Movie Review

Film Review: MENASHE (USA 2017) **1/2

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menasheWithin Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community, a widower battles for custody of his son. A tender drama performed entirely in Yiddish, the film intimately explores the nature of faith and the price of parenthood.

Director: Joshua Z Weinstein
Writers: Alex Lipschultz, Musa Syeed
Stars: Menashe Lustig, Yoel Falkowitz, Ruben Niborski

Review by Gilbert Seah

 
Performed entirely in Yiddish – a language not used in cinema for many decades – Joshua Z. Weinstein’s Menashe is a tender drama that burrows into Brooklyn’s Hasidic community and tells the story of an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish widower who risks losing custody of his son due to tradition. If a film in Yiddish and one about a Hasidic community are not enough to put an audience off, director Weinstein makes a lot of effort to make his story a universal one. Here in MENASHE, which is based on a true story, actually loosely based on the life of lead actor Menashe Lustig, the story is an endearing one, based on character that is of good moral fibre and well-intentioned and an underdog at that. His only sin appears to be his well-meaning intentions going at logger heads to the religious beliefs of his elders and contemporaries.

The film opens with a scene in Brooklyn’s Hasidic Community. Those walking around sport beards and don Jewish apparel. The cameral cuts to a grocery store where the audience is introduced to the lead character, a chubby cashier called Menashe (Lustig). Director Weinstein makes sure Menashe is likeable. His first good deed as grocery cashier is to exchange an unwashed lettuce for a customer.
The film immediately reminds one of the Dustin Hoffman KRAMER VS. KRAMER characters where Kramer (Hoffman) has to prove that he is a father capable of looking after his son alone, while working a full-time job. Although his wife died a year ago, Meneshe (Lustig) refuses to remarry just for convenience. He does try, going on a date as set up by a matchmaker. But his young son (Ruben Niborski) is now living with Menashe’s strict brother-in-law’s family, because the rabbi says the boy won’t be allowed to stay in school unless he’s in a two-parent home. The film is about trying to do what is right but are unable to do so because of laws. It is true that these laws are surely there to protect the majority but what about the special minority? Weinstein, as observed from his film, is pro-Hasidic but does not shy away from the faults of being too religious for religion’s sake. It is also noted that Menashe, at one point in the film, hangs out with other groups, the Latinos of his work, to forget his troubles.

But the film does not tackle the fact that Menashe is actually not a good example of being a father. He is always out of money, always late for appointments and gets drunk once too often.

The film benefits from the cast of mainly non-professionals. Many are from the Hasidic community, many of whom had never seen a film before.

Weinstein’s film provides a simple yet insightful look into a society many are unfamiliar with. His film is likeable and entertaining, but that is about all it has to offer. The film premiered at at the 2017 Sundance and Berlin festivals.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83UoZcdX__Y

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1987 Movie Review: THE JETSONS MEET THE FLINTSTONES, 1987

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MOVIE POSTERTHE JETSONS MEET THE FLINTSTONES, 1987 
Movie Reviews

Director: Don Lusk

Starring: Mel Blanc, George O’Hanlon, Henry Cordon and Penny Singleton.

Review by Joseph Paul John McCarthy

SYNOPSIS:

From the 1980’s comes one of the most famous crossovers in history. Elroy Jetson is working on a time machine which the family wish to use to holiday in the 25th century, but an accident sends them hurtling into the distant past where they meet up with the Flintstones.

REVIEW:

From the 1980’s comes one of the most famous crossovers in history. Elroy Jetson is working on a time machine which the family wish to use to holiday in the 25th century, but an accident sends them hurtling into the distant past where they meet up with the Flintstones.

This was one of those inevitable crossovers that just had to happen otherwise, the individual franchises would have to have come up with a new idea. Just like ‘Alien vs Predator’ or ‘Freddie vs Jason’ or even ‘Archie Meets the Punisher’ (which did happen, look it up!) there are some positives and some negatives to this crossover.

Admittedly this film isn’t one of those childhood cartoon films that we all remember, it is probably less memorable than even ‘The Jetsons: The Movie’. But it’s still a good children’s film and you should show it to your kids.

Being a Hanna-Barbera production the animation is pretty damn good, as is the storyline and dialogue. Technically this is a fairly flawless film; there are a few goofs here and there, but nothing worse than most other straight-to-video cartoon films. However being technically flawless does not make a children’s film great.

The plot is great in its simplicity, Elroy Jetson is building a time machine for a school science project, whilst the rest of the family have their own problems, George is fed up with Mr. Spacely telling him what to do and Judy Jetson is upset because she has just broken up with her rock star boyfriend. So the family decides to use the time machine to go on a vacation to the 25th century.

