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Movie Review: CAROL (USA 2015) Top 10 *****

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

carol_posterCAROL (USA 2015) Top 10 *****
Directed by Todd Haynes

Review by Gilbert Seah

CAROL, first screened at Cannes to rave reviews and winner of the TFCA Award for Best Film, is the slow moving pensive subtle new film by helmer Todd Haynes that tells the sad tale of the love affair between two women, a rich wife, Carol Aird (Oscar Winner Cate Blanchett) and a store clerk, Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara). The film is based on the ahead-of-its-time 1952 novel called “The Price of Salt” by Patricia Highsmith.

Therese wants out of her hum drum life. Her job as a store clerk is leading nowhere just like her relationship with her overeager boyfriend, Richard (Jake Lacy). Her dreams include a career in photography and a more comfortable richer lifestyle with Carol who she meets at her store. Carol is facing problems of her own. Her separated husband, Harge (Kyle Chandler) is denying her daughter’s visitation rights. Harge is using her past lesbian affairs to deem her an unsuitable mother. This is the obstacle. Carol has to choose between her love for Therese and her daughter.

Haynes’ film moves extremely slowly. Not much is conveyed, for example in the first 15 minutes of the film, as the setting and introduction of the characters slowly come into focus. Even the ending is slow as the audience wonders what the final outcome of the relationship will be. But it is still a rewarding drama, all things considered. The set design, wardrobe, props and costumes are almost too perfect – like the departmental store Therese works at and the clothed and jewellery worn by Carol. The look of the film is similar to Haynes’ FAR FROM HEAVEN where the family lives in a gorgeous neighbourhood with perfectly manicured lawns.

Blanchett delivers another Oscar winning performance, the best sequence occurring during the lawyer and husband’s meeting when she is forced to have a final say. Her character is a very intelligent one – one who knows the stakes at hand, the risks involved with her relationship and what she has to do in order to survive. This contrasts with Therese’s character. Therese does to know exactly what she wants regarding her heterosexual relationship, her career and her current romance. It is Therese’s naiveté contrasted against Carol’s planned actions.

For a film about a lesbian relationship, sex scenes are necessary. It is quite uncomfortable to watch Mara and Blanchett having a go at it, in the nude, in bed. After all, this is the actress that played Queen Elizabeth, and winning an Oscar in the process. The sex scenes are long and could be shortened without much damage to the story.

2015 has seen two high calibre lesbian films, CAROL and FREEHELD, both with superb performances, yet both are highly different films with different themes. CAROL is dead serious, but not without humour, and more of the subtle variety.

CAROL is Todd Haynes (FAR FROM HEAVEN, SAFE, VELVET GOLDMINE), still in top form in terms of uncomfortable drama. Just as Ang Lee’s BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN broke taboos with male stars in a male homosexual drama, Hayne’s CAROL will do the same with the female gender. It is great to see two stars give their all for the craft of cinema.

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

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

Movie Review: ANOMALISA (USA 2015) ***** TOP 10

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

ANOMALISA_posterANOMALISA (USA 2015) ***** TOP 10
Directed Charlie Kauffman, Duke Johnson

Review by Gilbert Seah

Charlie Kauffman outdid himself and almost everyone else for that matter with the script of FINDING JOHN MALKOVICH, made into a film so inventive, entertaining and fascinating, that one can hardly imagine anything topping that. ANOMALISA comes close if not succeeding.

As the stop-motion animated adult comedy drama unfolds, slow enough to allow the audience to think over many of the film’s details, the immediate question that comes to mind is why animate this story. The question seems more relevant since the animation appears to copy the actual human being and their everyday work as accurately as possible. The characters are animated but the settings like hotel room, cab and props are not. A non-animated film could have served the identical purpose. The answer to the question might be that the story could have been told in either format, but the stop-motion animation serves to highlight certain aspects of Kauufman’s ingenious story. For one, the story has surreal elements that are best highlighted in a surreal looking animated film resembling the real thing. Secondly, the artificiality of life is emphasized. And thirdly, the whole enterprise looks like a dream – a Kafka-ish world like an animated cartoon.

The apparently ‘normal’ story concerns Michael Stone (David Thewlis), an author of books on the subject of customer service, struggling with his inability to connect to people. Michael, born in England and married with a son lands in Cincinnati on a routine business trip. He meets a stranger, Lisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who changes his world view as he falls in love with her.

The film appears really odd at the start. All the female characters are voiced by males (except for Lisa) and soon it becomes apparent that all the voices are done by one male actor – Tom Noonan. The reason becomes clear later on in the film.

Kauufman’s film works on various levels. It is one of the most human films that is animated. The world as seen by its protagonist is exactly the way it actually is. The most important person is oneself and everything else is secondary. In the same way, to Michael Stone, the only person that matters is himself, which he realizes and that there is only one other person in the world that matters, the one he has fallen in love with and the one that really would make a difference. This is the one that will de-normalize his life and hence he renames her ANOMALISA from Lisa. The film also captures the boredom or everyday life in a most exciting way – a feat Kauffamn achieves, at apparent ease.

