movie

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: THE RIDER

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

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

THERIDER.jpgAfter suffering a near fatal head injury, a young cowboy undertakes a search for new identity and what it means to be a man in the heartland of America.

Director: Chloé Zhao
Writer: Chloé Zhao
Stars: Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau

Review by Gilbert Seah

The film centres on a rodeo hopeful’s life after his dreams are dashed following a serious rodeo accident.

The audience sees the pain right at the very start when Brady Blackburn, a South Dakota cowboy (Brady Jandreau) manually takes off the medical staples from his wounds. Zhao emphasizes the claustrophobic life of Brady, despite having the open ranges.

He lives with his often drunk and gambling father and mentally challenged sister, Lilly (Lilly Jandreau). His few friends provide him a drinking outlet but it is the rodeo that makes Brady, the man.

If a cowboy cannot ride, then what good is he? These be Brady’s own words. With his injury his brain is sensitive and riding rodeo might be the end of him. Zhao builds good characterizations. The father is not a one sided cardboard has been.

Despite his constant arguments with his son, it is shown at the end that he understands Brady and his decisions. Brady’s anguish, anger and decisions are also well displayed. The horse training and rodeo segments are effectively shot and exciting enough.

Joshua James Richards captures the landscape of the open areas of the west, where horses run free. Simple storytelling, a good human story and one dealing with nature always make a good film.

Cannes Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbhO6MkO78U

THERIDER1.jpg

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: BLACK KITE (Canada/Afghanistan 2017)

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews , , , ,

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

BLACK KITE.jpgAgainst oppression, change, and seismic political shifts, a father and his daughter find solace in the seemingly clandestine act of kite flying, in the latest by Afghan filmmaker Tarique Qayumi.

Director: Tarique Qayumi
Writer: Tarique Qayumi

Review by Gilbert Seah

When Taique Oayunmi’s film, BLACK KITE opens, the audience witnesses a a political judgment/verdict of the violent chopping off of his hands of Arian (Haji Gul) which is then expanded to an execution the next morning.

In the prison that night, Arian almost dies of thirst but offers to tell his story in exchange for a drink of water from his fellow inmate. But the story that unfolds is a different one. The next scene is one with a little boy fascinating with kite flying.

The boy is Arian who learns both how to make and fly kites from his uneducated father. It is never clear exactly the reason Arian is to be executed in the morning. The only hint is that the enemy suspects him of sending messages to the resistance by his kites, but then why offer him pardon at the end of the film instead of execution.

The film incorporates some animation that appear at various points throughout the film for no apparent reason. As a result the animation appears out of place and totally unnecessary. It also tends to become a distraction of the events that are taking place.

Instead of a political tale, Qayumi’s film ends up trivializing the events to the story of a man in love of the flying of kites.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8odaf9TqC8

BLACK KITE1.jpg

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: HAPPY END (France/Germany/Austria 2017) ****

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

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

HAPPY END.jpgA drama about a family set in Calais with the European refugee crisis as the backdrop.

Director: Michael Haneke
Writer: Michael Haneke
Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Mathieu Kassovitz

Review by Gilbert Seah

HAPPY END can be seen as a film that infuses many of the traits of Haneke’s previous films. When the film opens, the audience sees what is happening though the recording on a cell phone, the routine of a 12-year old (Fantine Harduin) similar to the video surveillance in Haneke’s film CACHE (HIDDEN).

This 12-year old is not one to be tampered with. She has a mean streak, spying on her father’s (Matthieu Kassovitz) computer and discovering his affair. This is reminiscent of the power of children in Haneke’s THE WHITE RIBBON. The family is held together by Anne Laurent (Isabelle Huppert), the father’s sister. But suicide is in the mind of Anne’s father, Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant).

In Hanake’s first film, THE SEVENTH CONTINENT, the whole family committed mass suicide after a banquet meal. The dysfunctional family is all reminiscent of FUNNY GAMES in which a family is disrupted by a home invasion. All the events are seen from the point of view of the 12-year old, which brings the film to a good focus.

