Well Go Entertainment Film Review - Escape

Fast, rapid quick, and relentless are a few of the words that come to mind when watching the opening sequences of the new Korean thriller Escape. An instant box hit office in its homeland, Escape tells the story of a North Korean Army Sargent  Lim- Kyu-nam (Lee Je-hoon)  in the last few days of his 10 - year mandatory military service looking to take his final opportunity to escape to the South as he will likely not have his current freedom of movement or knowledge of the mine placements in and around the demilitarized zone ever again.  Lim has been plotting his departure for a while. He was sneaking out of the barracks every night and marking the mine locations on a homemade map. One of his juniors Kim Dong-hyuk (Hong Xa-bin) knows what's up and when an impending rainfall moves up the timetable. Kim demands to go as well or will expose Lim to superiors as the strict regime vigorously encourages soldiers to do. 

Lim's initial plan is thwarted mainly because of Kim but a chance to survive is extended to Lim by an unlikely source. The notorious Field Officer Li Hyun-Sang ( Koo Kyo-hwan) a childhood acquaintance of Lim's as his dad worked as a driver for the Li family. Lim has to constantly recalculate his moves as the film progresses as different obstacles are thrown at him. He often looks to his hero refers to his  The Tenacious Explorer Amundsen author of an adventure novel that read repeatedly as a child. His other prized possession is a small radio where he listens to a ROK Radio broadcast from the south that speaks to the opportunities available in the promised land. 

Director Lee Jong-pil creates a world underpinned with a phenetic pace that will have the viewer thinking of similar adrenaline thrillers Run Lola Run  or another German film Victoria and even Ethan Hunt's need to run in the Mission Impossible films. The cinematography is sharp and crisp as well. The gun play has stylish elegance. One scene of spectacular lighting stands out as Lim and Kim attempt to stay hidden near a fence as a searchlight from a sniper tower pans to find them. The story is about two North Koreans at it centre but its audience is South Korea with a message of Making the best of the opportunities you have, not being afraid to fail, and being thankful that you do have that opportunity to fail at what you want to do. 

The ensemble cast all perform well. The cat and mouse play between Lee Je-hoon's Lim and Koo Kyo-hwan's Li at the centre. Childhood acquaintances bordering on friends pitted against each other with one needing to stop the other not because he wants to but knowing the personal consequences if he doesn't.  The film is a heart thumper that I can recommend. 

*** Out of 4

Escape| Lee Jong-pil | Korea | 2024| 94 Minutes. 

DMZ, Mines, Piano, Military Service, Map, Driver, The Tenacious Explorer Amundsen, ROK Radio, Necklace.

Well Go USA Entertainment Film Review - Ride

Grit, Family, and Desperation are the three words that repeatedly come to mind when watching Director Jake Allyn's Ride. Three generations of Championship bull riders in Stephenville Texas battle themselves and each other as they all do anything they can to raise money to get John Hawkins' (C. Thomas Howell) daughter Virginia (Zia Carlock) to a better cancer hospital. Addiction plays a major part in the proceedings. Granddad Al ( Forrie J. Smith) had a major alcohol addiction that almost ruined his bull riding career. That addiction skipped a generation to Grandson Peter played by Director Jake Allyn as at the film's opening he is released from prison having served for years for vehicular homicide causing the death of a young local girl with Virgina in the car at the time. 

John and his wife Monica (Annabeth Gish) get the news that Virginia is not coming home as expected but, an open spot is available at a leading oncology centre that will be costly with 40K needed upfront. John tells Monica he will handle it mainly by obtaining his part-time teaching pension early. He also overturns every loose asset and loan he possibly can think of to raise funds. When his early application for his pension is denied the level of desperation increases as the facility begins to show signs that they will not hold the spot for Virginia much longer. Fresh out of jail Peter has slipped back into old habits. He's hooked up with his old cellmate Tyler (Patrick Murphy) using again and promising his yet unearned winnings from a local P.B.R. contest as payment for Oxy. 

