Kathryn Hahn from BAD MOMS) who loves her but gives her free reign.  Erica makes the extra cash not only for herself but to earn enough for bail to spring her father in prison.  Mum has a new boyfriend and Erica promises to be nice to his son, her new step-brother, Luke (Joey Morgan) who has just been sprung from re-hab.  Luke is mentally unstable, fat and is troubled after he accused a teacher of molesting him.

The sparks start flying when the teacher Will (Adam Scott) is seen at the local bowling alley.  Erica decides to help her step-brother.  Good intentions using bad tactics never result in things going well.  Director Max Winker (son of Happy Day’s ‘Fonzie’ Henry Winkler) plays the film as a black comedy which largely works despite a few flaws.

The script co-written by Winkler with  Alex McAulay and Matt Spicer contains problems the foremost being credibility.  The audience is supposed to believe that Erica can make extra pocket money by giving blow jobs which she finds acceptable.  She also offered to give one to her step-brother out of pity.  When questioned, she likens the penis to be similar to a finger without a nail.  But a finger does not pee or cum either.  The script also has Eric fall in love with her fat step brother who actually have no redeeming qualities except for the only one good deed he had done.  Erica is also put up by her long-suffering mother, a point hard to believe.  When mum finally blows up, the story suddenly becomes believable with the mother/daughter confrontation segment making the film’s best part.

The film benefits from some excellent performances mostly from Deutch as the lead and comedian Kathryn Hahn as the mother.  Hahn has proven her comedic and dramatic potential in films like BAD MOMS but also demonstrates that if the vehicle is extremely bad as in A BAD MOM’S CHRISTMAS even she cannot save the movie.  Adam Scott plays the odd role (as least he is an actor daring enough to undertake risky roles like this one and the one in HOT TUB TIME MACHINE 2) as the pervert.

The film ends up a rather unbelievable morality tale that borders borders on farce because of the incidents in the story.  The film is supposed to demonstrate that good intentions are all that count.  But it also truthfully shows that if good intentions come about by criminal means there is a price to pay.  Luke ends up in prison and Erica under house arrest.  Entertaining to a point, one wishes the film could have been better.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmYcbgJBv7s

Film Review: MEDITATION PARK (Canada 2017)

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Meditation Park Poster
An aging woman questions her life after suspecting her husband is having an affair.

Director:

Mina Shum

Writer:

Mina Shum

Stars:

Sandra Oh, Liane Balaban, Tzi Ma

Before viewing MEDITATION PARK, one should be made aware of the legacy behind Hong Kong actress Cheng Pei Pei who executively produced and stars as the lead in the film.  Cheng Pei Pei was a star in her youth, who rose to fame from her first Shaw Brothers swords fighting action movie directed by King Hu, COME DRINK WITH ME.  She was rumoured to be the mistress of one of the Shaw moguls.  She continued her action roles in many other Shaw productions.  Her last well known role was Jade Fox in Ang Lee’s CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON.  She always sports the tomboyish short haircut, which she still does in MEDITATION PARK.  In MEDITATION PARK, Cheng Pei-Pei shines and shows star power as it is seldom seen.

Cheng stars as Maria, a devoted wife and mother who is forced to reassess her reverence for her husband after she finds another woman’s thong in his laundry.  She discovers that her supposedly devout husband, Bing (Tzi Ma) is not the perfect husband she thought him to be.  They are visited by their daughter (Sandra Oh) who wishes her mother attend the brother’s wedding.  The brother has been disowned by Bing.  Maria starts tailing her husband to find out more of his affair.  At the same time, Maria opens up her life and finds companionship through  her assortment of friends as well as through a neighbour (Don McKellar).   She finds that life has more to offer than just tending to her husband, and to one who has been unfaithful at that.

Shun’s (DOUBLE HAPPINESS) covers many issues the main one being, oddly enough, a senior’s coming-of-age.  Maria learns to stand for herself finally and do what is right.  Shun also brings in her Chinese culture in the Canadian setting.  Maria is shown as the typical Chinese elder, who stays home.  Maria speaks limited English and cannot drive.  When she tails her husband, she pays $240 in cab fare before learning how to ride a bicycle instead, a cheaper means of tailing her husband.

There are some magnificent performances on display here, Cheng Pei Pei’s being the most obvious.   Sandra Oh, who has been in Shun’s films in the past is always good and a pleasure to watch.  Her confrontation scene with her father, also brilliantly played by Tzi Ma is the film’s highlight.

Shun injects some sentimental moments through the character of a neighbour (McKellar) that Maria meets.  Kleenex should be handy for the segment where he announces the death of his sick wife.

