gilbert seah

Film Review: TYLER PERRY’S A MADEA FAMILY FUNERAL (USA 2019) ***

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , ,
A Madea Family Funeral Poster
Trailer

A joyous family reunion becomes a hilarious nightmare as Madea and the crew travel to backwoods Georgia, where they find themselves unexpectedly planning a funeral that might unveil unsavory family secrets.

Director:

Tyler Perry

Writer:

Tyler Perry

Stars:

Tyler Perry, Cassi Davis, Patrice Lovely

The trouble with the Tyler Perry films is that they could be quite awful, from a critic’s point of view.   But critics do not pay for tickets at the box office.  Perry’s films are often all over the place, preachy, rude, cheap and politically incorrect.  But they do bring on good laughs despite the complaint that the jokes are the same.  The latest and 11th of the MADEA film series  proves more of the same.  And the last one featuring Madea, though I hardly doubt that.  It has garnered generally negative reviews from critics but went on to be one of his most successful films to date.  Lionsgate Company is still enjoying the cash cow, though the company has not got a string of hits for some time.

This is arguable the laziest of Perry’s films.  Tyler Perry has opened his Tyler Perry studios and this film was shot there in a week.  Most of the acts consist of people sitting around in a room complaining and bitching.  Most of the time two or more of the characters are played by Perry himself.

One of the few scenes that take place outside the house involves Madea and the family being stopped by a white cop for no reason.  Madea tells the Tyler Perry character he wheel to drive and speed off but he insists on doing what is right.  The white cop, of course turns unnecessarily rude and gets everyone in the car worked up and someone might get shot accidentally.   The rest of the film takes place in the house, which means the film is extremely low budget.

There is hardly any plot or story in the film.  The two loose stories are one involving Madea’s dead relative. the unseen Anthony who is caught dead in the act while having S & M sex with a whore.  The reason of death is attempted to be kept secret from the other members of the family.  The other subplot evolves A.J. (Courtney Burrell) cheating on his fiancé for her sister during the wedding.  Of course, Madea has a say in all these 2 events – that is the reason Madea exists, to offer her loud opinion.

Tyler Perry introduces a new character into the movie, a crippled war veteran called Heathrow.  As expected, this character is loud, obnoxious sexist and plain nasty.  Not only is Heathrow (played by Very of course) in a wheelchair but he has to use a vibrator to speak because he has a hole in his throat due to cancer.  And Madea has to remark that she get an orgasm from the speaking vibrator.  Heathow is one of Perry’s funniest and rudest characters.

Madea also organizes the funeral to great hilarity.  Eulogies are kept to a minimum time like the Academy Award acceptance speeches,  No jokes will be revealed in order not to spoil your entertainment.

Nothing much else need be said about this Tyler Perry movie.  Those who know the Tyler Perry movies get what they expected.  No surprises but yes, plenty of laughs.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id61hcbdMZA

Film Review: CAPTAIN MARVEL (USA 2019) ***

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,
Captain Marvel Poster
Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe’s most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races.

Directors:

Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck

Writers:

Anna Boden (screenplay by), Ryan Fleck (screenplay by)| 6 more credits »

Stars:

Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn

CAPTAIN MARVEL turns out to be more a franchise moneymaker in the Marvel Comics Universe than a film.  At the end, the audience reads that CAPTAIN MARVEL will next be seen in the AVENGERS: ENDGAME film while a sequel is likely already in the process (the film ends with the Kree promising: we will return for the woman).  Exiting the theatre and immediate in sight are a row of empty ready to use buckets of popcorn with the Captain Marvel imprinted around its sides that tells it all.

The film opens with Carol Danvars, an ex-U.S. Air Force fighter pilot and member of an elite Kree military unit called Starforce.   Her DNA was fused with that of a Kree during an accident, imbuing her with superhuman strength, energy projection.   Danvers is a believer in truth and justice and a “bridge between Earth and space, who must balance her “unemotional” Kree side that is an “amazing fighter” with her “flawed” human half that is the thing that she ends up leading by.  This is tested by her mentor played by Judd Law, all buffed up and looking good for this role.

