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Movie Review: CREED (2015)

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

creed_posterCREED (USA 2015) ***1/2
Directed by Ryan Coogler

Review by Gilbert Seah

Though featuring Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, CREED (alternative title – ROCKY VII), the 7th installment of the ROCKY franchise is an anomaly. It does not contain Rocky in a fight scene and is not a film that is either written or directed by Stallone. CREED is a spin-off from the original series, but it pays homage to the series.

CREED feels like an African American film instead of an Italian American film. It is not difficult to see why as CREED was co-written and directed by Ryan Coogle, best known for his breakout anti-racial film FRUITVALE STATION in which a black man (also played by Michael B. Jordan) was abused by white cops. Everything from the acting, music (lots of rap) and dialogue are African American. And that is a good thing as the film has a more authentic look than many of the other 6 ROCKY films.

Rocky in this film is left in a supporting role. Rocky Balboa is sought by Adonis Creed (Jordan) to be his coach. One wonders who would name his boy Adonis. Unless the father has a name like Apollo, of course. Adonis is the illegitimate son of fighter Apollo Creed. Sylvester Stallone plays his supporting role surprisingly well, winning him a Golden Globe Nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His character comes down with cancer and has to fight to survive.

One of the most important points of a boxing film are the execution of the fight scenes. The final match between Creed and Conlan (Tony Bellew) the British world light heavyweight champion shot in Liverpool, England is done with the usual cuts. The camera switches back and forth among the boxing action, the boxer’s faces, the coaches, the spectators and Creed’s girlfriend (Tessa Thompson) and ‘adopted mother’ (Phylicia Rashad) to heighten the excitement.

There is no skimping of the blood to emphasize the punishment boxers have to endure for the sport. The bloody slow-motion bloodied knockout on the ring canvas will long be remembered. But the first match between Creed and Tony “Little Duke” Evers (Wood Harris) is done with one single take. This elegant sequence should be seen to be believed with credit given to director Coogle for achieving this feat.

But story-wise, the film often falls into cliched territory. Creed learns the ropes from Rocky. When Rocky is diagnosed with cancer, he initially refuses treatment. So, the audience can only winch when the story goes into – Rocky can learn from Creed as much as Creed can learn from Rocky. Coogle also pushes the sentimentality a bit too far to make Rocky too much the lovable lug. Another example of heightened sentimentality is the part where Rocky visits his ex-coach, Paulie’s grave and begins talking to him.

But the film succeeds from the fight scenes and the superlative acting from both Stallone and Jordan. Jordan body is perfectly cut and muscled like a boxer in top form. The film also pays homage to the Rocky films such as the final scene where Creed and Balboa climb the famous steps to the Philadelphia art museum. And when the Rocky anthem by Bill Conti is heard on the soundtarck, one can feel the nostalgia.

CREED has been hailed critically and the film has done Stallone a good turn at the box-office.

It is difficult to imagine that it has been almost 40 years since the first Rocky was screened. CREED is dedicated to the late producer Robert Chartoff (passed away in 2015) who also produced the first Rocky. The first weekend gross was $40 million, above the $35 million production cost. Stallone has been struggling before with his EXPENDABLES films. Rocky hails supreme again!

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Movie Review: THE LADY IN THE VAN (2015)

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the_lady_in_the_van_poster.jpgTHE LADY IN THE VAN (UK 2015) ***1/2
Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Review by Gilbert Seah

There are several reasons to watch the new Maggie Smith, Nicholas Hytner and Alan Bennette collaboration of THE LADY IN THE VAN. For one, it is based mostly on a true story – the words that appear on the screen at the film’s start, signifying a modest comedy on life. And with an equally number of pleasures as well to be derived from the film.

Adapted from the based-on-fact hit West End play by Bennett (best known for THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE), the film’s title referring to a high-born homeless woman, known as Miss Shepherd (Dame Maggie Smith) fallen on hard times who finds temporary shelter parking her van in Bennett’s driveway — for fifteen years. It is a chronicle of the unlikely friendship between the writer (played by Alex Jennings) and the elderly eccentric who takes over his driveway.

The play and script is smart enough to have two protagonists – Miss Shepherd and Bennett. Bennett is seen as a double in the film. As explained – there is the man that writes and the one that lives. They speak to one another, the equivalent of the man talking to himself. He gives himself a perspective of his life, humorously as well as dramatically. He is a timid fellow, kind enough to look after his ailing mother as well as Miss Shepherd. In contrast, Miss Shepherd is ornery, impolite, and bullying Not all there, she claims to take advice from the Virgin Mary. And she smells bad. There is a mystery about the woman that is kept from Bennett and the audience but all is revealed by the end of the film. But Bennett, despite his very private nature, takes pity on her and says she can stay there for three months.
Miss Shepherd is seen to be one that hates music. She screams and scares away children that play music outside her van. But she has studied music in Paris and plays the piano. The reason for her current behaviour is an intriguing one, and one that Hytner uses to full effect.

