Month: September 2019

2019 TIFF Movie Review: DESERT ONE (USA 2019) ***1/2

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Desert One Poster
Using new archival sources and unprecedented access, master documentarian Barbara Kopple reveals the story behind one of the most daring rescues in modern US history: a secret mission to free hostages of the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Director:

Barbara Kopple

Writer:

Francisco Bello

Stars:

Jimmy Carter, Ted Koppel, Walter Mondale

In 1976, director Barbara Kopple made the Oscar Winner HARLAN COUNTY, USA about unionization of coal miners which is one of the most moving documentaries ever made.  DESERT ONE is the named of the failed operation endorsed by then President Jimmy Carter to rescue the American hostages held in the American Embassy in Iran under control by Ayatollah Khomeini. 

Khomeini would release the hostages only if the U.S. return the Shah which the U.S. refused.  In the accident during the execution of DESERT STORM several soldiers lost their lives and the rescue aborted.  

The film pays tribute to the dead soldiers.  Director Kopple recognizes that women are just as important as men are the unsung heroes themselves.  She organizes the pick of the interviews for the wives of the deceased as she did centring on the wives of the coal miners, many widows after mining accidents in HARLAN COUNTY U.S.A.  

Kopple also has a heart for Jimmy Carter who graces the film with lots of screen time.  A moving film that demands to be seen.

Film Review: DOWNTON ABBEY (UK 2019) ***

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Downton Abbey Poster
The continuing story of the Crawley family, wealthy owners of a large estate in the English countryside in the early 20th century.

Director:

Michael Engler

Writers:

Julian Fellowes (characters), Julian Fellowes (screenplay by)

Stars:

Matthew Goode, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery

DOWNTON ABBEY is a British historical period drama/comedy written by Julian Fellowes and directed by Michael Engler.  It is a continuation of the television series of the same name, created by Fellowes, that ran on ITV from 2010 to 2015.  Much of the original cast returns, including Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton.   If nothing is known of this series, all is not lost.  The film stands on its own.  However, for those familiar and for those with a keen admiration for the series, a lot of nostalgia will be in place.

DOWNTON ABBEY works as the kind of pompous British fare that common audiences (like myself) like to look up to and to admire the British wealthy and royalty.  

The film is set in the fictional Yorkshire country estate of Downton Abbey in 1927, where it depicts the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their domestic servants in the post-Edwardian era—with the great events in history having an effect on their lives and on the British social hierarchy. 

TV series transitioned to film need a particular special event.  For the majority of TV series transitioned to film, a vacation abroad seems the most common excuse to warrant a full length feature film outing, examples being MUNSTER, GO HOME, HOLIDAY ON THE BUSES, KEVIN AND PERRY GO LARGE and most recently, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS.  The excuse here for DOWNTON ABBEY is a royal visit to Downton Abbey by King George V and Queen Mary.

The film is grounded by the main plot of the King’s visit and the extensive preparations that go with the visit.  This main plot is not sufficient to hold the entire movie and several subplots are quite obviously inserted to support the story.  Among them are the gay exploits of the butler as he grows brave enough to eventually find romance in the times when gays were outlawed, the abuse of the Abbey household at the hands of the over-prude royal staff, the attempted assassination of the King, the quarrel of the Smith and Wilton characters and of course, some romance thrown in for good measure.  All work quite well just as the cooperation of the DOWTON ABBEY staff.

Academy Award Winner, Maggie Smith (way back when from THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE) is given the script’s best comical punch lines and thus steals the show.  The apt supporting cast do not fare much badly either.

This reviewer who sees more than 350 films annually with no time left for television, has not seen a single episode on TV, so take this review with a grain of salt.  However, a fellow film critic who is a total fan of the series was pleasantly pleased with the full length feature.  DOWNTON ABBEY is a pleasant enough feature on the TV series and with some luck, should win over a few converts as well.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu3mP0c51hE

2019 TIFF Movie Review: THE OTHER LAMB (Ireland/Belgium/USA 2019) ***

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The Other Lamb Poster
A girl was born into an all-female cult led by a man in their compound begins to question his teachings and her own reality.

Director:

Malgorzata Szumowska

Writer:

C.S. McMullen

Stars:

Michiel Huisman, Raffey Cassidy, Denise Gough

Cults make great premises for movies.  This year alone, there has been films like MIDSOMMAR, MARIA’S PARADISE and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD that tackled the evils of cults and their leaders.  WE THE LAMB (former title: THE OHER LAMB) adds in the additional female component where this cult is made up only of one male the leader who calls himself the shepherd and the others his women who are either his wives or daughters.  

