3.4
--
TOWER, Keith Maitland
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
Fifty years to the date of the first mass school shooting
in U.S. history, a searing, sensitive documentary on
the subject – Keith Maitland’s Tower
– screened at Fantasia. (On the same day in 2016, unfortunately
and tastelessly, a Texas law allowing the concealed
carry of weapons on college campuses went into effect).
It was just before noon on August 1, 1966 when a sniper
started firing from the clock tower on Austin’s University
of Texas campus, killing 14 over a 90-minute period
and harming dozens. One of the injured was Claire Wilson,
who was pregnant and walking through the campus square
with the new love of her life when Charles Whitman fired
at her. She laid on the blistering hot concrete, dazed,
for many minutes until a courageous young woman named
Rita approached her, pretended to be dead, and then
talked to Claire to keep her conscious. This is one
of the many inspiring stories of everyday citizens –
students, university employees, police officers – who
were caught in an extraordinary situation. Tower
is as notable for the power of its subject as for its
approach: the film is a blend of rotoscope animation
(with actors assuming the historical roles) and archive
footage. Initially, the two styles seem a bit awkward;
soon, the transitions between real footage and re-creations
become more seamless. The wavy, exaggerated animation
style expertly captures the sensation of unreality that
the many figures – many of which were interviewed years
later for this project – likely felt. With so many strands
to this true-crime tale, it is somewhat miraculous that
Maitland cuts between the many stories without losing
momentum. Best of all, the sniper’s story gets virtually
no screen time: this film is all about the witnesses
and their coming to terms with trauma and terror.
3.1
--
EMBERS, Claire Carré
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
A man (Jason Ritter) wakes up next to a woman (Iva Gocheva)
who he doesn’t remember. She doesn’t know him either;
meanwhile, neither can recall their own names or what
has happened that brought them to this point. Their
love story is one of the most fascinating in recent
screen memory. Claire Carré’s thought-provoking sci-fi
drama Embers
takes place in the near future, wherein an unspecified
worldwide epidemic has diminished our ability to form
lasting memories. Carré and co-writer Charles Spano
are less interested in making these short-term memories
crutches for the plot. Rather, they explore how survivors
navigate a civilization where time and memory is futile.
One intriguing theme is the dissolution of culture:
music and photographs (never mind film) seem like ancient
artifacts. The ideas here are ambitious, even if not
all of the various stories presented here are as compelling
or as fleshed-out as they could be. Another tale focuses
on Miranda (Greta Fernández), a young woman living in
a bunker whose memories are still intact and her mind
untarnished, although she yearns for human connection.
Meanwhile, a wandering orphan (Silvan Friedman) finds
a home with a teacher (Tucker Smallwood) who is trying
to keep his memory alive through his own writing. Carré
focuses more on the personal human circumstances to
this punishing new world, wisely letting backstory fade
into ambiguity. Decrepit production design, with many
maze-like settings disorienting the characters even
further, aptly mirrors how lost these souls are. While
the performances are all moving, some characters, like
Smallwood’s academic and Karl Glusman’s angry young
man, feel too slightly developed.
3.4
--
OPERATION AVALANCHE, Matt
Johnson
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
Operation
Avalanche is a giant leap for rising Canadian filmmaker
Matt Johnson. Just as in his 2013 breakthrough The
Dirties, Johnson plays 'Matt Johnson' while co-star
Owen Williams plays 'Owen Williams.' Here, the two are
technicians for the CIA, circa the late 1960s, hoping
to go undercover at NASA as a documentary film crew,
thinking they can help spot a KGB mole hiding within
that agency. Soon, Owen and Matt find out that the U.S.
won’t be able to put a man on the moon by the decade’s
end – betraying President Kennedy’s promise. So, they
hatch a plan to film a fake moon landing. Borrowing
from one of American history’s most intriguing conspiracy
theories while earnestly adopting the codes of a previous
time, Johnson has fun with thematic ideas about how
films manipulate truth. Operation Avalanche’s
aesthetic – fuzzy, yellow-tinted Kodachrome stock –
is an uncanny replication of the period’s verité style.
