eOne Film Review - Race

Jessie Owens (Stephan James) is the first member of his family to earn a college scholarship. As he is off to Ohio State he stops by the hairdresser where his girlfriend Ruth Solomon (Shaice Banton) the mother of his daughter works. Almost missing his bus he is off with is friend Dave Albritton (Eli Goree) to start school. At school he meets coach Synder (Jason Sudekis) who was a star athlete in his day and had qualified for the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Synder has been looking for an athlete to raise the profile of the Ohio State track team and help to finally beat their rivals at USC.

Director Stephen Hopkins along with writers Joe Shrapnel and Anna Watersouse craft a story that captures the tenor of the time and tensions on two sides of the Atlantic. At home Jessie has to make sure that he goes back to the colored seats when he boards the bus in Cleveland to head to Columbus. He and Dave Albritton have to wait for the all white football team to shower and are pushed out of the locker room by the same squad. At the same time the US Olympic committee are seriously considering a boycott Joseph Goebbels is heard of German athletics and Jewish homes in Berlin are being ransacked with the inhabitants driven off in trucks out of the city.

The costume and wardrobe department led by Juliana Stenzel need to be mentioned for their work. The clothing set the tone for the portrayal of the early 1930's. Clothing is key from the first scene when Jessie is first looking for his one good shirt as he prepares to depart for Columbus to the new Navy blazer that his mother buys for his trip away to school. The team do an excellent job reproducing the running athletic attire of the time along with the 1936 Olympic U.S.A team uniforms.

The other technical department that brings the picture to life is the CGI and visual effects crews. Two of the best visual spectacles in the production feature the majesty of the construction then first view inside the Berlin Olympic Stadium. U.S. Olympic committee executive Avery Brundage (Jeremy Irons) heads over during preparation for the games to move the Germans in a more sanitized direction before the Americans would consider attending the games. During the visit he is brought to the stadium that is still under construction. The enormity and scale of the engineering feat is jaw dropping.  Later when Jessie walks down the tunnel into the stadium director Hopkins employs a 360 degree shot showing the stands, the track and field facilities, the Hitler viewing box, the Hindenburg overhead then back to Jessie who is having a hard time breathing.

Stephan James is a standout a Jessie Owens. James follows up a strong supporting role in Selma with an even better performance as the central figure of the film. James is pulled in multiple directions with everyone wanting something from him. He chooses to focus on what he does best and is very successful. Jason Sudeikis shines as the multi layered coach Larry Synder. Legendary track start turned Ohio State coach who is haunted by the memory of the 24 games leading him to drive Jessie very hard to be sure that he does not miss his chance in Berlin. Jeremy Irons is memorable as Avery Brundage.  The leader of the faction that sans the US to go to Berlin but he is personally uncomfortable by the actions and policies of the 36 games hosts.

Race is an historical biopic that truly captures the time, politics and social issues of the early to mid 1930's Jessie Owens is a star in his country his Olympic association wants him to be free to run in a country whose polities they despise but he still has to give up his seat on a bus or go in through the side entrance of a posh New York hotel. The production balance these difficult elements well to produce a film that I can truly recommend

*** 1/2 Out of 4.

Race | Stephen Hopkins | France/ Germany/Canada | 2016 | 134 Minutes.

Tags: XI Olympiad, Olympic Games, Berlin, 1930's,1936, Ohio State, Track and Field, Cleveland.

Film Review - Deadpool

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is an ex-special forces turned mercenary that is working with a group that settles personal scores for clients. Wilson tends to be friendly to his victims and targets. If he judges his targets not to be too bad a person he will threaten them instead of dishing out real physical harm to get his point across. Into his day to day existence walks cocktail waitress Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). The pair click, plan to start their life together until a serious health issue arises. Wilson desperate to do all he can to be with Vanessa responds to an offer from a rouge facility that fixes his problem gives him super healing powers but the side effects are significant and steal much of his former self except for his twisted wit.

Director Tim Miller and writers Rob Liefeld, Fabien Niciea produce a film that close followers of the character agree touches all of the obligatory pressure points. Deadpool's main trait is his self awareness. He knows that he is a character in a comic book and breaks the fourth wall often to let the reader know.  In the film from the opening credits this theme is obvious.  Shots are taken at formulated scrips that feature the girl, the obligatory british villain and the writers who are the real stars of the production. Ryan Reynolds does not escape the wrath of the writing team.  There are several shots taken as his horrific turn as Green Lantern. Shots at Wolverine that gave birth to the character which leads to a running references to Hugh Jackman through ought the film.

