movie review

Movie Review: THE SAVER (Canada 2015) ***1/2

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the_saverTHE SAVER (Canada 2015) ***1/2
Directed by Wiebke von Carolsfeld

Starring: Imajyn Cardinal, Pascale Bussières, Brandon Oakes

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE SAVER, a small budget little gem, based on the novel by Edeet Ravel opens in the small movie Carlton complex in Toronto, but it is a film that delivers big messages. The film works because writer/director von Carolsfeld who directed MARION BRIDGE, loves her subject, the setting of Montreal and all her characters. And it shows in her film.

The film’s protagonist is a teenager. But this teen is not one who can enjoy parties, go to movies, drink and can have fun.

When the film begins, poor (literally poor) 16-year old native Fern (Imajyn Cardinal) loses her mother. Not only is she poor, she is now an orphan and she is afraid of Social Services. She runs away. But Fern is a resourceful teenager. After finding a book entitled “Fifty Ways to Become a Millionaire”, Fern takes the book to heart and decides to save (hence the film title THE SAVER) so she can get rich and live without having, in her own words, to take shit from anyone anymore. But dreams do not always come true. Not even in movies. And the film, which is set in winter – with the scenes of Fern trudging through the snow – emphasizes her hardship.

Von Carolsfeld’s film is a realistic one. She also allows her audience to think and to figure things out without spoon-feeding them. One is the film setting. It is not stated specifically that the city Fern lives in is in Montreal, as she and her mother speak English. But the others and the street and shop signs are in French. A boy that helps her is an ambiguous character. He even offers Fern a gift with the sweet words: “I got something for you. I thought you might like it.” But a twist then shows him taking advantage of her.

Von Caroldfeld’s camera is often very close to the characters. In the first 20 minutes of the film for example, the camera is always next to Fern (showing her top half and head) pulling back to show the background only a few times. One advantage of this tactic is the audience being forced to really connect and feel for Fern, something the Dardenne Brothers also used to do, with the camera at neck level in a similar film ROSETTA.

The cast of unknowns deliver exceptional performances, especially Cardinal as the lead. Veteran Quebec actress Pascale Bussières lends her hand as a fussy tenant who ends up winning both Fern’s and the audience over.

But von Carolsfled’s film is sweet and winning because she infuses quite a number of really sweet scenes which do not seem intrusive. When Fern’s mother passes away for example, a scene shows Fern pulling a white sheet over the mother’s body in the morgue. When Fern misses a day of work, her boss (Mamidou Savadogo) asks: “Were you too busy with the colour scheme of your castle?” It is thus appropriate that the film ends with another suitable sweet segment (that will not be revealed in the review.)

THE SAVER is the story of a nice girl making good under adverse circumstances. The film shows a varied world with good and bad people, in good an bad situations. This is well-made little feel-good film that is surprisingly based on an unfortunate situation.

 

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Movie Review: THE JUNGLE BOOK. Directed by Jon Favreau

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the_jungle_bookTHE JUNGLE BOOK (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Jon Favreau

Starring: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Christopher Walken, Garry Shandling

Review by Gilbert Seah

Favreau has proven himself a talented director of films as diverse as the action flicks IRONMAN and IRONMAN 2, comedy dramas as MADE and the drama CHEF. Tackling Disney animation is a totally different ball game with Favreau succeeding within limits. But he follows formulaic conventions occasionally going back to what works in the original animated JUNGLE BOOK like the familiar songs re-used in this version.

The 1969 animated version is the most loved of all the Kipling adaptations. Who can forget the cute bear Baloo (Phil Harris) dancing and singing “The Bare Necessities” with Mowgli? Or Sebastian Cabot’s voice of the Panther? So Favreau has tough shoes to follow.

The film opens with Mowgli (Neel Sethi) running with a pack of wolves. It appears he is running from them, but the audience can likely guess that he is running with them. Mowgli, abandoned as a baby and found by a panther (Ben Kingsley) is raised by wolves. But Shere Khan, the tiger (Idris Elba) wants the boy killed as the tiger is afraid of the destruction of man. The panther takes Mowgli on a journey to find the man camp where Mowgli can live away from fear of the tiger. Mowgli meets an assortment of different characters like King Louie, a giant oranghutan (Christopher Walken), Baloo the bear (Bill Murray) and Kaa (Scarlett Johansson) a python before confronting Khan.

THE JUNGLE BOOK has quite the few violent scenes that will give the littler ones nightmares. These include buffalos toppling off a cliff from a mudslide and a fierce battle between a tiger and bear.