The attention to these Space Race-era details, such
as the editing and camera equipment with which the characters
fiddle around, is inspiring in its own retro-chic way.
Johnson is not always convincing as an actor and his
relationship with the more contemplative Williams could
have been more dynamic, but his unabashed enthusiasm
throttles the film’s comedic energy. A one-shot car
chase near the end exhilarates, while it doesn’t hit
you until the film’s end just how much was shot at NASA
– and this was done, also incognito, by the filmmakers.
(One imagines Kennedy’s quote, seen in archival footage,
of doing challenges like going to the moon “not because
they are easy, but because they are hard” resonates
with the filmmakers). Operation Avalanche is
this year’s slyest trick in meta-filmmaking; but even
without the self-reflexivity, it’s a blast of a caper
thriller.
1.9 --
LET ME MAKE YOU A MARTYR, Corey
Asrat & John Swab
[reviewed by
Nancy Snipper]
Despite the fact that this drab, bloody thriller stars
the remarkable and barely identifiable Marilyn Manson
as Drew Glass – the main dude in this sour film – the
plot labours and the theme has a limited niche for audience
appeal: the characters comprise a collective of depressing
degenerates: incest perpetrators, a dope dealing dude
and his trailer park buyers, a hit man, a crime boss
whose biggest sin is child abuse. And then there’s an
innocent girl seized and hidden away from the crowd.
Retribution results in a lot of the red stuff being
spilled, yet the violence is underscored with a melodramatic
love element. Drew Glass is part of this fearless family,
but as things strain, he gets even more tangled up in
his rotten roots and town folks don’t exactly sympathize.
As a first-time film for the co-directors, (Swab also
wrote the script), the gritty reality captured by clever
camera close-ups mixed with perfect range shots is effective.
The tone is fittingly intriguing and dark. The acting
is realistic. The film succeeds in creating a heavy
present that foreshadows a dark future that even questions
the notion of life after death. Oklahoma – where the
film is shot – becomes a breeding ground for lost and
dangerous souls. If you think you are disturbed, watch
this movie; but beware: if you whole-heartedly relate
to the goings-on, you may find yourself or your doppelganger
in the next Quentin Tarantino film.
1.5 --
BED OF DEAD, Jeff Maher
[reviewed by
Nancy Snipper]
A sex den is visited by two couples. They book the
Emperor Room whose bed’s head board sports an ancient
wooden medieval cult engraving. As you can guess, the
couples end up in a gory mess of facing their past sins.
Some die. A dead beat detective comes to the rescue,
but not even he can save this film from horror film
kitsch whose story surely was conceived in a bed by
the writer, Cody Calahan; perhaps he was snoozing –
having some cliché nightmare that he decided to pursue
as a film. Black Fawn Films responsible for this movie
unfortunately makes a lot of low-budget, made-in-Canada
horror films. But fans of Black Fawn like this kind
of no-brainer let’s get scared flick, Antisocial,
The Drownsman and Bite – also made by this
company – is cut from the same “Bed-of-the-+ Dead” cloth.
2.3
--
WOMEN WHO KILL, Ingrid
Jungermann
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
A low-key comedy with high stakes, Women
Who Kill is more remarkable for the slyness of the
humor than for striking an able balance between suspense
and dry comedy. The debut from writer/director Ingrid
Jungermann tells the story of two true crime podcasters,
Morgan (Jungermann) and Jean (Ann Carr), whose show
is a success even though their relationship fell through.
