gilbert seah

Film Review: MY GENERATION (UK 2017) ***

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My Generation Poster
Trailer

The cultural revolution that occurred in the 1960s England is explored in this documentary.

Director:

David Batty

Writers:

Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais

Stars:

David Bailey, Michael Caine, Joan Collins

“You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”  These are the unmistakable words that belong to actor Michael Caine, made more famous by Steve Coogan when he does his Michael Caine impersonation in Michael Winterbottom’s films THE TRIP and THE TRIP TO SPAIN.  These words are uttered and shown with the clip from Peter Collinson’s 1969 heist movie THE ITALIAN JOB the film MY GENERATION in this very entertaining documentary narrated by Caine himself begins.

The good old days.  This is a phrase many use but are these really the good old days.  Michael Cain questions the period of the 60’s – the period after the War, after the blitz and when food rations took effect.  With poverty, unemployment, are these really the good old times?  It takes the then generation, as Caine narrates to make a change.  Caine claims himself at the age of 33 then, to be the grandfather of that generation.

The title MY GENERATION is taken from the song by the English rock band The Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs.  The song was released in 1965 has been said to have “encapsulated the angst of being a teenager,” and has been characterized as a “nod to the mod counterculture”.

The doc is extremely watchable and entertaining for several reason, the foremost being the film references.  Everyone loves the movies, especially in the 60’s.  But as Caine narrates, the films were made on Dukes and Duchesses and the upper class, followed by a clip of a David Niven film with him wearing a top hat.  The film goes on to the David Lean’s classic BRIEF ENCOUNTER where the characters now speak as the working class English do.  This is the love story of the last meeting between Trevor Howard and Cilia Johnson, a film most film aficionados are familiar with.

Doc is revealed in acts.  Act 1: Something in the Air.  The song says it.  “We all have to get it together now!”  Act 2: I Feel Free. and Act 3: Always not what it Seems

The film’s best segment is the collection of montages of what is wrong with the world (the riots, the atomic bomb, the Vietnam War) played on screen to the tune of the Rolling Stones song “I can Get No satisfaction”.  Caine emphasizes the influence of bands of the 60’s – the Stones, the WHO and of course, the Beatles.

This is typical British school boy mentality.  When the old guard tells the boys not to do it, the boys always find away to do it.

MY GENERATION are the young of the 60’s.  They are the pop stars, the models, the photographers and Cockney at that.  Models given screen time include Jean Shrimpton and Twiggy shot by photographers like David Bailey.  The film attacks the class system particularly the upper classes.  While celebrating the young, Caine makes his point against drug use, that became rampant in the 60’s particularly marijuana and LSD.

Overall, MY GENERATION offers a good nostalgic look at the 60’s, particularly 60’s London.  Wonder if there would be making docs on the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s and if they do, who would be narrating?

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

Film Review: A STAR IS BORN (USA 2018) ***

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A Star Is Born Poster
Trailer

2:31 | Trailer
A musician helps a young singer and actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Director:

Bradley Cooper

Writers:

Eric Roth (screenplay by), Bradley Cooper (screenplay by) | 3 more credits »

Stars:

Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott

The third remake after the Judy Garland/James Mason and Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson entries, A STAR IS BORN, Academy Award Best Actor nominee Bradley Cooper’s

directorial and screenwriting debut arrives in Toronto for a commercial release right after great hype at both the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals.  Having high expectations, I was ultimately disappointed.  The film is good but not that good, falling into the trap of the typical failed romantic drama due to personal demons and artistic conflict – predictable storyline of personal conflict and over-staged drama.

The film opens with super singer Jackson Maine (Cooper) performing live at a huge concert.  It is an amazingly shot scene complete with a screaming crowd, astounding acoustics and musical performance, setting the stage for more outstanding performances to come.  And they thankfully are, whether performed by Jackson or his rising star, Ally (Lady Gaga).  But Jackson is clearly on a self destructive course.  He arrives at a bar after the opening concert, dropped off by his chauffeur.  He ends up in a drag bar (because Lady gag has the hit gay positive song, “Born This Way”) where he is impressed by Ally’s performance of La Vie En Rose.  Apparently she is so good, she is the only non drag performer allowed to sing there.  Jackson takes her home and this is the beginning of the relationship in which Jackson also grooms Ally to be a star.

