GULL, directed by Kim Mi-jo ***

A sixty-year-old woman of little education has spent over 30 years working in a fish market. She is raped by one of the workers, but no one will attest to it to help her when together with her daughter they go to the police. The comment made by her drunken husband about rape reflect as repulsive attitude about rape in Korea. The men in this film are drunk and vulgar. A touching but disturbing film.

EMPTINESS, directed by Paul Venegas ***

Lei and dozens other hide in a shipping crate traveling from China to Ecuador. Her dream is to get to New York. She is taken into the care of a good man, but a very bad man from China has other plans for her and her friend. She has even paid for her final destination to her dream city.

He uses them as a mule and gets them their ticket to New York. They plan a ruse to foil the plan, but sadly, the end shows that migrants’ dreams don’t always happen the way they wish. Non-actors make this film so real. The refugee plight is harrowing.

THE NEW PLASTIC ROAD, directed by Angelos Tsaousis, Myrto Papadopoulos ****

Davlat is a Tajik merchandiser and a humble yet ambitous father of three children. A well-respected businessman in the Pamir area, a mountainous region southeast of Tajikistan in the borders with China. His life has been transformed since the opening of the Tajik-Chinese border and the reconstruction of the old Silk Road: A road full of surprises and new experiences for Davlat and his family. The driving is long. The film documents his present life aS he speaks to the camera. He also speaks about his childhood - his favorite time of life. His life prospers, until his health with a bad back and leg caused by a car accident long ago in his childhood on route to China, now stops him from enjoying life. Traders have opened up China to the remote region in Tajikstan.  I loved this film.

 

TAR, directed by Aaron Wolf **

There’s a pit left open at a small out door area showing the La Brea tar pit prehistoric animals in LA. In 1976, archeologists dug a pit and went down to explore. They never came back. The tar monster got them, and though a man on the street tells the story of the monster and what happened, no one believes him. A father and son who just don’t get along work together next door, but they have to move to make way for a new development. The father doesn't think the son will ever amount to much, but guess what? Not true. This is a tar-tamed spoof of an urban horror flic, full of pretty women with big busts (one in particular), so I'm sure you can guess what happens.

 The tar monster is after them all because that area was built over this prehistoric tar pit area. Lots of guys and gals get tarred. This film has no surprises.

Blind Spot, directed by Pierre Trividic, Patrick Mario Bernard **

 

 The oddest film. A black man can make himself invisible. It started when he was a baby in the cradle. A crazy premise without feeling much for any character at all, the plot - it would seem that what we see is not always the truth, and the truth is hidden. I won’t say more about the film other than it holds our attention, but having the hero walk around nude most of the film to show he is invisible was just wearing. This film needs focus, clarity and editing.

Concerto, directed by Filippo Conz

 

David Zayas as Ray, the detective

A powerful short. A young violinist is caught naked in the kitchen of a detective's house. The young man just slept with the detective’s wife. The detective forces him into his car. He tells the violinist his daughter loves a violin piece, but he doesn’t know the name of it. He forces the young man to walk in the woods and tells him that two girls were found and it was the swimming coach who hid them, then chopped them up to pieces. All the while, that swimming coach had been lying to the detective. At the site where they were chopped up the two men go to. The violinist takes out his violin and plays that piece. Trevor Long as the violinist was superb in his role. It is a great short.

                                                             Trevor Long as the violinist

Comrade Drakulich, directed by Mark Bodszar***

                   

       

Comrade Fabian has come to Hungary and is welcomed by his cold comrades from the 70s. But this sexy comrade looks like he’s in his 30s. Two spies who are actually a couple, named Laci and “Birdy” are assigned the task of finding out about him and why he is so young. He ahs come to sponsor a Vietnamese blood drive, but his real motive is to take all the blood from the drive for his own. He’s a vampire, and by the end of the film, he gets the girl. Ironically was  assigned to only escort him to various events concerning the blood drive. 

But it seems the head of the party wants to gain eternal youth, and so wants Comrade Fabian captured to find out his secret. Blood not gold is the sought-after prize in this entertaining, quirky movie that puts a salacious spin with a lot of spoof on the vampire genre.

