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  • The Best Short Films To See At Fantasia Fest 2021

    The Best Short Films To See At Fantasia Fest 2021

    Short films are shocking by nature. With a running time of only a few minutes, they need to make an immediate and lasting impression on audiences in order to stick in viewers minds and give the film and its makers longevity. This is something we have come to expect from the format, but not all need to be like this. Some succeed by showcasing succinct storytelling skills or a high level of art.

    The wide selection of shorts shown at the 2021 Fantasia Festival have many examples of such films with their share of sensationalist content. However, there are two stand outs that contain what some may see as shock value, but are not memorable for their more salacious elements. They are just well-made, professional productions.

    The French-Belgian co-production Hold Me Tight, directed by Mélanie Robert-Tourneur, could be seen to some as sensational, but others would find it a beautifully drawn, unique interpretation of the traditional human romance story. The film substitutes more familiar forms of communication and interaction with a more animalistic aspect to show how love and desire – the feelings and acts of each – within reason are not to be thought of as poor shows of character. They are in fact natural.

    By use of its exemplary artwork, which is reason enough alone to see it, the film seems to make a stark comment on changing attitudes towards sex. The use of many different animal and plant imagery show us how something which has been taboo for so many for so long is in fact a part of nature. Hold Me Tight is open to interpretation and may be viewed in a completely different way by each audience member.

    Conversely, Nicole Bazuin’s Last Night at the Strip Club is neither fiction nor animation, but a true-life story from author and exotic performer Andrea Werhun. Whereas this one could have also been fuelled by provocation in order to attract attention, instead it is a far more thoughtful and engaging short.

    When working as a stripper in Toronto when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Werhun at first felt uncomfortable there when her club was slow to close down, but when it did found herself thrown into doubt for what it meant for her livelihood. Her line of work is hard to do when not in person, or as she puts it, “How am I supposed to give a guy a lap dance when I can’t even shake his hand?”

    Down-to-earth, funny, open and honest about what she thinks and feels as well as highly articulate and expressive, Werhun offers amusing and interesting insights to her line of work and is uninhibited when detailing the personalised services she now offers, no longer able to work in person any more. This ranges from sending standard nudes to more imaginative fare, such as reading Dr Seuss books topless. She also re-creates the last interaction she had with a club patron, playing both parts.

    Most illuminating about the film is how it challenges the stigma of what sex industry workers do. It is an assumption Werhun had before entering the industry herself, but quickly found the girls who work in strip clubs wanting to be there. (Of course it should be noted that is not a universal truth.) She seems happy with her life and unashamed of what she does, while also giving us a brief insight into what the men who visit her are really like and what they are looking for. That may be obvious to some, but its surprising to see how sincerely it is portrayed.

    It is through superior storytelling, unique premises and a high level of craft that makes these two films stand out in a crowded, hard-to-navigate space that is short film. Their many merits make both Hold Me Tight and Last Night at the Strip Club worth seeking out.

    The Best Short Films To See At Fantasia Fest 2021

  • The Protégé: The BRWC Review

    The Protégé: The BRWC Review

    The Protégé Synopsis: Rescued as a child by the legendary assassin Moody (Samuel L. Jackson), Anna (Maggie Q) is the world’s most skilled contract killer. However, when Moody gets killed, she vows revenge for the man who taught her everything she knows.

    Lean-and-mean actioners are a rarity in today’s theatrical marketplace. The subgenre was a beloved staple since the ’80s, with distinctive stars often carrying the action and storytelling weight of their by-the-numbers material. Now, most straightforward action films are fated to unfaithful streaming releases. Even box-office staples like Liam Neeson, Michael B. Jordan, and Chris Pratt can’t escape the everchanging tides. 

    The lack of theatrical actioners makes Martin Campbell’s latest The Protégé a refreshing blast of nostalgia. Pairing Campbell – the beloved architect behind two of the best James Bond films (Casino Royale and GoldenEye) – with three dynamics stars seems like a great foundation. Unfortunately, the film’s non-starter screenplay derails it at every turn. 

    To The Protégé’s credit, Campbell spins a brisk and highly-watchable yarn. His poised precision behind the camera elevates a series of boilerplate setpieces. The lack of over-used techniques, like shaky cam and quick edits, works wonders in shedding the tackiness of today’s over-produced efforts. I was also charmed by the film’s trio of stars. Maggie Q carries the gravity and smooth swagger of a bonafide action star, oftentimes commanding the screen despite her one-note role. Michael Keaton delivers a wicked perkiness to his role as a rival hitman, while Samuel L. Jackson provides his usual spark in his limited appearances. 