The ending is just as funny and shows that life goes on, happy or not. What constitutes a HAPPY END, is the question Haneke poses.

Trailer (en Francais): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0hv8I9YbDk

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOT TO BE ME (USA 2017) ****

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , ,

Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2017. Go to TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.
sammy davis jrA star-studded roster of interviewees (including Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal) pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented song-and-dance man.

Director:

Samuel D. Pollard

Writer:

Laurence Maslon

Star:

Sammy Davis Jr.

As in the words of Sammy Davis, Jr. himself, “I am coloured, Jewish and Puerto Rican. When I move into a neighbourhood, I wipe it out.”

The same might be said for this exhaustive documentary, courtesy of director Sam Pollard, notable for having worked with Spike Lee. Davis’ talent and gift are so immense, that his presence takes over the entire movie. The doc does not contain a whole list of interviewees but just the most important ones – all being comedians including the recently deceased Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal.

All pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented song-and-dance man, in this exhilarating documentary which is part of the American Masters series. Davis is shown here as dancer, singer (including a full rendering of the songs ‘I’ve Got to be Me’ and ‘Mr. Bojangles’), impressionist, and actor of unparalleled charisma.

He broke racial barriers (including marrying a white wife) but paid a heavy price for it. Pollard’s documentary of the legend ends up both an insightful and entertaining piece. I am sure many like me, could watch Sammy Davis, Jr. for hours.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu8AV81ANTw

sammy davis jr1

Film Review: SWISS ARMY MAN (2016) “Gems you may have missed!”

festreviews 2016 movies, Kierston Drier, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

SWISS ARMY MANA hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.

Directors: Dan Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Writers: Daniel Scheinert, Dan Kwan
Stars: Paul Dano, Daniel Radcliffe, Mary Elizabeth Winstead

by Kierston Drier

This issue of Gems You May Have Missed is all about unlikely heroes, psychological breakdowns and dead bodies with magical boners. Yes. I said that.

SWISS ARMY MAN is a rare beast of a film. Written and directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and released in early July 2016, this piece requires commitment to your distension of disbelief. But if you can jump that hurdle, the film pays off big in the realm of emotional dividends and offbeat humor. Really offbeat.

Hank (Paul Dano), a nondescript everyman with a healthy dose of melancholia acts as our unlikely hero, when we find him at the opening of the film, stranded and starving on a desert island. He is about to hang himself when Manny (Daniel Radcliff) washes up on shore. Desperate for human contact of any kind, Hank forms an emotional and slightly creepy attachment to our dead friend. Believing that the appearance of Manny must be a sign, Hank drags the corpse off the beach and begins the long trek to seeks help and a way home.

The film starts on a dark note but quickly spirals through dark comedy and into a strange, but loveable hybrid of genre all its own, when Radcliff’s character Manny begins to talk. Not only talk, but also perform life saving tricks for Hank- like gush fresh water from his mouth, use his erection as a north-pointing compass, and, wait for it, fart so powerfully that he can work as a human motor boat. Hank and Manny form a bizarre bond of friendship, compassion and an utterly fresh take on instrumental friendship, as they must work together to get back to civilization.

It is hard to explain what makes SWISS ARMY MAN such an incredible cinematic experience. It boasts gorgeous, lush cinematic visuals, beautiful art direction and breathtaking cinematography. It is also largely a two-hander which means huge applause must go out to both Dano and Radcliff for engaging and grabbing performances. While both actors do a fantastic job in their roles, a special nod must be given to Radcliff who, has the added challenge of conveying a depth of character while still managing to pull of character that is, well, dead. The script is quirky, emotional and vibrantly original. But what makes SWISS ARMY MAN a real gem, is how startling unique it is. There is simply no film quite like it.