Danvars cannot remember her past but it is revealed later on in the film that everything she had believed in is a lie.  Even those she thought were the villains were not.  As such, the film suffers the lack of a true evil villain.

Though the film has a very weak storyline, the film puts emphasis on the relationship between Danvars and other characters – like her and her mentor and her and her best friend, Maria Ramveau  (Lashana Lynch) in the airforce.  Unfortunately, the result is still quite un-engaging.  

The film benefits from it its leading stars – Brie Lawson (from ROOM) and Samuel L. Jackson.  Larson took judo and wrestling classes before taking on the role.  Jackson lifts the spirit of the film with his comic and somewhat over-the-top portrayal of Nick Fury, the future leader of S.H.I.E.L.D.  He is seen here without his eye patch before he lost his eye.  Watch out for that part, which makes the film’s most hilarious moment.   This is where Jackson gets to utter his signature ‘motherf*****’ phrase.  (Jackson utters this phrase in almost every movie he is in.)
The big question then is whether the film is any good.  CAPTAIN MARVEL has a very thin plot and a story that really does not mean anything despite saving the earth and Universe in some form or other.  The special effects and CGI take over, and the film establishes the woman CAPTAIN MARVEL as yet another action super hero – and a strong one at that.  So, the film achieves its aim of establishing CAPTAIN MARVEL in the Marvel Universe while making lots of money, but the answer to whether it is really any good is debatable.  But the film should bring 2019’s box-office, currently in the doldrums up several notches after the film debuts the first two weeks.  And audiences will flock to see these action hero films, even when they are plain awful like BATMAN V. SUPERMAN or AQUAMAN.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1BCujX3pw8

Film Review: WHAT WALAA WANTS (Canada 2018)

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , ,
What Walaa Wants Poster
Raised in a refugee camp in the West Bank, while her mother was in prison, Walaa is determined to survive basic training to become one of the few women on the Palestinian Security Forces – …See full summary »

Director:

Christy Garland

Waala is the pre-teen daughter of an imprisoned woman, jailed for 8 solid years for terrorist activities.  When the film opens, the mother’s house was entered during her arrest, one of the soldiers yelling at her: “You are not a mother, you are no one, you are shit!”

The mother is released 8 years later and reunited with her family, namely her 2 daughters  and the younger son.  The mother seems to have tamed down, but one daughter, Waala  appears full of sprite.  What does Waala want?  Waala is rebellious at school, creating mischief that could result in delinquency detention, but she now wants to become a police woman in the Palestinian Security Forces.  Toronto filmmaker Christy Garland follows Waala from the ages of 15 to 21.

WHAT WAALA WANTS has garnished rave reviews including being selected as Canada’s Top 10 films of the year.  This an example of a case where a film is praised for its subject rather than its merit, though it is clear that there is still considerable merit in the film despite glaring flaws.  This is also a woman’s film with a woman director and producer and subject with the aim of showing how a young female can defy formidable odds to get what she wants.

For one the film’s continuity comes into question right at the beginning.  When arrested, the woman answers ‘no’ to the question posed by the solder if she is a mother.  Why then is there a son and 2 daughters present at her release.  No details are given as to what the mother was arrested for, except that she intended to drive a suicide bomber to his target  but got caught before.  Not much of the political climate is explained as well.  The film assumes the audience familiar with the current situation.  The film also uncomfortably shifts its subject from the mother to the daughter.  

The conflict scene between mother and Walaa looks weird as the two are never shown in the same frame.  The segment loses its effectiveness.  Question is why the two were unable to be filmed together.

The film contains lengthy middle section showing the details of the rigours undergone by Walaa during boot camp Palestinian training.  This is the most watchable segment where director  shows that What Walaa wants is not so easily obtained.

The film’s seemingly misguided narrative amplifies the fact that director Garland is indecisive as to what the film’s real goal is.  At one point, it is a story of a family undergoing hardship.  Then it becomes one about a girl’s coming of age.  Or is it one about the rigours of boot camp training?  The film never questions the gravity of the mother’s crime.  For Garland, being imprisoned is the crime against her and her family.  Should the mother serve life sentence for being part of a terrorist act that could have killed dozens of innocent people?