The rest is history and the story almost everyone in the movies is aware off.  As Ally rises to fame, Jackson downward spirals into losing his.  Jackson also suffers from a hearing problem and has a rift with his older brother and manager (Sam Elliot, who is good but mumbles half his dialogue).

Cooper’s film captures the atmosphere of the rich and famous, from the parties, the glare of the spotlight, the attraction of fame as well as the pain that comes with it.

The main trouble is that it can safely be said that the audience has seen all this before -a star’s rise to fame, her lose of identity (clearly mentioned a few times to make its point) and conflict of interest.  Cooper’s film attempts to bridge the gap between having a solid relationship and a successful singing career   This does not happen.  One basically has to give up family life for musical fame.  This story is more effectively told in the gut wrenching documentary BAD REPUTATION, about the life and career of girl rock and roller Joan Jett, that coincidentally also opens this week.  BAD REPUTATION puts A STAR IS BORN to shame.  BAD REPUTATION is the real thing where Jett maintains her identity, ditches family life to launch a successful music career that audiences can root for an identify with.  A STAR IS BORN, unfortunately sinks into predictable melodrama  at many points.

The film also suffers from having two protagonists Jackson and Ally instead of just concentrating on Ally.  Cooper is ok, he has his star charm but it is Lady gaga that makes the movie.  She does not look anything like the Lady Gaga everyone is used to seeing and it is her that the audience sees that a real young and rising star is born.  Move over Madonna!

Still A STAR IS BORN will be well received by many as a love story that hovers between the shadow of tragedy and the bright light of artists at their peak as observed by many of the teary eyed audience (mainly females) who left the theatre at the promo screening.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPxGl3B2I4A

Film Review: BAD REPUTATION (USA 2018) ****

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Bad Reputation Poster
Trailer

Documentary about rock star Joan Jett.

Director:

Kevin Kerslake

Writer:

Joel Marcus

Stars:

Billie Joe Armstrong, Rodney Bingenheimer, Carianne Brinkman

BAD REPUTATION is a very appropriate title for the comprehensive documentary of Joan Jett of her former band the Runaways.  For one it is the title of a famous Joan Jett song and it is also the reputation that precedes girl rocker Joan Jett.

Director Kerslake makes the film more relevant by centring on the persecution the band faced being an all girl band.  When they fist performed, they were praised, but when they posed a challenge going on tour and cutting records, they were then called sluts.  Jett tackles the problem head on, talking about it.  She says Britain and Japan were more acceptable than the United States.  During interviews, she was always asked about the sex thing and she had to make sure it was always about the music.

They (The Runaways) initially toured and got no money.  They had to ask for food hamburger money.  Jett said that only in Japan were they starting to get paid. 

What makes this doc unique is the way it traces Jett’s maturity as a rock and roller.  When the Runaways started, they were 5 teenage girls, taking drugs and making songs.  Jett was initially shy but graduated to lead singer first performing as lead singer in London.  Jett also almost died from a heart infection while on tour. Her broken heart (from keeping the band together) ironically became literal.  And when the band broke up, no one really cared.  One has to give credit to a person who hung out with people like Sid Vicious and Nancy who died but she survived.

At best the film traces the difficulty of attaining success.  It is all in the marketing and believing in oneself.  As the film tracks the slow rise of the band (first moving from L.A. to New York with a wider network and the to Europe), the band’s soundtrack in the background of the footage makes the film’s point.

“Why don’t you get off my back?  Says Kenny Laguna, Jett’s best friend and manager at one point.  “Because it’s a lovely back.” replies Joan to which a more amicable response comes”: “Why don’t you lick it?”  The film devotes a fair amount of time between Jett and her manager, of course the person who has made a difference in her life and career.  Like marriage without the sex, like twins from different fathers.  These are words used to describe the relationship between Jett and Laguna.  The film’s funniest line is from her to Laguna when they disagree.  “Don’t show me that face!”

Just when the film begins to lag towards the last third, Kerslake lifts the doc up with Jett’s contribution to the Vietnam war.  She is anti-war and her discussions make so much sense.  “War is caused by the non-acceptance of difference religions.  If only there would be more curiosity instead.”  Mankind as a species has decided this was the way to go long ago.”  A bit of humour is also inserted as a fellow performer tells Jett, now head shaved, “I love the way you lift your arms when we can see the hair on your armpits and not on your head.”  The film turns inspirational and one cannot now help but admire Jett for what she stands for.