Meanwhile (for want of a better term) in the distant prehistoric past and in a little town called Bedrock; Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble are trying to convince Fred and Barney to take them on a vacation to Honolourock. Fred and Barney plan to go on an even better vacation after they win a game of poker. This back fires of course when not only do they lose their money to their boss; they also wind up getting fired.

The Flintstones and Rubbles now have to vacation in the middle of nowhere at the “same” “time” as the Jetsons are just about to travel in time. Just as the Jetsons are set to take off, Astros tail knocks a lever, changing the setting on the time machine from ‘Past’ to ‘Future’. Fred and Barney are setting up the camp just as the Jetsons appear in their time machine.

After some initial mistaking each other for aliens, the two groups become fast friends and even end up working together. The majority of the film then deals with the Flintstones and Jetsons swapping places in time, Fred becoming famous in the future for being a caveman and George being useful in the past with all his futuristic machines.

There are a lot of family style laughs and it generally is an enjoyable film, but it doesn’t really stand up to the test of time. Really young children would like it but it doesn’t hold the same kind of nostalgic love screen up in front of your eyes that other 80’s cartoon movies seem to have.

THE JETSONS MEET THE FLINTSTONES, 1987

1987 Movie Review: HELLRAISER, 1987

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HELLRAISER, MOVIE POSTERHELLRAISER, 1987
Movie Reviews

Directed by Clive Barker
Starring: Andrew Robinson, Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Oliver Smith, Robert Hines, Sean Chapman, Frank Baker
Review by Melanie Tighe

SYNOPSIS:

A man finds he is given more than he bargains for when he solves the puzzle of the Lament Configuration – a doorway to hell. But his ex-lover has found a way of bringing him back, and his niece, Kirsty Lawrence, finds herself bargaining with the Cenobites, angels to some, demons to others, whose greatest pleasure is the greatest pain.

REVIEW:

Clive Barker’s first feature-length film is a visually stunning exercise in visceral horror.

Kirsty, her father Larry and his partner, Julia, move into an old house previously owned by Larry’s mother.

The house is jointly owned by Larry’s estranged brother Larry, who’s pureed remains fester beneath the floorboards in the attic.

Frank and Julia were once lovers.

Julia finds evidence in the attic that Frank had been engaging in sex acts and reminisces about their passionate affair.

Sex was not enough for Frank and he went to great lengths to track down a mysterious puzzle box in search of the ultimate thrill.

Sadly for him, he is torn to pieces and his soul dragged to hell by S&M deities, The Cenobites.

The Cenobites are highly skilled in the art of administering a mixture of pleasure and pain (evidently more of the latter), incorporating chains, hooks and skewers. Their own bodies’ are testament to the journeys they themselves once took.

A rusty nail, a few drops of Larry’s blood later and Franks glistening, skinless corpse is talking Julia into murdering strangers in order to restore his body and the lover she once knew.

Kirsty finds Frank and the puzzle box and accidentally summons the Cenobites but they spare her from hell when she explains that Frank has escaped them and promises to show them where he is.

Frank is reclaimed (not before stealing his brother’s skin) and the Cenobites come after Kirsty.

Like all typically resourceful Final Girls, Kirsty sends them packing and the puzzle box finds a new owner.

Andrew Robinson’s role as serial killer, Scorpio, in Dirty Harry (1971) is a great contrast to that of drippy Larry. Our expectations are challenged and we are invited to anticipate the progression of his character. We are rewarded when Frank claims Larry’s skin; creepy Frank is also briefly played by Robinson.

The Cenobites were instant horror icons, with stunning costumes and make-up showing much skill and imagination, they are appalling and charismatic works of art, decorated with lacerations and mutilations.

The odd camera angles (born out of necessity due to the film being shot in a real house) and the eerie atmosphere that Barker creates succeed in isolating the family from the world outside of the house.

Added to this accomplished make-up, special effects and solid performances from the cast (save perhaps Kirsty and her boyfriend); Hellraiser raised the bar for future horror films.

It is entirely possible that the premise of a woman led to murder by remnants of her ex-lover, and the Cenobites pleasure and pain doctrines could have seemed too bizarre. The themes are so well-executed; however, that not only do these revolting things seem plausible, they make Kirsty’s “normal” relationship with her boyfriend seem positively boring.

Groundbreaking.

