L’Élan (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Emilie Black

In a small French village arrives an elk (élan in French) that walks on two legs, wears a trench coat, and communicates telepathically. Everyone he meets seems to accept him as if his presence is completely normal, except for a UFO fanatic who wants to meet and analyze him.

Director Etienne Labroue of Les Guignols de l’Info co-wrote L’Élan with Marc Bruckert and they created a marvelous fable here of a being on a quest to belong, finding a family ready to take him in and protect him. The story here is touching, funny, and sometimes sad. Bruckert and Labroue show a lot of talent in this sweet script that reminds the viewers of early Jean-Pierre Jeunet crossed with Quentin Dupieux. As this is Etienne Labroue’s first film, it shows a lot of promise and directorial talent.

The characters built by Labroue and Bruckert are a little cartoon-y but here it works given the story and the settings. The cast hired to bring those characters to life go for it with gusto and an impeccable sense of timing. The whole cast does this so well, it’s difficult to pick a stand-out. Aurelia Petit, Délia Espinat-Dief, Olivier Broche, Cyprien Dugas, et al deserve major kudos for fearlessly bringing their parts to life and not being afraid of looking a bit silly on screen. It all works in the end and brings a village of kooks to life for our entertainment. The narration is done in a way similar to Amélie but with a bit of a nuttier story which is told in a childhood story manner.

The way the film settings are and the way its shot ring out the ludique side of the story. Everyone and everything is brought together in a way that creates a fairytale-like atmosphere. The design of the élan himself is cartoonish with a touch of giant stuffed animal to the head’s look. His whole being is a bit disproportionate from itself, giving him a sweet disposition and style even though he could easily have been a bad guy. L’Élan is designed in a way to remind the viewers of childhood toys and TV shows, while his attitude and mannerism are quite child-like. He brings an outward innocence and allows the viewer to connect on a different level with the story through nostalgia and comfort.

L’Èlan is an entertaining comedy with a lot to offer. It takes a crazy, absurd idea and goes with it fully, giving the viewers a childhood fairytale but grown-ups. It’s almost innocent but not quite. It brings back a warm feeling while also reminding everyone of their need to belong.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

Embers (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Emilie Black

In the not too distant future, most of the population has been affected by a neurological disease robbing them of their memories. While a few people try to retain their minds and stay healthy, the rest of the population is trying to remember and reconnect.

Director Claire Carré co-wrote Embers with Charles Spano and they create a dystopian future where the majority of the population, what’s left of it anyways, has no memories but can function as adults. This leads to some scenes reminiscent of what it’s like to deal with someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. These people still care about others but they simply do not remember each other or who they are themselves. This could have led to a film where it’s difficult to care about the characters or overly schmaltzy, but that is not the case here. Carré and Spano’s attention to detail and to creating humans and not simply characters brings forth people that are highly flawed yet trying to connect with each other which lead the audience to connect with them.

As the characters do not remember who they are, the two leads are credited as Guy and Girl. In these roles are Jason Ritter and Iva Gocheva, both of whom give their characters’ memory loss and loss of self a level of dignity as they search for who they are. Ritter shines in particular as a man lost while trying to help this girl he feels close to and wakes up near every day, not knowing if they are together or not. His performance shows care and love while being lost and fighting the despair of losing one’s mind. His performance steals most of the scenes he is in. Playing opposite Ritter in most of his scenes is Iva Gocheva who plays well with him, their performances complement each other. The ensemble of the cast does also quite well, but these two stand out the most.

The production design by Chelsea Oliver and art direction by Matthew Lackit and Wojciech Zogala create a future that is both dystopian and realistic. The environment in which most of the population lives is counter-productive to them figuring themselves out, in contrast, the rich, unaffected people’s places are filled with technology yet colder than the outside world. The dichotomy of both worlds is carefully calculated and built. These set or settings bring a lot to the story and the characters.

