You're the cream in my coffee. But it's sour. You're the shoe on my foot, But it smells, You're the icing on the cake, But it slid off, You're the ice cream in my cone, But it fell.
Austria2Australia, Directed by *Dominik Bochis, Andreas Buciuman *****
Two childhood friends cycle 18.000 km - 19 countries. It’s a Herculean route full of hardships, discoveries and challenges, which are powerful and unpredictable - The two Upper Austrian hobby cyclists Andreas and Dominik have a daring plan: They want to ride by bike from Austria to Australia to explore the world - and the crazy thing is: They actually do it.
When they get to Pakistan, they are surrounded by police cars and they have to travel at a snail’s pace. Where are they going? Why is this happening? It turns out they are going to a Pakistani wedding where the guests of the bride and groom a are all policemen. The surprises was nice indeed at the end of this escorting.
Delhi, they hated, but Australia was a turning point for
hatred. The flies and heat got to them and they go their separate ways only to
meet up by the ocean. They both wanted to call it quits before this, but they
stuck it out. An amazing documentary and the best “road” f travel film yet to
be made. Domiinik was struck with knee pain on route, and ended up at a Chinese
hospital to deal with the inflammation. Hurdles kept coming their way, but
their happiness diminished any doubts.
EQUAL STANDARD, directed by Brendan Kyle
Press release excerpt
Equal Standard by director Brendan Kyle Cochrane and producers Taheim Bryan, Ice T, Treach, and Rob Simmons (Wild Oats) The heavy hitting action/ drama stars Ice-T and Robert Clohessy (BLUE BLOODS) and Maurice Benard ( General Hospital)
EQUAL STANDARD tells the
poignant, timely, and politically charged stories of police in New York City
struggling with race, rank, betrayal, and loss. The film is Taheim Bryan’s
writing and acting debut and is inspired by his personal life experience.
Here’s the reverse of what usually happens in cop shootings. An Afro-American kills a
white cop during a pullover. The driver is out fo the car as are the white
cops. But his cell phone is mistaken for a gun and pop goes the trigger of the
black cop. The film is confusing but vividly shows the impossible entanglement of
different departments trying to protect their own guys, but trying to follow the law too. Against the grittiness of gangs, intimate family scenes
of the characters were shown.
Many scenes
show blacks being targeted on the street. There is so much anger and suspicion on
both sides that it would seem black and white are so opposed to one another,
hope seems futile for peace on New York’s streets.
The film
build suspense and is so darn realistic as it reflects true events experienced
by writer, Taheim Bryan’s life experiences,
Four friends want to enter an abandoned resort on an
obscure Hawaiian Island that’s rumoured to be haunted by a half-faced girl. This is a really clever, brilliantly edited
film that cooks up the scary moments at
just the right moments heightened with superb climactic timing.
The outcome is unpredictable and that’s what makes The
Resort a unique film for the genre. The seventy-five minutes fly by.
There’s a reason to investigate this resort –
it’s Alexander’s birthday and she’s obsessed with the paranormal, so what
better way to celebrate than to dash off to this deserted island via a piloted
helicopter who claims a small group of people still inhabit the island, but the
band of four never run into them.
There is no
reason really why the bad happens; none of them deserved what they got, but
isn’t that a part of life – or in this case death.
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| Paul Lima a true hero, like his father, Albert |
A documentary that follows Paul Lima and the two bounty hunters he hired to Roatรกn, Honduras, to find and capture his father's (Albert) killer. But nothing seems to happen with the capture until he hires Ray, whose connections with the government is second to none with his job of capturing killers on the island. In fact, the year, Paul goes down there, there have been Americans murdered. It takes 13 years and absolute determination not to give up as Paul searches for his father’s killer. He knows who he is because the murderer was not happy about being taken to court over a bakery purchase that the Honduran family once owned. Bit by bit everyone is getting killed and it’s clear that Paul is in a dangerous situation. The bad guy is eventually caught and ends up in jail, but not for life – only for sixteen years.
This is not a documentary made after the fact of Paul
going down to Honduras. The camera is with him and the people he hires and
meets to ensure true actions.
Pauls’ devotion to his father and his widowed mother are remarkable.
Two sisters -
Miriam and Greta meet up in the country cabin owned by Dylan, Greta’s husband.
Miriam is deeply disturbed, and the extent of her aberration manifests when she
seeks revenge on Dylan who raped her when the two were sharing past school
stories by the fire they made. Camp side chatter adds a lighthearted throw-in to
the intense mood that erupts into climatic horror as the characters clash.
The gruesomely gory climatic scene hauntingly
juxtaposes against the expressionistic cinematography of the lush nature that surrounds
them. The two directors were the two sisters in the film, and their chemistry
was electric, seen most vividly when the sisters’ love-hate conflicts mount. Without giving away the spoiler, you would be
wrong to like the ice cream cones the family gathering gobbles up at the end.
The movie is confusing; the flashback scenes interrupt the flow and cause plot distortion. The film could do with more precise editing. There is too much talking and not enough action. Nonetheless, it’s highly successful in showing the inner rage that engulfs every rape victim – Miriam in this case. Never was a rape scene so quiet - even docile in tone, yet wildly fierce in the outcome. There’s a consequence to pay; suffice it to say that Dylan met a terrifying doom. I was very much pulled into this compelling film. Madeleine Sims-Fewer was brilliant as Miriam. The Call of the Wild, by author Jack London has wolves in it. This film had one, That -- combined with Miriam's rage could have led to a more apt title: The Cry of the Wild.