When Morgan meets a new volunteer at the local co-op,
Simone (Sheila Vand, from A Girl Walks Home Alone
at Night), she falls for the mysterious new arrival
in Park Slope. However, there are hints that Simone
may not be whom she says – and she may potentially be
a murderer. With a screenplay that is almost devoid
of male characters, Jungermann captures the sharp wit
of the neighbourhood’s lesbian community. (One expects
a local Brooklyn screening would prompt more engagement
and laughter than at Fantasia.) Meanwhile, the film’s
ensemble, including Shannon Patricia O’Neill’s deadpan
best friend Alex, is good company. But Jungermann’s
eye for some trippy nightmare sequences and good ear
for the local dialect isn’t enough. Her lead performance
is disaffected and sometimes aloof, as if the actor
was too busy worrying about the work behind the camera
to commit to her character. Meanwhile, the character
dynamics are often more interesting than the plotting:
when Women Who Kill turns into a more routine
mystery in the final third, the results are oddly uninvolving.
Featuring Annette O’Toole in a scene-stealing role as
a (locked up) serial killer.
3.0
--
DEMON, Marcin Wrona
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
The suicide of Polish filmmaker Marcin Wrona in September
2015 robbed the world of a stellar talent. It occurred
just a week after his final film, Demon,
premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. Considering
the film’s subject matter – a modern retelling of the
Jewish folk tale of the Dybbuk, a demonic spirit of
a dead person that clings to the living – Wrona’s passing
adds an uneasy layer to an already macabre thriller.
Here, the spirit is of a Holocaust victim from a mostly
deserted Polish village, who returns to possess the
body of Piotr (Itay Tiran), a British man arriving in
the countryside to get married. The possession reaches
frightening heights during his wedding day. Most of
the guests consider the groom’s weird behaviour the
result of too much vodka, but bride Zaneta (Agnieszka
Zulewska) is properly freaked out by her new husband’s
unraveling. Wrona lets the dread simmer from early scenes,
although Demon later shifts between possession
horror and broad comedy, as the film cuts between the
groom’s frantic dissolution and the even more frantic
antics of a drunken wedding crowd. The comic relief
may have been sharper (and relieving) if Piotr’s hallucinations
and spasms been more frightening. Regardless, the late
filmmaker does paint some memorable images of the arid,
foggy countryside, hinting at the ghosts of the past
lying in mass graves beneath the ground. Meanwhile,
Tiran’s descent into madness is an engrossing feat of
acting – especially when one realizes how much of the
action accumulates within single takes.
2.8
--
SOME FREAKS, Ian MacAllister
McDonald
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
High-school senior Jill (Lily Mae Harrington) should
be one of the popular girls. She has a winning personality,
a stirring singing voice and a sly sense of humour.
However, as a full-figured woman, she is more often
the butt of the joke than the person telling one. After
graduation, she leaves Rhode Island for sunnier climes
and dedicates herself to dieting, yearning to transform
her image as she steps into college. This compelling
journey of teenage coming-of-age is, sadly, not the
focus of the debut from Ian MacAllister McDonald, but
the film’s B-plot. Instead, the protagonist is Matt
(Thomas Mann, from Me
and Earl and the Dying Girl), an introvert who wears
an eye patch and is often harassed by classmates. He
soon falls for Jill, who he feels is the only other
'freak' at the high school that understands him. Much
of the drama hinges on their romantic relationship,
but our investment in this pairing is lopsided toward
her. That could be due to Harrington’s powerful performance,
one that often unflinchingly observes moments of teenage
insecurity. Or, it could be because we frequently see
stories of somewhat handsome, socially anxious loners,
and so rarely witness portraits of plus-sized women
on the big screen. Jill cannot help but be the drama’s
central drawing power; McDonald’s screenplay loses some
of its punch whenever it strays from its female lead.
Still, the newcomer has some nice directorial choices
up his sleeve, from the intimacy of handheld cameras
to using excess off-screen sound in school scenes, which
emphasize how characters often pushed toward the margins
are the ones now in focus. Ely Henry and Marin Ireland
offer potent comic relief and supporting work as Matt’s
friend and older sister, respectively.
