Film Review: THE MUMMY (USA 2017)

June 8, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized Alex Kurtzman, Annabelle Wallis, film review, gilbert seah, photos, Russell Crowe, Sofia Boutella, THE MUMMY movie review, Tom Cruise

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

An ancient princess is awakened from her crypt beneath the desert, bringing with her malevolence grown over millennia, and terrors that defy human comprehension.

Director: Alex Kurtzman
Writers: David Koepp (screenplay), Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay)
Stars: Tom Cruise, Sofia Boutella, Annabelle Wallis, Russell Crowe

Review by Gilbert Seah

When THE MUMMY’s opening credits begin, the words Dark Universe appears instead of the studio name Universal on the company logo. THE MUMMY launches the studio’s Dark Universe, a shared cinematic universe of classic movie monsters.

Tom Cruise takes over the leading role from Brendan Fraser and Dwayne Johnson in this MUMMY re-boot that does not do any justice to the franchise. Cruise plays rebel soldier Nick Morton who steals ancient artifacts, while dressed like Indiana Jones. This runs him into trouble with an old Egyptian curse that the film spends a whole 15 minutes of opening time explaining.

It all starts way back when, when really bad Egyptian princess Ahmanet (Algerian actress, Sofia Boutella) murders her father and infant brother to usurp the throne. As if this is not bad enough, she consorts with some demon that can give her everlasting life. But she is caught and mummified as punishment with her body banished from Egypt. The silly plot has the audience believe that she is put in a tomb and buried underneath London, England where she is dug up when building new tunnels for London trains, thus unleasing some curse. That is THE MUMMY’s humour. If that is not enough silliness, the demon later possesses Nick Morton when Nick Morton attempts to save the day. Tom Cruise as a demon possessed character means Tom Cruise in hyper-active mode.

The tie in of ancient times to modern day activities is laughable. Morton is a soldier in Iraq where the enemy wants their cultural monuments destroyed. The other tie in is the modernization of London’s trains resulting is uncovering the tombs.
The climax of the film requires the director to show that the possessed Nick Morton resurrecting Jenny (Annabelle Wallis from THE TUDORS) instead of the evil princess. This segment is done in the most sloppy way ever.

At a production cost of $125 million, THE MUMMY is a complete mess. The story, pacing, acting (Cruise desperately trying to show he still has the chops), dialogue are all less than memorable. Director Kurtzman who has never made a blockbuster special effects movie deserves some credit for two well executed action segments. The plane crash action set-up, after Morton fires bullets in a plane causing it to crash due to cabin de-pressurization is well-executed with bodies and debris flying all around. The other scene, an underwater segment showing the undead skeletons swimming after Morton is impressive and stunning.

The final ending is totally incoherent. The script requires the Russell Crowe character to explain what is happening. The next scene has Nick Morton and partner riding their horses in the desert with a voiceover promising another sequel soon in the making. What is all this about with the horses, Morton’s possession and evil returning and some saying that it takes a monster to kill a monster?

At least four more monster movie reboots have already been planned for Universal’s Dark Universe including BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN, VAN HELSING and THE WOLF MAN. Judging from this horrid first entry, the fate of the films might follow the equally horrid DC’s extended universe films MAN OF STEEL, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN, SUICIDE SQUAD and the mediocre WONDER WOMAN. It looks like the mummy’s curse desperately needs to be broken.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHgzkQM2Sg

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Film Review: BON COP BAD COP 2 (Canada 2017)

May 12, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized Alain Desrochers, BON COP BAD COP 2, Colm Feore, film review, gilbert seah, Lucie Laurier, movie review, Patrick Huard, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse

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

A francophone cop and an anglophone RCMP officer reunite to investigate a large car theft ring led by an Italian mobster.

Director: Alain Desrochers
Writer: Patrick Huard
Stars: Colm Feore, Lucie Laurier, Sarah-Jeanne Labrosse

Review by Gilbert Seah

It is a wonder the reason it took a full 10 years before the highly box-office successful ($12 million) and quite funny sequel to the 2006 BON COP BAD COP to emerge.

