gilbert seah

Film Review: INGRID GOES WEST (USA 2017) ***1/2

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INGRID GOES WESTAn unhinged social media stalker moves to LA and insinuates herself into the life of an Instagram star.

Director: Matt Spicer
Writers: David Branson Smith, Matt Spicer
Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Elizabeth Olsen, O’Shea Jackson Jr.

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
Actress Aubrey Plaza has been busy in the production chair lately with her recent THE LITTLE HOURS, a naughty little comedy about misbehaving nuns and now with INGRID GOES WEST, again a naughty little comedy but with more drama about a misbehaving Ingrid. Plaza stars in both films, creating a niche for herself as in DIRTY GRANDPA always playing a misbehaving youth.

INGRID GOES WEST (great title, by the way), is a more ambitious project with a stronger narrative this making way for a better picture. INGRID GOES WEST is the most accomplished of all the Aubrey Plaza films so that fans of hers are aware. She play a psycho habitual stalker desperate to make friends at all costs, including causing grievous bodily harm to her targets and herself.

When the film begins, she has already stalked Charlotte who has got a restraining oder on her. Yet Ingrid (Plaza) shows up at Charlotte’s wedding and pepper sprays her during the wedding dance. Ingrid is then institutionalized. The sudden passing away of her mother leaving her a large sum of money, $60,000 in cash allows her to carry on her stalking comfortably till all hell breaks lose. The coming across of the money is an excuse for the story to have its character continue her exploits.

Plaza’s character reminds one immediately of Anna Faris, the lead in Gregg Araki’s SMILEY FACE, in which the f***ed up lead goes around the entire film causing drama and damage to herself and every person around her. In this story, Ingrid’s new target in Instagram celebrity Taylor (Elizabeth Olsen) and her artist husband (Wyatt Russell). Taylor and Ingrid initially hit it along, with Ingrid stalking her half the time photographing everything without her knowledge. Ingrid also has an admirer, her black landlord (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), who she eventually has a relationship with. His obsession with everything Batman proves a lot of laugh-out loud jokes. But things get tough with the appearance of Taylor’s obnoxious but good-looking buffed up drug taking drunken brother, Nicky (Billy Magnussen) who finds out the truth about Ingrid’s motives. He blackmails her and things get out of control.

The film rarely contains a dull moment. When things start to smoothen out, one can always count on Ingrid to f*** things up again.

The film also contains a soundtrack of popular 80’s and 90’s tunes that keep the spirit of the film going.

One of the rare achievements of the film, courtesy of both actress Plaza and writer/director Spicer is the creation of a character that is such an alpha female loser that the audience wishes the worst on her and that all her plots be foiled. Yet the character created is one to sympathized.

The film’s one flaw is the tacked on unhappy ending. The ending is predictable for a film with a story centring on social media. Apart from that, this is one totally entertaining f***ed up movie about a f***ed up person doing f***ed up things. The film debuted at Sundance 2017, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for co-writers Spicer and David Branson Smith.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP4vD1tWbPU
 

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Film Review: MENASHE (USA 2017) **1/2

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menasheWithin Brooklyn’s ultra-orthodox Jewish community, a widower battles for custody of his son. A tender drama performed entirely in Yiddish, the film intimately explores the nature of faith and the price of parenthood.

Director: Joshua Z Weinstein
Writers: Alex Lipschultz, Musa Syeed
Stars: Menashe Lustig, Yoel Falkowitz, Ruben Niborski

Review by Gilbert Seah

 
Performed entirely in Yiddish – a language not used in cinema for many decades – Joshua Z. Weinstein’s Menashe is a tender drama that burrows into Brooklyn’s Hasidic community and tells the story of an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish widower who risks losing custody of his son due to tradition. If a film in Yiddish and one about a Hasidic community are not enough to put an audience off, director Weinstein makes a lot of effort to make his story a universal one. Here in MENASHE, which is based on a true story, actually loosely based on the life of lead actor Menashe Lustig, the story is an endearing one, based on character that is of good moral fibre and well-intentioned and an underdog at that. His only sin appears to be his well-meaning intentions going at logger heads to the religious beliefs of his elders and contemporaries.