2.9 --
SHELLEY, Ali Abbasi
[reviewed by
Nancy Snipper]
Becoming sick during pregnancy is an unpleasant reality
for many expectant moms, but when Hungarian visitor
Elena consents to be a surrogate mother for the lovely
couple she lives with in the country, things begin to
turn eerie and abnormally unwell for Elena. In fact,
the surrogate event was not the initial reason for her
presence at the farm that falls short of her comfort
radar. True, there is no electricity on this farm where
she had willingly offered her services as a helper.
But then, as things develop, she consents to be a surrogate
for the woman who has just lost her baby after carrying
for 24-weeks. She and Elena become close. The couple
is gentle – quietly committed to a life of simplicity,
integrity and conscience; they ‘re vegans and work with
the earth using their hands. It is a bit odd for Elena,
but this is no reason for Elena to lose her hair, incessantly
scratch her skin, and loathe bath water on her back.
This baby she carries becomes her demon in the womb;
she becomes zombie-like. The couple’s relationship begins
to falter. Without spoiling what ensues, let’s just
say that knitting paraphernalia can be a sad send-off
for an unwanted, unborn baby. A take-off perhaps on
the film, Rosemary’s
Baby, or a statement on mother/child love and the
extent a mother will go to protect a much adored baby
– this Danish film dares to display a not so rosy glow
on motherhood. The director knows how to dodge clichés
and create credible, if not slow suspense. The ending
is ambiguous and somewhat disappointing. Though the
languid lake scenery is lovely, the camera is doggedly
dutiful on several scary close-ups.
3.5 --
ALOYS, Tobias
Nölle
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
An existential, emotionally textured puzzler from Swiss
filmmaker Tobias Nölle, Aloys
is a film that begs to be viewed more than once. The
title refers to Aloys Adorn (Georg Friedrich, superb),
a private investigator mourning the death of his father.
Day and night, he roams around an empty urban space,
filming and listening into the private lives of ordinary
people, which he then watches on a small TV in a beige,
run-down apartment. After a night of heavy drinking,
Aloys awakens to find several of his tapes stolen, which
soon disrupts his adventures in solitude. He ends up
chatting over-the-phone with Vera (Tilde von Overbeck),
the stranger who stole his tapes and who wants to help
remove him from an insular existence. From here, Nölle’s
drama erupts with imagination, acquainting us with the
fantasy spaces both Aloys and Vera desire. There are
various moments in the film’s second half when the barrier
between the realms of reality and dream dissolve, yet
this blending manages to be both poignant and playful.
(One of Vera’s lines, “Everything that moves us is in
our head,” speaks to the film’s trippy scene construction
and the emotional power of these personal journeys).
The filmmaker’s precision of vision is startling: we
yearn to explore the expansiveness of the character’s
inner world, as we drift from rooms of solitary confinement
to the green, limitless woods, and many other places
in-between. Imagine the imagination and the introverted
precocity of Charlie Kaufman’s mind-benders, although
with a warmer, more wondrous outlook. The offbeat pace
and formal leaps could challenge some, but Aloys is
a fascinating exploration on depression and dreams that
is well worth getting lost in.
1.2 --
THE UNSEEN, Geoff
Redknap
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
You have to wait until the end to see what becomes unseen
in this pseudo-suspense film. A take-off of the classic
The
Invisible Man -- and a bad poor one at that -- this
slow-moving movie has some good acting, but the plot
lacks that need-to-cover- your-eyes factor. The protagonist,
Bob Langmore, is a depressed mill worker; no wonder:
his body is literally being chipped away at. There's
a huge cavity in his stomach, and his face has red splotches.
He has inherited the same mysterious disease that his
father had. His daughter, Eva, is unaware of his affliction,
but after years of being deprived of his 'presence'
at home -- Bob left when the disease began to carve
out his body -- she gets to reunite with him; he is
elated to be back with her, but when it's really too
late for kisses and hugs. The special Effects are sparse,
and laughable. It falls into the spoof genre during
the last 20minutes. Still, Aden Young as Bob deserves
to be seen; he's a brooding actor with an easy-on-your-eyes
body (when it's there).
