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Film Review: POOP TALK (USA 2017)

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Poop Talk Poster

Director:

Aaron N. Feldman

Writer:

Aaron N. Feldman

Stars:

Steve Agee, Dr. Joel Brown, Nicole Byer

 

POOP TALK or in other words, SHIT TALK is a comedy doc that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year that luckily got picked up for distribution.  It is an hour and a quarter documentary about shit, if one can take it.  At least the doc takes a humorous look at it, as seen primarily from the point of view from a wide selection of stand-up comedians. “If I had one wish only from a genie, it would be that I would never have to shit,” jokes one comic at the film’s introduction.   A few shit experts (Dr. Joel Brown and Dr. John Vainder as themselves) also have their say, if that means anything.  The film aims  at giving an inside look at all things poop — from uncensored, embarrassing moments to scientific explanations recounted by 50 experts and comedians

Most of the comedians are not too famous, that majority of them unheard of, though that does not mean that they are not funny.  The one appearing most might be familiar with would be Kumail Nanjiani who also starred in his recent hit romantic comedy THE BIG SICK.

If the film is about to run short of material and begins to drag, director Feldman is quick enough to insert segments from the comics about poop that will guarantee at least a laugh or two.

Among the film’s funnier stand-up comic moments are the ones in which a female describes how she flooded the toilet and her friend’s bathroom ending up with her poop splashing on her mother’s face and the other where a dwarf comedian describes his experience pooping in a public toilet with the lights shut off.

Ironically, I am writing this review in Cuba when my partner is having traveller’s diarrhoea.  He has had the runs at least 5 times in the last half hour last evening, and has to be taken to the hospital.  But this is another story.  Another poop story.

Do not expect major insights, even on poop from this doc.  Feldman offers doses about poop in Africa, Russia and a few other foreign countries.  Mildly funny, at best!

The film also talk about different types of toilets like the squat toilets, especially in India.   All Pakistani bathrooms for example, there are washers for washing poop.  There a lot of funny stories about shit in other countries, but India has the funniest ones.

The most public place one has pooped in?  there is a segment in the film about this.  At the beach?  In the sea?

The psychology of shit?  The film has comedians talk about not shitting in public.  And the best is shitting on cocaine. Those in the know, know how much smellier poop can smell after snorting a line.

The most disgusting (or funny) is King kong Bundy the wrestler , 6 foot foot five 400 pounds tang a shit.

For all that is worth, POOP TALK does its best on the topic, despite the subject’s limitations.  Sadly though, this is not enough of a full length documentary.  The film also lacks a solid climax.  POOP TALK is an ok small movie, maybe to watch on the small screen, unless one want to spend extra bucks for shit.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pBWbjxVEoI

 

 

 

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Film Review: AVA (Iran/Canada/Qatar 2017)

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Ava Poster
The life of a high school girl in Iran becomes more complicated after her mother catches her in an act of rebellion.

Director:

Sadaf Foroughi

Writer:

Sadaf Foroughi

Stars:

Vahid Aghapoor, Parnian Akhtari, Sarah Alimoradi

 

AVA is not to be confused with the other film AVA, the French film directed Lea Mysius that won a prestigious Cannes prize about a 13-year old discovering sex before going blind.  Both films coincidentally have young female protagonists.

What is a Persian high school female teen to do?  Everything she does is criticized and looked own upon.  Her mother (Bahar Noohian) is constantly on her case as are her teachers at school and even her friends when she goes on about dating boys.  Ava (Mahour Jabbari) would be considered a normal girl in the western world with her behaviour that would not be tolerated in the Persian world.

AVA is a critically acclaimed Canadian co-production shot in Iran that screened in the Discovery section at the 42nd Toronto International Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Discovery Prize and received an Honourable Mention for Best Canadian First Feature Film. 

Writer/director Sadaf Foroughi ups the angst when Ava discovers that her parents were not so innocent either.  When Ava learns that her parents were once flagrant rule breakers themselves, she begins to rebel against the very foundations of her society. 

