Month: February 2019

Film Review: THE PRODIGY (USA 2019) ***

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The Prodigy Poster
Trailer

A mother concerned about her young son’s disturbing behavior thinks something supernatural may be affecting him.

Director:

Nicholas McCarthy

Writer:

Jeff Buhler

Stars:

Taylor Schilling, Brittany Allen, Jackson Robert Scott |

THE PRODIGY is a horror slasher/possession film that by nature of the script evokes a lot of thinking – at least from my part.  Part of these will be mentioned in the review.

The plot centres around a child, Miles (Jackson Robert Scott) whose disturbing behaviour signals that an evil, possibly supernatural force possessed him, forcing his parents, Sarah (Taylor Schilling) and John (Peter Mooney) to investigate whether sinister forces are involved.  Miles is a prodigy with exceptional learning ability though socially backward.  The film is clear later on to let the audience know the difference between possession and reincarnation though the effect of both on a horror film is the same – i.e Miles behaves like a different being.

The film begins with three intercut scenes.  One is a woman screaming for help, running out of the woods stopping a car driven by another woman, who stops.  The second is a birth, an early one at that, with the mother in labour.  The scene is intercut with a man in his tool shed, called out by the police and then gunned down in the yard.  The man clasps what seems to be a severed hand.  When the woman gives birth the writhing baby fades into the dying man that was gunned down by the police.   The film then moves on in years when the baby is now grown to a boy of different ages 8 and 10.  It does not take a genius to fit the pieces of the jigsaw together, but it is still fun doing it.  The dead serial killer is reincarnated in the boy.  The parents have to figure out what is happening and who the reincarnating killer is and save the day, and hopefully their son in the process.  A doctor, Arthur Jacobson (played by Canadian Colm Feore) aids in solving the mystery.

The film is supposedly set in Pennsylvania but shot in Canada.  The actors are a mix of Canadian and American casting.

McCarty’s film is both scary in concept and execution.  One is not knowing what your child will grow up to be.  One scene has the mother wondering the same question, then assured by the physician that the boy is giftedly bright.  The film contains graphic gore and violence – the most disturbing scene involving the boy hitting another with a huge wrench.

Not to mention any details, there is one glitch in the story that I thought evaded the scriptwriter.  But upon closer examination, the script allowed for that discrepancy if one thinks hard enough.  The details will not disclosed for plot twists would have to be revealed.

THE PRODIGY is not without its loose ends (how did the boy get the sharp shears in the car?  How did the boy have the tools to make the camera to spy on his parents), which is forgivable in a low budget horror movie.  Still this is one hell of a thinking horror film, and a satisfying one nevertheless.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REXXOGV1IIE

Film Review: WHAT MEN WANT (USA 2019) **

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What Men Want Poster
Trailer

A woman is boxed out by the male sports agents in her profession, but gains an unexpected edge over them when she develops the ability to hear men’s thoughts.

Director:

Adam Shankman

Writers:

Tina Gordon (screenplay by) (as Tina Gordon Chism), Peter Huyck (screenplay by) |8 more credits »

Stars:

Taraji P. Henson, Kristen Ledlow, Josh Brener

WHAT MEN WANT is a black woman’s fantasy romantic comedy, a loose remake of the 2000 film WHAT WOMEN WANT.  It is fantasy as the plot follows a woman who, after drinking a potent concoction given by a shaman, gains the ability to hear men’s inner thoughts.  

There is nothing new or innovative in this rom-com with a little spin targeting a black female audience.  Last year’s Netflix original NAPPILY HAPPY AFTER saw a Black lady get her man.  The twist here is hair that made up her life – hair standing as a metaphor for her ego.  WHAT MEN WANT’s twist is less subtle, after an incident, the female protagonist can hear men’s thoughts.

So what do men think that is funny?  Apparently not much as the film attests.  Lots of dirty thoughts, gay thoughts and ridiculous thoughts, most of them more outrageous than funny.  

The woman in question is Ali Davis (Taraji P. Henson), a successful sports agent working in a man dominated world of sports.  Her personal agent, who is gay, Brandon (Josh Brener) dreams of becoming a sports agent but Ali wants him all to herself.  When she is passed over to become partner in the firm she questions what she needs to succeed in a man’s wold.  This is when she gains, half hour trough the movie, the ability other men’s thoughts.  This allows her not only to gain the upper hand at work but to engage in sex with several hunks including one who becomes her main romantic interest.