CGI has come a long way. One cannot tell the difference between real animals and computer generated animals. To Favreau’s credit, his film looks fantastic and his hard work of filming just one actor, Sethi against a giant green blank screen pays off. The film uses the Simulcam technology (also used in James Cameron’s AVATAR) that allows Favreau to look into a monitor and in real time, see Sethi interacting with the CGI animals.

The question finally arises as to whether this new 3D live-action animation of THE JUGLE BOOK is necessary. The film ends with the real life figures of Mowgli and Baloo morphing into caricatures in the Rudyard Kipling’s book. This only serves to enforce the fact that the animated version is the best type of adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling’s classic story.

Walt Disney passed away during the production of 1969’s JUNGLE BOOK. The original writer and songwriter were replaced as the film was thought initially too serious for the family. What resulted are songs by the famous Sherman Brothers (MARY POPPINS, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG) and the the totally delightful animated version everyone is familiar with. Favreau’s version is, in comparison all over the place, at times cutesy, then too serious and violent and then adventurous. The Disneyworld documentaries have so far done so-so at the box-office. And Disney’s recent THE GOOD DINOSAUR with a similar theme involving animals and a journey was a disappointing flop. THE JUNGLE BOOK might just follow suit, doing either so-so business or flopping at the box-office.

 

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Doctor Strange – Watch world premiere trailer

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Watch the World Premiere Trailer of DOCTOR STRANGE:

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Movie Review: FRANCOFONIA (France/Germany/Netherlands 2015) ****

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francofonia.jpgFRANCOFONIA (France/Germany/Netherlands 2015) ****
Directed by Alexandre Sukorov

Review by Gilbert Seah

Is the Louvre worth more than all of France?

Alexandre Sukorov made a name for himself directing the excellent documentary on Leningrad Museum years back, the entire exercise shot in one single take. FRANCOFONIA is a mixed documentary/re-enacted drama on the Louvre in Paris, arguably the most visited museum in the world, a museum that made Paris. And in the words of director, Sukorov who voices the film’s narrative, museums make the cities of the world.

The approach taken in this film is different as the idea of the two above mentioned films are different. What is the subject here is the restoration of the art pieces of the Louvre – especially during World War II during the German Occupation. As Germany invaded France, the government, citizens and Louvre officials all escaped south, for safety and stability. All but one, the Louvre Director Jacques Joujart who remained to prevent the treasures of the Louvre from becoming the spoils of the war and from landing in the hands of art lovers like Hitler and his consorts.

FRANCOFONIA is a complex and meditative film. It erases the barriers of time. Napoleon Buonaparte (played by Vincent Nemeth) frequently waltzes into the halls of the Louvre as the boat that transports the museum travels tosses among the strong waves of the ocean. The past and present are drawn together and at the film’s climax the two lead characters are advised of their death in the future.

Though the film delves on several issues, the main one is set in the June of 1940. German troops march into Paris. The two lead characters are Jacques Jaujard, Louvre director and German Count Franziskus Wolff Metternich (played in the film by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing and Benjamin Utzerath). It would seem that they are enemies, but it gradually becomes clear that they are not and that they have a lot in common. The period of their meeting, their confrontation and their cooperation during the Second World War to protect and preserve the treasures of the Louvre forms the bulk of FRANCOFONIA. By telling their story, Sokurov explores the relationship between art and power, and asks what art tells us about ourselves, at the very heart of one of the most devastating conflicts the world has ever known.

As Sukorov is Russian, it is only natural that he brings a Russian slant into his film. The Hermitage in Leningrad is more often than not tied in with the film’s narrative. WWII is also compared to the Russian war with the Bolsheviks. There are some chilling scenes added such as the image of a little girl lying dead on the steps of a building. As the narrative goes… no one to bury them, too tired to bury them. And if you think things cannot get any worse, a frozen child and mother on the street are the next subjects. The child is then taken, probably eaten, and the mother’s leg is missing.

Like RUSSIAN ARK, FRANCOFONIA is a profoundly beautiful film. Sukorov’s love for art is evident from the first to the last frame of his film. At the end audiences around the world will be grateful to Sukorov, who like the great two men in the film, has preserved art, in this case of the Louvre and its treasures, forever on film. Highly recommended to anyone who owns at least one painting.

The film is shot largely in Russian and French with a little English.

 

 

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Watch First Trailer for ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY #rogueone

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The new Star Wars film is coming out in December starring Felicity Jones.

Watch Trailer NOW:

 

“Rogue One” will be a prequel to the events of 1977′s “Star Wars: A New Hope,” described on the official “Star Wars” website as “the story of unlikely heroes who have united to steal plans to the dreaded Death Star.”