All of this is put together to create a film that shows a potential future for Earth, one that is not perfect or even all that good, but the good of people shines through. The representation of the mystery disease feels like something that could happen if humans do not kill each other first. The film makes its viewers think and does not take them for idiots. Some of the mysteries are never explained. It’s simply a slice of life with no explanation how we got there or of what comes after.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

Kaijyu Mono (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Emilie Black

In the only logical location for Kaijyu attacks, Japan, a Kaijyu wakes up and eats teenagers in a forest. A scientist and his assistants look into the event and get involved in the fight against the Kaijyu. The film is directed and co-written by Minoru Kawasaki who also worked on The Calamari Wrestler, a film with a very particular story line. With his co-writer on Kaijyu Mono, Takao Nakano, they create a delightfully bizarre tale that only makes sense when screening at Fantasia.

The story they build here is full of surprises and twists, not all of which make sense but they somehow fit in this film. It’s hard to explain, but it works, possibly because the whole premise is completely crazy. The characters they have created are not particularly original or deep and they feel like crazy caricatures which brought this viewer to the conclusion that it’s a wanted thing. They add so many odd selections to their film that it all has to be planned.

The cast for this is composed of Saki Akai, Bin Furuya, Shinzo Hotta, etc. They all are a bit cartoon-y and definitely do so on purpose as this is what the story lend itself to. That being said, the acting, within its confines and limitations, is quite good. It cannot be easy to keep a straight face when the elder actor on set shows up dressed as Sailor Moon for example.

The titular Kaijyu us fun, but not particularly original. It looks similar to many Kaijyus seen before, which is most likely a wanted thing as a throwback to old school Kaijyu films. This particular monster is clearly a man in a suit and it shows, adding charm to its appearances and to its fight sequences. In these sequences, the monster fights a giant man, made so by shots in the story and by using cool maquettes in the film techniques, bringing even more nostalgia to the proceedings. The fights themselves are more like wrestling than martial arts even though they do through some of that in there, they are very exaggerated, but quite entertaining.

Kaijyu Mono is a fairly simple film, keeping proceedings to a minimum of locations and characters. It’s fun and entertaining but doesn’t re-write the book on its genre or bring much new elements to the table. It’s silly, many elements are just there to be funny or look cool, but it works in a sense that it’s entertaining non-sense with a strong sense of nostalgia. Fans of old Kaijyu films should love Kaijyu Mono.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

The Best Thing I’ve Seen in 2016

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

Netflix’s “Stranger Things” is the best thing I’ve seen all year. TV show, Movie, Web show, et al. The Duffer Brothers “Stranger Things” season one is eight episodes long at fifty five minutes each and it’s the easiest eight hours I’ve ever spent watching a series. There’s no filler, no flab, no pointless segues in to a sub-plot that wanders aimlessly. Every element of every episode is crucial and important and The Duffer Brothers have no time to fuck around.

Continue reading →

Battledream Chronicle (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

I was a bit mixed on French anime “Battledream Chronicle” until the very end. I love the concept from Alain Bidard. It’s a very unusual mix of “Tron” and “The Matrix” where world decisions and lives are based around a virtual reality game based around gladiators and battling that results in actual lives lost. Set in the year 2100, humankind has managed to achieve paradise, but that’s been taken away by an evil computer AI. The computer has recruited various warriors from across the world to compete for the fate of their country. The team Mortemonde is on the verge of dominating the world after winning endless tournaments, and it’s up to Syanna to compose the perfect team to stop AI and give the world its freedom back.

“Battledream Chronicle” has a very unique idea that could be developed in to such a remarkable film, but in the end I had a difficult time finishing. Bidard takes such a long time developing any kind of characters and spends an obscene amount of time building up to the finale. For some inexplicable reason, entrenches us in to the middle of politics and characters bouncing dialogue off of one another, and how much is at stake if heroine Syanna doesn’t choose the proper teammates to take in to combat. I loved a lot of the concepts behind this digital tournament, including the soldiers that rule over it, and the weapons that are handed to the various gladiators to take in to combat. I wanted to know so much more about this bits and pieces.