Of all the comedic set-ups, one stands out.  Oddly, the stand out if from Henson’s outrageousness as well as the scene’s.  This is the sex scene between Ali and Will (Aldis Hodge).  Ali plays the dominant sex partner, totally in control and freaking Will out so much so he can hardly breathe (yes, she chokes him) or speak.  Finally after they complete the act, she rolls over to her side to sleep ignoring him and leaving him looking totally flabbergasted.  I would not consider revealing this scene a spoiler as it has to be seen as description does not do the segment justice.

Other parts of the story involving Will’s son, Will and Ali’s misunderstanding and her work among men in the office fall into cliched territory.  The part where Ali makes up with her friends propel the plot but is rather uninventive.

It is interesting to note that Ali possesses this ‘power’ for only half of the movie.  She gains the power only after the 30 minute mark and loses it 30 minutes before the film ends.  Obviously the filmmakers do not think too highly of this niche in the rom-com story.

The film runs close to 2 hours, and that is very long for the typical romantic comedy.  And one feels the length of the running time.  The material is stretched out far too long for too many unfunny parts just to get the narrative flowing and unnecessarily.  Credit to Taraji P. Henson for trying really hard to make the film work.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeoLiTirRp4

Next Wave Film Festival Review: LES METERORITES (France 2018) ***

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Meteorites Poster
Nina, 16, dream of adventure. In the meantime, she spends the summer between her village in the south of France and the amusement park where she works. Just before meeting Morad, Nina sees … See full summary »

Director:

Romain Laguna

Writers:

Lucas Delangle (collaboration), Romain Laguna(screenplay) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Zéa Duprez, Billal Agab, Oumaima Lyamouri

This low budget French film set in the south of France follows the misadventures of teenage Nina.  Nina works at the local theme park.  She falls for Morad, brother of her co-worker who warns her against being dumped by him.  Nina hangs out with Morad, nevertheless.  The film follows the restlessness of youth as personified by Nina who gets in trouble at work for hitting kids.  Nina also smokes dope and has sex with Morad, with nudity provided uninhibitedly in the film’s sex scenes.  Whether the audience would side with Nina is questionable as director Laguna does not do anything to make the audience take her side.  

Nina just does her thing.  The film is so called because Nina sees a meteorite one night, thinking it to be the end of the world.  But it is a sign that her life’s to be changed, just as meteorites were supposed to have  changed the course of earth’s history by destroying the dinosaurs.

Trailer: https://www.cineuropa.org/en/video/360594

Film Review: COLD PURSUIT (USA 2019)

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Cold Pursuit Poster
Trailer

A snowplow driver seeks revenge against the drug dealers he thinks killed his son. Based on the 2014 Norwegian film ‘In Order of Disappearance’.

Director:

Hans Petter Moland

Writers:

Frank Baldwin (screenplay by), Kim Fupz Aakeson (based on the movie ‘Kraftidioten’ written by)

Stars:

Liam Neeson, Laura Dern, Micheál Richardson

Back in 2014, out of Norway arrived a taut, intelligent noir thriller from director Hans Petter Moland entitled IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE so called because the father of the boy killed by a drug lord kills of, in revenge, one dealer after another until reaching him.  The film was violent,, absorbing and extremely funny with the father, Nils played by Stellan Skarsgard tossing the bodies one after another wrapped in chicken wire over the waterfalls.  COLD PURSUIT is the Hollywood remake, directed by the same director.

Th protagonist is now called Nels (Liam Neeson), short for Nelson.  Nels Coxman’s quiet life as a snowplow driver in a glitzy Rocky Mountains resort town where he was just awarded Citizen of the Year is disrupted when his beloved son is murdered under mysterious circumstances.  His search for the cause turns into a quest for revenge against a psychotic drug lord named Viking ((British Tom Bateman). Using his hunting skills to transform himself from upstanding citizen to cold-blooded vigilante, Coxman sets out to dismantle the cartel, triggering a chain of events leading to a turf war between Viking and a rival boss.

The best segment in IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE, one that I have watched 5 times deserves mention.  In it, the drug lord is seated in his design furniture chair with a hole in its back rest peering through the hole to see his ex-wife angrily entering the house demanding to find the son’s gym bag and questioning his parenting skills.  He gives her a wad of cash saying that she can use it to find a dozen more gym bags and he has an important and difficult job (drugs) to do.  She questions the son’s eating, probably fruit loops to which he screams: “Fruit loops?  Fruit loops?  I am vegan and I make sure my son eats the proper food.”  He keeps screaming at her  but she has left the house.  The ensuing scene has the boy eating fruit loops in the kitchen with his employees.  In the remake, the drug lord, Viking talks about the food that he is feeding the boy.  No mention of fruit loops.  The furniture with the gaping the back rest is no longer there.  The next scene has the boy eating ‘fruit pebbles’.   There go the original’s classic scene.