The cast also includes Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Mads Mikkelsen, Alan Tudyk, Riz Ahmed and Forest Whitaker.

“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” arrives in theaters Dec 16.

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BOREALIS, Movie Review. Starring: Joey King, Kevin Pollak

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borealis.jpgBOREALIS (Canada 2015) ***
Directed by Sean Garrity

Starring: Joey King, Emily Hampshire, Kevin Pollak |

Review by Gilbert Seah

BOREALIS opens with two key scenes that establishes the mood and plot line of the film. The first shows the lead character, Jonah (Jonas Chernick) losing at blackjack and having to pay a massive debt or have his legs broken. His daughter, Aurora (Joey King) is about to lose her eyesight for good. In a Hollywood movie, the lead would have to get money to pay for the operation to regain the daughter’s sight, as in for example, Stanley Donen’s parody MOVIE, MOVIE, but this is a non-commercial Canadian film.

Garrity has already awed audiences with INERTIA, LUCID and MY AWKWARD SEXUAL ADVENTURE and actor Chernick has penned LUCID as well as co-written BOREALIS. So, BOREALIS is an anticipated film for those in the know.
The father keeps the bad news from her, taking her on a road trip for two purposes – to run away form his debtors and to show her the Aurora Borealis, a beautiful sight before she loses her sight.

One of the most interesting things about this film is that it features two very annoying leads. The father, the compulsive gambler is also a compulsive liar with hardly any redeeming qualities. He has squandered away all his money and lost his daughter’s possessions including her dog to his debtors. The daughter on the other hand is a 15-year old punk, who is as annoying as any teenager can be, not listening to her father (not that he is worth listening to), and partying half the time. As the film progresses, it becomes a question of who the audience dislikes less.

Garrity’s film is strangely an anti-message film. It tells the audience, for example than gambling is ok and it sorts itself out in the end. A more disturbing message is the one about the Good Samaritan getting almost killed (or maybe killed) for helping out the father and daughter in one scene.

But one thing about Garrity’s film is for sure. It is not the predictable fare one would expect. Things can turn for the better or worse, and good guys and bad guys can get it or win, depending on the mood of the director. But for unpredictable fare, the film accomplishes an unexpected climax that works well, all things considered. Camera work is not half bad, the climax done in the dead of night with just enough light to reveal the important details.

BOREALIS is also proudly Canadian. It could have easily opted for an American setting to delver to a larger audience but it does not. It celebrates Canadian from the road trip with Canadian places to the Canadian dollars flashed out at a diner. The film was shot largely in the Province of Manitoba.

One can always finds flaws in Garrity’s film, and there are quite a few. Still, one cannot complain that the director has accomplished a well executed, mostly compelling film within a small budget. The film looks good in terms of production values.

Borealis has a premiere at the Canadian Film Festival and opens its commercial run a week later – showing that it is one of the festival’s better films. Garrity also won the Best Director Award and Joey King the Best Actress Award at the Festival.

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HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS, Movie Review. Starring: Sally Field

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hellomynameisdoris.jpgHELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS (USA 2015) ***1/2
Directed by Michael Snowalter

Starring: Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Tyne Daly

Review by Gilbert Seah

The new showcase for two-time Oscar Winner Sally Field (NORMA RAE and PLACES IN THE HEART) places her in the ‘You really like me, you really, really like me” role of an sixty-plus data entry cubicle office worker, called Doris Miller. Begging to be loved, she falls for a much younger office worker, the new art director John Fremont (Max Greenfield). The question of whether she will get the young man to notice and fall in love with her is kept current from the start to the end of the film – a point that writer/director Michael Snowalter keeps as a delicate balancing act, and one that makes the film work.

Films about women falling for much younger men seldom work and end up disastrous. Examples are Genevieve Gilles playing a Baroness falling for younger Michael Crawford in HELLO-GOODBYE and Jean Simmons falling for the younger LEONARD WHITING in SAY HELLO TO YESTERDAY. Even when it is the other way round, with an older male and younger girl as in the Clint Eastwood directed BREEZY with William Holden and Kay Lenz, the idea fails. So, HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS is already quite an achievement.

The film’s premise is simple enough. The film begins with Doris’s mother’s funeral. Her brother and wife wishes her to sell the house she and her mother she had cared had lived in. She declines, being a hoarder. At work, she accidentally bumps into young and gorgeous Max Fremont who ends up being the new guy in the office. She pines for him. She gets the help of her best friend’s 13-year old daughter to make friends on his Facebook account. Doris and Max hang out and Doris falls for him. Of course, the audiences is never sure of Max’s feelings for her and this is what keeps the film interesting – the audience is guessing. And right up to the very last reel.