2.9
--
THE LURE, Agnieszka
Smoczynska
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
More compelling as a genre hybrid than a film of narrative
cohesion, the debut from Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska
is, truly, unlike anything one has ever seen. Two mermaid
sisters, Silver (Marta Mazurek) and Golden (Michalina
Olszanska), emerge from the murky waters outside of
Warsaw and end up as the breakthrough stars at a glitzy
Warsaw nightclub. Their entrancing voices (and occasional
toplessness) draw in a big crowd while also catching
the eye of band member Mietek (Jakub Gierszal). He falls
in love with Silver, who quickly finds comfort assuming
a more a human form. Golden, on the other hand, cannot
quite repress the need to feast on human flesh. Smoczynska’s
vision is full of dreamy moments, whether in the aqua-lit
club the camera explores from various angles or the
fantastical romantic duets between Silver and Mietek.
The filmmaker is often up for a challenge, skillfully
moving around vast spaces within a single take and finding
offbeat spots for song-and-dance. (One hyperactive sequence
at a department store is pure fizzy kitsch). The Lure
gracefully swims through an absurd number of genres
– musical, fairy tale, body horror, sex comedy – although
the plot eventually matters less than seeing what kind
of surreal set-piece Smoczynska can think of next. Few
of the characters resonate too deeply, although the
charm of its female protagonists, both capable singers
and captivating objects of desire, buoys our interest.
3.5
--
THE THRONE, Lee Jun-ik
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
This Korean masterpiece is a riveting work of superb
cinematic grace and accuracy as it brings to the screen
a shameful period of royal history between King Yeongjo
and his son Sado. The year is 1762, and Sado is not
the son Yeongio can control and groom for faultless
throne etiquette, including ritual, dress and cruelty.
Sado eventually goes mad -- so deprived is he for love
from his father and cold-hearted wife. Only his son
loves him, but he can't save his misbegotten father.
Accused of treason, the king inflicts a horrid cruelty,
sealing Sado's fate literally and physically. Winner
of so many awards, this unforgettable film vividly and
elegantly brings us into a world where father and son
acrimony is indelibly embedded during this sorry period
that lasted far too long. Song Kang-ho as the King,
and Yoo Ah-in are awesome actors whose dedication to
their roles must have affected them even after the filming
came to its end. This film was also screened at the
New York Film Festival.
3.1
--
HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE, Taika
Waititi
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
Few onscreen creations this year will perk one up with
as much delight as Ricky Baker, the tubby, Haiku-quoting
Kiwi foster child from Hunt
for the Wilderpeople. Portrayed by Julian Dennison
with winning energy, we first see the boy emerge from
a police car wearing a jacket that says “All Eyes on
Me.” That soon proves to be true. His foil, Hector (a
cantankerous Sam Neill), provides a prickly exterior.
(He first appears with a giant pig on his back.) Hector
is one half of a new foster family for Ricky. However,
the sudden death of the matriarch (Rima Te Wiata), which
ensures Ricky will soon go back into state custody,
forces the boy to retreat into the bush and try to survive
on his own. Hector soon joins, giving armed protection
and the ability to catch eel without effort, and slowly
the two outcasts begin to find solace in each other.
The often-uproarious comedy, directed by Taika Waititi
of What We Do in the Shadows fame, finds much
room for visual humour, such as a montage of Ricky’s
misdemeanors and a few panorama shots that show how
the characters keep walking in circles. The growing
familial bond between Hector and Ricky is a predictable
arc, but Waititi’s ping-pong dialogue (adapted from
a book by Barry Crump) adds layers to the characters
while building toward some big laughs. The adventure
soon progresses into a more generic action film, with
local police trying (and routinely failing) to capture
Hector and Ricky. The invincibility of the two titular
'wilderpeople' becomes increasingly contrived, although
Dennison and Neill remain good company throughout. Co-starring
scene-stealers Rachel House and Waititi regular Rhys
Darby.
