FILM REVIEWS:
100 YARDS (China 2023) ***
Directed by Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng
100 YARDS can best be described as a China version of JOHN WICK4. Like JOHN WICK4, 100 YARDS excels in the action fight scenes, in this case, Martial-arts Wushu brand, with minimal emphasis on plot or story. If JOHN WICKS4 is your type of film, then 100 YARSD will do you justice.
The plot can be summarized as such: Two bitter rivals (Jacky Heung and Andy On) duel for stewardship of a wushu academy, in this martial arts caper from Xu Haofeng (The Sword Identity, The Final Master).
Xu Haofeng is a martial arts expert, writer, director, and choreographer (not to mention a celebrated novelist and Taoist scholar) in a class all his own. The film is written and directed in collaboration with Xu Junfeng.
100 YARDS, the martial saga is set in 1920s Tianjin, China. Upon the death of a well-respected martial arts master, two students become bitter rivals as they vie for ownership of his academy. The 100 YARDS of the title refer to the radius at which the academy protects the people in the circle from bandits and thugs. The beginning of the film has the death of the master of the academy propagating the chain of events of the story.. One is the master’s top apprentice, Qi (Andy On), the expected heir to the school. His challenger is the master’s son, Shen (Jacky Heung), whose future was meant to be outside the martial arts circle, were it not for his obstinate passion to pursue his father’s practice. Shen is destined to work in a bank. Their dispute is to be settled in combat, but its outcome stirs only malcontent and, as the challenges between the two fighters multiply, customs become stretched and broken to the scandalized shock of their wushu comm
There is some romance added with girls attached to each of the two rivals.
The action sequences involve fights with short sabres, poles and slingshots, as well as bare fists. The fifth choreography is nothing short of stunning but the lacks a strong narrative, one which is sometimes all over the place, jumping in time tied to test one's patience in watching the film.
100 YARDS had its international premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and opens in theatres on November 15th.
Trailer:
BIRD (UK 2024) ***
Directed by Andrea Arnold
Director Arnold makes excellent gritty movies involving females who stand up for what they believe is right. In her latest BIRD, surrealism is added to the real and gritty, which does not really work as it undermines the credibility and emotions of the story that has already been carefully built up. Twelve-year-old Bailey (Nykiya Adams) lives with her father Bug (a devoted but emotionally chaotic Barry Keoghan) in a graffiti-strewn tenement. When Bug informs her that he’ll be marrying his new girlfriend soon, Bailey is furious and hurt, for what will become of her? Her mother lives with a violent, cruel man, and while Bug sports a ferocious love for his daughter, he can be oblivious to the needs of a fledgling teenage girl. As she often does, Bailey retreats to the open fields on the outskirts of her hometown to seek comfort. It is here she is most herself, with an uncanny ability to communicate with animals and experience nature in a profound way. It is on one of these walks that Bailey has a mysterious, yet deeply meaningful, encounter that helps her when she must force a confrontation with her mother’s vicious partner. Oscar nominee Keoghan and newcomer Adams both deliver outstanding performances that elevate the film.
BLITZ (UK/USA 2024) ****
Directed by Steve McQueen
BLITZ is the new Steve McQueen historical drama film that follows a defiant young boy, George (Elliot Hefferman), on an adventure in London during World War II. He finds himself in immense peril amidst the Blitz while his distraught mother, Rita (Saoirse Ronan), searches for him.
Being set in London and being about Londoners, non-Brits could be awash at some of the terms used in the film, though it will not likely affect understanding of the storyline. The public is refused shelter in the subway where the trains run so the women protest: “Open the Underground.” The Brits refer to the subway as the Underground, a term not used outside London. When George is sent away, the mother is told: “Think of the boy being sent to Blackpool, only better.” Again, Blackpool is a seaside holiday resort frequented by middle and lower-middle-class Brits, not an esteemed but tacky holiday vacation spot. And George is given advice by his grandad: “All mouth and no trousers”, a frequent English saying seldom used in North America. But director McQueen keeps his film typically very British and there is the British spirit about the film which makes it quaint and attractive.