The film opens with a scene in Brooklyn’s Hasidic Community. Those walking around sport beards and don Jewish apparel. The cameral cuts to a grocery store where the audience is introduced to the lead character, a chubby cashier called Menashe (Lustig). Director Weinstein makes sure Menashe is likeable. His first good deed as grocery cashier is to exchange an unwashed lettuce for a customer.
The film immediately reminds one of the Dustin Hoffman KRAMER VS. KRAMER characters where Kramer (Hoffman) has to prove that he is a father capable of looking after his son alone, while working a full-time job. Although his wife died a year ago, Meneshe (Lustig) refuses to remarry just for convenience. He does try, going on a date as set up by a matchmaker. But his young son (Ruben Niborski) is now living with Menashe’s strict brother-in-law’s family, because the rabbi says the boy won’t be allowed to stay in school unless he’s in a two-parent home. The film is about trying to do what is right but are unable to do so because of laws. It is true that these laws are surely there to protect the majority but what about the special minority? Weinstein, as observed from his film, is pro-Hasidic but does not shy away from the faults of being too religious for religion’s sake. It is also noted that Menashe, at one point in the film, hangs out with other groups, the Latinos of his work, to forget his troubles.

But the film does not tackle the fact that Menashe is actually not a good example of being a father. He is always out of money, always late for appointments and gets drunk once too often.

The film benefits from the cast of mainly non-professionals. Many are from the Hasidic community, many of whom had never seen a film before.

Weinstein’s film provides a simple yet insightful look into a society many are unfamiliar with. His film is likeable and entertaining, but that is about all it has to offer. The film premiered at at the 2017 Sundance and Berlin festivals.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83UoZcdX__Y

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Film Review: ANNABELLE: CREATION

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 ANNABELLE CREATION.jpgSeveral years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, soon becoming the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.

Director: David F. Sandberg
Writer: Gary Dauberman
Stars: Stephanie Sigman, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson

Review by Gilbert Seah 

 The ANNABELLE, CONJURING prequels, sequels are already so many that it is difficult to keep track what is going on. The truth is, it does not real matter. ANNABELLE CREATION is advertised as the prequel to ANNABELLE which is connected to the four CONJURING films. ANNABELLE CREATION can stand on its own, that is all that matters. The connecting object in all the film is the possessed white Annabelle doll.

The film suffers from a weak narrative. The simple story involves a couple losing their daughter in an accident. They allow orphans to make use of their big home but the spirit of their dead daughter who possesses a doll is not happy with the orphans. On the plus side, the scary set-ups are meticulously crafted, which should provide horror fans lots of jump out of the seat scares. But it does matter that the film is less the sum of its whole, as it does not hold well together at all. It also suffers from a proper ending with the doll appearing halfway through the closing credits for no real reason. One member of the audiences remarked that she expected the doll to at least blink. Still, all these bad continuity segments do not add up cohesively. One moment one member of the orphans is chased by the killer doll, the next has the film intercutting to another in trouble. Why the demon does not kill off the parents earlier on before the arrival of the orphans is also a point to question. And when the demon finally gets the soul of the crippled Janice, why doesn’t the demon stay satisfied. Of course, logic is never a strong point in horror films as in this one.

The film assembles a series of shock effects, false alarms and real ones. False alarms include for example, the father, Samuel Mullins suddenly scaring his daughter or the sudden appearance of a character and a real scare being the running over of a child by a car. The other scary effects like the moving doll, the repeated playing of the song: “You are my Sunshine” et al. are all old stuff already done in other horror films. But director Sandberg seems to have picked the best of these from past movies and included them here. But one horror set-up after another still gets monotonous after a while.

The orphans are played by a cast of relative unknowns cutting production costs for the film. However, Samuel Mullins and wife Esther are played by well-known Australian actors Anthony LaPaglia and Miranda Otto.

The first ANNABELLE film cost $6.5 million to make and grossed Warner Brothers close to $256 million. This sequel cost double to make at around $15 million, but should make the studio a handsome bundle, aided by the fact that the only main big opening this weekend is the animated NUT JOB sequel.

