movie review

Movie Review: THE LITTLE PRINCE (France/Italy 2015) ****

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the_little_prince.jpg
THE LITTLE PRINCE (France/Italy 2015) ****
Directed by Mark Osborne

Review by Gilbert Seah

It would unthinkable to do a makeover of the much loved fairytale 1943 novel, Le Petit Prince written by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. A film version had already been made, a faithful one by Stanley Donen, which everybody loved back in the 70’s. So when the director Mark Osborne, pitched his film idea to the actors and financiers, he had better had a good viable one in mind.

And judging from this fantastic and stunning film, he did.

Osborne has created this English-language 3D stop-motion-animated adventure fantasy with a script film written by Irena Brignull and Bob Persichetti based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It should be noted that Osborne uses stop motion animation for the novel’s story and computer animation for an additional frame narrative. Osborne also assembled a more than impressive list of voice characterizations including Jeff Bridges, Rachel McAdams, Paul Rudd, Marion Cotillard, James Franco, Benicio del Toro, Ricky Gervais, Bud Cort, Paul Giamatti, Riley Osborne, Albert Brooks and Mackenzie Foy.

Saint-Exupery’s story of the boy on his planet is woven into an original narrative which involves a young girl. The film begins as an ordinary story on Planet Earth.

The mother (McAdams) of a prodigious young girl (Foy) wants her daughter to enrol in a prestigious Academy where the moot seems to be essential n everything essential. To ensure her daughter will pass the entrance exam, the mother imposes on her a rigorous study schedule over the course of the summer that leaves little room for leisure. The girl becomes distracted by her next-door neighbour, an elderly, retired aviator (Bridges) who shares with her the story of a young boy from a distant asteroid, the “little prince”, whom he supposedly encountered in a desert after crashing his plane. As the two play together without the mother’s knowledge, the aviator has a secret that slowly unfolds. The little prince, the real McCoy is cleverly woven into the film’s plot including the novel’s famous characters like the fox, the rose, the businessman and others. A few are left out, but the atmosphere of the novel is left intact regardless.

Despite the child characters, the film is more an adult fantasy than a film for kids. No doubt the kids can enjoy the animation, which is nothing short of marvellous. The idea of freeing trapped stars back into the sky in one of the film’s most memorable segments, is something that is quite the sight for sore eyes. The best looking segment has the aviator take the little girl on a flight into the night. But the story’s logic is a tad too difficult for children to follow. But to be fair to the filmmakers, the story of The Little Prince is quite abstract. The message of the film of never forgetting being a child is a universal one.

And some background about the film: the film has already earned $88.4 million on a $77.5 million budget, before its North American release making it the most successful French animated film abroad of all time. The end credits list it a a French/Italian co-production though the film contains quite a bit of Canadian production values. The film will face tough competition with Disney’s ZOOTOPIA, another excellent animated feature also playing in theatres.

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Movie Review: 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE ***1/2

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10_cloverfield_lane.jpg10 CLOVERFIELD LANE (USA 2016) ***1/2
Directed by Dan Trachtenberg

Starring: John Goodman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher Jr.

Interview with 10 Cloverfield Lane Special Effects Foreman – Donnie Dean

Interview with 10 Cloverfield Lane Cinematographer – Jeff Cutter

Spoiler Alert: Please note that in order to provide a readable film review, there are minor plot points that have to be revealed in the review.

It should be noted that every attempt has been made to keep the key plot twists secret so that readers will not have their entertainment of this film compromised.

Films about sole captives have always done reasonably well at the box-office and have sat well with audiences. From William Wyler’s THE COLLECTOR to Peter Jackson’s THE LOVELY BONES to the recent Oscar best actress winning film ROOM, creepiness has always translated to good suspense and thrills. It is surprising that the above three films dealt with the main element of suspense and 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is the only one that is truly a horror picture. And quite a good one at that. The antagonist is played by the excellent John Goodman. Can you imagine waking up after being unconscious in a tiny room only to be greeted by a gigantic unshaven monster of a man? Now that is really scary. And the script written by Josh Campbell, Matthew Stucken, and Damien Chazelle milks that idea to the limit.
The film is a science fiction horror film and the spiritual successor of the 2008 film CLOVERFIELD, although the two films do not share the same fictional universe or continuity.

