2016 movies

LACE CRATER (USA 2016)

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lace_crater.jpgLACE CRATER (USA 2015) **1/2
Directed by Harrison Atkins

Starring: Lindsay Burdge, Peter Vack, Betsey Brown

Review by Gilbert Seah

LACE CRATER is a low budget indie romantic supernatural comedy/drama/horror about a young woman, Ruth (Lindsay Burdge) having sexual relations with a ghost.

It all begins when Ruth and her pals head out to the scenic Hamptons for a weekend of fun. The fun includes getting drunk, sitting in the hot tub and joking around. Ruth ends up sleeping in the guest house which Andre (the host) claims to be haunted. That night a drunk Ruth has a visitor. Yes, the ghost (Michael Vack) is not too bad looking. (The last time friends sat in a hot tub they went through time in the Hot Tub time machine.) To make matters worse, Ruth contacts STD from the ghost as well.

Atkin’s film plays weird funny. The best way to describe it is the scene where Ruth meets her doctor about to take her blood. “Hope you’ve enough to spare.” When Ruth gives the doctor an odd look, he confesses that it is a joke and that he has tried standup comedy. LACE CRATER plays its comedy whether the audience gets it or to, and mainly plays in the way the story unfolds.

It would help connect the audience to the film if director Atkins made Ruth a more sympathetic character. Ruth is just there, having the ‘roll in the hay’ with the ghost and that is it. Nothing much is also known about Ruth’s background.

Near the end, writer/director turns up the angst with Ruth’s behaviour. It is here that the film slides into creepy horror. Ruth barfs black stuff all over the floor at a party, freaks out and goes back to the guest house to meet the ghost. This is where the film falls apart. Atkins starts to take the film too seriously, complete with explanation what happened to the ghost before he died. The rules are dealt out, the ghost says and he has to take them without question. Really? Atkins implies the same for his film. The only difference is that the audience need not have to take them.

LACE CRATER played last year at the Toronto International Film Festival in the Vanguard section. The Vanguard section is the festival’s oddest section where the weirdest films often uncategorized fall into. LACE CRATER clearly falls in this section. Be prepared for LACE CRATER, whether you get it or not!

What happens when you have sex with a ghost? One can google the answer or watch this film. The former appears the better solution. Atkins also leaves LACE CRATER with a open ending with still questions unanswered.

The film opens this week in NYC and is available now on VOD.

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BAD MOMS (USA 2016) ***

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bad_momsBAD MOMS (USA 2016) ***

Directors: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Stars: Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn, Kristen Bell, Christina Applegate

Review by Gilbert Seah

he story centres on a young mother, Amy Mitchell (Mila Kunis) who appears to have the perfect family. She has a good mortgage broker husband, two smart over-achieving children and a career. But she is overworked and the husband does not do much except maybe watch porn. She catches him, kicks him out and finally has had it at being a good mom. Teaming with two friends Carla (Kathyrn Hahn) and Kiki (Kristen Bell) who she gets drunk with, she decides, with them to f*** it and become BAD MOMS. Amy does not make breakfast for her kids anymore and stops going to her meaningless job meetings.

The film picks picks up when the three meet the good moms headed by the head of the PTA, Gwendolyn Jones (Christina Applegate). The war starts when Amy decide to run for the post of the head of the PTA.

If the film sound trivial, it actually is. But the script by Lucas and and Moore, treats its subject very seriously. This is the comedy duo that did the successful HANGOVER male raunchy comedies. BAD MOMS does the same for the opposite sex. So expect lots of foul language and lewd humour. The moms here get drunk, laid and stoned. For the most part, the males (husbands) in the film are all idiots (like the black school principal), clueless (Amy’s husband) or sexual objects (sexy latino Jay Hernandez s Amy’s fling). But as the script is written by two guys, some redeeming qualities are written into Amy’s husband’s character as the two do share a moment and hug, after a big quarrel.

One of the best things about BAD MOMS is actress Kathryn Hahn. She has a supporting role as Carla, one of Amy’s best friends who drinks and sleeps her way as a ultra bad mom. Hahn has the ability to do both drama and comedy exceptionally well. In the recent CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, she played the victimized mom at the dinner table. In BAD MOMS she proves she is versatile also as an antagonist, Carla. When not spurring Amy on to do bad things, her character is hounding other victims. Hahn brings the most laughs in the movie, steals very scene and still has the audience wanting for more. It would be difficult to imagine how funny the film would be without her.