People love to be scared. People love to pay big bucks to be scared. Films like ANNABELLE CREATION will always do well at the box-office despite reviews good or bad, so go figure!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KisPhy7T__Q

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Film Review: THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD (USA 2017) ****

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 THE HITMAN_S BODYGUARDThe world’s top bodyguard gets a new client, a hit man who must testify at the International Court of Justice. They must put their differences aside and work together to make it to the trial on time.

Director: Patrick Hughes
Writer: Tom O’Connor
Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Elodie Yung

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
Actor Samuel L. Jackson is one bad ass mother f***er. When ever he appears in a film, even when playing the President of the United States, he has never failed to use his favourite catch phrase ‘mother f***er’, which he gets to use multiple times in this movie. Jackson is one of my favourite actors in films currently as he can always be counted on to deliver a solid, spirited performance, no matter what. In THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD, he also gets to utter the film’s best joke: “If life deals you shit, you go out and make kool-aid.” to which Ryan Reynolds remarks: “That is not how the saying goes.” Jackson also gets a lot of laughs doing his HOME ALONE expression. Another good joke (though this one belongs to Reynolds) is the one regarding the pen-knife. But the best thing in the film, is a segment where the two leads discuss the usage of the ‘mother f***er’ phrase. Priceless!

The story involves a bodyguard, Michael Bryce (Reynolds) assigned to keep a previous Hitman, Darius Kincaid (Jackson) alive so that he can be transported to Hague, to testify against a corrupt Russian warlord Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman). The film plays the two against each other. The chemistry works, the laughs come fast and furious and the action segments are expertly executed.

The climax of the film includes a spectacular car chase that appear to take on the recent BABY DRIVER. Jackson takes off in a speedboat on the canals around Amsterdam pursued by the bad guys speeding on the streets around the canals. The sequence is well shot with good continuity that also includes another boat contains merrymakers split right into two. The camp factor is increased several notches with screaming prostitutes running around the streets. There is also n funny window-eye view of the chase as if seen by one of them through the glass.

As if this was not exciting enough, the car/boat chase is intercut with a foot case with Reynolds under pursuit. The two chases are brilliantly brought together with the fire of an exploding vehicle from which the camera pulls back now only to show the fire now from the grill in the kitchen in a restaurant which Reynolds breaks into.

Though the script is occasionally lazily written, with details left out, for example why Jackson landed in a Manchester prison, the jokes and punch lines are perfectly timed.
The camera placement is also excellent throughout the film, often with images to show Jackson’s expressions through the car front window or to see Reynolds somersault through the front windscreen to land standing up in front of the car after.

The main plus of THE HITMAN’S BODYGUARD is that the absolute unexpected can and actually always occurs at any time. The two for example, end up at one point, hitching a ride in a van full of nuns with Jackson joining them in a singalong.
The film’s speed and spirit matches its message on life, that things happen but you got to do your ‘thang’. They just do not make enough films like this one.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Afusxc2SM
 

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Film Review: LE RIDE (USA/France/ New Zealand 2016) ***1/2

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LE RIDE.jpgIn 1928 an under-resourced and untested team from New Zealand and Australia competed in what is considered to be the toughest sporting event in the world.

Director: Phil Keoghan
Writers: Louise Keoghan, Phil Keoghan
Star: Philip Keoghan

Review by Gilbert Seah
 
With the increasing number of cyclists in Toronto and around the world today, this inspirational film about biking should be of immense interest.

LE RIDE is a film, as the voiceover is quick to emphasize, about people with a big heart and determination. As the saying goes, it is not the size of the dog in a fight but the fight in the dog that matters.

The history: In 1928 an under-resourced and untested team from New Zealand (one Harry Watson) and Australia (3 Australians) competed in what is considered to be the toughest sporting event in the world. Many considered the entry of these courageous underdogs, racing as a team of 4 against teams of 10, a joke. One French journalist called their attempt nothing short of murder. 168 riders started the more than 3,500-mile race, only 41 finished. Surprisingly this remarkable story about the achievements of these brave athletes has never been told on film, until now. The present: What has fascinated the filmmaker is the original 1928 Tour de France. Phil Keoghan – television personality, adventurer and cycling enthusiast, with his mate, Ben retraces the 1928 Tour de France route, bringing history to life. Following the original course and schedule, riding a vintage bike, Phil and his team will average 150 miles a day for 22 stages. This is their documentary.