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HELLRAISER, 1987

1987 Movie Review: FULL METAL JACKET, 1987

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FULL METAL JACKET MOVIEFULL METAL JACKET, 1987
Movie Reviews

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

Starring: Matthew Modine, R. Lee Ermey, Vincent D’Onofrio, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Ed O’Ross, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard, John Terry

Review by Surinder Singh

SYNOPSIS:

A two-segment look at the effect of the military mindset and war itself on Vietnam era Marines. The first half follows a group of recruits in basic training under the command of the punishing Sgt. Hartman. The second half shows one of those recruits, Joker, covering the war as a correspondent for Stars and Stripes, focusing on the Tet offensive.

REVIEW:

There have been many classic movies made about the Vietnam War: The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979). And when Stanley Kubrick decided to take on the challenge of adding to this already impressive milieu, it was clear that cinema audiences were in for a real treat! Full Metal Jacket was not made during the powerhouse decade of cinema (also known as the 1970s) and when the war itself was most prominent in popular culture. This allowed Kubrick adequate time to reflect on the subject, the themes and the ideas he wanted to explore. His legendary pre-productions always ensured that he never made a rash film and that every one of his films was flawlessly designed in style and substance.

The structure of the movie is quite brilliant. Like a documentary we follow in perfect chronology the journey of these young Americans. Kubrick shows us the intensive training and conditioning that transforms boys into Marines or rather “killing machines”. The training sequences in Full Metal Jacket are now amongst the top all-time classic scenes in modern American cinema. Kubrick has never forgotten the importance of acting in his movies. He has never fallen prey to the tendency that some directors have of being distracted by the practical side of production, forgetting the need for believable performances.

A prime example is the powerhouse performance of Drill Sergeant Hartman delivered with perfection by R. Lee Ermey. Even though Hartman is not the central character he commands your attention and pulls you into the movie with his unrelenting barrage of sadistic yet hilarious jibes to instate his authority over the young boys: “I bet you’re the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around!” Kubrick uses the performance to entertain, thrill and inform us with total believability that this man can turn mere boys into the toughest soldiers in the world. How could they not be ready for war if they can endure him?

Private Joker is quick to make a name for himself and is promoted to squad leader after impressively showing he was brave enough to reject the Virgin Mary directly to his deeply Christian Drill Sergeant. Joker is from the very start following his own moral compass and isn’t afraid to stand by it. Many directors would not be brave enough to have such a seemingly amoral central character in their movie (out of fear of loosing the audience). But the effect Joker has on the audience is one of wonder. He isn’t the usual boring, all-American son going into the savagery of war, rather he’s a complex character with an interest in killing. While we may not agree with Joker we still want to see what happens to him when he does end up in the thick of war and this keeps us immersed: “I wanted to see exotic Vietnam, the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture… and kill them.”

The other outstanding performance is that given by Vincent D’Onofrio as the unforgettable Private Pyle! Never before or since has there been such a harrowing portrait of the demoralizing nature of war. Pyle never even makes it into the conflict but in his eyes is a war, a war within himself. Private Pyle enters training as nothing more than just a big, innocent baby. But he finishes training as a terrifying tower of insanity! With the grueling training, the Drill Sergeant constantly on his back and his lack of focus, Pyle eventually cracks and becomes a completely different person. In the US Marine Core’s strive to create Killing Machines they were bound to be some unfortunate accidents. While many of the other notable Vietnam movies were all to eager to get straight into the war, with the training section Kubrick hit upon an area of exploration that other filmmakers tackling the subject missed.

While it’s important to show the horrific acts of violence Americans bestowed on the Vietcong and Vietnamese people, it is also important to show the violence that Americans bestowed upon other Americans. Private Pyle symbolizes the failure of the US Vietnam War effort on the American people and while films like Born on the Fourth of July (1989) also tackled this, the idea was best realized in that final training sequence when Private Pyle (sat on the toilet) loads the full metal jacket. There are many harrowing images in pop culture about Vietnam, so creating something memorable in any medium is a tall order. Alas, the sight of Private Pyle reciting the US Marine Corp’s Rifle Creed and then shooting both himself and his Drill Sergeant is definitely one of the most important and lasting Vietnam War images in any medium.

After this the movie changes gears and starts to resemble some of the other Vietnam War movies of the past. The most notable similarity is the way the director balances humor, exhilaration and tragedy within each scene. While Kubrick cares about people on both sides of the conflict, he does realize that some things about the experience of war are funny. The truth is that even in the face of death young men will continue to goof around, indulge themselves in playful banter and whatever entertainment is available. In war you can be larking around one minute and be shot dead the next so… why not have a laugh?

In all the praise showered over Kubrick’s directing, his skill in directing comedy is always left out. While Full Metal Jacket is no M*A*S*H (1970) it does have some brilliant comedy sequences in it. Take the scene with the Vietnamese hooker (Leanne Hong) trying to entice Private Joker: “Me love you long time!” Another classic movie quote, providing the perfect distraction for thief (Nguyen Hue Phong) to steal Joker’s camera and make a getaway, not before performing a hilarious martial arts routine to rub his nose in it! The scene is funny even on repeat viewings thanks to Kubrick’s great understanding of comedy.

