Movie Review

Film Review: BLOCKERS (USA 2018)

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Blockers Poster
Trailer

Director:

Kay Cannon

Writers:

Brian Kehoe, Jim Kehoe

Stars:

John Cena, Leslie Mann, Kathryn Newton

The title and film poster are a reference to cock blocking (the rooster icon is put on top of the film title BLOCKERS in the poster).  But the film is just entitled in one word – BLOCKERS.   I first heard of the term cock blocker in London.  The term is referred to as the guy who stands for the one to prevent a good looking gay guy from being picked up by a not-so-good looking guy.  The cock blocker usually says he is the good looking guy’s boyfriend or partner.  In the film the blockers are the parents (2 fathers and a mother) trying their best to prevent their daughters from losing their virginity on Prom night.

Despite what one might think is a premise for lots of high-jinx comedy, the film is surprisingly short of laugh-out loud laughs.  Director Kay Cannon wrote all three of the PITCH PERFECT films and as one can expect, a lot of the humour is physical.  The funniest of these is the ass chugging contest – but the idea is funnier than its execution.

A lot of jokes fall flat.  The running joke of bulked up Mitchell (Michael Cena) getting teary-eyed not only does not cut it, but used way too often.  The FAST AND FURIOUS joke is pitiful.  Adult parents are treated as bumbling idiots while the teens are supposed to be the wise ones who make all the right decisions and have the correct emotions.

But despite the relatively innocent title, the film turns out quite raunchy since it is co-produced by Masters of Mischief, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.  But more raunchy than funny, unfortunately.  Example are the naked sex scenes and the raunchy sex experiments of Mitchell’s ex and new boyfriend that are not that funny, not even the squeezing of Hunter’s balls.   More laughs are generated from the sly comments and smirk of one of the daughter’s dates, Connor (newcomer Miles Robbins). The film also suffers from having to go through the same incident three times, since there are three daughters and three parents.  Mitchell finds Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan) having sex and has to deal with it.  Then, the audience has through a similar tiresome routine with the other two.

The tired script also goes through cliched territory of mother missing the daughter going away for college more than daughter missing the mother.  

Of the three parents, Hunter, played by Ike Barinholtz (he was the loud laughing clown in NEIGHBOURS 2) comes through as the funniest.  Reason is that he is the wildest card in the pack and given more free reign to do crazy things.  Leslie Mann could have been funnier, but not given much to do but to complain and worry.

The film most boring parts are the ones with the three daughters bonding.  One also wonders why their dates at the prom did not abandon them as they talk to each other more than to their dates.  There are a few, genuinely funny moments like the Korean student’s break dancing that always ends in disaster.  But these are few and far between.

The film aims at being politically current by having mixed couples like Mitchell and his wife and ex-wife with one of the daughters turning out to be gay.  But the comedy disappoints.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMDVa4yoCWw

 

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Film Review: FINAL PORTRAIT (USA/UK 2017) ***

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Final Portrait Poster
Trailer

The story of Swiss painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti.

Director:

Stanley Tucci

Writer:

Stanley Tucci

Stars:

Armie Hammer, James Faulkner, Clémence Poésy

Actor Stanley Tucci has stepped into the director’s chair only a few times.  As in his previous features, whether as an actor or director, he is recognizable for his dead seriousness in he treats his subjects though his seriousness is often tainted with a wry sense of humour.  FINAL PORTRAIT is the story of the touching and offbeat friendship between American writer and art-lover James Lord (Armie Hammer) and Alberto Giacometti (Geoffrey Rush) with humour emancipating from the subtle relationship as well as Rush’s comical portrayal of the questionable genius.

The story unfolds through Lord’s eyes and revealing unique insight into the beauty, frustration, profundity and sometimes the chaos of the artistic process.   Set in 1964, while on a short trip to Paris, Lord is asked by his friend, Giacometti, to sit for a portrait.  Lord is promised that the sitting will be a short one, maybe two hours or maybe an afternoon.  9 days later….