Tough WHAT WAALA WANTS falls into the documentary category, it hardly feels like one.  It feels more like a fiction film based on true incidents.

So does Waala get what she wants in the end?  It does not take a genius to determine the answer.  Despite illustrating life of a Palestinian teen in hardship, director Garland has more sympathy for her heroine than she deserves in a film that could do with clearer direction.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psmv9pe6RmM

Film Review: RUBEN BRANDT, Collector (Hungary 2018) ***1/2

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
Ruben Brandt, Collector Poster
Trailer

A psychotherapist suffers violent nightmares inspired by legendary works of art. Four of his patients, expert thieves, offer to steal the works, since he believes that once he owns them, …See full summary »

Director:

Milorad Krstic

Writers:

Milorad Krstic (screenplay), Milorad Krstic | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Iván Kamarás, Gabriella Hámori, Zalán Makranczi

RUBEN BRANDT, COLLECTOR the film is so called as it is named after the two famed painters.  RUBEN BRANDT is one of the recent sprout of films on artists.

The film begins with a priceless fan stolen from the Louvre in Paris.  The backward somersaulting Mimi is the thief and an elaborate car chase takes place along the streets of Paris with Inspector Kowalski in pursuit.  The story is eventually revealed that Mimi is one of the patients of a psychotherapist who suffers from nightmares where famous paintings come to life (Velázquez’s Infanta Margarita or Boticelli’s Venus) to kill him.  His therapy theory is to own the problem and thus cure it.  He recruits his patients to steal the rare paintings that haunt him taking the audience  around the animated worlds of the famous museums of the Guggenheim to the Louvre to the Tate Modern.

The film’s animation is no Pixar or Disney but is of a different style that celebrates painters, particularly Picasso.  Many characters in the film have cuboid faces, with many containing three eyes or two mouths.  Director also loves to play with swaying shadows, giving his film a distinct artistic look.  The film contains a few scenes of graphic violence, acceptable as the target audience for the animated feature is adults and not children.

The spectacular car chase at the start of the film demands mention.  The chase is animated as if the camera was placed on the dashboard of a real car during the chase giving the sequence a realistic while stylistic look.  The background of the chase encompasses shops and lots of steps looking very much like typical Paris in a painting,

As with the T-shirt worn by one inconsequential person proclaiming “I Love Nothing”, the film contains a lot of ‘nothing’ humour.  These include the numerous innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of the car chase.  But the most notable of these nothings is a three-minute inconsequential sequence dedicated to a mosquito.  The camera shows the animated mosquito. looking very much like a real one,  drawing blood from the arm of Inspector Kowalski.  The mosquito is subsequently smashed and killed with his saying: “He was the first to draw blood.”  Not really a funny or meaningful segment by the director but by no means a less entertaining one.  Such are the film’s pleasures.

But the single and most hilarious scene is when the therapist conducts a session involving role playing around a fire.  Each patient is required to play the role with one complaining about having to play Little Red Riding Hood.  The therapist insists he plays her for his problem is being too timid and unable to relate in an office work situation.

The film has an amazing soundtrack that includes music and songs from American country and western to contemporary to classical.  There are lots of classic film references from Hitchcock to the director’s own short he directed.  Stay for the end credits as all the references are lists as well as all the paintings and painters where are the inspirations or lookalikes in the film are taken from.

For a 66-year old director whose first film is this stunning, one can only eagerly await for his next project.  This might surely be a Best Animated Best Feature Oscar nominee for next year.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWI9KvPaOEE

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

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
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

French auteur Gaspar Noé excited audiences with his first two films, the excellent CARNE and the sequel SEUL CONTRE TOUS which were both an hour or so long.  But Noé pushed the limits with ENTER THE VOID and IRREVERSIBLE and he continues to do so with his new film CLIMAX about a troupe of dancers on acid.

What can one do with a troupe of real dancers?  Noé proves that more than everything can be done.  His film can be divided into 5 parts – the interviews; the group dance; the mingling of the dancers; the individual dances; the sex that occurs after the acid takes effect and the climax (aftermath).   Even if all else fails, the dance choreography is so good, many done with one long take, that watching these dance segments is worth more than the ticket price.  I myself, would watch the film again just for the dance sequences.