Surprisingly, Ava’s father (Vahid Aghapoor) is more tolerant and director Forough shows that Ava’s problems comes mainly from the females and not the males.  It is a cycle in society that has been so established that change is almost impossible.

The film slags a bit in the middle with what seems to be a shortage of material.  The film’s segments are the ones where mother and daughter argue it out, no holds barred.  They use every means possible to win their arguments including personal hidden secrets.  Director Foroughi clearly wishes the audience take the daughter’s side but actress Baba Noohian is so good as the mother, that her argumentative points gets the audience’s sympathy.  Father is always only in the background until the film’s climax.

AVA also reveals what an all girls school system is like (assuming what is shown is authentic).  As expected the headmistress is an anal retentive authoritarian (or bitch to be more direct) who has no sympathy for Ava and no clue on the restlessness of the youth under her care.

AVA masterfully demonstrates how a culture of authority can force denial and detachment, particularly among young women during their formative yet vulnerable high school years.  A small but important yet impressive first feature!  The film builds to an exciting and effective climax.

AVA is the film that sparked a bit of controversy at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival when its Iranian actors were denied entry to Canada for the purpose of promoting the film.  Immigration Canada responded to say that the would-be visitors failed to meet the requirement standards.

AVA is currently playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox for a week, limited engagement as part of Canada’s Top 10 Films of the year.  Worth a visit for sure!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rF9pDPmF3is

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Film Review: BLACK HOLLOW CAGE (Spain 2017)

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Black Hollow Cage Poster
A girl who lives secluded in a house in the woods with the only company of her father and a wolfhound finds among the trees a mysterious cubic device with the ability to change the past.

Director:

Sadrac González-Perellón (as Sadrac González)

Writers:

Sadrac González-Perellón (story) (as Sadrac González),Sadrac González-Perellón (as Sadrac González)

Stars:

Julian Nicholson, Daniel M. Jacobs, Lowena McDonell

It is strange enough that this low budget stylish Spanish horror suspense thriller that cost 1.5 million euros to make got distribution here while many Canadian features do not.  The plot is even stranger.

The story unfolds in Chapters that last approximately 20 – 25 minutes each.  The first Chapter is called the Cube.  A girl, 13-year old Alice (Lowena McDonell) lives secluded in a house in the woods with the only company of her father (Julian Nicholson) and a wolfhound finds among the trees a mysterious cubic device with the ability to change the past.  She can also lie inside the cube that can open and close.  The wolfhound can speak using a device tied around her neck.  Alice converses to her as if the dog was her mother, which her father denies it to be.  Whether or not the fact is true, the wolfhound offers advice to Alice throughout the film.

Writer/director González-Perellón’s film opens at a snail’s pace.   It requires of the audience a lot of patience, also because not much sense can be made of the plot.  Many questions are posed at the start:  Why does Alice despise her father?  Why does she have a prosthetic (bionic) arm?  Why are they living in a modern accommodation right in the middle of the woods?  What is their past?

Just before any of these puzzles can be solved, Chapter 2 appears entitled The Strangers.  Two strangers arrive, a teen girl, Erika (Haydee Lysander) beaten up and her mute brother, Paul (Marc Puiggener).  Again, more questions are posed with their arrival:  Who are they?  Where do they come from?  Why is Erika all bruised?  To complicate matters, father has a crush on Erika and invokes Alice’s anger when he strokes her hair in from of the dog, that Alice still insists is her mother.

González-Perellón ups the angst with the third chapter called The Listening.  The cube (that opens) instructs Alice to listen to her headphones in front of a black clock at 4 o’clock.  Which she does.  She is told to let her father out of the house, to kill Paul, and then her sister.  She refuses to succumb to the instructions but later, as the cube can change the past, decides to kill Paul… with disastrous results that lead the film to its climax.  There is another chapter.

To González-Perellón’s credit, the film does keep the audience guessing as to what is it that all the events are about.  When the explanations are revealed, the result is disappointing as the explanations make no sense. except for some excuse to create an adventure around a modern house in the woods. 