The only flaw of the film is its omission of Jett’s bad points.  Everyone has some.  Her drug use is only mentioned fleetingly and attributed to the immaturity of her teenage days.

Still the prize of the film are the recordings of her performances, especially on the big stage.  BAD REPUTATION establishes Joan Jett’s fantastic reputation as singer, songwriter and performer of a changing generation.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3FVyKa7gp8

Film Review: LIZZIE (USA 2017) ***1/2

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Lizzie Poster
Trailer

A psychological thriller based on the infamous 1892 murders of the Borden family.

Director:

Craig William Macneill

Writer:

Bryce Kass

Stars:

Kristen Stewart, Chloë Sevigny, Fiona Shaw

The name LIZZIE will sound familiar to many.  Even to kids, LIZZIE is a well-repeated nursery rhythm containing more sinister connotations.  LIZZIE is also the first name of Lizzie Borden who was accused but acquitted of the vicious hatchet murders of her stepmother and father.  The incident occurred in Fall River, Massachusetts in 1892.

Why would this dated biography be of interest to today’s audiences?  For one, Lizzie is alleged to be a lesbian and the script by Bryce Kass re-imagines Lizzie to be guilty of the heinous crime.  Lizzie is also highly abused by the male gender in a time where gay relationships were disallowed.  One scene has her uncle grabbing her by the throat threatening her. 

The film is bookended with the ghastly murder of a man hacked to death.  The guilt falls on the daughter Lizzie which the film sets to prove committed the deed despite her acquittal.

The film goes back 6 months with the arrival of a female at a three story house, obviously owned by a wealthy family.  The female is revealed to be Brigitte Sullivan (Kristen Stewart), a single Irish woman, who has come to live with the family and work as a live-in maid.  Lizzie, of the film title, is living with her wealthy father (Jamey Sheridan), stepmother (Fiona Shaw) and sister (Kim Dickens).  Her father is up to no good, while her stepmother silently enables.  Worst still, it seems that her uncle (Denis O’Hare) may end up controlling her inheritance.  Socially isolated, with her comings and goings strictly monitored, Lizzie finds solace in her pet pigeons. 

Brigitte works hard.  The patriarch of the family recognizes Brigitte’s hard work but his visits to her room prove him to be a sex abuser.  At the same time, Lizzie and Brigitte start an affair.

The script ups the angst with the father becoming more abusive towards Lizzie.  Lizzie also suffers from fits.

The film benefits from the creation of claustrophobia of the prison of the family home.  Lizzie is discouraged from going out and if allowed, must return by midnight.  The camera is quick to always show the high walls as if acting like imprisoning barriers.  When Lizzie does get to go out, she is attacked by society as the Borden family are cheap and disliked large house renters, still using candle light instead of the new electricity of the times.  The audience is made to feel that Lizzie has no way to escape psychically and emotionally.  Which drives her towards the act.

Whereas in real life Lizzie was acquitted for the fact that the jury could not imagine a woman performing such a violent act, the film shows otherwise with Lizzie hacking her father to death with repeated blows, and in the nude with blood splattered all over her body.  This shows director Macneill over-confident that he has convinced his audience believe that Lizzie is so desperate that she has nothing to lose (she would otherwise lose her inheritance as well as love for Brigitte) but to commit gruesome murder.

Performances are top-notch with Stewart getting away with her Irish accent. But the main star of the film is Noah Greenberg lush cinematography that captures the period atmosphere of the times and the claustrophobic imprisonment of the girls.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-QJ81-k6w8

Film Review: KNUCKLEBALL (Canada 2017) ***1/2

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Knuckleball Poster
Alone, and targeted on an isolated farm, 12 year old Henry finds himself at the center of a maelstrom of terror, and a dark family legacy, when his secretive grandfather dies suddenly in the night.

Director:

Michael Peterson

Writers:

Kevin Cockle, Michael Peterson |

Stars:

Michael Ironside, Munro Chambers, Luca Villacis

KNUCKLEBALL is a Canadian horror thriller set in the U.S. in the dead of a winter storm.  It is advertised as an R-rated HOME ALONE in which a 12-year old boy must defend himself against a house intruder, in this case not only a killer but a pedophile.