The product placements (Arby’s and Bed Bath and Beyond) are a little too obvious. The supermarket sequence where the three go on a drunken shopping spree is simply priceless. Hahn is the funniest of the three. This segment alone is worth the price of the ticket. The film includes two cameos by Martha Stewart (very funny) and Wanda Sykes (not so funny).

BAD MOMS ends up a guilty pleasure for all mothers. There are quite a lot of mothers out there that make up a good target audience number. The film should do for females what The HANGOVER films did for the males. Even the males can sit through and laugh through BAD MOMS.

Movie Review: Angry Indian Goddesses (Indian)

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angry_indian_goddesses.jpgANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES (India 2015) ***
Directed by Pan Nalin

Starring: Tannishtha Chatterjee, Anuj Choudhry, Rajshri Deshpande

Review by Gilbert Seah

The first thing that comes to mind when one hears of the film ANGRY INDIAN GODDESSES is the reason the film is called that. The reason becomes apparent midway during the film when all the characters imitate the Angry Goddess Kali, the Goddess who destroys all evil with her anger. Each character do their best to imitate the Goddess as they pose (their tongues sticking out far as possible) for a group picture. Kali is a Hindu Goddess, the Divine Mother or Mother of the Universe and a destroyer of evil forces.

The film’s characters are not Goddesses in any sense of the word. They are more victims than anything else, but they try to live with their problems with the help of the group. This is the premise behind the new film by Pan Nalin (2001’s SAMSARA) that is billed as India’s first female buddy film. The film was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival where it was runner-up for the People’s Choice Award. It was also screened at other festivals including Toronto’s Inside Out LGBT Film Festival.

The film is set in Goa, the west Indian state of India known for its beaches. For those unfamiliar, Goa is a popular as a seaside resort, which is an excuse for some pretty beautiful beach/sea scenery, Indian style, a welcome change.

The main character is Frieda (Sarah Jane Dias), a strong-willed and celebrated photographer. Frieda gathers her closest friends on the eve of her wedding. The diverse (and often hilarious) group, a snapshot of modern Indian society includes Su (Sandhya Mridul), a businesswoman and mother; the engaging Nargis (Tannishtha Chatterjee); Jo (Amrit Maghera), an aspiring Bollywood actress; Pammy (Pavleen Gujral), a housewife; Mad (Anushka Manchanda), a singer-songwriter; and the house servant, Lakshmi (Rajshri Deshpande). Everything’s set for a night of celebration. There is only one issue: Frieda will not say who her betrothed is. But as the film has been screened at the Inside Out Festival, it is an easy guess that her betrothed is a woman, who turns out to be Nargis.

Nalin aims his film to be a crowd pleaser. His film moves fast as evident when the film opens when he introduces the audience to 5 of the characters as well as their problems. Jo is asked to do many takes and to show off her body before she storms off the set; Lakshmi is abused for her songs and so on. The film contains too many characters and too many female issues to be effective, though Nalin tries quite hard. It takes a while before the audience can differentiate one character from the next. Too many issues tackled include arranged marriage, gay marriage, gang rape, wife abuse, activism among others. All the actresses try very hard with the result of most scenes ending on a high note.

But the male roles are mostly underwritten with the males present to forward the purpose of the female course. One group of males appear on bikes just to mock and sexually abuse verbally the girls. One shirtless hunk (Anuj Choudhry) is present or the 6 girls to ogle as a sex object. Frieda’s absentee father is another character not progressive enough to accept a same-sex marriage. Nothing is mentioned about Freida’s mother.
Despite the film’s flaws, Nalin’s film is a light and easy watch for the most part, succeeding more as entertainment than a message film. The ending turns too preachy.

Movie Review: Café Society (2016) Directed by Woody Allen

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cafe_societyCAFE SOCIETY (USA 2016) ***1/2
Directed by Woody Allen

Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Steve Carell, Corey Stoll

Review by Gilbert Seah

In Woody Allen’s new romantic comedy, Allen transforms into Humphrey Bogart through Jesse Eisenberg. The famous CASABLANCA story is retold, Allen style with the hero falling in love with two women but giving his first love up as Bogart gave up his love for Ingrid Bergman in the famous closing scene.

