WHO’S AFRAID OF NATHAN LAW? (2023)

The answer to the title question is the government of China. They fear the young man and his friends as if he were the boogeyman. There is a very good chance that if the Chinese could remove him and other pro-democracy protesters with out it causing an uproar, they would do so in an instant. 

This is the story of Law and his fellow protesters who decided to fight the Chinese draconian rule of Hong Kong.  They didn't want to live in a city where dictators ruled with an iron hand.

This is one of the best docs I've seen on the uprising in Hong Kong. While there have been many others, some being biographies of people involved, some filled with on the ground footage, this is the first one that I've run across that has managed to be both in the moment and a step back. Its a film that puts us in the fight and gives us a bit of context so that we can understand what happened and what is happening and why. 

This film is so good that even if you've seen other films on the Hong Kong Uprising you need to see this one.

Recommended.

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2024)

Jim Broadbent plays a retired bar owner who is living quietly with his wife. He gets a note from Queenie, a former employee who is dying. Uncertain of what to do he writes a letter, but instead of sending decides to walk across England in the hope of saving her. This kicks up unresolved thoughts between himself and his wife, forces him to deal with the death of his sone and touch the lives of people he meets along the way.

Based on a novel that’s based on a radio play, THE UNLIKELY PILGRAMAGE is very much a contrived film. You will have a reasonably good idea of how some of it will play out…. And yet Jim Broadbent and the cast will kick your ass. Broadbent proves, yet again he is one of the best actors ever.

I was left a weeping mess at the end. The bittersweet emotion expressed was spot on. I could feel it running off the screen and on to the floor. Additionally what happens over the course of  the wasn’t wholly what I expected,  the ending isn’t as telegraphed as I thought with the result I was surprised and delighted.

I loved this film. It’s the sort of small gem that I set up Unseen Films to talk about. It’s a deeply emotional film that really makes you feel and forces you to get in touch with your soul instead of going gee whiz thanks to flashy presentation.

Highly recommended.

Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Fields (2023) opens Friday

A Look at the life of Patricia Field, the costume designer, stylist and shop owner best known for her work on SEX IN THE CITY.

Seemingly made to tie into the recently released autobiography of Field, the film is largely a look at Field working on several TV series, working on her book and visiting with friends. It's a film that is very much in the now. 

That the film is really is mostly focused on the now is a large wound in the film. While we see snippets of the past and there is discussions of her family and long lost friends, most of what we see is Field working on her present projects. She does not look back and doesn't make any effort to link the present to the past, Field is simply moving ahead. After a while the fact that neither Field nor the filmmakers don't look back, nor seek to give context or explain what we do see and hear beyond talking about SEX AND THE CITY makes this film kind of dull. 

Worse it all remains unordered. All sorts of people are mentioned but unless they appear there is zero attempt to explain who they are. Her family life is only fleetingly mentioned. Anyone who is dead or out of her life are phantoms. More damning there is no order to her past its all thrown together into a lump. It's like sitting talking to someone as they throw random tales from their life at you without rhyme or reason. Without an order or a context there is no reason to see this story other than to listen to people say how wonderful she is.

While not really a bad film, Field is a sweet woman, but I have no idea why we are being told this story.

For friends of Patricia Field only

Fantastic Fest 2024 runs 9/19-26

The ever wonderful Fantastic Fest starts this week.

The festival shows some of the best genre films from across the globe and it acts as the launching point of many of the biggest horror and science Fiction films of the year. For years it was a fest I always wanted to cover but never could because it bumped up to the New York Film Fest.  Now however there is an ability to cover remotely so I’m all over it.

As it stands now we’ve previously covered 10 films and I’m waiting for some films to come in. I’m planning on seeing as much as a can- more so since the fest is the week before the NYFF.

If you want to know my thoughts on what we’ve covered below.

BABADOOK
BABY ASSASSINS NICE DAYS
THE FALL
PARVULOS
RESPATI
SHE LOVED BLOSSOMS MORE
SPERMAGEDDON
STEPPENWOLF
UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE
FACES
U ARE THE UNIVERSE
PLANET B
MALDOROR
RAZE

For me more information on the fest go here.

