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Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 22 October 2024

FILM REVIEWS:

COLETTE AND JUSTINE (France/Belgium 2022) ***

Directed by Alain Kassada

COLETTE AND JUSTINE are the grandparents of the doc’s director, Alain Kassanda.

Born in Kinshasa and living in Paris, Kassanda embodies the classic immigrant dual identity: in the Democratic Republic of Congo, he is seen as French, while in France he is seen as Congolese.  Determined to understand the colonial legacy from which he comes, Kassanda convinces his grandparents— Colette and Justin— to sit for a series of interviews.  Together, they watch old news footage, remember a visit from the Belgian king, and recall what life was like as part of the nascent Black bourgeoisie who served the colonial administration.  Colette and Justin begin with one man’s search to understand himself and his roots.  But ultimately it is an evocative, poetic and thoughtful meditation on the intersection of political and family history and the multi-generational destructive reach of colonialism.

Alain Kassanda's debut film begins as a self-examination. How well does he know his grandparents? What does he know about his native Congo, which was partly imposed on his identity by colonizer Belgium? And what does he know about himself with that? In Colette et Justin, he travels through time and his personal family history, and he also beautifully brings the history of postcolonial Congo to life. He lets his grandparents look back on their lives, from their youth and first meeting to a complex political period. The Congo's first independent years pass by as a layered history, in which good and evil intertwine and Justin is assigned an important role.

Mixed with interviews with the grandparents, old photos and a few archive footage, director Kassanda creates a fascinating document of the history of a Kingdom seldom seen and hardly known that is both educational, informative and entertaining.

A segment is spent showing archive footage of the King of Belgium, visiting the town where the grandmother lives.  The King is celebrated, and everyone cheers him on in his car.  The grandmother says on camera that it was a grand occasion and she brought his mother, small as she was, to see the King.

Besides this happier segment, there are a few disturbing ones, including one where a black child is locked in an animal cage as observed by two other white children.

As in most colonizations, the colonized respect the colonists despite any abuse. The white man is often seen as superior and the master, probably because of the wealth and privilege that the poorer folk can see.

The doc plays like a history lesson, but a history lesson of a foreign land, which in this case is the Congo.  Though one might argue that life at present and in the past has nothing of interest to the present in North America, it can be argued that many keen observations can be studied, for example in the root of racism and prejudice.  Besides, the doc is also a very interesting one, as there is much that can be learned and observed from the past of the Congo.

For one, many are unfamiliar with the Congo.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo, also known as the DR Congo, the DRC, or Congo-Kinshasa, is a country in Central Africa. By land area, the Congo is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 109 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous Francophone country in the world. The national capital and largest city are Kinshasa, which is also the economic centre.

COLETTE AND JUSTINE arrives on DVD, Amazon Prime Video, and Vimeo On Demand on October 22, 2024. The DVD release includes director Alain Kassanda's earlier short film Trouble Sleep.

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CONCLAVE (UK/USA 2024) ***** Top 10

Directed by Edward Berger

Director Berger delivers another stunning and compelling drama CONCLAVE after his much-heralded Oscar Winner ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT.  The CONCLAVE is the process where a new Pontiff is elected by the cardinals after one dies.  It is an elaborate process as Berger illustrates.  Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) oversees the proceedings, assuming that the contest will come down to a battle between the reactionary, openly racist Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) and the liberal progressive Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci). And matters soon turn complicated as rumours circulate, secrets emerge, and acts of sabotage are undertaken. 

 Adapted by Peter Straughan (GOLDFINCH) from the Robert Harris much-acclaimed novel, and shot by cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine (the Vatican is displayed in all its grandeur and unwelcomeness), the film is a masterwork of drama and irrelevance.  The ultimate choice of the new Pope comes as an unexpected twist at the end.  Performances are top-notch all the way around.    The musical score by Volker Bertlemann is necessarily intense, to the point of almost overdoing it.  One of the Top 10 Films at TIFF.

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HANGDOG (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Matt Cascella

The term hangdog is an adjective that means shamefaced, guilty, browbeaten, defeated, or intimidated.  It can be used to describe the protagonist, Walt in the film,  a person who is having a hangdog expression or looking including characteristics of contrite, sheepish, ashamed, crestfallen, and wretched.  Assured and confident, Walt is not.  From the film’s opening scene in which a couple wakes up in bed with their cuddly pooch, the dialogue that follows indicates a slight comedy and a couple’s relationship.  And with a dog involved.  The scene follows when Wendy proposes marriage to Walt while he is naked in the shower just to get things off her chest, as he says.  There is trouble in paradise and perhaps the relationship should once more be examined.  This is the core of the story behind HANGDOG.

The catalyst of the story is the dog Walt is looking after, which gets stolen while Walt ties him up at a pole.  He is distraught and unable to tell his girl what has happened.  As she is retiring soon, there is the race of the time to recover the pooch.  He finds the culprit and takes action.

The story is set in Portland, few films do, so it is good to learn a bit about Portland as well.  Portland, Oregon’s largest city, sits on the Columbia and Willamette rivers, in the shadow of snow-capped Mount Hood. It’s known for its parks, bridges and bicycle paths, as well as for its eco-friendliness and its microbreweries and coffeehouses. Iconic Washington Park encompasses sites from the formal Japanese Garden to the Oregon Zoo and its railway. The city hosts thriving art, theatre and music scenes.  The script uses the most out of the setting.   There are scenes with the dog walking by the beach.  Walt also has dreams of being an artist and perhaps owning his own studio in his garage.  The film also shows various sights around Portland,

Walt is a fish out of water in his own skin. He’s now also a fish out of water in Portland, Maine, having recently moved with his girlfriend, Wendy (Kelly O’Sullivan, GHOSTLIGHT, SAINT FRANCIS), to be closer to her parents.  Without a job or a plan, and with a new dog competing for Wendy’s affection, Walt has reached peak anxiety.

In their debut narrative feature, husband-and-wife creative team Matt Cascella (Director and Editor) and Jen Cordery (Writer) capture the idiosyncrasies of the ‘little’ people of the city.  There is the nosy neighbour that would invite a neighbour over for a beer and the mother-and-son family of thieves among others.

Desmin Borges is quite the delight in the title role of the hapless hero who has fate against him too many times.  He is not too handsome and can be considered attractive in a goofy way.  He carries the entire film on his shoulders with his girl playing secondary.

HANGDOG is a charming bittersweet relationship comedy about two imperfect beings who work at what they have to make things work.

HANGDOG  opens on Digital Nationwide on October 25 and is also available to rent/purchase across all major platforms.

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HIJACK ’93 (Nigerian 2024) ***
Directed by Robert Peters

HIJACK ’93 is based on a true-life incident that took place some 30 years ago in 1993.  A hijack!  In an effort to dismantle their military-backed government, four men hijack an airplane, leveraging passengers on board in the name of social change.

HIJACK ’93 is a Nollywood film, complete with Nigerian actors speaking Nigerian or pidgin English.  Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry.  The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, as traced in an article in The New York Times.  Though the Nigerian Film Industry is substantial.  Netflix provides viewers with a taste of Hollywood cinema.  HIJACK ’93 is an entertaining enough film, mixing true crime with some thrills, and tongue-in-cheek humour, in a Nigerian setting.

The tongue-in-cheek humour:

“You will take control of the plane and force the pilot to land in Frankfurt.  That is where your new lives begin.”  these are the instructions given to the 4 young ‘volunteered’ hijackers by the one in command.  The group is for the advance of Democracy and the demand is to reinstate the democratic leader that according to the group, belongs to power.  And what if it does go according to plan?  The answer: Sometimes it takes great risk and great effort.

There is also melodrama in the style of the original AIRPORT movie.  Like the pilot played by Dean Martin having an affair with flight attendant Jacqueline Bisset, the pilot of the Nigerian plane is about to be wed to a flight attendant.  There are a variety of screams on the plane as well, all this likely added to the film for ‘artistic’ entertainment.

HIJACK’93 is available for streaming on Netflix beginning Friday, October 25th, 2024.

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LOUPS-GAROUS (Family Pack) (France 2024) **

Directed by Francois Ozan

Directed by Francois Ozan, not to be confused with Francois Ozon, the Netflix original adventure fantasy family film is based on the card game The Werewolves of Millers Hollow (French: Les Loups-garous de Thiercelieux) created by the French authors Philippe des Pallières and Hervé Marly that can be played with 8 to 47 players.  The game is based on the Russian game Mafia.  It was nominated for the 2003 Spiel des Jahres award and a trendy game in France.

The film centres on a family, grafter Gilbert (Jean Reno) and the father and mother played Franck Dubosc as Jérôme and Suzanne Clément as Marie with assorted children.    Gilbert, who is slowly losing his memory due to old age has found the game in the attic and has been playing the game making up the rules as time goes along.  The family sits down to play the game.  Whilst playing this mysterious board game the family is transported to a medieval land beset by werewolves.

A few credibility problems in the story.  The reason the family is transported to medieval times is largely omitted asa well as returning back to current times.

In the board game, before the game starts, a person will be designated as the game master. That person then randomly gives each player a card, after which each player secretly discovers their identity by looking at the card.  All players are divided into two teams: the townsfolk (some of them having special roles) and the werewolves. The townsfolk's aim is to uncover and eliminate all werewolves, while the werewolves' aim is to stay undiscovered and eliminate all townspeople.

In the film which steals the basic concept of the game, the village where the family is time transported to experience a problem.  At night werewolves attack the village and kill innocent victims.  The villagers are thus fearful of strangers.  When the Jerome family suddenly appears in different attire, they are immediately suspected of sorcery.  But they do hold superhuman peers, as the players in the game also hold, the powers not immediately known or made known to each.  At the same time, the neighbours are holding a medieval carnival and everyone dresses up for the occasion.  So when the family is transported to the past, they initially think that they are in the carnival, until the first beheading in which the blood is discovered to be real.  This is the only violent part in the family film, though the beheading is shown off-screen.

For a family film, director Ozan’s is strong on messages, though too strong and obvious for one’s liking.  The one on the strength of women and how women should stand up when being abused is preached loud and clear in the movie.  The women in the old times expect to be beaten, as part of the marriage,   The other is the strength of the family.

The film suffers from being quite bland which is expected for a family movie.  The special effects are satisfactory at best, though the costumes and set pieces are well done.

LOUPS-GAROUS (Family Pack) opens for streaming on Netflix this week.

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VENOM: THE LAST DANCE (USA 2024) **

Directed by Kelly Marcel

Venom is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a sentient alien symbiote with an amorphous, liquid-like form, who survives by bonding with a host, usually human. This dual-life form receives enhanced powers and usually refers to itself as "Venom". The Venom symbiote's first human host was Spider-Man himself, who eventually discovered its true nefarious nature and separated himself from the creature.  The character was portrayed by Tobey Maguire and Topher Grace in Spider-Man 3 (2007), with Tom Hardy primarily portraying the character in Sony's Spider-Man Universe films Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and once again in this latest film VENOM: TBE LAST DANCE.

VENOM: THE LAST DANCE features the Marvel Comics character and is a sequel to Venom (2018) and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), the fifth film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU), and the third and final installment of the Venom trilogy.  It was written and directed by Kelly Marcel. Tom Hardy stars as Eddie Brock and Venom alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Stephen Graham, Peggy Lu, Clark Backo and Alanna Ubach. In the film, Eddie and Venom are on the run from both of their worlds.  The story is by both Marcel and Tom Hardy, and it is quite simplistic, involving the world and even the Universe about to be destroyed and nothing much else.  After all, the simple plot is helped by the fact that Eddie Brock is alone with no family or girlfriend.

The super action hero flick suffers from a weak narrative, leading the film towards relying on special effects and action set pieces, though not too bad while tending to get boring after a while.  Tom Hardy as Brock with his wisecracking humour is the best thing in the film which thankfully lasts less than 2 hours.