The film begins with the dancers being interviewed by an unseen male and female interviewer.  This sequence takes about 15 minutes and the audience sees the obsession of the dancers. “Dance is everything.” “I will commit suicide if I cannot dance.”  “I would do anything to be able to dance in the troupe.”  To the last comment, Noé pursues the implications further, bringing light to the current sexual abuse in the entertainment industry, but with an intelligent difference.  The two dancers who make the identical last comment are probed further to the point that their sexual offers might be accepted.  Noé uses the males instead of the females to be accosted and the possible guilty party to be one male and one female.

The troupe’s dance number is nothing short of stunning.  Forget the dances in any other television show or dance movie.   This is the real thing – real dance from the streets, expertly choreographed by gifted dancers.

When the dancers start mingling, the audience discovers more about each individual, their sexual orientation, who each has the hots for and how one might be related to another.  This is the time the dancers take to the spiked sangria. The LSD (acid)  takes about a hour to take effect.

The film breaks out into dance again.  This time it is individual dance where each dancer is given the chance to perform solo.  Noé uses the overhead shot.  The camera displaced above and each dancer moves in a and then out of the spot, with the dance performance seen from a bird’s eye view.  It is uncommon to shoot dance numbers this way, but it is nevertheless inventive and effective.

The last two segments are not so easy to watch.  Once the dancers start to feel the effect of the drug, their emotions come loose and sex begins leading to the films climax which unfortunately is not so entertaining as the dance sequences.   Noé’s camera goes upside down with lighting going on and off so that not every scene can be deciphered clearly.

Noé never fails to shock and to push his filming limits.  CLIMAX shows Noé at one of his most effective, disturbing though not disgusting.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AuDB8pskGs

Film Review: HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (USA 2019) ***

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , , ,
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Poster
Trailer

When Hiccup discovers Toothless isn’t the only Night Fury, he must seek “The Hidden World”, a secret Dragon Utopia before a hired tyrant named Grimmel finds it first.

Director:

Dean DeBlois

Writers:

Dean DeBlois, Cressida Cowell (based upon the “How to Train Your Dragon” book series by)

Stars:

Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, F. Murray Abraham

Two years after the first sequel, Toothless the dragon and Hiccup the dragon trainer , along with their fellow dragon riders and friends, continue to rescue captured dragons in order to bring them back to Berk and create a bustling dragon and human utopia.  Unfortunately, their efforts have also resulted in the island becoming severely overpopulated with dragons. In a response to the overcrowding, Hiccup desires to find the “Hidden World”, a safe haven for dragons that his late father Stoick told him about.  Meanwhile, a white Fury dragon, held captive by warlords, is given to infamous dragon hunter Grimmel the Grisly as bait for him to capture Toothless for the warlords’ use as an alpha.

Toothless discovers the white Fury (dubbed a “Light Fury” by Astrid) in the woods and the two quickly become enchanted with each other until the Light Fury, sensing Hiccup’s nearby presence, flees. Hiccup and Tuffnut later discover Grimmel’s dragon traps in the area. Grimmel visits Hiccup that night, but Hiccup has prepared an ambush to capture him; Grimmel escapes, burning down Hiccup’s house and part of Berk in the process. In response, Hiccup rallies the citizens and dragons to leave Berk on a quest to find the Hidden World and safety from dragon hunters.

The rest of the plot is silliness and uninspired writing from director DuBlois.  There is the climatic fight between Grimmel and Hiccup while Fury and Toothless fall in love.  The Hidden World is now the place the dragons reside without their masters, now humans and dragons in their own worlds till the next sequel.

What is lacking in plot an story is more than made up by special effects and solid animation.  Often there is too much going on-screen than meets the eye.  The film is best seen in 3-D IMAX but the screening I saw was in normal 2-D.  Still the film looks stupendous.  The humour is only slight and could do with a lot more funnier.  The dialogue comes off as ‘cute and amusing’ at best.

Jay Baruchel does a good voice characterization as Hiccup as does F. Murray Abraham as the villain Grimmel.  But the best of all voices come from comedienne Kristen Wiig as the annoying Tuffnut.  The dragons do not speak so no voices from Toothless or Fury.  The filmmakers seem to oddly love the Vikings speaking with a Scots accent.