Films like WE THE LAMB require audiences to put their total belief in their premise and when they do, the film tears the concept apart.  Director Malgorzata Szumowskareally gets into the skin of the lead character who knows nothing about the outside world.  Her mother was one of the leader’s wives and she is about to become one.

  Though one can predict what happens at the end, director Malgorzata Szumowska still scares his audience with her creepy tale of a creepy male.  Cinematography of the countryside and the ‘Eden’ that the cult finally finds looks stunning.

2019 TIFF Movie Review: THE PLATFORM (EL HOYO) (Spain 2019)

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The Platform Poster
In a future “dystopia”, prisoners housed in vertically stacked cells watch hungrily as food descends from above, feeding the upper tiers, but leaving those below ravenous and radicalized.

Director:

Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Writers:

David Desola, Pedro Rivero

This is a prison movie.  The prison: The Pit — a provocative permutation of a panopticon whereby hundreds of cells are vertically stacked, and hollowed out through the middle. Each day, a platform adorned with a decadent feast descends through the tower from its summit. It stops on each level for a few minutes, keeping those near the top well-fed, and those at the lower levels fighting for leftovers.  

 A citizen of a not-too-distant dystopia voluntarily incarcerates himself with the promise of increased social mobility upon release, but becomes so radicalized by his captivity that he will risk everything to ride a devilish dumbwaiter on a one-way ticket to protect a pannacotta, a symbol for an important message for the authorities.  Every prison needs an escape plan.

 THE PLATFORM has one where the pannacotta has to survive going down to ground level.  Director Gaztelu-Urrutia’s production sets are superb, the atmosphere chilling and creepy while his characters desperate and dangerous.  The trouble is that the logic does not make sense, especially the pannacotta message.  A good premise that fails to follow through.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsyicj2qdqs

2019 TIFF Movie Review: THE GIANT (USA 2019)

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The Giant Poster
A teenager’s small town life is changed forever when a series of murders begin on the same night that her missing boyfriend suddenly reappears.

Director:

David Raboy

Writer:

David Raboy

Stars:

Odessa Young, Ben Schnetzer, Jack Kilmer

Writer/director David Raboy tackles for his debut feature after shorts THE GIANT and BEACH WEEK an ambitious dark suspense thriller.  Charlotte’s (Odessa Young) life is changed forever when the teenager’s small Georgia town is shaken by the beginning of a series of murders on the same night that her missing boyfriend coincidentally reappears.  

As an unknown killer on the loose preys on young women over the course of a summer, Charlotte has to navigate this new danger while also struggling to recover from the trauma of her mother’s recent suicide.  With his cinematographer Eric Yue, Raboy creates an eerie atmosphere with stunning visuals aided with a solid soundtrack.  

But Raboy’s choppy narrative, often inane dialogue and fondness of  beginning each segment vaguely lends to a film that is both difficult to understand or make sense.  The introduction of the supernatural element only near the film’s end adds to the confusion.  A good-looking disappointment!

2019 TIFF Movie Review: NOBADI (NOBODY) (Austria 2019) ***

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Nobadi Poster
The story of two people who have nothing in common but share everything for just a few hours.

Director:

Karl Markovics

Writer:

Karl Markovics

Stars:

Heinz Trixner, Borhanulddin Hassan Zadeh, Konstanze Dutzi |

An elderly citizen aids a refugee migrant.  The premise was used in Aki Kaurismaki’s THE OTHER SIDE OF HOPE and re-visited again in this Austrian version entitled NOBADI.  Here, a grumpy old white man enlists the help of an Afghani migrant to bury his dead dog.   

As expected, the two dredge through prejudices to find common ground, their day taking an unexpected turn.  Robert (Heinz Trixner) is a 91-year-old, set-in-his-ways pensioner, living on a small allotment in Vienna while the migrant is Adib (Borhanulddin Hassan Zadeh), from Afghanistan. It is the gaping, unattended wound on Adib’s foot that the situation suddenly becomes life-or-death.  NOBADI is a leaner, more serious version but still not without its humour.  

Though no match for Kaurismaki, Makovic’s film still has its moments, many of which are provided by the candid performances by both Trixner and Zadeh.  Watch out for the film’s last 15 minutes that will knock you off your seat!