The stop animation is a marvel – complete with its accuracy in details. The animated sex scene complete with gentials should be seen to be unforgotten. An old movie seen on TV by the characters is also animated ANOMALISA has won accolades and prizes where it has been shown. It currently, at the time of writing, hold a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

ANOMALISA is an almost perfect film in every way, down to the closing song and music. The film is a rare treat that celebrates life and the best of what it has to offer, ironically, without having a happy ending. Not occasionally but frequently brilliant, ANOMALISA is that rare movie, yes out of the ordinary that is definitely a must-see, a near-masterpiece of originality!

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

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

Top 10 Films of 2015 by Gilbert Seah

festreviews 2015 movies, acting, Movie Review, Uncategorized, winning stories , , , ,

TOP 10 FILMS OF 2015

The end of the year arrives with the best 10 lists of everything.  As for films, it is always the same each year.  For the first 11 months of the year – nada.  Almost nothing good is screened and come December, a host of excellent, inventive and entertaining films arrive.  Guess it is Santa’s reward for filmgoers pumping good old fashioned money into the economy.

My best 10 films are listed below (in alphabetical order).

TOP 10 (in alphabetical order):

ANOMALISA (USA 2015) ***** 

Directed by Charlie Kauffman

Animated feature about a lone soul (voice of David Thewlis) who finally finds the love of his life.  The entire film is narrated by only three actors because there are only three people in Michael Stone’s life.  Himself,  Anomalisa (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and the rest of the world (Tom Noonan).  A most interesting film about the most boring person on the planet.

THE BIG SHORT (USA 2015) *****

Directed by Adam McKay

A smart, hilarious look at the housing mortgage bubble burst in the U.S. and the few people that benefited from it.  An all-star cast joins in the fun with cameos from Salena Gomez and Robbie Margot who help explain some financial jargon.  

CAROL (USA 2015) *****

Directed by Todd Haynes

Openly gay director Todd Haynes delivers another first class gay drama about the love affair between an older wealthy woman (Cate Blanchett) and a  struggling store clerk, Carol (Rooney Mara).  Set in the 50’s when gay relationships were taboo, CAROL is nevertheless moving, disturbing and ultimately still relevant.

THE FORBIDDEN ROOM (Canada 2015) ****

Directed by Guy Maddin

The Best Canadian film of the year and another weird and wonderful film by Guy Maddin with co-creator Evan Johnson – and one of Maddin’s best and most structured, which is not saying much.  And the film is in colour instead of black and white.  The film begins, humorously with a man in a bathrobe giving lessons on how to draw a bath.  This vignette is linked to another concerning a submarine crew in dire distress.  The captain is missing and the air supply is running out.  They chew on flapjacks to utilize the oxygen bubbles in the batter.  Does not make sense?  It does not matter.  All this is part of the weird pleasure that is abundant in a Maddin film. 

THE HATEFUL EIGHT (USA 2015) *****
Directed by Quentin Traction

Shit-disturber Tarrantino’s latest film, a western is another winner.  Bounty hunters and an assortment of characters are put up at Minnie’s Haberdashery during a winter blizzard.  They do not come here without a reason.  Chaos ensues.  The film runs 3 hours with a 6-minute longer version in 70mm, complete with overture and intermission.

HOUSEBOUND (New Zealand 2014) ***** Top 10

Directed by Gerard Johnstone

HOUSEBOUND is my guilty pleasure.  The film came out of nowhere turning out to be the biggest surprise of the year.  This is the story of story of Kylie Bucknell (Morgana O’Reilly), an ill-tempered delinquent forced to return to the house she grew up in when the court places her on home detention.  Her punishment is made all the more unbearable by the fact she has to live there with her crazed mother Miriam (Rima Te Wiata) – a well- intentioned blabbermouth who’s convinced that the house is haunted.   Horror comedy at its best, all neatly explained at the end.

JOY (USA 2015) *****
Directed by David O. Russell

Joy is indeed a great joy!  David O. Russell’s latest family/business drama sees desperate housewife Joy (Jennifer Lawrence) take on the business world with her invention, the miracle mop with the help of her immediate and extended family.  Hilariously satirical at times, this movie belongs to both Russell and Lawrence who delivers the best performance this year.

LEGEND (UK 2015) ****
Directed by Brian Helgeland

LEGEND is about the notorious Krays, the gangster twins that terrorized London the 50’s and 60’s.  The Kray twins in LEGEND are both played by Tom Hardy.  Written and directed by Brian Helgeland (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL his best film) and based on the book The Profession of Violence: The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins by John Pearson, the film is told from the point of view as well as narrated by Frances Shea (Emily Browning) the wife of Reggie Kray, making it part crime and part love story.