CAFE SOCIETY is Allen’s tribute to old Hollywood, its people and its glamour. The tribute takes the form of the coming-of-rites passage story of young Jewish NYC boy, Bobby Dorfman (Jesse Eisenberg). Bobby leaves his family in NYC hoping to find a new life in Hollywood with the help of his successful Uncle Phill (Steve Carrell) – the hottest talent agent around. In the process he falls in love with his Uncle Phill’s secretary, Vonnie (Kristen Stewart) who is having an affair with Phill. Vonnie finally decides to marry Phill (the older gent always gets the younger girl in Woody’s films, e.g. MANHATTAN and in his real life). Bobby discovers he prefers NYC and returns home, eventually settling down by looking after his gangster uncle Ben’s (Corey Stoll) nightclub. He falls in love and marries Veronica (Blake Lively). An unexpected visit from Phill and wife Vonnie stirs up memories just as Ingrid Bergman’s visit to Bogart’s nightclub in Casablanca did.

CAFE SOCIETY is not the best of Allen’s films but it is not without its delights. For the especially Allen fan, there is much to enjoy in terms of film references. For one, this is Allen’s second tribute to Bogart after his play and film PLAY IT AGIAN, SAM. Allen gets to narrate his own film, putting a good perspective of where everything is going. He is s too old to star in his films and he knows it. Eisenberg makes a new younger Allen, complete in diminutive stature, manners and outfits.

Bobby’s belted baggy Khaki pleats are similar to those often worn by Allen in his films like ANNIE HALL and MANHATTAN. In one scene where Eisenberg says, “I am opening a bottle of wine to let it breathe,” he even sounds like Allen. Though CAFE SOCIETY is less subtle at times, for example in the use of the melody of “I Only Have Eyes for You,” during the last meeting between Bobby and Vonnie, CAFE SOCIETY still succeeds as one of Allen’s romantic comedies.

Allen attracts the best cinematographers like Oscar winners Gordon Willis Jr. and Janusz Kaminski. CAFE SOCIETY is beautifully shot by 3-time Oscar winner Vittorio Storaro (THE LAST EMPEROR, REDS, APOCALYPSE NOW) as evident in the ceiling view of a New Year’s party and in all the exterior shot segments.

CAFE SOCIETY is Allen in comedy mode though the humour is less manic or absurdist but more subtle, more profound. Some examples include a Hollywood writer introducing himself to Bobby at a party: “You have never heard of me, I am a writer”, or “Timing is everything in life!” But the key quote of the film is Allen’s description on life: “Life is comedy but written by a sadistic comedy writer.” The film’s funniest line is as in his other films, one that pokes fun at being Jewish. Bobby: “I’m a bit drunk. I don’t usually mix champagne with bagels and lox.” Yes, if everything else fails in Allen’s film (which doesn’t here), there is always his humour.

CAFE SOCIETY, though not Allen’s best, still comes with high recommendations.

Film Review: PHANTOM BOY (France/Belgium 2015)

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phantom_boy.jpgPHANTOM BOY (France/Belgium 2015) **
Directed by Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol

Starring: Edouard Baer, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Audrey Tautou

Review by Gilbert Seah

PHANTOM BOY is the next animated feature after the French directors Felicioli and Gagnol’s successful Oscar nominated A CAT IN PARIS. While the latter film took a distinct Parisienne personality, the new film hopes to do the same with New York City where the story is set.

The film begins with a boy reading a story to his little sister. It is revealed then that the boy has a sickness and has to go to hospital for extended periods of time. The boy somehow (don’t ask!) attains supernatural powers of being able to leave his body. He befriends a cop who is wheelchair bound. The cop is in the process of saving NYC from a computer hacker that will hold the city ransom. A girl (Audrey Tatou from AMELIE) helps destroy the virus and saves the city with the help of both he cop and the boy.

PHANTOM BOY as an animated feature looks like the older toons such as BETTY BOOP unlike the slicker animated features from Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks that North Americans are spoilt with. Inevitable comparison will make PHANTOM BOY look inferior despite the directors attention to detail The stars on the socks of a character can be seen just as clearly as any of the character movements.

The film is screened in French with English subtitles. The French is simple enough so that those learning the language can understand the dialogue without resorting to reading of the subtitles. But as much as foreign films should not be dubbed and shown in their original languages, the characters in New York City speaking French look odd. The film loses its credibility.

Despite the supernatural story, the story is quite plain and predictable. A lot of rules are dictated into the story. The boy, for example will die if he does not return to his body after a certain amount of time. How does he know and how did this rule come about? Strange supernatural reasonings make little sense in the film.