Shun does not compromise her film for the typical Hollywood ending.  The father does not end up attending his son’s wedding as would be expected.  Maria and Bing do not reconcile in the usual way.  This is what stands out in Shun’s film, which is a big improvement over her past two efforts.  MEDITATION PARK should be seen for it being Shun’s best work and for Cheng Pei Pei’s controlled yet powerful performance.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMo7DdGdaq8

Review: 90th ACADEMY AWARDS 2018

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The 90th Academy Awards ceremony (2018) took place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.  During the ceremony, AMPAS presented Academy Awards aka Oscars in 24 categories.   Comedian and late show host Jimmy Kimmel did the honours as M.C. for the second consecutive year.   

The Oscars always discouraged politics, well maybe till now.  Winners of awards that deliver political or activist related speeches often get boo’ed off stage, the most memorable example being Michael Moore boo’ed off stage way back when.  Two current issues will take the stage along the winners this year.  One is the February NRA boycott.  It is reported that anti-NRA badges were put into the swag bags given to the stars.  It would be interesting to see who will be wearing these badges.  The other is still the #MeToo movement.  The latest victim is Ryan Seacrest.  As news mounted against him regarding sexual allegations, the decision had to be made whether he should cover the red carpet.  When the time finally arrived, Seacrest was on the red carpet, with stars like Christopher Plummer and Richard Jenkins stopping by for interviews.  (E! supported Seacrest saying that there is insufficient proof to Seacrest’s allegations of sexual misconduct.)  The female equality movement was emphasized throughout the ceremony that reached its fever pitch during  the rousing Frances McDormand’s Best Actress speech.

Host Kimmel began by reminding everyone women and men, women (coming first) that it is the grand 90th anniversary.  Jokes were first made regarding the wrong envelope for Best Picture last year.  “When you hear your name announced, do not come up right away.”  Most of the humour were funny enough, credit to Kimmel with the funniest joke was related to Best Picture Oscar Nominnee THE SHAPE OF WATER.  “The year will be remembered for the fact that men screwed u so much that women started dating fish.  But he mentioned milestones this year such as Rachel Morrison being the first Oscar-nominated female cinematographer for MUDBOUND. 

The ceremony had a few unforgettable nostalgic moments.  After a clip of Eva Marie Saint in the black and white ON THE WATERFRONT, the Best Supporting Actress appeared to present the Oscar for Best Costume design.  After a standing ovation, she recalled working with Edith Head, one of the greatest film costume designers of all time.  The clips celebrating the Academy Awards 90 years of film with many unforgettable scenes made the other highlight.

Jimmy Kimmel’s giving away of a jet ski to whoever gives the shortest acceptance speech is the ceremony’s running joke.

The Oscar’s best timely moment is James Ivory’s acceptance speech for Best Adapted Screenplay right after a spill on equality and fairness in movies.  He stresses the importance of first love whether be straight gay or otherwise in his writing.  Then black writer Jordan Peele won for Best Original Screenplay for GET OUT.

And if anyone noticed Jane Fonda said “The Winner is..”  instead of “The Oscar goes to..” in the presentation of the Best Actor Oscar to Gary Oldman for DARKEST HOUR.  His speech?  “To his 99-year old mother: “Put the kettle on, I am bringing the Oscar home.”

Right up to the end of the ceremonies, no one could guess which film would win the Best Picture Oscar, whether it be “SHAPE OF WATER or “THREE BILLBOARDS”.  The best joke of the evening was the presentation of the Best Pictures Oscar.  Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty did the honours the second time around.

Below are the full list of nominees with asterisks beside the winners.

Best Picture:

“Call Me by Your Name”

“Darkest Hour”

“Dunkirk”

“Get Out”

“Lady Bird”

“Phantom Thread”

“The Post”

“The Shape of Water” ***

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

 

Lead Actor:

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”

Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”

Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”

Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” ***

Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

 

Lead Actress:

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”

Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” ***

Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”

Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”

Meryl Streep, “The Post”

 

Supporting Actor:

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”

Woody Harrelson, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”

Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”

Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” ***

 

Supporting Actress:

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”

Allison Janney, “I, Tonya” ***

Lesley Manville, “Phantom Thread”

Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”

Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

 

Director:

“Dunkirk,” Christopher Nolan

“Get Out,” Jordan Peele

“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig

“Phantom Thread,” Paul Thomas Anderson

“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro ***

 

Animated Feature:

“The Boss Baby,” Tom McGrath, Ramsey Ann Naito

“The Breadwinner,” Nora Twomey, Anthony Leo

“Coco,” Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson

“Ferdinand,” Carlos Saldanha

“Loving Vincent,” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Sean Bobbitt, Ivan Mactaggart, Hugh Welchman

 

Animated Short:

“Dear Basketball,” Glen Keane, Kobe Bryant ***

“Garden Party,” Victor Caire, Gabriel Grapperon

“Lou,” Dave Mullins, Dana Murray

“Negative Space,” Max Porter, Ru Kuwahata

“Revolting Rhymes,” Jakob Schuh, Jan Lachauer

 

Adapted Screenplay:

“Call Me by Your Name,” James Ivory ***

“The Disaster Artist,” Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

“Logan,” Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green

“Molly’s Game,” Aaron Sorkin

“Mudbound,” Virgil Williams and Dee Rees

 

Original Screenplay:

“The Big Sick,” Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani

“Get Out,” Jordan Peele ***

“Lady Bird,” Greta Gerwig

“The Shape of Water,” Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Martin McDonagh

 

Cinematography:

“Blade Runner 2049,” Roger Deakins ***

“Darkest Hour,” Bruno Delbonnel

“Dunkirk,” Hoyte van Hoytema

“Mudbound,” Rachel Morrison

“The Shape of Water,” Dan Laustsen

 

Best Documentary Feature:

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” Steve James, Mark Mitten, Julie Goldman

“Faces Places,” JR, Agnès Varda, Rosalie Varda

“Icarus,” Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan ***

“Last Men in Aleppo,” Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed, Soren Steen Jepersen

“Strong Island,” Yance Ford, Joslyn Barnes

 

Best Documentary Short Subject:

“Edith+Eddie,” Laura Checkoway, Thomas Lee Wright

“Heaven is a Traffic Jam on the 405,” Frank Stiefel ***

“Heroin(e),” Elaine McMillion Sheldon, Kerrin Sheldon

“Knife Skills,” Thomas Lennon

“Traffic Stop,” Kate Davis, David Heilbroner

 

Best Live Action Short Film:

“DeKalb Elementary,” Reed Van Dyk

“The Eleven O’Clock,” Derin Seale, Josh Lawson

“My Nephew Emmett,” Kevin Wilson, Jr.

“The Silent Child,” Chris Overton, Rachel Shenton ***

“Watu Wote/All of Us,” Katja Benrath, Tobias Rosen

 

Best Foreign Language Film:

“A Fantastic Woman” (Chile) ***

“The Insult” (Lebanon)

“Loveless” (Russia)

“On Body and Soul (Hungary)

“The Square” (Sweden)

 

Film Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss

“Dunkirk,” Lee Smith ***

“I, Tonya,” Tatiana S. Riegel

“The Shape of Water,” Sidney Wolinsky

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Jon Gregory

 

Sound Editing:

“Baby Driver,” Julian Slater

“Blade Runner 2049,” Mark Mangini, Theo Green

“Dunkirk,” Alex Gibson, Richard King ***

“The Shape of Water,” Nathan Robitaille, Nelson Ferreira

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Ren Klyce, Matthew Wood

 

Sound Mixing:

“Baby Driver,” Mary H. Ellis, Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin

“Blade Runner 2049,” Mac Ruth, Ron Bartlett, Doug Hephill

“Dunkirk,” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo ***

“The Shape of Water,” Glen Gauthier, Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” Stuart Wilson, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick

 

Production Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer

“Blade Runner 2049,” Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola

“Darkest Hour,” Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer

“Dunkirk,” Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis

“The Shape of Water,” Paul D. Austerberry, Jeffrey A. Melvin, Shane Vieau    ***

 

Original Score:

“Dunkirk,” Hans Zimmer

“Phantom Thread,” Jonny Greenwood

“The Shape of Water,” Alexandre Desplat ***

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” John Williams

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Carter Burwell

 

Original Song:

“Mighty River” from “Mudbound,” Mary J. Blige

“Mystery of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name,” Sufjan Stevens

“Remember Me” from “Coco,” Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Robert Lopez      ***

“Stand Up for Something” from “Marshall,” Diane Warren, Common

“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman,” Benj Pasek, Justin Paul

 

Makeup and Hair:

“Darkest Hour,” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski, Lucy Sibbick ***

“Victoria and Abdul,” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard

“Wonder,” Arjen Tuiten

 

Costume Design:

“Beauty and the Beast,” Jacqueline Durran

“Darkest Hour,” Jacqueline Durran

“Phantom Thread,” Mark Bridges ***

“The Shape of Water,” Luis Sequeira

“Victoria and Abdul,” Consolata Boyle

 

Visual Effects:

“Blade Runner 2049,” John Nelson, Paul Lambert, Richard R. Hoover, Gerd Nefzer        ***

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, Dan Sudick

“Kong: Skull Island,” Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza, Mike Meinardus

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi,”  Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Chris Corbould, Neal Scanlan

“War for the Planet of the Apes,” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Joel Whist

Interview with Festival Director Lari Teräs (Toronto Int’l Spring of Horror & Fantasy Film Festival (TISH))

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Toronto Int’l Spring of Horror & Fantasy Film Festival (TISH) had its first event in 2016. The festival was launched by filmmakers and genre film aficionados Lari Teräs and Jonathan Lewis in order to give people of Toronto access to quality genre films throughout the year.