A viewer can watch this movie and feel a vast array of feelings- confusion, absurdity, hilarity, sorrow, compassion, concern and disbelief all within an hour and half. We never really know if we are watching a metaphor, one man’s delusion, or a strange world where anything-can-happen. But we feel something. The feeling may be complex and confusing but it is undeniably authentic. You may need to let go of logic and reason and strap yourself in for this roller-coaster of a film, but it is worth every minute of the ride.

Film Review: BIRTH OF THE DRAGON

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

birth of the dragonSet against the backdrop of 1960s San Francisco, BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is a modern take on the classic movies that Bruce Lee was known for. It takes its inspiration from the epic and still controversial showdown between an up-and-coming Bruce Lee and kung fu master Wong Jack Man – a battle that gave birth to a legend.

Director: George Nolfi
Writers: Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson
Stars: Billy Magnussen, Yu Xia, Philip Ng

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
Premiering last year at the Toronto International Film Festival at a running time of 103 minutes, this shorter version is a re-cut version, according to the film publicist that now runs a 10-minute shorter version. I had not seen the original version but a colleague of mine at the press screening had seen both, remarking that the re-cut version is an improved one. Which is not saying much – since BIRTH OF THE DRAGON is still not a very good movie.

The end credits say that the film was based on a Bruce Lee article: ‘Bruce Lee’s Toughest Fight’. In other words, the film was inspired by true events. The setting is 1964 in San Francisco, where a real fight took place between Bruce Lee, 9 years before his fame and making of his first movie and a monk named Wong Jack Man. The question then is who won the fight. Since this film is about Bruce Lee, and not the monk, one assumes that Lee won the fight, or why make a movie if he lost the fight. But the script has more up its sleeve.

The film opens with a monk (Xia Yu) fighting in a province of China, which the title claims is the place of birth of Kung- Fu martial arts. The monk is said to travel to America to learn how Kung Fu has been taught there. It has been taught a great deal by Bruce Lee (Philip Ng), then and shown to be a conceited and proud instructor, though his intentions are respectable. The two fight in a competition with a plot that is supped to cause a girl to be enslaved unless there is a clear winner. So, one of Lee’s pupils, a hot-headed Mack (Billy Magnussen, BRIDGE OF SPIES, INTO THE WOODS and the recent INGRID GOES WEST) decide to save her. The two fighters combine their efforts to save the girl, but unfortunately they are unable to save the movie.

The film is aimed strictly for Bruce Lee or Kung Fu fans. Main actor Ng who plays Lee suits the part, with a chased body much like Lee. Ng’s mannerisms (body stances, sounds) down to his face twitching resembles Lee too.

According to my colleague who had seen the original film, the original was centred on the white man, Mack, who is given a less impotent role after the film’s major re-cut. This makes more sense in that no one be satisfied paying good money to see a Bruce Lee story than end up with a film with a white man story. The white man plot is now reduced to a subplot with him in a minor supporting role ending up in hospital, though Mack does get his (Chinese) girl.

BIRTH OF THE DRAGON aims high in revealing the fact that Bruce Lee changed his style of fighting and became the man he did, as a result of the fight – thus he film title BIRTH OF A DRAGON. This might be true but the film is still quite the mediocre film.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL7OfxJo2oA
 
 

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

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: THE SQUARE (Norway 2017) ***** Top 10

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

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

THE SQUARE.jpgThe Square is a poignant satirical drama reflecting our times – about the sense of community, moral courage and the affluent person’s need for egocentricity in an increasingly uncertain world.

Director:

Ruben Östlund

Writer:

Ruben Östlund

Stars:

Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West

In director Östlund’s (FORCE MAJEURE) film, the square is a place of trust and caring where everyone shares equality and obligations. It is also the name of the newest project of curator Christian (Claes Bang) which he hopes will bring in money for the cutting edge art museum in Sweden he represents.