A plus of the documentary are the breathtaking sights observed during the Tour de France. These include the mountains of the Pyrenees, the little villagers and small towns all the way from Paris to Cherbourg to Bordeaux down to the south and back to Paris. The aerial shots ands camera work enhance the scenery to entice the audience to visit France, if they have not already done so.
Phil and Ben, can come across as quite annoying tourists from the film, but their spirit and love for cycling is catching. They must be doing something right, as they manage to convince a lot of French bike enthusiast to help them in their quest.

The quest is no easy task. Phil is not shy to show the grilling and arduous work and pain that goes into completing the race. They ride from nightfall to nightfall with insufficient rest for their bodies to recover. As Ben and Phil race, the film is intercut with archive footage and commentary of the 4 Aussies and Kiwi who themselves suffered great difficulties in 1928. Watson, the New Zealander came down with influenza during the race and still struggled to pull through.

The film also answers the ultimate question of why people go to extreme dangers in sports. Phil jokingly says it is to show off his good looking bike legs. Seriously, he admits that only when one puts himself to the limit does one learn about oneself.

LE RIDE reveals the other side of the glamour of the Tour de France – the gruelling pain and challenging passion that people are unaware of. A film centring on the triumph of the human spirit over great difficulties is always an interesting watch. LE RIDE proves that and much more!

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX7Z_ZT_baE
 

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Film Review: THE NUT JOB 2: NUTTY NY NATURE (USA 2017) ***

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the_nut_job_2.jpgFollowing the events of the first film, Surly and his friends must stop Oakton City’s mayor from destroying their home to make way for a dysfunctional amusement park.

Director: Cal Brunker
Writers: Bob Barlen, Cal Brunker
Stars: Will Arnett, Katherine Heigl, Maya Rudolph

Review by Gilbert Seah 

The sequel to THE NUT JOB delivers much more of the same with the coloured squirrels and other rodent park animals, led by Sury and his rat sidekick Buddy, voiced by mostly the same actors.

Surly (Will Arnett) and the park animals must band together to prevent Oakton City’s crooked mayor (Bobby Moynihan) from bulldozing Liberty Park and replacing it with a dangerous amusement park. Surly even gets help from the territorial street mouse gang leader Mr. Feng (Jackie Chan) into thwarting the mayor’s plot.
The sequel introduces three new and welcome characters that provide most of the film’s freshness and humour. These are Bobby Moynihan as the Mayor of Oakton City, Isabela Moner as Heather, the mayor’s spoiled daughter and Jackie Chan as Mr. Feng. Credit should also definitely go to the animators of these three creatures.

When Mr. Feng, the white mouse first appears in the film, speaking with a strong Chinese impression, the immediate thought that will come to mind is racism. Society has progressed a far way since Mickey Rooney could get away doing really awful and unacceptable Japanese impressions with fake teeth in Blake Edwards’ BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S. But the credits list Jackie Chan as the voice behind Mr. Feng, and Chan does speak that way with a strong Hong Kong accent. The animators are also smart enough to make sure all he mice characters including Mr. Feng have really round and no slanted eyes.

THE NUT JOB films are the lower breed of animated films after films like SHREK, MADAGASCAR, HAPPY FEET, KUNG FU PANDA, HOW TO SAVE YOUR DRAGON, MEATBALLS. The NUT JOB films are have nothing really new to offer. Despite a few relatively new ideas (such as the mice and Mr. Fend who refuse to be cute – a sort of direct attack at cutest animated characters), parents will find the whole enterprise a chore to watch while children will undoubtedly be entertained.
Though the film is listed as an American production, there is a lot of Asian input (especially in the animation) as mentioned in the closing credits. Not only that but two asian companies are credited as with producing credits at the start of the film.

THE NUTJOB films are modest productions. The first cost only $42 million to make and went on to gross $120 million thus green lighting a sequel. The original director, a Canadian Peter Lepeniotis who based the first film on characters he created in his short was supposed to co-write the sequel but his name is missing from the list. Number 2 is co-written by Cal Brunker
Bob Barlen andScott Bindley.