Lord finally wonders “how much longer can it go on like this?”, as he keeps having to postpone his flight many times back to New York.  The funny thing is that when the portrait is almost finished, Giacimetti will take his large brush with grey paint and paint over the portrait therefore starting again, almost as if from scratch.  This process has been repeated so many times that Lord can predict when the process will occur again.  He finally finishes up the portrait by stopping Giacimetti from restarting again with the big brush and the grey paint.

Tucci is more interested1 in Giancimetti than in Lord.  Nothing is much known of Lord, of his living in New York or his family.  One scene in a cafe establishes that he is gay and that is about it.  Giacimetti’s life is outlined, however, in greater detail.  The audience sees the troubled relationship with him and his wife, as well as his relationship, a much happier one with his putain, Carolyn.

FINAL PORTRAIT will unfortunately be inevitably compared to the minor masterpiece, the 4-hour long LE BELLE NOISEUSE directed by Jacques Rivette about the relationship between a painter and his model.  FINAL PORTRAIT can nowhere be compared to this film – in fact nor can any film for that matter, so one can understand director Tucci going the easier comedic route.

Rush is pretty good as the temperamental artist while Hammer reprises another gay role after CALL ME BY YOUR NAME.  The film has some nice shots of Hammer in his skimpy swimming trunks.  Rush is an Academy Award Best Actor Winner for his role in the film SHINE.  But he is currently the latest victim under scrutiny for inappropriate (sexual) behaviour.

FINAL PORTRAIT was filmed entirely in France.  The American speaks both English and French while Rush gets away of being totally believable as a Frenchman fluent in French.  The film is shot in both English and French with English subtitles.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3iFt_lOxIw\

 

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Film Review: PANDAS (USA 2018) ****

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Pandas Poster
Trailer

In the mountains of Sichuan, China, a researcher forms a bond with Qian Qian, a panda who is about to experience nature for the first time.

Directors:

David Douglas, Drew Fellman

Writer:

Drew Fellman

Stars:

Kristen Bell, Wen Lei Bi, Rong Hou|

Warner Bros. Studios and IMAX take over Disney Studios duties by providing audiences with a spectacular documentary, complete with story about the most adorable animal in the world – PANDAS.

PANDAS is an IMAX original movie.  PANDAS is not a film comprised of short clips but one that contains a story with a solid narrative set in both Sichuan, China and New England, United States.

The story revolves around a Panda called Qian Qian.  She is the star.  And the audience will surely love her.  When the film opens, the narrative (voiced by Kristen Bell) informs of the diminishing number of pandas in the wild – less than two thousand.  Owing to humans destroying their natural habitat, they are forced further and further higher up the mountains in northern China.  It would have been miraculous if the film could have captured shots of wild Pandas.  The film then rests on Pandas born in captivity.  Qian Qian is one such panda.  The goal is to prepare captive born pandas for survival in the wild and let them increase the Panda population.  Qian Qian is chosen.  The film follows her training from cub to young adult.  The heroes of the story are the human being Panda experts Wen Lei Bu, Jacob Owens and Rong Hou who are involved in the training.   They also enlist the help of a New England black bear expert, Ben Kilham to train Qian Qian.  When Qian Qian is released into the wild in the mountains of Sichuan, a collar is put around her neck to monitor her movements and to know when she might be in distress.  This is the Panda story.

The film contains many candid shots.  The best of these is the one in the panda facility where human beings clad in medical outfit feed the 4 baby panda cubs with baby milk bottles.  One other is the panda star, Qian Qian injured up stuck in the tree.

Here are a few reasons to see PANDAS:

the pandas especially the baby cubs are cute beyond comparison and this is the only way to be able to see them play and up close.  (I went to the Toronto Zoo to see the pandas and the new cub.  The public was not allowed to see the cub as it was still too fragile  and the adult panda was too far in the pen to be observed clearly.)

the film is in glorious IMAX

the film provides a good solid story of pandas

the film is a feel good movie celebrating the bond between animals and human beings.  It is inspirational to see human beings devote themselves for the good of the animal Kingdom

a good perspective is given on the life of Pandas

stunning shots of the natural beauty and landscape of northern China

The doc is quite short with a running time of 50 minutes or so.  It is a question of quality vs. quantity.  PANDAS come highly recommended!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3eaGCk2Acs

 

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Film Review: LEAN ON PETE (UK 2017) ***1/2

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Lean on Pete Poster
Trailer

A teenager gets a summer job working for a horse trainer and befriends the fading racehorse, Lean on Pete.