The title, a French take on the GOOD COP BAD COP cop genre mentality, again features David Bouchard (Patrick Huard), the rule-bending, francophone detective for the Sûreté du Québec and Martin Ward (Colm Feore), the by-the-book anglophone Ontario Provincial Police detective. The bilingual detectives must once again resolve their professional and cultural differences as well as their bigotry and prejudices to solve a case. When the film opens, Dave is undercover on a car heist job when Martin and his men break into the garage. Following the events of the first film, Martin Ward (Feore) and David Bouchard (Huard) have remained friends but have gradually grown apart as their lives and careers have taken them in different directions; Ward is now a senior officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In the present day, they are reunited to investigate a car theft ring which turns out to be a front for a much bigger terrorist plot.

Quebecois actor Patric Huard seems to have taken more than he can chew. In the sequel he is producer, writer and main actor. The first was written by Huard and 3 other writers, and this one he tackles the whole task alone. While the script contains a few genuine brilliant bits, especially concerning Canada’s American neighbours, but the script is far from funny and dips into too much sentiment. If Martin is not working hard enough and suffering from a degenerative motor-malfunctioning disease (the Lou Gehrig disease), Dave is faced with a neglected wife. And if that is not enough, Dave’s son has gone bad and almost gets himself killed. The script also contains a few discontinuity problems. At the start, during the illegal vehicle takedown, Martin is heard telling his men over the wire that Dave, while taking him hostage is undercover. Why then in the next scene, does Martin insist on Dave beating him up to convince his men of his escape? The car chase at the film’s start also has continuity problems. (The same background of the Toronto highway and viaduct is shown twice at different parts of the chase.)

BON COP BAD COP 2 is the kind of film that will make the big bucks in French Canada. Huard also brings in the national game of hockey for additional boost. But English Canada will likely stay away from this film, and even more so for the southern neighbours, the Americans, especially when they are insulted this much in the film.

The film is shot in both French and English. Feore proves himself to be quite the bi-lingual actor, cursing all the time in French like a true natural. Feore and Huard make a good team in the film.

Number 2 is not as funny as the first (which I recall was very entertaining), and not even as exciting.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un2iSp0VEMY

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Film Review: PERFUME WAR (Canada 2017) ***1/2

April 12, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized Barb Stegemann, film review, gilbert seah, Michael Melski, movie review, Pasha Ebrahimi, perfume war

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

Director: Michael Melski
Writers: Michael Melski, Barb Stegemann
Star: Pasha Ebrahimi

Review by Gilbert Seah

If there is ever an inspirational film that will move audiences to return their faith in the human race, PERFUME WAR is it.

Michael Melski’s fascinating documentary explores the extraordinary friendship between two best friends, Trevor and Barb whose shared mission of peace has made an enormous impact on countless lives.

The film begins with equal time devoted to each before concentrating on Barb. Captain Trevor Greene joins the military to fight the oppression of women in Afghanistan. Barb Stegemann is a single mom who is moved to take on her best friend’s mission after he is brutally axed in the head by the Taliban. Stegemann works with Afghan farmers to grow legal orange flower crops instead of the illegal heroin poppy–the Taliban’s chief income source–and creates an unlikely weapon in the fight for world peace – perfume. The topic is an interesting as it is strange. But director Melski inserts the inspirational factor into his film.

This he does firstly by dotting quotations by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius throughout his film. Example: “Change is nature’s delight.” Next Melski inspires through the lives of both Barb and Trevor. Trevor and Barb are visionaries.

Trevor describes himself as the most driven person he knows – and one that is driven on principles, not by money. Trevor is described by Barb as the most inspirational person who changed her life completely. She is also described by her University professor as an engineer of civilization, who in his 34 years of teaching has only encountered a handful. Barb and Trevor are best friends (no sex). When Trevor met Debbie, Barb knew Debbie was the perfect one for Trevor and the three became good friends. Barb and Trevor each pushes the other towards the limit.

When the Taliban takes an axe to Trevor’s head, Trevor survives. A miracle! More inspiration! Barb decides to give her life to continue Trevor’s mission. She embarks on the business venture (even securing funds from DRAGON’S DEN) so that the business can continue and the Afghanistan farmers can continue to work.

Melski’s film is total convincing as he includes clips of the farming in Afghanistan The enactment of the meeting that resulted in the axe to Trevor’s skull is also re-enacted to full disturbing effect. Melski also debates the topic of social good vs. monetary gain. Barb had to get capital from TV’s DRAGON’s DEN.