3.1
--
AS THE GODS WILL, Takashi
Miike
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Outrageously wild – even sickening, this blood-filled
horror film spills the red stuff in ghastly ways in
a classroom full of unlucky students. A gut-gory game
is in full swing. Called Red Light, Green Light, and
led by a nightmarish daruma doll, the ghoulish game
puts the doll, which looks like the worst Halloween
red-soaked pumpkin head, in control of the class. If
it sees someone move, it makes the poor sod’s head explode.
Of course, the bloodbath causes panic. No one survives,
except Shun – a teen obsessed with bloody video games.
His clever skills have him winning the game. But a winner
he isn’t, for what ensues involves aberrant nursery
rhymes, weird and scary kokeshi dolls and a goon whose
psychopathic ways may just end the chaos. The visual
effects are so real. If red is your favourite colour,
you’ll love Miike’s way of taking nostalgic playthings
from childhood and morphing the stuff into scarlet carnage.
Based on a manga, with the same title of this death
match movie, fantasy and formidable real fears mix in
this nail-biting epic of surreal dimensions. A gritty
horror flick of classically playthings slick style.
2.2
--
BEWARE THE SLENDERMAN, Irene
Taylor Brodsky
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
The true story behind Beware
the Slenderman is horrifying and deeply unsettling;
the film, less so. In May 2014, two 12-year-old girls,
Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, were charged with stabbing
one of their friends 19 times in the woods of rural
Wisconsin. (Fortunately, the victim survived.) The pre-teens’
defense: a folkloric figure called the Slenderman would
harm them and their families if they did not commit
the brutal crime. The Slenderman, an ominous ghoul with
a thin black suit, tentacles protruding from its back
and no face, was a popular figure on the Internet. Pre-teens
broadcasted possible sightings of the boogeyman on YouTube
and fan art postings spread his likeness through the
Web. The new documentary from Irene Taylor Brodsky has
some chilling implications about the role the Internet
plays as a belief system, and its consequences for easily
impressionable children. But, most of the frightening
material – especially Geyser and Weier’s cold-blooded
testimony for police – is covered in the doc’s first
third. Once much of the mystery is untangled, there
isn’t much of a place to go, except to the courts. There
is a good hour worth of material for this shocking true-crime
thriller, although Beware the Slenderman lasts
for 118 minutes – and then leaves us hanging. There
are some moving interviews with the parents of the accused,
as they try to recall what may have prompted their daughters’
murderous behaviour. These scenes have an initial devastating
power, although these interviews lose their force the
longer the film goes.
3.1
--
BEWARE THE SLENDERMAN, Irene
Taylor
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In 2009, the birth of the Slenderman occurred, created
by Eric Knudsen (a.k.a Victor Surge). It became Creepy
Pasta -- a horror-filled site phenomenon. Slenderman
grows tentacles of appendages and convinces children
he can both protect and control them. He is their guide
and comforter. In 2014, two deranged girls -- Morgan
Geyser and Anissa Weier -- decide to stab their best
friend, Bella. Luckily, she survives her 19 gashes.
This scary documentary examines both parents of the
killers and the mental and emotional health of the two
girls. Slenderman is at fault here -- according to the
pair of lonely emotionally-depraved psychotic girls:
He instructed them to do it. Interestingly, the parents
of both seemed deranged as well. In fact, Morgan's father
suffers from schizophrenia -- the illness Morgan is
eventually diagnosed with.
3.2 --
PSYCO RAMAN, Anurag
Kashyap
[reviewed by
Nancy Snipper]
The lens puts the viewer smack in the middle of Mumbai’s
slums and the deprived dwellers trying to survive off
the frequently scummy backs of others. One such diabolically
depraved night crawler is the murderous Raman whose
psychotic character claims its own philosophical bent;
plus his twisted plans prove more clever than Raghav,
the crooked cop who’s trying to capture him. It turns
out the drug-hooked cop has his own nemesis to deal
with, and he meets it in Raman who believes his own
alter-ego exists him the cop. It turns out these two
guys have more in common than one could conjure up in
a Mumbai nightmare. The thriller is highly original.
