2017 movies

1967 Movie Review: WAIT UNTIL DARK, 1967

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WAIT UNTIL DARK, MOVIE POSTERWAIT UNTIL DARK, 1967
Movie Reviews

Directed by: Terence Young
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna, Julia Herrod, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Review by Jarred Thomas

SYNOPSIS:

A recently blinded woman is terrorized by a trio of thugs while they search for a heroin stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.

 

REVIEW:

A highly entertaining and suspenseful thriller that follows a tormented blind woman terrorized by three men, with one being considered by many critics as one of the scariest villains of all time played to perfection by Alan Arkin. Susy (Hepburn) suffered a terrible accident recently has been left blind. Her only aid comes from an unreliable younger neighbor, Gloria (Herrod), in which the two have a mother daughter relationship. Susy’s disability has been challenging, however, her greatest challenge comes in the form of three criminals.

The ruthless gang in led by the psychotic Roat (Arkin) who believes that Susy’s husband, Sam, has a doll with heroin inside after it was given to him on a plane by a woman trying to hide the doll from custom officials. Unknowingly, Sam brought the doll to the couple’s apartment and unfortunately Roat is determined to gain the doll despite Susy’s innocence.

The tension builds as Roat tries to manipulate the situation through cunning plans including pretending to be a police officer and using Sam’s friends to gain the trust of Susy, gaining access to the apartment. Roat is a freat villain. There are layers to the characters that unfold over the course of the film. He appears calm, collected and calculated. But as his desperation and Susy’s resistance continues, his raw emotions get the better of him and he begins to unravel.

The suspense is captivating, particularly during the final confrontation between Audrey and Alan. The cinematography is helps to create a dark and haunting atmosphere that heightens the tension and suspense. Susy realizes that the men want access to her apartment, so, knowing the place better than they do, she darkens the room by taking out the lights, leaving the men blind.

The confrontation in the kitchen is the most memorable scene in the film and help to start a trend in which the villain, thought dead, turns out to be alive and appears out of nowhere for one last kill. Other films, most notably Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street uses this trend in every one of their films. Unfortunately, those moments pale in comparison to how it was effectively done in Terence Young’s film.

Audrey was nominated for her fifth and last Oscar for her excellent performance as the vulnerable blind woman with enough resourcefulness to outsmart her pursuers. Alan created a monster that was listed in Bravo Channel’s 100 Scariest Movie of All Time coming in at number 10. Along with their great performances, Young succeeds in providing thrills and scares with the building tension and effectively taking a rather simple premise and turning it into a unique and compelling thriller.

Wait Until Dark is a remarkable and superb film that keeps you captivated throughout and never lets up. The strong performances and excellent directing with great editing provide for some entertaining and engaging moments, as well as a sterling story. If you’re a fan of Audrey Hepburn, or great thrillers, Wait Until Dark is certainly worth your time. Enjoy.

Audrey Hepburn, Wait until dark (1967) starring Alan Arkin and Richard Crenna
Audrey Hepburn, Wait until dark (1967) starring Alan Arkin and Richard Crenna

THE 2017 TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL SEPT 7 -17, 2017

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

by Gilbert Seah
 
The 2017 version of TIFF will be held from the 7th to the 17th of September from Thursday to Sunday that will mark another 11 days of marathon film watching. The first press conference was held this morning (July 25th) with announcements of the first batch of films to be screened.

This site will provide you updates to the festival (so keep checking) as well as capsuled reviews of selected from the festival starting as early as three weeks before the festival actually begins. Capsule reviews will be provided as this reviewer watches the films up to the very last Sunday. This reviewer usually reviews around 80 films each year at TIFF.

Announced are 14 Galas and 33 Special Presentations, of which are 25 World Premieres, eight International Premieres, six North American Premieres and eight Canadian Premieres.
Festival-goers from around the world can anticipate a remarkable lineup of extraordinary stories, voices and cinematic visions from emerging talent and some of our favourite masters.