But Bidard takes us more mystical here and there, relying on a lot of symbols and icons to represent various weapons, and conveying this digital world as something that’s one step up to achieving a higher state of mind. You’d think that would amount to a rich and complex fantasy, but I found it pretty muddled and I didn’t think there was enough glimpses in to the digital realm of Farandjun as there should have been. That said, “Battledream Chronicle” should be applauded for employing a large cast of minority heroes, including main character Syanna, who is African American. There’s also the wonderful animation which really compliments the quasi-futuristic aesthetic that kept the film walking the line between hard science fiction and dark fantasy.

I’d suggest checking this out if you’re a science fiction fan prone to experimenting and dabbling in more out of the ordinary fare. I found it fairly mediocre and severely lacking in action and excitement.

The Lure (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on July 29, 2016 by Emilie Black

Sirens attracted by a musician playing on the beach seduce him and his band into taking them in. With them, they become part of the entertainment at a night club while openly being sirens. When one of the girls falls for an earthly boy, she wants to trade her tail for legs, no matter the cost.

Written by Robert Bolestro, The Lure follows two siren sisters, Golden and Silver, as they navigate life on dry land. The story he builds here is interesting and entertaining with lead characters that attract attention and keep it. The story takes some unexpected turns and some less so, but all of them are fun to watch (even the ones less fun for the characters). The ending (no worries, no spoilers) is touching without being schmaltzy. Directing this modern fairytale is Agnieszka Smoczynska who takes the script and turns it into a kind of film version of a Bjork video. She creates a colorfully loud film in some scenes and a subdued one (color-wise) in others.

The way she shoots a domestic fight or an operation is fantastic and something this reviewer has not seen many times before (and I have seen thousands of films). Many scenes are shot in unexpected and original ways, making the film very unique. Adding to these directorial choices is the cinematography by Jakub Kijowski complementing the story and framing every image perfectly. The way this film is shot brings out its peculiar, exciting scenes and contrasts them excellently with the darker ones.

Playing the sirens are Marta Mazureka as Silver (Srebrna) and Michalina Olszanska as Gold (Zwota), both giving great performances. Mazurek shows her soft side, playing the more innocent siren who falls for a human. The way she develops her character is sweet and makes the viewers care about her like a little sister. Olszanska plays the other sister, more bold and mean almost. She brings out the killer side of sirens with gleeful abandon making her performance mesmerizing. One of the support characters stands out form the rest due to the actress’ performance, Wokalistka Krysia, the mom-type character who takes the girls in.

This performance by Kinga Preis is fantastic and layered. She shows the character’s vulnerability and her caring side, than switches to the performer side when her character hits the stage and commands attention, almost stealing scenes from the girls at times. A few of her performance pieces were reminiscent of LuLu.

Also more than worth the price of the ticket is the special effects for the sirens’ tails. They look as real as can be, with fishy scales and some glistening. They are beautiful and grab the attention. There is also some juicy, gooey gore in the aforementioned surgery scene that looks good. Unfortunately, the IMDB page for The Lure has no special effects or visual effects credits.

The Lure is a comedy/drama/musical/horror and as the sirens are singers being taken in by a band the music is highly important. The numbers and performances on screen with the band and then with the girls are fun, flamboyant at times, and highly entertaining. The pop songs are catchy and do not overstay their welcome while the choreography by Kaya Kolodziejczyk and Jaroslaw Staniek adds some sexiness to the girls’ already alluring performances.

The Lure is a great film, like a long form music video that works, reminiscent of Bjork and Mylene Farmer with a true Polish spirit. It offers a lot and is fun while remaining touching. It must be noted that it is Polish cinema’s first musical. The whole crowd at Fantasia ate it up and come out talking about what they had just seen.

Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 14^th to August 3^rd, 2016.

Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016)

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

At this point you kind of have to accept the “Sharknado” movies will never be as good as the novels, so going in to “The 4^th Awakens” means embracing it as a movie, and a media experience. It has a slew of appearances and cameos from notable internet personalities like Andre “The Black Nerd” Benjamin, to character actors like Gilbert Gottfried. Yes, even the Chippendales dancers appear to thrust against some sharks. “Sharknado” is a virtual side show of a genre offering that holds its tongue firmly in cheek, even when turning hero Fin in to a basic rip off of Ashley Williams from “Evil Dead.”

Continue reading →