The climax of Full Metal Jacket is perhaps the greatest action set piece in any War movie. Kubrick subtly conducts a symphony of shockingly sudden impacts of violence with beautifully staged slow motion shots that show the effect of this violence. The scene is loaded to the brim with nail biting suspense that pushes you to the edge of the edge of your seat for every second of its duration. Kubrick shows us everything: the pain, the excitement, the loss and the beauty of warfare. And like all great filmmakers how does he end the sequence? With a revelation that raises the film to an even higher artist level! We see that the deadly sniper (Ngoc Le) is just a lonely, scared, young girl trying to protect herself from danger.

Full Metal Jacket is one of the best war movies ever made and is compulsive viewing for anyone interested in the Vietnam War and the fine works of modern cinema.

By Surinder Singh – Apr 2010

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FULL METAL JACKET, 1987

1987 Movie Review: EMPIRE OF THE SUN, 1987

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EMPIRE OF THE SUN MOVIE POSTER
EMPIRE OF THE SUN, 1987
Movie Reviews

Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano
Review by Matthew Lohr

SYNOPSIS:

A young English boy struggles to survive under Japanese occupation during World War II.

Nominated for 6 OSCARS – Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Art Direction, Best Editing, Best Music, Best Costume Design

REVIEW:

After years of being pigeonholed as simply an entertainer, a populist producer of popcorn frivolity, Steven Spielberg has finally won acceptance as a serious filmmaker. His “Schindler’s List” won awards and acclaim and was cited as a milestone in historical cinema, while “Saving Private Ryan” has grown in the public mind into much more than a mere film; indeed, it more or less served the role of a de facto World War II veterans’ monument until the federal government actually got around to building a real one. Even when the public does not embrace his forays into serious cinema quite so fervently, as with the acclaimed but financially underperforming “Amistad” and “Munich”, Spielberg no longer has to fight for respect and the right to be regarded as a cinematic “artiste”.

Such was not the case when “Empire of the Sun” was first released in 1987. Though Spielberg’s previous film, 1985’s deep-Southern drama “The Color Purple”, had won him some acclaim and a Director’s Guild award, many critics charged that the picture prettified human suffering, turning true experience into mere pageantry. It was still hard for audiences to find the artist inside the entertainer, and they responded to “Empire of the Sun” in kind, greeting it with both mixed reviews and lukewarm box office. It would take a few more crowd-pleasers (another Indiana Jones picture, “Jurassic Park”) before Spielberg finally got his due with “Schindler’s List”. “Empire of the Sun” provides an interesting contrast to that film, presenting a vaguely similar subject with all of the Hollywood gloss and glamour that the later film eschews…and ultimately suffering for it.

Adapted from J.G. Ballard’s semi-autobiographical best-seller, “Empire” tells the story of young Jim Graham (a pre-teen Christian Bale), a pampered son of wealthy English parents living in 1940s Shanghai. Jim is obsessed with planes, and dreams of someday joining the mighty Japanese air force. One day, however, the dreams stop when the Japanese take the city and Jim is separated from his parents. Drifting through a series of increasingly harrowing adventures, he eventually finds himself in a Japanese internment camp, where the once-arrogant son of privilege is forced to get down in the muck and learn how to survive.

It’s grand material for a cinematic treatment, but Tom Stoppard’s screenplay does not take it far enough. We never really get a clear sense of exactly what Jim learns from his experiences. Sure, he finds out that life’s not as easy as he thought it was, and that the Japanese army he so idolized is indeed vulnerable, but these lessons are never clearly articulated by the script’s events, and we’re left to piece it together later in our heads (I think this is where the playwright in Stoppard comes through; film scripts often don’t bear up to such abstraction). Jim’s plane fixation likewise seems meant to hold a metaphorical weight that it never truly assumes. What’s more, when Jim is finally delivered from his predicament, we get no scenes showing us his life after his ordeal. How can we really know how he’s changed, what he’s learned, if we don’t get to see the new Jim in action? Spielberg and Stoppard don’t bother to provide any answers, and the film becomes too remote as a result.

Bale, admittedly, makes even this truncated Jim a compelling and fascinating character. The actor holds the screen with utter command; it’s not a stretch for us to follow him anywhere. He’s equally convincing as the snobby, snide boy of early scenes and as the haggard, battle-hardened survivor of the later camp sequences. Spielberg has always been one of our best directors of children, and Bale’s performance here is some of the best work he’s ever solicited from a young actor.