WOMEN OF THE WEEPING RIVER, directed by Sheron Dayoc ****

In the Mindanio region of the Philippines, two families are carrying out revenge killings. A father and husband of Satra, the main character has been killed. Then two sons eventually are killed. The two women who have suffered their own tragedies in this eventually settle on peace, despite the patriarch of both families. Sadly, one father takes it into his own hands, and the ending is graphically telling, though it is a still. This slow-moving movie is really compelling. The cast is so believable and to think that except for the two women and the vengeful father, the others in the film are not actors.

 

 AFTERSHOCK, directed by Gareth Wilkes ****

A tightly crafted short. A waitress ends up at closing time; but there's a man there who wants to finihs his coffee. He begins to show her his drawings of her. She's impressed. She goes to lock the safe, and what follows is horrific. Suddenly there is an earthquakes, and both are trapped. He's under a cement block, but she has not been made immobile. Gas is leaking and time is running out for both.  She needs his help to pull the blocked door open. What happens  provide a great plot twist. The title is fitting in more ways than one. A great short made for women seeking revenge. 

KHAMSIN, directed by Gregoire Couvert**

 

A documentarythat features musicians, installation arts and more as they tackle war-torn Lebanon using their art to reflect the ongoing devastation of this country. The Golden age of Lebanon is finished, and wars have turned the county into shattered buildings. Black and white clips show it all. Many of the artists left, but returned to their homeland, specifically Beirut.

 

MOSSAD, Directed by Gur Ayre ***

This hilarious spoof of the Israeli Mossad is part Peter Sellers and part James Bond.  From the get-go, the whacky humour punctuated with penultimately funny one-liners gets you laughing at every second. Yet the plot is serious enough. A billionaire tech dude is kidnapped by terrorists, so a handsome Mossad agent named Guy teams up with a less than perfect FBI agent. Sadly, the FBI guy gets fried in the most noble of sacrificial ways right at belly body level. But all is not lost; he’s rebuilt like a Robocop wizard. The bungling duo has got to succeed in their mission, or else the retiring director of the Mossad will  ose his chance to light a torch in the Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony. Such ridiculousness typifies the entire series of events that combine exaggeration with comedic entertainment.

The beginning moves like an action packed low-budget nail biter (but as a spoof). However, the movie sputters part way through, but still ends up befriending our silly bone in a refreshing way.

FANTASIA REVIEWS 2020

The roundup of films this year are spilling in iconic horror, quirkiness, surreal and   realities. But violence is one thing you can depend on in this festival’s red rush of films.

Take for instance Fly Me to Saitama  - Japanese discrimination is addressed in this comedy and snobism graphically modern in style with a story that reflects parental prejudice and homophic tendencies. Then you have a more old-fashioned style of kicking and shoving as in A Hero Never Dies. A film with depth imbedded in a twisting plot is Witness out of the Blue. A jewelry store is robbed but the “who dunit” perennial question gets you an answer that will shock you. Wrongly framed, the hero finds his own way in life after the mayhem gets sorted out. SPL: Kill Zone was a hectic head spinner with a plot that could have spun circles around even the best whirling dervish dancer. It pits an ageing detective cop against a brutal gangster. But the characters and the psychological aspect in the film made for meaty entertainment enhanced with intellectual fodder for thought. My favourite this year was The Columnist. A female writer is constantly harassed with sexist jokes and serious allegations based on her sex that make any woman with smarts shudder. She gets her own kind of revenge in the goriest way. Suffice it to say that a knife into the neck and slicing off the finger of every male who maliciously lied about her, gives pleasure to the heroine protagonist who has been so beaten down by men – just for being smart and saying what she thinks.  

All Fantasia films were screened on line during the pandemic

 I missed the live exciting ambiance from the Fantasia crowd.

