Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto
Submit your Documentary Short Film to the Festival Today: http://documentaryshortfilmfestival.com
| Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos: |
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Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto
Submit your Documentary Short Film to the Festival Today: http://documentaryshortfilmfestival.com
| Watch the Audience FEEDBACK Videos: |
|
Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto
Submit your Documentary Short Film to the Festival Today: http://documentaryshortfilmfestival.com
CITY OF MY HEART, 4min., Greece, Documentary WATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
21ST CENTURY HERMIT, 3min., UK, Documentary WATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
DEAR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, 4min., UK, Documentary/WarWATCH Audience FEEDBACK |
Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
Ray Wright (screenplay by), Neil Jordan (screenplay by)| 1 more credit »
Some films are best if seen without any prior knowledge of the plot. Neil Jordan’s GRETA is one of them. As in Jordan’s THE CRYING GAME, the shock occurs when the girl the protagonist is having sex with suddenly is shown with a penis. The big surprise secret comes literally out of the closet at the 30-minus mark of Jordan’s latest psychological thriller GRETA.
Set in NYC, Isabelle Huppert plays a widow developing a friendship with a naïve young woman, Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz). Frances returns the handbag she finds on the subway to its rightful owner, Greta (Huppert). Frances recently lost her mother and feels alienated by her father; Greta has lost her husband, and her daughter lives far away. The two become fast friends much to the consternation of her best friend (Maika Monroe).
Unfortunately, the film ends with a totally unlikely twist in the plot that could only happen in a one in a million chance. This spoils an otherwise excellent thriller.
Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
Writer/director Henry Dunham’s debut feature tackles a series of current issues – gun control; violence; loyalty among others. The film begins with the announcement of a mass shooting, not shown on screen, an incident unfortunately too common these days. The cops are all out to find those responsible, being under great pressure from everyone.
The story centres of a neighbourhood militia that have an assortment of weaponry. It is discovered that the recent mass shooting was apparently carried out by one of its own members as one of the AR-15 rifles (reportedly used in the shooting) stored in a lumberyard warehouse is missing. Fearing that the authorities have already connected the weapon to their collective and will soon descend, they resolve to determine who among them has broken ranks, so that they can deliver the perpetrator to the police and not risk jeopardizing their operation.
The film has little action and lots of talk. Most of the excitement comes in the revelation of the dialogue. Of course, if the whole film relies on the dialogue, it should be flawless. But there are a few loop holes. The audience is also required to be 100% attentive to the dialogue while expecting a few plot twists. A few bouts of humour are inserted (there should be more), but all the talk seems too much for a Midnight Madness movie.
Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
Nicole Holofcener, Ted Thompson (based on the novel by)
THE LAND OF STEADY HABITS is another NETFLIX original and not a bad one at that. The film is set in Westport, Connecticut. One can only speculate the reason this one did not get made through the normal channels. This is a story of a middle-aged man who has left metaphorically the land of steady habits.
Anders Hill (Ben Mendelsohn) has quit his well paying job and divorced his life – the protagonist, like the film going against the natural flow of things. He figures life will be more rewarding but things get worse. When the film opens, he has just picked up a woman and having sex. Besides not being able to get it up, his adult son Preston (Thomas Mann) rejects him. Oddly enough, he bonds and smokes up with the neighbours drug-culled son Charlie (Charlie Tahan).
When Charlie commits suicide, Anders is blamed. Holofcener (ENOUGH SAID) is good at this kind of films. She gets into her characters and keeps her film well paced, intelligent and smart.
Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
Macon Blair (screenplay by), William Giraldi (based on the book by)
HOLD THE DARK is the latest film from director Jeremy Saulnier (GREEN ROOM, BLUE RUIN) whose specialty appears to be moody thrillers. In HOLD THE DARK, written by Macon Blair adapted from the novel by William Giraldi, the film begins with a child playing outside in the winter snow when he sees a pack of wolves. The child goes missing. His home is one of a handful of trailers on the edge of the wilderness in Alaska. His father (Alexander Skarsgård) is serving in the Middle East and his mother (Riley Keough) seems to be succumbing to cabin fever.
She calls in Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright), a writer and expert on wolves; she believes the creatures took her boy and hopes Core can find him. The film is quite different for a number of reasons that enable it to stand out. The first is the wilderness setting. The second is an unlikely older unattractive looking hero who disappears for a length of the film. Anyone can be killed off in the story.
The film is also a bit over the top in violence that undermines the authenticity of the story. Still, HOLD THE DARK is an apt thriller.
Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
Katerina Kleitsioti (screenwriter), Nikos Labôt(screenwriter)
Direct from current times as heard on the Greek radio about the country’s dire unemployment woes, a husband has been put out of work for far too long. The wife, as a result takes employment as a cleaner at the newly opened shopping mall. They have two children, the elder daughter being spoilt and uncontrollable.
Panayiota (Marisha Triantafyllidou) works hard but has a hard time at work, especially driving the new vacuum cleaner as well as a hard time at home, having to cook and have the family complain when she is not around to do chores for them. Things look as if it is reaching boiling point but director Labot takes his film to a higher level. Things improve. After taking driving lessons, Panayiota masters the vacuum. Her supervisor and colleagues appreciate her hard work and dedication. Her daughter starts cooking for her and husband cleaning for her.
Director takes his film even one step further. To reveal more would spoil the film’s twist and enjoyment. The film works wonders, thanks to actress Triantafyllidou’s performance and the director’s frequent use of closeups that show every expression of joy and regret of her face. Marvellous too, is the way Labot connects the audiences to the protagonist, family and story.
Trailer: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/her-job-trailer-1137998
Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
The film centres on the not too bright but gorgeous soccer hunk DIAMANTINO (parodying Cristiano Ronaldo) losing the final match for Portugal in the World Cup held in Russia 2018. Reason was his imagination of hush puppies during the game. Too bad Portugal did not enter the finals or semi-finals.
But this does not matter for director Gabriel Abrantes, whose film contains a totally outrageous plot involving lesbian detaches infiltrating his home, wicked twin sisters and a Dr. Lambourghini pumping the soccer player full of hormones. This could be something right out of a Pedro Almodovar or an Alex de la Iglesias movie, but Abrantes does not know what to do with his material.
The result is a very bland film despite some great sets and wardrobe. This film was chosen to close the Midnight Madness series.
Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto
Submit your Documentary Short Film to the Festival Today: http://documentaryshortfilmfestival.com
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Producer/Director: Matthew Toffolo http://www.matthewtoffolo.com
Festival Moderators: Kierston Drier, Shepsut Wilson
Casting Director: Sean Ballantyne
Editor: Kimberly Villarruel
Festival Directors: Mary Cox, Rachel Elder, Natasha Levy
Camera Operators: John Johnson, Isabal Cupryn, Aser Santos Jr., Zack Arch