TIFF movie review

TIFF 2016 Movie Review: RAGE (IKARI) (ANGER) (Japan 2016) ***** Top 10

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

rage_poster.jpgRAGE (IKARI) (ANGER) (Japan 2016) ***** Top 10
Directed by Ang-Il Lee

Starring: Ken Watanabe, Hikari Mitsushima, Mirai Moriyama

Review by Gilbert Seah

One of the things most neglected in the judging of a film is the directors’s storytelling technique. In the new film RAGE (also called by different titles), three different stories are wonderfully intercut and linked by a gruesome murder of a husband and wife for no apparent reason.

A stranger shows up in 3 different towns and is the suspect for this murder. One story involves a gay man who picks up a stranger at a bath-house (after sex, of course) who he thinks might be the killer.

Another has a girl finally finding stability and love with a stranger with an unknown past. Her father (Ken Watanabe) digs up the dirt and suspicion falls on the new beau. Finally, the third involves a possible rape with a boyfriend and new friends trying to cope withe crime.

One needs a bit of patience and work to appreciate what the film is attempting but by the last film’s last reel, Lee will have you totally captivated in his storytelling. Besides being a film about rage, it is also one about forgiveness and redemption.

One of the hidden gems of this year’s festival.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbvcbQn1Zqc

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: PRANK (Canada 2016)

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

prank_poster.jpgPRANK (Canada 2016) *
Directed by Vincent Biron

Starring: Alexandre Auger, Eric K. Boulianne, Normand Daoust

Review by Gilbert Seah

The film PRANK must be a prank of some kind. The no-brainer film is about 3 losers and a loser girl that go about town doing pranks of various kinds. Stefie (Étienne Galloy) is a bored, awkward teenager with giant train tracks, a mouth that’s constantly agape, no apparent friends, and nothing better to do than throw a tennis ball listlessly against a schoolyard wall.

Enter older pranksters Martin (Alexandre Lavigne) and Jean-Se (Simon Pigeon), who con Stefie into collaborating on a YouTube ruse. One might include dancing on a bridge until someone comes long when he will be told to f*** off.

This prank is not at all funny, nor are the other ranks nor the film itself.

This is a small budget Quebec film that serves no purpose. One wonders why it has even been selected as a TIFF film. The film that makes the film JACKASS look like a masterpiece.

(No need to bother with a trailer here!)

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: THE OATH (Iceland 2016) ***1/2

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

the_oath_posterTHE OATH (Iceland 2016) ***1/2
Directed by Baltasar Kormákur

Starring: Hera Hilmar, Baltasar Kormákur, Gísli Örn Garðarsson

Review by Gilbert Seah

THE OATH is TAKEN Icelandic style, while making good use of the Icelandic landscape.

Not a revenge film with all violence, beatings and car chases, THE OATH is a thinking man’s revenge flick. Finnur (Kormákur), a prominent physician, is dealing simultaneously with both the death of his father and the increasingly erratic behaviour of his eldest daughter, Anna (Hera Hilmar).

Perplexed, he suspects that Anna’s new boyfriend, Óttar (Gísli Örn Garðarsson), may be the cause. A frantic late-night call from Anna convinces Finnur that he must get the creepy Óttar out of his daughter’s life for good.

The father devises a scheme to save his daughter with the cops having him as the prime suspect for a killing. A large part of the film is his planning for both the killing and the alibi. What would a father not do to save his family?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vPNwJ4yab8

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: THE LEVELLING (UK 2016) ****

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

the_levelling_poster.jpgTHE LEVELLING (UK 2016) ****
Directed by Hope Dickson Leach

Starring: Ellie Kendrick, David Troughton, Jack Holden

Review by Gilbert Seah

Writer/director Leach’s debut feature is a meticulously executed piece proving her a new force to be reckoned with. Leach does marvellously with her material while eliciting almost perfect performances from her two leads.

The script balances both characters and none are totally in the right or wrong. Clover (Ellie Kendrick), the film’s clearheaded young protagonist, comes home to Somerset after learning that her younger brother Harry has committed suicide. There she is met by her sullen father, Aubrey (David Troughton), a brooding hulk of a man whose past woes have derailed his life.