FNC 2020 Faces Covid by Going on line with a Round-up of Unique Weird Movies

SIN LA HABANA, directed by Kaveh Nabatian****

Leonardo and Sara hatch a plan. As Cubans, they both want to go to Canada. She wants to practice law, and he wants to get a job in Montreal ballet company.  That’s because he got fired from the company in Cuba for his arrogance and disrespect – even though he is the best dancer there. Nassim, an Iranian Jew, is visiting Cuba and Leo pretends to love her. She sponsors him to come to Montreal. Sara is okay with this as it will be her ticket to come as well. Leo find a guy to marry Sara and bring her to Montreal. But things turn badly for all three. The ending is ambiguous. It’s a great film that could very well be true.

THE DROWSY CITY, directed by Dung Luong Dinh ****

Set in the Vietnamese slums of a city, the film brings us sweet-faced Tao, who slaughters chickens in sadistic ways, pouring boiling water on them, and defeathering them alive and more. He sleeps in the rubber vat he slaughters them in. one days he peeps in on three thugs who are physically abusive to a prostitute they are holding against her will. These violent thugs capture him and torture him, even making him dance like a chicken, and feed them.

 He is let go, and in his makeshift hovel, he makes them a big chicken soup but melts sleeping pills inside. The tables trunk on these men and Tao turns them into chickens by sticking feathers in them. Revenge, evil survival tactics, misery and lawlessness in this film graphically reflect the state of affairs in the slums of Vietnam. 

The Tremor, directed by Balaji Vembu Chell   bomb

So dull that even this tremor will put you to sleep. A photojournalist plays Tamil music in his car as he drives to a site reported to have had an earthquake of sorts. He walks paths, goes to villages, and is once or twice told that years ago there was such a thing. He never really discovers proof of a present-day tremor.  

Siberia, directed by Abel Ferarra **

Not even Willem Dafoe can save this surreal film that pits a loner living in a shack in Siberia who makes love to a native woman to find her bleeding to death with her mother She was pregnant. He travels to different area with his husky dog mashing his way into caves, where he meets his dead dad, to his ex-wife and his son and travels so far into hallucinogenic settings that one wonders if his is more than a lost soul. Beautiful cinematography.  In the end after his long journey into haunting places, he returns only to find his entire shack has been destroyed along with his husky cage. Life is pretty scary in this hypnotic but obtuse film. 

MY SALINGER YEAR (Directed by Philippe Falardeau)***

Joanna Rakoff is an aspiring writer. She moves to New York, leaving her boyfriend karl behind to start her literary journey. She gets a job at an agency whose main task is to shred letters to J.D. Salinger from all fans, but she ends up writing to some. She is given strict instructions by Margaret (Sigourney Weaver) who heads the agency, never to talk to “Jerry” when he calls. In short, she takes up with Don, a no-good boyfriend who also writes, but in the end follows her real passion and it’s not him.  There are some absurd surreal moments but all in all, I would say this film is flatly delivered. all the film really falls flat. Based on a book by, one wonders it had a better read than watching this film. An FNC Sreening 

THALASSO, directed by Guillaume Nicloux ***

It started out with understated brilliant acting. The narrative teams up to ageing men (Michel Houellebecq and Gerald Depardieu taking cures in a French spa. They discus death, sex and family issues that leads to a shocking disruptive ending that totally does not fit into the film at all. It is a documentary of sorts in intent that talks about the kidnapping of Michel. Confusing at the end, the film falters dramatically as it can’t make up its mind if its about kidnapping or fighting getting old.  Great acting.  

La Hija de un Ladron, directed by Belen Funes ****

Remember this title and watch this film! Greta Fernandez as Sara is outstanding. She has a baby to care for and really no hone. She gets a job in a cafeteria kitchen but struggles constantly to make ends meet and care for her baby. The father comes and goes and helps her but doesn’t want any intimacy with her. Sara is abandoned by her lying father who waffles between handing her a baguette and crumbs, literally and figuratively. mean to her. She files for custody of her little lame brother Martin. Hoping to take him from her irresponsible father. In the final scene isn’t court, she breaks down, and mutters, “Will I be alone?” That is her fear, and that is what she lives every day. A amazing performance by the lead actor. The ensemble cast is superb. The film makes a intense comment on the working class in Barcelona, and that each day is a struggle to get through it and meet the next one with bravery and vigor – as Sara does

