2017 movies

MOVIE REVIEW: THE SESSION (Comedy)

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Played at the August 2017 FEMALE FEEDBACK Film Festival to rave reviews.

by Kierston Drier

An emotionally intense and psychologically thrilling comedy, this ambitious seven minute short hailing from the USA and directed by Molly Maguire is rollercoaster of extremes. It follows a timid Amanda at her first meeting with her  strong and confident therapist. Eager to please and desperate to be “just like everyone else”, Amanda is quick to obey the words of her trusted therapist, who quickly persuades her into accepting deep truths about her psyche. The power dynamics of this piece are quick, intense and startling, as the rapid fire writing carries the story from one emotional high to the next.

 

Incredibly successful while still being admirably ambitious, The Session may push a viewer out of their comfort zone with psychology manipulation and comic irony. However, this is the type of daring and adventurous cinematic short that must be highly commended for its strong performances, excellent writing and killer mic-drop comic twist ending. A worthy watch and a short not to miss.

THE SESSION, 7min, USA, Comedy
Directed by Molly Maguire

Amanda arrives early for her first therapy session a bit eager, nervous, and open to her Dr.’s professional words of wisdom. Dr. Franklin uses all of this to her advantage. Turning those fateful minutes in which Amanda arrived early into ones Amanda will never forget.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

MOVIE REVIEW: THE MAN WHO DOESN’T SLEEP (Drama, Dramamentary)

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Played at the August 2017 FEMALE FEEDBACK Film Festival to rave reviews.

by Kierston Drier

A fifteen minute Mockumentary-Drama coming out of Canada, directed by Jana Stackhouse, follows a young filmmaker Sam as she explores the curious condition of her neighbor. Her neighbour, as it turns out, doesn’t sleep- or can’t sleep. Taken with the fascinating story of this medical miracle, Sam devotes her time to following her neighbor Craig and his story. What would you do with your newly found time, if you no longer had to sleep?

What she finds is an amazing introvert who is a jack of all trades, from Cosplay to self-taught chef, to botanist, to one-man-band, Craig can do it all- although he can’t do any of it perfectly. And slowly, the shy recluse opens up to his new friend. But when Craig suddenly begins to feel exhaustion, Sam learns that when he finally does sleep, he may sleep most of the rest of his life to make up for what sleep has been lost. Determined to finish her film and give Craig a chance to tell his story, they carry on the documentary. Craig however, must come to the realization that a person can live in a dream world, even if they never fall asleep.

 

This is an exceptionally well balanced film. The Man Who Doesn’t Sleep has emotional and genuine performances, charming tone and a beautiful mixture of subtle comedy and heart. It’s slightly unbelievable premise is easy to accept because of how authentically it is portrayed. A meaningful message is left with anyone who takes the time to enjoy The Man Who Doesn’t Sleep– life may be short, but it is worth being awake for.

THE MAN WHO DOESN’T SLEEP, 15min, Canada, Drama
Directed by Jana StackhouseA young filmmaker finds herself in a new apartment where her neighbour is literally up all night. Her anger turns to curiosity as she sets out to make a documentary about ‘The Man Who Doesn’t Sleep.’

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

MOVIE REVIEW: WE WERE SWIMMING, (Art/Surreal)

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Played at the August 2017 FEMALE FEEDBACK Film Festival to rave reviews.

by Kierston Drier

We Were Swimming is a metaphorical, musical, poetic short, laced with symbolism and poignance. The story, while abstract, follows two teenage girls who share (or have shared) an intense emotional bond. Directed by May Fisher and hailing from the UK, this short film has an exceptionally beautiful in its impenetrable mystery.

 

The piece is largely visual set against a dramatic spoken word piece, detailing a the heavy history and powerful bond shared by the two women. There is an emphasis on the symbology of water in the piece, but the meaning behind it is left for the viewer to contemplate.

Excellent performances and beautiful cinematography are found in We Were Swimming. What exalts this short above the standard are the bravely intimate non-dialogue moments shared between the heroines. It captures the closeness clearly shared between them, although the extent of their relationship is left up to the interpretation of the audience. Impactful and often profound, We Were Swimming has the tone of a love poem spoken in whispers, that nevertheless can resonate with any heart.