The closing credits in the first THE NUT JOB film featuring an animated version of South Korean rapper Psi performing “Gangam Style” dancing with the park rodents were so irresistible that almost the entire audience stayed to the end. This was indeed a difficult act to follow and the rap sequence the closing credits of NUT JOB 2 unfortunately emptied the theatre in no time, thus allowing almost everyone to miss a last sequence of animation that appears once the closing credits rolled over.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Lpw2gJt9Us

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Film Review: AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER (USA 2017) ***

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AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL TRUTH TO POWER.jpgA decade after An Inconvenient Truth (2006) brought climate change into the heart of popular culture comes the follow-up that shows just how close we are to a real energy revolution.

Directors: Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk
Stars: Al Gore, George W. Bush, John Kerry

Review by Gilbert Seah
 

AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER is the sequel to the 2006 Academy Award Winner for Best Documentary AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH starring Al Gore where the former Vice-President of the United States championed the fight on global warming. In that film, the effects of global warming were convincingly portrayed on screen, rallying uncountable numbers of followers to fight against global warming. After more than 10 years, many of that film’s predictions (the best example used being the flooding of the World Trade Centre grounds), laughed upon by skeptics have come to pass. This sequel is timely and premiered at Sundance early this year.

The film follows the efforts made to tackle climate change and Al Gore’s attempts to persuade governmental leaders to invest in renewable energy, culminating in the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016.

The film begins lightly with references to the 2006 film and with Al Gore in lighter mode shown joking and laughing. His joke about a lady (not recognizing him) telling him that if dyed his hair black, he would look like Al Gore is funny enough, enabling the film to transition slowly to a more serious nature. Gore is also shown, in the film’s best moments giving his climate speeches, while getting fully worked up in the process.

Gore is undoubtedly presented in the film as the conquering hero, besides a champion for the climate change movement. Well, better a hero for a crucial course that no hero at all.

While the film traces Gore’s attendance at the Paris talks in 2016, it narrows the events to his victory at convincing India to cooperate. At the same time, the film shows how each country contributes to the reduction of global warming and where the problems lie. The film’s high is the revelation of how much Chile has done in the construction of solar powered plants. Another high is how Geogetown, Texas through its comical mayor has also championed itself towards 100% renewal energy. He emphasizes the saying that we should leave the world a better place in terms of renewal energy.

The ultimate question asked is whether AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL is better than the original INCONVENIENT TRUTH. The truth is that it is difficult for anyone who has seen the 2006 film to remember, especially after 11 years have passed. A fellow critic colleague mentioned that SEQUEL is the better film, being more focused, also claiming that he has just re-watched the original for comparison. For myself, I remember being more moved by the first film, and understandably so, for the more disturbing images of the effects of global warming shown. In SEQUEL, though many images are still shown, most of these are the catastrophes like the flooding and drought scenes, but the melting ice and the depletion of ice created the greater impact.

Still in SEQUEL, directors Cohen and Shenk have re-edited the film following President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, to expand Trump’s role as antagonist before the film hits theatres. All the better to incite the workers for climate change to have a common enemy, and an easy target at that.
The film ends, predictably though necessarily, with how everyone can contribute to the cause, with the website they can log on to.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huX1bmfdkyA
 

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Film Review: LANDLINE (USA 2017) ***

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landline.jpgIn 1995, a teenager living with her sister and parents in Manhattan discovers that her father is having an affair.

Director: Gillian Robespierre
Writers: Elisabeth Holm (story by), Gillian Robespierre (story by)
Stars: Jenny Slate, Jay Duplass, Abby Quinn

Review by Gilbert Seah

 
Director Gillian Robespierre and actress Jenny Slate team up once again after their mildly successful film, OBVIOUS CHILD. Their new film LANDLINE opens to a couple having sex in the woods. There is no full nudity, just trousers and skirts down or up as the case may be. It is a comical scene as the orgasm is interrupted by what she calls a woodchuck’s peter pater. Most people can relate to this scene, as most people would have had sex in the outdoors at least once in their lifetime and the scene would be a familiar if not an amusing one.