Snowalter’s film works as both a comedy and drama. Fortunately, he keeps sentimentality at bay. Sally Field is nothing short of marvellous in the role of Doris, proving her mettle at getting both laughs and sympathy. Having won two Oscars for dramatic roles, she expectedly shines in the dramatic parts making a good balance, as in the segment she finally makes her stand against her bullying brother (Stephen Root) and wife (Wendi McLendon-Covey).

But Snowalter film plays more for comedy. The script that he co-wrote has sufficient comedic set-ups – the electronic concert party; the best friend’s Thanksgiving dinner without Doris; the inspirational seminar with guru Peter Gallagher to mention a few.

But it is Field that makes the film work, aided by really apt supporting performances from a superb supporting cast especially from Tyne Daly as her best friend, Roz. Greenfield who plays the young hunk has good chemistry with Field, supplementing Doris as the could be, could-not-be interested beau.

But mostly it is the film’s charm, credibility and humour that makes this film a cut above other films in this genre. Yes, we really, really like Doris!

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HARDCODE HENRY, Movie Review

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hardcorehenryHARDCORE HENRY (USA/Russia 2016) **
Directed by Ilya Naishuller

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Tim Roth, Haley Bennett

Review by Gilbert Seah

Ilya Naishuller’s HARDCORE HENRY, produced by Timur Bekmambetov, best known as the director of the Russian action sci-fi big production NIGHT WATCH trilogy moves along with the same pace as Timur’s films, and like them, boredom sets in pretty fast. In HARDCORE HENRY, the novelty of the gimmick film begins to wane after 15 minutes or so.

But still credit should be given to wunderkind music video wiz director Ilya Naishuller for his ingenuity and hard work in keeping his film consistent. And it is difficult work, undoubtedly.

HARDCORE HENRY is shot form the point of view of the protagonist, Hardcore Henry a half man half machine, resurrected from the dead by his British wife (Haley Bennett) for whatever reason that is never made clear, just as it is not made clear why the spouse is a Brit.

The camera acts as if placed in his eyes and as Henry moves around fighting punks, a dozen a minute, as the audience gets to see the beaten up victims, thrown around. The audience also gets to see Henry’s legs and arms and what the man would see. If Henry scales a wall, the audience has Henry’s point of view doing it. Unfortunately, because of the mishap of the past, Henry is unable to speak at the start. Also, Henry is at odds as what is gong on, and why everyone is trying to kill him, led athirst by a guy called Akan (Danila Kozlovsky). Also, a weird guy called Jimmy (Shalto Copley) keeps appearing at odd times, trying to help, or is he?

HARDCORE HENRY does have a good start though. The audience experiences Henry as his arms and legs are screwed on to him, just as he is voice activated by his wife. Suddenly the lab or hospital as the case may be is stormed by Akan. Henry and his wife are propelled out in some space module from a spaceship of some sort. It all works so amazingly, but only till then. It is 15 minutes into the movie.

One big problem of the film is the audience kept in the dark just as much as Henry is. Naishuller make no qualms that action in his film with his camera techniques are his priorities. It is therefore frustrating right up to the very end of the film where nothing is yet explained. Naishuller teases the audience too much, especially with the Jimmy character.

HARDCORE HENRY surprisingly won the Toronto International Film Festival Midnight Madness Public Award for Best Film. Obviously, Naishuller’s film caters to a different crowd than to me, as well as I would think to most critics. The film feels like a video game and it would be assumed more suitable for audiences favouring that vocation.

There must have been a reason films have never been made before from the protagonist’s point of view as in HARDCORE HENRY. A close cousin to this film would be the found footage films with shaky camera that can also be terribly annoying films to watch. The latter has taken a form of success in low budget horror films and this tactic may take off in low budget action film.

The recent MIDNIGHT SPECIAL can be described as a no-nonsense yarn while HARDCORE HENRY as a total nonsense yarn

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Midnight Special, Movie Review

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midnightspecial.jpgMIDNIGHT SPECIAL (USA 2015) **
Directed by Jeff Nichols

Starring: Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver

Review by Gilbert Seah

MIDNIGHT SPECIAL reunites director Jeff Nichols and actor Michael Shannon once again in a film dealing with an apocalyptic world. There is much to like and dislike about MIDNIGHT SPECIAL compared to TAKE SHELTER, but unfortunately, the former throws logic and reality to the wind. The plot and ending of MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is important to the enjoyment of the film and should not be revealed in my or any review, but it is sufficient to say that the ending should at least be a bit believable and not be totally absurd as in this case in terms of logic and possibility and also in terms of special effects. The ending is as if the special effects department was given an unlimited budge and the department spent the entire budget and more.