The announcements were made by TIFF CEO Piers Handling and TIFF Artistic Director Cameron Bailey. One of the key questions asked by the press concerned the travel ban from the U.S. They responded with the information that TIFF has special staff to deal with filmmakers and their travel arrangements with embassies and government bodies.

THE MOVIES:

GALAS 2017
Breathe Andy Serkis, United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Catcher Was A Spy Ben Lewin, USA
World Premiere

*Closing Night Film*
C’est la vie! Olivier Nakache, Eric Toledano, France
World Premiere

Darkest Hour Joe Wright, United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere
Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool Paul McGuigan, United Kingdom
Canadian Premiere

Kings Deniz Gamze Ergüven, France/Belgium
World Premiere

Long Time Running Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Canada
World Premiere

Mary Shelley Haifaa Al Mansour, Ireland/United Kingdom/Luxembourg/USA
World Premiere

The Mountain Between Us Hany Abu-Assad, USA
World Premiere

Mudbound Dee Rees, USA
International Premiere

Stronger David Gordon Green, USA
World Premiere

Untitled Bryan Cranston/Kevin Hart Film Neil Burger, USA
World Premiere

The Wife Björn Runge, United Kingdom/Sweden
World Premiere

Woman Walks Ahead Susanna White, USA
World Premiere

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2017

Battle of the Sexes Valerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton, USA
International Premiere

BPM (Beats Per Minute) Robin Campillo, France
North American Premiere

The Brawler Anurag Kashyap, India
World Premiere

The Breadwinner Nora Twomey, Canada/Ireland/Luxembourg
World Premiere

Call Me By Your Name Luca Guadagnino, Italy/France
Canadian Premiere

Catch the Wind Gaël Morel, France
International Premiere

The Children Act Richard Eyre, United Kingdom
World Premiere

The Current War Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, USA
World Premiere

Disobedience Sebastián Lelio, United Kingdom
World Premiere

Downsizing Alexander Payne, USA
Canadian Premiere

A Fantastic Woman Sebastián Lelio, Chile
Canadian Premiere

First They Killed My Father Angelina Jolie, Cambodia
Canadian Premiere

The Guardians Xavier Beauvois, France
World Premiere

Hostiles Scott Cooper, USA
International Premiere

The Hungry Bornila Chatterjee, India
World Premiere

I, Tonya Craig Gillespie, USA
World Premiere

*Special Presentations Opening Film*
Lady Bird Greta Gerwig, USA
International Premiere

mother! Darren Aronofsky, USA
North American Premiere

Novitiate Maggie Betts, USA
International Premiere

Omerta Hansal Mehta, India
World Premiere

Plonger Mélanie Laurent, France
World Premiere

The Price of Success Teddy Lussi-Modeste, France
International Premiere

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women Angela Robinson, USA
World Premiere

The Rider Chloé Zhao, USA
Canadian Premiere

A Season in France Mahamat-Saleh Haroun, France
World Premiere

The Shape of Water Guillermo del Toro, USA
Canadian Premiere

*Special Presentations Closing Film*
Sheikh Jackson Amr Salama, Egypt
World Premiere

The Square Ruben Östlund, Sweden
North American Premiere

Submergence Wim Wenders, France/Germany/Spain
World Premiere

Suburbicon George Clooney, USA
North American Premiere

Thelma Joachim Trier, Norway/Sweden/France/Denmark
International Premiere

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Martin McDonagh, USA
North American Premiere

Victoria and Abdul Stephen Frears, United Kingdom
North American Premiere

 

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
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FILM REVIEW: PHOENIX FORGOTTEN (USA 2017)

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

PHOENIX FORGOTTEN.jpg20 years after three teenagers disappeared in the wake of mysterious lights appearing above Phoenix, Arizona, unseen footage from that night has been discovered, chronicling the final hours of their fateful expedition.