LANDLINE is a female point of view relationship romantic comedy/drama involving three females of the Jacobs family – the mother Pat (Edie Falco), and the two daughters, Dana (Jenny Slate) and the younger, Ali (Abby Quinn). The main plot involves the sisters finding out, by accident that their father, Alan (John Turturro) is having an affair. They decide to find out who his mistress is but they debate on whether they should inform their mother.

A simple premise of a father’s secret infidelity in a slightly dysfunctional household is not enough material to keep an audience interested throughout an entire movie. So, the scriptwriters (the majority of whom are female, as is obvious from the film) have inserted other subplots or distractions. Two are the relationships of the two daughters. Another is the use of drugs, heroin by the youngest daughter. And another involves the film’s setting in the 1990’s. The setting means no use of cell phones as they were not invented yet, hence the film title of LANDLINE. Robespierre also has the excuse to put in plenty of 90’s period music which include lots of really popular songs like “Higher Love” by Steve Winwood and My favourite song “Two of Hearts” by Stacey Q.

The film tries too hard at times making it look too smart for its own good.

Many of these involve Dana and her boyfriend, Ben (Jay Duplass). The bath tub scene looks too manipulative and false, only there to create an artificial ‘cool’ segment. Their corny dialogue in the scene does not help either. Working better is the relationship between the younger sister Ali and her drug using boyfriend. Their banter and relationship appear more natural and comes across as not only more spontaneous but credible.

Of all the performances, Edie Falco (the mother) is the most winning. John Turturro does well as the hapless asshole who cheats and then expects to be forgiven for his errors by his smart talk. This confrontation between Alan and Pat forms the film’ s best part with the audience clearly on the side of the female’s.

Despite the film’s flaws, it succeeds on the performances of its cast. The humour is slight but the drama is real. The sibling interactions work. The feeling is that the dysfunctional family onscreen could be yours.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llmki0lioMs

 

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Film Review: LA PASSION D’AUGUSTINE (The Passion of Augustine) (Canada 2015) ***1/2

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LA PASSION D’AUGUSTINE.jpgIn a small convent school in rural Quebec, Mother Augustine provides a musical education to young women no matter their socio-economic background. However, with the looming changes brought by Vatican II and Quebec’s Quiet Revolution, the school’s future is at peril.

Director: Léa Pool
Writers: Marie Vien (scenario), Léa Pool (scenario)
Stars: Céline Bonnier, Lysandre Ménard, Valérie Blais

Review by Gilbert Seah

 A small but talented music school is at risk of being closed for good due to financial difficulties. The school must win a music contest in order to survive. Into the school arrives a spirited but sometimes troublesome new girl. It does not take a genius to guess that this girl will save the school from financial ruin.

If this sounds like the typical predictable commercial film plot, one must note that this is a film written and directed by Léa Pool.

Léa Pool was born in Genève, Switzerland though a majority of her films are made in Quebec. Her films are mostly serious and many deal with human emotions. She has made over 20 films her most famous works being SET ME FREE (my favourite and her best) in 1999, LOST AND DELIRIOUS (2001) and ANNE TRISTER (1986).
The setting is in a convent school in beautiful rural Quebec in the 1960s . Mother Augustine (Celine Bonnier), a Roman Catholic nun who teaches music is fighting to preserve her school against the backdrop of the social changes wrought by Vatican II and Quebec’s Quiet Revolution. When her talented but rebellious niece joins the convent, and when the government threatens to shut down the school in favour of public education, her world is suddenly turned upside down. She and her fellow nuns are forced to confront the waves of modernity, and Mother Augustine herself must search her soul for a new calling. In the words of Mother Augustine: “The convent is to close down short of a miracle. We have not said our last word. We are going to fight for our convictions, our girls and music, for everything we think is right. But most of all, because I love the convent.”

Pool’s story of an important school that stands firm on the grounds Mother Augustine’s faith in music and Christianity is perhaps reflective on Pool’s making of important non-commercial films. Her films like the school face difficulty in modern times, when audiences flock to see Hollywood blockbusters. And together, they must resist and show that quality matters. Still LA PASSION D’AUGUSTINE is an important film, unconventional in its outlook and plot but still a rewarding a watch as any Hollywood blockbuster.