The highlight of the film is the impromptu dance between Eddie Brock and Mrs. Chen.  Out of the blue, Brock sees Mrs. Chen playing in a Las Vegas casino.  They go into an elaborate dance in an inspired crazy sequence that can be watched more than once.  But also accompanying this are a few over-the-tip ridiculous scenes like the beginning where the villain monster growls and groans about taking vengeance on his offspring and destroying the Universe.

VENOM: THE LAST DANCE opens in theatres on October 25th,  Given the record of the last two VENOM films and the lack of a blockbuster in the recent few weeks.s the film should make a killing at the box office.

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Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 22 October 2024

CINEFRANCO 2024

CineFranco, a celebration of French Cinema, one of my favourite Film Festivals returns to Toronto on November the 1st with a wide range of French films from all over the world, including the latest film QUAND VIENT L’AUTOMNE  from Francois Ozone currently playing in Paris.  Under the leadership and auspices of its directrice Marcelle Lean, this year’s films will be screened right in the heart of downtown Toronto at the Carton Cinemas.

The festival highlights new films from Masters including Lea Pool, Robert Guédiguian, Yvan Attal and Francois Ozon.

Please check the Cinefranco website at

cinefranco.com

for the entire program and screening times.

BonCinema!

Capsule Review of Select Films:

BRISE GLACE (BROKEN WATERS) (Canada 2022) ***

Directed by Karolyne Natasha

Karolyne Natasha does double duty in this film shot in Ottawa in both French and English as a mental patient, Isabelle who steals babies.  She comes under the watchful eye of a psychiatrist who goes out of her way to help her despite her pregnancy.  The film attempts to send a message on the plight of miscarriages, as Isabelle suffers mentally from a lost baby.  The anti-pharma psychiatrist's unconventional methods and unexpected pregnancy combine to unravel every part of both their lives.   The film is set in the cold in winter with the frigid air and ice and snow reflecting the isolation of illness.. The film is over serious in its delivery a few injected light-hearted moments would help.  The film is a woman’s film with the males playing an insignificant part in the story,

CHASSE GARDEE (Guest Place)(France 2023) ***

Directed by Frédéric Forestier and Antonin Fourlon

The comedy centres on a war between a Parisian family and the country folk. When a couple with two kids buys a house in the country to escape the pitfalls of city life, they get more than they bargained for when hunting season begins. The hunters use their farmland as their hunting grounds.  The family fears for their safety and wage a war with the whole village, comprising many hunters.  The film has a few keen observations of the country folk with a few good ideas like the very young mayor (because they cannot find anyone else to hold office) who is so young that he is still taking driving lessons and living with his mother and the switch in prices at the daily farmers market for city and country folk.  But most of the jokes could have been funnier.  Still, one can learn a few things from the film, like the French country cuisine of ceps (of the mushroom family), which enhances the film’s interest.  The best thing about the movie is the cameo by Thierry Lermitte, who steals the show as the hilarious lawyer father of the wife.

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UN COUP DE DES (Breaking Point) (France 2023) ***
Directed by Yvan Attal

A strange modern noir thriller, actor/director Yvan Attal’s (MA FEMME EST UNE ACTRICE) follows two toxic men of different personalities who despite falling for the same femme fatale work and play together.  Ever since Vincent saved his life years ago (shown at the beginning of the film), Mathieu has been in debt and in his shadow. Mathieu is now used and tired of covering his friend’s business. When he meets Elsa, Vincent’s rejected mistress who threatens to reveal everything, Mathieu also falls under the spell of the young woman.  The quiet innocent friend and loving husband soon gets caught up in a web of lies and deception. The rot has set in. And death awaits around the corner…  One wonders about the purpose or message of the stator - probably there is none - which also dampers the entertaining element.

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D’AVOUE JAMAIS (France 2024) ****
Directed by Ivan Calberac

A surprisingly good film, hilarious, insightful, and extremely well performed by veteran actors Sabine Azema and Andre Dussollier.   When ex-military Francois discovers 40-year-old love letters in the attic from his wife’s admirer, he goes ballistic and decides to go to Nice to beat him up.  But after 40 years, he cannot recall what the admirer, an old acquaintance of theirs looks like.  As Annie remembers, she tags along hoping to quell her husband’s anger.  The best surprise is the admirer, who turns out to be played by Thierry Lhermitte, who is a heartthrob in his younger acting days.  Annie treats the trip as a second honeymoon.  But things take a turn with twists in the story that include Francois finding out that his daughter living in Nice is a lesbian and that he himself has an admirer.  The film contains perhaps the funniest segment in a film this year - the one in Andre’s daughter’s bedroom where he discovers her lover under the sheets.  D’AVOUE JAMAIS is pure delight and is the type of comedy CineFranco is famous for.

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ET LA FETE CONTINUE!  (And the {party Goes On!) (France 2023) ***½

Directed by Robert Guédiguian

Robert Guédiguian veteran of cinema, a majority of them set in his birthplace of Marseille,  returns with his wife and muse Ariane Ascaride starring in AND THE PARTY GOES ON, a melancholic, reflection of times past full of nostalgia and good intentions.  The film is full of repeatable quotations and every character in the story has a good heart in Marseille, France. Rosa (Ascaride) divides her energy between her close-knit family, her nursing work and her political commitment.  But as she approaches retirement, her illusions begin to waver.  When meeting Henri (Jean-Pierre Darroussin), she realizes that it's never too late to achieve her own dreams, both political and personal.  Robsinso Stevenin also has a role-playing Rosa’s Armenian son, Sarkis.  The film also contains beautiful shots of Marielle and the surrounding sea.  Fans of Robert Guédiguian should be delighted.  Quite a few of Guédiguian’s films, except this one, have been picked up by TIFF and it is good that CineFranco can get this title.

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HOTEL SILENCE (Switzerland/Canada 2023)***
Directed by Lea Pool

Lea Pool is an established Swiss director with more than a dozen films many of them Swiss/Canadian co-productions like HOTEL SILENCE, her latest one.  My fav and her arguably best, is the 1999 SET ME FREE or EMPRTE MOI, a remarkable film covering half a dozen different genres in a is gel film.  A psychological drama follows a man suicidal at times, as he leaves home to discover himself.   At the age of 52 Jean is divorced and depressed.  He decides to set off on a one-way journey of no return to an unnamed country destroyed by war. But nothing goes exactly as planned. His despair soon seems minor in the face of the fate of those who welcome him, clinging to the slightest hope of reconstruction. As he comes into contact with them, the urgency to end the war becomes less pressing, to the point where Jean gradually rediscovers the meaning of his existence.  Pool demonstrates once again her expertise in covering tough subjects.  She manages to hit all the right nerves to move her audience  Slow but never dull, and beautifully shot in the war-torn country and stark wintry Canadian landscape, Pool’s film is matched by an extraordinary performance by Sébastien Ricard as the troubled man, Jean. The only complaint is that in the unknown country, everyone speaks perfect French.

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QUAND VIENT L’AUTOMNE (France 2024) ***** Top 10

Directed by Francois Ozone

QUAND VIENT L’AUTOMNE follows a senior lady Michelle (Hélène Vincent) living a peaceful retirement in a charming Burgundy village near her longtime friend Marie-Claude (Josiane Balansko).  She eagerly anticipates her grandson Lucas spending the school vacation with her, but things don’t go as planned with tensions arising from her daughter who takes Lucas back from her vacation with Michelle. Feeling lonely, Michelle loses her sense of purpose, until Marie-Claude’s son gets out of prison.  Described as the idiot son, fate then plays a twist in the story of Michelle’s life.  Director Ozone proves a superb storyteller with the twists and turns in his tale effortlessly unfolding surprises and twists to utter delight.  Though not a comedy, this charming drama of life is nevertheless lighter than his wicked comedies like SITCOM and LES AMANTS CRIMINELS.  His mark of excellence is everywhere in the film.   Though not a gay film, the gay element is beautifully brought into the picture in one scene where Lucas is asked by Marie-Claude’s son if he has a girlfriend.  When the answer is no, Marie Claude’s son gives him a look that girls have nothing to do with their lives.  Arguably Ozon’s career-best film.

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ROSALIE (France/Belgium 20230 ***

Directed by Stéphanie Di Giusto

ROSALIE is a handsomely mounted period piece complete with costumes, sets, props, and of course, drama.  In 1870s France, Rosalie is a young woman unlike any other, she hides a secret.  She was born with a face and body covered in hair.  She’s concealed her peculiarity all her life to stay safe, shaving to fit in. Until Abel, an indebted bar owner unaware of her secret marries her for her dowry.  Rosalie’s only wish is to be truly seen as the woman she is despite a difference she no longer wishes to hide. By letting her beard grow, she will finally set herself free.  This is not taken lightly by a village unkind to things little known.  Director Stéphanie Di Giusto captures Rosalie’s affliction in great detail showing how her bravery affects not only her husband but everyone around her.  Nadia Tereszkiewicz is marvellous as ROSALIE.

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SAGE-HOMME (France 2023) ***
Directed by Jennifer Devoldère

SAGE-HOMME means aid-wife and the mid-wife in the film is a male, the only male in his medical class of females.  The film shows what it is like to be a male minority for a change in what can be described as an amusing coming-of-age story with a different slant.  After failing the entrance exam to become a doctor, Léopold is relegated to midwifery.   Clearly, delivering babies is a challenging profession for a young man who comes from a hyper male background of three younger brothers and a macho father, and gets a baptism of fire in a world dominated by women, and particularly his boss Nathalie. Katrin Viard as Nathalie, absolutely steals the show in every scene she is in.  Though predictable to an extent with a happy ending, of course, SAGE-HOMME still manages to be quite entertaining with a few surprises up the director’s sleeve as well.

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Details

Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 06 October 2024

FILM REVIEWS:

BOOKWORM (New Zealand 2023) ***½

Directed by Ant Timpson

During a time of crisis, a freak electrical accident involving a faulty toaster switch results in another being going into a coma and then recovering, a washed-up American magician Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood) and his precocious estranged daughter Mildred (Nell Fisher) take to the New Zealand wilderness, in search of a mythical black panther.

Like in the LORD OF THE RINGS, it is Frodo (Wood) embarking a different kind of journey in BOOKWORM, one in which he discovers himself and achieves redemption from the daughter he had abandoned,

The script contains quirky dialogue expected from a film entitled and about a BOOKWORM.  “I am officially telling you your mom is ok,” says Strawn when he first sees his daughter.  “Does that mean that a professional has officially told you that my mom is ok?” comes the precocious reply.  “Do you want to see something amazing,” the dad later asks.  “Does it take a long time?” comes the questioned reply.  When told that it would not, she goes on: “Then show me something amazing.”  Many other dialogue samples making upshots can be termed ‘smart talk’ creating a wry and quirky observation of events in the film.    Mildred not only speaks cleverly but knowledgeably as she is widely read, as compared to her father.

The film clearly demonstrates how fresh and entertaining it can be with smart yet simple dialogue without resorting to expensive CGI special effects, action sequences and pyrotechnics. The young daughter has a lot of smart talk that comes naturally believable for the reason that she is well-read and a bookworm.  Though the term bookworm can take a variety of meanings, the one referenced in the film is an avid reader and lover of books.  Complaints often come from the fact that many writers treat children as if they can speak as adults - the best example being the Neil Simon plays where all the kids speak as adults complete with punch lines.

Even as a daughter-father relationship drama, the film contains quite a few thrills including a cliffhanger scene (literally) as the two attempt to cross two cliffs on a role while pursued by a black panther.

The film contains almost all the elements of a movie including drama, adventure, action, suspense and comedy.  There is a it of everything for everyone.

The ending is a bit stretched out both in length and in credibility which disappoints a bit as the film is otherwise quite well laid out and built up.

The film is a coming-of-age story set in a father-and-daughter relationship with the roles reversed.  The child-like father who in short can be described as a man-child with nobles undergoes a dramatic change and recovery under the guidance of his 11-year old daughter whom he finally connects with.

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DAHOMEY (Senegal/France/Benin 2024) ***
Directed by Mati Diop

The Golden Bear winner at this year’s Berlinale, Mati Diop’s DAHOMEY traces the historic repatriation of 26 royal treasures from France to Benin, simultaneously forging a speculative and political reflection on cultural heritage, collective memory, and the implications of restitution.  Diop directed the recent ATLANTICS which received rave reviews when screened at Cannes and at TIFF.