Our aim is to showcase the best genre films from around the World from new filmmakers and seasoned veterans. We focus on new voices and prefer creativity over big budgets. In addition to dedicated short film blocks, we aim to schedule each feature with one short and a genre appropriate music video at the beginning to set the mood. We also run Toronto’s first and only annual Scream Queen/King Competition along with other social events.

Our lineup will be announced March 10, 2018 and the festival will be held April 6-8, 2018 at the Carlton Cinema.

http://www.springofhorror.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SpringOfHorror/
https://filmfreeway.com/TorontoSpringOfHorrorFantasy

 
Matthew Toffolo: What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?

Lari Teräs: We offer a fun environment to screen their work in downtown Toronto. We promote the films before and over the course of the festival; buying Facebook ads, blasting the trailers out not only promote us, but also the filmmakers and their films. We then continue promoting their films after the festival while visiting conventions such as Horror-Rama and on our social media.

If wanted, we give feedback to anyone who asks regardless of whether their film was accepted to screen or not. Toronto is also home to plenty of reviewers and distribution companies to whom we have been making our presence known more as we have grown.

After we ended up on FilmFreeway’s Top-100 Best Reviewed festivals list, we were then contacted by a very notable production company asking for insights on upcoming filmmakers and we were more than happy to drop a few names from our Alumni, hopefully aiding them further in their careers.

To top it off, in keeping with the fun nature of the festival, we award the best films with our coveted Cleaver the Beaver bobblehead(!) statue.

2) What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2018)?

We think genre films and festivals should be fun and the atmosphere relaxed. In addition to the screenings and Q&A’s, the venue (Carlton Cinema) is fully licensed and we hold two bar nights as well as Toronto’s first and only annual Scream Queen/King competition. That is an experience by itself both to viewers and participants. All that combined makes it a very fun and social atmosphere.

3) What are the qualifications for the selected films?

We appreciate creativity and new ideas. The main criteria is that they are genre films (horror, fantasy, sci-fi, etc.) or something genre film fans would like to see. Assuming the film fits our categories, we rate how much we enjoyed watching the film, whether we would want to go see it ourselves and whether it had elements we had never seen before.

Part of the selection process is keeping a good variety and balance of different types of movies. Late night, we like to schedule something more gory and outrageous while daytime might be better suited for more contemplative films.

4) Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?

I do believe that nowadays there is a good variety of festivals out there catering to most types of films. Genre films like horror and fantasy might be underrepresented at the very high profile festivals, but horror fans are pretty good at finding their way to the genre film festivals.

5) What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

Basically our love of movies. I’ve always enjoyed watching movies and hosting movie nights for friends at my house. After doing a festival tour with my film Blood Riders and experiencing a wide variety of festivals (good and not so good), we wanted to expand those movie nights to a festival of our own. We also realized that there was a large gap in horror film festivals in the spring in Toronto, so we decided to fill the void since we believe good genre films should be available all year long!

6) How has your FilmFreeway submission process been?

The submission process has been great. Last year we got on the Top-100 Best Reviewed Festivals list for quite a while, which definitely boosted our submissions significantly. Furthermore, we have noticed filmmakers whose works we have previously screened resubmitting to us, which is always nice to see. The only downside is that the amount of quality submissions we receive makes the selection process very hard.

7) Where do you see the festival by 2023?

As mentioned before, our submissions have increased significantly, and our attendance also hiked last year, so we’re looking to extend our festival by a few days very soon and hopefully have a weeklong event by 2023. We’ve always played music videos in front of our screenings and we’re looking into introducing live music at our parties in the coming years.

However, our main goal is to always keep the fun and social atmosphere going. Bigger, Better and Bloodier!

8) What film have you seen the most times in your life?

Donnie Darko. It is an extremely well written and beautifully shot film that really captivated me when I first saw it. The absolutely hilarious “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil” is a close second.

9) In one sentence, what makes a great film?

Interesting story supported by witty dialogue with complex characters drenched in blood. (Blood may or may not be optional depending on the genre…)

10) How is the film scene in your city?

The film scene in Toronto is very active both on the independent and studio film side. It is without a doubt one of the top markets in North America. The horror film scene should also get a special mention as it is very supportive of each other and a delightful group to be a part of.

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Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every single month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 3 times a month. Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

Film Review: HANNAH (Italy/France/Belgium 2017)

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Submit your Screenplay to the Festival TODAY

Hannah Poster
Intimate portrait of a woman drifting between reality and denial when she is left alone to grapple with the consequences of her husband’s imprisonment.

Director:

Andrea Pallaoro

Writers:

Andrea Pallaoro, Orlando Tirado

Stars:

Charlotte Rampling, André Wilms, Stéphanie Van Vyve

 

Charlotte Rampling plays HANNAH.  HANNAH is a Charlotte Rampling vehicle.  If you do not like her, this is a film definitely to avoid.  Rampling is in every scene of the film and she is heavily relied on to make this movie.  In her hey day, Rampling was one of the highest paid European stars.  She was young and beautiful and starred in sexy films like films like THE NIGHT PORTER, and blockbusters like ORCA THE KILLER WHALE.  She finally won an Academy Award nomination for 45 YEARS a few years back after playing sexually frustrated character roles as in UNDER THE SAND and SWIMMING POOL.  