CLOVERFIELD dealt with teens protecting their neighbourhood from aliens. So 10 COVERFIELD LANE obviously has real aliens in the plot, though the first part of the film teases the audience with the fact that there might not be ab alien invasion and that Howard (Goodman) is keeping both Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Emmet (John Gallagher, Jr.) prisoners in the dark on the false pretext of an alien invasion fall-out. But whatever the reason, Michelle,the lead character, has decided to escape, regardless.

The best parts of the film is Trachtenberg’s depiction of the desperation of all the three characters – each one dealing with it in his or her own way. The script also blends humour in the best of unexpected times. This is obvious in the film’s start with the intercutting with Michelle’s car accident and the titles ‘Paramount Pictures Present” and then car overturning and then “A Bad Robot Production”. The script is also clever enough to always keep the audience surprised with one plot turn after another. Howard can turn from super nice captor, to suspicious host to totally angry monster. The bunker itself is a contradiction of wonderfully designed live-in space to isolated captive room. Even the start of the film is a surprise. Michelle is shown driving away for 10 minutes of screen time before it is revealed she is running away from her lover, Ben (voiced by Bradley Cooper). “I think we’re alone now” is also an obvious but fun choice of a song on the soundtrack.

A bit of moralizing is included for good sport. Is it better to be alive in this situation?

There are a few minor loopholes in the plot, which cannot be mentioned here due to they being spoilers, but these are minor and can be overlooked. But the last 15 minutes of high tech, high budget climax destroys the otherwise excellent plotting of the first 3/4 of the film. It could be argued that the last segment is necessary to bind the two CLOVERFIELD films, but unfortunately director Trachtenberg has thrown all logic out the door as the audience can see what one small bottle of whiskey could do.

Despite its flaws, 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE is thoroughly entertaining and succeeds as a horror movie. One wonders though of the NORTH BY NORTHWEST styled letter credits the filmmakers have chosen to use.

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Movie Review: THE BRONZE. Director: Bryan Buckley

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the_bronzeTHE BRONZE (ISA 2015) ***
Directed by Bryan Buckley

Starring: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Haley Lu Richardson

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE BRONZE is a feel good crowd pleaser about a has-been foul-mouthed bronze gymnastic medallist that makes it good. The trouble with feel-good films like the recent EDDIE THE EAGLE is that it is too formulaic, with all the right buttons pushed that everything is predictable right up to the secret smile of a coach to the end credits. Fortunately for THE BRONZE, the niche of the lead character being a foul mouth breaks the trend – a little anyway.

It all began a decade ago when Hope Ann Greggory (Melissa Rauch) was America’s sweetheart. Her inspired performance on a ruptured Achilles at the world’s most prestigious gymnastics tournament clinched an unlikely bronze medal for the U.S. team and brought glory to her hometown of Amherst, Ohio. But in the years since that epic third place victory, Hope has wasted her life. Still living in her too loving/possessive dad Stan’s (Gary Cole) basement, still sporting her daily uniform of a Team USA gym suit with teeny-bopper bangs, ponytail and scrunchie, she spends her days at the mall milking her minor celebrity for free food and favours.

Hope’s routine is upended when she learns that she must coach Amherst’s newest gymnastics prodigy Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson) in order to receive a sizeable financial inheritance. Hope is faced with a serious dilemma: whether to jeopardize her “hometown hero” status by devotedly training this rising star to achieve the dreams she never could?

The film plays like STRANGERS WITH CANDY, another comedy with a lead character similar to Coach Hope’s. In fact Melissa Rauch’s mannerisms in THE BRONZE are so similar to the lead’s in STRANGERS WITH CANDY that one wonders if she uses that film as her inspiration. It works anyway. The success of THE BRONZE lies largely on Rauch’s nuanced performance and she delivers it right up to the very end with her very vulgar end credits rendering of the rap song called “F That”.