But besides being a film about friendship and old age, it is mostly a film about life. The film depicts the bit seedy yet very respectable London neighbourhood of Camden Town (on the Northern Tube line). (I am proud to say I have lived there – though as a tourist and guest for 15 days and the film brings a good effective feel in of neighbourhood chivalry and friendliness.) The message about life in the film is an obvious one, though one mostly ignored. It is stated clearly at the end – to love life is to start living. It is, put subtly, in the writing of Bennett’s character – that he is not to put himself in the writing but to find himself in the writing.

Maggie Smith bares all in the film and she is not afraid of looking old, haggard and ugly for the role. It is a completely different role from her Oscar winning THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE. She would get my vote for her second Oscar.

THE LADY IN A VAN is a tale of life, playfully funny and authentically set in Camden Town, London. Great performances in a film relatively well directed from a clever script full of ripe dialogue.

the_lady_in_the_van_yellow_van

Movie Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

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star_wars_posterSTAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS
(USA 2015) Top 10 *****
Directed by J.J. Abrams

Review by Gilbert Seah

The film world has finally gone crazy. Disney and Lucasfilm has enforced a world embargo on film reviews at 3.01 (yes, to the very second) on Wednesday December 16th. The film premiered Monday evening in Hollywood and for press, which includes this fortunate reviewer, Tuesday morning. No one had any idea of the venues for Monday’s screenings (3 separate theatres) till the last minute. Sales on Amazon of the old STAR WARS films rocketed 400%. Pre-sales of tickets have not seen numbers like this since the beginning of time, in a galaxy far, far away!

The hype on TV and anticipation have been great. The studios made press hush up on spoilers. And after seeing the film, one will respect those wishes. But there are a lot of surprises and twists in the plot, none that make little sense, and revealing them will would definitely spoil the film’s entertainment value.

The story is short and that does not mean much as the film is more character and action driven. It is set approximately 30 years after the events of RETURN OF THE JEDI where the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire have become the Resistance and the First Order, respectively, and follows new heroes Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley), and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) alongside characters returning from previous Star Wars film. Rey, a scavenger finds a droid who holds a map that has the key to finding Luke Skywalker. The dark side wishes to bring down the resistance and thus goes all out to capture the droid and thus the map. Lots of exciting battles result culminating with a climatic sabre to sabre combat between the heroes and villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver).

The film succeeds in all departments from acting, to the grand music, scored again by maestro John Williams to the costumes, creature and robot designs to sets, spectacle and cinematography. Iceland and Abu Dhabi, where the film was shot add to the grandeur from the desert to the icy mountain landscapes. Rey’s outfit is perfectly designed, a greyish fabric that flows so that she looks elegant while fighting or tracking in the desert. The sets of the dark force, in red and black, looks (humorously) like something taken of of a North Korean dictatorship rally.

Director Abrams, best known for the STAR TREK reboot takes over the reins from George Lucas, who admitted the series needed new blood. Abrams is smart enoguh to put in lots of new blood in the form of new characters like Rey the main female protagonist, Finn an ex-trooper who moves to the good side because it is the right thing to do and Poe while not forgetting the importance of legends like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Hans Solo (Harrison Ford) and of course, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher). New ‘robots’ like the droid also meet old time favourites R2D2 and C3PO. Abrams knows how to work the audience. When Princess Leia and Hans Solo reunite and hug, the scene will bring tears to the audience’s eyes. And there are no embarrassing kissing scenes but lots of hugs that get the same message across.

If one wants spectacle there are lots of it. The blowing up of a star fighter that eventually sinks in quicksand, the flight/fight segment between the freighter commandeered by Rey and Finn and the star fighters and the shootouts are just a few examples. And it is one well-orchestrated action segment after another. Abrams knows how to pull back his camera to show the full action spectacle while also engaging in the closeups of the characters’ faces. Lots of smart dialogue as well, with too many quotable lines to include in this review.

The hype and wait are worth it. Abrams’ film is as amazing as you will hear. And it is definitely the best action film of the year, best to be seen in 3D and IMAX.

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

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

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Movie Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Road Chip (2015)

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ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: ROAD CHIP (USA 2015) **1/2
Directed by Walt Becker

Review by Gilbert Seah

Lots of puns in the Alvin Chipmunks movies – Chipwrecked for shipwrecked, Fast and Furry-ious for Fast and Furious and Road Chip for Road Trip.  But there are no super fast cars or races nor a long road trip in the 4th instalment of the Chipmunks films, but it tries its best to cling on to past Hollywood box-office successes.

For the less demanding viewer, ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: ROAD CHIP provides satisfactory entertainment much in the same vein as the other 3 films.  The lazy script, credited to no less than 4 writers does not contain much of a story.

Through a series of misunderstandings, Alvin (Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler) and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) come to believe that Dave (Jason Lee) is going to propose to his new girlfriend in Miami…and dump them. They have three days to get to him and stop the proposal, saving themselves not only from losing Dave but possibly from gaining a terrible stepbrother, Miles (Josh Green).

