Ingrid Goes West could have easily been condescending. It’s not a film about how the internet is bad though: it is simply a perceptive, empathetic (but also satirical) portrait of internet obsession. A statement rather than a lecture; this is how it is, now you decide how it should be. Aubrey Plaza plays Instagram obsessed Ingrid with an understanding that her character is mentally ill. The film is very funny, but it ultimately takes her mental illness seriously. Elizabeth Olsen is equally as good. Her performance as a vapid LA lifestyle blogger recalls Emma Watson’s brilliant turn in The Bling Ring. Ingrid Goes West is a whole lot of fun, and maybe a bit too relatable.
In Jeune Femme, Laetitia Dosch plays the young woman of the title with unapologetic ferocity. The film starts with her splitting open her head and manically pleading directly into the camera’s lens. Jump cuts immerse us in her fractured, impatient mind. As a character study, Léonor Serraille Camera d’Or winning debut is impeccable, if not exactly gripping. Jeune Femme is aimless and happy to be. It lacks momentum, but it cannot be faulted for the execution of its intentions: to show the stagnant life of a woman who challenges the limits of likeability, and never once sugar-coat.
Stuffy British period dramas are easy to dismiss, and that seems to be the fate of On Chesil Beach given the initial festival circuit buzz. However, the film is so much more intelligent than that label gives it credit for ― in fact, it is a comment on the stuffiness of the era. Both emotionally resonant and intellectually stimulating, director Dominic Cooke and screenwriter Ian McEwan explore the relationship of a pair of newlyweds (Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle) who are caught up in class barriers and changing times. It is an excellent, classically crafted film that only fails itself in its epilogue, which slides into more conventional territory and sidelines Ronan’s character just when it ought to have dug deeper.
That Saturday Church fails miserably as a musical almost doesn’t matter when its heart is as big as it is. It would be difficult not to fall for this tale of Ulysses (Luka Kain), a New York teen questioning their gender identity and sexuality. Director Damon Cardasis finds the story’s heart in Ulysses’ discovering of an LGBT+ community that supports and accepts each other where parents and peers may not. Bad songs, half-hearted choreography and flat out terrible lip-syncing be damned… the earnestness of Saturday Church making for wonderful viewing.
Beast doesn’t work, but it’s fascinating to watch it try. Director Michael Pearce attempts to tackle the thorny topic of sexual violence, and he almost hits on something true ― but Pearce’s screenplay constantly veers away from its most interesting ideas. Jessie Buckley’s impressive performance is wasted on iffy characterisation. It’s a visually promising debut that almost gets there… Pearce just needs to learn how to distinguish his good ideas from his bad ones.
The first of 12 days of LFF began this Wednesday with the UK premiere of Andy Serkis’ Breathe. I didn’t see it.
That kind of film can wait: a bio-pic being released in less than a month. LFF, for me, is an exhilaratingly intense opportunity to get head of the awards season hype, and also to start buzz for some films which won’t be seeing a release until well into next year. Every two days I’ll report back on the films I’ve seen, attempting to hide the effects of my increasing rates of exhaustion ― to varying rates of success.
RUSH TO SEE…
Ava
Ava is one of the best films playing at LFF. Léa Mysius’ debut charts one summer in the life of Ava (Noée Abita), a thirteen year old who is about to become blind. Mysius explores teenage sexuality in a daring, provocative manner, capturing Ava’s summer in rich colour with bracing 35mm photography. Abita’s performance is all rough edges and youthful impulsiveness; she gives a stunningly authentic turn that matches the work of any recent child actor. You won’t find many films with more cinematic verve and self-assurance on this year’s programme.
Eliza Hittman’s Beach Rats is not an enjoyable film. Its outlook is unrelentingly bleak ― arguably too bleak ― but the people and pressures she depicts are undeniably real. Harris Dickinson is brilliant as Brooklyn teen Frankie, who meets older men online for sex while hiding his sexuality from his hyper-masculine group of friends. Cinematographer Hélène Louvart captures Frankie’s daily life in beautiful, grainy neon. The film is repetitive, bleak and removed, despite the camera’s close proximity to Dickinson’s face. It’s a difficult watch, but an impressive one.
Documentarian Elvira Lind followed contemporary dancer Bobbi Jene Smith over several years as she moved from Israel back to the USA. Smith’s big move was prompted by a desire to break away from the troupe she had danced in for almost a decade and go solo, but the process challenges her romantic and personal relationships. Being an artist, Smith is as open a subject as you’ll find ― with both her body and her personal life. Lind captures her dance with beautiful simplicity, and she observes Smith with a compassionate gaze. The sense of exploitation felt in other documentaries is never present, as Smith’s own personal and revealing dances compliment the revealing nature of Lind’s documentary.