Benin, a French-speaking West African nation, is the birthplace of the vodun (or “voodoo”) religion and home to the former Dahomey Kingdom from circa 1600–1900. In Abomey, Dahomey's former capital, the Historical Museum occupies two royal palaces with bas-reliefs recounting the kingdom’s past and a throne mounted on human skulls. To the north, Pendjari National Park offers safaris with elephants, hippos and lions.

For centuries, the Kingdom of Dahomey, within the borders of modern-day Benin, was a central cultural meeting point in West Africa, a site of European colonial conquest and the transatlantic slave trade. In 1892, the French invaded and looted hundreds of treasures from the royal palace, alongside thousands of other works. Following years of appeals and reports, in 2021 an agreement was made for several of these artworks to be returned from France to Benin.

The doc, at the beginning, takes the view of one of the artifacts that calls itself number 26.  It talks in voiceover (speaking in Don), of what it experiences while being stolen and then returned back to Benin.  The star speaks in poetic prose, giving the doc an artistic feel.

A few artifacts are shown and described in detail.  One of them is a statue of King Ghezo, one of the country’s rulers in the past.  It is slightly damaged but was made of painted wood and steel fibre and still looks magnificent.

A large portion of the doc involves debates among the Beninese - University students.  The debates open one’s eyes to the thoughts and demise of the people.  Firstly, they main issue of concern is the return of only 26 figures out of a total of 7000.  The important question is the reason for their return.  The debate of whether the move is politically cultural.  One person says that Francois Mitterrand just wants to improve his brand by allowing the run of the 26 figures.  Another argues that there are two kinds of heritage - material and nonmaterial.  The artifacts are the material ones that have been taken away from he people and the other like the dances, colour and music that stay in the country and conniver be taken away from the people.  The point is also brought out of when the rest of the 7000 will be returned, if ever.

Other issues rain, making the problem more complex.  Who will be responsible for looking after and preserving the artifacts?  An elderly claims that he is too old and it is up to the younger generation to take responsibility.   The returned figures now reside in the Palais and how can children in remote villages get a chance to view the history?

The doc also emphasizes the importance of history and the loss of the people’s native language due to colonization.  The debaters in the doc all speak French and are unable to communicate or speak in their native tongue.

DAHOMEY won this year’s Golden Bear at the Berlinale and was also screened at the last Toronto International Film Festival and opens at the TIFF Lightbox on October 18th.

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JUSTICE (Poland 2024) ***
Rezyseria: Michal Gazda

Netflix has partnered with Poland lately for quite a number of original features - mostly romances and action thrillers.  With these many films, they are often hot and miss.  When the new Netflix original from Poland opens, the words state that the events seen on the screen have been modified to the director’s artistic vision.  The disclaimer follows that the events are not related to any living past or present,  Truth be told, JUSTI|CE begins quite impressively.

A discharged police officer, Gardacz is given a chance to regain his former life by capturing a bank robbery crew. Teaming up with a young policewoman, the ex-cop must act swiftly before the heist draws unwanted scrutiny from the new authorities.  The film is set in 1990 which explains the absence of cell phones.

The first image is that of a whimpering woman.  The camera moves back to reveal a shotgun, held by a trembling gunman.  The next image is outside the bank that is assumed being robbed and gunfire is heard.  The next scene introduces the audience to the hero protagonist of the story.  The hero is not a good-looking young stud but a scruffy older gentleman who has been removed from the police force due to his bad behaviour in the past, particularly dealing with communists.  The Minister re-instates him to the investigation giving him 2 weeks to succeed.  If the ex-major does, he will be given his old rank in the police force, much to the consternation of the female in charge of the robbery.

The investigation begins and it is clear that the two are at loggerheads, especially in the throes of the robbers.  The audience has obviously put month e side of the ex-major who appears smart enough to come up with relevant theories, not to mention his fierce way of getting things done.  So far, JUSTICE is impressive and looks like a compelling action thriller

A security guard was killed during the robbery.   Apparently h had his shift switched with another who is then questioned for the reason.  The investigations and the details in the story are also detailed, thus making this mystery thriller more entertaining than most.  The devil is in the details.

The robbers' identities are revealed at the film’s 30-minute mark after the film clarifies the correctness of Gardacz’s suspicions.  Director Garda ups the ante,  One of them Kasper is shown to be unstable, after losing his daughter to an adopted family.  Gardacz is on Kasper’s trail.

The filtrates eachidividual whether copper crook with vulnerability, making each of them credible as human beings, thus creating a thriller innwhuch the characters matter.

JUSTICE though a work of fiction, plays like a true crime drama, meticulously thought out and executed. JUSTICE, from Poland, is one of the better originals from Netflix, full of intricate details and plot twists that is entertaining from start to end.  JUSTICE is available for streaming on Netflix this week,

MadS (France 2024) ***

Written and Directed by David Moreau

Nothing in the movie is what it seems.  What appears to be an animal scouring around his car turns out to be an older woman.  Her supposed injury turns out to be something else.

And nothing is what Romain (Milton Riche) has expected.  He never expected to drop his lit cigarette in the car and to shop by the roadside as a result  If not the woman would not have entered his vehicle.   The question also arises whether the audience is put in Romain’s shoes, as he is high as a kite, after experimenting with a new drug at his dealer’s.

Eighteen-year-old Romain has just graduated and makes a stop at his dealer’s place to try a new pill.   He, of course, has snorted a few lines of coke as well.  As he heads off to a party with his girlfriend waiting for him there, hoping to score more drugs, he sees an injured woman on the side of the road and decides to help her, but when she gets in his car, she suddenly smashes her own head against the dashboard, bleeding out until she dies.  So is this a hallucination bad trip? Or is it something else?  One thing is for sure to the audience, it’s only the beginning of the wild night where anything else can happen and probably will.

The film MADS is advertised as a thriller/mystery/horror and works equally well in either of these genres.

Director Moreau ups the ante with strobing lights and weird noises on the soundtrack to let his audience feel the intensity and uneasiness that Romain feels.  It is not helped when his girlfriend Ana shows up and keeps asking him if anything is wrong, and whether it is her.  Things get worse when her friends show up, all intending to have a wild night partying.  While all this is happening, a voiceover goes: “Subject C39 achieved!  Contamination!”

Spoiler alert (this paragraph only:)  For what is lacking in the story - the film has a loose narrative based on the single premise of the end of the world scenario, which it makes up in interspersed scary scenes like the women suddenly appearing all bloodied in Romain’s bathtub or Romain suddenly violently beating up a girl at a party.  Some suspense is also generated with his father, away on business constantly calling Romain asking if everything is all right when obviously, everything is not.  The dad calls Romain at one instant when the alarm in his house goes off, and Romain has to check on what is going on, cycling frantically home to turn off the alarm system.  All the while, he is high on drugs and not wanting the police to show up, though he clearly needs help.  MADS plays like a madcap horror film, which is an intensive watch, making it a standout horror film because the end-of-world scenario has never been done beef this way.

MADS has premiered at several film festivals internationally and opens for streaming on the streaming horror service, Shudder on October 18th.  This one is worth a look.

Trailer: 

RUMOURS (Canada/Germany 2024) ****
Directed by Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson,

Out of this world are the words that can be used to describe this engrossing weird and absurdist satire, Guy Maddin style which is aided by performances of an impressive cast that includes Cate Blanchett as the German chancellor, inspired casting of heart-throb Roy Depuis as the Canadian Prime Minister and Charles Dance as the American President. The G7 leaders are gathered in order to issue a united statement on a world crisis.  The G7 leaders are so lost in working on this provisional statement filled with platitudes and nonsense that they don’t realize they’ve been abandoned by their servers.  It’s only then, when the cameras and aides have left, that things really go off the rails and each of their shortcomings comes glaringly into focus, not to mention a giant brain (that thankfully does not speak) and some zombie-like creatures.  Shot in colour and black and white (Maddin’s favourite medium) and filmed in English, French, German and Swedish.

SWEET BOBBY: My Catfish Nightmare (UK 2024) ***

Directed by Lyttanya Shannon

A woman's online courtship takes an unsettling turn when her romantic interest harbours a dark secret and sinister motives, leading to a harrowing ordeal.  It deals with catfishing - a relationship that lasted 10 years.

Catfishing refers to the case when a person takes information and images, typically from other people, and uses them to create a new identity for themselves. In some cases, a catfisher steals another individual's complete identity—including their image, date of birth, and geographical location—and pretends that it is their own.

Kirat and Bobby - a catfishing romance that destroyed the life of Kiran, a victim..  In real life, catfishing usually leads to swindle of money, but in this case, there is no real reason, which makes the story even stranger, though still quite believable.

The title of the story gives the ending away as the audience knows right away that the victim is caught in a scam by someone pretending to be her lover.  

SWEET BOBBY: My Catfish Nightmare is another true crime documentary from Netflix - the streaming service that delivers at present almost one true crime drama every week, many often stranger than fiction,  These crime documentaries are quite compelling to watch  SWEET BOBBY: My Catfish Nightmare included.

The film is unveiled like a documentary with the victim Kirat talking most often to the camera as she in interviewed by (one assumes to be) the director, and as she tells her story.  Her family that including her parents is also interviewed as is Bobby and Sanj, Bobby’s wife.  But the villain of the piece Simran, is portrayed by another actor.  At the film’s closing credits, it is revealed that Simian had declined to be interviewed for the film.  The doc can be described as cheesy, which includes obvious cheesy re-enactments, but the story unfolding in chronological order is nevertheless very compelling to watch, owing to its content.

The doc opens with Kirat, a radio show host starting an internet connection with Bobby.  Bobby is married at the time and Kirat in a long term relationship.  As the years pass, the two communicate via texts and emails involving thousands of conversations.  Bobby gets divorced and Kirat breaks her long term relationship.  Both have family connections in Kenya, which makes them compatible with each other.

The doc stresses the sad fact that humans now live in a world where no one can live without the internet.  With the use of the internet comes online frauds and scams.  And everyone would have at this time been caught in one scam at least, on average,  Today, it has become easier to find love online through dating apps and social media sites.  While this is convenient, and many people have found their true love, it also becomes a breeding ground for people wanting to commit crimes like catfishing. People ignore all the red flags because they are vulnerable, especially when finding love.

SWEET BOBBY: My Catfish Nightmare is a Netflix original documentary and it opens for streaming this week on Netflix.

WE LIVE IN TIME (UK/France 2024) **

Directed by John Crowley

WE LIVE IN TIME is touted as an inventively structured romance (but the question is whether it works) that explores the question of how to make the most of our time in this world.

Since their first encounter, Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Andrew Garfield) have rarely had a dull moment.  A meet-cute car accident, giving birth in the unlikeliest of locations, a world-class gastronomical competition… their time together seems fated to brim with striking, if not forced, events.

WE LIVE IN TIME alternates between three distinct chronologies, allowing the audience to experience this couple’s story in a way that heightens the understanding of how the Collision with present experience and how meaning is made through accumulation.  As the film begins, Almut is given a sobering medical diagnosis and options for treatment that may or may not prove effective.  What if the time spent in treatment wastes time that could be spent living life to the fullest?

John Crowley is a (born) Irish film and theatre director who was born in Cork, Ireland. His film credits include BROOKLYN (2015) and the flop THE GOLDFINCH (2010, which was actually not bad.   His latest entry WE LIVE IN TIME is unfortunately a sorry miss, but not for want of trying.  Actors Pugh and Garfield are both Academy Aid nominees, thus giving audiences high expectations for the film

WE LIVE IN TIME is a film told in non-chronological order.  The main reason for the tactic is so that the most dramatic parts of the story can be left to the end of the film to make a solid climax.  But one main flaw is that the ending of the story is often revealed at the film’s start which is true in the case of this film.  The audience sees the protagonist alone inches room idly g that his wife has already passed from her illness of cancer,

But this is not the only fault of the film.  Director Crowley is fond of using handheld camera but in the film, he uses the technique in the worst way.  He uses handheld camera for scenes like reading text on a cell phone or reading a memo - there is no way one can read the jittery writing.  The other flaw in the film is the resort to improvisation.  In one of the two climatic segments, the one in which the baby is delivered at a gas station, the segment looks too forced and manipulative to be believed.  