In the remake the native Indians replace the Serbs as the rival drug gang.  There is more sympathy for the natives than the Serbs, so one up for this change in script by Frank Baldwin.

Both COLD PURSUIT and DISAPPEARANCE ends with the credits of all the players listed on the screen, with the names disappearing one by one in order of disappearance from the film.  This  impressive segment makes no sense in COLD PURSUIT but makes total sense in the original movie.

COLD PURSUIT is almost a scene for scene remake.  

COLD PURSUIT ends up a lazy and uninspired Hollywood remake of the Norwegian IN ORDER OF DISAPPEARANCE that was on my top 10 list of best films of the year in 2014. Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0phuNQQ_gHI

Film review: TIFF Cinematheque Presents- The Films of Aki Kaursimaki

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TIFF Cinematheque presents an exhaustive retrospective of films by Finland’s best known director Aki Kaursmaki.  Well known for his deadpan comedy style, His films are often minimalist with little dialogue.  He has also made a silent film JUHA.  He has a few favourite actors who appear repeatedly in his films.

After graduating in media studies from the University of Tampere, Aki Kaurismäki started his career as a co-screenwriter and actor in films made by his older brother, Mika Kaurismäki.  He played the main role in Mika’s film The Liar (1981). Together they founded the production company Villealfa Filmproductions and later the Midnight Sun Film Festival. His debut as an independent director was Crime and Punishment (1983), an adaptation of Dostoyevsky‘s novel set in modern Helsinki. He gained worldwide attention with the very funny Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989).

Kaurismaki is one of my favourite directors.  I love hunter and he provides the best.

The rear starts on January the 31st.  For more information on the films, venue, ticket pricing and program, check the TIFF website at:

https://www.tiff.net/the-review/aki-kaurismaeki-finds-laughter-in-the-dark/

Film Review of Selected Films:

ARIEL (Finland  1988 ) ***** Top 10
Directed by Aki Kaurismaki

Like DRIFTING CLOUDS, ARIEL is a hilarious deadpan comedy on unemployment in Finland.  The film follows the path of one loner, a poor soul who loses work when the mine closes for good.  he is robbed from all the money he draws from the bank.  But he has the ownership of a car his ex-boss gives to him before he commits suicide.  Yes, it is that deadpan funny.  He almost gets a parking ticket but earns a date from the traffic officer and they go on a   date.  She tells him she hates the officer cap and chucks it away.  The film contains arguably the funniest one night stand segment.  After sex in the morning, she asks: “Are you going to disappear in the morning?”  “No this is forever,” he replies.  “Good, I got to work early in the morning,” she retorts.  He gets imprisoned after attempting to get the money back from the man who robbed him.  ARIEL is to be credited as perhaps history’s funniest depression film.  Besides the laughs, Kaurismaki also captures the desperation of the lovers bringing in suspense and thrills to the story as well. A total delight!

JUHA (Finland 1999) ***
 Directed by Aki Kaurismaki

Kaurismaki’s films have little dialogue.  So it would seem a matter of time till Kaurismaki makes a silent movie like JUHA.  JUHA has a simple story, a morality tale of sorts based on a famous 1911 Finnish novel by the Finnish author Juhani Aho .  Marja (Kati Outinen) is a simple peasant woman married to her older limping husband Juha (Sakari Kuosmanen). They lead a very simple country life, spending most of their days farming and tending to their livestock.  In one wordless scene, they dance with each other their arms outstretched with the words seen on screen: “They are happy as children.”  Marja’s world is turned upside down when Shemeikka (André Wilms) comes to the happily married couple asking them for help with his broken down sports convertible and a place to spend the night.  As Juha works to repair the car, Shemeikka attempts to lure Marja to leave Juha and come to the city with him. A hesitant Marja does not want to leave her husband at first but ultimately gives in to temptation after dreaming of a wonderful new life in a big city.  Marja ditches Juha.  Shemeikka and Marja leave for the city but Marja’s dream quickly becomes a nightmare when Shemeikka enslaves her in a brothel.  JUHA is not the best of Kaurismaki but still contains certain traits of the Master’s genius.  The last segment with Juha storming Shemeikka’s stronghold is are deadpan Kaurismaki.

LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA (Finland 1989) ****
Directed by Aki Kaurismaki

When LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA first premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, Kaurismaki was little known and this odd piece of absurdist deadpan comedy did not well with many critics.  But this comedy grows on you.  As such, I have seen LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA seven times and it gets better at each viewing.  This is arguably Kaurismaki’s funniest entry with little plot but lot of comedic setups.  The film follows a troupe of musicians as they leave Siberia to find wealth and fame in America.  The trouble is that they only know polka music.  Their manager tells them:  “Here they do rock and roll,” as he hands them a book on rock and roll continuing: “Read this book.”  The group travel around America in this road trip kind of film doing music gigs in taverns and bars including one only ‘ as the manager says,” Because Kenny Rogers cancelled.”  Is the band any good: “They’re the best,” replies the manager  to a bar owner when asked the question.  So successful this comedy turned out that Kaurismaki made LENINGRAD COWBOYS MEET MOSES, which fortunately is not as funny as this one.

LENINGRAD COWBOYS MEET MOSES (Finland 1994) ***
Directed by Aki Kaurismaki

Not as good as LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA, this sequel is no less funny.  What makes it distinct as a laugh-laugh-out loud comedy is its irrelevance.  The manager of the Leningrad Cowboys has died in the desert and been reborn as Moses.  Moses runs down the band as Moses, quoting scriptures and still given the band a hard time.  He wants the band to return to Siberia and plans their trip home.  Nothing makes much sense, but the film is terribly funny.  The Cowboys also perform quiet a few hilarious gigs as well.  If that is not enough, Elijah also appears adjoins Moses one because he could provide Moses a cigarette when he needed one.

THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE (Finland 2017) ***** Top 10
Directed by Aki Kaurismaki

The latest film by Master of deadpan comedy Aki Kaurismaki tackles the issue of the refugee crisis in Europe.  As the film opens, the audience sees a Syrian refugee, Haji pull himself out of a coal dumpster in ship docked at a port in Finland.  Khaled (Sherwan Haji)  seeks refugee status but is ironically refused on the basis of peace in his region, just as news on the TV report multiple bombings in his town with dozens of casualties.  At the same time, a Finnish middle-aged man is seeking a new life for himself as he leaves his wife, wins money at poker and buys a restaurant business.  The two meet after a fight and Haji is aided by the restaurant owner.  This is Kaurismaki’s most serious film to date and it sends an urgent message of the refugee status.  Kaurismaki has still not lost his sense of humour as illustrated in an important scene in the film when Khaled says: “I love Finland like nothing you can imagine, but please get me out of here!”  For those familiar with Kaurismaki, there are familiar segments in this film that are found in his other films like the gambling, starting up a new restaurant business, the cute pet dog and the folk music.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtiFG6utst8

TAKE OFF YOUR SCARF, TATIANA (Finland 1994) ***
Directed by Aki Kaurismaki

TAKE OFF YOUR SCARF, TATIANA is one of Karusimaki’s shorter and lesser known films, lasting just around the hour mark.  There is little plot but many observations to be noted in this somewhat anti-romantic tale of two very different couples.  The 2 couples are two awkward men and two differently awkward ladies from different countries.  The men (two heavy drinkers – one of coffee and the other of liquor) pick up two ladies (who want some fun, dancing and romance) in their car and go on a sort of road trip.  The men have no idea what to do with their dates while the ladies grow more and more impatient and frustrated as the men’s lack of interest and non-existent social skills.  Watching the 4 of them interacting is simply hilarious.  Even when going on a date, the two men arrive at the restaurant together with the women arriving later.  The maitre’d seems to know what is going on. 

Film Review: ARCTIC (Iceland 2018) ***1/2

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Arctic Poster
Trailer

0:31 | Trailer
A man stranded in the Arctic after an airplane crash must decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his makeshift camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown in hopes of… See full summary »

Director:

Joe Penna

Writers:

Joe Penna, Ryan Morrison

Stars:

Mads Mikkelsen, Maria Thelma Smáradóttir

ARCTIC opens with a man digging up a path – a difficult task the man might have gone on for days as rocks had to be removed from the ground.  As the camera pulls back, it is revealed that it is not a path that is being cleared by the man, but part of a huge message carved out of the ice and snow with the letters S.O.S.   The man, Overgard (Mads Mikkelsen) has been stranded in the ARCTIC after his plane crashes and he is desperately waiting for a rescue.