Christian hires two young TV publicists to spread the word on social media. The film is made of a number of cinematic set-pieces. Though these set-pieces appear unconnected on the surface, they upon close examination all tie into the great scheme of Östlund’s universe.

The film is also not without arresting images, courtesy of cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel. The two most striking ones include the shot of Christian building with escalators and star is rising above him like a maze (see trailer in link below) and the other with Christian in a heap of garbage as he searches for the piece of paper containing an important address.

The film deservedly won this year’s Palme d’or Prize. The film is as wicked a wicked satire can be as well as sexy, brilliant, complex and bitingly hilarious. It is a cruel, absurd and unforgiving world we live in and Östlund has captured it masterfully in his minor-masterpiece. Clearly the best film I have seen this year – hands down.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u77vsmBya2w

TIFF 2017 Movie Review: PYEWACKET (Canada 2017) ***

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, TIFF 2017 Movie Reviews, Uncategorized , , , , ,

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

A frustrated, angst-ridden teenage girl awakens something in the woods when she naively performs an occult ritual to evoke a witch to kill her mother.

Director:

Adam MacDonald

Writer:

Adam MacDonald

Stars:

Missy Peregrym, Laurie Holden, Nicole Muñoz
 
Leah (Nicole Monoz) is the typical teenager in high school, as the film reveals at the start. She is happy, nuanced and has issues with her parents, in this case her mother after her father’s death.

The mother (Laurie Holden) is falling apart, in depression and boozing. She conjures the demon PYEWACKET to do away with her mother.

This is a case of paranoia versus actual demonic horror. Are there really footsteps in the night and monsters or are they all part of Leah’s imagination?

This is where MacDonald’s film works best. There is nothing supernatural that occurs in the first half of the film. When a monster is shown in the second half, the audience is still unsure whether the creature is real or Leah’s imagination.

The film makes good use of sound (example the crescendo of traffic noise) for scare effects. The cinematography (the woods with no leaves) by Christian Bielz also adds an eerie creepiness.

PYEWACKET ends up a solid scare flick but it could do with more gore and violence.

Trailer: http://www.tiff.net/tiff/pyewacket/?v=pyewacket

Film Review: L’ECONOMIE DU COUPLE (AFTER LOVE) (France 2016) ***1/2

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , , ,

after love.jpgAfter 15 years of marriage, a couple with two kids is about to divorce. Until the husband find a new place to live, they have to cohabit, and figure out how to share their belongings.

Director: Joachim Lafosse
Writers: Fanny Burdino
Stars: Bérénice Bejo, Cédric Kahn, Marthe Keller

Review by Gilbert Seah

Those that know Cédric Kahn will definitely remember his excellent 2004 directed suspense drama FEUX ROUGE (RED LIGHTS) which he also co-wrote. The story concerns the marriage breakdown of a mediocre salesman Antoine (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and his attractive, successful and increasingly aloof wife, Hélène (Carole Bouquet), as they are en route to pick up their daughter from camp, bickering as usual. The broken relationship is seen from the backdrop of her sudden disappearance when she decides to take the train.

Kahn leaves the director’s chair to play the husband in this equally absorbing broken marriage story of Boris (Cédric Kahn) and Marie (Bérénice Bejo). Though the background is different, both films have similarities and are both equally a difficult watch. The couples have seen their love gone sour and both try to give it a second chance. In this film, the couple have decided to separate after 15 years together. They have two girls that they adore, but tensions rise as cash-strapped Boris continues to live in the family home. Neither of the two is willing to compromise, making their apartment a war zone.

Sexual and emotional tensions remain high. An example is when the Boris accidentally enters the bathroom while Marie is having a bath. He claims that he did not see her inside and just getting his toothbrush. When she is angry he replies that he has seen her naked before. These are words and incidents that will eventually happen, regardless whether by a accident or not and will always lead to confrontation and uneasiness. The scene is done from the point of view of Marie, the camera focused on her expressions while she lies in the bath when the dialogue goes on between the couple.