Going back to the first paragraph of the review, the strangest of it all is after watching the entire film is the realization that BLACK HOLLOW CAGE is one nasty, pointless violent little film that is a waste of time.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yebYCgFzvG8

 

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Film Review: UNA MUJER FANTASTICO (A FANTASTIC WOMAN ) (Chile 2017) ***1/2

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A Fantastic Woman Poster
Trailer

Marina, a waitress who moonlights as a nightclub singer, is bowled over by the death of her older boyfriend.

Director:

Sebastián Lelio

Writers:

Sebastián Lelio (screenplay), Gonzalo Maza (screenplay)

Stars:

Daniela Vega, Francisco Reyes, Luis Gnecco

 

Chilean director Sebastián Lelio broke into the international film scene with his Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee GLORIA back in 2013.  His latest hit, already critically acclaimed since its debut at Cannes also deals with a female protagonist, actually a transgender heroine, played astonishingly by Daniela Vega.  If she had been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar she will make headlines as the first transgender to get nominated in the Best Actress Oscar category.  Lelio’s camera loves her.  And she is very good in the role too.  And very beautiful!

A FANTASTIC WOMAN is the portrait of a woman adrift.  Marina (Vega), the FANTASTIC WOMAN of the title is beautiful, enigmatic, and plunged into a precarious situation after her older boyfriend dies unexpectedly in her company.  Her world is turned upside down.  She has to come to terms not only of her loss but with the horrid prejudice of his family.

Fifty-seven-year-old divorcé Orlando (Francisco Reyes) wakes in the middle of the night, suffers an aneurism, and falls down some stairs.  He sustains injuries that will come to haunt Marina after she takes him to the hospital and attempts to slip away before authorities and family members begin prying. 

Marina knows she’s regarded with suspicion for her youth, class, and, above all, gender status.   She experiences the viciousness of Orlando’s son, the cold-heartedness of Orlando’s ex-wife, and the intrusiveness of a detective from the Sexual Offences Investigation Unit force Marina to not only clear her name, but also to demand the very thing no one seems willing to give her: respect.  The saddest segment is when she is denied the human right to say goodbye to the dead Orlando.  She is chased out of the funeral church service by her family.

The events are also put into a different perspective from Marina’s sister and her husband, who reluctantly but finally offer to help.  At least they realize that it is the right thing to do.

The film is shot in Santiago, though the tourist sights are not seen.  The film is accompanied by sombre music when it needs to and uplifting music at other times.

Lelio’s film contains both disturbing scenes and scenes of elation.  The ones most difficult to watch are understandably those involving abuse to Marina.  Marina is picked up and forced into a car by Orlando’s brother and family, beaten, taped up and then tossed out of the car.  Marina at one point, goes dancing to forget her troubles.  In a fantasy sequence, she dances wearing a sparkling top together with those dancing around her.  Marina finally sums up her courage to do what is right – to see her lover, Orlando one last time before he is cremated.

A FANTASTIC WOMAN is both a sad and uplifting film that illustrates the old adage that something that will not kill you will make you stronger.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgDhpy9Z-NM

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Film Review: ENTANGLEMENT (Canada 2017)

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Entanglement Poster
Trailer

While recovering from a suicide attempt, Ben Layton accidentally falls in love with a girl who was very nearly, almost his sister – and then things start to get weird.

Director:

Jason James

Writer:

Jason Filiatrault

Stars:

Thomas Middleditch, Jess Weixler, Johannah Newmarch

 

ENTANGLEMENT plays on the subject of Quantum Entanglement, which is the reason the film subject, Ben Layten’s (Thomas Middleditch) has fallen apart –  mentally.

Quantum entanglement (as in Physics) is described as the physical phenomenon that occurs when pairs or groups of particles are generated or interact in ways such that the quantum state of each particle cannot be described independently of the others, even when the particles are separated by a large distance.  The pair in this case is Ben and his almost adopted sister, Hanna Weathers (Jess Weixler).  Ben’s parents were ready to adopt Hanna as a baby.  Hanna arrived the very same day Ben’s mother discovered she was pregnant with ben and therefore unable to adopt.  Ben concluded that his life would have been different and therefore meeting her now would have resulted in a correction in the path of his life.