As far as the story goes, it is a straight out too well-thread thriller plot with a few nasty bits added in.  By co-writer Michael Peterson knows how to put on the suspense in this exercise in terror.  Peterson understands the mechanics of a Hitchcockian thriller and applies it at best he can.

The film begins with a husband and wife dropping their son, a 12-year old Henry at his grandfather’s out in the woods while they fly out of the city.  It is clear from the dialogue that the relationship of the couple is estranged, which as expected (cliches occur quite a bit in the story) will improve later on, once they realize their boy is in trouble and they cannot get to him because of the storm.  

As the plot goes, the grandfather unexpectedly dies in the night.  Henry finds himself cut off and alone on an isolated farm.  When his nearest neighbour, Dixon, realizes that the boy has no one to protect him, Henry becomes a target for reasons he cannot understand.  With his parents at least 24 hours from returning and a massive snowstorm brewing,  Henry retreats into the house and prepares for a siege, HOME ALONE-style but so much more brutally violent.  We are talking barbed-wire here.   What follows is a desperate battle for survival that will also unlock the terrifying connection between his family and the killer next door. 

As in true Hitchcockian fashion, the terror does not arrive immediately.  In Hitchcock’s THE BIRDS and also Spielberg’s JAWS, the first attack occurs only after half the movie has passed.  In KNUCKLEBALL, the grandfather is alive with Henry for the first 30 minutes, with the film tending towards simple drama/comedy instead of a thriller.  Grandfather dies in bed at the 30-minute mark.

Peterson’s film contains lots of segments  that prompts audience anticipation.  When grandfather teaches Henry how to throw a knuckleball, one knows that Henry will eventually use his new craft at his intruder.  There is one point that grandfather collapses from a heart attack while climbing the roof.  He screams and utters to himself: “Get up you old sap. Time to call it a day”.  

When Henry is alone with the intruder, a local cop is dispatched to the house.  No need to guess what happens to her – the same thing when a detective or cop is dispatched (Hitchcock’s PSYCHO) to a residence when the occupant is under siege happens here.

KNUCKLEBALL suffers from an all too familiar story.  But Peterson improves this story by an engaging first third and and scary other two thirds.  Peterson’s talent is his ability to draw his audience into the story which results in a very satisfying and absorbing be it ultra-violent thriller.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM-CpDkPOcM

Film Review: THE MAN WHO FEELS NO PAIN (India 2018) ***

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The Man Who Feels No Pain Poster
Trailer

Tells the story of a young boy Surya who has a rare condition of incognito sensitivity to pain meaning he can not feel pain, and sets out learn martial arts and hunt down muggers.

Director:

Vasan Bala

Stars:

Abhimanyu Dasani, Gulshan Devaiah, Radhika Madan

THE MAN WHO FEELS NO PAIN is the kind of action comedy that used to be so popular back in the 70s.  Everyone who went to these (the Bud Spencer and Terence Hill western comedies, the SABATA series and the later 90’s Stephen Chow films) know that they were not in to experience a cinematic classic but in for just silly fun.  These comedies made a lot of money but seemed to have disappeared from the screens till this Bollywood-infused martial-arts action film.

The film begins with a saying that mind blowing stories have their origin from bad decisions.  It then goes on to attempt to prove this by the life of a character than was born unable to feel pain.

The doctor explains to the audience the medical ailment called ‘congenial insensitivity to pain’ (jokingly also telling the audience that they can google it later), then that this young boy, Surya is born with this disability.  I did google the term and found out that there is indeed such a disease that has affected maybe only 20 people or so in history.  Many suffer because they might bite their lips or tongue or undergo no pain without realizing the harm they are causing their body parts.  

The film begins in flashback.  As a baby, Surya’s mother is killed, the result of a chain snatching incident.  His grandfather secretly trains Surya (Abhimanyu Dassani) by getting him a series of action videos cassettes like BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and STREETFIGHTER,  So he becomes the Karate Man.  The action involves him and a girl Supri (Radhika Madan) saving her one-legged karate master, Manni from his evil twin brother Jimmy (Culshan Devaiah playing both roles).  All the comedy and action high-jinx take place in the city of Mumbai, India – the birth place of director Bala.