There is nothing super exciting or super funny. The main humour is derived from the black mayor who is always screaming at the cop for all the accidents caused while doing his duty.

The film is progressive in featuring a black NYC mayor. The film is current with the fact that hacking a central computer can bring the entire modern city down as just last year the whole New York stock exchange was brought to a halt because of a virus.

I have not seen A CAT IN PARIS but assume that that film is better than PHANTOM BOY which might also be called A PHANTOM IN NEW YORK. The film might have worked better if set again in Paris, France in the home country of the two directors.

Film Review: ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE

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ice_age_collision_course
ICE AGE – COLLISION COURSE (USA 2016) **

Directed by Mike Thurmeier

Starring: Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo |

Review by Gilbert Seah

Saving the world is a common theme in action hero and animated movies these days. The same is applied in the latest and 5th instalment of the ICE AGE franchise, appropriately called ICE AGE – COLLISION COURSE as the planet is about to be destroyed by asteroids, according to the reading of the pillar by Buck (Simon Pegg).

The film has its signature ice age segment of Scrat (Chris Wedge) chasing his runaway acorn which somehow always gets away. It’s a mostly silent segment and has grown in popularity just as Beep Beep and the Coyote are now famous in the Looney Tunes world. Popular as they are, these antics grow tiresome. I am not a fan of either Beep Beep or Scrat’s acorn antics. In ICE AGE COLLISION, the antics lead to an almost destruction of the planet by an steroid, unless the hero can save the world.

The story goes on like this. While trying to bury his acorn, Scrat accidentally activates an abandoned alien ship that takes him into deep space, where he unwillingly sends several asteroids en route of collision with Earth. Not very original a premise of an alien ship hidden in the Arctic or Antarctic! Meanwhile on the planet Earth, Manny (Ray Romano) is worried about the upcoming marriage between Peaches (Keke Palmer) and her fiancé, Julian (Adam Devine), while Sid (Joh Leguizamo) is dumped by his girlfriend, Francine (Melissa Rauch), just as he is about to propose to her. During Manny and Ellie’s (Queen Latifah) wedding anniversary party, some of the asteroids strike the place and the herd barely escape with their lives. Meanwhile at the underground cavern, after stealing a dinosaur egg from a trio of Dromaeosaurs, Buck discovers an ancient stone pillar, which he takes to the surface, where he meets Manny and the others.

The story is nothing really original nor does it contain a lot of comedic potential. What follows is a rather lame series of mildly funny at best, incidents that lead to a climax that is also not particularly exciting.

Actors from the other ICE AGES movies, Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Keke Palmer, Jennifer Lopez, Simon Pegg and Chris Wedge all reprise their roles while new additions Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Adam DeVine, Nick Offerman, Max Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Rauch, Carlos Ponce, Michael Strahan, Jessie J and Neil deGrasse attempt to breathe new life into the franchise.

The film is again directed by Canadian Mike Thurmeier of Blue Sky Studios, who did a few of the other ICE AGES films.

The ICE AGE series were never that funny or inventive compared to other animated series like SHREK, TOY STORY or MONSTERS INC. But they somehow found themselves into the hearts of many, which has resulted in a total of 5 films. I am hoping this will be the last as the series. Scrat chasing his and his acorn has become terribly tedious.

Costing a frugal $50 million to make compared to other more expensive animated features, there should be enough ICE AGE followers for Fox Studios to make their money back. Hopefully, Blue Sky Studios will come up with more original animation as their next project.

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Film Review: LES INNOCENTES (THE INNOCENTS) (France/Poland 2016)

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the_innocentsLES INNOCENTES (THE INNOCENTS) (France/Poland 2016)

Directed by Anne Fontaine

Starring: Lou de Laâge, Agata Buzek, Agata Kulesza |

Review by Gilbert Seah

The nuns in a convent during World War II are THE INNOCENTS referred to in this film, based on a true story.

Anne Fontaine (her last film COCO AVANT CHANEL) is a director who has made her name in making films about women. Her most notable film was DRY CLEANING, my favourite one of hers, in which she dished out a delicious dose of devilishness without being too serious. THE INNOCENTS is her most serious film.