The main story revolves around Wilson goal to get back at the people that experimented on him and finding their leader Francis (Ed Skerin) to try to reverse the side effects that he is suffering. Feeling that once he is normal he can win back Vanessa. The plot is straightforward but the story is told non linear starting with an intense shootout on a bridge with Deadpool hot on the heals of his main target.

Ryan Reynolds finds the anti-hero he is meant to play as Deadpool. His razor wit shines and the cracks come so fast that as the viewer is absorbing one three more rush by. Ty Miller is strong as Weasel the bartender at the mercenaries hideout filling the sidekick role. Karan Soni (Dopinger) steals his two scenes as the designated Deadpool' taxi driver equipped with a back story and two running gags that I don't want to spoil here.

Deadpool is a pseudo super hero film that really earns its hard US restricted rating.  The film is fast paced full of action featuring jagged crisp dialogue. Fans who know the character well will find the creators hit all of the expected highlights.

*** Out of 4

Deadpool | Tim Miller | U.S.A. / Canada | 2016 | 108 Minutes.

Tags: Special Forces, Mercenary, Mutant, Taxi, Revenge, Healing Powers, Marvel Comics, Self awareness.

Film Review - Pride Prejudice and Zombies

Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) is a very serious fellow. He is determined to keep the late 18th century  countryside free of vampires. At the films opening Mr. Darcy visits a country estate where he immediately notices lax security.   He enters the main room where the guests are playing cards. the lady of the house assures that no one present is infected. Darcy releases his carrion files that have a knack of finding dead flesh. The guests are annoyed by their buzzing but as Darcy rightfully points out the time to worry is when the buzzing stops.

Director Burr Steers crafts a delightful mix of old world prose and modern staking in Pride Prejudice and Zombies. The dialogue, country estates and characters live up to the Jane Austen tradition but the female leads mix their leggings with knives, their white gloves with swords and bustiers with the finest Chinese martial arts.

The setting is England in the later years of the 18th century. The military has had many battles with the zombie horde. They have left only one passable bridge into London for in the event that the Zombies gain strength the bridge can be blown trapping the Zombies in the city. Meanwhile out in the countryside reside our heroines. Jane (Bella Heathcourt) , the fairest of the four, Lizzy (Lily James) the feistiest who pledges that she would never give up her sword for a mate. Charlotte (Alising Luftus) and the youngest Lydia (Ellie Bamber) follow along in line.  The Bennet girls are all accomplished in the Chinese fight arts at the insistence of their dad (Charles Dance) while their mother (Sally Phillips) looks to marry them off.

Into the region strides Mr. Bingley (Douglas Booth) a very eligible bachelor and close friend of Mr. Darcy. He immediately locks onto Jane while Darcy and Lizzie spar emotionally and physically. Darcy's childhood friend turned rival Lieutenant George Wickham (Jack Hudson) appears complicating the relationship between Lizzie and Ms. Darcy. The zombies resurge soon after leading to a battle to save the city of London and England itself.

Lilly James shines as the main Bennet girl. She can play the lady when needed but refuses to be all smiles and courtesies.  She wields a ruthless blade when threading vampires appears but is intuitive enough to know when one poses no immediate threat and could be a source of information. Her foil is Sam Riley's Darcy a heavy sledgehammer that sees everything in black and white , good and evil, living and undead. Charles Dance turns in another in a series of strong performance as the Bennet Patriarch.  Look for Matt Smith in a strong comedic performs as Bennet cousin and would be suitor Parson Collins.

Pride, Prejudice and Zombies is a strong mix of a Jane Austen period piece and a modern zombie flick. The performances are strong, the sword work and fighting slick and the story sticks more or less to a traditional tale. If you are looking for women in serious hand to hand gory combat then this film will fill that urge.The cast and crew do a credible job that will have Jane Austen applauding instead of rolling over in her grave.

*** Out of 4.

Pride, Prejudice and Zombies | Burr Steers | U.S.A. | 2016 | 107 Minutes.

tags: Zombies, Jane Austen, Period Piece, England, 19th Century, Courting, Presentation.

Top Films 2015

2015 was another strong year in film. I would rank it as more very good films than 2014 but not as many great memorable movies.  Here at Flick Hunter we branched out and covered the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. It was a top notch affair in a city that we do not visit enough and will be back in the future. Without further adeau here are my top 10 films for 2015.