THE REVENANT (USA 2015) ****
Directed by Alejandro Inarratu

A tracker (Leonardo DiCaprio) is mauled by a bear and left for dead by his fellow travellers.  The man survives and after a long track, gets his revenge.  A great wilderness adventure with a very strong performance by DiCaprio, this violent  \film might not be for everyone but it is quite the unforgettable movie.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (USA 2015) *****
Directed by J.J. Abrams

The most anticipated film of the year lives up to the hype and expectations.  Abrams pumps new blood into the series with characters like Rey, Poe and Finn joining the legendary Star Wars characters Hans Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in taking down the Dark Side.  Great special effects, action sequences and musical score add to the the best that this series has to offer.  The Force has awakened and is here to stay!

Movie Review: THE REVENANT (2015)

festreviews 2015 movies, acting, Movie Review, murder, Uncategorized, winning stories , , , , , ,

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

the_revenant_posterTHE REVENANT (USA 2015) ****Top10
Directed by Alejando G. Iñárritu

Review by Gilbert Seah

Mexican director Alejandro Iñárritu’s (AMORES PERROS, 21 GRAMS, BABEL and last year’s BIRDMAN) THE REVENANT is a no-holds barred almost 3-hour wilderness adventure complete with all the violence of the wild west frontier set in the 1820’s. If one does not have the stomach for the grisly, avoid at all costs.

The film is based on the life of frontiersman Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) based on a 2002 novel of the same name by Michael Punke. The plot of the film can be summarized in one line, remarkable considering the length of the film. Hugh Glass is left for dead by his fellow travellers after a vicious bear attack and subsequently seeks revenge on them for abandoning him.

The story contains a few subplots, like the one involving his quest for revenge. One of his fellow travellers is John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), a vicious, hardened criminal who ends up killing Glass’s son. Another youth, Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson) is a good hearted drawn into the drama.

The film begins with a 15-minutes attack of the Indians on the fur trappers. It is an extremely violent segment, inspired no doubt by the similar lengthy beginning segment of the D-Day landing in Steven Spielberg’s SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. Both sides suffer heavy casualties. Glass, Fitzgerald, his son and Andrew escape with a few others before the crucial bear attack.

The bear attack sequence is no less violent and occurs not once but twice in all its horror. Silly rumours by some press describe the scene as a bear rape but one thing for sure is that there is no love in this attack.

Despite the simple plot, there are a few details that occur so fast that they are difficult to follow. But these are not essential to appreciating Iñárritu’s film.

Director Iñárritu is a well respected artist who have proven himself apt at working with different genres including Hollywood drama as in last year’s acclaimed BIRDMAN. In THE REVENANT, he workers with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, together creating some of the most stunning images seen on screen this year. One has the men crossing the top of a water fall, another running across the shallow waters of tall trees and another at the film’s climax during a chase when an avalanche can be observed in the background. One can question the purpose of these, as the waterfall and avalanche have nothing to do with the story. But Iñárritu has earned his artistic licence to indulge in such excesses. But a few of his traits like the beginning chase camera shots used in AMORES PERROS are duplicated here in the chase scenes in THE REVENANT.

The performances of the entire cast is nothing short of superb. DiCaprio and Hardy excel, and credit should be given to these artists for working under the extreme conditions as shown on screen.

THE REVENANT succeeds admirable in being a stunning looking violet wilderness adventure. The film comes complete with a satisfactory ending, a fight between hero and villain with some spiritual highlights thrown in for good measure.

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:www.wildsound.ca

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

Submit your COMEDY Screenplay to the Writing Festival

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DEADLINE July 10th: SAVE $10 COMEDY Screenplay Festival – Get your works showcased at 2015 festival events
http://www.wildsound.ca/comedy_contest.html

Watch WINNING Screenplay Readings – Watch videos of past winners performed by professional actors
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com

READ 100s of testimonials for past submitters –
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/wildsound_feature_screenplay_contest_festival_review.html

Watch Recent COMEDY Screenplay Performance Reaidngs:

Short Script: WRITER’S DUEL
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/writers_duel.html
Written by Ellery VanDooyeweert

FEATURE SCRIPT: THE FIREWORKS STAND
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/the_fireworks_stand.html
Written by David M. Hyde

SHORT SCREENPLAY – THE PARTICULAR DAY
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/a_particular_day.html
Written by Roberto Lezzi

FEATURE SCRIPT – I’M GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/im_going_somewhere_else.html
Written by Laura Morton

SCREAMWRITER – Short Script
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/screamwriter.html
Written by Lee Forgang

TV PILOT – THE SHARE
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/the_share.html
Written by Emily Chadwick Weiss

SHORT SCRIPT – ENGINEEMBRYO
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/engineembryo.html
Written by Jon Sturgess

TV PILOT SCRIPT – SEX THERAPY
http://www.wildsoundfestival.com/sex_therapy.html
Written by Michelle J Brezinski

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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

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