Director: Justin Barber
Writers: T.S. Nowlin, Justin Barber
Stars: Florence Hartigan, Luke Spencer Roberts, Chelsea Lopez

Review by Gilbert Seah

PHOENIX FORGOTTEN arrives with the hype that it comes from not only the same producers as the blockbuster hits 300 and THE MARTIAN but also with Ridley Scott’s name attached to the producer credits. Of course this might not mean much, but at least one can be assured that at least the concept of the film must have been worth something.

Which it does, judging from the film’s opening scene that provides the film some promise. From the point of view of a home made video, the audience sees a jittery framework of footage of a family birthday party for young Sophie, bespectacled and looking all puzzled while everyone else talks to the camera.

The something weird occurs. The roof of the house is almost taken down by what seems to be low hovering UFO’s apparently caught on the video camera as well. Voiceover on the footage claims that this was the last time a picture was taken of the family all together. A good quirky start for a movie that then moves to the present time.

The film takes its cue from the spring of 1997 when several residents of Phoenix, Arizona claimed to have witnessed mysterious lights in the sky. This phenomenon, which became known as “The Phoenix Lights,” remains the most famous UFO sighting in American history.

The film’s premise continues that on July 23, 1997, three high school student filmmakers went missing while camping in the desert outside Phoenix. The purpose of their trip was to document their investigation into the Phoenix Lights. They were never seen again. Twenty years later, Sophie (Florence Hartigan), a documentary filmmaker and younger sibling of one of the missing, returns to Phoenix to delve into the their disappearances and the emotional trauma left on those that knew them. Sophie being a documentarist is the excuse of the found footage style for story telling, But it is hard to believe later on in the film, that the three are continuing their filming when they are running for dear life.

The problem of this movie is that one can guess that the three are going to be abducted and the found footage would indicate that. This results in a very dull middle section of the film.

The found footage horror sci-fi flick has the same look and feel as THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and inevitably PHOENIX FORGOTTEN will be compared to that film.

For one the found footage technique has been used already not once too often and always in this kind of low budget film. So, the novelty is gone and director Barber might as well do this horror story in the conventional way. No real advantage can be seen in having the film done in the found footage way, except to give the audience a sense of false authenticity of the proceedings.

PHOENIX FORGOTTEN is now available on iTunes! It will hit VOD and DVD/Blu-Ray on August 1st. Clearly not the best film of the year but it is available quite cheap for all that it is worth.

Trailer: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15d5b8398300bde2?projector=1

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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Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month:http://www.wildsoundfestival.com

 

Film Review: IN THE CORNER OF THE WORLD (Japan 2016) ****

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

IN THE CORNER OF THE WORLD.jpgSet in Hiroshima during World War II, an eighteen-year-old girl gets married and now has to prepare food for her family despite the rationing and lack of supplies.

Director: Sunao Katabuchi
Writers: Sunao Katabuchi, Fumiyo Kono (manga) |
Stars: Non, Megumi Han, Yoshimasa Hosoya
Review by Gilbert Seah

 This animated feature from studio MAPPA is a rare treat. It is seldom that North Americans get to see a Japanese anime that is not violent manga and not from Studio Ghibli. That is not to say that Studio Ghibli stuff is bad but variety is the spice of life as they say. Based on the award-winning Japanese manga by Fumiyo Kouno, IN THE CORNER OF THE WORLD is written and directed by Sunao Katabuchi and produced by GENCO and Japanese animation studio MAPPA.

Bolstered by emotionally resonant storytelling, as is evident from the very first frame and exquisite hand-drawn animation, this acclaimed animated feature recently won the coveted Animation of the Year award at this year’s 40th Japan Academy and the Jury Prize at ANNECY 2017.

Director Katabuchi opens his tale in 1933 setting the stage for his coming-of-age story of a girl called Suzu affected by the War setting. The subject is said to be a daydreamer, which gives the film chance for fantasy and imagination.

Though the characters do not move as fluidly as in American animation, the background of many segments look something out of a water colour paining – especially the buildings, rocks, forests and mountains.