 

WE WERE SWIMMING, 3min, UK, Art/Surreal
Directed by Jesse May Fisher

We Were Swimming explores intimacies and tensions between two teenage girls. As the protagonist’s dreams and memories interweave with one another certain intricacies of girlhood and female friendship come to light.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

MOVIE REVIEW: GRACE & GRIT (Thriller/Drama)

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Played at the August 2017 FEMALE FEEDBACK Film Festival to rave reviews.

by Kierston Drier

A dramatic and emotional roller coaster of a film, Grace and Grit directed by Olivia Applegate and Blair Bomar, is a strong cinematic endeavour. Following one woman who battles with two different personas inside her, we see the passionate internal battle of torn emotional soul. Our heroine stands at the crossroads of a broken and abusive relationship, fighting within herself as to stay or leave. Stay, and attempt to turn something broken into something beautiful, or leave fueled with anger and fury. A detailed portrait of human complexity, this piece will make you feel and think.

 

The actresses who play Grace (Blair Bomar), Grit  (Olivia Grace Applegate) and the “Woman” (Kelly Frye) are to be commended for their strong, tense and compelling performances. Superbly cast, the performances alone make this film a must-see.

 

Grace and Grit is an emotional gut-punch, because the real struggle of the film is not the relationship the woman has with her abusive partner, but the relationship she has with herself. Her equally torn sides each speak with their own twisted but compelling logic. It is hard to choose a side, and hard to look away as our heroine is swept up in the emotional chaos within her. Striking, bold and emotionally ambitious, Grace and Grit is not to be missed.

GRACE & GRIT, 3min, USA, Thriller/Drama
Directed by Olivia ApplegateA twisted celebration of me, myself and I.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

MOVIE REVIEW: MAGIC RADIO (Family/Comedy)

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Played at the August 2017 FEMALE FEEDBACK Film Festival to rave reviews.

by Kierston Drier

Bright, colorful and full of youthful wish fulfillment, Magic Radio is a true delight. Directed by Meng Yu, this nine minute short film captures the tale of a lovesick high school student who discovers a radio that can transport him ten seconds back in time- giving him the ability to replay immediate events with a different outcome. Charmingly honest and authentic with its comedy, Magic Radio boasts a lot of heart. From first frame to last we root for our Hero, even as he blunders through his mistakes over and over (and over and over) again.

 

There is a nod to films like Groundhog Day or Naked where the comedy comes from the repetition of events, but there is also an element of control, where our Hero is able to relive his moments at his own command. Pride comes before the fall, however, and he often gets himself in trouble by being able to change the future. While the comedy is fast, witty and endearing, it also has no lack of emotional depth. When he tries to use his radio to test the waters with his dream girl, it doesn’t go as planned.

 

Magic Radio is skillfully cast and the performances are solid and moving, even if the plot requires a suspension of disbelief. What is particularly notable about the work is the instantaneous attraction to our hero, who plays the loveable and awkward every-man that anyone teenager can resonate with.

 

Magic Radio is a quirky loveable comedy that anyone will enjoy, with a great message at the end. You don’t need a time-traveling radio when you listen to your heart.

MAGIC RADIO, 9min, USA, Family/Comedy 
Directed by Meng YuA magic radio gives a high school student ability to experience the future within 10 seconds, however nothing can change his life but himself.

CLICK HERE – and see full info and more pics of the film!

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: THE CRESCENT (Canada 2017) **1/2

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2017. Go to TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

THE CRESCENT.jpgAfter an unexpected death in the family, a mother and son struggle to find spiritual healing at a beachfront summer home.

Director: Seth A. Smith
Writer: Darcy Spidle (screenwriter)
Stars: Britt Loder, Danika Vandersteen, Amy Trefry

Review by Gilbert Seah

This horror film from Nova Scotia, Canada has an excellent though slow beginning. Weird colourful patterns are formed and changed, which seems to flow naturally.

The film, after the opening credits and patterns turns to a funeral service where the preacher talks about suffering and pain before coming to a final rest.