RED POST ON ESCHER STREET, directed by Sion Sono*

Despite the director’s vision to create the chaos and manipulations that happen when making a feature film, he ended up creating a massive mayhem collage of would-be nobodies who wish to be a part of a movie directed by their idol. It is totally absurd in presentation and plot. Taken to the realm of impossibilities, the exaggerated approach in content fails to resonate or convey his message. Instead, we are delivered a hodgepodge of scenes that show the obsession to be in a film and one that has a famous director. There was one funny episode when an old man who has made a career out of being an extra plays his video to some of the kids that show his moment of glory. This rings true as so many extras strive to be more than that a human backdrop. In his case, he is proud of his long career as an extra. 

 APPLES, directed by Christos Nikou **

A mans is found one a bus with amnesia. He is put into a program to reinvent himself. He is tasked with taking pictures with his polaroid camera of him on a bike, dancing, having a lap dancer on his lap, fishing and more. He even has to find a sick person in the hospital to care for before the dying man dies which happens within days. He befriends a girl also in the program and she is more open than he is. His one constant are the apples he eats. W keep waiting for something to happen but it doesn’t. Perhaps this movie is a metaphor for our disenfranchised society – Greek drama modernized and stuck in the confusing world we all live in where memories are a blur and present-day life is a place in time we wish not to remember.

Il n' y a pas de faux metier  (directed by Olivier Godin) bomb 

A runaway actress who manically wishes to learn English; a screenwriter who has a poet defusing bombs, a priest who is into smell-based sermons, and is crazy for Denzel Washington - this is the madhouse cast of characters who are helplessly lost. Using Greek chorus techniques and monologues, this terrible film is a mess fo a burlesque/comedia del art creations that showcases the worst of Quebec cinema - theatrical silliness passing for art.

KHAMSIN, directed by Gregoire Couvert **

A documentary that features musicians, installation arts and more as they tackle war-torn Lebanon using their art to reflect the ongoing devastation of this country. The Golden age of Lebanon is finished, and wars have turned the county into shattered buildings. Black and white clips show it all. Many of the artists left, but returned to their homeland, specifically Beirut.

THE REPUBLICS **, directed by Huw Wahl

From the Isle of Dogs and  the Western Isles through to northern Italy, this grainy black and white documentary shows poet. Stephen Watts reading form his texts with backdrops of city lines and nature that visually reflect his poems. They are full of images and scorn at the way things have been ruined, but there are also poems about the miraculous world of nature. His cerebral poems reflect intellect,insight and though sometimes bitter in image, his thoughts collide  magnificently inside his genius mind.

  

DON’T READ THIS ON A PLANE (Directed by Stuart McBratney) ****

Audience Award Winner at Dances With Films - LA 

Starring Sophie Desmarais – a wide-eyed Audrey Hepburn look-alike, this gem of a quirky comedy features Jovana, an author who embarks on touring her book in Europe. But the first stop, Venice, gives her a rude awakening. Her publisher has gone bankrupt, and her reservation at the Ramada Hotel has been cancelled. This sets her on a course of true roughing it where she meets an assortment of characters in various countries, her give her rides and put her up.  The funny part is she hides in interviews the poor situation she is in, preferring to pretend she is staying at great hotels across Europe.

 The crux of the movie has us all wondering and the people she reads to in various bookstores in different countries, if the book is autobiographical. Did she really sleep with 100 women?

 The ending comes as a shocker. I loved this charming film. The story is offbeat and the events often entertaining. The constant in this film is her dragging her suitcase on wheels over all kinds of airports and terrains. It is most effective in evoking our sympathy for her tiring journey and dispelling any glamour of being on tour – in her case. Her bohemian adventure is as surprising as some of the places she ends up sleeping in. The lovely scenery in this film certainly adds beauty to her rather sketchy book touring experience. The ensemble cast is perfect. Mr. McBratney - an Australian director -  tastefully peppered his delightful film with humour and even pathos. 

 

Audience Award at Dances With Films-LA this month where the film had its World Premiere

 The film premiered in LA, winning the Audience Award at Dances With Films.