The film centres of Suzu, first seen as a little girl in school who loves to draw. The title of the film refers to place where Suzu first meets her further husband. The marriage is an arranged one and she moves from Hiroshima to Kure to live with her husband and his family. She does the chores but much more once World War II begins. Suzu experiences the horrors of World War II including the dropping of the atomic bomb in Hiroshima.

World War II is seen from the view of Suzu and her family and husband’s family. There are no combat scenes but the effects of the war are still as devastating. Families are always in danger from bombings and the daily routines involve constant running to the bomb shelters. Suzu loses her niece and a part of her body due to one of the bombings and director Katabichi does not shy away from showing the horrors of war. The dropping of the atom bomb on Hiroshima where Suzu’s family lives also occurs during the film’s climax. Katabuchi does not judge the Americans for the catastrophe neither does he mention their collaboration with Germany.

An arranged marriage is always full of ‘ifs’. The one here, laid out bare for Suzu’s point of view is similarly one full of both fear and anticipation. Suzu leaves her home she is used to to live with her new husband and his family. The wedding is a small one with lots of unfamiliarities. But Suzu is finally comforted when her husband eventually shows her affection on the wedding night – in the film’s most enchanting sequences.

IN THE CORNER OF THE WORLD ends up an empowering coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of World War II, while parading the resilience and triumph of the human spirit.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8FIdhofagA

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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Film Review: OUTRAGE (USA 1950) ***

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

outrage.jpgA young woman who has just become engaged has her life completely shattered when she is raped while on her way home from work.

Director: Ida Lupino
Writers: Collier Young (written for the screen by), Malvin Wald (written for the screen by)
Stars: Mala Powers, Tod Andrews, Robert Clarke

 Though dated as the film may seem, OUTRAGE was controversial at the time of release being only the second film dealing with the subject of rape – thigh the word was never used and the rape implied and never spoken of in detail. The first film was JOHNNY BELINDA that earned Jane Wyman the Best Actress Oscar.

OUTRAGE deals with a single young lady, Ann (Mala Powers) about to be married. But when she is raped one night by a man with a scar on his neck, Anne leaves home, totally traumatized and unable to function properly in a social setting. She meets a sympathetic Rev. Bruce Ferguson (Tod Andrews) who helps her recover. At a party, she almost kills a man who make advances towards her, she imagining him to be her attacker.

Lupino’s film clearly has a strong feminine presence as observed in many scenes, the story and characters. Ann’s office is made up of a larger female than male staff. The males often perform more tedious tasks compared to the females, perhaps Lupino’s preferred take on an alternative universe. For example, Ann’s male colleague neighbour is given the arduous monotonous job of stamping a pile of pages, one after another non-stop. Ann’s father is a Geometry teacher, bogged down by a boring teaching job teaching what is widely well known as a boring subject – Mathematics, and down to an even more boring branch of it, Geometry. Ann’s mother is the more sympathetic one and shown to be the stronger of the two parents n terms of making in impact on Ann’s happiness.

Lupino, who co-wrote the script with two other writers is a simple enough story that traces the traumatic effects of a night assault on an innocent young woman, how her life is affected by it, and how she slowly but finally recovers with the help of kind human beings. No mention of the details of the assault are given, the nastiness just put aside, leaving the audience to imagine the worst, as observed by Ann’s after-attack behaviour.

Lupino builds up suspense and audience anticipation whenever she can. The scar of the coffee seller is shown on camera close-up early in the film, implying the man to be of questionable character. He is later revealed to be Ann’s attacker. Ann agrees to work late one night, which prompts the audience to fear for her.
Ann’s after assault behaviour is drastically different undergoing changes such as visions of her attacker, denial of her engagement and paranoia that everyone around her is looking at her and judging her. This is drastic behavioural change that almost results in Ann killing a man at a party who has made advances towards her. Lupino shows the aftermath of a sexual assault in all its fury and unpleasantness.

OUTRAGE ends with the attacker getting caught as informed casually to Anne, though nothing is shown of the incident.

OUTRAGE is an ok film, solid for its time, but a bit dated considering how films have progressed since with censorship now relaxed.

