TIFF movie reviews

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: 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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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: DIVINES (France/Qatar 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.

divines_poster.jpgDIVINES (France/Qatar 2016) ****
Directed by Houda Benyamina

Starring: Oulaya Amamra, Déborah Lukumuena, Kevin Mishel

Review by Gilbert Seah

DIVINES is the much acclaimed surprise film at this year’s Cannes and the winner of the grand Camera d’Or Prize, the first to be won by an Arab director.

Houda Benyamina’s debut feature follows the hard lives of two young women who become embroiled in the criminal world of the Parisian neighbourhoods. Teenager Dounia (Oulaya Amamra) dreams of having it all: money, power, and a man. But she is saddled with a drunken and whorish mother.

At school, she freaks out and walks out of her well-intentioned teacher, swearing that she will make more money than her teacher will ever dream of. That she does with her friend, Maimouna (Déborah Lukumuena) by dealing drugs but not without dire consequences.

DIVINES is also a coming-of-age story and a very violent and hard look at the alternatives out there and there are not that many. Benyamina’s no-nonsense film is highly spirited and also full of music and dance with a little lost romance.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Zp_FM9Yug

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: L’AVENIR (THINGS TO COME) (France/Germany 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.

things_to_come_poster.jpgL’AVENIR (THINGS TO COME) (France/Germany 2016) ****
Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, André Marcon, Roman Kolinka

Review by Gilbert Seah

Director Hansen-Løve’s (LA PERE DE MES ENFANTS, UN AMOUR DE JEUNESSE, EDEN) latest feature is again a film about life and living. Like in the other 3 films mentioned, her protagonist undergoes a major change in life in the midst of the movie.

Nathalie (another excellent performance by Isabelle Huppert) is a dedicated and demanding teacher, wife, and mother whose life is jolted when her husband of many years leaves her for another woman. As her life slowly crumbles (she loses her publications as well), Nathalie slowly adapts using her background in philosophy.

Nathalie is not as assured and confident as she is in the past. Her black, obsess cat, Pandora stands also as a metaphor for her life. But Nathalie, at least finds an unlikely friend in a former student, the radical young communist Fabien (Roman Kolinka).

The film is also beautifully shot in Normandy in a beautiful vacation house where the tides waters of the sea come into the backyard (my personal dream home). The musical score ranging from classical (Schubert) to folk (Woody Guthrie) is marvellous.

There are lots more to relate, reference and to enjoy in Hansen-Løve’s film such as a short clip seen of her husband Olivier Assaya’s film in one scene. As in all of Hansen-Løve’s films, L’AVENIR is an intelligent, handsomely mounted production that is an entertaining and insightful look on life and living.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhErAqJ8HGE

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: INTERCHANGE (Malaysia/Indonesia 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.

interchange_poster.jpgINTERCHANGE (Malaysia/Indonesia 2016) ***
Directed by Dain Iskandar Said

Starring: Prisia Nasution, Iedil Putra, Shaheizy Sam

Review by Gilbert Seah

Writer/director Dain Iskandar Said’s ambitious supernatural crime thriller takes a bit too much than it can chew though it is beautifully shot with a good mix of old-fashioned special effects and magic for good measure.

Shot in both English and Malay with the characters often switching languages within a conversation as is in the case the way Malaysians speak, the film offers a close look at the local customs and folklore as well as the shops and housings in and around Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The supernatural is taken back to Borneo the huge Malaysian island where much is still uninhabited.

The film deals with a forensic photographer Adam (Iedil Putra) who has become a recluse. But another murder with eerie resemblances to that one has just taken place, and Detective Man (Shaheizy Sam) thinks that Adam may unwittingly have access to some answers. Photographs were found at the new crime scene, images in which Adam’s neighbour, Iva (Prisia Nasution), appears — but the pictures seem to have been taken many years before Iva was even born. There is a romance tied in with the rituals.

INTERCHANGE is a bit confusing in the way the story unfolds, and the tie in between bird and longevity is not that credible, but Said tries very hard in his movie and his effort shows.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ81AnCPqJM

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: GAZA SURF CLUB (Germany 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.

gaza_surf_club_poster.jpgGAZA SURF CLUB (Germany 2016) ***
Directed by Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine

Writers: Michael Dupke, Philip Gnadt

Review by Gilbert Seah

The film begins with the map showing the Gaza Strip between Israel and Egypt bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and then goes on to show a beach with waves that is surrounded by dilapidated buildings.

It is clear that the Jewish Arab conflict, a staple in Israeli and Palestinian films is an issue affecting the characters in this documentary as well. The main characters here are the youth who have a passion for the sport of surfing – something that is unimagined for the Arab people.

Two youngsters that the film concentrate on are 23-year old Ibrahim and 15-year old Sabah. Ibrahim dreams of owning his own surfboard shop while Sabah dreams of being able to swim and surf – something girls are not allowed to do, as it is deemed shameful in the culture.

The documentary sails along smoothly revealing the troubles facing the youth in materializing their goals for surfing. The cinematography of the surfing scenes is magnificent.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qonly9By1aQ

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: MOONLIGHT (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.

moonlight_poster.jpg
MOONLIGHT (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Barry Jenkins

Starring: Mahershala Ali, Shariff Earp, Duan’Sandy’ Sanderson

Review by Gilbert Seah

MOONLIGHT is Barry Jenkins’ second feature after MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY. It is s very strange feature, very originally told (in three parts; each part titled by each of the three names the protagonist is given) of the life of Little or Chiron or Black from childhood to adulthood.

His real name is Chiron, but is called Little in school due to his small stature. Little is ‘adopted’ by a local thug and his girlfriend when he is not living with his drug addicted mother. Bullied and beaten up frequently,

Little cannot take it anymore and is arrested after he finally breaks a chair over his bully right in the middle of a class. He grows up to be a big muscled guy and meets back with his school buddy who gave him the nickname of Black. Kevin and Black had a gay sex encounter which Black can never forget. Jenkins’ film feels like it is all over the place though it is obvious he is leading his audience somewhere.

Though slow moving at times, Jenkins film is never boring and a compelling watch for start to end when the audience finally figures out the purpose of MOONLIGHT.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fYFIj16YC0

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