Director:

Andrew Haigh

Writers:

Andrew Haigh, Willy Vlautin (novel)

Stars:

Travis Fimmel, Steve Buscemi, Chloë Sevigny|

LEAN ON PETE is British drama film written for the screen and directed by Andrew Haigh (45 YEARS), based upon the novel of the same name by Willy Vlautin.  LEAN ON PETE is also the name of the horse that both changes and challenges the life of 16-year old Charlie (Charlie Plummer). 

The film is about a boy and a horse, but not for the whole duration of the movie.  When the film opens, the audience sees Charlie with his father and new girlfriend.  Being dependent on his father for a limited amount of money, Charlie befriends horse owner Del (Steve Buschemi) for a job.  He is introduced to a horse called LEAN ON PETE.  When the horse loses a race, coming in last, the horse is to be sold off to die.

The film benefits from the performance of its young lead, Charlie Plummer who has already proven himself in the role of the millionaire Paul Getty’s nephew in ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, playing opposite Oscar Winner Christopher Plummer.  Charlie is no relation to Christopher Plummer despite the identical surnames.  Charlie Plummer captures the pain and desperation of a teen unwanted by both parents.  He has still the look of innocence that will have the audience on his side no matter the bad deed he commits.  In one scene, he suspects that he might go to jail, but heaven forbid if he does!  When the film screened in the main competition section of the 74th Venice International Film Festival, Plummer won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor or Actress. Besides Plummer, Buscemi and Zahn both stand out in their supporting performances.  Both actors reprise their quirky character roles, though their character are very different.

LEAN ON PETE moves at a slow pace during its first two thirds of running time before switching gear with a story twist.  Haigh’s camera loves to linger on the actors.  On the few action scenes, the two punch up scenes and the one where an accident occurs with Pete (the details not to be mentioned in the review as to avoid a major spoiler) are executed with quick edits as to create a shock effect.  This succeeds as the audience is clearly jolted out of their seats the three times.

Haigh’s film suffers from a suitable ending.  He opts for the Charlie running off into the horizon (no sunset here), reminiscent of the famous French classic of youth, Francois Truffaut’s LES QUATRE CENTS COUPS (400 BLOWS) where Truffaut ended his film with young Jean-Pierre Laud running on the beach.

Despite the film’s slow pace and other minor flaws, LEAN ON PETE comes off as a sincere film about a boy’s coming of age .  The story shows that life does not always hands one everything on a silver platter.  Some are born into riches and royalty.  Others like Charlie are less fortunate, born into a broken family.  He learns from his race horse, looking after Pete, the horse reflecting the same poor demise, Charlie the human is going through.  Charlie struggles and makes it at the end.  Haigh’s shows that it is a long and hard journey, but one that is necessary to take.  On these grounds, LEAN ON PETE is a successful film,  evoking the audience’s emotions and sympathy.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzlazAyylw8

 

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HOT DOCS 2018: ANOTE’S ARK (Canada 2018)

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Anote's Ark Poster
A look at the devastating effects that climate change has on the people living on Kiribati, a low-lying atoll in the Pacific.

Director:

Matthieu Rytz

Writer:

Matthieu Rytz

 

A clever title for a documentary on the Pacific island of Kikibati.  The nation of Kiribati (population: 100,000) is one of the most remote places on the planet, seemingly far-removed from the pressures of modern life.  Yet it is one of the first countries that must confront the main existential dilemma of our time: imminent annihilation from sea-level rise due to global warming from climate change.   

The film opens with a shot of the island surrounded by crystal clear blue waters.  The island is described as the corners of the earth as it streets north and south and east and west of the international date line.  The fishing scene also shows how rich the waters are. 