And for our thoughts on the films we see- keep reading

Cheat (2024)

A woman begins an affair to fill the hole in her marriage. However she made a bad choice and soon finds herself in danger and fighting for her life.

This is a good little thriller  that holds our interest by taking a few extra twists and turns with things. I mention this because erotic thrillers of this sort  have been done to death over the years and its nice when you get one where  a twist are two are not anything that you can see coming. Sure you’ll see some of this coming way ahead of the  characters but at the same time you probably won’t see them all.

To be honest while I like these sort of thrillers when they are done right, I don’t often a lot to say about them because I tend to use them as palate cleanse after I’ve been watching weightier stuff. In the current  case this was the cleanse after Venice and TIFF.

I had a good time with CHEAT and if you like these small scale thrillers with a nasty edge, I recommend you take a look,

UNTOLD: SIGN STEALER (2024)

Latest entry in the Netflix UNTOLD series. This time it focuses on Conner Stallions who was the focus point of the Michigan sign stealing scandal. It seems that the ever top of the heap THE Ohio University gave the NCAA all the information to get Stallions pitched....

...but as the film makes clear while there are some questions as to what exactly happened, Stallions was so obsessive that he had worked out a lot of the signs on his own. Additional Coach Harbaugh revitalized the team and even when both Stallions and Harbaugh were gone, the Michigan team still won.

One of the really good UNTOLD films, it wonderfully brings us into a story and shows us a bunch of things we didn't realize we didn't know. Yea some of what Stallions did was hinky, but it wasn't as bad as the NCAA made out.

I had a good time.

Recommended.

Brief Thoughts on Your Tomorrow (2024) Toronto 2024

Portrait of Ontario Place, which is a public space  that looks like an amusement park. When it was created it was a happening place where everyone went to get away. Over time people drifted away. The film charts the space over 100 days as an effort is made to redevelop the property as a private spa and water park.

This is a good observational doc that is probably going to play best for those who know of the Ontario Place going in. I say this because the film is largely observational so we are mostly left to get the context of the park from the bits we pick up.  As some one who knew nothing going in I enjoyed the film on some levels, but because I am not from Ontario I never could grasp the larger context of the place or what was happening. Everything remained isolated.

Worth a look for those interested.

Zombie Wedding (2023)

A New Jersey couple decide to marry despite it being the zombie apocalypse and he is a zombie and she is a human. Of course the tabolids are there and we see everything through the eyes of a film crew from the Weekly World News.

This low brow comedy is either like the humor that you enjoy or you its something that is going to make you crazy. It's the sort of thing that you you know where the jokes are going to land. That isn't always a bad thing but after a while I kind wished it tried to be a little more clever instead of repeating similar jokes about the differences between zombies and humans.

What saves the film is the cast  who play it more or less straight and sell it to the point that you are willing to go with it even though the film isn't doing anything new. Hell, anything that Kevin Chamberlain can never be all bad.

Though thinking about it, I think I would have liked the film more if it was played straighter and less like a live action cartoon.

¡CASA BONITA MI AMOR! (2024)

This is the audience award winner for best documentary at Tribeca. While I would be lying if I said I agreed, I do think it's a really good film.

The film is the story of how Matt Stone and Trey Parker took some of the money they made with South Park and Book of Mormon and used it to buy their favorite childhood restaurant Casa Bonita, which is like a Mexican themed indoor theme park masquerading as a place to dine. They thought it would take around six million to buy it and fix it. They are now well over 40 million in the hole and it's still not full open.

This is a wild ride that goes in unexpected places and shows us unexpected things (They use the theme to the Alain Delon Zorro film as a music cue for reasons that elude me even if it delights me). Its a film that will make your mouth hang open as you try to figure out why. It's a film that will make you gasp at the insanity and smile at the delight Matt and Trey find in the whole thing. 

While I want to tell you everything that happens- I won't, because like the actual Casa Bonita, you just need to see it for yourself.

Recommended

WINNER (2024)

The story of Reality Winner a former soldier and NSA translator who tossed into jail after leaking a report that the Russians interfered with the 2016 election.