Lafosse takes no sides. The audience sees the irrationality of both the husband and wife and how emotions blur their better judgement. At one point, they scream uncontrollably in front of their two daughters. The scene in which they both eventually sit down as a family and the parents promise their daughters never to shout at each other is a touching one.

One would imagine that watching a film on this topic be a brutal one. Surprisingly it is not, because Lafosse makes what appears on screen incredibly real than theatrically brutal. The sensitive and humanistic sides are also shown.

Kahn and Bejo, especially are excellent in their roles.

But all is not hate. In one sensitive and brilliant moment, Lafosse demonstrates that the love the couple once felt for each other was present in the past and not forgotten. “I did really love him” says Marie to her friends one evening party before Boris shows up and creates emotional havoc. The one unexpected visit by Marie turns out to be an evening of family warmth with the father and two daughters dancing together, edged on by the mother.

Lafosse leads his remarkable AFTER LOVE to its obvious ending as Boris and Marie eventually separate but for the better.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-zxQXzSpbM

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

Film Review: PATTI CAKE$ (USA 2017) ****

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,

PATTI CAKE$PATTI CAKE$ is centered on aspiring rapper Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$, who is fighting an unlikely quest for glory in her downtrodden hometown in New Jersey.

Director: Geremy Jasper
Writer: Geremy Jasper
Stars: Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett, Siddharth Dhananjay

Review by Gilbert Seah

PATTI CAKE$ is a story of a big white girl, Patricia “Dumbo” Dombrowski (Danielle Macdonald), from Bergen County, New Jersey who seeks fame and fortune as a rapper. She lives in a really untidy house with her mother (Bridget Everett) and looks after her bed-ridden Nana. The film introduces her as she wakes up in the morning. The camera shows her ‘fat’ side while she does her daily routine like brushing her teeth, while rapping. She swaggers down the street with the camera showing her floating up in the sky – a great start for the movie. Her talent is rapping and she with her best friend Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay) and new discovery (Mamoudou Athie) hope to make it in the rap scene. The film is their difficult success story.

The film has 3 big plusses and with these three plusses, one can hardly go wrong. The first is a killer rap soundtrack. Director Jasper shows the origins of a song, how the lyrics come about and how the melody is created. The finish product is a marvel. The second are the great performances from the entire cast and thirdly, the script though not flawless, is nevertheless quite good covering many current issues. It is expected that the film has a happy ending and the tacked on turn of events is a bit manipulative.

Australian actress Danielle Macdonald is a real find and should be heading for stardom. Bridget Everett is also winning as Barb, her mother while Cathy Moriaty as Nana is a scene stealer.

Besides rap dance, the film covers a lot of relevant issues though not all to great depth. But it helps keep the film interesting rather than just focused on one issue. Bullying and non-acceptance is the other main issue. Patricia is big and when she does the rap battle, her size comes into play. She is also bullied in the neighbourhood and called “Dumbo’ by almost everyone. The mother and daughter relationship is also covered with satisfactory detail. Her mother has no time for Patricia and has no idea that her daughter is into rap, though she is also a real talented singer. One issue just touched on is the health care. When Nana is taken to hospital with a stroke, Patricia and her mother has to come up with the money. Patricia works extra shifts in her part-time job while the mother juggles the credit cards to pay the hospital bills. The difficulty of getting recognized in the music industry is also eminent throughout the film as the rap group try all measures to get a break.

Besides crooning out the rude lyrics with the ‘f’ word in almost every phrase, the film also shows that in order to survive one has to work very hard and be disciplined. Patricia works long 8-hour shifts as a part-time bartender, forcing a smile on her face all the time, in order to help pay the family bills.
The film is quite a marvel from a first time director. It is my sure bet that this film will win the Toronto Film Critics Association Prize for first film feature. Though the film is a hard watch from start to finish, every minute is worth it.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-591Dqa48g

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