The film goes on for a full 20 minutes with his survival – catching and eating fish; keeping warm; sleeping etc, before something else happens.  A helicopter appears.  When the helicopter that finds him crashes, the pilot is killed and the passenger, a young woman (María Thelma Smáradóttir) severely injured.  Overgard must then decide whether to remain in the relative safety of his camp or to embark on a deadly trek through the unknown for potential salvation.

The dialogue, when there is any is in English but there is much that is to be read between the lines or in this case, between the images.  For one, what happens on screen will reveal what season of the year it is that Overgard had been stranded.  He ice fishes but as the film progresses, the ice has become thicker and the fishing hole becomes frozen.  There is also quite an amount of light during the day.  One can come to the assumption that it is probably late summer and the weather is gradually getting colder.  This explains why he decided to make the difficult trip on foot to find civilization instead of waiting if warmer weather is approaching.

The audience will also ponder the reason he has decided to take the injured young woman to safety instead of just ditching her.  For one, she was in the helicopter that crashed trying to land and perhaps rescue him.  So, he owes it to his conscience to save her.

Films like ARCTIC are usually based on  true events but nothing of this sort is mentioned at the beginning of the film.  One in a way wishes that the film is based on a true story in order to see what a human being in real life might have gone through.  On the other hand, after watching the film, one might be relieved that no one had to go through what the protagonist in the film underwent.  Actor Mikkelsen referred to the film as the most difficult shoot of his career.

There are films that are difficult (to put it mildly) to watch.  Overgard, trekking through the ice and snow in blizzard conditions dragging a home-made stretcher carrying the injured woman creates quite the image.  When Overgard falls through the ice and gets his legs jammed stuck between the rocks, he finds he has no alternative but force his legs free, demanding a lot of physical pain in the process.   Screams help him forget the pain, but this is one scene that will have many an audience shut they eyes or turn away.

ARCTIC avoids the typical happy Hollywood ending and ends with an alternative appropriate ending (that will not be revealed in the review) that should satisfy audiences.  ARCTIC is a difficult but rewarding watch that shows man’s conquest over the elements of cold and ice.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5aD9ppoQIo

Film Review: MINIATURE (Canada 2018) ***

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Directed by Tony Coleman and Margaret Meagher

MINIATURE, according to the filmmakers have fascinated humans since the beginning of time.  Even director Alexandre Payne examined the possibility of human beings minimized in his excellent comedy drama starring Matt Damon entitled DOWNSIZING.  In the film humans were shrunken and lived in miniature cities to aid the environment.  Last year also saw an excellent horror film HEREDITARY  where the protagonist made miniature furniture for a living.  Children have toys; adults collect figurines.  All these are example of how MINIATUREs have affected and fascinated the human race.  MINIATURE, a documentary examines the fascination and obsession with model objects.

The doc begins with the smallest and grows with the bigger ones.  One of the tiniest is a minute crown suggested by British Royalty.  The film also shows the recreation model of the apartments as viewed by James Stewart in Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW.  One can hardly tell the difference.  A maker insists that often the miniature model sells for more than the real thing.  A miniature tool must be able to perform all the functions of the real tool.

MINIATURE takes the audience all over the world from Britain to Canada to the United States.

Quite a bit of screen time is devoted to model villages – one in Hamburg, Germany, the other in the Cotswolds, England and yet another in Lyon, France.

The film also tracks the rise and fall of the miniature or model villages, British style.  From quaint to corny, model villagers have had their fame.  The doc shows various miniature villagers built around the country together with an expert builder giving the necessary insight.  It is mandatory that the builder become a Jack of all trades from carpenter to welder, to painter to sculptor to engineer to build a miniature village or town together with the necessary workings, like a railway.  

The largest model railway system (13 km of track in total with signal monitoring so that the trains can operate without accident) in the world can be found in Hamburg, Germany.  The model village wonderland has become the tourist attraction.  The film follows how this village came about.  Now, 12 million visitors arrive in what is a million dollars tourist business.  The model airport is also something else.  The model makers had to learn how an airport works.  The airport construction with plane landing took 5 years in the making.

Why?  The chaos of a real place can be contained in a built place.  Artist and practical, the miniatures also allow the blind to feel their village

From villages, the camera shifts to Vienna where a model city lies in the centre of the actual city.  The construction of the model city is shown in all its intricacy.

The doc premieres at 2 pm Sunday Feb 3rd at the Hot Docs Cinema, Toronto.  Tony Coleman and Margaret Meagher, creators of the internationally successful film MIGHTY UKE, will be present for a Q & A following the screening.  Iconic miniatures in the film will be on display; t-shirts and mini swag will be on sale. 

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/295214755