Some things are still predictable in the script like her romance, her turning over a new leaf and her final making-up with her long suffering father.

Director Buckley serves his humour without constraint. The gymnastic sex segment is a prime example of humour gone bonkers. A second example is the the vulgar F That song at the end credits.

The gymnast competition segments are also exciting enough – executed with superior camera work and choreographed synchronicity.

Buckley also approaches the film with a no-nonsense approach. The first 10 minutes of the film, for example are used to establish Hope’s character – ranging from user (getting free favours at the local mall from her past glory) to sympathetic (aiding an invalid with money to fix his wheel chair). Her one-liner “I’m a star, not a coach,” effectively captures all that needs to be shown. In a similar way, this is a comedic version of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY HOPE?

Not too preachy, sufficiently hilarious, well shot with a prize performance from the lead actress Rauch, THE BRONZE is an entertaining enough time waster.

 

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Movie Review: MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART

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mountains_may_departMOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (China/France/Japan 2015) ***
Directed by Jia Zhangke

Starring: Tao Zhao, Yi Zhang, Jing Dong Liang

Review by Gilbert Seah

MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART is the new film from China’s art house favourite director Jia Zhangke whose all other films that included PLATFORM, STILL LIFE, 24 CITY and the most recent A TOUCH OF SIN were all screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. His films share the same theme of the individual living in a changing society, which in this case is China.

His films are interesting primarily because Jia is a director who does what he likes, and therefore breaks the mould of films in this genre. In MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART for example, the film is told in three parts, but they do not dwell on three separate characters but on three different times, the years being 1999 (the millennium eve), 2014 and the future of 2025, where the 3 characters found in the first segment spawn new characters that appear in the last while themselves disappearing from the story.
Jia shoots the three time periods in different aspect ratios with the square Academy frame expanding to widescreen. Those in the filmmaking business will be elated to discover this fact, but the ordinary filmgoer including film critics may not even realize the difference. It is a neat tactic but would hardly do anything but maybe alter a bit of the tone of the story.

The first part of the film set in 1999 plays like a melodrama. Tao (Zhao Tao), the dance instructor and town beauty has two boyfriends an picks and marries the rich entrepreneur Zhang (Zhang Yi) over the poorer coal miner. In the 2014 segment, she is divorced and brings their son or her father’s funeral. The call miner ex is now married, has cancer and leaves the film at this point. Tao gives up her son who loves to Australia with his dad. The third and final part set in the future of 2025 centres on the son, Dollar and his difficulties with his dad, Zhang. Dollar befriends his college professor (Sylvia Chang) who is an addition to the film’s story.

The trouble that most will have with the three stories is the transition from one segment to another. Director Jia makes no qualms about easing the flow, so when plot switches to the son at the end, most would favour the third part the least even though it makes the most point in Jia’s film.

Jia comes across a bit preachy by turning Zhang’c character into an obnoxious human being. He is all about money, evident by naming his son Dollar. He becomes more distraught when his son wants out of the father/son relationship. The college professor is a very interesting character inserted into the film and more time should have been devoted to her character.

Still Jia’s epic of the negative impact of China’s capitalism on the Chinese individual comes across loud and clear. MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART is an important film that emphasizes a point that is already too clear and one that has affected too many.

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Movie Review: CHI-RAQ. Directed by Spike Lee

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chi-raqCHI-RAQ (USA 2015) ***
Directed by Spike Lee

Starring: Nick Cannan, Teyonah Parris, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett

Review by Gibert Seah

CHI-RAQ, the film’s title is made up of the first and last syllables of the cities of Chicago and Iraq respectively and used s the title for the reason that more people have been killed in Chicago than the Americans in the Iraq war with the result of south side Chicago (the film’s setting) being declared a war zone.