This is a nicely entertaining little film. It's a film that tells gives us Winner's story in form that isn't particularly taxing. No matter what happens there is always a humorous edge to the proceedings.

I think how you are react to the film will depend upon how you feel about the film's humor. I mention this because having seen several other versions of Winner's story which were very serious about the events, I found the light touch a bit at odds with the story. It's not bad but it takes a bit of the edge off  the tale.

Don't get me wrong, this is a really entertaining movie, it just doesn't have the weight it probably should have.

ANYWHERE ANYTIME(2024) Toronto 2024

Illegal immigrant  loses his job working in a market. He takes a job working as a bicycle delivery person using the identity of a friend. His bike gets stolen and he has to scramble.

Driven by one of the best scores I’ve heard this year, it seems to be primarily jazz but it mixes in other styles, this little drama was not one I was certain I was going to like. I’ve seen three other seeming variations on the BICYCLE THIEVES in the last few months and another one was not on my list of things I wanted to see.  Fortunately like two of the three earlier versions this film stakes its place as its own wonderous thing.  Helped not only by the score but a great cast and most importantly a sense of life and of place ANYTIME moves at it’s own pace and pulls us in.  Sure we have seen similar tales before, but director Milad Tangshir​ very forcefully makes the case that we haven’t seen this tale with these people and we had better sit up and pay attention.

This film is a stunner. One of the best at TIFF.

Highly recommended when it plays near you.

So Surreal:Behind the Masks (2024) Toronto 2024

One of the best docs playing at TIFF this year, SO SURREAL: BEHIND THE MASKS (co-written and co-directed by Neil Diamond and Joanne Robertson) is a look at the masks used by Native Americans in rituals, as well as their connection to the surrealist artists who collected them.

This film is a joy. It's a film that is so alive that it makes us feel that way by the end.

Focusing on director Neil Diamond's journey to understand why and how the surrealists became interested in the masks, it's a film that opened my eyes to how the masks were collected and used, and the power they contain (I did not know that masks were often burned after ceremonies because it released the magic and spirits).

Using differing styles to tell the story, SO SURREAL transcends the typical doc form to become something truly special. This is told in the manner of the best raconteur you've ever heard - one who changes things up as the story changes. I was enraptured. 

Honestly, I was watching this film late at night and figured I would watch a little bit before going to bed, and instead found myself wide awake and leaning in, wanting to know more. When it was done, I was popping online to do more reading.

Yeah, the film is that good... and then some!

Highly recommended, not only for anyone who is interested in the subject, but for anyone who wants a great story expertly told.

QUOTA (2024) Toronto 2024

Wicked short film about everyone being told that they now must watch their carbon output which will be monitored by a phone app- and what happens when it runs out.

This is a very clever little film with a nasty sting in its tale. Running a breezy three minutes it’s kind of hard to write on since there isn’t much I can say without spoiling it.

That said, this is destined to be kicking around the festival circuit so definitely make an effort to see it.

Brief thoughts on THE PARTY'S OVER (2024) Toronto 2024

 

A Senegalese woman tries to sneak into Spain. Caught on the beach by police, she breaks free and ends up hiding in the garden of large home. The woman living there takes her in, but there are complications.

Comedy of manners and biting social commentary mix in a look at how we see each other. It’s a frequently amusing tale that, while not always successful (it’s a bit too obvious in the points it’s making) does entertain.

I don’t have much to say beyond that.

Brief thoughts on Wolves Always Come At Night (2024) Toronto 2024

Documentary/narrative hybrid about a shepherd in Mongolia forced to change his life and move to a village because of climate change.

This is an uneven film. The documentary parts of the film are an eye opening look at the life herding animals in Mongolia.  However the mixing of life on the plains with the story of a forced change doesn’t wholly work. While it’s not bad but the inclusion of created narrative results in some moments that don’t feel natural. The ending didn’t work for me for that reason.

While not bad, the film isn’t what it could have been if it was either purely a narrative or purely a documentary.

The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (2024) Toronto 2024

Based on a true story this short film follows what happens when a group of paramilitary soldiers stop a train in the Balkans hoping to ethnicly cleanse it.