Those who have watched DRAGON’s DEN will be pleased to see the film’s heroine pitting her wits with her social venture to the dragons who only look at the money prospects of a business venture. Dragon Kevin O’Leary obviously gives a no. But Melski shows that even dragon have consciences and a human desire to do good. Another fascinating segment of the film is devoted to how Barb beats the big companies in the perfume business.

The film is about challenge. The film is about doing what’s right and to make a difference to change the world – to make it a better one. PERFUME WARS inspires!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS7KteaH55U

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Film Review: SONG TO SONG (USA 2017)

April 8, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review film review, gilbert seah, michael fassbender, movie review, Natalie Portman, Rooney Mara, Ryan Gosling, SONG TO SONG, Terrence Malick

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

Director: Terrence Malick
Writer: Terrence Malick
Stars: Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman

Review by Gilbert Seah

Terrence Malick’s films have been accessible to some and highly inaccessible to others. The best example is Malick’s TREE OF LIFE that the Toronto Film Critics association awarded Best Film of the year that most of the public hated. Malick’s last film was his indulgent ode to the Universe which he made though the man is neither a scientist of physicist. That was a complete mess.

His latest indulgent film SONG TO SONG begins at a concert of some sort where the crowd is wild and violent. It is an energetic scene that provides some promise of an exciting film that never comes to fruition. As the film unfolds, it is revealed that SONG TO SONG is supposedly a film about life that is led from song to song or from kiss to kiss.

SONG TO SONG is a love story set against the Austin, Texas music scene, with two entangled couples — struggling songwriters Faye (Rooney Mara) and BV (Ryan Gosling), and music mogul Cook (Michael Fassbender) and the waitress whom he ensnares, Rhonda (Natalie Portman) — chase success through a rock ‘n’ roll landscape of seduction and betrayal. The betrayal involves Faye who hides her affair with Cook from BV. BV has a fling with Amanda (Cate Blanchett) while Faye also experiments with same sex with Rhonda. The film intercuts frequently among the couples, without any meaning or direction.
The film contains a lot of voiceover, particularly from Rooney Mara at the beginning of the film.

SONG TO SONG is stunningly shot by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki with credit also going to Malick. The best spectacular scenes are the ones with the rooftops, the crystal clear waters, the beaches including interior scenes like the gorgeous decorated and furnished apartments.

It is difficult to judge performances when a film has no narrative or direction. But Malick, has assembled, besides the main stars mentioned above, other famous names in his cast like Val Kilmer, Iggy Pop, Tom Sturridge, Holly Hunter and Lykke Li.

The film’s first cut was 8 hours and shortened to two hours with huge snips that included singer Patti Smith totally removed from the film. Even Fassbender thought he would have been totally cut out of the film leaving only his voiceover.

In SONG TO SONG, Malick delves into romantic relationships in an experimental type film where narrative is thrown into the wind. The film is often all over the place. incoherent and senseless.

The critical response to the film has been pretty bad so far with only a few praises. It currently stands, at the point of writing, at just the 50% mark on meteoritic and rotten tomatoes. SONG TO SONG is also one of the lowest rated Malick films.

As in almost every Terrence Malick film, SONG TO SONG is undeniably, a visual treat. But that is all that can be said about the film. It also runs too long at 129 minutes.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Yo2e8AzgA

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Film Review: KONG: SKULL ISLAND (USA 2017) ***

March 10, 2017March 10, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized Brie Larson, dan gilroy, film review, gilbert seah, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, kong: skull island, movie review, samuel l jackson, Tom Hiddleston

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

Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Writers: Dan Gilroy (screenplay), Max Borenstein (screenplay)
Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson, Brie Larson

Review by Gilbert Seah

There have been already too many films on King Kong. The first and most memorable one for me was the 1962 campy Japanese version entitled KONG KONG VS. GODZILLA where audiences were treated to the climatic fight between the two monsters executed by actors in monster suits. The KING KONG films have been improved in terms of special effects. Even Peter Jackson had a go at it in the horrid 2005 version with an overlong attack by Kong on NYC. This latest edition is a reboot with two writers Dan Gilroy and Max Borenstein and a new director Vogt-Roberts whose only other film is an indie called THE KINGS OF SUMMER. But this new version takes a bit from each of the previous King Kong films, in fact the best from them, resulting in a satisfactory adventure film filled with special effects, action and much more humour.