OUTRAGE will be screened on August 24th at the Bell Lightbox in its 35mm archive print as part of the TIFF Cinematheque Retrospective on Ida Lupino entitled INDEPENDENT WOMEN that runs from August 4, 2017. Watch for the Lupino article that will include capsule reviews of selected films from this retrospective.

Film Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBzfd0yqFY4

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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Film Review: VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS (France 2017) ****

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

 valerian.jpgA dark force threatens Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operatives Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe.

Director: Luc Besson
Writers: Pierre Christin (comic book), Jean-Claude Mézières (comic book)
Stars: Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen

Review by Gilbert Seah

 
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS is the new widely anticipated French science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson best known for THE FIFTH ELEMENT and LUCY. The film, based on the French science fiction comics series Valérian and Laureline, written by Pierre Christin and illustrated by Jean-Claude Mézières is to date the most expensive French film ever made at a price rage of $197 million euros. To break-even it has to make $350 million worldwide. It is a big a risk as James Cameron’s AVATAR but the film is stunning in its visuals and imagination and comes highly recommended for Besson’s vision and delivery of this space opus to the big screen. It be best seen in 3D and on the biggest screen possible.

The film opens with an alien species on a distant planet. They speak a different language and lead a different lifestyle, in tune with nature giving their planet back what they receive from it. This is reminiscent of the blue AVATAR creatures in the James Cameron’s film. An apocalypse happens and their planet is destroyed. On the other side of the Universe, a dark force threatens Alpha, a vast metropolis and home to species from a thousand planets. Special operatives Valerian and Laureline must race to identify the marauding menace and safeguard not just Alpha, but the future of the universe. Nothing makes much sense in the film’s first half, but writer/director Besson keeps the audience’s curiosity strong. It is during the second half that the story comes together, becoming more of a conventional film with the fight between good and evil, with Valerian and Laureline being the space fighters and peace keepers working for ‘the government’.

But it is not the story that will astonish the audiences. The visionary action sequences consisting of computer generated landscapes and creatures of all shapes and sizes will mesmerize. The best of these are three information selling beaked liked creatures who speak both simultaneously but separately forming sentences that are hilarious and brilliant. The capture of the jellyfish on the mammoth sea creature providing some genuine action and thrills and the butterfly bait fishing are inspirational set pieces. Another memorable scene has Laureine wearing a huge hat with the top of her head exposed only to find her brains about to be eaten by an Alien Emperor, the way Chinese used eat monkey brains as a delicacy before the practice was banned.

Much negative reviews have been posted of the lead actor’s Dane DeHaan’s performance as Major Valerian. DeHaan is a young 31-year old American actor with some Dutch background, hence his Dutch surname, who has proven himself able to carry a lead role in the recent but badly received A CURE FOR WELLNESS. In that film DeHaan demonstrated a different kind of hero, a vulnerable one, as in this one, full of character flaws like impulsive decision making, unlike other space action heroes like hans Solo or Luke Skywalker. His partner, co-fighter for good against evil and love interest, Lareline is played by Cara Delevingne who emits sexiness and charisma. They do exhibit good chemistry on screen, and her speech on love at the film’s end though cliched, works. Supporting performances by Clive Owen as the villain and Ethan Hawke are also impressive.
Rihanna plays an alien dancer who performs a Sally Bowles in CABARET type dance forms one of the film’s best musical dance numbers – amazing and unforgettable combined with special computer effects. Music is by Alexandre Desplat.

For all its flaws, Besson’s brilliantly conceived film still scores top marks as a futuristic space action adventure. Much better than THE FIFTH ELEMENT and the new STAR WARS film series.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XawbuBCj-Fo
 

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

Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival:http://www.wildsound.ca

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TIFF Cinematheque Presents – The Films of Kathryn Bigelow

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kathryn bigelow.jpgThe TIFF Cinematheque first retrospective on Kathryn Bigelow entitled KATHRYN BIGELOW: ON THE EDGE begins July 21.