The film turns too romantic and sappy, especially with two twin romantic couples – Hiccup and Astrid and the dragons Toothless and Fury.  The dragon  matingis overextended and silly.  Worse still, the film goes on several years into the future when each couple show up complete with overcute offspring.

The film will likely take over the box-office #1 spot this weekend.  The film has already broken even making $175 million internationally at the time of writing, more than its $129 million budget and it has not even opened in North America.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYe7oMmCFr0

Film Review: EVERYBODY KNOWS (Todos lo Saben) (Spain/France/Italy 2018) ***

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
Todos lo saben Poster
Trailer

Laura, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her two children to attend her sister’s wedding. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open.

Director:

Asghar Farhadi

Writer:

Asghar Farhadi

Stars:

Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Ricardo Darín

Two time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi’s (A SEPARATION, THE PAST) latest and one of his weakest entries shows the Iranian director treading water in familiar territory.  The popular  saying ‘we have all see it before’ hails true.

A SEPARATION and THE PAST, Farhadi’s two best films shows family drama about broken relationships told in the form of a whodunit.  The opposite is recognizable in EVERYBODY KNOWS.  Who, close to the family planned the kidnapping of the teen daughter?  The kidnapping is an excuse for the family drama that unfolds which also reveals a skeleton in the closet for the audience but one that all the characters in the story already know – hence the film title EVERYBODY KNOWS.

The film begins with the arrival from Argentina to Spain of Laura (Penelope Cruz) and her two children for her sister’s wedding.  During the wedding, there is an electricity blackout during which teen daughter Irene (Carla Camra) is drugged and kidnapped.  The rest of the film functions as the whodunit until Irene is finally set free at the end of the film.

It turns out that a ransom is to be paid and Paco (Javier Barden), a family friend has the access of funds to pay the ransom.   The EVERYBODY KNOWS secret is that Paco and Laura had an affair in the past though Laura is married  now to Alejandro (Ricardo Darin) who is conveniently not around  so that the two can rekindle their past passions.  It also turns out that Irene is Paco’s daughter which serves more incentive for him to get the money to pay off the ransom.  There is even more unnecessary drama not entirely related to the plot.  Irene is a feisty girl who wants to elope with a handsome local teen.

Farhadi has gained the reputation of directing films in a language he cannot speak like Spanish in this Spanish entry or French in THE PAST.  This must surely not be an asset though the director has done pretty well in the past.  He now appears to glide through films in different countries like a tourist.  EVERYBODY KNOWS looks like a tourist ad for Spain with its sunny weather and gorgeous vineyards.

The film boasts stars Bardem and Cruz, a big boost for Farhadi as his films never had the privilege of such big internationally known stars before.  But Cruz is quite awful transforming from happy and cheery celebrating her sister’s wedding and reuniting with friends to worried and howling mother after her daughter is kidnapped.  Bardem fares better as the rough bohemian love interest.  (Cruz and Bardem are real life wife and husband.)

The film ends up more a successful family drama and less a satisfying whodunit.  The guilty kidnappers are revealed at the end, and they seem to get away with the deed while the poor victimized family continue to suffer.

The film opened the Cannes competition in 2018 and has so far received so-so favourable reviews from critics.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU3xV9ZRYlk

Film Review: ISN’T IT ROMANTIC (USA 2019) ***

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
Isn't It Romantic Poster
Trailer

A young woman disenchanted with love mysteriously finds herself trapped inside a romantic comedy.

Director:

Todd Strauss-Schulson

Writers:

Erin Cardillo (screenplay by), Dana Fox (screenplay by) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Adam Devine

ISN’T IT ROMANTIC? is a romantic comedy that is supposed to be a satire of romanic comedies.  High aspirations!  The film plunges its protagonist, Natalie (Rebel Wilson) an Australian architect living in New York City into an alternative universe of the romantic comedy.   After being mugged and bumping her head, Natalie now lives, while being aware, of this alternative PG-13 Universe with the running joke that the ‘f’ word cannot possibly be uttered.  She must escape every cliche in order to find love and live happily ever after.