Anote is the then President who needs to build an ark for the nation to survive the flooding, similar to Noah building an ark to save the animals from the world flood.  The film documents the desperation of the people as the tides rise and flooding occurs.  Lots of footage here including scenes of devastation resulting from the floods.  While Kiribati’s President Anote Tong races to find a way to protect his nation’s people (he attends the Paris Climate change Conference with other world leaders including ex-U.S. President Obama) and maintain their dignity, many Kiribati are already seeking safe harbour overseas.  The film follows one such couple who sees New Zealand as their new home.  

Both director Matthieu Rytz, and subject President Anote Tong will be present during the Hot Docs screening.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/244728466

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Hot Docs 2018: GURRUMUL (Australia 2018)

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Gurrumul Poster
Celebrated by audiences at home and abroad, indigenous artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was one of the most important and acclaimed voices to ever come out of Australia.

Director:

Paul Damien Williams

Stars:

Mark Grose, Michael Hohnen, Sting

 

GURRUMUL is a name most people have never heard of.  So the image of him as seen on the cover of “Rolling Stone” magazine must stand for something.   Celebrated by audiences at home and abroad, Indigenous artist Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was one of the most important and acclaimed voices to ever come out of Australia. 

 Blind from birth, he found purpose and meaning through songs and music inspired by his community and country on Elcho Island in far North East Arnhem Land.  Living a traditional Yolngu life, his breakthrough album ‘Gurrumul’ brought him to a crossroads as audiences and artists around the world began to embrace his music.   William’s film follows his life as told by his mother, father, uncle and assortment of relatives.  He has two white folk aid him in publicity and his work. 

 GURRUMUL is unlike most biographies where there is downturn and then redemption.  But Gurrumul is no angel either, as his manager gets extremely frustrated when he does not show up for his American tour.  But the film that stresses Gurrumul’s voice and songs comes across as a rather lacklustre affair despite director William’s effort of educating the audience on Gurrumul’s tribal responsibilities.

The only time the film comes alive is the duet performance of “Every Breathe you Take,” by Gurrumul and Sting.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXa3gw3g4C4

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Hot Docs 2018: OVER THE LIMIT (Poland/Germany/Finland 2017) **

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Over the limit Poster
An intimate portrait of the world’s most outstanding rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun who needs to overcome mental fragility to take part in the Olympic Games.

Director:

Marta Prus

Writer:

Marta Prus

Stars:

Yana Kudryavtseva, Margarita Mamun, Irina Viner

 

OVER THE LIMIT begins with a beautifully choreographed display go gymnastics by Olympic gymnast Rita Mamun, doing wonders with a hoop.  To the audience’s surprise, she is then violently chided by her trainer, a Ms. Irina despite praise from her coach, Ms. Amina.  The film concentrates its focus on these three individuals. 

 

 Ms. Irina is depicted as the wicked manipulative witch who hurls abusive insults and personal attacks on both Rita and the coach.  The main goal is the winning of the Olympic goal which becomes the climax of the doc.  Is this successful Russian system for training athletes transgresses boundaries really worth it?  Results may show but the path and destruction of human lives might not.

 

This is what Prus intends to show and succeeds.  Elite rhythmic gymnast Rita Mamun has reached a crucial moment in her career.  This is a difficult to watch nail-biting behind-the-scenes drama about the intense physical and mental labor put into a sport that thrives on its beautiful aesthetics.  But there are too many repeated segments of Ms. Irina abusing Rita.  The audience gets the point early in the film.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47fIKJJAVw

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Film Review: MARY GOES ROUND (Canada 2017) ***

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Mary Goes Round Poster
Mary is a substance abuse counsellor with a drinking problem. After getting arrested for drunk driving and losing her job, Mary returns to her hometown where she learns that her estranged …See full summary »

Director:

Molly McGlynn

Writer:

Molly McGlynn

Stars:

Aya Cash, Kimberly-Sue Murray, Aaron Poole

 

MARY GOES ROUND is the story of Mary.