The film begins very oddly in the year 1944 when a Japanese and American pilot are both shot down on Skull Island in the South Pacific (hints of HELL IN THE PACIFIC), They fight each other, only to be interrupted by the appearance of the giant Kong. Flash forward to 1973

when former British Special Air Service Captain James Conrad (Tom Hiddleston) is hired by government agent Bill Randa (John Goodman) to guide an expedition to map out an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean known as “Skull Island”. Randa also recruits the Sky Devils helicopter squadron led by Lieutenant Colonel Preston Packard (Samuel L. Jackson) to escort them to the island, and the group is later joined by pacifist photojournalist Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), who believes the scientific expedition to be a cover for an illegal military operation and plans to expose it. There, they find Kong as well as the American pilot, Marlow (John C. Reilly) now older, having lived there for 28 years.

The island is also the home of other giant creatures, the most fearsome being the Skullcrawlers, the biggest one of which battles Kong at the film’s climax, similar to the fight between King Kong and Godzilla. The other action segments involve the characters battling other monsters including a spider, ants and flying pterodactyl-like birds. The characters are trying to get to the north of the island in order to be rescued.

The Conrad and Mason characters form the boring romantic couple of the story. Fortunately, Vogt-Roberts treats their romance as slight. The more interesting characters are Packard portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, obsessed by his aim to kill Kong. There has hardly been a single film in which Jackson has not uttered the words mother f***er. So wait for this special scene. Reilly also steals the show as the comical Marlow who saves Kong.

The new take on the King Kong story actually works. At least the audience is spared from Kong being brought back to American to climb the Empire State building. But Kong still has the ‘hots’ for Brie Larson.

But most important is to stay till after the end credits. In the comical post-credits scene that primes the audience for a sequel, Conrad and Weaver are detained by Monarch and informed that Kong is not the only monster to roam the world. They are then shown archive footage of cave paintings depicting Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, and King Ghidorah.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP0-9FBs2Rs

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Film Review: WINDOW HORSES (Canada 2016) ***1/2

March 8, 2017March 11, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review Ann Marie Fleming, Ellen Page, film review, gilbert seah, movie review, Sandra Oh, Shohreh Aghdashloo, window horses film

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

Director: Ann Marie Fleming
Writers: Ann Marie Fleming (screenplay), Maryam Najafi (Cultural Script Consultant)
Stars: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ellen Page, Sandra Oh

Review by Gilbert Seah

WINDOW HORSES is an animated film about poetry. And one about a protagonist travelling to a poetry conference in the city of Shiraz in Iran. The subject would be enough to scare away audiences. But one of the best films last year was about a bus driver poet entitled PATERSON with Adam Driver, a tremendously moving film. So WINDOW HORSES, another film about poets, is a film that should be given a chance – for it is in its own terms, an equally awesome film – original, cute and with eye-catching animation.

I met writer/director Ann Marie Fleming last year at the Toronto International Film Festival. Humble, quiet and shy, I had heard that she had a film playing called WINDOW HORSES. I was dead curious what her animated movie would be like, after a fellow critic praised her film. Fleming is of mixed race, like her film’s protagonist.

The film begins with a horse observed through a window. The person at the window is young 20-something poet wannabe Rosie Ming (voice of Emmy Winner Sandra Oh) of mixed Chinese/Persian parents) who lives with her loving grandparents (drawn to look especially Chinese) in Vancouver, Canada. Rose publishes her own poems in book called “My Eye Full” by a poet who has never been to Paris.

One thing that stands out about WINDOW HORSES is its charm. The charm is ever present from the film’s characters to the stories right down to the details in the animation. The film is inherently funny with keen observations to family relationships, growing-up, the artistic scene and a whole lot of other issues.

Sandra Oh, who serves as the film’s executive producer lends her talent as the voice (immediately recognizable) of Rosie. Oh has been friends with Fleming for over 20 years and she agreed to do the voice despite her very busy schedule. Besides Oh, the film is filled with other talents such as other Canadian actors Don McKellar (as the German poet) and Ellen Page as Rosie’s funny chatty friend. But the best is old veteran actress, Nancy Kwan (of the Roger and Hammerstein’s FLOWER DRUM SONG and LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING) as the voice of Rosie’s grandmother.