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

2019 TIFF Movie Review: THE VIGIL (USA 2019) ***

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The Vigil Poster
A man providing overnight watch to a deceased member of his former Orthodox Jewish community finds himself opposite a malevolent entity, in writer-director Keith Thomas’ electrifying feature debut.

Director:

Keith Thomas

Writer:

Keith Thomas

Stars:

Fred Melamed, Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig

This Jewish horror seems ripe for terrorizing audiences with plenty of opportunities.  A shomer is a family member or paid person if the family member is unavailable to sit the night through with a corpse before burial to chant the evil spirits away.  The young shomer (Dave Davis) is guilty for letting a young boy under his watch bullied and die.  

 

The house where he is shoming is kept by the deceased widow who has Alzheimer’s and who expresses cryptic reservations as to the man’s ability to carry out the task.  The man begins to imagine things or are the things really happening?  Director Thomas in his debut feature takes 30 minutes to set up his film before scaring the audience with the usual  

 

THE VIGIL is a straight forward scary tale with noises in the dark, shadows in dark space etc. The Orthodox Jewish setting is a welcome one.

2019 TIFF Movie Review: COMETS (Georgia 2019)

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Comets Poster
Three decades after their separation, Irina and Nana remain mesmerized by memories of earlier days, but when Irina returns to the small community she left to reconcile with the past and their complex feelings.

Director:

Tamar Shavgulidze

Stars:

Nino Kasradze, Ketevan Gegeshidze, Nina Mazodier

This is a rare film from the Republic of Georgia and one is advised to find out where the country is before watching the movie.  It is three decades after their separation and 55-year olds Irina and Nana remain mesmerized by memories of earlier days. But when Irina returns to the small community she left — where Nana stayed to start a traditional family — the women must reconcile with the past and their complex feelings, in director Tamar Shavgulidze’s emotive drama.  
Be forewarned that the film is extremely talky and nothing much is going on except emotions being verbalized.  More often than not, director Shavgulidze leaves her camera steady with her actors moving into the frame, facing the camera and talking their hearts out. 
 They talk about their past, lost opportunities and such.  Super-boring unless you really get into it!

2019 TIFF Movie Review: LINA DE LIMA (Lina From Lima) (Chile/Peru/Argentina 2019) ***

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Lina from Lima Poster
A woman travels from Peru to work as a housekeeper in Chile.

Director:

María Paz González

Writer:

María Paz González

Stars:

Emilia Ossandon, Magaly Solier

A South American musical about a domestic servant makes an interesting premise which hopefully will attract audiences wishing for something different.  Documentarian María Paz González tackles the tale of a Peruvian woman working as a domestic helper for a wealthy Chilean family. 

 

 She is preparing for a trip home to visit the son she left behind.  She loves her son but as young people go, they seldom appreciate the love and care given by their parents.  Junior seems more concerned about getting an authentic soccer jersey than reuniting with his mother.  Things are not going to well with her employment either.  

 

LINA DE LIMA is an entertaining enough film with a look at life in Peru.  The film works as a whimsical musical but no one is really concerned about how the future of Lina will turn out.

2019 TIFF Movie Review: KNIVES OUT (USA 2019) ***1/2

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Knives Out Poster
Trailer

A detective investigates the death of a patriarch of an eccentric, combative family.

Director:

Rian Johnson

Writer:

Rian Johnson

Stars:

Ana de Armas, Katherine Langford, Chris Evans

Director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper) assembles an all-star cast (Toni Collette, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Don Johnson, Michael Shannon, and LaKeith Stanfield) in a brilliantly conceived whodunit Agatha Christie style that brings back good memories of films like CLUE, MURDER BY DEATH and THE LAST OF SHEILA.  A wealthy author, Harlan Thrombrey (Christopher Plummer) is apparently murdered and detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is being paid a stack of cash by an unknown family member to solve the case.  

Every member of the family household is suspect as each one has been denied the inheritance and has a motive for killing.  The maid/nurse is also suspect as she is the last one to see Harlan.  The film moves fast just as these kind of whodunits go and one can never figure out who did it, though good guesses could be made. 

 Craig is great speaking in what a family member calls a ridiculous southern Texan leghorn accent.  Johnson directs in good fun and his film is totally entertaining as a super whodunit with a few unexpected plot twists in the end.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-1NchUqMA