Lean on Pete is one of Andrew Haigh’s lesser works ― but that’s no slight. With only four features under his belt, the British director has already solidified himself as a master ― Weekend being his crowning jewel. Lean on Pete is a step in a new direction. It’s his first time tackling the US, and he paints on a wider canvas than he ever has before ― both in terms of the amount of land covered by protagonist Charley (Charlie Plummer), and the size of the sweeping landscape shots that Charley traverses with his stolen racehorse Lean on Pete. A tale of homelessness that depicts tragedy after tragedy, Lean on Pete is tough-going and emotionally taxing: but that’s just as much due to the story’s hope as it is its sadness. Haigh finds less treasure in small, spontaneous moments than he has done previously, but his observations and eye for emotion within a frame are spot-on.
After the intimacy of Pariah, Dee Rees’ latest, most ambitious effort, Mudbound, still finds ways to get inside its characters’ heads. Six different characters narrate the film at different points. Living in post-WWII Mississippi, they are people who might otherwise stoically keep their thoughts to themselves, so Rees allows them to speak directly to us rather than to each other. The film is heavy, episodic and messy by design. Some of the more interesting characters are forgotten too often ― particularly Mary J. Blige, who is excellent but underserved. However, Rees’ eye does wonders for what could have been a standard story. She brings the film home with a powerful pay-off that finds a glimmer of hope amid despair.
Todd Haynes has taken a step down with Wonderstruck. Still, that’s not saying much ― when your last film was Carol there’s nowhere to go but down. However, there’s one key thing Carol had that Wonderstruck lacks: understatement. Wonderstruck writes its message on the wall from the very start and makes sure to repeat and repeat until it’s been drilled into your head: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”. Haynes’ craft is still very much intact, and the effect of it is swoon-worthy in the half that is styled as a black and white silent film. That section is set in 1920s New York and centres on striking newcomer Millicent Simmonds as a young deaf girl searching for her famous actress mother (Julianne Moore). If the whole film had been about Simmonds I may have fallen for it. Unfortunately, every cut away from her to the 1970s-set half ― the half that is given the most screen time ― undermines the wordless beauty of Haynes’ silent filmmaking.
The dubious quality of director Michaël R. Roskam’s previous film The Drop should have been enough for me to doubt the quality of Racer and the Jailbird, but I was hooked in anyway. The dual star power of Adèle Exarchopoulos and Matthias Schoenaerts is quite a draw, but neither can do enough ― separately or together ― to save this dismal film. It’s quite a feat for a filmmaker to stamp out any heat between two such attractive and talented people, but Roskam simply does not know where to look. Overlong and dull, Racer and the Jailbird does not work as an action film, a romance, a drama, or any of the many other genres it attempts to cover in its bizarre, fluctuating narrative.
I’m tempted to recommend Agniezka Holland’s Spoor despite the fact that I did not enjoy it at all. It’s a good film on many counts, only not where it matters. Holland’s script (brilliantly performed by lead actress Agnieszka Mandat-Grabka) is best when it’s being darkly funny. The film attempts to act as an environmental parable, but the narrative is too scattered to add up to anything more than simply: people are terrible, and they should try not to be. It takes long enough to get to even get there.
Stronger is good at one thing: it palpably captures the connections within communities of people, and the way that they speak to each other. The film is set in Boston, in the wake of the Boston Marathon Bombing, and vitally it captures a strong sense of place. Other than that, its depiction of bombing victim Jeff Bauman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is stale and occasionally morally dubious. Bauman is often (understandably) irate as he adjusts to his new way of living after having his legs removed. However, in one scene when he (for the hundredth time) acts terribly to his dedicated girlfriend (Tatiana Maslany), the film cuts to footage of Jeff having his legs blown off in an attempt to absolve him. These tactics are cheap and tiresome, and negate the film’s attempts to deliver a nuanced exploration of his situation and the situation of those around him in the aftermath of a trauma.
There are few comedy stars as consistently hilarious and versatile in modern day Hollywood as Ken Jeong. The man has had a meteoric rise to comedy stardom with standout performances in some of the most hilarious films and series’ in recent memory. His latest role sees him star alongside one of the world’s most iconic superstars, David Hasselhoff, in an outrageous comedy that promises even more side-splitting moments from Mr Jeong:Killing Hasselhoff. To celebrate the release which is available to download digitally now and on DVD & Blu-rayTM from October 2nd, we’re taking a look at Ken’s rise to the top of the Hollywood comedy ladder, including some of his most brazen comedy moments!
Pineapple Express (2008)
Although the role of Ken, the menacing Asian mobster in Seth Rogan’s hilarious stoner comedy Pineapple Express, may not have been the role to showcase all of Ken Jeong’s most unique qualities, it helped cement his place in the American comedy movie scene for good.