Director McQueen splashes his film with songs of the period (like Ain’t Misbehavin’), creating a nostalgic period look of the 40s, similar to what the late Terence Davies used to do in films like his minor-masterpiece THE LONG DAY CLOSES, also about a boy growing up in London.
Though not really a coming-of-age of George, the film follows George’s various adventures. The most pleasant one is his meeting up with three brothers on a train, also running away from their new lodging in the country. Another adventure that seems borrowed from Dickens’s Oliver Twist, involves George being forced to steal jewelry in bombed destroyed shops by a mentally disturbed man called Johnny. Johnny is calmed down a few times after getting too aggressively crazy by Beryl, played by one of my favourite British actresses, Kathy Burke who can play anything from drama (NIL BY MOUTH) to comedy (she played Perry in the Brit TV sitcom Kevin and Perry). The black woman who entices George into the group of thieves can be likened to Nancy and Johnny to Bill Sykes.
Director McQueen also sneaks many key issues into the story. A white Bris is chided and shamed for creating a barrier in his space in the shelter between him and a Sikh. Women’s rights are championed and their work in the factory making artillery is appreciated.
A McQueen film is always a pleasure to watch, his artistry always comes across as masterful and stunning. From disturbing topics like HUNGER to 12 YEARS A SLAVE to BLITZ, cinema audiences can be guaranteed a visual treat. McQueen creates a wonderfully nostalgic look at the Blitz in 1940s London while sparing the blood, guts and violence, and showing the psychological effects of the tolls of war on the general population. McQueen emphasizes effectively the need to destroy bigotry, hate and prejudice, which makes the film even more current now that Trump has won the Presidency.
BLITZ is an Apple+ TV original that will open this week for a limited run at the TIFF Lightbox before moving to the streaming service.
Trailer:
HEATHER (USA 2022) **
Directed by Anthony Repinsky
HEATHER the film comes with the tag: “Be careful who you bully.” One of the bullied transitioned, so, she would not be recognized by the bully years later.
This transgendered-themed thriller is loosely inspired by a story told to Writer/Director Anthony Repinski by a friend who was bullied in high school. She later transitioned and then was reunited with her bully, who ended up becoming her lover.
A philanderer is lured into a kinky encounter by a provocative woman, only to discover she has undergone gender reassignment and was once the boy he terrorized in high school.
`This transgendered-themed thriller is loosely inspired by a story told to Writer/Director Anthony Repinski by a friend who was bullied in high school. She later transitioned and then was reunited with her bully, who ended up becoming her lover. Though the film follows the incident quite closely, it is no guarantee that the film will be credible or intriguing. The film’s most shocking scene, just as in Neil Jordan’s THE CRYING GAME, is when the trans woman pulls out his penis.
The second bullied man appears halfway through the film, the film then changes mode to more of a slasher film. It is all the point that the trans realizes that she has gone too far and has feelings for the bully.
The bully played by Nick Matthews is a sufficiently despised character and Trans actor Pooya Mphseni tries to look like the prettier thing on the planet as the trans woman, HEATHER.
HEATHER comes across as an exploitative horror schtick rather than a sympathetic look at the trans community, It also fails as a horror thriller lacking any real suspense or suspenseful set-pieces.
The film has a running time of 75 minutes and will not be rated by the MPAA. Buffalo 8 will release the film on digital platforms on November 8.
Trailer:
INFIDELITY (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Rob Maargolies
A married New York couple finds themselves in a love triangle with their rock star neighbour after exploring an open relationship, further complicated by their rebellious daughter and flirtatious confidante.
Infidelity (an act of) having sex with someone who is not your husband, wife, or regular sexual partner. Consent does not come into the equation. In this scenario, consent is sort of, accepted.