The film, a mix of satire and musical contains lots of song and dance numbers with a very strong message. The message is to save the babies and do away with guns. The film begins with the death of a little girl from a stray bullet. The black women of Chicago have had enough. The women of the two gangs, Spartan and Trojan (their meeting is plain hilarious) decide to withhold sex to prevent their husbands from fighting. The local priest, Father Mike Corridan (John Cusack) steps up to help the fight.

One has to be able to bare Lee’s preachiness. And Lee can be the most preachy at his most preachiness. This is illustrated in a segment in which the priest preaches his preachy sermon to a congregation, in which part of his sermon is repeated so that nothing can be left out.

If the film’s dialogue sounds Shakespearean, it should be noted that the script, written by Lee and Kevin Willmott is based on Aristophanes’ Lysistrata, the classical Greed comedy play in which women withhold sex as a weapon to prevent their husbands from going to war. The film is framed with a spritely delivered narrative by no less than Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson has never been in a film in which he has not uttered he m***f**er word, and this film is no exception.

An impressive cast includes old Lee collaborators like Jackson, Angela Bassett, Wesley Snipes (as Cyclops) and new ones like Jennifer Hudson, Teyonah Parris and Nick Cannon playing the lead role.

CHI-RAQ is everything one can expect from the controversial Spike Lee. His film touted controversy from the film’s music supervisor Kendricks who got fired for charging a fee to musicians for having their music considered on the soundtrack to Lee calling the Chicago mayor a bully for demanding the film’s name be changed or the city’s tax credits not apply for the film. Love it or hate it, this latest joint by Spike Lee is unforgettable.

Music and dance play a big part in Lee getting his message across. The first segment has a song played loud with subtitles for those unfamiliar with the south side Chicago accent. But the film with its message is catered towards the adult black folk, judging from the steamy sex scenes and language. Perhaps the message should also be told to the younger teens and pre-teens who eventually become the violent criminals depicted in the film.

The $15 million budget film has already grossed $2.7 million in a limited release in December of 2015. For all the good intentions and huge effort put in by Lee and his gang, the film hopefully, will do well in its wider release now.

 

 

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Movie Review: WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT (USA 2016) ***

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whiskeytangofoxtrotbaWHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Starring: Tina Fey, Margot Robbie, Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Alfred Molina

Review by Gilber Seah

WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT is the military communications term for WTF which stands for….what everyone is familiar with. The title sounds more appropriate than the lengthy title of the memoir called The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan written by Kim Baker about her own experiences as an overseas reporter.

The film charts Baker’s life story while reporting in various cities in Afghanistan. She leaves boyfriend Chris (Josh Charles) to fend for himself as she leaves for an initial 3 months. She befriend the only other female journalist on arrival, Tanya (Margot Robbie). As Baker learns the ropes and gets her reporting done, she learns much about the state of Afghanistan, though these tend to be feminine biased. She falls for a fellow reporter, Scotsman Iain (Martin Freeman). She learns a few painful life lessons as well. All this seriousness is however, conveyed through in a humorous manner.

The film is directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa who did an ok job also with I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS.

An outright flaw is the film’s preachiness on women’s issues. One can understand where this is coming from as the film is produced and performed by Tina Fey based on a female’s novel. But one would have expected the all male scriptwriter and directing trio to at least moderate some of the material. The romance overshadows what is going on to the point that the film almost turns out into another annoying Hollywood romantic comedy. The lady saves her lover at all costs with her ingenuity? It is really hard to take in as fact what she did in the film to save Iain. Also, the film praises many feminist issues like the right of afghan women to gossip and socialize at the well, their right to ensure foreigners cover their heads and not hold hands (two scenes has the Fey character admonished for those two ‘sins’) and the women’s roles are much strongly written than the males. The men exist to service the purpose of the female characters. There is the alpha male security of Baker, a hunky no-brain ready to have sex with her at her command. Her main love interest Iain is always there to beckon her ever wish and woos her to no end. And at the social gatherings, the men never have anything important to say. The chief male, General Hollanek is depicted as an egoistic goat who succumbs to Baker’s plans while the Afghan chief of the Interior Ali Massoud Sadiq (Alfred Molina) does more of the same.