Most visible during the now infamous gang shoot out at the films climax, Ken uses his screen time well to give some memorable one-liners and also demonstrate his ability to portray a more unstable character, not to mention his kick-ass skills with an automatic weapon. From here it was clear that nothing could stop the rise of Ken Jeong!
Role Models (2008)
In the uplifting and now fondly remembered comedy Role Models, Jeong played the villainous nerd ‘King Argotron’, who has spread his dictatorship of “LAIRE” (Live Action Interactive Role-playing Explorers) far and wide over the role play community. He even lies about being ‘slain’ by the loveable Augie (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) in order to keep his coveted crown firmly on his head.
Some of the film’s most hilarious moments come from Ken Jeong at his most outrageously detestable on the battlefield, getting his chance to show how hilarious he can be in a mainstream comedy when given the chance, and also showing another side of what he’s capable of.
The Hangover series (2009 – 2013)
This will surely be seen as Ken Jeong’s breakout role, as the utterly unhinged gangster Mr. Chow, who tries to wreak havoc on a group of young men, desperately trying to piece together a wild night in Vegas. His introduction of leaping out of the boot of a car in his birthday suit onto the shoulders of Bradley Cooper has got to be one of the most memorable moments in modern comedy.
And although a naked Ken Jeong attacking three grown men with a crowbar in the middle of the desert is far from middle of the road, it is testament to his comedic capabilities to say he managed to ramp up the ‘crazy’ even more so for the two incredibly successful sequels. Too-da-loo mother******s…!
Community (2009 – 2015)
2009 proved to be a very good year for Ken Jeong, as not only did he began his journey in what would become the most successful comedy film franchise of the 21st Century, he would also begin his six-year stint in Dan Harmon’s quirky comedy series Community.
The NBC series slowly developed a cult following (much like Harmon’s latest creation Rick and Morty) and is responsible for pushing forward some of the most talented comedians and actors in Hollywood today: Donald Glover, Alison Brie, Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs. Community focuses on a rag-tag group of adults attending a community college, with Jeong playing the unstable (to put it lightly) and unqualified Spanish teacher-turned-student, Senior Chang. Chang became one of the series’ most hilarious characters, always pushing the limits of how outrageous each episode could be. His character is also responsible for one of the first ever memes to go viral… “HAH! Gayyyyyy…”
Dr. Ken (2015 – current)
Ken Jeong’s profile has risen so much over the past few years that he has now made the jump from hilarious supporting character to loveable leading man, in his sitcom Dr. Ken, currently airing on ABC in the US. A qualified doctor himself, Jeong plays an accomplished physician (Jeong) who tries to balance his career at the hospital and a hectic family life with two kids and a wife.
In comparison to his roles in The Hangover and Community, Jeong has dialled down the crazy in this series, allowing him to display his qualities as a more middle-of-the-road doctor… but you always know that there’s a much more manic side to him ready to burst out at any given moment, which is just what he’s best at!
Killing Hasselhoff (2017)
Where do you go from leading role in a TV series I hear you ask? How’s about a leading role in this year’s most outrageous comedy film! Ken Jeong stars alongside one of the most iconic faces of all time, Mr. David Hasselhoff, in a film based around the idea of a group on celebrities (including Jeong himself) attempting to ‘off’ The Hoff for a huge pay-out. We can’t wait to see what kind of bonkers tricks Ken has got up his sleeve to get that celeb death-pool money, but from the looks of the trailer it’s going to be it’s going to be a pretty wild ride. Truly fitting for one of the industry’s most loveably OTT comedy actors!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DPzbBaLgKc
Killing Hasselhoff is out now on digital download and on Blu-ray and DVD from 2 October 2017
12 days of under the radar films ― some which will never be distributed, others which should grace our screens sometime in the next year or two. I attended for several of those 12 days and had a festival experience unique to any I’ve had before: each film was a journey of discovery. Some were very bad. Some were very good. Perhaps none I would have seen otherwise. I’ve chosen six of those I saw that are worth discovering for yourself.
I Still Hide to Smoke was a worthy winner of the Raindance Discovery Award. The prize was a grant of money to director Rayhana for post-production on her next project ― and whatever it is it’ll be worth keeping an eye on. Her debut I Still Hide to Smoke is set almost entirely in a single location: a hammam in 1995 Algiers, in which a large group of Muslim women gather to bathe, talk and seek refuge. Outside there is a constant threat of rape and violence, but in the hammam they are able to let themselves be free ― the film is unapologetic both in its unfussy nudity and its freeform lack of plot. Rayhana shows an incredible ability to orchestrate large groups of actors, and commendable daring for telling a story for which she has received violent threats since the release of the play on which it is based.