Fleming’s animation is not super stupendous, but it is colourful (her favourite colour appears to be pink), original, eye-catching and different. While her characters are etched with proper limbs, she give Rosie stick arms and legs. She even pokes fun at her own animation with a watch she wears dangling from her (stick) wrist.

Fleming’s film is also deep in its subject matter. Fleming knows her material and it is clear form her film that she has done sufficient research on Iran and on her poetry. One wonders if the story of her protagonist is biographical.

WINDOW HORSES is a celebration of different cultures, of art, tolerance and the wonders of life. Fleming is clearly an important emerging talent in cinema.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/155891239

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Interview with Kevin Clark (NYC Indie Film Awards, Festival Director)

February 10, 2017 festreviews matthew toffolo wildsound, Uncategorized festival director, festival reviews, film festival, film festival review, film review, film reviews, kevin clark, NYC Indie Film Awards

The NYC Indie Film Awards are a monthly online awards competition based in the center of the most exciting city on this planet, and is a platform for Independent Filmmakers from all over the world to show their talents! For filmmakers by filmmakers.

http://www.nycindiefilmawards.com/

Matthew Toffolo: What is your Film Festival succeeding at doing for filmmakers?

Kevin Clark: Giving new and established filmmakers from all around the world the opportunity to show off their work, compete with others and celebrate their achievements. We also try to promote their accomplishments as much as we can,

MT: What would you expect to experience if you attend the festival this year (2017)?

KC: Getting your work seen and judged by industry professionals, for all kinds of categories.

MT: What are the qualifications for the selected films?

KC: We really care about quality more than anything else, weather it’s the writing, the cinematography, or the score. Our standard is very high but we get so many great submissions every time, that it’s just a pleasure to watch them all.

MT: Do you think that some films really don’t get a fair shake from film festivals? And if so, why?

KC: Yes and no, there has never been a better and a worse time to be a filmmaker than right now, simply because everything is so affordable, from equipment to software, and because of that there are WAY more filmmakers than ever before. So filmmakers have a lot more competition, which makes it harder to stand out, but we believe that quality will always find it’s way.

MT: What motivates you and your team to do this festival?

KC: A lot of members of our team are filmmakers themselves, or at the very least hardcore film lovers, which makes this so much fun, we get the perspective of people who simply appreciate the art of film as well as a very technical view. Making a film takes up so much time, and it can also be very hard, so we want to give every filmmaker the opportunity to show off what they’ve worked so hard on.

MT: How has your FilmFreeway submission process been?

KC: FilmFreeway is by far the best platform to accept submissions, it is so intuitive, easy and constantly improves, we love it!

MT: Where do you see the festival by 2020? LK

KC: Since right now we’re “only” and online competition, we hope that very soon we’ll have annual or even bi monthly screening, to celebrate with everyone in person, and make them feel even more appreciated.

MT: What film have you seen the most times in your life?

KC: We’ve asked the team, and the top three answers were:

1. Fight Club

2. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

3. Psycho

MT: In one sentence, what makes a great film?

KC: The combination of creativity and emotion.

MT: How is the film scene in your city?

KC: It couldn’t be any better, it’s creative, refreshing, very alive and constantly changing.

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Interviewer Matthew Toffolo is currently the CEO of the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film & Writing Festival. The festival that showcases 20-50 screenplay and story readings performed by professional actors every month. And the FEEDBACK Monthly Festival held in downtown Toronto, and Los Angeles at least 2 times a month. Go to www.wildsound.ca for more information and to submit your work to the festival.

THE SALESMAN (Iran/France 2016) ****

January 31, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review Asghar Farhadi, Babak Karimi, film review, gilbert seah, movie review, Shahab Hosseini, Taraneh Alidoosti, THE SALESMAN

Director: Asghar Farhadi
Writer: Asghar Farhadi
Stars: Taraneh Alidoosti, Shahab Hosseini, Babak Karimi

Review by Gilbert Seah

Winner of the Best Script and Best Actor (Shahab Hosseini) prizes at 2016 Cannes,THE SALESMAN, the third film from the Iranian director of UNE SEPARATION and LE PASSE once again deals with domestic problems of a husband and wife in a suspense whodunit Hitchcockian setting.
Rana (Tararne Alidoosti) and her high-school teacher husband Emad (Hosseini) have moved quickly into their new apartment after an earthquake deemed their last place too dangerous to live. At the new place, just before going into the shower, Rana buzzes someone up thinking the person to be her husband. A stranger turns up in the bedroom. Rana ends up in hospital with bruises. The husband seeks revenge. In whodunit style, he traces keys and cellphone to the person responsible. The last 20 minutes has Emad confronting the perpetuator with unexpected results.