It is a pity that WE LIVE IN TIME, a definite misfire, despite good intentions and ambition on the director’s front, flops as the two main actors Florence Pugh and Andre Garfield are excellent actors who have proven themselves apt in better features.  The film tends to be melodramatic with the much-needed humour missing and left to the improvised segments,  Best to give this film a skip.

WE LIVE IN TIME, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival opens in theatres on October 18th.

Details

Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 30 September 2024

Two intriguing features are worth a view.  One is actress Anna Kendick's WOMAN OF THE HOUR, an engrossing and compelling watch based on the true story of a serial killer who appeared on the famous TV reality show The Dating Game.  The other is an unexpected look at ex-President Donald Trump in THE APPRENTICE in which Trump is shown as a young eager to prove himself an entrepreneur corrupted by gay lawyer Roy Cohn.  

FILM REVIEWS:

THE APPRENTICE (Canada/Denmark/Ireland 2024) ****
Directed by Ali Abbasi

THE APPRENTICE is the young Donald Trump (Sebastian Stan) under the somewhat crooked lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong) who took the innocent man under his wing and made him the one the world now knows as the bad, very bad ex-President Donald J. Trump.  The film is also about Cohn, his principles, practices and his private hidden life like his homosexuality, which resulted in his death from AIDs.

A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as a hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of Roy Cohn, the cutthroat who would help create the Donald Trump we know today.  Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protégé – someone with raw ambition, a thirst for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.  The rest is history.

  Alongside Maria Bakalova (Trump’s first wife Ivana) and Martin Donovan (Trump’s father, Fred), the film also stars Charlie Carrick as Trump’s older brother Freddy, and Mark Rendall as future political advisor Roger Stone. 

  “There is no right or wrong. There is no truth.  It is only about winning.  It is a gift to not care what people, think of you”.  These are the words Cohn uttered to Trump, which Trump obviously took to heart and practices to this very day.  And the other advice and words:  “You are young and you got a lot to go.  You are handsome.  You must fuck a lot!”

Warhol is also shown in the picture saying:  “I am an artist.”  When asked what he makes, his reply is “Whatever I can sell.”  Then comes Donald’s question: “And are you successful?”  And the film cuts off from there,

“You must be prepared to exploit your enemies and instill fear.” is one other important line of dialogue in the film.

Days after The Apprentice premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung released a statement saying they intended to file a lawsuit to stop the film from being released.  "This garbage is pure fiction which sensationalizes lies that have been long debunked," Cheung said.  The threatened lawsuit never materialized but the threats saw the film struggle for months to find a US distributor, despite landing eager distributors in the UK and Australia.

Truth be told, the film humanizes Trump, showing him in a different light especially in his vulnerability blaming Cohn for all of Trump’s ‘badness’.  As they say, a film is only as interesting as its subject and Trump is one of the most intriguing subjects in the world today, becoming a single media circus.  THE APPRENTICE is not only intriguing but quite a good film.

Trump is actually put in a good light in the film.  He is shown as a romantic, one who loves his kid in the kid crying scene and one who is a hardworking, well sort-of-honest man but corrupted by Cohn, among others.  A few scenes show Trump in a bad light as the one in which he sexually abuses Ivana and the ones where he is shown popping ecstasy pills thinking they are diet pills.   The film sets Trump as a reluctant hero, so Trump should have no qualms about his portrayal in the film.  No wonder his lawyers have backed off from persecuting the film.

The ultimate praise to Trump is the casting of talented and good-looking actor Sebastian Stan as rhetorical nun g Donald Trump.  Stan, who recently appeared in A DIFFERENT MAN and has proven himself an actor to be reckoned with, with an impressive resume that includes films like AVENGERS, HOT TUB TIME MACHINE and CAPTAIN AMERICA.  In the scene where he puts down the NYC mayor, insulting him during an interview, he nails the Trump character.  Stan was also twin shooting THUNDERBOLTS and in this film, he lost and gained weight for the two different roles.

THE APPRENTICE OPENS IN theatres on October 11th.

Trailer: 

DADDY’S HEAD (Australia 2024) ***

Directed by Benjamin Barfoot

In the wake of his father’s untimely death, a young boy is left in the eerie solitude of a sprawling country estate with his newly widowed stepmother.  Struggling to navigate the overwhelming task of parenthood, his stepmother grows distant, leaving their fragile bond at risk of collapse.  Amidst the growing tension, the boy begins to hear unsettling sounds echoing through the corridors and is soon haunted by the presence of a grotesque creature bearing a disturbingly familiar resemblance to his late father.  As the boy’s warnings are dismissed as the imagination of a grieving child, the sinister entity tightens its grip on their crumbling lives.

The film DADDY’S HEAD's most frightening scene has a boy, the son of a man in the hospital all bandaged up from head to toe with tubes running all over him, including his nose.  No flesh of the man is observable.  The boy is told that the father’s lifeline is to be removed by him.   The film is scary for two reasons.  For one, it is a scary sight to look at and secondly, it is psychologically damaging for a boy to witness death and for him not the first but second, occurring just right after he has lost his mother.

As the story goes, the man with the accident has just re-married to a beautiful younger female, who is now the boy’s stepmother.  Though she is in no way interested in becoming a mother any time soon, she is still emotionally affected when told that the boy will be taken by Social Services and put in an orange if she does not become or others find him a guardian.  All the while, she notices the by emotionally affected and particularly quiet.  Then the horror begins.  Family is everything, (that is the film’s caption) and it is what one makes with one’s family that counts.

The film is well paced with a solid buildup in mystery and suspense.  Director Barfoot clearly knows what he is doing.  Barfoot is a self-taught filmmaker from Torbay, Devon. Beginning with animation films as a child, he quickly moved on to video where he taught himself an array of skills from cameras and editing to animation, visual effects and sound design. Moving to London with a short animated film he had made at home, he was nominated for a Broadcast Young Talent Award and began cutting his teeth in London with everything from film trailers, and motion graphic promos to documentaries for BBC. Whilst between these jobs, he continued to create his own work, experimenting with dark animated shorts to fully improvised comedies that he shot and edited.  Barfoot also edited and composed the soundtrack for DADDY’S HEAD.

However, one of the film’s flaws is the explanation of the monster that appears to the boy, who speaks to him in his father’s voice.   Where did the monster originate?  And what happened to it when the boy was growing up?   Unless the monster is the boy’s imagination implying that he did all the violent acts including killing the poor dog. DADDY’S HEAD which premiered at the Fantastic Fest Film Festival 2024, opens for streaming on Shudder, the horror network on Friday October 11th.

Trailer: 

IN HER PLACE (El Lugar de la Otra) (Chile 2024) ***
Directed by Maite Alberdi

Chile, 1955. When the popular writer María Carolina Geel murders her lover, the case captivates Mercedes, the shy secretary of the judge in charge of defending the accused. After visiting the writer's apartment, Mercedes begins to question her life, identity and the role of women in society as she finds in that home an oasis of freedom.

The film is touted to be based on true events.  The true event is Maria’s commitment of the murder but the Mercedes character is made up in what is otherwise a fictitious story.

As the film is set in the 50’s and deals with murder and a mysterious femme fatale, director Maite Alberdi’s film feels like a Hitchcock movie with the character of Gael looking like the Kim Novak character in VERTIGO.

The film has a strong female slant dealing with two strong women, Mercedes and Maria.  The film shows Mercedes' demise from being locked into a mundane routine lifestyle.  The film begins with her in bed next to her snoring husband.  She wakes up to make breakfast for her noisy two sons who leave no packs for her, after she had made breakfast for the family.  She lives in a small cramped apartment which the husband converts to a photography studio for his business.  So when asked to look after Maria's belongings, she fantasizes about being IN HER PLACE.  Director Albrerdi is fond of using close-ups to emphasize the points he wishes to make in the story, a tactic that works pretty well.

Though the film is slow-moving, it has an excellent build-up, priming the audience for something huge that is to come.  But often in films where there is a strong build and audience anticipation, they fail to live up to expectations.

`IN HER PLACE has been selected as Chile’s entry for Best International Feature for the next Academy Awards.

Netflix specializes in crime documentaries and this fiction film plays like one.  IN HER PLACE opens for Netflix streaming this week.

Trailer: 

THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS (USA 2024)***½

Directed by Alejandro Hartmann

THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS  is a 2024 American true crime documentary film directed by Alejandro Hartmann for the streaming company Netflix, in which brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted of the 1989 murders of their parents, are interviewed about the case.

The documentary film tells the story of Lyle and Erik Menendez, who were convicted in 1996 for the murders of their parents on August 20, 1989.  In the documentary, for the first time in about thirty years, the brothers themselves talk about what exactly happened and why they did it. The brothers do this through audio interviews from prison, where they are still incarcerated.

At the film’s beginning, the voiceover touts the film’s intriguing nature.  It talks about Beverly Hills, and how safe and prestigious the 80210 postal code is the most sought-after and desired place to reside in.  It goes on to say that crime is minimal and that murders would not even be imagined, less one in which a couple has been shot violently in their own home,  Then it goes on to say that the brothers have a story to tell, over after thirty years for the very first time, both to expel their demons and also that the world can learn a few things from the madness.  Needless to say, this true crime drama. a doc constructed by interviews and footage of the cops’ investigation is a most intriguing piece, again proving that Netflix is one of the best streaming places to watch true crime dramas, especially when one loves this genre when reality is often stranger than fiction.

The interviewees in the doc are as carefully picked as the jurors for the trial.  These included the family relatives including the brothers’ grandmother and mother’s sister, Kitty, a juror and reporter involved in the case as well as  the lead prosecutor Pamela Bozanich of their case,

The two brothers were initially not suspects though they could be arrested on the spot of the murder.  Gun shells were in the son’s car which was at the scene of the murder.  There was gunpowder on the hands of the brothers.  The brothers told the cops they smelt smoke and they would not have if they had not been close to the murder.  For any domestic shootings, the family members would immediately be suspect. but being Beverly Hills, the Beverly Hills cops treat the citizens very nicely.

What is seldom done in a court film, fictional or doc is the display of emotions from the lawyers.  Each of the three lawyers, the prosecutor who threw up before the trial and the ones defending Lyle and Erik \, all different personalities show their vulnerability.

The behavior of the two brothers was strange and unexpected.  Lyle changed from a goofy college kid to the business-like personality of his father.  Lyle delivered an emotionless eulogy at the funeral.  The two went on an extravagant shopping free soon after spending money like water.

Trailer: 

MY HERO ACADEMIA: YOU’RE NEXT (Japan 2024) **

Directed by Tensai Okamura

Written by: Yôsuke Kuroda, Kôhei Horikoshi and directed by Tensai Okamura, MY HERO ACADEMIA: YOU’RE NEXT is the fourth film of the TV manga series that won popularity among manga enthusiasts,

In a society where heroes and villains continuously battle in the name of peace and chaos, Izuku Midoriya, a U.A. High School student who aspires to be the best hero he can be, confronts the villain who imitates the hero he's long admired.  In the film, the best hero is called All Might, but an imitation villain pretends to be All Might before chaining his name to Balck Might showing his true colours.

A bit of background is necessary to understand the context of this movie.  Those unfamiliar will be thrust without much explanation into the story, which can be quite confusing if not annoying.