Bala’s film moves breezily along and works very well bringing forth the laughs during the first hour or so.  It is during the second half that the film starts getting into trouble.  It is when the second story (and less interesting one) comes into play. The film is a lengthy 2 hour film, which is considered short for a typical Bollywood film.

At best, the film captures the Indian culture as the action comes along.  When Surya takes off on the roof of a building, it is comical to see dried chillies laid out in the sun for drying.   The grandfather and father are quite the clowns as well. The question “What has India learned from 70 years of independence?” is also comically posed.

Abhimanyu Dassani makes a good-looking, fit occasionally goofy-looking hero.  His kicking and punching look real enough to convey him a fighter to contend with.  The dance choreography and songs are not bad either.

THE MAN WHO FEELS NO PAIN premiered at this year’s Midnight Madness Section at the Toronto International Film Festival.  It won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Prize.  THE MAN WHO FEELS NO PAIN definitely succeeds as an action packed hilarious crowd-pleaser.

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

Full Review: ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH (Canada 2018) ***1/2

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Anthropocene: The Human Epoch Poster
Filmmakers travel to six continents and 20 countries to document the impact humans have made on the planet.

Directors:

Jennifer Baichwal, Edward Burtynsky | 

Writer:

Jennifer Baichwal

Star:

Alicia Vikander

ANTHROPOCENE – the current proposed geological epoch in which humans are the primary cause of permanent planetary change.

Filmmakers filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier return with their latest and third of their trilogy after MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES and WATERMARK, entitled ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH.  The doc, written by Baichwal and narrated by Swedish actress and Oscar winner Alicia Vikander is a disturbing doc that demands to be seen for it explores human’s impact on the Earth.  The term for this impact is terraframing – the resurfacing of land due to human needs.

Scientists believe that human beings have left the Holocene epoch (which started 11,700 years ago when the last ice age receded) and entered the Anthropocene (because humans 

now change the earth and its systems more than all other processes combined).  The film examines this awful age where the planet is altered for its worst.

Baichwal’s films are always stunning to look at, even when displaying the ugliness of the earth.  This is most evident with the landfill segment where the entire screen is composed to human garbage.  One can only imagine the stench of the place.

The film’s first scene is that of molten metal  The site on display is north of the Arctic Circle in what Baischwal describes as Russia’s most polluted city.  This is where the world’s largest metal smelting industry is located.  

Baichwal and her crew travel the world documenting evidence of human domination – from concrete seawalls that cover 60% of China’s mainland coast, to psychedelic potash mines in Russia’s Ural Mountains, to vast marble quarries in Italy, to surreal phosphate tailings ponds in Florida.  In each country, the voiceover is in the country’s languages (in English, Russian, Italian, German, Mandarin and Cantonese with English subtitles) so as to add to the segments’ authenticity.

Baichwal’s film provides a bit of distraction in the form of the segment on extinction.  She shows as well as educates on the extremely endangered species including the white cheek gibbon, the white rhinoceros, the Egyptian tortoise, the chicken frog and the okapi.  I never knew what a okapi was till now.

Baichwal does not provide solutions to the problems nor offers much hope to the saving of the planet.  Perhaps she hopes this document on film might serve the purpose.

Still, ANTHROPOCENE: THE HUMAN EPOCH is a spectacular film – Baichwal’s best of her trilogy.  She has spent an immense amount of time on research and travels resulting in this magnificent educational documentary.

The film is part of The Anthropocene Project that also comprises complementary exhibitions premiering simultaneously on September 28 at the Art Gallery of Ontario and National Gallery of Canada, new Burtynsky photographs, new film installations by Baichwal and de Pencier, experiences in augmented and virtual reality, a book published by Steidl, and education program.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44RYqgKwfSQ

Film Review: MANDY (USA 2017)

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Mandy Poster
Trailer

Mandy is set in the primal wilderness of 1983 where Red Miller, a broken and haunted man hunts an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life.