Despite the sombre nature of Pool’s piece, she inserts occasional bouts of refreshing humour such as the scene of two nuns laughing and skating one the ice outside the school.

A scene in the film that deserves mention is the modern performance of song with guitar at a Catholic church in attendance by the nuns and pupils. The camera pans the faces of the spectators as they express different emotions, some of approval, some of glee, some of horror at the modernization and others of disproval. It is a great scene, reminiscent and obviously re-used from the variety of children’s faces as they watch a Punch and Judy Show in Francois Truffaut’s magnificent LES QUATRES CENT COUPS (400 BLOWS).

Pool’s film is not just as beautiful as the Bach, Beethoven and Chopin pieces performed on the piano but just a moving and alas, inspiring!

THE PASSION OF AUGUSTINE garnered two Canadian Screen Awards at the 4th Canadian Screen Awards in 2016, for Best Actress (Céline Bonnier) and Best Original Score (François Dompierre). For the 18th Quebec Cinema Awards (formerly known as the Prix Jutra), the film won 6, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actress, Céline Bonnier.

THE PASSION OF AUGUSTINE is released VOD Nationwide on Tuesday, August 15 on all major platforms including: iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, Microsoft, Vudu, Comcast, Charter, Cox, Vimeo, and various other cable operators.. In French with English sub-titles.

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

 

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

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

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Film Review: THE TRIP TO SPAIN (UK 2017) ***

festreviews 2017 movies, movie, Movie Review , , , , , ,

THE TRIP TO SPAIN.jpgSteve Coogan and Rob Brydon embark on a six-part episodic road trip through Spain, sampling the restaurants, eateries, and sights along the way.

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Stars: Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Marta Barrio

Review by Gilbert Seah
 

More of the same. The third entry of the food critics trips after THE TRIP TO ITALY and THE TRIP (that one set in the U.K.) provides fans of the trilogy what is expected from director Michael Winterbottom and actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. Besides delicious mouth-watering gourmet delights with landscapes and stunning scenery on display, audiences will be treated with the usual comedic banter between the two actors complete with their impressions that they are famous for. Winterbottom (his best works being JUDE and COCK AND BULL STORY) takes it easy for the light comedy. Coogan looks much fitter and slimmer than his first THE TRIP film, his working out and jogging clearly noticeable.
Coogan and Brydon play themselves in the three TRIP movies.

One difference is that the two travel by luxury ferry to Spain. Steve gets sea-sick on the trip while Rob always ends up doing better.

As food food on display in this film, there is much less emphasis on food compared to the other two films. As for impressions, their famous Michael Caine and James Bond impressions are again present for good cheer, to make sure fans are not disappointed. There is a bonus of them doing Mick Jagger doing Bond impressions.

Something new in this trip is the first rendering of a song by Coogan with a bit of commentary from Brydon. The Oscar Winning song “The Windmills of Your Mind” is crooned by Coogan followed by the trivia question asked of the original singer of the song. (Answer is Noel Harrison, son of Rex Harrison).

After the culinary trip to Italy has ended, director Winterbottom turns on his serious tone, as he did in his other two films. Rob returns to his family of wife and two children, playing around with them like a godfather does. Steve on the other hand, discovers the girlfriend that he has suddenly fallen in love with, pregnant with baby from someone else. The seriousness is totally out of sync with the rest of the film. Steve landing stranded in the desert with an even odd development after is even weirder. The film would have been better enign with the ending of their trip to Spain.

THE TRIP TO SPAIN is interesting enough to keep those who liked the first two films satisfied. New converts would be difficult.

What next? The most obvious is a TRIP TO FRANCE. But fans may grow tired by then. Too much more of the same.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTvy8ab1NSo

 

Also, Free logline submissions. The Writing Festival network averages over 95,000 unique visitors a day.
Great way to get your story out: http://www.wildsound.ca/logline.html

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

Watch recent Writing Festival Videos. At least 15 winning videos a month:http://www.wildsoundfestival.com