My Hero Academia (Japanese: Boku no Hīrō Akademia) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It was serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from July 2014 to August 2024, with its chapters collected in 41 tankōbon volumes as of August 2024. Set in a world where superpowers (called "Quirks") have become commonplace, the story follows Izuku Midoriya, a boy who was born without a Quirk but still dreams of becoming a superhero himself. He is scouted by the world's greatest hero, All Might, who bestows his Quirk to Midoriya after recognizing his potential and helps to enroll him in a prestigious high school for superheroes in training.  The manga spawned a media franchise, having inspired numerous spin-off manga, such as My Hero Academia: Smash!!, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, and My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions. The series has expanded into light novels, stage plays, and various types of merchandise and media, including numerous video games. It has also been adapted into an anime television series by Bones. The first season aired in Japan from April to June 2016, followed by a second season from April to September 2017, then a third season from April to September 2018, a fourth season from October 2019 to April 2020, a fifth season from March to September 2021, a sixth season from October 2022 to March 2023, and a seventh season which premiered in May 2024. It has also received four animated films, titled My Hero Academia: Two Heroes, My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission, and MY HERO ACADEMIA: YOU’RE NEXT, this film.

MY HERO ACADEMIA: YOU’RE NEXT is set in a world where about 80% of the human population has gained superpowers called "Quirks" ). Quirks vary widely and can be inherited. Among the Quirk-enhanced individuals, a few of them earn the title of Heroes, who cooperate with authorities in rescue operations and apprehending criminals who abuse their Quirks, commonly known as Villains. In addition, Heroes who excel in their duties gain celebrity status and are recognized as "Pro Heroes". Heroes are ranked in popularity, with higher-ranking heroes receiving public appeal, although it is not uncommon for rookie heroes to gain popularity as well.

The manga feature is emotionless and boring to no-manga fans and to those who are not fans of the series despite some good animation. It is difficult to get excited to watch animated heroes fighting animated villains.

The film opens in theatres across Canada on Friday, October 11th.

Trailer: 

SING MY SONG (Canada 2024) ***
Directed by Barbara Kayee Lee

SING MY SONG follows Barbara “Kayee” Lee, an award-winning broadcast journalist and community advocate, on her decade-long journey to discover why there are no Asian pop stars from North America.  As a songwriter who doesn’t fit the pop star image, Lee is initially driven by the hope of having her songs sung by American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson, forcing Lee to confront her own internalized biases stemming from the lack of Asian pop stars growing up in the West. An insightful and, yet poignant search from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Hong Kong to Nashville, Tennessee that will make you think, cry, and laugh as you go along the journey with Lee to find her voice and fulfill her childhood dream.

The question is whether the film would be interesting to non-singer-songwriters.  But Asians aside, the film discusses problems faced by other minority races trying to succeed in any other industry besides music, like film or painting.  Still, the film delves in quite detail the music industry, especially on recording and singing.

Lee's pursuit of her musical dream intertwines with encounters with fellow Asian American and Asian Canadian singer-songwriters including the Far East Movement, Alfa Garcia, Kevin So and Umi Hsu. The documentary challenges the Model Minority Myth, unraveling its dual nature –celebrated for excellence in classical music yet sidelined as not "cool" enough for mainstream popularity. Through Lee's lens, viewers are compelled to reckon with the complicity within Asian communities and the systemic erasure of Asian musicians and pop stars in North America.

The doc also blends in the life of Lee, making it like a slight biopic.  Barbara emigrated to Canada when she was fourteen months old from Hong Kong and her mother bought her first guitar at a pawn shop close to Chinatown.  She worked the family farm in British Columbia.  The present?  Barbara has spent over twenty-five years as a community advocate for diverse representation and organizer of events to increase the profile and opportunities for Canadian and American Asian artists in mainstream music, film and media. She is the founder of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF), the oldest Asian film festival in Canada, in its 28th year. Co-founder of the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) in its 19th year and founder and producer of the Racial Equity Screen Office (RESO), creator of East by Northwest (EXNW) Global Creative Summit as well as founder of Elimin8Hate.org to combat anti-Asian racism.   She also started the Vancouver Asian Film Festival, championing Asian values.

The topic of being Asian in a Western country comes up for the reason of its relevance as a musical artist.  Lee talks about the difference between an Asian Canadian and a Canadian Asian.  The topic is discussed ingrate detail by another Asian American artist who had made it in Tennessee, Kevin So.

One can understand Lee’s lessons learned but the film’s conclusion with Lee’s speaking to the film’s audience tends to be preachy if not condescending.

SING MY SONG premieres on  AAM.tv (Asian AmerciaTV) on October 11, 2024

Trailer: 

STUDIO ONE FOREVER (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Marc Saltarelli

The documentary STUDIO ONE almost did not make it to the cinemas or VOD due to the pandemic and lack of funding.  The doc finally opens this week and for those who are gay and love the club scene, then the Disco scene, this movie will bring total delight.  For those gay,, who are older now and used to look young and pretty and used to do the club scene (myself definitely included), watching STUDIO ONE FOREVER reminds one of the times past when one was young and pretty and could pick up a new lover every night at the club, least of all make it on the dance floor or even have sex in the toilets.  And there were plenty of drugs.  For those in Toronto, there was the equivalent, sort of anyway, except that there were no celebrities, of STUDIO ONE, like the night club FLY, the place in which the gay series, the American one, QUEER AS FOLK was shot.

In STUDIO ONE FOREVER, director Marc Saltarelli and narrators Bruce Vilanch and David Del Valle dive into the history of the historic venue, offering a testament to an era and immortalizing the club's legacy for future generations. The documentary features candid, modern-day interviews with Chita Rivera, Sam Harris, Felipe Rose, Charlo Crossley, Melissa Rivers, Roslyn Kind, Lance Bass, and Thelma Houston along with former bartenders and patrons who recount their experiences at Studio One, and what the iconic club stood for.  Many of the bartenders and patrons interviewed, now much older, look especially gorgeous and hot with their archive photographs shown.

A beacon of dancing and freedom for gay men looking for identity in a world that saw them as outcasts, Studio One was a haven and the blossoming centre of nightlife in West Hollywood.  From merging the gay community and Hollywood elites like Bette Davis and Jimmy Stewart to being at the forefront of the LBGTQ+ rights movement and the fight against the AIDS crisis, the venue was more than just a disco, it was a movement.   

The film plays like a biopic of STUDIO ONE - from past to present.  The Studio One building was originally owned by William Fox and housed the Mitchel Camera Company. Mitchel manufactured Hollywood's early film cameras used by Charlie Chaplin, and for filming The Wizard of Oz. Later, it was used as the Norden bombsight facility during World War II. As the audience is informed, the floor has been reinforced during the War, which enabled it to be tested with thousands of Disco dancers pouring on the floor.  In 1968 the building was bought and transformed into The Factory nightclub, named after the furniture manufacturing business on the lower floor of the building.  The Factory became a popular 1960s-style discothèque that was frequented by Hollywood celebrities, but it only lasted a few years. And then, Studio One was founded on the same site in 1974 by part-owner Scott Forbes, a Boston optometrist.   In the 1990s it was bought by Sandy Sachs and renamed to Axis.  The space is currently called The Robertson.

The doc spends time talking about STUDIO ONE founder Scott Forbes who eventually succumbed to AIDs.  The doc also sadly looks at the impact of the disease.

STUDIO ONE FOREVER is available on VOD on October 8 via Gravitas.

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SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY (USA 2024) ***½

Directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui

There have been many, many actors who have taken on the role of Superman, but only one that remains the symbol of the iconic hero - and that is Christopher Reeves who played the titular hero from the Planet of Krypton in not one but in four Superman movies, only the first two being really successful.  The third was shot in Calgary with Richard Pryor and the fourth and last is best forgotten.

The story of Christopher Reeve is an astonishing rise from an unknown actor to an iconic movie star, and his definitive portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman set the benchmark for the superhero cinematic universes that dominate cinema today.  Reeve portrayed the Man of Steel in four Superman films before being injured in a near-fatal horse-riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed from the neck down.  As the voiceover goes: Everything can be changed in an instant.

  After becoming a quadriplegic, Reeve became a charismatic leader and activist in the quest to find a cure for spinal cord injuries, as well as a passionate advocate for disability rights and care - all while continuing his career in cinema in front of and behind the camera and dedicating himself to his beloved family.

This film includes never-before-seen intimate home movies and an extraordinary trove of personal archive material, as well as the first extended interviews ever filmed with Reeve’s three children about their father, and interviews with the A-list Hollywood actors who were Reeve’s colleagues and friends. The film is a moving and vivid cinematic telling of Reeve’s remarkable story.

Many celebrities speak of Reeve.  Most notable is actress Glenn Close talking candidly about Reeve and also about his best friend Robin Williams, who was in the same acting class before becoming famous, who with his wife, Marsha provided Reeve with immense support.  Close claims on camera that she strongly believes that if Reeve was still alive, Williams should also be alive and not have taken his life.

The film goes on to show that Reeve later directed IN THE GLOAMING (1997), acted in the television remake of REAR WINDOW (1998), and made two appearances in the Superman-themed television series Smallville (2003). Reeve died in 2004 from heart failure at a hospital near his home in Westchester County, New York.

Needless to say, the doc is a tearjerker and the directors have no qualms in preventing it from being one.  The film spends a good whole 15 minutes on is death with the reaction of his immediate family.

From the opening clips of the SUPERMAN film to Christopher Reeve’s accident and his fight with recovery, the doc is extremely well thought of and put together with the conclusion of not who the hero is but what a hero is, showing that the hero is not a super mighty being but a human being as witnessed in the life and work of one Christopher Reeves.

SUPER/MAN: THE CHRISTOPHER REEVE STORY opens in theatres on October 11th.

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WOMAN OF THE HOUR (USA 2024) ****
Directed by Anna Kendrick

WOMAN OF THE HOUR is the stranger-than-fiction story of an aspiring actor (Anna Kendrick) in 1970s Los Angeles and a serial killer in the midst of a years-long murder spree, whose lives intersect when they’re cast on an episode of The Dating Game.

In the 1970s Rodney Alcala went on a murder spree, luring women by posing as a photographer looking for models. Though already a registered sex offender and recently released from prison, he infamously appeared on The Dating Game, a show that introduced a set of three new bachelors each week, hidden from view as a woman asked them amusing questions before choosing a winner to go on an all-expenses-paid trip with her.

It is Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut in which she stars as the main character as well.  She is quite capable at it, creating both an intelligent and absorbing film that empowers women.  The killings by the serial killer are interspersed with Sheryl’s routine making the film play like an anthology of the killings bound together with Sheryl’s life.  Daniel Zovatto is nothing short of excellent in the role of the creepy ladykiller, Rodney.

.Actress Anna Kendick's WOMAN OF THE HOUR is an engrossing and compelling watch based on the true story of a serial killer who appeared on the famous TV reality show The Dating Game.  The film premiered at TIFF last year and opens in Theatres now.

Trailer 

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Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 28 September 2024

FILM REVIEWS:

ALIEN ON STAGE (UK 2020) ***
Directed by Lucy Harvey and Danielle Kummer

A very amateur dramatics group led by Dorset Bus Drivers spent a year creating a serious stage adaptation of the sci-fi, horror film Alien.  ALIEN ON STAGE is a low-budget British documentary on the behind-the-scenes of the amateurish play.

In case, one is not familiar with Dorset.  Dorset is a county in southwest England. It is known for the Jurassic Coast, a long stretch on the English Channel where the cliffs contain many fossils, and rock formations show millions of years of geological history.  The Allendale Centre, Wimborne is the place in Dorset, population 6400 where the play is planned for Opening Night.  The aim is to maximize ticket sales to raise money for charity.

The doc involves :

the bus drivers and other bus staff (like the supervisors) taking on various roles in the production from acting to stage manager to props maker; the rehearsals; the making of he props that include the alien; and of course the performance.

There are clips of the actual Ridley Scott ALIEN so that the audience can get a feel of what is actually done by the bus driver crew.  “This is what Ridley Scott would have wanted to do…. but in a more basic format,” says the prop manager as he shows his green-painted alien eggs.

They were hoping that everyone would come and they would sell out because ALIEN was such a huge cult movie.  But that did not happen.  There were only 20 people.  The main complaint from the troupe?  No one gave any feedback.  The directors of the doc then interviews one of those who attended and what she thought.