The supporting cast, while impressive, is unfortunately hamstrung by insufficiently defined roles. Miranda Richardson and Peter Gale have some nice moments as Jim’s surrogate prison-camp parents, and Nigel Havers makes us wish we saw more of his dedicated camp doctor. Masato Ibu is also commanding as the cold-eyed Japanese commandant, and Emily Richard has a few moments of chilling power as Jim’s mom. Still, these characters are never given much to do by the story, and merely seem to be around to react to Jim’s actions. The only truly vividly drawn supporting player is Basie (John Malkovich), a former merchant sailor and full-time survivor who teaches Jim the hard facts of camp living while plotting an escape and a new life as a river pirate. He’s a complex and interesting character, both a pragmatist and a dreamer, and Malkovich invests him with hard-bitten smarts and a surprising soulfulness that makes his every scene compelling.

This being a Steven Spielberg picture, naturally, everything looks just great. The cinematography by Allen Daviau is gorgeous, and the production designers craft an always-convincing facsimile of World War II China. John Williams’ score is undistinguished, but the soundtrack makes use of a haunting Welsh lullaby that stayed in my head for days. And, of course, there’s plenty of Spielbergian set pieces: the harrowing moment where Jim loses his mother, a tense sequence where a Japanese gunman stalks the boy through a field of weeds, Jim saluting a band of Japanese kamikaze pilots, and a well-staged air attack on the camp, with Jim cheering wildly for the planes about to destroy him.

Still, should a film like this even HAVE set pieces? “Schindler’s List” had memorable moments, to be sure, but none of them seemed to be there just so the director could show off; everything emerged naturally from the events of the story, and thus became organic parts of a whole, not “big scenes”. “Empire of the Sun” gave Spielberg a serious subject matter and a broad canvas to explore, but the populist was still too much at play. It would take a few years and a few more films, but Spielberg finally got it right, proving that even the most financially successful director of all time can learn a few new tricks every now and again.This film won Best Director and Best Cinematography, and was nominated for five other categories. The screenwriter was nominated, and rightly so. Taken from a short story that first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1933 by Maurice Walsh, Green Rushes, Frank Nugent was able to weave a story rich in subtext and conflict.

The collector’s edition of the DVD includes an interview with Maureen O’Hara where she reminisces about filming The Quiet Man, and is well worth watching.

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EMPIRE OF THE SUN, 1987

1987 Movie Review: DOLLS, 1987

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DOLLS MOVIE POSTER
DOLLS, 1987
Movie Reviews

Directed by Stuart Gordon
Starring: Ian Patrick Williams, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon, Carrie Lorraine, Stephen Lee
Review by Melissa R. Mendelson

SYNOPSIS:

A group of people stop by a mansion during a storm and discover two magical toy makers, and their haunted collection of dolls

REVIEW:

As the night closes in, lights dim, glowing from corners of the room. Bedtime stories are read before a kiss good-night. There is nothing to fear in the dark is gently assured, and there are no monsters hiding under the bed or in the closet. But do we tell the children this, so we can sleep in peace? Are we too afraid of what lies within the dark?

As a child, I never feared the creatures lying in wait under my bed. I worried more about what hid within the closet. As my eyes began to close, I could have sworn that my dolls were now facing me, and their eyes watched my every breath. Would they play at night when I was fast asleep? Would they tiptoe down the stairs and wreak havoc on anyone that crossed their path? Will they return to their shelves before the sunrise?

As I grew older, I packed my toys, my dolls, and stuffed animals into boxes and carted them off to the basement. Over time, they moved to the donation bin for another child to find and cherish them. Only one or two boxes remain now, and a child I am no longer. But I never forgot them, and I wonder if they never forgot me.

Our fascination with dolls and toys has led to movies such as Child’s Play, Puppet Master, and Dolls. Carved into life, their eyes open to the world, but does something live beneath its surface? If we stay a child, would the doll remain loyal, protecting us from those with cruelty in their hearts, or would they betray us to become alive?

In the movie, Dolls, a child’s summer vacation is derailed in the midst of a wicked storm. Her father and step-mother struggle to free their car from the mud, but it’s no use. They’re stuck, and the only shelter from the wailing winds and rain is an old house nearby. But as they make their way inside, they have no idea what they are about to find.

And as the storm continues to grow fierce, three more strangers enter the house, seeking shelter and are welcomed in by a seemingly innocent elderly couple. They are led through the house, passing by rooms and rooms filled with dolls. Once shown to their bedrooms, they settle in for the longest night of their lives.