This film is way too short for its subject. Telling the vitally important story of one man who was willing to speak up the film stands as a testament to those fighting not to let us slip into darkness.  Thi is too big a story and we need to see more because a feature version would break us

Recommended

Sad Jokes (2024) Toronto 2024

 

Fabian Stumm’s SAD JOKES never clicked with me. The story of a filmmaker, played by Stumm, trying to deal with his career, single fatherhood (his son’s mom is in a hospital for depression)  and romance always kept me at arms length.

The problem is that Stumm isn’t that an engaging actor. He is a good looking guy who never really seems to have anything going on beyond looking good. His expression rarely changes. This is problem when the first person we see is Sonya played by Haley Louise Jones whose whole being is on display in everything she says and does. You can feel the waves of emotion washing over her and into the audience, you don’t get that from Stumm. You want to follow Jones or any other character other than the one played by the writer director.

It might have worked for me if Stumm had shot the film differently. Shot in longer takes with few close ups the film trades the intimacy of close ups and varied shots for sequences playing out in real time. If you have actors to pull it off it can result in emotional moments, but Stumm never manages to pull it off.

I never really cared.

A miss.

Sweetheart Deal (2022)

Sweetheart Deal is really good. I’m still working on how good, but for now that’s enough to get assure that you make an effort to see it either in person or streaming when the film plays Hits theaters Friday.

The film is the story of four women who are doing sex work along Aurora Avenue in Seattle. The quartet are desperately trying to get their lives together, get off drugs and deal with the things that life is throwing at them. The area where they are working is becoming more and more dangerous and their options are becoming complicated.

There was a moment early on in Sweetheart Deal where I wasn’t sure if I liked the film or not. It was a moment early on where the rawness of the presentation had me wondering what I was seeing. This seemed to be an almost too intimate sort of a film where we are watching someone’s home video, I was wondering if I should be seeing this because the moment didn’t feel entirely like a “movie” moment. It felt like I was intruding on real life. And then reality and reason crashed in and a I leaned forward into the film because I realized that it was this sort of raw “you are there” moment that made the film transcend being just another documentary.

I know some of you are going “no duh” but when you see as many documentaries for review as I do every year you tend to do a couple of things. First you often get lazy. You want things to break a certain way so you can breeze through it before you move on to the next thing.  At the same time, you want films to surprise you and do the unexpected, so you engage more fully. They are exact opposites of each other and there are times like the present when a film doesn’t do what’s expected and surprise you in such a way that you are thrown off until you can find your way. It took me a moment to find my way and then I did, and I found myself in a really cool cinematic place.

I really liked this film a great deal. I liked that the film takes a side. Directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller are clearly on the side of the women, and they want us to be. While normally there should be some detachment in a documentary, there are times when a film should take a side. It should rally for its subjects so that we feel more for the women and their plight.

Co-directors Elisa Levine and Gabriel Miller have made a super film.

Recommended.

Brief thoughts on Lazaro At Night (2024) NYFF 2024 Toronto 2024

Three friends all try to get the same acting job. Afterward they get together and discus when they first met.

Dry art house comedy is not going to be for all audiences. Its a low key film  about largely bland people. Well except for Lazaro who is a bit of dick. He's the sort of a guy  you wonder how he he has any friends. 

To be honest I didn't much care for this. I kept  waiting for something exciting to happen or for me to feel something for someone on screen. it never happened.

For art house hounds only.

VIKTOR (2024) Toronto 2024

Deaf man who loves samurai films  wants to fight for his home land Ukraine after the Russian invasion, but his lack of hearing keeps him out of the army.

Moody expressionistic black and white cinematography mix with a soundtrack put together to mimic Viktor’s hearing to make a film that plays more as a cinematic essay than documentary. It’s a hypnotic and compelling viewing experience that is even more so in a darkened theater with no distractions.

The problem is that as a documentary the subject gets overwhelmed by the presentation and there comes a point where you want the cinematic tricks to stop and just focus on Viktor. I’m not certain if the film tells us enough or not because there are some facets to this story about which I want to know more and others aspects we get to know too much. The film doesn’t seem to know what it wants to be.

While I think the film is worth a look for the presentation It’s not a must see.