When the film opens, HANNAH is accompanying her husband (Andre Wilms) to what appease to be a prison.  Her husband is to be imprisoned for reasons unexplained and Hannah has to deal with it.   The film is an intimate portrait of a woman drifting between reality and denial when she is left alone to grapple with the consequences of her husband’s imprisonment.  Besides the fact, other thins are not going all for Hannah.  Her dog is not eating, her son does not want to see her any more and prevents her from seeing her grandson, for again reasons unexplained.  The only solace is her emlyerm which she works for as a cleaning lady.  She appears to be kind, giving Hannah her old clothes that she no longer can wear that are still attractive.  Hannah must cope.  Hannah breaks down and cries in the bathroom on day.  This is pretty much the film.  Not much story, not much plot, not much explained n terms of reasons things occur to Hannah.  To director Pallaoro, those explanations are unimportant even though one might argue that they are to make the story more believable and to have the audience therefor care for for Hannah.

Director Pallaoro shows that Hannah is not the only person in the world having difficulties.  On Hannah is riding the metro one day, she witnesses a young black lady in the same train screaming at an unseen passenger how she has had it and cannot take it anymore.  She bangs the train doors and finally exits the trains while Hannah is clearly disturbed by the incident.

A film that runs on similar lines as Hannah and one that demands comparison is Chantal Akerman’s JEANNE DIELMAN, 23 QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLS which detailed its heroine Jeanne Dielman leading a hums drum life that eventually leads to her suicide in the film’s shock ending.  Akerman’s film was 3 hours long, repeatedly showing Dielman performing identical household chores.  While this sounds boring, it is not, especially when the film ending with a shocking suicide.  Pallaoro’s film, however does not work as well.  Akrman understands her character whereas Pallaoro does not seem to know what to do with HANNAH.  Despite Rampling’s riveting performance, though fans of hers have seen her in roles like this, HANNAH is a hard watch and will be a definite bore to many.  HANNAH is a depressing film involving a character that can never seem to redeem herself as everything else around her is going wrong.  Do we need to watch a film like this?

The film is shot in French.  Rampling is English educated in France.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq6mB1Syt-I

Submit your Screenplay to the Festival TODAY

Interview with Festival Director Mike Messier (AVALONIA Film Festival)

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Avalonia Festival is named in honor of a continent lost is the mists of time, as if dissipated by magic; thus we are here to celebrate the unique Art of our own world of creation. Avalonia Festival II is now accepting submissions of short films, teasers, trailers, film photography and film posters.

Contact

 
Matthew Toffolo: What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?

Mike Messier: Our website Avalonia Festival sets us apart because we actually give our filmmakers the option to either share their actual film ​(or a teaser or a promotional still image)​ on our site to represent their film. This promotes both the work​ itself​ and the filmmaker​ ​as well as their cast and crew. ​Many or even most other film festivals concentrate so much on the live experience but are negligent to the online community which does not make much sense these days, as it’s very hard to get people to actually attend anything in person, while it’s relatively easy to get them to engage online. For those who can attend our live event on April 20, the admission is free ,while many festivals are very expensive So, Avalonia Festival plays well both as an in-person and an on-line experience. ​

In addition, Avalonia Festival’s Circle of Champions​ i​s a celebration of our Award Winning films with personalized Awards for each film. This is no copy and paste job​ for these Awards​! A lot of work goes into making the website very unique and to actually provide content and a web presence ​Avalonia ​filmmakers can be proud to be a part of!

2) What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2018)?

We will share our Award Winning Films ​at Avalonia Festival II on April 20, 2018 ​in a really great venue called Rhodywood Studios ​in Providence, RI ​with cozy seating, great picture and sound and complimentary snacks. Even better? Free admission for the audience. Winning filmmakers who are able to attend will have a few moments for a Q and A with the live audience.

3) What are the qualifications for the selected films?

Films must be 11 minutes or under to qualify as a “Short Film”, 3 minutes or under to qualify as a “180” film or 60 seconds or less to qualify as a 1 minute movie. We have many categories available to honor all types of films from doc to horror drama to music video to comedy to all points in between. We even have genres for films starring animals. We have no preference whether a film has already premiered at other festivals or is available online. We do prefer if the filmmakers allow us to share their film on our actual website, a status which is both optional for each film and can be changed down the road if need be​ with notice from the filmmaker​. Teasers, film posters and film photography may also enter in their own specific categories.

4) Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?