Mary (Aya Cash) is what one might called a loser.  Her family split up when she was a child and, after her mother died, she was left alone, uninterested in (and maybe incapable of ) reconnecting with her father, Walt (John Ralton). She drinks to excess, crashes a car, loses her boyfriend and suspended from her job.  Her life goes round, nowhere.  Hailing from Toronto, she decides to leave, but not for the better as she discovers.  Despite the negativity facing Mary, the film turns out to be quite upbeat, credit going to writer-director Molly McGlynn who allows her poor heroine a path of redemption.

Mary is a substance abuse counsellor who ironically gets arrested for a DUI.  When she returns to her hometown of Niagara Falls, she learns that her estranged father is dying of cancer and wants her to form a bond with her teenaged half-sister Robyn (Sara Waisglass) that she’s never met.  All this might sound like boring family drama but writer-director Molly McGlynn knows how to liven up the festivities.  Yes, Robyn is as much a shit disturber as Mary.  Mary also has money problems.  She has to pay her lawyer.  She is being charged for drunken driving and to make matters worse, has to appear in court.

McGlynn’s film benefits from her unique spirited style, complemented by the film’s main character, Mary.  Humorous is the way Mary tries to control her drinking but is incapable of it.  Her shenanigans, getting drunk in a bar, getting laid, having sex with strangers and often getting sick are done with a wry sense of humour instead of being done dead seriously.

The film is not without sentiment.  McGlynn includes a touching moment when the father reminds Mary when she was kind as a child when he and to pull her from a bum because she was going to give him her allowance to allow the bum to save to buy a house.

The only friend Mary has in Niagara is black.  When she shows up at the door to drive the father to the hospital, his look of surprise is in itself a surprise.  A sly message of acceptance is included in the story.

The best scene in the film is the one when Mary absolutely loses it and tells off her dad – while he is in hospital.   Then she goes off to tell her black friend off, who ends up telling Mary off.  Actress Aya Cash proves her acting chops in these two scenes.  This is the reason McGlynn’s film works.  She keeps the film dramatic, smart and funny throughout.  Mary can be right, then wrong – strong then vulnerable in the next moment.

“Good people do shitty things,”  so says Mary’s boss when questioned why she does not get fired after caught drunken driving.  Mary’s boss has faith in Mary in an awkward meeting that demonstrates faith in the good of human beings.  MARY GOES ROUND is solid Canadian fare that comes with an upbeat message as well.

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

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Film Review: FOURPLAY (USA 2018)

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Fourplay Poster
Trailer

A story of friendship, love, marriage, secrets, lies that unfolds between two couples in one apartment during a Sunday brunch that will affect their lives forever.

Director:

Dean Matthew Ronalds

Writers:

Emanuela Galliussi, Francesco Plazza | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Tammy Blanchard, Bryan Greenberg, Dominic Fumusa

 

Tom and Anna. Joseph and Susan.  These four people (portrayed by Bryan Greenberg, Tammy Blanchard, Dominic Fumusa and Emanuela Galliussi, in alphabetical order), two couples meet for a Sunday Brunch drinking session to celebrate Tom’s business success.  As the drinks continue, the party spirals downwards to rock bottom.

The film feels at times too much of a set up.  The first instance this can be observed is at the start of the film when the couple, when kissing accidentally breaks the grandmother’s vase that has been there for generations.  If the vase was this valuable, why would they leave it in such a vulnerable place.  Another is the arm wrestling.  The clearly strongest guy unbelievably loses his two matches.

A few glaring dialogue corrections.  It is not the plug but outlet or socket that does not work.  On the positive side, the dialogue contains a lot of current issues.  Issues such as negativity vs. positivity, eating meatless, sexual appropriateness and male chauvinism come into play.  The males are clearly meant to display male chauvinism here that the wives will surely rebuke.  The designated psychic’s dialogue is terribly annoying and corny.  “Change the impossible to – I M possible.”  The film often turns out more as a contest between male vs. female, rather than one about couples.

One wonders the reason for the film to be shot in black and white.  It could be deliberate to evoke the black and white 2 couple film of Edward Albee’s play, WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis and George Segal with the identical premise of two quarrelling couples drunk at a house party with the result of skeletons jumping out of the closet. 

One missing ingredient at the party is a dance interlude.  WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? had the famous Sandy Dennis scene: I dance like the Wind, the segment that  likely won her the Oscar.