As far as theories go, this is both an interesting and credible one.  Feeling that this is the key to his happiness, Ben sets out to find her only to learn that it is the woman he met earlier named Hanna Weathers. Through constant visitations with her,  Ben falls in love with her and learns that life and love is far more complicated than he thought.

It is difficult to root for a loser like Ben.  Ben is not only a recent divorcee, but leads a miserable, jobless life.   He has made a few unsuccessful suicide attempts, though a good thing coming from this is his befriending of his sarcastic, yet helpful neighbour Tabby Song (Diana Bang).  Writer/director Jason James pulls a few surprises in his plot.  To see Ben slowly emerging victorious from the doldrums, though is uplifting for the audience.

The problem with ENTANGLEMENT is that the film is just not serious or funny enough (Ben trying to electrocute himself in the bath but forgetting to plug it in; slitting his wrists but then having to answer the door bell) in the material’s treatment.  Ben’s unsuccessful suicide attempts cold have been funnier or insightful.  The decision to make Hanna totally a character that conforms to Ben’s wishes and then have Ben snap out of his problems is a bitt of a cop-out.

ENTANGLEMENT does contain a few good scenes like the confrontation segments where Ben’s mother angrily tells Ben that he has no right to turn out the way he did.  The confrontation segment between Ben and Tabby seems to go along too similar lines.

From the cast of relative unknown actors, Marilyn Norry does best as Ben’s conflicted mother.  Thomas Middleditch, the lead isn’t bad either, his look and stature resembling the nature of his character.

Running only at 82 minutes, Jason James’ debut feature is not without its charms. ENTANGLEMENT could have turned out as the best feel-good movie of the year if done right.  Life could be seen as a whole lot of surprises and good events instead of the negatives.  James’ film instead plods along towards a boring finish.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMMWSu3AjJo

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Film Review: FAKE BLOOD (Canada 2017)

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Fake Blood Poster
Rob Grant and Mike Kovac receive a disturbing fan video inspired by their previous horror movie Mon Ami, motivating them to investigate the responsibility of filmmakers in portraying …See full summary »

Director:

Rob Grant

Writers:

Rob Grant, Mike Kovac | 

Stars:

Chelsey Reist, Mike Kovac, Jacqueline Breakwell

 

If a filmmaker made a few films no one really wanted to see then made a documentary about those films no one wanted to see?  This is exactly the case of Rob Grant’s FAKE BLOOD.  After making the little seen low budget horror flicks, YESTERDAY and MON AMI, writer/director Rob Grant and his actor buddy, Mike Kovac receive a disturbing fan video inspired by their previous horror movie Mon Ami, motivating them to make a documentary investigating the responsibility of filmmakers in portraying violence in movies.  In their so-called pursuit of the truth they are unwittingly introduced to the real world of violent criminals and their victims.

The question is whether the duo provides any insight on the portrayal of violence in movies.  The answer is a clear no.  This can be observed by the unchallenging and made-up-interview-questions-as-they-go-along during the interviews.  Grant and Kovac spend half the time explaining the pathetic reason for making the doc to the interviewees who end up in all cases milking the duo for some money to speak on camera.  

The question on the filmmakers responsibility on violence is already answered by Grant early into the movie.  His answer is that the filmmakers job is to entertain.  No one really bothers, or cares, whether the violence or a killing is accurate.  In many cases, they go an extreme lengths to seek out individuals who have seen violence or real fights.  I do not see the difficulty here, as I have seen real fights and violence (though not a killing) first hand.  And the interviewed do not provide any fresh information either.

A point to note is that the film makes no disclaimer that it is bot based on any true or real characters.  This, implies of course, that what is seen on the screen is real, but there is no real proof, just supposition.  There is no film governing board that checks this.