Both actors are so convincing and their characters so
devious, it makes you wonder if anyone can serve as
a patsy for the perpetrator’s wrong-doing.
2.5
--
FOR THE LOVE OF SPOCK, Adam
Nimoy
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
Spock, the stoic and repressed intellectual aboard the
Starship Enterprise on the original Star
Trek, has endured through the generations. Much
of that has to do with the calm and quiet courage of
the actor who first donned the pointy ears: Leonard
Nimoy. Nimoy died in 2015, just a few months into the
production of For the Love of Spock, a lovingly
rendered piece of fan service that benefits from small,
personal touches. The closeness we get to Nimoy comes
from the doc’s director, the sci-fi icon’s son Adam.
The film attains the deepest insights when chronicling
the relationship between father and son. Adam is overjoyed
visiting the set of the NBC series that made his dad
a household name. Soon, a weekly family activity was
sitting around the kitchen table, stuffing envelopes
to reply to truckloads of fan mail. Their bond soon
became strained, but Adam hesitates to open up about
this complicated relationship. One understands the pressure
to bring up the bitter past – especially shortly after
the death of a man almost universally revered by fan
communities – but Adam’s reluctance to touch on these
personal matters becomes a missed opportunity. Still,
the 112-minute doc glides along gracefully, mostly due
to choice clips and the aid of Star Trek stars
(from the original series and J.J. Abrams’ newer reboot)
that recall their memories of working alongside Nimoy.
Adam hunts for the reason why Spock has resonated, and
he gets a similar answer each time: fans appreciated
the character’s wisdom, calm and outsider status. One
wishes the filmmaker had investigated less into why
Spock remains an icon, which is established early on,
and done more to clarify a side of Nimoy the camera
didn’t capture. Now, that would be a place where no
man has gone before.
3.8 --
HEART ATTACK, Hawapol
Thamrongrattanarit
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Poor Yoon. He's a graphic artist who is a workaholic.
He can't turn down freelance work, but he's paying the
price, and soon things erupt. He isn't married, but
he does fancy his agent, Je who gets a lot of work for
him and also guides and pressures him. To meet deadlines,
Yoon stays up several nights, depriving himself of sleep.
Soon his body revolts; he gets a nasty rash that spreads
over his body. Against his inclination to prioritize
work over health matters, he relents and goes to a clinic
whereupon develops a crush on his dutiful Doctor Imm.
She befriends him while advising him to stop working,
or at least cut down, go to the beach and get proper
sleep. Will he obey her or will he keep on eating shrimp
(he's allergic to it), deprive himself of sleep and
continue on his own regime of obsessive compulsive love
of work? It seems a heart attack can happen when mind,
body and heart are being denied their nourishing needs.
This film is adorably fetching and original in plot.
Despite Yoon's physical and emotional suffering, we
can't help but be amused. His inner dialogue -- narrated
out loud in voice-over -- covers the gamut of frustrations
and feelings about what he should do, what he dare not
do, but what he really wants to do, but can't; he's
too shy. Excessively humorous and highly human, this
comedic gem rightfully won Thailand's National Film
Association Awards (Best Director, Best Screenplay,
Best Editing) and three Official Selection best film
nominations at three different Asian film festivals.
2.7
--
CREATURE DESIGNERS: THE FRANKENSTEIN COMPLEX,
Gilles Penso and Alexandre
Poncet
[reviewed
by Jordan Adler]
The new documentary from journalists Gilles Penso and
Alexandre Poncet seems tailor-made for Fantasia’s opening
weekend. An exploration of the heyday of special creature
make-up effects and the men who transformed our expectations
of what movie monsters could be, Creature
Designers: The Frankenstein Complex drew instant
applause from a sell-out crowd. (It helped that director
Guillermo del Toro, a prominent fixture in the doc,
was present to receive the Cheval Noir award). The doc’s
biggest gain is its wealth of voices, from Oscar-winning
effects supervisor Phil Tippett and makeup artist Rick
Baker, to a barrage of craftsmen whose names aren’t
always recognizable, even if their creations – in movies
like The Abyss, Terminator 2 and Starship
Troopers – are. At its most fascinating, Creature
Designers foregrounds the creative process, as we
watch these artists work in a time-lapse rendering.