    I admire The Protégé’s throwback sensibility – it’s a move studios don’t embrace enough in a world run by oversaturated blockbusters. However, inert execution creates more of a bargain bin imitation. Richard Wenk’s screenplay offers a few glimpses of cheeky subversion (a dinner scene where characters describe their guns like wine earned some laughs), but the majority coasts through a wave of uninteresting cliches. From the tired revenge plotline to the overabundance of filler plot mechanics, the screen remains busy without defining a level of attachment. 

    Even with the cast sparking some vitality into the proceedings, none of the characters develop past the genre’s familiar archetypes. The script doesn’t even know what it wants to do with these characters at points, introducing random backstory that’s never touched on in meaningful ways. I understand action films of this ilk don’t need innovation. Most films subvert their routine plotlines through intricate plotting or developing a distinct personality. Campbell’s film is too content going through the motions to draw a real impression.

    The Protégé, despite its competence, is about as vanilla as it gets for the genre. 

    The Protégé opens in theaters on August 20th.

  • Aaliyah Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Aaliyah Edition: Bits & Pieces

    Aaliyah Edition: Bits & Pieces – Critically acclaimed comedy horror hit Scare Me,from Josh Ruben in his feature directorial debut, which he also writes and stars in, makes its UK Blu-ray debut this August from Acorn Media International in conjunction with Shudder, following its success on the streaming service. 

    Rodger returns home from college with two friends to settle the affairs of his recently deceased father. They begin to experience weird and unsettling occurrences in the house. Rodger is soon plagued by strange childhood memories about a haunting by a ghostly presence. These memories boil over into reality culminating in an intense showdown with the terror that has come back. 

    Marking 25 years to the day since the first night of the record breaking Knebworth 1996 concerts, today Oasis unveil the trailer for their eagerly anticipated cinematic documentary, released in cinemas worldwide from September 23 via Trafalgar Releasing. In addition, tickets to the theatrical release of ‘Oasis Knebworth 1996’ are now available.

    Following the success of his debut feature, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, distributor Titanus tasked writer/director Dario Argento with delivering a follow-up in short order. The resulting film, granted a greatly enhanced budget and heralded in its US marketing campaign as “nine times more suspenseful” than its predecessor, was The Cat O’ Nine Tails.

    STEEL SONG follows the lives of three of these women; Shoshana Shellans, a teacher and military veteran who tirelessly trains to make the American team, Bridgette Parkison, a writer with autism and essential tremors, who fights to conquer her self- doubt, and Julee Slovacek-Peterson, a mother and domestic abuse survivor who faces her past in combat with the love and support of her family.

    THE COURIER is a true-life spy thriller, the story of an unassuming British businessman Greville Wynne (Benedict Cumberbatch) recruited into one of the greatest international conflicts in history. At the behest of the UK’s MI6 and a CIA operative (Rachel Brosnahan), he forms a covert, dangerous partnership with Soviet officer Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) in an effort to provide crucial intelligence needed to prevent a nuclear confrontation and defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis.

    Written and directed by Marley Morrison, the sharply observed coming-of-age comedy stars Jo Hartley (This is England, David Brent: Life on the Road & Eddie the Eagle), Sophia Di Martino (LOKI) & newcomers Nell Barlow & Ella-Rae Smith. The film delighted critics and audiences at BFI Flare LGBTQ+ Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival & Best First Feature at Inside Out Toronto.

    When a mysterious stranger arrives in a gated community on the outskirts of a large Polish city, he is welcomed by the wealthy residents who embrace his talents as a masseur. Though his hands provide healing, his eyes seem to penetrate their very souls, lifting a disquiet in each of their lives. Zhenia (Alec Utgoff) possesses a magical gift and to the residents his Russian accent also sounds like a song from the past, a peaceful melody from their childhood when the world was a safer place. And though his hypnotic techniques bring calm his background remains a mystery, leaving the residents to wonder what other secrets he holds.

    We are thrilled to debut the CANDYMAN featurette “A LOOK INSIDE” featuring Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele. CANDYMAN is the highly anticipated contemporary incarnation of the cult classic directed by rising filmmaker Nia DaCosta (Little Wood) and produced by Oscar® winner Jordan Peele (Get Out, US).