Quiet and dour, wishing never to express himself, he finds himself trapped in quiet anger. The farm is in disrepair. Recent floods have rendered the main house uninhabitable, and Aubrey lives in a trailer.

Harry was meant to take over the farm, but those plans also lie in ruins. But a secret is eventually revealed in the plot bringing the film to a satisfying emotional climax and making it a rewarding gut wrenching family drama.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFfaxS6Go5k

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: THE BELKO EXPERIMENT (USA 2016) ****

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

the_belko_experiment_poster.jpgTHE BELKO EXPERIMENT (USA 2016) ****
Directed by Greg McLean

Starring: Josh Brener, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker

Review by Gilbert Seah

Aussie director (Australians always have their special edgy sense of humour) and scriptwriter James Gunn (remember his super-gross SLITHER?) join forces to deliver the perfect Midnight Madness vehicle, which would get my vote for the Midnight Madness Best Film Award.

Office politics turns into a real-life survival of the fittest when a group of co-workers are forced into a sick game of kill or be killed by unknown sinister forces that lock down their building, in this gruesomely funny horror thriller. It at first seems to be an ordinary morning on the job for a group of Americans working for a not-for-profit company in a modern office building in Colombia.

After noticing that their Colombian colleagues have not arrived for work, office worker Mike (John Gallagher, Jr.) spots some unfamiliar security guards entering a large hangar nearby. Moments later, an icy voice comes over the building’s PA system and calmly explains that the employees must kill a certain number of their co-workers — if not, they will be killed themselves.

While the boss (Tony Goldwyn) tries to calm the troops, Mike belatedly realizes that something truly sinister is going on — and when metal doors come sliding down on all the building’s exits and windows, it becomes clear that friends and colleagues are now suddenly enemies in a bloody and brutal battle to the death. Even before the action begins, McLean delivers lots of inside office jokes like the isolation of working in a cubicle, sexual harassment and the introduction of new employees.

The film is a mix between disaster, sci-fi, horror and comedy which means that the filmmakers have plenty to play around with. In the kill to survive scenario, there is the good guy with all the right motives, the bad boss (handsome Goldwyn doing the villain as he did in GHOST), the unstable psycho, the asshole, the plump good meaning lady and so on. Though I and expected the ending to be a let down, a surprising twist in the story proved me wrong.

THE BELKO EXPERIMENT proves to be very violent fun, if one can stomach the violence.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W46xo3AvBA

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: APPRENTICE (Singapore/Fr/HK/Germ/Qatar) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

apprentice_posterAPPRENTICE (Singapore/Fr/HK/Germ/Qatar) ***
Directed by Boo Junfen

Starring: Firdaus Rahman, Wan Hanafi Su, Mastura Ahmad

Review by Gilbert Seah

Singapore is not a country known for its films. When I immigrated from Singapore in 1984, there was no film industry and no feature films on record. TIFF is the only chance I get to watch films from my birthplace and the films have been consistent in quality – to my pride.

APPRENTICE is the second film by Boo which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, the first one being the excellent SANDCASTLE which I had seen here at TIFF years back. APPRENTICE is a family drama of another kind and the film is again one about the search of identity.

Correctional officer Aiman (played by a brooding Fir Rahman) is ready to do everything it takes to be transferred to the death ward of Singapore’s highest-security prison. His ambition to become apprentice to chief executioner Rahim (Wan Hanafi Su) is not only professional; it’s born of Aiman’s unspeakable desire to reconnect with a past that haunts him. (Airman’s father was executed by Rahim).

Airman finally gets his wishes as the film’s drama reaches its climatic pitch. A slow burning but effective and absorbing drama shot in both English and Malay with a dose of Mandarin.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxY3zZCqeTw

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

the_autopsy_of_jane_doe_poster.jpg
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE (USA 2016) **
Directed by Andre Ovredal

Starring: Ophelia Lovibond, Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox

Review by Gilbert Seah

Norwegian bad boy Andre Ovredal (THE TROLL HUNTERS) returns with a gruesome horror shocker set in the basement of a house that doubles as a crematory and morgue. It is an old family business of father (Brian Cox) and son (Emile Hirsch), a closely knit family.