It is Warsaw in the December of 1945 when the second World War is finally over. But the problems are not. When the film opens, a young French female doctor, Mathilde (Lou De Laâge) is treating the last of the French survivors of the German camps. When a panicked Benedictine nun appears at the clinic one night begging Mathilde to follow her back to the convent, what she finds there is shocking: a holy sister about to give birth and several more in advanced stages of pregnancy. Russian soldiers have raped the nuns who are now facing both the shame of exposure and a crisis in their faith. And they have deal with their pregnancies and their babies afterwards. Being nuns, they are totally new to the concept of birth. But worse of all, their strict Rev. Mother (Agata Kulesza) is not helping.

The film is beautifully shot by cinematographer Caroline Champetier. The luscious white snow on the ground, the woods, the middle of winter contrasted are contrasted with the dark corridors of the convent. The haunting music by Grégoire Hetzel is excellent and one wishes that the soundtrack be played a bit louder for it to be more appreciated.

But the narrative is not as strong as one might expect a story of this nature to be. One reason is the lack of a clear point of view. Though the majority of the film is told from Mathilde’s perspective, the film occasionally shifts to nun Maria’s and the Rev. Mother’s views. But the script also fails to establish the strength of the nun’s faith. The nuns and Rev. Mother appear not only helpless, but undetermined to have any self will to fight. All they do is pray and say it is God’s Providence in the midst of all the troubles. The fact that they are this helpless and unwilling to help themselves makes them more pitiless which undermines the power of the story.

The camaraderie between Mathilde and her co-worker, a French Jewish doctor (Vincent Macaigne) provides some needed distraction from the over-serious proceedings. But Vincent claims (and he improbably correct) that he is too ‘ugly’ for Mathilde. His romantic advances are not returned.

Fontaine’s film also ends up over sentimentalizing as in the births of the new born with too many shots of smiling nun faces. The message of Fontaine’s film comes out muddled. It is a pity as Fontaine has put in a lot of effort into this piece of work.

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Film Review: THE MISSING INGREDIENT: WHAT IS THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS?

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the_missing_incredient.jpgTHE MISSING INGREDIENT: WHAT IS THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS?

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE MISSING INGREDIENT: WHAT IS THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS? is the question posed throughout this new documentary of the same name. The answer is given near the end of the film by one of the owners of Gino’s, the successful restaurant that became an institution in NYC. However, one might argue if that is the correct answer- or that there are more ingredients to its success.

Whatever the point is, this Canadian documentary is strangely totally set in NYC. One wonders of the reason the effort was not taken up by an American filmmaker. Maybe it takes an outsider to be able to see the whole picture.

The film centres on two restaurants in NYC. One is already a success as an institution, the Italian Gino’s and the other, another Italian restaurant, Pescatore that strives desperately to be one. Director Sparaga interviews the owners of both restaurants, the clientele and workers. It is difficult to define the success of Gino’s. Gino’s is an unpretentious place, where the customers become family. Gino’s does not accept credit cards, but allows credit as kept in the log of a handwritten book. Gino’s has bright orangey red zebra wallpaper that became the restaurant’s icon. A big part at the end of the film has Pescatore using, after Gino’s has closed, the identical wallpaper with zebras but in yellow – to disastrous results.

Sparaga’s film flows easily. It is a very likeable documentary that never passes judgement on any one of his subjects. Even when Charles, the owner of Pescatore steals Gino’s wallpaper, a definite no-no, as opinionated by everyone interviewed on this subject, Sparaga goes on to film Charle’s view on the topic, even as he he says at his restaurant that if anyone working there will not support the wallpaper would best be looking for a job someplace else. Sparaga later allows Charles as he opens his new restaurant to be respected for his hard work and dedication despite a bad decision in the past.

This is where Sparaga’s film succeeds. Despite having a restaurant’s success as the subject, his film is also a candid study of people’s behaviour – their loyalties; their dedication; their goals and their pleasures. Restaurant come and go. People don’t. Gino’s though terribly successful had to finally close its doors. It is what can be learnt from the people and not from the restaurant that is priceless.

By the time the last reel is played, the audience will remember the sad faces of the founders of Gino’s, the face of Charles who tried so hard to make Pescatore work as well as the words of the loyal customers of Gino’s. But many will not recall the dishes at Gino’s that were displayed in the film.

THE MISSING INGREDIENT: WHAT IS THE RECIPE FOR SUCCESS? turns out to be a very likeable documentary that is easy to watch. It dishes out life lessons as famously as Gino’s dished out great food.

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

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