    PIG is the directorial debut of Michael Sarnoski whose script is based on a story he co-wrote with Vanessa Block.  The film is produced by Dimitra Tsingou, Thomas Benski, Ben Giladi, David Carrico, Adam Paulsen, Dori Rath, Joseph Restaino, Steve Tisch. Block and Cage.

    BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Céline Sciamma (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) presents an entrancing look at the delicate connection between mother and daughter. A favourite of the 2021 Berlin Film Festival, this beautifully understated drama returns the director to her preoccupation with coming-of-age stories to typically masterful effect.

    The Hand of God will be released in select cinemas in December and on Netflix on December 15, 2021. The World Premiere will take place on 2nd September at the 78th Venice International Film Festival. 

    Lucy Standbridge (Aubrey Plaza) has inherited her father’s publishing house, and the ambitious would-be editor has nearly sunk it with failing titles. She discovers she is owed a book by Harris Shaw (Michael Caine), a reclusive, cantankerous, booze-addled author who originally put the company on the map decades earlier. In a last-ditch effort to save the company, Lucy and Harris release his new book and embark on a book tour from hell that changes them both in ways they didn’t expect.

  • Prisoners Of The Ghostland: Posters, Trailer

    Prisoners Of The Ghostland: Posters, Trailer

    Elysian Film Group announces PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND, the samurai western action film directed by Sion Sono (Love Exposure, Why Don’t You Play in Hell?) starring Nicolas Cage (Face/Off, Leaving Las Vegas), Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), Nick Cassavetes (Face/Off), Bill Moseley (House of 1000 Corpses), Tak Sakaguchi and Yuzuka Nakaya will be released in UK cinemas and on digital platforms on 17 September. The UK premiere will take place at FrightFest on 28 August.

    Described by legendary actor Nicolas Cage as ‘the wildest movie I’ve ever made’ PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND is a high-octane, post-apocalyptic tale of redemption and uprising that marks celebrated Japanese director Sion Sono’s first English-language film. 

    In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber (Nicolas Cage) is sprung from jail bywealthy warlord The Governor (Bill Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Sofia Boutella) has gonemissing.  The Governor offers the prisoner    his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway.  Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within five days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman— andhis own path to redemption.

    “There is a sweet spot between deadly serious and completely ridiculous that is enticing to us as storytellers” explain writers of the script, Aaron Hendry and Reza Sixo Safai, who were inspired by the world of high intensity and surprising absurdity found in the cherished action and horror films of their youth, films such as The Wild Bunch, Road Warrior, Evil Dead, Conan, The Barbarian, The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.

    The rollercoaster adventure of PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND alludes to serious themes including the ugly spectre of 80’s atomic power but never takes itself too seriously.  Embracing this marriage of the profound and the absurd, the eclectic and irreverent Japanese director Sion Sono proved the perfect collaborator.  Henry and Safai recall “When Sion came onto the film, the influence of his experience, artistry, and culture pumped psychedelic steroids into each of these early notions that gave birth to the initial       script.”

    Director Sion Sono, one of the most distinctive and universally celebrated Japanese auteurs, is known for films that range from social dramas to wild, uncompromising, uninhibited cinema.  Dubbed by The Hollywood Reporter as“the most subversive filmmaker working in Japanese cinema today”, his films are always pushing boundaries and constantly surprising. 

    Prisoners Of The Ghostland Poster

    He has directed over 50 feature films including Love Exposure (winner of the Caligari Film Award and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2008 Berlin International Film Festival); Himizu (winner of the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the 68th Venice International Film Festival); and the action-drama Why Don’t You Play in Hell? (winner of the People’s Choice Award in the Midnight Madness section at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival). 

    Explaining his approach to PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND, his feature English-language film, Sono comments “Using the classic storytelling of actions films, I created the ‘East meets West’ world that doesn’t exist anywhere else.  What I wanted to create is distortions of the modern society and its irrationalities making real of the unreal world.”

    It was perhaps only a matter of time before Sono found his way to collaborate with kindred spirit and cult icon Nicolas Cage, an actor whose remarkable versatility has led to great success across all genres for over three decades.  Cage’s recent work includes the critically acclaimed story of a truffle-hunter Pig, his award-winning,groundbreaking performance in the horror/thriller Mandy, the critically acclaimed Color Out of Space, and thevoice of Spider Noir in the Academy Award-winning Best Animated Feature Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. 