Nat finds the most handsome client at the office (Liam Hemsworth) speaking Australian and falling in love with her.  Hemsworth is Australian, so for him speaking like an Aussie is no problem.  But Natalie realizes that she should be with her best friend (Adam Levine) who she had previously in her past life totally ignored.  Natalie decides to go all out to get him back.

Rebel Wilson is the slightly plump Aussie comedian that has been popping up in supporting roles in films of recent years.  She is mostly annoying than funny.  Wilson is at least tolerable in this film where she is given the main lead, turning annoying into over-endearing.  It is too obvious that she is the pitiful girl that the audience should pity and root for and in the end go head-on cheering for.

Strauss-Schulson’s film is however, not without its pleasures.  The film’s best segment tis a romantic musical number set in a Karaoke bar where Natalie shows up to the couple’s party with the full intent of stealing the groom.  They break up into an over-the-top kitsch that is unexpected and refreshing, sort of like when Rupert Everett broke out into the lip-synching song: in MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING.  A similar musical number at the film’s end however loses its punch, not being able to beat the Karaoke one.

ISN’T IT ROMANTIC? is described in the ads a a satirical fantasy film about romantic comedies.  A film is a satire if it tears its subject in this case the romantic comedy apart, disbelieving everything about it being true.  I generally do not consider romantic comedies as my favourite genre and I would love to see the concept of romantic comedies totally torn apart.  No such luck – ISN’T IT ROMANTIC, still falls into all the pratfalls of a rom-com.  It has a romantic happy ending, is fully predictable, the girl gets the guy she wants at the end and worst of all is filled with one cliche after another including the girl’s best friend being gay, the supportive girl’s best friend at work and a cutie pet at home.  Other examples: Natalie is passed over at work, is a decent human being and not a beauty and worst of all a bump on her head that shifts her romantic universe (the last film with this similar premise was  WHAT MEN WANT where a bump on the head gives the female protagonist the ability to hear men’s thoughts).  So there is nothing truly innovative about ISN’T IT ROMANTIC?  It has a premise that the script does not really know what to do with.  Isn’t it sad?

The film opens Wednesday in time for Valentine’s Day.

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

Film Review: 2019 Oscar Nominated Shorts (Animated) **** Highly Recommended

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Short Film Movie Review, Uncategorized ,

Oscar nominated shorts will be screened at the Bell Lightbox in Toronto from Feb 12th until Oscar Presentation Day – on February the 24th.  There are 3 categories – animated; live action and live action documentary.

Watching shorts is a real treat and less tiring than watching a full length feature. Plus, not knowing what these shorts are about, one will surely be in for a nice surprise as well.

One thing about this program of shorts is that most of the animated shorts will leave one teary-eyes.  And for a variety of reasons – joy, sadness, loss and pure beauty.  These are animation for adults that kids can also enjoy.  Total length of program around 70 minutes.

ANIMATED SHORTS:

Capsule Reviews:

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR (Canada) ****

Directed by Alison Snowden and David Fine

Five different animals meet with a canine therapist to discuss their inner angst and how to overcome it.  Among them is a praying mantis (who eats her partner after mating), an angry ape, a worm and a cat and a pig.  This animated shot moves fast and furious and is undoubtedly the craziest and most hilarious of all the shorts.  A bit of all over the place piece but one can forgive this fact if one laughs hard enough.

BOA (USA) ****

Directed by Domee Shi

This American production is from Disney/Pixar and will most likely be then that will win the coveted Oscar.  Set in Toronto, the animation is immediately recognizable from the subway train interior to the neighbourhood chinatown.  The story follows an aging Chinese mother suffering from empty nest syndrome.  One of her dumplings becomes her new son till it grows big and leaves hime.  BOA is a feel-good tearjerker that will definitely leave one in tears – but in a  good way.

LATE AFTERNOON (Ireland) ****
Directed by Louise Bagnall

An elderly woman Emily switches from the past and present memories in what could be Alzheimer’s.  A perfect excuse for the animator to have colours and images flow comfortably into each other resulting in a  very beautiful piece of animation.  Emily tries to piece together her life while trying too to remember what is going on at present.  Very sad and remarkably moving, LATE AFTERNOON is my favourite of all the animated shorts.