The two get along (not unlike most movies that would add tension here) and they help each other out. They have to when the local sheriff brings in a dead body of an unknown woman (they call Jane Doe) for an autopsy.

The story does not make much sense nor the goings-on with the explanations given. Director Ovredal knows how to shock his audience though.

Using false alarms and things that go bump and tinkle in the night, the audience will be scared half to death if not already grossed out. It is also good to see good actors like Cox and Hirsch in a horror film.

Trailer: https://teaser-trailer.com/movie/the-autopsy-of-jane-doe/

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: SIERANEVADA (Romania 2016) ****

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

sieranevada_poster.jpgSIERANEVADA (Romania 2016) ****
Directed by Cristi Puiu

Starring: Mimi Branescu, Mirela Apostu, Eugenia Bosânceanu

Review by Gilbert Seah

Romanian director Cristi Puiu is not known for his short films. His last success “The Death of Mr. Lăzărescu” clocked in at 150 minutes while his latest SIERANEVADA runs longer at 176 minutes and takes place mainly in three rooms in a cramped apartment where members of a family argue and argue and argue. Skeletons come out of the closet with no end. When a few guests leave the apartment, they still argue outside.

Is Puiu’s film unbearable? It will be to some, but his film is quite a masterwork of black humour well orchestrated and his film is actually very funny. The main character is Lary (Mimi Brănescu) who is first seen in an extended sequence lasting close to 15 minutes arguing with his wife Laura (Cătălina Moga) in their car.

They are attending a memorial dinner with relatives. The big joke is that nobody ever get a chance to eat until the very end. One wonders too, how Puiu places his camera in such a tiny apartment with all the characters running around.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=906FeQTD3iQ

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: MA VIE EN COURGETTE (MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI) (Switz/France 2016) ***** Top 10

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

my_life_as_a_zucchini_posterMA VIE EN COURGETTE (MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI) (Switz/France 2016) ***** Top 10
Directed by Claude Barras

Starring: Gaspard Schlatter, Sixtine Murat, Paulin Jaccoud

Review by Gilbert Seah

The surprise hit at Cannes and the Swiss entry for the Best Foreign Film at the next Academy Awards, MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE is pure delight. It is stop-motion claymation full of life and emotion – the story of an orphan who lands himself in a foster care home after accidentally killing his mother.

All the other orphans have endured traumatic experiences including child abuse, neglect and crazy parents. Yes, it is an adult, black comedy that is suited for adults and older children. There is also a very funny sex education portion, so parents with littler children should note.

The boy, called Courgette by his mother, is at first bullied but finally finds no only acceptance and true love but a new foster father. The bully not only becomes Courgette’s best friend but saves the day. Barras knows how to tell a a story and evoke emotion like tears of joy.

The sensitive script is penned by Céline Sciamma (writer-director of GIRLHOOD and TOMBOY) adapted from Gilles Paris’ novel Autobiography of a Courgette. Running at only 66 minutes, this is one film you would not want to end.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d9N5Y_sN8Q

 

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: DOG EAT DOG (USA 2016) Starring: Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

dog_eat_dog_poster.jpgDOG EAT DOG (USA 2016) **
Directed by Paul Schrader

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe, Louisa Krause

Review by Gilbert Seah

Paul Schrader, best known as the writer of TAXI DRIVER and RAGING BULL and director of AFFLICTION, directs this crime black comic cape (based on a 1995 novel by writer and ex-convict Edward Bunker) about three ex-convicts out to make good with one last score.

Trouble is that the three, led by Troy (Nicolas Cage) with Mad Dog (Willem Dafoe) and Diesel (Christopher Matthew Cook) are all violently crazy and cannot b trusted to do anything right. Worst still luck never seems to be on their side and trouble seems to follow them wherever they go.

Schrader has a cameo as the mafioso “The Greek” who has just the job of kidnapping a mobster’s baby. But the film is not as good as it sounds. The trio’s antics get boring after a while. The fact that the audience has no sympathy for any one of the three does not help either.

The last segment of the film makes little sense in continuity. Over violent, a staple in Schrader’s films, does not always work in black comedies.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt0FkSTyffs

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