It is the same old cliched result.  Dave is carrying an engagement ring for his friend.  (Why he is doing this, is totally unexplained.)  But Dave ends up not proposing and the misunderstanding is resolved with everything going right including the Chipmunks becoming friends with Miles.  Sweetly sickening isn’t it?

The casting is also lazy.  The villain in the first 3 Chipmunks films was played by David Cross from the TV series – Arrested Development.  He is replaced by no other than another member of the cast from the same TV series – Tony Hale.  Hale is no more than another clone to Cross.  Hale plays a flight marshall, who grounds the chipmunks and wants to put them in chipmunk jail.  His goofy character somehow gets the butt of the jokes.

The female Chipmunks, the Chipettes (voiced by Christina Applegate, Anna Faris and Kaley Cuoco) make a too brief appearance.  But the actresses’ voices are unrecognizably wasted.

One wants the script to at least attempt something different or something more daring.  But it is a thread bare script lacking in ideas or good comedy setups.  What the film does contain, however is a whole lot of musical dances and songs (mainly popular ones) ranging from rap to pop to country.  The animated creatures boogie to the music as do the real-life actors.  The dance moves are cute enough but enough is enough.

Every critic love to complain about Alvin and the Chipmunks  But everyone has forgotten how much they themselves love the little creatures when they were little.  And Dave’s famous scream “Alvin!!!!!!!!!!” can be heard a few times during the film, to the audience’s amusement.

But ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: ROAD CHIP should still be a box-office success, as it is a good harmless film for the littler ones, who might not understand STAR WARS or for families not able to get tickets for it.

Movie Review: The Hateful Eight (2015)

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THE HATEFUL EIGHT (USA 2015) Top 10 *****
Directed by Quentin Tarrantino
Starring: Channing Tatum, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Zoe Bell, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern

Review by Gilbert Seah

Review now embargoed until Dec. 24th
 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnRbXn4-Yis

Movie Review: MacBeth (2015)

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MACBETH (USA/UK/France 2015) ***

Directed by Justin Kurzel

Stars: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jack Madigan

Review by Gilbert Seah

It does to seem that long ago (1971) that Roman Polanski, in top cinematic form directed his version of MACBETH with Jon Finch in the title role.  His was an unforgettable MacBeth complete with old nude witches brewing around a cauldron and ending with the MacBeth’s head paraded on a stick.

No such luck in Justin Kurzel’s MACBETH.  (Kurzel is the Australian director best known for THE SNOWTOWN MURDERS, shown at the Toronto International Film Festival years back but not released.)  The troubled King of Scotland does die at the end but his head is intact.  The witches look like normal human beings, more like Scots women, wearing normal garments.  But his version is a Shakespearean film concentrated more on poetry, both verbal and visual than on shock tactics.

Running just under 2 hours, Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy is still a lengthy drama, spoken in Old English Shakespearean prose, which takes some minutes before the ear gets accustomed to.  The story that needs not be reiterated in detail, which almost everyone is familiar with, concerns MacBeth and his wife usurping the throne of Scotland from King Duncan (an excellent David Thewlis), after murdering him.  All this is foretold by three witches, and a child in the case of this film, to MacBeth who seems to believe all their predictions.  

It is clear right from the film’s beginning that director Kurzel wants to take the Scottish play out in the open.  The witches appear in the open countryside instead of a room with a cauldron.  The epic battle which MacBeth wins to gain favour with the King of Scotland is expensed in all its gory and bloodiness.  The battle scene looks something right out of 300.  Together with cinematographer Adam Arkapaw, Kurzel keeps most of the action outside thus displaying the ruggedness and stunning beauty of the Scottish terrain and mountains.

One disadvantage of pulling the camera back from the characters results in the audience feeling more distant from MacBeth and Lady MacBeth.  They seem less evil.  When the camera shows the surroundings of the execution of a mother and her kids, Kurzel opts to show sympathy in the face of Lady MacBeth, thus making her more sympathetic and less ambitious and evil, and taking away the main spirit of the MacBeth play.

Performances-wise, every actor dreams of playing the titular roles of MacBeth and Lady MacBeth.  Fassbender and Cotillard can do no harm but they are not exceptional.

Kurzel’s MACBETH works as another adaptation of the Bard’s work, still worth a look and a good film for those studying the play in school.  At least it is not a modern interpretation like the recent HAMLET with Benedict Cumberbatch wearing Jeans thus bastardizing the Hamlet play.  But Polanski’s 1971 adaptation remains my favourite MACBETH.

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

Today’s INSTAGRAM Photos: Drive-In Movie Theatre Intermission, Stage Play Festival Deadline, Stage Play Festival Deadline

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I

https://instagram.com/p/5gUPkwOOmy

II

https://instagram.com/p/8pC-ruOOi6/

III

https://instagram.com/p/8i8IvcuOpe/

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Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

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

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