THE SALESMAN of the film title refers to the Pulitzer Wining 1949 Arthur Miller play, DEATH OF A SALESMAN. Emad is in a current production of the play with him playing the main character of the salesman, Willy with Rana playing the wife. There are of course parallels between the play and Emad’s real life. Both Willy and Emad seek the perfect life (as Willy in Miller’s play searches the American Dream), but fate hands out a different deck of cards. When Emad faces the man who committed the crime, a hidden crisis in his marriage relationship resurfaces – and he has to deal with it.

Unlike Farhadi’s other two films, THE SALESMAN moves at a slower pace and has more hidden agenda. Things are not what they seem. For one, the wife is a bundle of contradictions. She wants her husband to spend more time at home, but she wants personal solitude. When the husband finds the culprit, she wants the husband to let him go.

Farhadi also deals out slices of Iranian life in his film. The audience gets to see how the people live in Tehran where the story is set. The evacuation at the film’s start show how Iranians live. They take care of their disabled family members. The perpetuator’s family that show up at the end of the film depict the strong bond of Iranian family culture. One segment in Emad’s classroom reflects what the school system is like – and humorously. In one funny scene, a fat student quizzes Emad how possible it is in a literature text for a man to turn into a cow, only to be commented by a fellow pupil if he had recently looked into the mirror.

What is also immediately noticeable about Farhadi’s filming is his camera placement. At the film’s start, the stationary camera captures effectively the mayhem of the building evacuation. From the camera behind a window, a bulldozer can be seen. The climax of the film has the camera placed so that the characters move into the frame where the entire action then takes place.

At the end of the film,when the audience sits back to consider the consequences of the incidents that have unfolded on screen, one realizes that the impact is on the individual. The culprit is not sent to jail and the husband has not punished the wife’s attacker. The film leaves an open ending on how the revelation of events affect each character in the story. And his is what makes Farhadi’s film stand out.

THE SALESMAN has been nominated for the Academy award for Best Foreign Language Film. Director Farhadi has announced that he will not attend the ceremonies because of President’s Trump controversial travel ban.

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

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Film Review: THE PASSIONATE THIEF (RISATE DI GIOIA) (Italy 1960) **** [The Films of Magnani]

January 21, 2017January 21, 2017 festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized Anna Magnani, Ben Gazzara, film review, gilbert seah, Mario Monicelli, movie review, RISATE DI GIOIA, The Films of Magnani, THE PASSIONATE THIEF, Totò

Director: Mario Monicelli

Stars: Anna Magnani, Totò, Ben Gazzara

Review by Gilbert Seah

This rarely seen Italian comedy gets a release after its recent 4K restoration.

THE PASSIONATE THIEF (RISATE DI GIOIA) marks the collaboration between dramatic actress Anna Magnani and famed comedian Toto. It is a perfect match as director Monicelli’s film is a perfect blend between drama and comedy. RISATE DI GIOIA literally translates to ‘laughter of Joy’, Joy also being the name of Magnani’s character.

The film follows two friends, Umberto and Gioia (Toto and Magnani) who live by their wits working as comedians and cabaret at Cinecittà (the famous cinema production studios centre in Rome), before being invited to friends’ parties or masked balls during New Year’s Eve in Rome. The two, however, even though they make people laugh all the time in public, live an inner conflict, namely that the two have always to be aware to give a smile to someone, but they can never be rich and happy because they are street artists and with a precarious wage. The meeting with another thief, the well-dressed Lello (Ben Gazzara who appears to speak perfect Italian) throws their relationship into peril. Lello is low-life, classy con-man, while Umberto tries to save Gioia from the wolf’s clutches.

Monicelli captures the plight of the poor. The segment where the trio enter a rich German party complete with ornaments emphasize the indifference of the rich. ‘The rich loves expensive ornaments that are useless,” says Gioia humorously.

Magnani is pure joy to watch – the perfect Italian drama queen. Wearing a gaudy evening dress complete with shiny spikes, her dress only underlines her loudness. The best scene has her screaming aloud when by accident, fireworks are thrown next to her during the New Year’s Eve celebrations.