Their village-hall show is a crushing flop; it seems their hard work was for nothing, but fate gives them a second chance to perform their homemade, homage in a London West End theatre, for one night only.  With wobbly sets, awkward acting, and special effects, requiring

'more luck than judgment'. Will they be alright on the night?

ALIEN ON STAGE plays like a home movie made with sincerity without any claim to be any best picture of the year.  The film is entertaining enough, on a small scale, very basic with more pleasure derived by observation of ordinary English folk like the bus drivers of Dorset than from the success of the staging of the play.  At its best, the doc shows the camaraderie of the Dorset players, always laughing and never uttering a bad word to one another as well as parts of the humorous performance at the West end.  The doc should attract more than the 20 people they got on the play’s opening night, again a surprise for the Dorset players.

After a successful World Premiere at SXSW,  Alien On Stage screened at over 60 film festivals worldwide, winning seven international awards, four of them In the U.S. and Canada.

including the Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature Calgary Underground Film Festival, Silver Audience Award, Best Documentary, Fantasia International Film Festival and Audience Award, and Best Documentary Leeds International Film Festival.

Indiecan Entertainment will release ALIEN ON STAGE in Canada and the U.S. on October 8th.

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THE PLATFORM 2 (Le Hoyo 2) (Spain 2024) ***
Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

THE PLATFORM 2 (Spanish: El Hoyo 2) is a 2024 Spanish satirical science fiction film directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia.

THE PLATFORM  begins with several people talking about food,  or rather what they like to eat from pizza to coquettes to cooking with cumin.  It turns out that convicts have over two hundred levels.  The lower the level, the lower the quality of food.  The food is laid out on a platform that goes through all the levels.  Every convict must not take food belonging to those of another higher level.

The film returns to the world of "The Platform," a large, tower-style "Vertical Self-Management Center" prison that houses various criminals. The dozens of floors house two occupants per floor and a free-floating platform delivers food to them on a daily schedule.

The film is set in a large, tower-style "Vertical Self-Management Center." Its residents, who are transferred in through for various crimes or wants must every month switch between its many floors, are fed via a platform which, initially filled with food at the top floor, gradually descends through the tower's levels, stopping for a fixed amount of time on each. The system inevitably leads to conflict, as the residents at the top levels get to eat as much as they can, with each level only getting the leftovers from the previous ones.

For those who remember the first movie, number 2 provides more of the same.  It's still amazing in terms of concept and delivery despite its incredible premise.

It is no surprise the sequel was made.  The original film was released on Netflix in March 2020. Subsequently, the film received a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic and the company revealed the film had been watched by 56 million households over its first four weeks of release, among the most ever for one of their original films

THE PLATFORM 2 opens for streaming on Netflix on Friday, October 3rd this week.  From Spain and in Spanish.

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REZ COMEDY (Canada 2024) ***
Directed by (CSA winners) Quentin Lee, Keith Nahanee

The word Rex means a North American Indian reservation or reserve.  The title for the new Canadian film REZ COMEDY refers to comedy involving Indigenous (as the word Indian is not so much used these days) reservations or Indigenous matters for that matter.

REZ COMEDY is the first all-Indigenous and all-Canadian stand-up comedy feature film.

Eight diverse Indigenous comics from all over Canada come together for a set connected by the Squamish Nation and host comic Keith Nahanee, star of Comedy Invasion, Canadian Screen Awards 2024 winner for Best Comedy Special.

As far as the film goes, credit is also given for Indigenous and comedy content.  The film plays like an anthology with 8 segments of standup comedy routines. The funniest of the stands is Keith Nahanee, the first one featured and thankfully also, the host of the Comedy Special Show.  The film devotes some time at the film’s start to have him introduce the film while the other comics have only a one-minute introduction before the routine starts.

The comics as well as the description goes:

Host: KEITH NAHANEE - Squamish Nation (BC) - He is clearly one of the funniest of the lot, his delivery being the smoothest and his jokes relevant and insightful.  Unfortunately, placing him first and him, being the best sort of, lets the film go somewhat downhill.  He pokes fun at himself, the best joke being his 7-size girly foot that he reveals in the  midst of his routine as well as poking fun at the audience.  His swearing is minimal.

Others featured (in alphabetical order) include::

WAYNE ALEXIS - Sto’lo Nation from Cheam Band (BC)

CHUCK CEASE - Mistawasis Nahiyawak Cree Nation (SK)

DENISE B. MCLEOD -  Urban IndigiQueer Anishinaabe Kwe, home territory is Sagamok Anishnawbek F.N (ON)

JANELLE NILES - Black - Mi’kmaq woman from Sipekne'katik (NS)

DREA OMER - Saskatchewan-based

HELENA PAUL - Tk’emlups te Secwempemc and Skowkale (BC)

BRENDA PRINCE - Anishinabe (MB)

KEVIN SHAWANDA - Birch Island (ON)

(CSA stands for Canadian Screen Awards)

REZ COMEDY opens October 4, 2024 (Imagine Cinemas Carlton - Toronto, ON) with an invite-only screening hosted by two-time CSA winner Indigenous actor Tamara Podemski on October 3, 2024 

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TROUBLE (Sweden 2024) ***
Directed by Jon Holmberg

From Sweden comes a comedy, directed and co-written by Jon Holmberg,  a quite silly one of a lovable loser that just keeps getting more and more into trouble for two reasons - bad coincidences with fate never on his side, and his tom-foolishness.

Conny is divorced and works as a salesman at a major electronics chain and looks forward to every other week when he gets to spend time with his daughter Julia. Suddenly life is turned upside down. Conny is in the wrong place at the wrong time, becomes innocently convicted of murder, and ends up in prison. There he meets criminals Norinder and Musse who mistake Conny for being a pilot, the profession of his wife's new successful boyfriend Tomas. Conny becomes a part of the criminals' escape plan -  but he also needs to find his daughter a horse for her birthday.

The film is as silly as the main character, Conny but at least it is amusing funny getting quite a few laugh-out-loud humour in the process.  Entertaining enough as a forgettable guilty Netflix movie.

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Details

Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 24 September 2024

FILM REVIEWS:  

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY (USA 2023) **
Directed by Nora Fiffer

The title of the film ANOTHER HAPPY DAY does not sound like a feel-good happy movie rather than a sarcastic phrase implying that another happy day may not be in the works.  The film opens with a heroine snuggling into her bed, first laughing and then breaking into tears.  The first impression of her is neuroticism and when a later scene that follows shows her a recent mother still breastfeeding her baby.  She is, assumed Hewish, though with a black husband (and also hence, a black baby).  Must films always have a mixed couple to be politically correct?  Things have gone really to the point of absurdity when films like a black ANNIE or a black Andrea Arnold’s WUTHERING HEIGHTS showing up in the cinemas.

Thirty-five-year-old Joanna (Lauren Lapkus) is a total nut. She’s also an artist and a new mom.  But she’s not making any art and she’s terrible at taking care of her newborn.  Worse, her husband (Jean Elie) fancies himself to be a mothering expert. Desperate for some company, Joanna tumbles into an unlikely friendship with her estranged aunt Miriam (Marilyn Dodds Frank), a reclusive theatre actress. Miriam seems the perfect companion for Joanna -- she’s artsy, honest, eccentric, and she hates babies. But all goes haywire when Joanna tries to mother her aunt instead of her baby. Another Happy Day is a tender and tense comedy exploring postpartum depression, intergenerational friendship, and what it means to be family.

The film contains a few uncomfortable moneys.  A few of them occur which turn out to be Joanna’s dreams.  Others like her sitting down with a baby bouncing up and down on a cushion are also disturbing for fear of the bay.  It is puzzling what these scenes intend to do as the film is supposedly a comedy.

As far as performances go, Lauren Lapkus’s character is neurotic and annoying and the actress annoys the audience well with her neurotic antics.  The same can be said of Marilyn Dodds as her Aunt Mariam.

It is hard to like any of the characters in the film - almost every single one of them loser-neurotic.  Joanna’s husband is definitely not a winner when he is delirious about getting a $ 1-an-hour raise at work.  He is also obsessive about being right about rearing a baby.  Joanna’s mother on the phone does not sound like a loving mother either, but one who only cares for herself.

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY is just another indie movie, credit goes for it being an indie low-budget product but not particularly memorable in any respect, but maybe for Joanna’s annoying neurosis.

ANOTHER HAPPY DAY arrives nationwide on Digital Tuesday, October 1st.

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THE BECOMERS (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Zach Clark

A body-snatching alien comes to Earth, reconnects with their partner, and tries to find their way into modern America.

Forced to flee their dying planet, two body-snatching alien lovers arrive separately on Earth. Determined to find each other, the aliens jump from body to body, but they quickly learn that it's not easy to inhabit their new, fleshy hosts and that life in modern-day America is more complicated than they could have ever imagined.

THE BECOMERS can be described as INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, which is an American indie, low-budget style.  The low-budget indie feel is felt through the film from its cheese special effects that likely cost nothing to a minimal invasion of the planet look.  All the actors are unknown and the script though neat in the sense that it can be a sci-fi mystery/thriller does suffer compared to a doctored Hollywood high-paid screenplay.

The script contains many loose ends that are left unexplained.  The first alien is seen moving from body to body  The first is when a stranger, obviously already possessed with the body snatcher, stumbles to a car that bears a screaming pregnant woman about to deliver a baby.  Through the beam in the eyes, the audience might assume that the alien has not snatched the mother’s body.  The mother is seen dumping the baby into the fire (what looks like a baby doll rather than a real baby) before the mother goes about snatching another body.  Why the bodies have to be swapped ever so often is never explained.

Being such a low-budget production, many scenes and dialogue look very cheesy.   The cult segment is one that is particularly important.  The chanting is cheesy and director Zach Clark who also wrote the script knows it and ups the angst on the tackiness.  This particular cult scene turns out to be the most hilarious segment of the film.  Otherwise, certain parts move along so slowly that one might have to keep concentrating on the film.

THE BECOMERS is entertaining enough as a deliberately cheesy, sci-fi body snatching if one does not have too high expectations.  This is no big bulge in Ridley Scott’s ALIEN.

THE BECOMERS arrives on VOD in North America on Tuesday, September 24.

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A DIFFERENT MAN (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Aaron Schimberg

Aspiring actor Edward (Sebastian Stan) undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance. But his new dream face becomes a nightmare as he loses the role he was born to play, and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost. 

The different man in A DIFFERENT MAN has a facial deformity that makes him look like a varied version of THE ELEPHANT MAN.  When the film first begins, the audience is shown the man’s daily routine as he does his daily chores which include a ride on the subway.  Some people stare at him, others avoid him, and some glaringly pretend not to notice.  Amidst all this, the man goes about his duties,, obviously living a lifetime with the ailment,

But there is hope.  At a clinic, he decides to undergo a life-challenging test in which there is a chance that his looks can become normal.  “There is no reward without risk,”  he is told by the medical technician more than once.  He decides to take the risk.  Initially, he sees his face falling apart while getting sick quite often.  But to his (and the audience’s) surprise, he slowly turns to look normal.

During this time, he meets a playwright at a bar who is writing a new play.  “Can I watch it?” he asks.  “No” is her reply.  “You are going to be in it.”  After writing it, the, one who is also directing the play casts him in it.  All this time, he is transitioning,  Oddly enough, they get to meet another man with the same facial ailment, apparently a Brit from his strong accent.  This Brit is extremely confident in himself, not letting his disability hinder him at all.  The Brit eventually steals the man’s part from him a the story in the play changes - all these changes angering him.

Sebastian Stan who is also tone seen as the young Donald Trump in THE APPRENTICE does a might fine job as a DIFFERENT MAN.  Stan is a quite handsome actor with his dark looks,

A DIFFERENT MAN is a well-made drama that covers the prejudice behind good looks and how looks can deceive people.  But it can hardly be described as pleasant entertainment with scenes of vomiting and peeling off of loose bloodied skin of a face, not to mention the frequent outburst of anger of the main character.