Through the eyes and heart of a child, we journey to the center of fascination and fear. Curiosity will open doors that may lead to salvation, but stains of murder will paint the floor. And in the darkest of night will terror reign and the dolls run wild, and the wicked will fall. Dolls is a classic tale of terror, one warning to never give up the child that lies within.

DOLLS, 1987

Film Review: ANNABELLE: CREATION

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 ANNABELLE CREATION.jpgSeveral years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.

Director: David F. Sandberg
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Stars: Stephanie Sigman, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson

Review by Gilbert Seah 

 The ANNABELLE, CONJURING prequels, sequels are already so many that it is difficult to keep track what is going on. The truth is, it does not real matter. ANNABELLE CREATION is advertised as the prequel to ANNABELLE which is connected to the four CONJURING films. ANNABELLE CREATION can stand on its own, that is all that matters. The connecting object in all the film is the possessed white Annabelle doll.

The film suffers from a weak narrative. The simple story involves a couple losing their daughter in an accident. They allow orphans to make use of their big home but the spirit of their dead daughter who possesses a doll is not happy with the orphans. On the plus side, the scary set-ups are meticulously crafted, which should provide horror fans lots of jump out of the seat scares. But it does matter that the film is less the sum of its whole, as it does not hold well together at all. It also suffers from a proper ending with the doll appearing halfway through the closing credits for no real reason. One member of the audiences remarked that she expected the doll to at least blink. Still, all these bad continuity segments do not add up cohesively. One moment one member of the orphans is chased by the killer doll, the next has the film intercutting to another in trouble. Why the demon does not kill off the parents earlier on before the arrival of the orphans is also a point to question. And when the demon finally gets the soul of the crippled Janice, why doesn’t the demon stay satisfied. Of course, logic is never a strong point in horror films as in this one.

The film assembles a series of shock effects, false alarms and real ones. False alarms include for example, the father, Samuel Mullins suddenly scaring his daughter or the sudden appearance of a character and a real scare being the running over of a child by a car. The other scary effects like the moving doll, the repeated playing of the song: “You are my Sunshine” et al. are all old stuff already done in other horror films. But director Sandberg seems to have picked the best of these from past movies and included them here. But one horror set-up after another still gets monotonous after a while.

The orphans are played by a cast of relative unknowns cutting production costs for the film. However, Samuel Mullins and wife Esther are played by well-known Australian actors Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto.

The first ANNABELLE film cost $6.5 million to make and grossed Warner Brothers close to $256 million. This sequel cost double to make at around $15 million, but should make the studio a handsome bundle, aided by the fact that the only main big opening this weekend is the animated NUT JOB sequel.

People love to be scared. People love to pay big bucks to be scared. Films like ANNABELLE CREATION will always do well at the box-office despite reviews good or bad, so go figure!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KisPhy7T__Q

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Film Review: THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD (USA 2017) ****

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 THE HITMAN_S BODYGUARDThe world’s top bodyguard gets a new client, a hit man who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time.

Director: Patrick Hughes
Writer: Tom O’Connor
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Elodie Yung

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
Actor Samuel L. Jackson is one bad ass mother f***er. When ever he appears in a film, even when playing the President of the United States, he has never failed to use his favourite catch phrase ‘mother f***er’, which he gets to use multiple times in this movie. Jackson is one of my favourite actors in films currently as he can always be counted on to deliver a solid, spirited performance, no matter what. In THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD, he also gets to utter the film’s best joke: “If life deals you shit, you go out and make kool-aid.” to which Ryan Reynolds remarks: “That is not how the saying goes.” Jackson also gets a lot of laughs doing his HOME ALONE expression. Another good joke (though this one belongs to Reynolds) is the one regarding the pen-knife. But the best thing in the film, is a segment where the two leads discuss the usage of the ‘mother f***er’ phrase. Priceless!

The story involves a bodyguard, Michael Bryce (Reynolds) assigned to keep a previous Hitman, Darius Kincaid (Jackson) alive so that he can be transported to Hague, to testify against a corrupt Russian warlord Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman). The film plays the two against each other. The chemistry works, the laughs come fast and furious and the action segments are expertly executed.

The climax of the film includes a spectacular car chase that appear to take on the recent BABY DRIVER. Jackson takes off in a speedboat on the canals around Amsterdam pursued by the bad guys speeding on the streets around the canals. The sequence is well shot with good continuity that also includes another boat contains merrymakers split right into two. The camp factor is increased several notches with screaming prostitutes running around the streets. There is also n funny window-eye view of the chase as if seen by one of them through the glass.