Maya Dardel was the most precisely crafted film I saw at Raindance. Directors Magdalena Zyak and Zachary Cotler shoot and edit it with an eye for detail and a feel for cinematic rhythm. Their film is difficult: the first 30 minutes are rapturously sharp and almost perfect. It loses focus off itself from then on, but it’s a fascinating mess, topped off by a captivating lead turn by Lena Olin as the titular Maya Dardel, an acclaimed writer who announces her own suicide on the radio.
The Misandrists is not a good film… I think. It left me completely baffled. There are no words to describe the feeling of watching it, but I’ll try: it’s like if Pedro Almodovar did a ton of coke and directed a porn parody of The Beguiled. In fact, director Bruce La Bruce has confirmed that his film is a loose remake of the 1971 Don Siegel film. The Misandrists is at turns boringly obvious and delightfully insane. It’s weird. Very weird. It’s something to behold.
Oh Lucy! opened Raindance, starting off trends that would continue for the rest of the festival: the dominance of female filmmakers and stories not often given prominence on larger platforms. Atsuko Hirayanagi directs actress Shinobu Terajima as Setsuko, a woman stuck in a dull Tokyo office job. As a character study, it is hilarious and perceptive, also allowing for a middle aged woman to be multi-faceted and flawed in a way we see all too little. Josh Hartnett shows up as Setsuko’s unconventional English teacher, and her pining after him is treated with more level-headedness than the similar dynamic in recent film Hello, My Name is Doris.
Jenny Lu’s film The Receptionist was the best thing that I saw at Raindance 2017. It left the audience in a state of hush: overcome by the sense of discovery that comes with finally seeing underrepresented voices tell their own stories on screen. The film follows a Taiwanese graduate living in London who gets a receptionist job in a brothel for Asian women. The women Lu depicts are realised on screen with compassion and respect. It is a film about people who sell their bodies which understands that that is not the most interesting thing about them. The Receptionist does not linger on sex or violence, instead focusing on the women laughing, dancing, worrying, eating, being bored… and talking to each other.
One of the first films to directly tackle the Trump presidency, Laura Plancarte’s Siblings is unapologetically political. The documentary places side by side the opposing stories of two Mexican brothers who have been deported from the US, and a Trump voting American woman named Vanessa. Plancarte cuts between the two in order to directly juxtapose their actions and ideals, often capturing footage of them engaging with the same things in different ways: one scene sees both subjects watching the same Trump speech on TV. The ideas the film presents are vital and worth discussing. It’s a fascinating film.
One of the best things about cinematography is that there are so many movies available that having a movie marathon becomes a great idea no matter what kind of person you are. There are tons of movies out there for every taste, although some productions heavily overlap in terms of target audiences. This is also the case with the National Lampoon movies which have often captivated many people from varied generations. If a National Lampoon marathon sounds like a good time to spend your next weekend to you, make sure to check these ones out first. Tastes differ, but these have been ranked as been some of the best productions from National Lampoon.
Vegas Vacation
When this one was released, it didn’t drop anyone’s jaw, and many would jump to say that it hasn’t aged well either. With that in mind however, there are also enough people willing to vouch for this movie, as it does its job pretty well: It’s a decent movie that will give you something entertaining to watch, especially if you’re nibbling on a snack. It’s the exact kind of lazy Sunday flick you need that will keep you entertained without making you think too much in the process. For Chevy Chase’s sake, it’s definitely worth a watch. From today’s perspective, it’s pretty intriguing to see how the lack of a proper betting website drove the Griswold family head all the way to Las Vegas.
Van Wilder
What might be one of Ryan Reynolds’ earlier roles which have put him on a large scale acting map, Van Wilder is considered by many one of the best American Pie movies that isn’t actually an American Pie movie. So if that kind of genre is what gets you going, this one can be summed up perfectly by those standards. It’s definitely a movie you should check out if you’re planning on sparing a couple of giggles, and especially if you want to get a bit melancholic with the early 2000’s style teen movies.
European Vacation
With European Vacation, the Griswolds are back in action. This time around, the gang is traveling to Europe for a sweet family vacation but as you can imagine, things don’t go so well in their favor. The movie is loaded with American stereotypes and sprinkled with little giggle-worth moments here and there. Critics are far from calling it the best National Lampoon movie out there, or even the best Vacation movie, but it’s not the worst either. It definitely changes the scenery with constant moving throughout European locations.
National Lampoon’s Vacation
Diving deep into this series of movies without capitulating with the ultimate classic, National Lampoon’s Vacation, is a serious offense. No matter how you feel about the National Lampoon movies in general, one thing’s for sure: Whatever you find to your liking in any of the other movies you are sure to find in double the quantity in this particular iteration.
This is the birthplace of the Griswold family, with Chevy Chase forever embedding his character Clark Griswold into cinematic history. While you might be tempted to start with this one, it can also be rewarding to finish off your marathon with it, as high impact send-off.