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DIVORCE (Poland 2024) ***
Directed by Michal Chacinski 

DIVORCE comes on Netflix as an original international movie.  As Netflix international original movies go, many are duds.  (I review at least two of these a week.)  But as far as the film title DIVORCE sounds, the film is actually quite good, succeeding as a sufficiently funny comedy, complete with a few pokes at institutions.

The main institutions made fun of are the institution of marriage and of course, following the institution of divorce.  And of the church court, that is all high and mighty over their religious powers over the individual.  “We work and live here for 50 years.” These are the words seen on a banner at the start of the film.

The film is about a couple, Malgosia and Jacek, who had separated a long time back, but they did not nullify their marriage in the church court.  Jacek’s fiancée wanted a white wedding, and for the church to approve his second marriage, he had to divorce Malgosia first. But getting the church to approve a nullification of marriage was not a piece of cake. They only allowed it in cases of exceptions, such as if the groom was impotent or if either of the parties were addicts. Since none of it was true in Malgosia and Jacek’s case, they had to appear before the court over and over again pleading the authority to grant them a divorce. Did it work out in the end? Does it really matter so long as the audience is having fun/

The best thing about DIVORCE is the humour that is derived from everyday circumstances.  It is clear the director has a keen sense of humour as it is the timing and staging of all the humour that is as important as the ‘funniness’ of the jokes.  Jacek is pro-church wanting to have a church annulled marriage whereas Malgosia is more upset that the procedure would unroll her current situation.  She is anti-church, becoming increasingly upset when the church calls her for an unplanned interview.

DIVORCE opens for streaming this week, from Wednesday on Netflix.  Watch it for pure entertainment - guaranteed for a good number of laughs.

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JAILBREAK: LOVE ON THE RUN (USA 2024) ***½

Directed by:  (See below)

True crime documentaries are always a hoot to watch, as these stories are often more intriguing than crime fiction films.  And Netflix is well known for true crime documentaries.  The new one JAILBREAK: LOVE ON THE RUN belongs to this category.

The title LOVE ON THE RUN is likely derived from the classic Francois Truffaut Antoine Doinel 1979 film L’AMOUR EN FUITE which translates to LOVE ON THE RUN.

The Netflix documentary Jailbreak: Love on the Run (2024), about the infamous prison escape involving Vicky White and Casey White, was produced by Aaron Ginsburg, William Green, and Alec MacRae. It does not have a single director credited but features a team of executive producers, all 15 of them, including Lana Wilson, Dan Abrams, and Angie Dorr.  It is surprising that though no one director is given credit the dc is extremely well put together.

When Vicky White, a highly respected corrections officer, aids the escape of a violent felon nearly twenty years her junior, it reveals an unexpected love story amidst the ensuing high-profile manhunt and media frenzy.

The start of the film introduces the day and occurrence of the jailbreak.  Vicky is accompanying the convict Casey to the courtroom for his hearing.  They never showed up.

The film then flashes back before when the interviewees talk about Vicky and a bit about Casey.  The audience learns a lot about the two characters.

On April 29, 2022, at 9:30 a.m., Vicky White, the assistant director at the Lauderdale County Jail in Florence, Alabama, escorted Casey White to a police vehicle, then left the detention centre. A surveillance video showed Casey in handcuffs and leg shackles.  Casey, who has an extensive criminal history, was already serving 75 years for a 2015 crime spree.  He was at the facility for pre-trial motions after having confessed two years earlier to the 2015 stabbing death of 59-year-old Connie Ridgeway.  Vicky told fellow officers she was taking Casey to the county courthouse in Florence for a psychological evaluation, and then going to see her personal physician since she was not feeling well that day. The task aroused suspicion since inmates being taken to the courthouse are supposed to be escorted by two deputies. Authorities believe she was not challenged because of her position.  The two never returned to the detention centre. The Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department was given a surveillance video, taken at a local gas station, of Vicky White's patrol car 8 minutes after the pair left the detention centre. The deputies checked the courthouse's itinerary and found that there were no hearings or evaluations that day. Authorities feared Vicky may have been forced or coerced into helping Casey escape. They immediately initiated a statewide manhunt hoping to find her unharmed and to recapture Casey.

What happens after is revealed after the doc reaches the halfway mark, which will not be revealed in this review.

The story is told mainly from interviews with Vicky’s fellow prison staff put chronologically together mixed with archive footage.  Quite a feat!

The doc plays like an entertaining intriguing thriller, the best of what true crime documentaries have to offer.  Whether the audience root for the two is left to the individual. 

LEE (UK 2023) ***
Directed by Ellen Kuras

Lee, the directorial feature from award-winning Cinematographer Ellen Kuras, portrays a pivotal decade in the life of American war correspondent and photographer, Lee Miller (Kate Winslet).  Miller’s singular talent and unbridled tenacity resulted in some of the 20th century's most indelible images of war, including an iconic photo of Miller herself, posing defiantly in Hitler's private bathtub.  

Miller had a profound understanding and empathy for women and the voiceless victims of war. Her images display both the fragility and ferocity of the human experience. Above all, the film shows how Miller lived her life at full-throttle in pursuit of truth, for which she paid a huge personal price, forcing her to confront a traumatic and deeply buried secret from her childhood.

At the battlefront, Lee (Kate Winslet, who looks quite like her from old photographs, especially when wearing the same hairstyle) is shown saying: “I have to be at the battlefront.” followed by, “Where is the powder room?”

Lee is less a biography of Lee Miller than a film about a woman journalist covering the war.  Elizabeth "Lee" Miller, Lady Penrose (April 23, 1907 – July 21, 1977), was an American photographer and photojournalist.  The film is a U.K. production though.  Miller was a fashion model in New York City in the 1920s before going to Paris and becoming a fashion and fine art photographer there.

The part of the bio does not so much concentrate on Lee Miller going from a career as a model but more of her enlisting as a photographer to chronicle the events of World War II for Vogue magazine.  It begins with her, at an older age being interviewed by journalist, Antony Penrose (Josh O’Connor).

During World War II, she was a war correspondent for Vogue, covering events such as the London Blitz, the liberation of Paris, and the concentration camps at Buchenwald and Dachau. Her reputation as an artist in her own right is due mostly to her son's discovery and promotion of her work as a fashion and war photographer.

The film has a strong female slant. Given that it is the love child of both the director and Winslet who are female, the protagonist as a female also stands for female strength.  This can be best observed in the one scene where she pulls out a knife at a soldier attempting to sexually abuse a lady in the street.

Though the film lacks the power of most films on war correspondents reporting in war zones, in fact, there are too many of these after Peter Weir’s THE YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY did so well critically and at the box office.  But this film LEE stands out from the really stunning cinematography and atmosphere of the period of Occupied France in WWII.

The film has a troubled production history.  The movie took eight years to make and, at one point, due to precarious funding, Kate Winslet (who also produced the movie) paid the entire cast and crew's salaries for two weeks. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on 9 September 2023. It was released theatrically in the United Kingdom by Sky Cinema on 13 September 2024. 

LEE is in theatres in Toronto from September 27

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MY OLD ASS (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Megan Park

My Old Ass is a 2024 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Megan Park. It stars Maisy Stella in her film debut, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, and Aubrey Plaza.

Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) , who has been advised by her future self not to fall in love, is sure she can follow the advice she has been given. That is, until she meets the boy her older self (Aubrey Plaza) warned her about.

MY OLD ASS refers to a teen and her older 30-year-old self.  If one thinks the film is something similar to FREAKY FRIDAY or BIG, it certainly is not.  The film is more of a romantic comedy-drama than a light comedy.  The film aims high at succeeding in a fresh take on a coming-of-age story, and one that involves a bit of fantasy as well as romance.

Though the characters are teens and go about their high

For a film about a family about the cranberry farm business, it would be a big flaw in the film if no cranberry farms are on display.  Thankfully, the harvesting of cranberries is shown in detail in all its grandeur right near the end of the film.

Though Aubrey Plaza gets star billing, Plaza only has a few scenes in a supporting role as the older girl.

As a coming-of-age story, the question arises: "How do you know what you want?”  Elliot surely does not,  When she does magic mushrooms with her friends, she encounters her future self able to answer a few of her questions on life.  With the advice come certain warnings.  One is not to have sex with a new boy Elliot has me - Chad(Percy Hynes White).  But Chad is so endearing and apparently with no fault at all that Elliot can find, Elliot gradually falls in love with Chad, even though she has had flings only with females.  so is she bi?  That is yet another question Elliot is puzzled with.  And with Chad being the perfect, charming beau, Elliot is even more puzzled at the reason her older self has warned her of him.  Though the two have light fun times with Elliot also having fun times with her other friends, the film has a deadly serious message.  Director Park’s script is a mature one, and she knows how to steer her film in the right direction, resulting i turning out to be a romantic comedy, bordering on drama, with a difference.

MY OLD ASS is essentially a teen romantic comedy that follows all the cliched Harlequin romance novel trappings set in a fantasy coming-of-age scenario that basically works for the reason that everyone, director, production crew and actor all take the project so seriously.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2024. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States by Amazon MGM Studios on September 13, 2024, and it opens in theatres in Canada on September 27th.

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NIGHT OF THE HARVEST (USA 2024) ***
Directed by Christopher M.cater and Jessica Morgan

NIGHT AT THE HARVEST is described in the press notes as a spine-chilling thriller where masks and costumes are not just for fun but part of a terrifying ritual.  The audience is prompted to prepare for a journey into the heart of fear, where every shadow hides an unknown threat and each twist reveals the mysteries behind the Harvest.

 NIGHT OF THE HARVEST is the third horror feature film created by the Carter Ink Films team of CHRISTOPHER M. CARTER (co-director, writer, and director of photography) and JESSICA MORGAN (co-director, producer, and lead actor).   Their experience shows as the film contains good scary production values.  Carter, who has won several awards for directing, says his passion for the Halloween season brought the film to life—exploring the roots of the ancient Samhain tradition and coupling that with a family dynamic is what inspired the story.

NIGHT OF THE HARVEST set on the day before and the day of 31st October, Halloween contains differences from the typical Halloween horror flicks for several good reasons.

• the film does not contain any Scream Queens like Jamie Lee Curtis.  There are many female characters in the film, and they are given equal screen time
• no one can be certain who the villains or victims are.  Anyone can be disposed of at any time in the movie.
• the film tries its best to call itself a harvest movie rather than a Halloween film
• a few neat scenes take place in the cornfields
• , and there is more than one slasher in the story

The film opens with a nerdy male entering a home with an elaborate decorative set up for Halloween.  The male hopes to score with the girl organizer who claims this is her favourite holiday.  As she pours the alcohol and retakes off to the other room, a masked figure suddenly appears and kills the guy while also attacking the girl.  The girl turns out to be one, Madison who is featured in the story that follows.

A year after surviving a brutal attack, Madison is still grappling with the trauma of that night. Seeking a sense of normalcy, she reluctantly agrees to join her sister, Audrey, and her friends at a Halloween bash, hoping for a night of fun and distraction. But the festive atmosphere quickly turns deadly when a masked killer begins to hunt them down one by one. Madison must confront her deepest fears and uncover the sinister secrets that bind her to this horror.

Big sister advises younger sister:   "It is easier to make a decision when you don’t have a choice.”   The little sister wants to know what thought of her if she went to a Halloween party after the tragedy of her escaping the killer during the past one.  If one might complain of the dialogue, one must admit that this kind of advice could have been given or a mother could use this saying often making the film more down-to-earth and believable.

NIGHT OF THE HARVEST plays well as forgettable Halloween entertainment with a heavy dose of violence.  The film opens on Digital Platforms on September 20th.

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SLEEP (South Korea 2023) ***
Directed by Jason Yu

SLEEP is a horror film from South Korea - with a difference.  One difference is that horror films from South Korea are not common though there are tons from Japan.