The film is more drama than comedy. The audience can clearly sympathize with both the characters of Umberto and Gioia as they both grab at straws to escape the drowning from poverty. Gioia is hoping for love in the much younger Lello while Umberto finally goes clean in order to save Gioia from Lello.

The ending of the film is both sad and humorous. The audience sees the two after a major setback in their lives trying still to be happy and to enjoy the good life. They dance and laugh while hailing a taxi with comical results.

THE PASSIONATE THEIF looks like a simple film on the surface, but is deep in mood, atmosphere, feeling and life under deeper scrutiny.

The Passionate Thief screens on Sunday, January 29 at 2:45 p.m. as part of TIFF Cinematheque’s Volcano: The Films of Anna Magnani, running from January 27 to March 11. Curated by James Quandt, Senior Programmer, this deluxe series celebrates the ferocious Magnani, who was known as “La Magnani” or “La Lupa” (“The She-Wolf”) for her volatility and voraciousness. Equally at home in farce and tragedy, melodrama and comedy, she starred in films by some of the greatest auteurs of all time and won her country’s adoration for embodying characters that regular people could identify with, including fruit vendors, prostitutes, molls, convicts, stage mothers, film extras and (most frequently) long-suffering proletarian wives.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFwFYySSWS8

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Movie Review: ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (UA 2016) ***1/2

December 13, 2016December 13, 2016 festreviews 2016 movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized Alan Tudyk, chris weitz, Diego Luna, Felicity Jones, film review, Forest Whitaker, gareth edwards, gilbert seah, Jimmy Smits, Mads Mikkelsen, movie review, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, Tony Gilroy

Director: Gareth Edwards
Writers: Chris Weitz (screenplay), Tony Gilroy (screenplay)
Stars: Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Alan Tudyk, Forest Whitaker, Mads Mikkelsen, Jimmy Smits

Review by Gilbert Seah

It is finally here and the world is waiting to hear how good (or bad) the $200 million production of the new Star Wars film is. For one, the filmmakers are clear to emphasize that this is a standalone story. By this, they mean that the story, set shortly before the events of the original Star Wars, is not part of the other STAR WARS films, though there are already two more films after ROGUE ONE in the making as ROGUE ONE is the first of three anthology films.

There is not much original in the story of ROGUE ONE. But there is little to disappoint. Again, the film begins with the title, “Long time ago in a galaxy far away..”, though the words are differently laid out. The scriptwriters Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy, from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta ensure the successful formula is untampered with. And there are lots of spectacle, new characters, explosions, exotic futuristic sets combined with exotic setting – space towers emerging from a tropical paradise. At times, the film feels like a James Bond film, where the hero and troops storm the villain’s lair, take him out while blowing everything up.

It all starts with the escape of young Jyn Erso as a child as she witnesses her mother shot dead and her inventor father (Mads Mikkelsen) taken away to create a planet destroyer for the Empire. With this weapon, the rebels would stand no chance of winning the battle for the galaxy.

So, the Rebel Alliance recruits the grown up Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) after freeing her from prison, to work with a team including Cassian Andor (Diego Luna from Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN) to steal the design schematics of the Empire’s new superweapon, the Death Star. That is about it for the story, leaving the film plenty of time for action, spectacle and more action and more spectacle. Music is by Michael Giacchino with pieces taken from the original score by John Williams.

The enmity between Cassia and Jyn inevitably turns into romance. But the romance is executed in good taste without distraction from the action at hand. The two are just shown holding hands in the key scene.

The choice of a female protagonist heroine as in the last STAR WARS film last year is a good one, given these politically correct times. After all, Princess Lea, a key Star Wars character is female and key to the whole saga.

The main villain of the piece is played with sufficient relish by Ben Mendelsohn next to the odd appearances of Darth Vader. But the new characters that steal the show are played by Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen. Have the Chinese taken over? The new droid K-2SO,(Alan Tudyk) a Rebel-owned Imperial enforcer also makes a new welcome non-human hero.

As in last year’s THE FORCE AWAKENS, reviewers were asked not to reveal plot points or twists. In THE FORCE AWAKENS, these included the death of Hans Solo and the end appearance of Luke Skywalker. In ROGUE ONE, there ares equal surprises to please the fans.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=frdj1zb9sMY