Bigelow’s first film was the low-budget debut THE LOVELESS (an arty, hipster spin on ’50s biker movies, co-directed with Monty Montgomery and starring Willem Dafoe)  Following that, she  made her critical (but commercial unsuccessful) breakthrough with NEAR DARK, a grimy yet wickedly stylish tale of a pack of vampires traversing the American Southwest.  This was followed by a slew of films including POINT BREAK, STRANGE DAYS and others culminating with her glorious Oscar winner THE HURT LOCKER.  The retrospective arrives in time with the release of her new film DETROIT.

Bigelow was married to and divorced from director James Cameron.  Their collaboration can be seen in his script of STRANGE DAYS which Bigelow directed.

Bigelow’s best films are NEAR DARK, BLUE STEEL and STRANGE DAYS, all three of which oddly enough, did not do well at the box-office.

In April 2010, Bigelow was named to the Time 100 list of most influential people of the year.

For the complete program of the retrospective with screening dates and times, please check the TIFF website at:

CAPSULE REVIEWS OF SELECTED FILMS:

BLUE STEEL (USA 1990) ****
Directed by Kathryn Boggle

BLUE STEEL is yet a another really awesome Bigelow film that flopped at the box-office.  She wrote this film with Eric Red after their collaboration NEAR DARK and marks another very human emotional script with a female cop character.  Just as Bigelow functions as a female action director BLUE STEEL is set in a man’s world.  Jamie Lee Curtis plays a rookie cop who foils a grocery store hold-hp shooting the robber (Tom Sizemore) who pulls a gun on her.  But she does not notice the robber’s gun stolen by a customer, who turns out to be a psychopath (Ron Silver) who uses the gun on a killing spree around NYC.  Detective Turner (Curtis) engages in a cat-and-mouse game with the killer that consists of a series of actions set-pieces.  The only problem is the sudden appearance of the killer shooting at Turner in a subway station for no reason except to provide the climax for the movie.  Still, this is Bigelow at her exciting best, and BLUE STEEL is an absorbing watch from start to end.  Ron Silver is the creepiest villain I have seen for a long time in a movie.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJTOmShc9E0

NEAR DARK (USA 1987) ***** Top 10
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

NEAR DARK is Kathryn Bigelow’s second and arguably BEST movie feature that mixes the western and vampire horror genres based on a script written by Bigelow and Eric Red.  The story follows a young man, Caleb Colton (Adrian Pasdar) in a small midwestern town who becomes involved with a family of nomadic American vampires.  It all starts one night, when Caleb meets an attractive young drifter named Mae (Jenny Wright).  Just before sunrise, she bites him on the neck and runs off.  The rising sun causes Caleb’s flesh to smoke and burn.  Mae arrives with a group of roaming vampires in an RV and takes him away.  The film plays like a male victim basically in a female victim role which makes sense since Bigelow is a female action director.  NEAR DARK is one action set piece after another, the top two being the bar segment where the vampires terrorize a local biker bar, killing everyone before burning it down followed by a police takedown at a motel.  The only problem with the film is Bigelow’s Hollywood ending where Mae, the vampire becomes human again with the couple living happily ever after.

Trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiYSirEHS5E

ZERO DARK THIRTY (USA 2012) ***1/2

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

ZERO DARK THIRTY (referring to the period of time 30 minutes past midnight) is the story of perhaps the greatest American manhunt in history – the search and capture of Osama Bin Laden.  The story centres on the character of naïve CIA agent who goes by the name of Maya (Jessica Chastain) who supposedly masterminded the discovery of the whereabouts of OBL.  The navy seals were called in to attack the fort with the result of him being killed.  But not after Maya has given out all that she has got.  The script has her undergo the typical coming-of-age growing up to maturity as she accomplishes her goal.  Initially, shocked but accepting the torture by the American military, she gradually grows from soft to hardened in order to get the job done.  Maya finally reaches her angry peak when she confidently says to the Navy Seals, “You go and kill Bin Laden for me,” as if it is her own private vendetta.  The script and director keeps the film moving fast from start to finish keeping the audience’s attention.  The climatic segment of the raid on the fort in the dark of night is brilliantly executed.   