C Thomas Howell is almost unrecognizable as John Hawkins. Especially if you have not seen him for a while and still picture him from his peak days in the early eighties The Outsiders,  E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. and the underrated Red Dawn era.  He's a dad that will go to any lengths for his daughter. The director disappears into the role of Peter. He's an addict who has let himself, his family, and his community down and deeply wants to redeem himself.  Only his Granddad Al and younger sister Virgina are unconditionally in his corner. His Dad is so opposed to him that he throws a generous gesture to help out the fundraising efforts back in his face. When a final last-ditch effort is proposed by Peter to John the elder sees no other option but to take it. It's a major step outside the law that results in  even bigger one. The job of investigating the aftermath falls to Monica, who is the local Sheriff and her eager Deputy Ross Dickons (Scott Reeves) who has a thing for Monica, has never liked Peter, and doesn't care much for John.

Ride is at its' heart a story about family. Built on four pillars that span three generations who are all in very different places when this family crisis arises. Annabelle Gish is perhaps the most conflicted as  family matriarch Monica. Her eldest son just spent four years in jail where she never visited him. Her only daughter may die if she can't get into the new treatment centre and she's leading a major police investigation where she may have to pick her family over her career. Writer -Director Jake Allyn has crafted a simple straight ahead yet compelling story that I can recommend. 

***1/2 Out of Four.

Ride | Jake Allyn | U.S.A. | 2024 | 114 Minutes. 

Tags: Cancer, Bull Riding, Rodeo Clown, Addiction, Ex-Con, Robbery, Homicide, Stephenville Texas, Champion Bull Rider. Unicorn. 

Low Sky Productions / Shudder Film Review - In a Violent Nature

Writer - Director Chris Nash brings a new vision to the slasher film genre with his debut title  In A Violent Nature. The VFX specialist's film is shot from the killer Johnny (Ry Barrett) point of view.  There is little to no score. Atmospheric sound reigns instead a calming mix of whistling birds and Johnny's boots trudging over leaves, soil, gravel and branches in the forest. The other constant  is the echo of voices off in the distance getting louder as Johnny approaches. In a pivotal scene towards the end birds chirping frantically in the forest are used creatively to create an elevated level of tension . At open the camera focuses in on a pendant hanging on a rusted pipe from some long unused structure that nature has reclaimed. The owner of one of the two voices carrying on a non-descript conversation reaches out and grabs the pendant. After further silence the ground begins to rumble and out pops the behemoth that is Johnny. Once free from the soil below he begins a steady march over an extended period of no dialogue in the direction of that hand that grabbed the pendant. 

Johnny soon acquires his signature weapons. An Axe that he wields, then recovers a kin to Captain America's shield and a chain link metal rope with a hook on one end that he expertly deploys yielding brutal results. Followed by his last piece of kit a 19th century smoke helmet that he snatches from a fire lookout station. Our killer marches around the forest like an apex predator. Coming across people usually in pairs or the customary group of exuberant teens away at a cabin in the woods for the weekend.  You can almost hear him thinking as he formulates a plan of attack on the unsuspecting humans as he approaches. Then the plan is executed and people die. Three kills rank above all. One takes out a swimmer in a lake. The second snuffs out the Ranger (Reece Presley) who's linked to imprisoning him in that tomb below the rusted fire tower many years ago. The third and signature one from the film is thrust upon a seemingly random victim quietly doing her open air yoga practice. To say any more would ruin the epic nature of the act. 

Amongst the potential victims Kris (Andrea Pavolic) emerges as the foil to Johnny's rampage. She hears the back story from a fellow teens around a fire at the cabin the group is occupying. Apparently Johnny was bullied by the locals as a youth. He was tricked into climbing up the fire tower where he suffered a tragic accident, the ones involved covered it up.The pendant his mother's hanging it above his burial plot had kept Johnny in place. 

In a Violent Nature is a unique entry into the slasher film genre. There is no soundtrack present to build a sense of urgency or fear. Instead, people are going about their lives unaware of Johnny's lumbering approach. Surprise comes next, followed by fear then and the realization that they are about to die. Nash's method is simplistic yet effective resulting in a film that I can highly recommend. 