SLEEP follows newlyweds Hyun-su (Lee Sun-kyun, PARASITE) and Soo-jin (Jung Yu-mi), whose domestic bliss is disrupted when Hyun-su begins speaking in his sleep, ominously stating, “Someone’s inside.”   About to be challenged is their wall plaque motto that reads “Together We Can Overcome Anything”.   From that night on, whenever he falls asleep, Hyun-su transforms into someone else, with no recollection of what happened the night before. Overwhelmed with anxiety that he may hurt himself or their young family, Soo-jin can barely sleep because of this irrational fear. Despite treatment, Hyun-su’s sleepwalking only intensifies, and Soo-jin begins to feel that her unborn child may be in danger.

SLEEP is also different as it has a strong story in which the audience is teased on two accounts.  The first is whether there is any supernatural demon inhabiting the sleepwalker.  Secondly, one wonders during the first half of the movie, who is the crazy one.  The sleepwalking husband or the wife who becomes obsessed with the problem,  The problem is further enhanced by her mother who believes an evil spirit is at large.  There is a lot of scare anticipation in the film - a good sign, though the climax does not really match the build-up.  Many of the audience would expect more blood, gore and violence in their horror fare, and though there is some,  the film plays more on mystery and anticipation.

SLEEP is a new thriller from director Jason Yu, who worked with Korean legends Bong Joon-ho and Lee Chang-dong before making his debut film, SLEEP world premiered in Cannes’ Critics’ Week. 

SLEEP in theatres and on digital SEPTEMBER 27th.

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Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 17 September 2024

FILM REVIEWS:

THE ARRIVAL (USA 2024) **
Directed by Alyssa Rallo

Four strangers converge at a restaurant to investigate the son of the enigmatic DuPont family. Suddenly the arrival of a mysterious man disrupts their reality and reveals a shocking truth about the DuPont twins, intertwining the fates of nine unsuspecting restaurant guests. This gripping drama explores hidden identities and dark secrets, promising an intense journey of discovery and confrontation. With its intricate plot and deeply human characters, THE ARRIVAL offers a riveting and emotionally charged and uplifting experience, keeping viewers engaged until the very end.

THE ARRIVAL is a small indie movie with no known stars or actors.  The film deals with several adults engaging a conversation in a bar/lounge space.  There is nothing really exciting about any of the conversations, and thus the film fails to hold much interest, unfolding very much like a stage play.  The actors go through their lines and cover their characters credibly though without much fanfare or entertaining value to the audience.

The conversation contains lots of small talk that is not as funny as the writer thinks it is. ‘I will get a double Heineken non-alcoholic beer.’  Listening to the dialogue often feels like eavesdropping air someone else’s conversation at a bar.

THE ARRIVAL, directed by Alyssa Rallo Bennett, thus explaining the stronger female the male slant,  and written by Gary O. Bennett made its World Premiere at Martha’s Vineyard Women in Film Festival and it opens on digital platforms on September 17. 

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MOUNTAINS (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Monica Sorelle

The media’s representation of Haiti as a nation in ruins remains one of the most prevailing indignities leveled against the island by the Western world – part of a longstanding, unspoken cultural embargo on the world’s first Black Republic. Haitian Americans have seldom seen themselves reflected on screen. When they do appear, they are most often represented as gang members, domestic workers, or supernatural beings by African-American actors with questionable accents. Mountains is a salve for this paradigm, presenting an authentic portrayal of a Haitian family living respectably within their means, with divergent hopes and aspirations, at once unequivocally American and wholly Caribbean.

The worst of the worst has been heard in recent news about Haitians eating neighbourr’s pets, thanks to ex-PresidentDonald Trump.

Immigrant worker Xavier dreams of a more spacious home for his wife and son while earning a living demolishing houses, and dismantling his rapidly changing neighborhood of Little Haiti, Miami brick by brick. MOUNTAINS is a multigenerational drama that explores the relationships between immigrants and their children, the looming threat of gentrification, and the pursuit of the American dream.

‘Behind a mountain is a mountain’ is the Haitian quote seen on the screen at the beginning of the film.  Indeed whether the mountain refers to problems, daily routines, or the humdrum of life, there is always another mountain around the corner.   Monica Sorelle’s narrative feature debut is a slice-of-life portrait of an immigrant worker and family man gradually contending with his class aspirations and housing insecurities in a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood.  Though the main character is a male, she infuses the power of women, through his wife, quiet, foreboding and strong in keeping the family together.  Based in the immigrant enclave of Little Haiti in Miami, Xavier (Atibon Nazaire) is a middle-aged, working-class Haitian demolition worker who hopes to one day buy his beloved seamstress wife, Esperance (Sheila Anozier), a new and spacious suburban home. Meanwhile, their doted-on college dropout son Junior (Chris Renois) struggles against his father's rigid expectations by day while quietly pursuing a career as a stand-up comic by night.   There are long shots of demolition and the routines are captured realistically though they do slow down the narrative.

MOUNTAINS arrives on digitally on Tuesday, September 24.

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SUCCUBUS (USA 2024) ***

Directed by R.J. Daniel Hanna

SUCCUBUS opens with Ron Pearlman begging Jimmy to publish his research, whether he paid or not.  A succubus is a female demon or supernatural entity in folklores who appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. According to some folklore, a succubus needs semen to survive;  repeated sexual activity with a succubus will result in a bond being formed between the succubus and the person; and a succubus will drain or harm the man with whom she is having intercourse.  In modern representations, a succubus is often depicted as a beautiful seductress or enchantress, rather than as demonic or frightening.

The subject is ideal for a horror film with lots of sex and violence - for adults.

The film’s story has  a few flaws.  For one the main character is a loser with the result that audiences would less likely root for him.   If he was at least funny or hilarious, then it would be forgiven.  Unfortunately this is not the case, though the  Chris character does get funnier as the film progresses.    There is a part where he is caught jerking off on the baby monittor in the room, he not realizing that the monitor was on.  It sounds more sick than funny.  The film makes an awkward transition from Ron Pearlman to the main character.  The film then spends about 15 minutes or so showing titillating photos of girls, scantily clad as the internet is searching in a  dating app.  The segment is boring an unless one has never searched the internet before for porn or a dating app.

At its best the script links science with Physics.  It talks about dark Matter - the connection between science and matter.

SUCCUBUS follows a young father going through a marital separation, joins a dating app, and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman…whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.

Coached by his over-sexed friend Eddie, Chris (Brendan Bradley), a new father, joins the StarCrossed dating app “just to see what’s out there,” and eventually comes to the conclusion he should probably rekindle things with his estranged wife. But when he matches with Adra, a seductive young woman with a mysterious past, his curiosity gets the better of him, and he finds himself getting sucked into her world even as his own life falls apart.  As Chris, Eddie, and Adra’s stalker, Dr. Zephyr circle her, Adra’s power grows, finally revealing her harrowing true nature.  The horror does not begin till almost halfway through the running time.

The film contains typical male chauvinist dialogue, especially if Chris and his best friend talk about women.  The female perspective is also strong, with much credit given to Chris’ wives with the argument pouts she brings across. 

SUCCUBUS Premieres September 24, 2024 for Watch-At-Home.  Also Available on Digital (Purchase/Rental) and DVD.

This occasionally tense thriller debuts on digital and VOD across major platforms in North America on September 24th.

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Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 07 September 2024

It was not too far back when women and the LGBTQ+ community complained of underrepresentation in films.  Today, the reverse is true.  The majority of films have a strong female slant or are made with a strong female perspective, many are now made by women.  Three films stand out as trans movies at TIFF.  Two of them are in my Best 10 list: Jacques Audiard's EMILIA PEREZ and CONCLAVE and the other which I have not seen, WILL AND CHUCK.

THE BEST OF TIFF 2024  

In Order..... 

DISCLAIMER

Who would ever imagine that a Primetime series would be the best thing to be seen at this year’s TIFF?  TIFF managed to get the full 7 episodes at the last minute to ‘wow’ audiences with the most exciting and suspenseful psychological thriller that makes compulsive watching from start to end, all 6 hours of it.  Robert (Sacha Baron Cohen), receives lewd photos of his wife (Cate Blanchett) from a man (Kevin Kline) whose son drowned from saving Robert’s son.  The man wants retribution as the drowned son apparently had an affair with Robert’s wife.  Excellent career-best performances all around from Kline, Blanchett and surprisingly Cohen, in dead serious mode.  A few reminders of Carol’s genius as in the drowning scene that is reminiscent of a seaside segment in ROMA. and the way he comfortably switches the drama among the characters so effortlessly.  I don’t normally review series, but the film was so compelling, that I stayed all 6 hours of the running time, skipping my next planned film.  A definitely MUST-SEE!

CONCLAVE

the search for a new Pontiff gives rise to deceit, mystery and inner fighting in the incredibly well-performed drama that comes with a plot full of twists and turns.

ANORA

Drama on the marginalized sex worker, Anora who has to fight for the marriage after her new husband’s parents fly in from Russia to annul the marriage.  Funny and smart, nary a dull moment,

THE SUBSTANCE

A horror feature that doubles as a satire on fitness and glamour with great special effects with surprises around every corner.  Lots of gore and violence and over-the-top performances

EMILIA PEREZ

Jacques Audiard's latest film is a drama, suspense and retribution fable complete with his trademark violence and the need to find a better life.  A drug kingpin trans with disastrous results while doing his/her best to keep things under his control with the help of his/her smart lawyer.

EDEN

Ron Howard’s best film to date is unlike anything he has done.  Eden the the paradise that the Galapagos Islands are supposed to be, is shown in all its harshness and ugliness mostly with new settlers fighting among themselves for the essentials culminating in violence and humanity gone astray.

BERGERS (Shepherds)

A young Quebecois decides to quit city life to become an apprentice shepherd in Provence, France with unexpected dramatic results,  The harsh life of shepherding is contrasted with the stunning beauty of the French Alps in this true story adapted by the protagonist’s novel.

LES BARBARES (Meet the Barbarians)

Julie Delpy proves her filmmaking chops with this really funny and insightful take on the refugee station French style.  The small town of Paimpont (this place actually exists in Britanny) react when the residents reacted to taking in a Syrian instead of a Ukrainian family.

SANTOSH

The awful goings-on of the corrupt Indian police forces are given a female slant in this compelling and gruelling investigation of the rape and killing of an undergoing lower-caste girl in a village

WILLIAM TELL

The titular hero who shot through the apple on his son’s head is given full battle epic treatment old school style in the telling of  a warrior fighting for the freedom of his people

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Written by: Gilbert Seah

Parent Category: Articles

Category: Movie Reviews

Published: 05 September 2024

BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE (USA 2024) *** ½

Directed by Tim Burton

Say the name BEETLEJUICE three times and Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton reprising his role as the titular character) will appear.  In this sequel, the character is summoned not once but a couple of times. The second film of the franchise has finally appeared after many fans of the original BEETLEJUICE have summoned a sequel.

Director Tim Burton is a master craftsman in the gothic macabre comedy, evident again in this movie.  He introduces all the characters at the film’s start and the funny macabre increases as the film progresses, while never disappointing.

The film’s prize is also the special effects, costumes and makeup.  The weird-looking monster like Beetlejuice's right-hand man is Bob with a shrunken headband his cohorts are hilarious to watch.  Another impressive segment is Monica Bellucci as Delores, a ghost who’s been hacked to pieces and is laying dormant in different boxes, putting her body parts together to form a complete whole using staples to connect her body parts together like her (sawed-off torso, legs and arms, face that’s been cut in half.  She is after her ex, who is Beetlejuice who must escape her as she is desperately hunting him down.  Beetlejuice is warned by a wannabe cop (Willem Defoe).  Meanwhile, in the human world, Lydia, a gothic celebrity is trying to win back her daughter (Jenna Ortega) while bearing with her mother (Catherine O’Hara) and her annoying manager/fiance (Justin Theroux).  The two worlds come together in a neat story that brings the family together while solving the Beetlejuice/Delores problem.

BEETLEJUICE BEETLE JUICE succeeds as a worthy sequel, hitting all the right notes, with a fresh new story involving all the old characters, complete with twists and keeping the spirit of the original intact complete with the use of the popular tune DAY-O seen at the beginning of the original.

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