Directors:

Panos Cosmatos, Chris ‘Casper’ Kelly

Writers:

Panos Cosmatos, Aaron Stewart-Ahn | 

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache

MANDY a futuristic horror is director Panos Cosmatos second feature after his ultra-pretentious futuristic drama that I absolutely hated THE BLACK RAINBOW.  RAINBOW was exceptionally slow moving, like the beginning of MANDY as if the director wanted everyone to remember the comatose, rhyming with his last name.  Panos is the son of Greek director George Pan Cosmatos, whose films I also generally dislike.  His most successful film is one I hated THE CASSANDRA CROSSING that starred Sophia Loren.

Panos Cosmatos reaches one step higher in MANDY that it has well-known actors Linus Roache (PRIEST, THE WINSLOW BOY) and Nicolas Cage.

MANDY begins really slowly, so one must be fully attentive as it is easy to doze off.  Consider the inane dialogue.  “Are you ok?”  “I am not ok.”  “Is it my fault?”  “it is totally your fault.”  The dialogue goes on and on without making much sense.  

Cosmatos’ horror movie MANDY pals like an art house horror flick.  Art and horror do not not go well together, as this exercise and Cosmatos’ devious film THE BLACK RAINBOW have proven.

The film is set in at futuristic looking 1983. But this story is a little more steeped in demonic myth than microchips.  

 Red Miller (Cage) lives with his enamored girlfriend, artist Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough), in a cabin near the lake. Red works as a logger, while Mandy has a day job as a cashier at a nearby gas station in the woods. She creates elaborate fantasy art, and Red admires her work greatly. They lead a quiet and reclusive life, and their conversations and behaviour hint at a difficult past and psychological hardship. Red appears to be a recovering alcoholic, and Mandy recounts traumatic childhood experiences.

The film shifts to a weird guy (Ned Dennehy) lying on a bed yelling at his mother , Mother Marene (Olwen Fouere) (with the inane dialogue above)  followed by his brother assuring him “consider it done” to a request he has made.  The film then follows Brother Swan as he tries to kidnap Mandy with the help of the Black Skulls, a demonic biker gang with a taste for human flesh and a viscous, highly potent form of LSD.  Red Miller saves the day.  Watch out for the duel the chainsaws.

Cosmatos loves to play with visuals.  A lot of his scenes are coloured bright red and accompanied with a thundering soundtrack like from an electric guitar.

MANDY’s story is incredibly difficult to follow and really frustrate got try.

Nicolas Cage appears only after nearly half the movie has transpired.  Once he appears everything picks up.  He is at one point stabbed with a sharp knife through his sides with a crazy woman yelling: “Now you will legalize the the cleansing power of fire.”  Cage is so over the top, he adds the campiness that is seriously needed to life the film’s dreariness.

MANDY is not for everyone and it is also safe it is not for many.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI054ow6KJk

Film Review: LOVE, GILDA (USA 2018)

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Love Gilda Poster
Trailer

In her own words, comedienne Gilda Radner looks back and reflects on her life and career. Weaving together recently discovered audiotapes, interviews with her friends, rare home movies and … See full summary »

Director:

Lisa Dapolito

Stars:

Andrew Alexander, Anne Beatts, Chevy Chase |

LOVE, GILDA is a documentary which as its title implies, a loving tribute to the late comedian Gilda Radner who passed away a decade or so ago from ovarian cancer,

D’Aplolito’s documentary is exactly what one would expect of what homages do – interviews from close firms and family, detail of the subject’s youth and influence, the rise to fame, the subject’s talent and perhaps some faults may it be alcohol or drug use.  This is the reason the doc is so unimpressive. There are no surprises.  In fact, none of Gilda’s flaws are mentioned.  One can either assume she did not use any or she did and the point left out.  It should be noted that Gilda hung around John Belushi in SNL, a heavy drug and alcohol user.  Belushi died from a drug concoction of heroine and cocaine.

The film traces Gilda’s influence coming from being inspired by Charles Chaplin and Lucille Ball (the doc includes a few short clips of Chaplin and Ball).  Gilda grew up with naturally born talent, first amusing her father when he came home from work.  Sadly he left her at the tender age of 14.  D’Aplolito provides a glimpse of her dad coming out of a swimming pool.

The multi-talented writer, singer and performer first shone at the Second City comedy club in Toronto.  She was an original cast member of Saturday Night Live (SNL), creating characters like personal advice expert Roseanne Roseannadanna and reporter Baba Wawa.  She performed her one woman Broadway show to rapturous audiences and left a modest mark on the movies with roles opposite her second husband Gene Wilder in the likes of Hanky Panky (1982) and The Woman In Red (1984).  The doc also mentioned her big flop comedy directed by starring her and Wilder, HAUNTED HONEYMOON.