**** Out of 4.

In A Violent Nature | Chris Nash | Canada | 2024 | 94 Minutes.

Pendant, Tomb, Bullying, Fire Tower, Vengeance, Axe, Chained Hook, Forest, Teens, Cabin In the Woods, Smoke Helmet,Sawmill, Bear Trap, Gasoline, Toy Truck. 

Fantasia Film Festival 2023 Film Review - Sometimes I Think About Dying

A celebration of the mundane and venturing out and away from isolation and loneliness are the  main focuses of Rachel Lamberts' Sometimes I Think About Dying. Fran (Daisy Ridley) of Star Wars fame is an office worker in a small Oregon town. Her daily routine consists of going into the office in muted colours keeping to herself as conversations and debates occur amongst her colleagues around her. Fran stares at her computer screen filling generic orders, working on spreadsheets attending meetings where an e-mail could have sufficed. After work, she heads home to her small residence preparing her usual microwave dinner to consume alongside an ever-present glass of wine.

A large crane is placed at eye level outside of her office window leading Fran to imagine being lifted up by the crane and hanging from it. That image joins her more regular nightly thoughts of lying lifeless in a dewy forest with bugs crawling over her skin or dead tangled in a driftwood pile at the beach. New employee Robert (Dave Merheje) arrives at the office and not knowing any better engages Fran in conversation. The topic of film comes up and Fran agrees to meet Robert at the local theatre. He has his own routine as well, seeing movies and visiting a local restaurant nearby for dessert after a screening. 

Robert seems genuinely interested but Fran cannot understand why anyone would be so she unwittingly sabotages things at an early opportunity. Fran gets a moment to shine during one of their outings attending a Murder Mystery dinner party. She gets to tell the attendees how she died in one of the set pieces. Her fantasies about death come to the fore to the delight of the entire party. 

Writer Kevin Armento Adapts his play Killers for the screen. The theatre roots are evident in the production. The original live-action short director Stefanie Abel Horowitz also gets a credit. Lambert lingers on the most minuscule unglamourous parts of Fran's existence. So much so that when she steps completely out of her character buying donuts for the office one morning the viewer can easily understand what a big step it is for Fran and fully believe the level of excitement her gesture creates. Marcia DeBonis features in the small role of Carol. Her going away party at the office opens the film and serves as the first glimpse into Fran's status as a true outsider. Fran runs into Carol by chance later in the film and again DeBonis dominates the space as they catch up.

Daisy Ridley does a lot with the minimalist outline of her character Fran. She doesn't speak for a good chunk of the opening sequences despite being constantly on screen. She instead communicates with her body and through her eyes. Her daydreams are elaborate and her awkwardness papabile. She lurks in the background looking over her shoulder at normal interactions between colleagues from safety behind the walls of her three-sided cubicle. The rest of the ensemble cast pull their weight in this small feature which is a different style of filmmaking that hits its mark. 

*** 1/2 Out of 4.

Sometimes I Think About Dying| Rachel Lambert| U.S.A. | 2023 | 91 Minutes.

Tags: Office Work, Daydreaming, Death, Murder Mystery, Retirement, Cruise, Movie & Dessert. 

Fantasia Film Festival 2023 Film Review - Aporia

What if you could go back and change a catastrophic event that devastated your family? But to do so would have a lethal effect on the perpetrator of the event. Would you worry about the effect on other aspects of your and your loved ones' lives? Would you care about the consequences on the perpetrator's  family? Does making one change in the recent past have a lesser ripple than multiple or changes further back in time?  These are the questions debated and agonized over amongst the characters in Writer-Director Jared Moshe's latest film Aporia. 

Sophie Rice (Judy Greer) has seen her life crumble since the death of her husband Mal (Edi Gthegi) He was killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street and despite showing up for repeated court hearings the driver is not being punished. Her daughter Riley (Faithe Herman) is skipping classes and has lost interest in her one true passion science that she shared with her Dad. Sophie works in a Long-Term Car facility. She is dedicated to her patients but the strain over everything has grinded her down. Her friend Jabir (Payman Maadi) who was best friends with Mal, bonding through their love of science. Jabir reveals to Sophie a machine that he worked on with Mal. It looks like a 70s muscle car engine on a metal stand with too many batteries and wires attached. But the machine can reach into the past and send a projectile to a specific GPS-targeted location with the force of a bullet. The payload able to write the wrong that devastated Sophie's family before the accident even occurred. When it works the real hard questions begin. 