Another glaring problem of FAKE BLOOD is whether what is documented is true or false.  The killer interviewed on film is played by an actor and what he says could have been real or made up, no one knows.  The film plays with a bit of comedy, but the apparent seriousness of the matter excludes it from being classified a mockumentary, which means that the film could be entire fiction, but just made documentary style for it to classify a documentary.  An example is the 2005 British film BROTHERS OF THE HEAD by directors Keith Fulton, Louis Pepe that plays like a real serious documentary only that the Siamese twins never existed in real life.

But ultimately, what transpired on screen in uninteresting and boring.  Grant tackles a minor subject that really dos not impact anybody.  Does anyone really imitate the violence on screen?  Even if they do, it is hard to prove (interviewing a few killers will never prove anything conclusive) and violence in real life will always be there, regardless.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTit5tJ5XYM

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Film Review: SEBASTIAN (Canada 2017)

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Sebastian Poster
Starring James Fanizza, Alex House and Katya from RuPaul’s Drag Race (Brian McCook). Alex and Sebastian meet one fateful evening and it’s love at first sight.

Director:

James Fanizza

Writer:

James Fanizza

Stars:

Alex House, James Fanizza, Katya Zamolodchikova

SEBASTIAN is the new gay romance film written and directed by James Fanizza, an expansion of his short film in 2014 which he wrote but did not direct.  The film had its premiere at last year’s INSIDE OUT LGBT Film Festival and finally gets a commercial release.  The film is not to be confused with Derek Jarman’s 1976 SEBASTIANE or the Dirk Bogarde 1968 film romance SEBASTIAN.

When the film begins, Alex (James Fanizza) is introduced to his boyfriend, Nelson’s (Guifré Bantjes-Rafols) cousin, SEBASTIAN (Alex House) from Buenos Aires, Argentina.   From the way Alex and Sebastian eye each other, one knows it is just a matter of time when they get into bed together.  Which they do.

The question is then: “Is it ok for one to sleep with ones boyfriend’s cousin?”  Or rather: “Is it ok to sleep with your cousin’s boyfriend?”  Either way, it does not look like a good idea.  Especially in the Latino culture, as Sebastian says at one point in the film only to be corrected by Alex:  “…. or in any other culture.”  So, Fanizza puts in the excuse that the relationship between Alex and Nelson is not going on too well.

Fanizza’s gay romance goes through all the motions of a gay romantic comedy.  Do not expect any new revelations or insight.  The two leads are attractive hunky and the sex scenes are executed tastefully with no nastiness.

One can tell that the original short film has been padded to make a feature length film.  There is dialogue taking time where the two discuss their favourite food or favourite colour.  Their family background is also brought in, with Sebastian haven gay coming-out problems with his mother in Argentina.  The aunt he is staying with is accepting and pleasant enough.  Other time-wasters: Sebastian buys Alex a record.  No time to hear it that night?  Hear it the night after.  The two attend a show put on my a friend of Alex.

It turns out the padded show is quite so entertaining.   The drag show is performed by a campy Xenia (Katya Zamolodchikova).  The dance beats at the club are catchy and other drag performers (from RuPaul’s Drag Race) are also a pleasure to watch.  Queer culture has seldom been represented to be so much fun!  Katya steals every scene he/she is in whether in drag or in man’s attire.  Fanizza also gives Xenia the best lines: “Alex has a problem.  He is a pussy.” 

Fanizza is a graduate from York University, Toronto and an actor. He is immediately recognizable from a commercial (I cannot remember which one) which is currently playing on TV.  Alex House looks like a young Roy Depuis and is good enough in his undemanding role.

SEBASTIAN is an ok gay movie that is entertaining enough.  Just sit back and relax to the light gay romantic comedy.  It would be interesting to see the short version of SEBASTIAN as well.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQqJVy-Urmg

Film Review: MONOLITH (Italy 2016) ***1/2

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Monolith Poster
A mother and her son plan a surprise visit to Los Angeles to see her husband/his father. Halfway there they get into a terrible accident in the middle of nowhere and now must fight to survive.

