TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews

TIFF 2018 Capsule Review: HELMET HEADS (Costa Rica/Chile 2018)

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Directed by Neto Villalobos

 

HELMET HEADS is a comedy about a group of friends who ride motor-bikes for a living doing deliveries while also doing a bit on the side like collecting debts.  The head of the group appears to be the one with a birthmark – an unfunny running joke.

  One of them loses his job and ends up giving driving lessons while his friends sit cramped in the back seats.  They throw a party which he does not show up for.  That is the extent of the humour found in this sad excuse for a comedy.   Think SUPERTROOPERS without the laugh-out loud humour.

  The two SUPERTROOPERS films have got really bad reviews though they are really funny.  So know what to expect from HELMET HEADS.  The film is low budget with low production values. 

 The best camerawork appears to be the camera placed in front of the cyclists showing them riding their bikes.  Shot in Costa Rica.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjgpIny0Dec

TIFF 2018 Review: DONNYBROOK (USA 2018) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Donnybrook Poster
Two men prepare to compete in a legendary bare-knuckle fight where the winner gets a $100,000 prize.

Director:

Tim Sutton

Writer:

Tim Sutton

Stars:

Frank Grillo, Jamie Bell, Margaret Qualley

FIGHT CLUB meets BILLY ELLIOT.
  Jamie Bell is all pumped up in the role of an ex-marine trying to get out of drugs.  Drugs are bad!  His wife is addicted and he has to escape the wrath of a meth cook/dealer.  The story eventually ends with the two men — the ex-marine, Earl who struggles to provide for his family and that violent drug dealer with an undefeated fighting record — competing in the Donnybrook, a legendary, bare-knuckle brawl with a cash prize of $100,000.  
 Sutton’s film is not perfect, choppy and paints an unflattering look of America – best envisioned by a woman singing of the U.S. National amidst having a drag of her cigarette.  It is an America of clandestine drug deals, shady motel rooms, alcohol-fuelled brawls, and abandoned dreams.  
The film depends largely on Bell, who thankfully is believable as a tough guy though not believable to be tough enough to fight his opponent.

TIFF 2018 Review: CLIMAX (France 2018) ****

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Climax Poster
Trailer

French dancers gather in a remote, empty school building to rehearse on a wintry night. The all-night celebration morphs into a hallucinatory nightmare when they learn their sangria is laced with LSD.

Director:

Gaspar Noé

Writer:

Gaspar Noé

Stars:

Sofia Boutella, Romain Guillermic, Souheila Yacoub

Gaspar Noe (CARNE, SEUL CONTRE TOUS, ENTER THE VOID) shows what genius can be done with a troupe of dancers obsessed with their art.  The film begins with interviews of individual members followed by an incredibly executed dance in synch to the amazement of the audience. 

 Third segment has the camera following the dancers as they interact with each other, speaking about their aims, fears or just plain flirtation.  This is followed once again by dance, this time with the camera placed permanent,y overhead of the dancers as they now individually dance into the frame, showing their prowess.  The dancers now drink the sangria which is spiked with LSD.  They never find out the culprit though the suspected get violently attacked.  

They last segment leading to the film’s CLIMAX has them indulging in sex and violent acts.  The film’s dance sequences alone are more than worth the price of admission but the film delves more deeply into man’s tortured soul including the concept of death.  

CLIMAX is not a film for everyone but is nothing one has seen before for those who can take it.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hi69nL_VrTE

TIFF 2018 Review: CAPERNAUM (Lebanon 2018) *****Top 10

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Capernaum Poster
A politically-charged fable, featuring mostly non-professional actors, about a child who launches a lawsuit against his parents.

Director:

Nadine Labaki

Writers:

Jihad Hojeily (screenwriter), Michelle Keserwany(screenwriter) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Kawthar Al Haddad, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Nadine Labaki

I did not think too much of Nadine Labaki’s 2011 TIFF People’s Choice Award winner WHERE DO WE GO NOW?,  a female whimsical tale of sorts but in her latest film, she explores the lives of children living on the fringes of Lebanese society.