I can’t speak about the fairness of other festivals across the board because there are literally thousands if not tens of thousands of film festivals out there in the world. However, I will say, having entered many festivals myself and being both successful and, at times, disappointed, with my experiences, here are some lessons:

1) Art is a subjective medium, especially film. Being rejected by one, or even a thousand, film fests does not make any particular film “bad.” So do not be discouraged if your particular film is not a “festival darling”. Keep making movies!
2) Some films, quite simply, are just better geared for festivals, given whatever “trend” or “mood”, is going on at the moment of selection. So, that is not to say to conform your style or content to whatever is trendy, but just to say to “give yourself a break.”
3) Look over the fests you are entering and see how they match up in content with what your film is. For instance, there are fests that play specifically to low budget, edgy material. There are fests specific to Vampire films. There are some fests are fests with categories specific for Women Filmmakers, various ethnic groups, LGBQT etc so keep that in mind when choosing which fests to enter.
4) Also, considerations may be made by some fests for filmmakers within driving range of the actual live event. ​It’s more exciting to think that the actual filmmaker will be there in person, and so festivals may have a natural instinct to honor films geographically closer. ​
5) Shorter films usually have an advantage just by logistics. Feature films that have a possibility to make money are much more likely to get a distribution deal of some significance and shorts play better in fests. These things can change, though.

What I really tried to go from the get-go with Avalonia Festival is to have an online presence that honors both the filmmakers and the worldwide audience. If someone gives my website two hours of their time, they can really feel attuned to what the Avalonia Alumni is capable of. I ask any other film festival to show me a better​ -​ or more engaging – and free online – experience than Avalonia Festival.

5) What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

I wanted to provide a festival that would be the type of festival I would like to be a part of as a filmmaker myself.

I wanted to have a festival that had a website that actually gave the name of the winning films and even shared these films online for the biggest possible audience, beyond the seating capacity of whatever venue was used for a live audience. I’m not sure why so many​, otherwise wonderful, ​film fests have​ such lackluster or vague websites but they do. Anyone who wants to hire me to run their film festival website is encouraged to contact me and I’ll help them.

The other motivation is that Avalonia Festival is intended to bring views to my own project Distance from Avalon​ ​which is my Gothic narrative story about a school teacher and his philosophy about parallel universes. When people look into Avalonia Festival, they are also encouraged to look into Distance from Avalon.

6) How has your FilmFreeway submission process been?

So far, so good. I found FilmFreeway to be very user friendly as a filmmaker myself, and its entry process helped me win about half of my film and TV Awards. Running Avalonia Festival on it is also​ relatively​ easy, time consuming at times, but nothing I can’t handle. ​

7) Where do you see the festival by 2023?

That’s a great question. My ideal scenario were to be a global expansion and by that time, the Distance from Avalon films will have been made and I’ll be a highly respected and cherished individual. So we will see.

8) What film have you seen the most times in your life?

By now, Disregard the Vampire – A Mike Messier Documentary.

I’ve probably seen the most, because of the three years I put into it. This doc, which you may share with your readers, Matthew, directly lead to the creation of Avalonia Festival. Beyond my own work, Highlander, a fantasy time travel piece from 1986, starring Christopher Lambert, is the film I have seen the most and always enjoyed it.

9) In one sentence, what makes a great film?

A great film exhibits a personal standpoint or observation of the world that both challenges and engages an audience.

10) How is the film scene in your city?

The film scene is my exact city of Wickford, Rhode Island is more or less myself but about 20 minutes north of me my friend Tommy DeNucci of Cranston, RI is getting ready to shoot Vault, a major motion picture in the gangster genre with big names and an hour south of me our mutual buddy David Gere is producing several big action and horror films out of Cromwell, CT. Between the three of us, there are some nice things happening.

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Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every single month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 3 times a month. Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

Interview with Festival Director Banks Helfrich (LIFE SCREENINGS Festival)

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This 80 minute event goes beyond movie night and into a shared experience which includes films, filmmakers, lovers of film and engaging conversation. International filmmakers are Skyped in to partake in an encouraged, relaxed exchange of ideas.

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Matthew Toffolo: What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?

Banks Helfrich: Life Screenings exposes filmmakers to inquisitive audiences. Through Skyping, it also fosters direct feedback for the filmmaker.

2) What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2018)?

Life Screenings is an exploration of life through film. Audiences receive direct contact with the filmmaker’s minds through a thorough talkback.

3) What are the qualifications for the selected films?

Life Screenings criteria encompasses two qualifications: 1. All films must be under 15 minutes; 2. All films must show a world that we want to live in.

4) Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?

I can only speak for Life Screenings and we specifically search out films which meet our criteria.

5) What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

Life Screenings sole purpose is to share a world that we want to live in through film; to connect filmmakers and film lovers in a conversation to better understand each other.

6) How has your FilmFreeway submission process been?

The FilmFreeway submission process has been thoroughly helpful in connecting filmmakers from around the world to us.

7) Where do you see the festival by 2023?