Moshe crafts a practical science fiction film with zero VFX.  A time travel story where the main characters never leave the room where the machine fires up and sends its accelerated particle projectiles back into the past then the participants step out of the room to an altered timeline all around them. The differences can be subtle; a change of duties at the Long Term Care facility, different living room furniture and throw pillows picked put by your returning spouse, or something greater and vastly more significant. The homemade science project has moved from the theoretical to real-world impact bringing with it life-altering implications. The foreboding soundtrack that underpins the story is a constant reminder of the high stakes and potential consequences of everyone's actions. 

Judy Greer commands the screen in the role of Sophie. She is overwhelmed with grief at the outset of the film. She is not getting justice. Her daughter is spiraling downward losing interest in everything and anything she used to hold dear. Edi Gathegi serves s connective tissue is in the role of Mal. He understands exactly what has occurred when Sophie and Jabir level with him on what they have done? His scientific mind works out all of the combinations and permutations. Faithe Herman plays multiple versions of the couple's daughter each time the machine is fired up. She is despondent at first then downright joyful once Sophie tracks her down in a new timeline after emerging from Jabir's household lab. The bottom line appears to be firing it up once you can get the desired effect. But human nature won't stop there meaning cataclysmic change is likely inevitable. 

*** 1/2  Out of 4. 

Aporia | Jared Moshe | U.S. A. | 2023 | 103 Minutes. 

Tags: Drunk Driver, Widow, Grief, Court Case, Long Term Care, Physicist, Time Travel, Rocket Ships, Ponzi Scheme, Birthday Party, Hamlet. 

 

Fantasia Film Festival 2023 Film Review - Raging Grace

Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla) is a curious, impetuous, prankster of a schoolgirl living in London, England with her mother Joy (Max Eigenmann). Joy is an undocumented Filipina immigrant working cleaning homes and as a caregiver to London's upper crust trying to gain funds to make her residency in London legal. Resources stretched, she often resorts to squatting with her daughter in the homes of clients that she knows are on vacation. On occasion only managing to vacate the premises moments before the family turns the key to enter the home upon their return. She is getting close to her intended dollar target but her source to get her papers has given a fast-approaching deadline to provide the money in total. Into this vulnerable timeline, a too- good-to-be true job offer pops up.  Katherine (Leanne Best) the Niece of a rich dying landowner (David Hayman) will pay Joy a large salary in cash to clean her Uncle's large country estate and care for him. The only task  Katherine will not give up is the administration of medication to her Uncle. Joy will get her own large room with an ensuite as part of the arrangement. Joy moves in sneaking Grace into the home in a large suitcase. Katherine does not want Joy to use Employer housekeeper formalities but constantly snaps at Joy when she feels that she steps out of line. 

The job is going well until Grace while exploring the home from the shadows notices the real reason that Katherine wanted to maintain medication duty. Joy dismisses her daughter's concerns at first but begins to notice odd things as well. When Katherine has to leave for business Joy becomes in charge of the pills and makes some changes that lead to surprising results especially to Katherine upon her return home. Joy is firmly on Mr. Garrett's side seeing him as the victim then slowly sees a different dynamic as she learns more about her new aging benefactor. A throwaway comment about cock fighting in the Philippines can be seen later upon reflection as a metaphor for the Upper-Class view of those in a lower state. Mr. Garrett continues to charm Grace. Giving her freedom on the grounds, listening intently to her in conversations. He eventually becomes a source of conflict between Mother and Daughter. 