“Live in the present.  That is the only gift we have,”  is the message given at one point.  “Then that is a pretty shitty gift,” comes the answer.  Would anyone want to be present at this party?

The first twist in the plot in the form of a skeleton in the closet arriving right at the film’s one hour mark.  It is a good one that lifts the film out of declining interest.  10 minutes comes another twist.  This one, however does not work and turns the film into a shouting math among the 4 – not to mention the credibility now of the story.  The credibility of the third turn in the plot is not even worth mentioning.  The film also suffers from a suitable ending.  Director Ronalds opts for the camera panning the sky outside the apartment.

“We are finally cleansed.  We should be happy.  We could start from the beginning.” says the wannabe psychic at the end of the movie.  If only the audience feels the same way about the movie.  FOURPlAY ends up a pauper’s version of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?, and a party no one would like to be at or witness.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_c97OYmlxA

 

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Film Review: C’EST LA VIE (LE SENS DE LA FETE) (France 2017) ***

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C'est la vie! Poster
A hectic wedding party held in an 17th century French palace comes together with the help of the behind-the-scenes staff.

Directors:

Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano

Writers:

Olivier Nakache (screenplay), Éric Toledano (screenplay)

Stars:

Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jean-Paul Rouve, Gilles Lellouche

 

Directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano can best be remembered for their bubbly comedy LES UNTOUCHABLES, which ended up one of the mot successful of French comedies. 

The target this time is an extravagant wedding at a chateau where all the servers have (and forced to wear) valet costumes including white wigs.  The story is told from the point of view of the the wedding caterer manager, Max (Jean Pierre Bacri) a battle-weary veteran of the wedding-planning racket.  He is clearly a working class Frenchman who works in an upper-class environment.  This is evident in the film’s opening sequence where he is clearly perturbed at a couple cutting corners to save cost for their wedding in downtown Paris.  He freaks out at them before the film settles on his current gig.

Max has been running his catering company for 30 years, and beginning to grow tired. While planning a large wedding for clients Pierre and Helena, a series of mishaps upends a very tight schedule, and every instant of happiness and emotion could veer into disaster and chaos. From the preparations to daybreak, the audience gets a behind-the-scenes look at a wedding party through the eyes of the people working the event.

Max initially arrives to find everything in disarray.  He is short of staff and his employees are fighting.  This gig turns out to be a hell of a fête, involving stuffy period costumes for the caterers, a vain, hyper-sensitive singer who thinks he’s a Gallic James Brown (Gilles Lellouche), and the morose, micromanaging groom, Pierre (Benjamin Lavernhe) determined to make Max’s night as miserable as possible.  The script includes an assortment of working class workers totally out of place in a wedding of higher society.

When it rains, it pours, as James (aka DJ Fab) utters at one point in the film.  The electricity goes out, the guests get food poisoning and the groom appears with a list of personal demands, least of which is his very, very long prepared speech.  “Sober, chic and elegant is how I want my music,” says the groom to the loud and crass James.

Actor Bacri (THE TASTE OF OTHERS), according to the press notes, helped the directors in the script, having experience in that field.

Besides wedding ceremony problems, personal problems arise.  Max’s personal life  comes into chaos as Joisette (Canadian director Xavier Dolan regular Suzanne Clément), seems to have written him off, coolly going about her professional duties while openly flirting with a much younger server.  The bride recognizes a waiter as a past fling.  The wedding photographer’s son and father relationship is put to the test.  This is an ensemble work, which works as there are lots of humour with a touch of social comment.

For LE SENS DE LA FETE, the comedic set-ups are funny enough, most of them working and keeping the audience happy with laugh-out loud humour.  This is French comedy as the French can do best.  And it is a matter of time Hollywood will attempt a disastrous remake.

C’EST LA VIE! which was selected at the Closing Night Gala for the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival was named in ten categories, including Best Film, at the 43rd César Ceremony, the French’s equivalent to the Oscars.  This is my second viewing of the comedy and the laughs still bring tears to my eyes.  Very funny and very entertaining.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Kzarm0hRM

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