  This is in contrast, a dead serious film with a male protagonist, though a 12- year old male boy who, when the film begins is suing his parents for bringing him into this unfriendly world.   Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) is only 12, but he’s seen enough of this life to resent his very existence.  His parents have sold his sister and he runs away from home, ending up in prison for stabling the man who bought his sister.  Al Rafeea is sensational as the young rebel. 

 Labaki’s camera captures the dirt and poverty of the underbelly of Lebanese life where even hope is a luxury.  That title comes from the name of the town on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus healed the sick in Biblical times.

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

 

TIFF 2018 Review: WINTER FLIES (Czech Rep/Slovakia/Slovenia/Poland 2018)

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Winter Flies Poster
Two mischievous adolescent boys embark on a journey of imaginative misadventure and coming-of-age self-discovery, in Olmo Omerzu’s road-trip comedy celebrating the need to indulge the … See full summary »

Director:

Olmo Omerzu

Writer:

Petr Pýcha (screenplay)

Stars: Tomás Mrvík, Jan Frantisek Uher, Eliska Krenková

Two mischievous adolescent boys, Hedus and Mara embark on a journey of imaginative misadventures in the Audi Mara hardwired.  Mara is questioned by the police regarding the theft just after Hedus has left the car.  The questioning is the excuse for the flashbacks that tell the story up to this point.  

The boys pick up a hitchhiker girl.  She leaves the car after being fed up with the boys, though they do save her from another boy.  The boys save Mara’s grandfather from a heart attack and have several other misadventures during this road trip that are supposed to show their coming-of-age while entertaining the audience with a few laughs. 

 Apart from a few scenes of pretty wintry Slovakian landscapes, Omerzu’s examination of youth is nothing out of the ordinary.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVeehZwgm9Y

TIFF 2018 Review: THE CROSSING (China 2018) ***

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 Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

The Crossing Poster
Studying in Hong Kong but living in Shenzhen (the port city of Mainland China), Peipei has spent 16 years in her life travelling between these two cities. To realize the dream of seeing …See full summary »

Director:

Bai Xue

Stars: Gang Jiao, Elena Kong, Kai Chi Liu

A film somewhat similar to the Argentinean film EL ANGEL, the subject is again a thief with no morals.  Whereas the they in EL ANGEL indulges because he loves it, the their in THE CROSSING does it because se cannot help it, with society and smily circumstances not helping her much either. 

 She lives with her (assumed) separated mother who is more interested in playing mahjong than in her daughter and her father who does not know how to care for her.  THE CROSSING refers to the divide between Hong Kong and China where she mostly sells her stolen good.  She comes across a den of thieves through a boat party where she meets a boy who she cannot love either.  Her only aim in life appears to be wanting to see snow and to experience cold, a metaphor for something she cannot attain.  

She meets the gang boss ‘Sister Hao’ who se cannot accept as another mother figure.  There seems no road to redemption for her and the film does not care to give her one either.

Trailer: https://www.tiff.net/tiff/the-crossing/  (click on trailer)

TIFF 2018 Review: KURSK (Belgium/Luxembourg 2018) ****

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Kursk Poster
Trailer

The film follows the 2000 K-141 Kursk submarine disaster and the governmental negligence that followed. As the sailors fight for survival, their families desperately battle political obstacles and impossible odds to save them.

Director:

Thomas Vinterberg

Writer:

Robert Rodat

Stars:

Léa Seydoux, Colin Firth, Matthias Schoenaerts

KURSK follows the true story of the August 2000 sinking of the Russian submarine KURSK and the international effort made to save her survivors.  The film benefits from well respected director Vinterberg working with scriptwriter Robert Rodat who wrote SAVING PRIVATE RYAN with stars Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts as Russian Navy Officer Mikhael LKalekov,  Léa Seydoux, Colin Firth and Max Von Sydow.  

The film’s claustrophobic scenes especially the cramped quarters flooded with water are harrowing to watch.  One cannot help but feel as well as admire these men who would give up their all for their country.  But is Russia willing to do her all for these sailors?   The wives are kept in the dark as to what is happening.  Surprisingly, the film’s best scene is the naval conference where the wives attack the naval authorities for doing nothing. 