Director:

Ivan Silvestrini

Writers:

Elena Bucaccio (screenplay), Roberto Recchioni (story) |3 more credits »

Stars:

Katrina Bowden, Jay Hayden, Brandon W. Jones

MONOLITH is an effective thrilling Italian entertainer made for Sky Pictures.  Director Ivan Silverstrini loves and as well as knows how to tease his audience.

This, Silverstrini does at the start of the film.  The MONOLITH car is explained, a 4 by 4 all terrain vehicle that can self-drive and enter into armour mode.  The car is absolutely modern and protective but these features eventually cause deadly problems to Sandra. The car is so well explained that the film could pass off as a real documentary.  (The narration at the start:  With the MONOLITH, we introduce a car in the safest possible environment…). The film shifts gradually to horror mode.

The plot involves the safest car in the world turning into a death trap when Sandra (Katrina Bowden) and her son get into a car accident in the middle of  a scorching desert. With her son gets trapped inside a car known for being bullet-proof, Sandra must fight to save him.

Silverstrini plays with the background in many instances.  The first is observed when Sandra is video calling her husband and there is a knock on the door of the husband’s room.  The audience never sees who is at the husband’s door and the audience hopes of course he is not cheating on Sandra.  The person is never revealed.  Another has her toddler son suddenly gone missing after a stop at a convenience store.  She finds her son with three teens and pulls him apart from them scolding them.  In reality the teens picked the kid up from wandering outside the store.  “You are a bad mother,” quips one of them.  As it turns out, Sandra is quite the bad mother.  She also buys David a bag of marbles, and it is shown through the car’s rearview mirror that he is about to put one in his mouth.  Sandra also smokes causing David to cough and keep letting him play ‘turtle’ on her cell phone to keep him quite, though resulting in a disaster.  Yet she tries her best to be  good mother and husband.

It is also good to see a male director deal so well with a female protagonist, giving Sandra a strong character though not without weaknesses.  Bowden does a good job portraying the mother, down to a scantily  lad outfit because of the desert heat.  Silverstrini elicits a  fantastic performance from the young child actor playing the son.

For this modern vehicle, the special effects provided are quite cheesy yet enhance the film’s entertainment value.  The glowing ring, the tooting noises and the voice of ‘Lillith’ are hilarious.

The film’s genuinely scariest parts involve the car sliding backwards (the child locked inside) towards a cliff and the other with Sandra hiding underneath the vehicle with a hungry coyote looking for prey.

MONOLITH emerges as a very effective and satisfying low-budget film with a completely identifiable character with weaknesses that audiences can still root for.  The film proves that a little imagination can go a long way in making an entertaining thriller.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Wd8HCX08k

 

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Film Review: BIRDLAND (Canada 2017)

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Birdland Poster
An ex-cop whose marriage is on the rocks hides surveillance cameras in her home and watches her husbands transgressions, becoming a voyeur of her own life.

Director:

Peter Lynch

Writers:

Lee Gowan, Peter Lynch

Stars:

Kathleen Munroe, David Alpay, Benjamin Ayres

 

BIRDLAND is a heralded DGC (Directors Guild of Canada) film from DRG veteran Peter Lynch who made the successful ARROWHEAD and PROJECT GRIZZLY.  The special screening I attended was followed by an extensive Q and A session with director Lynch, his wife, the film’s editor, Caroline Christie and its production designer and Patricia Christie moderated by Canadian director Atom Egoyan.

Described by Lynch himself as a 60’s style European art movie, the film follows an ex-cop, Sheila Hood (Kathleen Munroe) whose marriage is on the rocks.  Sheila hides surveillance cameras in her home and watches her husband’s (David Alpay) transgressions, becoming a voyeur of her own life.  When the husband, Tom Kale is suspect for two murders, she is forced to question her motives.  The script by Lynch and Lee Gowan bring in current events of oil and fracking into the story.  If all this sound straight forward, the film isn’t.  Lynch’s film is very difficult to follow.  When asked about this, the reason given is to keep the audience on their toes.  But it seems more an excuse than anything else.