The female audience may be delighted however at the Afghan war being looked at from a different perspective. Also, the war with all its horrors is depicted as just that, though doused with quite the bit of humour. One can always be reminded that this is an SNL film – if such a thing exists – produced by Lorne Michaels (SNL) and Fey.

In one segment of the film, Baker is asked the reason she went to Afghanistan. Her answer that she realized that day in and day out she has moved backwards in life as metaphorically observed in her stationary bike that moved backwards after constant use and that she should move forward, one can only wish that the directors’ reason for making this movie also could have achieved this same goal. WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT could have been better, but as the title implies WTF, it leads nowhere. WTF?

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Movie Review: ZOOTOPIA (USA 2016) Top 10 *****

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zootopiaZOOTOPIA (USA 2016) Top 10 *****
Directed by Byron Howard, Rich Moore and Jared Bush

Review by Gilbert Seah

ZOOTOPIA is the Utopia for animals, so called because the 10% predators (lions, wolves, foxes) can co-habit side by side with 90 % prey (rabbits and other smaller animals). The status quo is about to be altered when the usually calm predators start exhibiting unruly behaviour threatening the 90% population of the ‘prey’. It is up to the heroine of the story, a wannabe cop by the name of Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) to solve the mystery, CHINATOWN-style and save the animal world.

The premise allows the film plenty of opportunity to reflect and criticize the real world of today – particularly America. If one reads between the lines of the script, there is much more pleasure to be derived, besides just enjoying a Disney movie.

And as for Disney movies go, ZOOTOPIA is the best there is, that I have seen for a long time. The film is clever, funny, superfluously animated with never a dull moment, even for the adults.

The film begins with Judy the bunny, leaving her comfortable home of carrot farming to achieve her dream of becoming a cop. After passing the course, with much effort, she is sent to Zootopia for her first assignment.

The animation is stunning. As the train arrives to Zootopia, the audience is given a birds-eye view of the gorgeous city, recalling the awe when on comes to a new fantasy land as in the movies JURASSIC WORLD and TOMORROWLAND.

The cop world is very similar to the American police system. The tough get the best assignments and Hopps, is given parking ticket duty. The problems she faces with this job are also very similar to the real world. The ticketed complain that they don’t deserve to be ticketed with the same reasons real people do. Judy is so dedicated that she gives herself a parking violation ticket as she forgotten the time on her meter. Though this might sound ridiculous, it should send a message to the police that they are not above the law and should also be bound by the same rules as the general public.

Racism is also examined with a sense of humour. Hopps takes offence of being called ‘cute’, the word bunnies take offence to.

The switch of lambs being the bad villains and the foxes and more ferocious animals being the victims is also a brilliant idea. The ultimate criminal in the film turns out to be the unsuspected meek Deputy Mayor Dawn Belweather (Jenny Slate). The mayor Lionheart (voiced by J.K. Simmons who is also heard in KUNG FU PANDA 3) is pulled away and arrested for the same crime most city mayors are also guilty for.

ZOOTOPIA plays more as a suspense thriller (think CHINATOWN) than action animation. The film also gives an obvious nod to THE GODFATHER films. The film’s funniest segment is the sloth segment (even if you have seen it once in the trailer) in which Hopps and her friend the fox, Nick (Jason Bateman) goes to get a run (see photo in-set) on a license plate. Again, the marvel of Disney animation is reinforced by the tearing on the perorated line of the ticket in slow motion, showing the details of the paper tear.

But it is the humour that makes the film really tick. It is a laugh out loud moment at least every minute. The writers and directors have a great sense of humour, clear from the film’s very start. There are a lot of rabbit jokes, the funniest ones poking at the rate they populate. Judy, has for example, 365 brothers and sisters and the population numbers on the town Bunnyborrow is constantly ticking upwards.

The film denounces power and all the evil power brings with it. Though a bit preachy with a voiceover at the end, ZOOTOPIA is near movie perfection – yes, the Utopia of animation. Even the ending song “Try Everything” sung by a gazelle that is supposed to be Shakira is nothing short of brilliant.