As if this was not exciting enough, the car/boat chase is intercut with a foot case with Reynolds under pursuit. The two chases are brilliantly brought together with the fire of an exploding vehicle from which the camera pulls back now only to show the fire now from the grill in the kitchen in a restaurant which Reynolds breaks into.

Though the script is occasionally lazily written, with details left out, for example why Jackson landed in a Manchester prison, the jokes and punch lines are perfectly timed.
The camera placement is also excellent throughout the film, often with images to show Jackson’s expressions through the car front window or to see Reynolds somersault through the front windscreen to land standing up in front of the car after.

The main plus of THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD is that the absolute unexpected can and actually always occurs at any time. The two for example, end up at one point, hitching a ride in a van full of nuns with Jackson joining them in a singalong.
The film’s speed and spirit matches its message on life, that things happen but you got to do your ‘thang’. They just do not make enough films like this one.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Afusxc2SM
 

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1987 Movie Review: THE DEAD, 1987

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THE DEAD, 1987
Movie Reviews

Directed by: John Huston

Starring: Anjelica Huston, Donal McCann, Donal Donnelly, Marie Kean, Dan O’Herlihy, Ingrid Craigie, Helena Carroll, Cathleen Delany
Review by Virginia DeWitt

SYNOPSIS:

On January 6, 1904 in Dublin, Gabriel and Gretta Conroy arrive for the annual dinner to celebrate Epiphany with family and friends hosted by Gabriel’s maiden aunts, Julia and Kate Morkan. As the evening wears on, Gabriel notices Gretta seems preoccupied and distracted despite the convivial atmosphere of the celebration. Later that night, when they are finally alone, Gretta reveals to Gabriel a long buried episode in her life which he never suspected.

REVIEW:

This adaptation of James Joyce’s short story from the collection “Dubliners” (1914) is the last film John Huston completed. The project has many sentimental components, as two of Huston’s children worked with him; Anjelica Huston in the lead role as Gretta and Tony Huston, who wrote the screenplay. As well, Ireland had long provided a home for him and his family. Nonetheless, the film is beautifully clear eyed and restrained in its presentation of Joyce’s story, allowing the writer’s vision and language to take precedence. The core of the story is concerned with the social, cultural and familial byways of Dublin life, which are so much a fixture of Joyce’s writing. Its climactic scene, however, occurs later between Gabriel (Donal McCann) and Gretta and was inspired by Joyce’s wife, Nora’s, own youthful experiences growing up in Galway. The story itself, the crown jewel in the string of jewels that comprises “Dubliners”, is a beautifully observed meditation on memory, loss, and the impermanence of life.

These themes, not unsurprisingly, seem to resonate with the dying Huston. The film is a departure for him on every level. He had spent his career chronicling the often nefarious exploits of con artists, thieves, misfits and adventurers, and always with an unblinking, but still affectionate and understanding, eye. But Huston’s reverence for Joyce’s writing is complete and, as director, he submits to the writer’s language and vision wholeheartedly. “The Dead” is Joyce’s careful evocation of a very particular strata of Irish life. This is the genteel, middle class Irish society from which Joyce had fled and yet he details their concerns, their seemingly inconsequential interactions, their quiet desires with patience and sensitivity. John Huston, directing from Tony Huston’s Oscar nominated screenplay which is an intelligent and careful rendering of the original story, clearly relates to Joyce’s empathy for these people. As a result, the film is laden with delicately observed moments from a veteran ensemble Irish cast.

It’s worth noting that Huston also delights in Joyce’s humor which is seamlessly woven into the fabric of the story. Local drunk, Freddy Malins (Donal Donnelly), and his comrade in drinking, Mr. Brown (Dan O’Herlihy) present a constant challenge to the Misses Morkan, Aunt Kate (Helena Carroll) and Aunt Julia (Cathleen Delany) and their niece, Mary Jane (Ingrid Craigie) as well as their guests, as everyone struggles to keep the booze away from Freddy, in particular. Equally, Freddy’s relationship with his domineering mother, played by Marie Kean, which might have been unbearable as she makes it clear she is thoroughly disappointed in him as a man, is rendered in subtly funny asides and exchanges that are enhanced by the two actors’ amusing rapport and sure handling of these short scenes.

The focus on character in “The Dead”, as opposed to a plot driven dynamic, allows Huston to meticulously unfold the details on these people’s lives. As the elderly Aunt Julia sings “Arrayed For the Bridal” in a voice wavering with age, Huston’s camera lovingly captures, via the use of montage, the visual details of her private world upstairs. The careful pace of the film also allows writer and director to explore the theme of lost love that Joyce delineated, and it echoes throughout the story. Whether it is the maid, Lily’s (Rachael Dowling), hurt reply when Gabriel casually inquires if they’ll all be attending her wedding soon; or, Mr. Grace’s (Sean McClory) reading of the haunting poem “Broken Vows”; or, finally Aunt Kate’s bittersweet, romantic reverie of the beautiful English tenor of her youth; all hint fleetingly at the sense of loss that will culminate in Gretta’s revelation to Gabriel regarding her first love and his tragic end.