Writer/Director Paris Zarcilla brings two completely opposite worlds together at an English country estate in this film. Joy and Grace are transients hovering near the lower rungs of society. They operate  at the grey edges to survive and get along. Mr. Garrett and his niece Katherine have a large Estate to roam with pictures of relatives three and four generations back staring at them on the walls. World travelers, Barristors, Old money. The top rung squarely below them. Zarcilla flips the dynamic on its head. The working class class immigrants don't need the money of the rich. Rather the rich need them to do just about everything for them and their families from cradle to grave.

Max Eigenmann is in just about every frame of the film as Joy. She may seem passive and obedient but underneath that public front, she is adaptive, smart,and a fierce advocate for her daughter. Jaeden Paige Boadilla steals just about every scene she is in as Grace. Leanne Best and David Hayman shine in their supporting roles. Natural villains of the piece, they both have nuance and moments when they play ally to Joy and Grace. Their scenes together are a battle of equal imposing wills, with the upper hand changing regularly throughout the film. Raging Grace is a horror-thriller with a strong socioeconomic thread at its centre. Well written, and shot featuring a superb staccato score in the Hitchcock tradition. It's a film that is well worth a watch. 

***1/2 Out of Four. 

Raging Grace | Paris Zarcilla | U.K. | 2023 | 99 Minutes. 

Tags: Domestic worker, Philippines, Single Mother, Citizenship, Terminal Cancer, Caregiver, Uncle, Niece, Country Estate, Over Medicating, Declared Dead. Immigration Authorities. Church Choir. 

Hot Docs 2023 Film Review - July Talk: Love Lives Here

Toronto Indie band July Talk want their band, fans, audiences, and ultimately their band to be inclusive, a safe space where everyone has a voice and can be heard. Their reputation was built though touring starting with the smallest and growing steadily upward mainly by word of mouth, some airplay but mainly by audiences seeing the band in person. The Pandemic took away the live show so for their only show of 2020 they decided to try something different. Play a Central Ontario Drive in Two raised large screens  a good distance from the stage, multi-cameras broadcast out to their fans and everyone on site theoretically in their cars facing the stage. The events leading up to the live show are the foundation of the documentary. 

One of the two poignant moments that crystalize what the band is about occured at a show in Buffalo at the Towne Ballroom in December of 2016. A lout in the crowd hurled a sexist derogatory remark at co-front person Leah Fay Goldstein. She pounced, The band and audience backed her up. The culprit was quickly identified and turfed. The other James Bailey recruited by Leah from a spiritual service who brought along Kyla Charter to back up and sort though the harmonies.  The result of the collaboration produced the song Champagne digging into how privilege works from two very different perspectives. When the song is played; James and Kyla take centre stage as true collaborators. The visuals as the back story is told in a live frenetic concert sequence causing chills. There are many such instances throughout the piece. Especially with the lens falls on Leah. The monochrome tone invokes an Andy Warhol performance art feels. 

A major theme during the lead-up to the concert is co-front person Peter Dreimanis' health. He was inexplicably losing weight. down about 30 pounds. His bones were clearly visible. The weight loss was not covid related making the other band members worried. On top of the health concerns, Peter was pushing hard to make the drive-in show a reality along with fourteen hours a day of  post-production work on the newly completed album. Four days before the August 12, 2020 concert. Peter got confirmation of a type one diabetes diagnosis along with a plan of insulin therapy to treat it.  Accompanied with a warning of doing two shows full on back to back in four days could lead to low blood sugar, hypoglycemia shaking sweating and potentially passing out in the middle of nowhere at the Stardust Drive-in. Not to mention a covid scare with another of the band members. 

July Talk: Love Lives here tracks the rise of an indie rock band from their first EP sessions in 2012 after a prologue announcement of the Drive-In dates, time-lapse set build and last words before hitting the stage. Their process front and mission statement are always at the forefront. Covid-19 telltale signs are everywhere. Along with the true message, that the band needs this, their fans need this show and society in general by August 2020 needed reasons for people to get together to begin to share common experiences again. 

*** 1/2 Out of 4.

July Talk: Love Lives Here | Brittany Farhat | Canada| 2023| 83 Minutes.

Tags: Concert, Covid-19, Indie Rock, Touring, Studio Sessions, Type 1 Diabetes, Collaboration, Stardust Drive-In.