 The film’s production sets and the explosion scenes are incredibly realistic making KURSK a totally emotional suspenseful drama of the highest level.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xExzwSc4_eQ

TIFF 2018 Review: BORDER (Grans) (Sweden 2018) ***** Top 10

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Border Poster
Clip

After a customs officer develops a strange attraction to the suspect she’s investigating, the case’s revelations soon call into question her entire existence.

Director:

Ali Abbasi

Writers:

Ali Abbasi (screenplay), Isabella Eklöf (screenplay) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Eva Melander, Eero Milonoff, Viktor Åkerblom

The film that everyone has been raving about.  And with reason too.  This is definitely the weirdest film and arguably one of the best of the festival.  The film, directed by Iranian born Swede Ali Abbasi is called BORDER because the story centres on border agent Tina (Eva Melander) who uses her ability to sense or smell human emotions to catch smugglers. 

She is called an ugly bitch by someone caught by her and with reason.   When she sniffs up a suspicious Vore (Eero Milonoff), love blossoms.  But what the audience and Tina doesn’t knows that her life will be disrupted completely.  BORDER is a mix of very, very black comedy, romance and horror.  Director Abbasi knows what to focus his camera on especially the clsoe-ups, be it the sniffing nose or quivering lips to exact the perfect emotion from his audience. 

 There is a big twist in the plot as well as many surprises around every corner.

Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpwPp0DYyg0

TIFF Reviews 2018: DOGMAN (France/Italy 2018) ***1/2

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Dogman Poster
Trailer

Marcello, a small and gentle dog groomer, finds himself involved in a dangerous relationship of subjugation with Simone, a former violent boxer who terrorizes the entire neighborhood. In an… See full summary »

Director:

Matteo Garrone

Writers:

Ugo Chiti, Massimo Gaudioso | 

Stars:

Marcello Fonte, Edoardo Pesce, Nunzia Schiano

Director Matteo Garrone’s (GOMORRA) latest film DOGMAN begins with an angry dog growling his teeth in closeup, a very appropriate beginning of a very angry film that tells a tale of vengeance by a mild-mannered DOGMAN pushed to the limit.  The dogman is Marcello who owns a dog care shop.

  He knows and loves his dogs, just as he loves his daughter who he occasionally sees.  The film does not delve into his family affairs and the audience assumes Marcello is separated from his wife.  He snorts coke and hangs around a big hulk and uncontrollable bully, Simone.  The neighbourhood wants to bring Simone down as he is nothing but trouble but ends up leaving him alone  When Simone fucks Marcello up in a series of events, Marcello eventually gives the bully in comeuppance,  Garrone’s film is attain a difficult watch.  

He is a good storyteller that connects the audience to his characters.  He even makes the bully sympathetic, loving his helpless mother and not being too bright. 

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eum93mpzpE0

TIFF 2018 Review: NON-FICTION (DOUBLES VIES) (France 2018) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2018. Go to TIFF 2018 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

Double Lives Poster
Set in the Parisian publishing world, an editor and an author find themselves in over their heads, as they cope with a middle-age crisis, the changing industry and their wives.

Director:

Olivier Assayas

Writer:

Olivier Assayas

Stars:

Guillaume Canet, Juliette Binoche, Vincent Macaigne

 

Assayas proves once agin his ‘auteur’ status with this playful yet literary and contemporary take on art imitating life.  Two couples are under examination as each member  having an affair with the opposite sex of the other couple, all still remaining friends.  Set in Paris.  

 The film begins with a publisher (Guillaume Canet) turning down the work of his friend (Vincent Macaigbe) who is having an affair with his successful actress wife (Juliette Binoche).  There is debate on the decline of publishing revenue compared to the likes of audio books and e-books.  This is a very talky film the most talky of all the Assayas films and shows the director’s intelligence on what is current in the world today – besides showing him a respected director. 

 Assayas fans will not be disappointed.  Also quite funny especially with the actress referring to Juliette Binoche at the end of the film, again art imitating life.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qMeIhQ5An4