10., RAW: THE AMY WINEHOUSE STORY

9.,  CAROL

8.,  THE MARTIAN

7.,         TAG

6.,  MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

5., SPOTLIGHT

4.,  VICTORIA

3.,     ROOM

2., THE BIG SHORT

1., TRADERS

Film Review - Star Wars The Force Awakens

Parallels to Episode IV Star Wars a New Hope dominate the plot of Star Wars Episode VII  The Force Awakens. Jakku replaces Tatooine as the desert planet home of a new fledgling Jedi soon to discover their powers. The Empire is now the First Order and the Rebellion is the Resistance. The film also introduces a new reluctant rogue hero who is drawn to support the Resistance's cause.

Director J.J. Abrams crafts a film that has the style, pace and feel of the original trilogy. The story is simple, the goal plain and the steps to complete the Resistance's task straightforward. The main villains are easily identified from the moment they arrive on screen. Abrams also mixes in a fair amount of timely comedic moments that were missing from the middle set of films.

The episode starts out on Jakku. Lor San Tekka (Max Von Sydow) a learned elder is meeting with Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) the best resistance pilot to discuss the whereabouts of a missing Luke Skywalker. Tekka hands over a map to Skywalker's location that Poet places into his droid BB-8 for safekeeping. When the First Order arrive on the planet one of their ranks Finn (John Boyega) has issues with their tactics while Poe seeing that his escape route is cut off sends BB-8 off with the map with a plan to retrieve it later. We next meet Rey (Daisy Ridley) scavenging from long abandoned vehicles from the days of the Empire. She brings her daily haul for ever reducing rations and lives in an abandoned vehicle herself waiting for her family how left when she was a little girl to return.

Maz Kanata's castle fortress on Takodana is the location where a diverse group of aliens meet to trade and exchange goods. Its vibe is very similar to the Mos Eisley cantina from the original film. It's on Takodana where Rey is called to the basement catacombs having visions of events that have occurred in the past and those that will take place in the future. The Fortress is also the current resting place of Luke's lightsaber that Finn takes to use in battle against the The First Order when they invade the planet.

Finn and Rey are worthy of their roles as the new leads of Star Wars trilogy 3.0. Rey is agile and effective at every tasks she attempts from rigging bypasses on spaceships to wielding a staff against wood be attackers to beginning to harnessing unforeseen skills that she begins to develop as the film progresses. Finn shows moral strength when he deserts from the Stormtrooper ranks after his unit is ordered to commit a horrible act on Jakuu. He teams with Poe to escape the First order and comes back to help Rey in the fight at Maz Kanata's compound.  Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Peter Meyhew (Chewbacca) are at their rogue smuggling banter filled best from the moment they appear on screen. However the production has a major flaw in casting Adam Driver as Kylo Ren. He has a mask, pays homage to Darth Vader but takes it off too frequently and simply does not personify evil as the character should. He is also a character one would expect to be an expert with a light sabre but has difficulty in exchanges with foes who have just picked up the device for the first time.

Star Wars The Force Awakens is a welcomed trip back to the sensibility of the originally trilogy. The film has some strong elements and introduces new heroes that work in unison with old familiar faces. But the casting falls down in a critical area on the main villain for the 3.0 universe who when on screen makes it hard to shake the thought of his roles in New York based female driven vehicles.

 *** Out of 4

Star Wars the Force Awakens | J.J. Abrams  | U.S.A. |2015 | 135 Minutes

Tags: Star Wars, Space, Jedi, Droid, Space Opera, the Force, Dark Side, Massacre, Kidnapping, Stormtroopers.

Fox Searchlight Film Review - He Named Me Malala

At the centre of Davis Guggenheim's documentary He Named Me Malala is the strong bond between a Father and Daughter. It's in the title and clearly visual as Malala Yousafzai's dad Ziauddin is by her side or just off camera at all of her public appearances and accompanies her on all of her trips around the world. The quieter thread is the realization of the Yousafzai family that they will likely never again see their home in the Swat Valley back in Pakistan having left after Malala was singled out on a bus home from school and shot by the Taliban because she had first spoke out on a BBC blog under an assumed name then openly in public.

The film opens with an animated sequence on the fabled character after whom Malala was named. The historical figure from the 19th century lead Afgan fighters back to the battlefield against the British from a mass retreat.  She is killed in battle but her fellow countrymen won a great victory because she stood up and made her voice heard. Ziauddin Yousafzai must have had a strong feeling when his daughter was born, as she would mirror her namesake by standing up as a young teenager to fearlessly defy the Taliban fighting for the right for girls to obtain a complete education.