The film then focuses on the single mother (Danika Vandersteen) and young son (Woodrow Graves), and advised by her mother than in order to survive: “You have to keep a level head.” Smith plays around with sounds effectively as he uses different sizes images to frame his film.

The frame sizes change when showing an image as seen from a window or from Beth’s paintings. Smith also uses tilted and upside down images, the latter as seen from the reflection of the sea water at low tide as Beth and Lowen walk along the beach.

The intermittent blaring sound is used at many points in the film. Smith’s film might be a bit too slow paced for a Midnight Madness selection. Normal horror fans will also not be too happy at this too arty piece of work that looks too smug for its own good.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bji7jatpHqA

Film Review: TULIP FEVER (UK 2016) **

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tulip fever.jpgAn artist falls for a young married woman while he’s commissioned to paint her portrait during the Tulip mania of 17th century Amsterdam.

Director: Justin Chadwick
Writers: Deborah Moggach (screenplay), Tom Stoppard (screenplay)
Stars: Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Jack O’Connell

Review by Gilbert Seah

The press is having a field day with the news of the new film TULIP FEVER based on a scandalous affair set in 17th Century Amsterdam. When the film critics were asked to sign an embargo for their reviews to appear no earlier that 1 pm of Friday, the film’s opening day, something must be afloat. The film was expiated to be awful. In addition, rumours were going around that TULIP EVER had been siting on the shelves for 3 years.

To be fair to the film, the film was in production in 2014 and the film was scheduled for a 2016 release. So, the film was on the shelf for a year and not 3. As for the embargo, the studios have their reasons. The film is not that bad, though it is not that good either. Despite the film’s flaws, it is quite watchable and pleasant viewing.

For one, the film has an impressive cast that includes Oscar Winner Judi Dench, hardly recognizable in cloister apparel. She is the Abbess who specializes in growing tulips. The film also stars rising start Alicia Vikander, Dane DeHaan, Jack O’Connell and Christoph Waltz. This is Waltz in his strangest role not as an antagonizer but as a victim of various plots. DeHaan, who has become quite the household name now with this third big expensive flop in a row after A CURE FOR WELLNESS (in turn quite a good film despite flopping at the box-office) and the same could be said for VALERIAN.

The film is told from the point of view and voiceover of a maid, Maria (Holly Grainger). She works hard for her mistress Sophia (Vikander) who was bought from the orphanage for a wealthy Cornelis (Waltz) who is desperate to have a son. Maria has an affair with a fishmonger (O’Connell) who delvers fish to the household. Sophia has an affair with a painter, Van Loos (DeHaan) behind Cornelis’ back. When Maria becomes pregnant ,s he blackmails her mistress as she knows of Sophia’s affair with Van Loos. Sophia decides to have Maria’s baby as her own to fool her husband. Complications arise in this complicated tale of deceit, with tulip truing brought into the picture.

It is are to market a film in which those who plot and have various affairs flourish and the poor faithful and believing husband doesn’t. He ends up, forgiving his transgressors and even grating them his residence.

The film is set in Holland, in the 17th century when tulips were the talk of the town. Business people were trading on tulips, very similar to the stock market at present. As expected, while many may make their fortunes, oner less fortunate ones stand to lose everything.

TULIP FEVER benefits from an interesting though hardly credible story. The period setting in Amsterdam helps too, despite the film shot totally in English with largely English and European actors. TULIP FEVER ends up an interesting failure. It costs only $25 million to make, so it might just make a little profit.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RpGTBnf158

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: APOSTASY (UK 2017) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2017. Go to TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

 APOSTASY.jpgA faithful Jehovah’s Witness is forced to shun her own sister because of a religious transgression. As the separation draws out, she starts to question the meaning of God’s love.

Director: Dan Kokotajlo
Writer: Dan Kokotajlo
Stars: Siobhan Finneran, Robert Emms, Sacha Parkinson

Review Gilbert Seah

APOSTASY is a term for the formal abandonment of ones faith, regardless of what the faith might be. In this minimalist family drama set in Manchester, England, the faith of a family is put to the test. The family concerned is the mother, Ivanna (Sobhan Finneran) and her two daughters, 20-year old Louisa (Sacha Parkinson) and 18-year-old Alex (Molly Wright).