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxC_JNz5Vbg

Film Review: CHASING CORAL (USA 2017) ***

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

CHASING CORAL.jpgCoral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.

Director: Jeff Orlowski
Writers: Davis Coombe, Vickie Curtis
Stars: Andrew Ackerman, Pim Bongaerts, Neal Cantin
Review by Gilbert Seah
 
Opening Friday July 14th on Netflix and in a few few cinemas (if one can be found in your city), is a Netflix original documentary, and one that is worthwhile to take a look at, in terms of education and importance of the consequences of global warming.

Those familiar with filmmaker Jeff Orlowski will remember his Emmy Award winning documentary CHASING ICE that demonstrated the disappearance of ice on the planet’s surface over time due to climate global warming. This new documentary CHASING CORAL traces the death of corals around the world, again due to global warming. The film is timely arriving at the same time as Al Gore’s sequel to AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH and when President Donald Trump opted out of the G20 climate accord.

CHASING CORAL is both a horror story and a feel good film. Director Orlowski who co-wrote the film follows the standard format for this kind of documentary. The problem is stated, and emphasized throughout the film, then shows the facts on film with the hard and tireless work put in by those involved. He then shows where the problem is headed and what one can do about it. Experts are interviewed to underline the key points in the film.

CHASING CORAL also turns out to be entertaining through the many stunning photographed shots of corals with fish and other creatures that survive on it. Though the complicated cameras are shown, most of the technical details are just lightly touched. All the audience is told is that it is a very tedious and difficult process with turns out very frustrating for the time involved.

Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.

The film takes the audiences to various coral reefs around the world. Photographs are shown of dying reefs, bleached white from as far as Thailand, the Florida Keys in the U.S. and the Philippines. The most famous reef of all, The Great Barrier Ref on the east coast of Australia is where the film spends most of the time on. The most horrific fact revealed is that 29% of the corals in the northern part has died in the one year of 2016. The world has also lost 50 % of all the coral life in the past 30 years. A presentation of the fact is shown with spectators wiping tears from their eyes. It is a devastating fact. The reefs feed the ocean life and with that gone, the forests and eventually man will perish through the destruction of the Eco-system.

It i weird that despite all the warnings Orlowski has sounded during his film, he ends it on a positive note saying the emission of carbon fuels are already cut down and that many cities around the world are already doing their part. The U.S. is not on the list of countries doing their part.

Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v= b6fHA9R2cKI

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Film Review: TO THE BONE ( USA 2017)

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Deadlines to Submit your Screenplay, Novel, Story, or Poem to the festival: http://www.wildsound.ca

to the boneA young woman is dealing with anorexia. She meets an unconventional doctor who challenges her to face her condition and embrace life.

Director: Marti Noxon
Writer: Marti Noxon
Stars: Lily Collins, Keanu Reeves, Leslie Bibb

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
The credits both opening and closing proudly announces TO THE BONE a film about anorexia, the eating disorder a Netflix original movie. It has been proclaimed that Netflix gets to make films studios are scared to make. This definitely holds true for this depressing, unglamorous project on a subject suffering from anorexia and shunned by her family. But TO THE BONE is so bad that one wonders if the studios could foresee the fact.

One would expect more from director Noxon and lead star Lili Collins who both suffer from the disorder. But the film glamourizes the illness in the way Collins looks so beautiful in every scene and everything she does appears ok and everyone else especially her stepmother is wrong. But unforgivable is the fact that the film is a really boring exercise from start to end. It does not help with the weird ending in which her real mother, Susan (Lili Taylor) feeds her milk from a baby bottle and a fantasy scene in which Ellen she’s herself nude on the ground, presumably dead.

It is hard to judge Collin’s performance when the film is this awful. Taylor does the best she can and Keanu Reeves has the odd role as Ellen’s charismatic doctor who is supposed to a do wonders with his unconventional methods. “I’m not going to treat you if you do not want to live!” He tells Ellen the first time he interviews her.