The interviewees in the doc include her brother and other close friends.  Current SNL performers like Bill Hader, Melissa McCarthy and Amy Poehler also have they say.  There is quite a bit of archive footage with Gene Wilder, who the doc is quick to mention is not a comic but an actor in comedies.

But for a doc about such a lively artist, the doc does not match her spirit.  Her comedic routines on display are not her best and do not elicit laugh-out laughs.  They are mildly humorous at best.  This is best described to be similar to an SNL episode – a ht or miss, as in the case of many of the SNL’s skits.

So what did Radner contribute to the human race?  The doc is quick to point out that Radner made jokes out of her cancer.  There is a funny bit with her and Gary Shandling on the topic. Radner was unafraid of pushing the limits of her humour.

It is hard to fault D’Aplolito’s doc on Gilda Radner.  But one would have expected something more biting and funnier.  In the end, the doc creates a sadder cloud over the talented comedienne.  Death was always her enemy – taking away her loving after at the age of 14 and also taking her away at the early age of only 43.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B44XRFotuo

Film Review: THE WIFE (USA 2018) ***1/2

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The Wife Poster
Trailer

A wife questions her life choices as she travels to Stockholm with her husband, where he is slated to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature.

Director:

Björn Runge

Writers:

Jane Anderson (screenplay by), Meg Wolitzer (based on the novel “The Wife” by)

Stars:

Christian Slater, Elizabeth McGovern, Max Irons

THE WIFE is the story of the neglected long-suffering wife, Joan (Glenn Close) who when he film opens learns that her husband Joe Castleman (Jonathan Pryce) is to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his body of work.  

Both travel to Stockholm with son in tow.  But secrets soon surface.  As they say, behind the success of every man is a woman.  It turns out that Joan is the secret of Joe’s success.  She is the one actually writing all the books with the husband Joe claiming all the victory.  When Joe gets all smug about it, and worst still begins making advances to a female photographer, Joan finally loses it – with the husband’s pride, insincerely and dishonesty.

The story also flashes back to the 1950s when Joan (played by Close’s real-life daughter Annie Starke) was an eager student and Joe (Harry Lloyd) was a then married creative writing professor – and to the 1960s when Joan got a job at a publishing house.  Although Joan herself had writing ambitions in those days, a caustic encounter with a failed novelist (Elizabeth McGovern in an extremely effective and amusing cameo) warned of the obscurity awaiting the “lady writer” no matter how talented.  Her words determine Joan’s ultimate fate in life.  It is not that a writer needs to write.  A writer needs to be read.  A woman’s work, no matter how good will never be read.

A film about writers and this one about a Nobel Prize winner for Literature at that is expected to have exceptional writing.  Jane Anderson’s script achieves this but blows it in one unfortunate scene.  At best, the script reveals only bits of the wife’s secrets at a time, whetting the audience’s appetite for more in terms of anticipation.  Some of the best script involve unwritten dialogue.  When a tragic event occurs in the film (not  to be revealed as a spoiler), Joan’s sad face is shown but with no tears, the only water shown in images on each side of the frame.  But Anderson’s script blows it in the introduction speech when Joe is given the Noble Prize during the ceremony.  The phrase “most importantly,” is used.  Not only is this phrase considered incorrect grammar  by many, this phrase was only used in the last 5 years or so in North America and therefor never in the 1990’s (the film’s setting) and certainly not in a European city like Stockholm.

The script’s best line is uttered by Joe: “There is nothing worse than a writer with feelings that have been hurt.”  Yet Joe does not realize the truth in his words.  He has committed the offence twice in not acknowledging his son’s work and more important, his wife’s literary contribution.  The husband and wife’s final confrontation is also well written and well acted out.

Glenn Close is an exceptional actress who has been nominated six times for an Oscar.  She delivers a brilliantly understated performance a kind of reversal FATAL ATTRACTION that should finally garnish her the Oscar she deserves.  If her character, Joan never won any award, lets hope that this would be an example of life not imitating art.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d81IM0loH7o