    During his early career, Cage starred in a variety of classic films including Valley Girl (1983), Racing with the Moon(1984), Birdy (1984), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Raising Arizona (1987), Moonstruck (1987), Vampire’s Kiss (1989), Wild at Heart (1990), Fire Birds (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), and Red Rock West (1993). Cage received anAcademy Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award for his performance as a suicidal alcoholic in Leaving Las Vegas (1995) before coming to the attention of worldwide audiences with mainstream blockbusters such as The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), Con Air (1997), City of Angels (1998), National Treasure 1 and 2 (2004, 2007) and Lord of War (2005). He earned his second Academy Award nomination for hisperformance as Charlie and Donald Kaufman in Adaptation (2002). He also directed the film Sonny (2002), forwhich he was nominated for the Grand Special Prize at The Deauville Film Festival. Cage has also been prolific as a producer, with films such as Shadow of The Vampire (2000) and The Life of David Gale (2003). 

    Sofia Boutella is an acclaimed actor who recently starred in Amazon Prime’s Modern Love, in Fahrenheit 451opposite Michael B Jordan and Michael Shannon and in Gaspar Noe’s Climax.  In addition, Sofia starred opposite Jodie Foster and Jeff Goldblum in Hotel Artemis and in Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy, co-starring opposite Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe.  She also starred in the action-thriller Atomic Blonde opposite Charlize Theron andJames McAvoy.  Previously, Sofia was seen in Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond and in Matthew Vaughn’s Kingsman: The Secret Service.  An internationally acclaimed dancer, Sofia starred in a series of iconic Nike ads choreographed by renowned creative director Jamie King showcasing her street dancing skills. In 2006, she went on to win the World Championship Hip Hop Battle with her group, The Vagabond Crew. From there, Sofia became a breakout star in the dance world and was invited to dance on tour with Madonna. She was also cast as the main character in the video of Michael Jackson’s ‘Hollywood Tonight’.

    PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND is the third theatrical release from Elysian Film Group, the newly established UK distribution company headed up by CEO Danny Perkins. Also on the slate for 2021 is Elysian’s first UK production currently in development GREATEST DAYS, a feel-good film based on the stage musical The Band which features 16 hit songs from UK boy-band, Take That. www.elysianfilmgroup.com

    Prisoners Of The Ghostland Poster
    Prisoners Of The Ghostland Poster
  • Handsome: Review

    Handsome: Review

    Being a caretaker for a disabled family member is not an easy task.  It is unpaid, underappreciated, and often requires juggling time between a salaried job and caretaker responsibilities.  Director Luke White’s documentary, Handsome, chronicles the lives of the Bourne siblings.  Alex has Down syndrome.  Nicholas considers the best living alternative for Alex—living at home together or finding a professional live-in caretaker that would help Alex with his day-to-days.  

    Nicholas arranges a journey that takes the brothers from Cornwall, to New York, to Mumbai, and to Hanoi in order to understand what life is like for siblings living with Down syndrome and the quality of life for those who have Down syndrome in different parts of the world.  Handsome not only helps us appreciate the travails of those with Down syndrome, but also the differing attitudes families and nations have toward Down. 

    Nicholas discovers that while some families dare not mention the “D word” so as to not stigmatize their loved ones, other families talk openly about Down syndrome.  Handsome is revelatory in its discussion of the lack of programs and support offered to adults with Down syndrome.  These are social deficiencies that are only exacerbated—especially in the case of India—by extreme poverty.  

    Handsome elucidates without simplifying.  Non-Down siblings openly discuss the dilemmas they face.  They want to live and take care of their Down siblings but fear the costs they may have to pay in their own romantic relationships.  Nicholas and other siblings wonder about the sexual desires of their Down siblings along with the level of self-awareness they may have that they are different from others.  Often, society stigmatizes those with Down and makes them all too self-aware of their condition. 

    Even something like reaching the right equilibrium of caretaking requires consideration.  Nicholas wonders if his parents’ tendency to “baby” and do everything for Alex may not have hampered his ability to communicate verbally.  Documentaries like Handsome are not flashy, but they do precisely what they are meant to do.  They take viewers into a relatively unexplored world and educate us.