There is also power to the purists, as the various craftsmen
talk about the shift from practical effects toward computer
wizardry. It is disheartening that only one woman is
interviewed and she receives roughly 30 seconds of screen
time. Aside from the gender imbalance, Penso and Poncet’s
film may be too comprehensive. A long middle section,
a chronology of creature effects magic from the Universal
monster movies to the CGI-friendly Jurassic Park,
loses momentum. The filmmakers rarely use clips from
the titles mentioned; instead, we are left with scene
descriptions and glimpses of rotating model sculptures.
These dazzling creations deserve more screen time. As
one of the interview subject's says, a monster without
emotion doesn’t work. The same goes for a talking head-reliant
documentary. The sheer enthusiasm and cinematic reverence
from the participants trumps the muddled pacing.
3.4
--
CONSPIRACY OF FAITH, Hans
Petter Moland
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
A message sent in a bottle has been traced back to an
eight years. This mysterious occurrence does not go
unnoticed; the bottle ends up on the desk of a neglected
cold-case investigation unit in a town in Denmark. A
pair of determined cops --one a religious Arab, the
other a Danish atheist discovers that children went
missing some time and two are missing right now -- kidnapped
in broad daylight. Once they figure out who wrote the
message in the bottle, events turn into a huge nail-biting
trip into catching the kidnapper who happens to be a
serial killer posing as a gentle Jehovah priest. The
gorgeous meadow-filled flowers and quiet landscapes
contrast beautifully to the dark events that follow.
Terrific actors and uncontrived tension along with two
well-painted cop characters create make for great cinema
This thriller is the third in a series of films adapted
for the screen of the Danish “Department Q” crime novels.
2.4
--
THE PRIESTS, Jang
Jae-Hyun
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Johann and Gertrude, a couple in their golden years,
take their two grandkids, Lisa and Lukas on their car
trip with them from Austria to the North Cape in Norway.
It's supposed to be a tourist region. Lisa, the director,
happens to be filming this adventure that is devoid
of any excitement for the travelers, as such, proves
to be amusing for us, because of its mundanity. It reveals
more hotels, car parks, bickering and uneventful scenes
than one could imagine. And to think this is how they
marked their 47th anniversary! We laugh though because
the tiny disagreements they have are entirely typical
and all too familiar -- no matter the stage and state
of your marriage.
2.5
--
A BRIDE FOR RIP VAN WINKLE, Shunji
Iwai
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Like the famous character, Rip Van Winkle, shy and lost
Nanami has been sleep walking through life. She is a
struggling with her own identity and as a part-time
high-school teacher about to get fired, she gets engaged
to a man she met through social media. With the wedding
fast approaching, and with no relatives except for her
divorced parents, she needs to find guests to fill out
the bride's side of the family. Enter Amuro, a kind
of actor/ fix-it man who arranges to hire actors to
play her family members at the wedding. Once married,
Nanami gives up teaching and settles into the role of
a housewife. Her contented life is subverted when she
discovers an earring in her apartment that doesn't belong
to her. She engages Amuro to get to the truth of things.
But it would seem, all is not really as it appears.
After a frightening meeting with a man who claims he
knows the total story, Nanami finds herself single again,
and without money. Once again, Amuro, shows up to come
to install her in a mansion to work as a maid -- or
so she thinks, but that job is not really why she is
there. Never has one witnessed such a bizarre story
with ambiguity that leaves one rethinking the plot when
the ending is reached. This Japanese film is a deceptively
complex and multilayered film. Despite it near three
hours, the film's weird characters and plot pull you
in as you try to figure out what the game is. The cast
is superb.