The flawless Irish cast, headed by Anjelica Huston and Donal McCann, are pitch perfect in their reading of Joyce’s characters. There is not a false note to be heard in the suite of overlapping voices that is so integral to the success of recreating this vanished world. Of particular note, is Donal McCann’s quiet emotion as he, in voice over, speaks the final, lyrical words of “The Dead”:

“Yes, the newspaper are right , snow is general all over Ireland …. softly falling into the dark, mutinous Shannon waves. One by one we are all becoming shades. Better to pass boldly into that other world, in the full glory of some passion, than fade and wither dismally with age… Snow is falling, …. falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling like the descent of their last end upon all the living and the dead.”

The film is further enhanced by Alex North’s graceful, delicate score which is made up primarily of Irish harp music. But the actor’s voices, spoken and sung, provide their own kind of music and Huston lets them ring out. In a perfect example of what a film can give you, which even a literary masterpiece like “Dubliners” cannot, is the sense of being present with these people and hearing them express themselves in language and song. Bartell Darcy’s (Frank Patterson) haunting rendition of “The Lass of Aughrim” after dinner, as Gretta stands transfixed on the stairway, moved by the beauty of the tenor voice singing provides a pivotal moment in the story. While Joyce is able to sketch it for us, Huston is able to take us there and provide an unforgettable visual and emotional moment.

“The Dead” is the rare example of the cinematic adaptation of a literary masterpiece that satisfies completely and lives up to the high expectations we bring to it. Perhaps, it is precisely because it is a short story, and therefore its parameters can be encompassed. Huston was smart enough not to attempt “Ulysses”, for example, as his final project, and so he brought all of his understanding and skill to this small, quiet and deeply felt film.

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THE DEAD

1987 Movie Review: DATE WITH AN ANGEL, 1987

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DATE WITH AN ANGEL, 1987
Movie Reviews

Directed by Tom McLoughlin
Starring: Michael E. Knight, Phoebe Cates, Emmanuelle Béart
Review by Melissa R. Mendelson

SYNOPSIS:

Jim is soon to be married to Patty, but when he wakes up after a bachelor party thrown by his friends, he finds an injured angel in his pool. When Patty sees her, she thinks he’s seeing someone else and gets upset and tells her father. Now he has to figure out how to; cure the angel, tell Patty what happened, keep his friends from taking the angel to the papers, and keep Patty’s father from killing him. It’s no wonder he has a headache.

REVIEW:

I thought I knew love. I thought I was ready to change my life for her. This was what I wanted. I was ready to take that next step, but then she fell from the sky. And everything changed.

The headaches were like miniature thunderstorms. The pain sliced through me, and the pills were losing their effect. But I had to find a way to make it through, but I never realized that it would be my end. And she came on white wings to take me away.

We say we believe in angels, but do we really believe? Would we recognize one, if they were to cross our path? If they needed our help, would we help them, or would we turn them away? And if we met an angel, would we discover a love never thought possible, or would we find death waiting in the wings?

The rain fell heavily from the skies. A pivotal moment in time was derailed by a senseless prank, and the night came to a crashing end. And as yesterday struggled to stay, one man stumbles outside to find an angelic figure floating across the waves of his swimming pool.

Never in his life did Jim Sanders think he would ever meet an angel especially one that nearly drowned in his swimming pool, and with a broken wing, she was grounded. And he had no idea what to do with her, but as he struggles to find a way to help her, his life begins to unravel. And he soon finds himself on the run with an angel at the wheel.

Nothing made sense until he saw her again, and then everything fell into place. Her mission was derailed by a broken wing. Her target was him, and those headaches were the red lights flashing, warning. But if the mission had gone as planned, the layers of his life would never have been pulled away, and he would never have found true love. But now it was time to go, and she was here to take him away. But as bright, white light enveloped the room, everything changed.

Love is a mystery that walks beside us, and what we think is love is merely the illusion. And as our eyes struggle to hold it are we captivated by stories, movies from the heart. And complicated lives weave into delicate webs, and lies, betrayal, and greed try to cut those threads. And as the storylines hold us in its hand, we laugh, and we cry. And in the end, love survives, and Date With An Angel soars high.

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DATE WITH AN ANGEL, Phoebe Cates, Michael E. Knight, Emmanuelle Beart, 1987