They are Jehovah Witnesses, who are rigorously devoted to their religion. They also take their religious mission door to door amongst a large Pakistani community in Oldham of Greater Manchester.

Alex has already received a blood transfusion at an early age, dictated by the hospital to save her life but a definite no-no in the belief of the faith. When Louisa gets impregnated by a non-believer, she is dis-fellowshipped by the Elders of the church. Not only that, but her mother and sister are disassociated and not allowed to see her.

All three main actresses are nothing short of superb. Director Kikotajlo is fond of using close ups to show the emotions of his characters’ faces. APOSTASY is a small budget film that dramatically achieves its aim of revealing the truth and hardships of a religious belief.

Trailer: (non available at time of writing)

APOSTASY1.jpg

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY (Norway/Germany Sweden 2017)

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2017. Go to TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

 WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAYSixteen year-old Nisha lives a double life. At home with her family she is the perfect Pakistani daughter, but when out with her friends, she is a normal Norwegian teenager.

Director: Iram Haq
Writer: Iram Haq
Stars: Maria Mozhdah, Adil Hussain, Ekavali Khanna

Review by Gilbert Seah

When Nisha (Maria Mozhdah) is caught with a boy in her bedroom, though nothing really happened between them, her concerned parents kidnap her and send her to Pakistan. The film traces Nisha’s kidnap to her abode in Pakistan where she lives with her cruel aunt and uncle. Things get even worse, after a failed escape attempt and her being caught by the police smooching with her cousin.

They call Nisha’s dad (Adil Hussain) to take her back to Oslo. The father is madder than ever and at one point forces her to commit suicide, which she doesn’t. Director Haq has the audience clearly on Nisha’s side. Firstly, she is largely innocent, only guilty of wanting to have some fun any normal teenager seeks. When she suffers, she is also shown to earnestly want to turn over a new leaf.

The film benefits from superior performances from both Mozhdah as Nisha and Hussain as Nisha’s dad. It also helps that Haq has developed real characters, not just one dimensional cardboard ones. The film is not devoid of humour (like the egg lady on the bus in Pakistan). Haq also shows the different culture and lifestyle in Pakistan compared to Norway.

WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY is an engaging film that makes its point, while sending a message at the same time.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8_dBOzufWQ

WHAT WILL PEOPLE SAY1.jpg

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: COCAINE PRISON (Bolivia/Australia/France 2017) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2017. Go to TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

COCAINE PRISON.jpg
From inside Bolivia’s craziest prison a cocaine worker, a drug mule and his little sister reveal the countries relationship with cocaine.

Director: Violeta Ayala
Writers: Violeta Ayala (story),
Stars: Daisy Torres, Hernan Torres, Mario Bernal

Review by Gilbert Seah

Shot in Bolivia — including inside the notorious San Sebastian prison — over five years, Violeta Ayala’s COCAINE PRISON takes a close look at two subjects – the cocaine trade and the conditions of the prison.

What the audience sees is definitely shocking in this engaging film. The film follows Hernan and his sister Deisy, two Bolivian teenagers going to high school in Cochabamba with dreams of starting a band. Hernan gets caught and put to jail after attempting to carry two kilograms of cocaine across the border to Argentina.

He is sent to San Sebastian prison, a scarcely staffed open-air facility where the prisoners make most of the rules. Prisons in Canada, in comparison look like a summer relax camp. In San Sebastian, inmates have to cough up US$2000 to buy a cell in the prison grounds or sleep outside with the risk off getting mugged.

Director Ayala also follows the drug trade emphasizing the workers harvesting the leaves to the mules like Hernan who get imprisoned while the real drug dealers go free.

There is a sort of happy ending for Hernan as he gets pardoned but things on the whole do not look good for anyone else, including Hernan after he is released. Director Ayala taught English in the prison, which gave her access to filming inside it.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=14&v=WgZJWuFgMew

COCAINE PRISON1.jpg