ONE SMALL STEP (USA/China) ***

Directed by Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas

This is a beautifully told animated tale of dreams coming true.  The protagonist is a little girl who lives with her shoemaker father.  She dreams of becoming an astronaut.  No wonder her name is Luna Chu.  The story unfolds from the point of view of the shoes that grow from kid’s spaceman boots to adult footwear.  Luna has problems in school, in sports but presses on till she eventually succeeds.  Teams can come true when one does not give up on them,

WEEKENDS (USA 2018) ***
Directed by Trevor Jimenez

Another animated short from the U.S. (besides BAO) in this program that is set in Toronto.  The CN Tower can be seen in the background.  On WEEKENDS, a young boy leaves his mother’s house to stay with his Japanese samurai loving father who then has custody,  The living conditions are very different.  The boy appears to enjoy both worlds.  The boy drifts into fantasy and dreams and ponders over his stay at both places together with their new partners his mother and father are dating.  Beautifully drawn and touching, WEEKENDS is a pleasure to watch.

Other shorts films shortlisted that will be screened:  

Wishing Box, dirs. Wenli Zhang and Nan Li, USA, 6 minutes, English  Tweet Tweet, dir. Zhanna Bekmambetova, Russia, 11 minutes, Language TK

Film Review: TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN (Canada 2018)

festreviews 2019 Movies, movie, Movie Review, Uncategorized , , , , , ,
Trouble in the Garden Poster
Trailer

Bailed out and taken in by a brother she hasn’t seen in years, an Indigenous protester and her adoptive family reckon with betrayal – of love, land, and blood.

Director:

Roz Owen

Writer:

Roz Owen

Stars:

Cara Gee, Jon Cor, Fiona Reid

The film is appropriately entitled TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN as retesting activist Raven also known as Pippa McTavish (Cara Gee) is camped on in a tent in the garden of her surety who bailed her out and who is under house arrest in his home.  Raven is trouble personified.

The film opens with Pippa arrested and jailed form protesting land development on disputed Indigenous land.  Arrested – McTavish.  A white man, Colin (Jon For) bails her out and she has to stay house arrest with his family.  The following scene has Colin putting up a real estate sign, as he sells houses under the name McTavish.  It is then revealed that Pippa is the adopted daughter and Colin the son of a white family.  Pippa was disowned by the father for the reason disclosed later in the film.

The script by Owen is a bit too over-the-top in its good intentions.  It is written for plenty of dramatic theatrics which means that there are too many incidents that are too coincidental to be believable.  Example of cliched dialogue: “They are white but they are fucked.  But they are the only family that I got.”

Another of the film’s problems is its feminism and radicalism.  Sure, the land of the Indigenous people have been stolen, but the white man is considered evil with no redemption whatsoever.  The script squeezes in a lot of key issues.  Among these include the fact that: the natives were never allowed and the government considered it a crime for them to hire lawyers till the 60’s to fight to gain back their stolen land – a point that would anger many Canadians besides the natives. One can imagine the anger of the Indigenous people over the stolen land – an issue that can never be resolved.  As the saying goes, why bring it to the courts?  Can one expect justice in stolen land?  

The script makes a twist to have the brother’s wife side with Raven. When Colin’s wife finds out about her husband Colin’s unfaithfulness to his sister, she storms out of the house and family. One would think her loyalty more to her family, especially when she is expecting a second child than side with Pippa who the audience learns has also upset Colin and the wife’s wedding reception.

Actors Gee and For are good and more worthy than the material they are given.  They commit to their confrontation scenes with conviction and bring enough drama to the film,.

Owen is a British born filmmaker now residing in Toronto.  She must have taken up the cause of the Indigenous people while maintaining her strong female saint in her filmmaking.  

The film boasts: Betrayal and reckoning – the issues that Raven will have to come to grips with, not to mention trying to reconcile with her brother and her well-intentioned adoptive parent.  These are too ambitious and too many issues that are never satisfactorily resolved in the 70 minute movie.

Trailer: https://www.landmarkcinemas.com/movie-trailers/trouble-in-the-garden-official-trailer/