The film was shot in 6 weeks on a minuscule budget with $6,000 devoted to the production. It is therefore not surprising that the film looks so badly edited and confused.  To the production designer Patricia Christie’s credit and the Director of Photography, the film looks stylish and expensive.  Lynch apparently borrowed artwork from friends and filmed in a friend’s very expensive and plush apartment as well as at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Surveillance is the common thread in the story.  Human beings are seen as if living in a birdcage with all their actions observed.  The song BIRDCAGE is also performed a few times in the film.

BIRDLAND is too stylish and artsy for audiences to feel for the characters.  Besides the story being difficult to follow, the film requires full concentration.  Lynch in the film’s defence, said that it is necessary for the audience to get lost in the film.  The result is quite a few of the audience ‘politely’ leaving the theatre (including my guest) midway during the film.  Lynch says that the film should be watched at one go, maybe on a computer, something that very few directors ever say about their movie.

The plot leads nowhere.  Despite having the topic of surveillance on display, Lynch never leads the topic anywhere either, nor does the film contain any clear message on surveillance in the 21st century.  Lynch is also fond of repetitive scenes.  The one with Sheila looking up at he closed circuit cameras and tapping on the lens is one example.  Another is the one with a subway rider listening to her headphones before pressing the emergency stop break as a result of an accident (a victim thrown from the bridge on to the train.)

To the film’s credit, Lynch has made a film that looks expensive despite its low budget.  This is not enough a good reason for this terrible film.

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

 

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Film Review: HOLLOW IN THE LAND (Canada 2017) ***

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Hollow in the Land Poster
Trailer

A woman with a troubled past sets out to find her missing brother.

Director:

Scooter Corkle

Writer:

Scooter Corkle

Stars:

Dianna Agron, Rachelle Lefevre, Shawn Ashmore |

 

Written and directed by Scooter Corkle, this moody crime suspense thriller uses the backwoods of British Columbia as the new underbelly of the inner cities for the backdrop of the story.  The nearby town is a paper pulp town that prospered from the local timber industry.

When the film opens, a bar brawl has just taken place.  Brandon (Jared Abrahamson from HELLO DESTROYER) has to be bailed out of jail by his sister, Alison (Dianna Agron).  Alison tells him that she has had enough and cannot keep doing this, while Brandon claims he is doing his best.  This no win situation gets worse, when Brandon gets caught, in what has been described by the unsympathetic local sheriff (Michael Rogers) ‘in a mid-fuck’ by his girl’s father, whose body has just been found.  Brandon, who is now chief suspect goes missing.

Alison is not a liked character in the local town.  She is known to be having a same-sex relationship with Brandon’s girl’s mother.  Whether the lesbian relationship is necessary in the story is questionable, as there is enough already going on in the film.

If the story all sounds quite straight forward, the story is actually quite difficult to follow in the film.  For one, it is only a third through the film that it is revealed that Alison is Brandon’s elder sister. It is natural to assume that Alison is Brandon’s mother at the start.  It is then confusing if the affair Alison is having is with the girl’s mother or maybe the girl’s sister.  Other identities are also blurred.  One wonders if it is the intention of writer/director Corkle to keep the audience on their toes to decipher the story or if it is unintentional.  The time setting of the story is also left unclear.  There are clearly no cell hones used at all in the film, but one could argue that no one needs one in the backwoods.

Though HOLLOW IN THE LAND is a nitty gritty drama set in a male dominated town, it is more of a feminist film. Corkle is a Not only is the protagonist female, but the story leans towards the female in more ways that one – including the lesbian relationship and all the other strong female characters, which is good given the way females are so less represented these days in film.  (The director Corkle is male.)  But that does not mean that all the male characters have to be weak ones, like the characters of Brandon and their father (who is ono shown at the end, of the film, with one tooth missing.)

To director Corkle’s credit, the atmosphere of dread, terror and suspicion are effectively created in the moody film.  The audience is also kept on their toes from start to end, and the film builds to a satisfactory climax.  It also helps that Agron delivers a power-packed performance as the reluctant heroine.

HOLLOW IN THE LAND ends up a better than average atmospheric thriller with well developed characters that the director makes sure the audience cares for.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVl6b9CsJA

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