The story follows teenager Ellen who has dropped out of college. Her stepmother, Judy who lives with her real dad wants her to be cured from her anorexia. But Judy is shown as a very intolerant and bad mother, always criticizing poor Ellen and downright silly, making silly assumptions that Ellen and her stepsister always laugh about. So, Ellen is convinced to go to this medical facility led by Dr. William Beckam (Reeves). There is nothing in the film that shows him to be revolutionary in his treatment. His insistence of telling Ellen’s inner voice to ‘ f*** soft is laughable if not downright unbelievable. The facility consists of an assortment of skinny patients that are there to make Ellen look good. The subplot of Ellen having a romantic fling with the one boy, Luke (Alex Sharp), who wants to be a singer/dancer leads nowhere.

The film at least looks crisp and clear, especially with the desert landscape at the end, courtesy of cinematographer Richard Wong. Music is decent with an original song near the end.

But the film teaches nothing about anorexia nor does it offer any real insight on the people suffering from it. The least the script could have done is provide some medical information on the subject. The film also inserts unnecessary new age material. Ellen’s mother is a lesbian. In one scene, she praises her own breakdown saying people should have them to learn from them. Susan also puts a Ellen in a tent with no electricity with kerosene lamps for light and a bedpan if one need to go do their stuff. Ellen (or Eli, since she changes her name half way through the film for no proper reason) has not come out of life any smarter and neither has the audience.

Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=705yRfs6Dbs

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Film Review: RESTLESS CREATURE: WENDY WHELAN (USA 2017) **

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RESTLESS CREATURE WENDY WHELANDocumentary on the great American Ballerina Wendy Whelan.

Directors: Linda Saffire, Adam Schlesinger
Star: Wendy Whelan

Review by Gilbert Seah

The RESTLESS CREATURE of the film title stands for the title of the ballet, ballerina and NYC Ballet Company’s principal dancer, Wendy Whelan is performing or it could stand for her restless character as well, one that would never give up dancing. “If I don’t dance, I’d rather die,” Whelan says at one point during an interview in the film.

The film definitely centres on Whelan and she has a lot to say in it. It is a world of ballet and discipline, dance torture to the body and decadence. Perfectly sculptured bodies everywhere! This is not the world that most people are familiar with. The same saying applies to the film. It is strictly for ballet and dance aficionados. Those not in that world will hardly sympathize with Whelan’s complaints. And she can be quite the cry baby, going on and on about herself.

The film is all about Whelan. The film traces her dancing as a very young girl in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, then as a teenager on her own in New York and, finally, as a rising ballerina with the company. At the time of the making of the documentary Whelan is in her 40’s. She is dancing still and competing with dancers half her age. Her body cannot take it. In fact no body can be put to such strenuous exertion. Whelan is finally feeling it and her doctors and therapists are advising her to give her body a rest. But she wants to do this last dance.

Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger’s documentary looks good on the surface with candid interviews with Whelan and her contemporaries. But upon closer examination, the film just skims the surface on nits subject. Where are her parents from? Nothing is mentioned of her personal life. Does she ever have a boyfriend or girlfriend for that matter? The directors also make no attempt at trying to have the audience connect with their subject. They lay out Whelan bare, warts and all hoping that that the audience feels for her. Whether they succeed depends on the person concerned, but it does not work for me. I find it hard to feel for a person, talented or gifted though they may be, who is so involved in their own world, also is constantly praising themselves and not considering the rest of the world

Whelan has got all her attention and glory and it is time for her to give the younger dancers a chance at the stage. The film also does not really show her dancing at her prime. The film does contain a few show of her performances like “La Sonnambula” and “Symphony in Three Movements by George Balanchine and The Cage by Jerome Robbins. There should be more of Whelan’s performances that demonstrate how hard ballet is for the body. The climax of the film shows Whelan’s performance of RESTLESS CREATURE.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZOWVFr5yg0
 

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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