Director Guggenheim next turns the aftermath of the shooting and Malala's waking up in a hospital bed in a foreign country. The story follows her on 2013 visits to the United States, Kenya, Nigeria, and the Jordanian Syrian border. At each stop she champions the rights of girls and children in general to have access to education. Yousafzai knows her subject well having frank discussions with President Obama then tough words for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan over his weak response to Boko Haram's abduction of Nigerian schoolgirls. The production also shows the other side of Malala to remind viewed that she is a teenage girl that both loves and battles with her two brothers, gets no special treatment from her high school teachers in Birmingham and becomes exceedingly shy when the topic turns to boys.

The films middle section climaxes with the 2013 Noble Peace prize announcement for which Malala was a leading candidate. After the announcement the narrative switches back to her rehab post shooting in Birmingham regaining her motor skills, adapting to paralysis on the left side of her face then  building up to her first address at the United Nations.

He Named Me Malala is uniquely crafted biopic on one of the leading figures for peace in the world today despite still being a teenager. The story shows her public side meeting with world leaders, accepting awards around the world and appearing on popular Television shows. Yousafzai's public activities are balanced in the piece by insightful looks at her family and private life. The film touches only briefly on decisive persona back home but at its core it's a Father daughter story about a family that because they stood up to the Taliban their daughter was thrust into the spotlight and they can never return home. It is a film that I can recommend.

*** Out of 4.

He Called Me Malala | Davis Guggenheim | United Arab Emirates / U.S.A. | 2015 | 87 Minutes.

Education, Nobel Laureate, Taliban, Pakistan, Swat Valley, Boko Haram , United Nations, Syrian Refugees.

TIFF 15 Film Review - Body (Cialo)

Starting with a police investigation of an apparent hanging suicide that turns into the deceased getting up and walking a way. Body is an off centre narrative focused on three peoples differing ways of how they view the human body and deal with loss. Janusz (Janusz Gajos) is the investigator at the scene of the non-suicide.  He has a daughter at home Olga (Justyna Suwala) who is borderline anorexic and not his biggest fan.  She mocks the way he eats trying to turn him off of his dinner by describing how chickens are treated before they are killed for human consumption. Anna (Maja Ostaszewska) is a therapist at a clinic for anorexic women.  We first meet her as she is giving a shout therapy session to a group of recovering girls.

Janusz investigates a crime scene where a woman dismembered her newborn child leaving the body parts in a bathroom stall at the Warsaw Gadansk rail station. Janusz shows no ill effects from the event while his colleagues are visibly shaken. The investigator ends the work day greedily slurping a large bowl of soup as a junior colleague gives him an update.  He comes home to find Olga slumped by a puke filed toilet leading to her admission to the clinic where Olga is a Therapist.

Director Malgorzata Szumowska presents a story that is grim but sprinkled with occasional comedic moments. The main focus of the production is how the three main characters.  Olga remains devastated over the death of her mother, blaming her father for the event.  Anna lost an 8 month old son 8 years ago but pretends when visiting her mother that the child is still alive and keeps a crib in her apartment. Janusz deals with dead bodies as his trade showing no outward emotion to the death of his wife Hanna.

The film gives a good representation of methods to treat anorexia. The various group treatment sessions at the Clinic feature scream therapy, role-play, dance, body image outlines and strict rules that must be followed at meal time before moving on to the next treatment session. The narrative also looks at daily city life. It's rainy damp and cold but Szumowska documents the regular interaction between apartment dwellers from friendly hellos to quiet neighbourly request to keep the music down.

Janusz Gajos leads the cast as the cynical criminal prosecutor who's character bears his first name. His is curt, emotionless and mocking of those that show emotion or warmth. Justyna Suwala is angry and vulnurable as his anorexic daughter Olga. Her anger and disgust at her father shows in her eyes, body language and actions. Olga clearly has not gotten over the death of her mother that manifests itself psychologically leading to her hospitalization. Maja Ostaszewska turns in the standout performance in the piece as Anna. She is Olga's therapist who herself is dealing with a personal loss. She lives modestly with her large dog Fredek. Anna has visions of the dead and can write their communications to the living on paper while in a trance like state. Despite her mundane existence  she does her best to help the recovering girls and their families.

Body is a film that has a very narrow focus and will result is a small commercial appeal. The subject matter is heavy, the film has very few smiles or laughs and the landscape is dreary and washed out. The tone of the film is set early on and its subject matter is not one that will not likely have a wide appeal.

** 1/2 Out of 4.

Body | Malgorazata Szumowska | Poland | 2015 | 90 minutes.

Tags: Anorexia, Suicide, Psychiatry, Clairvoyance, Prosecutor, Crime Scene, Warsaw, Dead Infant,  Dismemberment, Scream Therapy.