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Movie Review: LONDON HAS FALLEN (2016)

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london_has_fallenLONDON HAS FALLEN (USA 2015) **
Directed by Babak Najafi

Starring: Gerard Butler, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman

Review by Gilbert Seah

Audiences are always awed when world famous landmarks are demolished on screen. But when these are done by CGI, it loses its effect and even more when too many, as in this film tumble to the ground. The single sight of a bus crashing at Piccadilly Circus in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON one without CGI is so much more exciting than anything seen in LONDON HAS FALLEN.
For those who have forgotten the film OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, LONDON HAS FALLEN is a sequel to that 2013 film in which terrorists attacked the White House In LONDON, the terrorists are shifted from the Koreans to the Muslims. All the actors in the first film reprise their roles in the sequel. Aaron Eckhart plays the U.S. President, Benjamin Asher with the same lead character the super U.S. Secret service Agent, former Army Ranger, Mike Banning, again played by Gerard Butler. Angela Bassett, Morgan Freeman, Robert Forster Radha Mitchell and ours reprise their roles.

Swede director Babak Najafi takes over the directing reigns from Antoine Fuqua. Nahafi’s only credit is the sequel to EASY MONEY called EASY MONEY 2 that never got a release in North America.

The simple plot involves the British Prime Minister dying under questionable circumstances. When all the world’s most powerful leaders including President Benjamin Asher and Manning travel to London for the funeral, all the leaders including the Canadian P.M. are assassinated.

There can be little suspense less excitement in a film where the lead character like this super security bodyguard is invincible. No matter how low the odds on survival, no matter how much enemy firepower or enemy numbers there are, the audience knows he will get through with hardly a scratch. The script attempts to up the angst by having his wife (Mitchell) deliver a baby while he is on assignment in London, but with little effect.

There is little to praise in a script that follows the rules of an action flick without much imagination. It begins with the set up, the main staging of the falling of London and the saving of the U.S. President at all costs. And of course, the mastermind villain is taken down at the end. The dialogue is also run of the mill. President: “What if you don’t come back (for me)?” Butler: “Then you are f***ed. Don’t jinx me” President: “That was encouraging.” At least in the first OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, the First Lady (Ashley Judd) gets killed – a major surprise. No twists in the plot or surprises in this one.

Gerard Butler is too eager to be seen in blockbuster 5-star films. In these two weeks, he has been over-exposed in GODS OF EGYPT and LONDON HAS FALLEN. 5-star movies? Apparently London is not the only thing that has fallen.
Compared to OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN, LONDON HAS FALLEN is more of the same. But mostly, recycled material that the audience has seen already once too often.

 

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Watch World Premiere GHOSTBUSTERS Movie Trailer

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Why do people hate this movie trailer?  Perhaps they are right.

Take a look;

Here’s what people are saying about the trailer:

As much as I love the idea of the all girl Ghostbuster team.. I much prefer the idea of talented writers.

WTF IS WITH THE HATE. THIS LOOKS DOPE AF

the monsters looks like they are from the scooby doo movie. it sucks

This actually looks pretty good… And I just love Kate Mckinnon and Kristen Wiig, two of the funniest women around.

This is what I was afraid of. Too loud and in your face the original ghostbusters wasn’t like that

I love the original so much and I had doubts about this one but man I’m defiantly going to watch! I love the idea of an all girl ghostbuster team!

Hm… What if… Yes! We need remake of “Saving Private Ryan” where all cast would be females. Or! Even better, All Nazis must be played by male actors, because males are sexists. Yes. That would be Politically correct movie!

There’s nothing wrong with an all female leading cast.
What’s wrong is that it looks like shit and sounds like it was written by monkeys.

This movie looks horrible. And it has nothing to do with its cast.

Girls? Ruined the movie. Shame on you.

All in all, this is a trailer that doesn’t have the comedy snarkiness that made the original so good. And where is the romance? Where is the sexiness?