The film starts with a suspenseful abduction in which a man is wanted for the kidnapping of a child. It is all over the radio and the state in terms of an amber alert. Roy (Shannon) has fled a religious cult in rural Texas with his eight-year-old son Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), who possesses otherworldly powers. Roy’s accomplice and childhood friend, Lucas (Joel Edgerton sporting a very convincing Texan accent), a state trooper, helps to bring the boy to an undisclosed location on a specific date, during which a celestial and possibly world-changing event may occur.

There are a lot of points in the script (written by Nichols) that do not make sense. But of course, one can argue that a good thriller need not require good explanations as the Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock has proven many times in his Masterpieces. For example Richard Thornhill (Cary Grant) was hunted down by the organization in NORTH BY NORTHWEST though no reason was ever given. But MIDNIGHT SPECIAL thunders towards a needed explanation that when revealed, makes no sense whatsoever. The supporting character of Lucas could also be done way with, though character development-wise, it does bring a good perspective to the character of the lead, Roy.

But for me whose first profession is engineering, I can really annoyed when a story leaves too many unexplained loose ends. Among these are: “Why does the kid and absolutely no one else land on this planet with the same situation? How does the kid comes to obtain all the information and for what purpose? Why the purpose of ‘the rapture’ at the film’s climax as it really serves no purpose? And why does the cult get so involved with the boy?

Shannon has always been an excellent brooding actor, accomplishing a range of widely ranging characters. Here Shannon is able to conniving the audience of a troubled yet caring father. He is willing to kill anyone to save his son.

The first half of the film works better than the second half. When more is left to the audience’s imagination, the more mysterious and suspenseful the film becomes.

The performances of the actors almost save the movie. Two of supporting cast deserve mention. One is Sam Shepard playing the cult leader, Calvin Meyer and the other Adam Driver as the FBI agent Paul Sevier who ends up helping Roy and Alton. One suspects that Nichols demanded solid no-nonsense performances from his actors.

But love it or hate MIDNIGHT SPECIAL will definitely affect audiences on way or other, in an extreme just as the film is (extreme).

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I SAW THE LIGHT, Movie Review

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isawthelightI SAW THE LIGHT (USA 2015) **
Directed by Marc Abraham

Starring: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Maddie Hasson

Review by Gilbert Seah

The biopic of hank Williams I SAW THE LIGHT begins with Williams saying that he is impervious of what people think and that he does what he likes. The first scene then shows Williams sucking up to his marriage judge on how he loves his newly bride when the judge tells Williams how he gets up early and la-de-da-de-dah. The conflict of what is perceived and what is revealed on screen is the start of the problem of the film. The script says one thing and the film says another.

Running at over two hours, the film shows more of the bad and uncontrollable character of Hank Williams than his genius. His hard drinking, his disregard for tolerance of his loving wife overshadows his genius and talent. And it is this genius ad talent that is what audiences who come to see this film want to see.

Hank Williams had a short life. He died at the young age of 29 of heart failure due as the film informs to his hard drinking. The film shows and emphasizes much of the drinking with Williams always holding a bottle of beer, particularly in the early hours of the morning. He does not say much, but downs his beer.
Though his life was short, the film dos not reveal much of the singer’s musical background or work. The film appears more determined to show his personal life. His song writing, rehearsing and performances take second fiddle to his problems with his marriage and drinking. The film traces the difficulty of Williams getting into the grand old Opry, which is an important part in the singer’s life.

The film spend some time with interviews of Williams’ publisher Fred Rose (played by Bradley Whitford) though not much information is disseminated during these segments, that are shot in black and white.

Director Marc Abraham has made better films like the unforgettable CHILDREN OF Men and the remake DAWN OF THE DEAD. He is clearly good at demonstrating drama and this is evident in I SAW THE LIGHT.

It is an odd choice to pick British actor Tim Hiddleston to play an American country singer. One can only imagine the hard work Hiddelston and to undergo to speak with a southern western accent less to imitate Williams’ mannerisms and behaviour.

It is rare that the film shows Williams and his wife, Audrey (Elizabeth Olsen) performing. The segment (at the film’ s start) shows the reason both are an item together and how they bond despite marital problems. Again, the fight that ensues is paid more importance than the band’s performance.

The western atmosphere of the film is effectively created as are the sets and performances. But the film is a tad boring and no one really wants to spend two hours learning of Williams faults.

The title ironically called I SAY THE LIGHT fails to reveal Williams’ work and genius. The film only takes off when his songs are played, particularly during the end credits.

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