Life Screenings 2023 will be in every major city in the world; it will be invited to the top attended film festivals in the world to curate at least one two hour block; it will be invited into people’s living rooms to share with others in a communal intimate atmosphere.

8) What film have you seen the most times in your life?

Amelie

9) In one sentence, what makes a great film?

A great film is one that has a connective quality of specificity in telling a story based on the human condition. In other words, it’s story.

10) How is the film scene in your city?

Orlando has a thriving educational film scene with three colleges. It is exploding with students learning to tell a story with moving pictures.
 

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Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every single month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 3 times a month. Go to http://www.wildsoundfestival.com for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

Film Review: BOOST (Canada 2016)

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Boost Poster
Hakeem and A-Mac are like brothers. Together facing immigrant life in Montreal, while ‘spotting’ cars after school. Boost gives us a glimpse into the awkward adventures of teenage boyhood, then the jolt, when that innocence ends abruptly.

Director:

Darren Curtis

Writer:

Darren Curtis

Stars:

Nabil Rajo, Jahmil French, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine

Out of the blue comes this African Canadian film no one has heard of that is quite certainly, the best Canadian film of the year.  It is one of the best I have seen, an excellent blend of drama and thrills with current issues also on display.  BOOST is set in the parc-extension of East Montreal and shot in both French and English, though no knowledge of French need be known to completely follow the film.

Hakeem (Nabil Rajo) and Anthony/“A-Mac” (Jahmil French), teenagers in the Parc-Extension neighbourhood of Montreal work at Hakeem’s uncle’s car wash while simultaneously maintaining a sideline pursuit of passing on tips about valuable cars to the neighbourhood’s gang of car thieves.  One day, after being expelled for 3 days from school for being rude to their teacher (Fanny Mallette), they decide to try their hands at undertaking an auto theft themselves.  Hakkem’s mother (Oluniké Adeliyi) who wants the best for her two sons, goes ballistic when she finds out what her son is up to.  Hakeem is the calm one but it is A-Mac that gets the two in trouble.

BOOST is a film that works on many levels while catering to different audiences.  As a genre movie, it can be considered a car heist film with many suspenseful set-ups especially the main one stealing a posh car while in the garage of the owner’s residence.  The car thieves are black youth, going to school, broke, suspended trying to make an extra buck for their families, maturing while making mistakes in life.  It is a coming-of-age story of the two youths.  At the same time, the film looks at the minority immigrant problem of  Montreal.

“Don’t think for a moment that I don’t know when you fuck up,” advises the uncle to Akeem in a dead serious voice.  There is a keen mix of care, caution and abandon in these words of advice, which is reflected in the craft of Curtis’ film.

A-Mac, Hakeem’s best friend is a friend for hell.  Hanging out with him means an accident waiting to happen.  In audience’s terms, it means edge of the seat suspense.  Will Hakeem get in deep trouble?  For example, when driving a stolen car, A-Mac defies to race another car and after, pick up a girl, Maxim for a ride.

This is writer/director Curtis’s directorial debut after winning a Telefilm Canadian writing grant.  The two main characters in the script were originally South Asian but changed to African Canadians after hiring the actors.  Director Curtis elicits superb performances, especially from his young actors, Rajo from Africa and French who plays his trouble seeking buddy from Scarborough.  Adeliyi who play the mother is from Toronto while Mwine whom plays the uncle is from Uganda.  Thee are Canadian actors too.  Theodore Pellerin, a white Canadian in the supporting role of the car wash floor assistant manager who also plays the lead role in another Canadian film, NEVER STAEDY, NEVER STILL which coincidentally also opens the same day as his film.  Pellerin is an actor to watch!

Many fresh talent in BOOST to watch out for, particularly its writer/director Curtis, who is actually white.  The most impressive debut direction this year!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44_fuSQNmCY

 

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Film Review: THE WASTING (UK/Canada 2017)

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The Wasting Poster
Trailer

A teenager in an English town struggles to come of age, braving sexual awakening and fighting her controlling parents by refusing to eat…until a nightmarish ghost appears that may be real… See full summary »

Director:

Carolyn Saunders

Writer:

Carolyn Saunders

Stars:

Alexz Johnson, Lauren McQueen, Gray O’Brien

 

 Wasting, also known as wasting syndrome, refers to the process by which a debilitating disease causes muscle and fat tissue to “waste” away.  The main character in the story is Sophie (Lauren McQueen) who suffers from an eating disorder.  According to Wikipedia an eating disorders are excluded from causes of wasting.  So, the film is inaccurate in its title.

When the film opens, the title – ‘inspired by true events’ is splashed on the screen.  But how true the events depicted in the film can be another thing.

The story is set in a small English town.  The film has 4 main teen characters so one can assume that teens are the film’s target audience.  The four youths, two girls and two boys have similar looks.  So, it takes a while before one can distinguish one from another.  Best to remember their names and associate the face to the name, or the film can get confusing. 