Thirty years into a loving, committed marriage, Lyle (Chris Parnell) and Holly (Cara Buono) begin to wonder if all this time they played things too safe in their lives after Holly is jolted by alarming medical news. As they both grapple with the fact that Holly has never been romantically involved with anyone other than her husband, the two decide to test the boundaries of their relationship. An unconventional love triangle forms after a flirtation arises between Holly and their charismatic, rockstar neighbour Hoyt (Dennis Haysbert). It soon attracts Holly's hilariously zany and flirtatious friend, Ethel (Douglas), and has surprising ramifications for the married couple's rebellious Gen-Z daughter, Greta (Willow Shields). As they all navigate this uncharted romantic scenario, boundaries are blurred as love is put to the ultimate test.
One of the film’s flaws is the existence of the daughter’s toxic behaviour. She always argues with her mother, though her mother is doting on her, paying her rent and expenses. Greta is also flirty and not afraid to take off her clothes in public, as in a concert she attends with her father, who is more liberal to her, but with limits. Where does this toxic nature come from? Especially when the two parents are a loving couple who treat her right all the time. The film's funniest and best segment is the one dinner table scene where Greta brings her older wealthy new boyfriend to meet the parents. If only more segments could match this one, as the film contains quite many bland segments.
Performances from an otherwise unknown cast deliver credible performances.
INFIDELITY is a film about infidelity with the audience kept at bay whether the husband and wife, both making an almost perfectly loving couple will indulge in the act. Don’t worry - no spoilers in this review. They both wonder what it would be like for themselves and the other spouse what it would be like with another sexual partner. Living one’s entire life with just one partner arouses one's curiosity. Indeed in the old ages, one partner is the norm, but in these current days, a rarity - whether for good or for worse. The film at best, debates the fact, even though not in detail. The film is touted as a dramedy and indeed it is one, light on both aspects of comedy and drama and not too heavy on either. INFIDELITY is a low-budget likable film, sincere in its delivery, forming light entertainment at best, though not without minor flaws.
INFIDELITY is available on Digital and VOD on Tuesday, November 5th.
Trailer:
THE PIANO LESSON (USA 2024) **
Directed by Malcolm Washington
The Piano Lesson is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. This is the second adaptation, the first being a television film in 1995. It is the fourth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of “acquiring a sense of self-worth by denying one's past". The Piano Lesson received the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
THE PIANO LESSON is set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression. It follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which is decorated with designs carved by an enslaved ancestor. The play focuses on the arguments between a brother (John David Washington) and a sister (Danielle Deadwyler) who have different ideas on what to do with the piano. The brother, Boy Willie, is a sharecropper who wants to sell the piano to buy the land (Sutter's land) where his ancestors toiled as slaves. The sister, Berniece, remains emphatic about keeping the piano, which shows the carved faces of their great-grandfather's wife and son during the days of their enslavement.
The film centres on the siblings’ quarrel about what to do with the piano. Their uncle (Samuel L. Jackson) tries to mediate, but even he can’t hold back the ghosts of the past.
There are 2 climaxes in the film. One is the entrance of Michael Potts as Wining Boy Charles, drunk from too much whiskey. He then plunks an exceptionally Blues song on the piano crooning the lyrics at the same time, lifting the film from what is a over heavy laden tone, The other is the appearance of a spirit that apparently has come from the ancestors carved on the piano that rocks the house and send several meters thudding on the floor and walls. This last segment looks like a possession piece right out of an EXORCIT film and feels totally out of place with reference to the rest of the film. There is also a preacher sprinkling of holy water and quoting of the Bible trying to exorcist the spirits.
The film is a Washington family affair with Denzel producing and his two sons, Malcolm directing and John acting.
To the director’s and cinematographer Mike Gioulakis’ credit, the opening sequence set on a night in 1911 and other segments are well filmed. The above sequence is shot in alternative red and colour as the piano is taken from a house. The film is often stunning to look at, but the film suffers outstanding flaws including continuity and its staginess as it is based on a play and often feels like one. Performances are top notch and the music by Alexandre Desalt is exceptional. But good intentions aside, the film is a mixed mess.
THE PIANO LESSON premiered at this year’s TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL opening at the TIFF Lightbox on November 8th and on the streaming g strive Netflix on November 22nd.
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