Sophie is an anorexic teen struggling to come of age, braving sexual awakening and fighting her controlling father, Ilyas (Gary O’Brien) by refusing to eat…until a nightmarish ghost appears that may be real, or may be a deadly creation of her starving body.   As Sophie battles for truth, sanity and survival, a dark family secret surfaces that will either save her or destroy her.  The secret surfaces only during the last half hour of the story.

Sophie is visited in England by her best friend Grace (Alexz Johnson), her boyfriend Kai (Brendan Flynn) and Sophie’s boyfriend, Liam (Sean Saunders Stevenson) from Toronto, Canada.  Sophie’s father is reluctant to have Sophie hang around her friends and goes ballistic when he finds that Sophie has a boyfriend.  While all this is going on, Sophie starts having nightmares and seeing apparitions as result of her not eating.  Her father blames her friends and her friends blame the father.  Liam claims he loves her but she sees a ghost in Liam which draws them apart.

The story is layered with many stories overlapping.  The main story is Sophie dealing with her eating disorder.  Another is her romance and yet another is the ghost story.  There are also a few relationships on display.  There is the ones with Sophie and her father, Sophie and her dead mother, and the ones with Liam the boyfriend and then with her other two friends.  The various stories and relationships are effortlessly blended well, smoothly flowing into each other.  Saunders film is well paced. All the relationships are equally interesting.  The best scene is the confrontation between Liam and Sophie’s father,

The conclusion would be the outcome whether Sophie will be able to untangle her relationship with her mother’s ghost, going back to leading a normal life or be forever drawn into her madness.  The film still works regardless of the result as director Saunders has confidently and effortlessly drawn her audience into her characters’ world.

The film is a Canadian/U.K.co-production premiering first in Toronto.

Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi3311515161

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Film Review: NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL (Canada 2017)

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Never Steady, Never Still Poster
A mother struggles to take control of her life in the face of advanced Parkinson’s disease, while her son battles his sexual and emotional identity amongst the violence of Alberta’s oil field work camps.

Director:

Kathleen Hepburn

Writer:

Kathleen Hepburn

Stars:

Shirley Henderson, Théodore Pellerin, Mary Galloway

 

NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL are the words that often describe the film’s protagonist’s debilitating disease, a sort of advanced stage of Parkinson’s.  She, Judy has a loving but discontent son – each alienated from their world and struggling to manage in the face of grief, guilt and chronic disease.  At one point in the film Judy (Shirley Henderson) is admired by a friend who describes the situation as ‘How can you be so strong to put up with all this shit?”

NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL is a family drama following a wife/mother, Judy, her loving husband (Nicholas Campbell) and son, Jamie.  Jamie gets a job reluctantly, in the oil fields, but is made fun off because of his scrawny figure.  Judy has to take her medication to keep her Parkinson’s under control, and even when she does, shakes uncontrollably.  Still, she is persistent, does her own shopping and dangerously drives her car.  The husband is not super healthy either and suffers a heart attack a third through the film.

Director Hepburn’s film is heartfelt.  It is really difficult to watch Judy suffer and the boy bullied.  One really feels for them and it will not be surprising that many of the suffering scenes will bring tears to many an audience’s eyes.

Hepburn is fond of keeping the audience on their toes with false alarms.  One scene has the son Jamie (Theodore Pellerin) doing cocaine in his room only to have a knocking at the door from his boss.  Jamie is just delivered a pay cheque.  More tense is the camera showing the car swerving side to side when Judy while driving, is suffering a Parkinson’s episode.  A cop stops her but sends her away with a caution.  And there are other false alarms.

Hepburn is also fond of using hand held camera instead of a mounting her camera on a tripod.  This can be seen in a few scenes that appear with a slightly moving frame.

The film has certain key incidents that affect the lives of both mother an son.  These appear at regular intervals and turns the film in another direction.  The result is good pacing and non-predictability of the story.

The film is also brilliantly shot, courtesy of D.P. Norm Li.  The water of the lake, the snow and ice and the flames of the oil fires all add to the excellent cinematography.

Hepburn also ensures her audience can effectively follow the story.  She gives a summary of the film at mid-point when Jamie explains over the telephone what has happened and how he feels at work, at home and with his mother.

The film is an expansion of Hepburn’s earlier short film of the same title, which had different actors.

NEVER STEADY NEVER STILL shows Hepburn an assured and apt writer and director.  At the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival, the film won three juried awards.  Currently the film has received eight Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress (Henderson), Best Screenplay (Hepburn), Best Cinematography (Norm Li), Best Art Direction/Production Design (Sophie Jarvis and Elizabeth Cairns), Best Sound (Matt Drake, Nate Evans and Christopher O’Brien), Best Editing (Simone Smith) and Best Original Score (Ben Fox).

(Interviews with director and editor are available online.)

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP-Kfh6S4c4

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