Hall (2020)

Hall (2020)

Director: Francesco Giannini

Cast: Carolina Bartczak, Yumiko Shaku, Mark Gibson, Bailey Thain, Julian Richings

When a debilitating sickness spreads across a long hotel hallway, a few scattered victims fight for survival, and try to escape from the dark narrow stretch of isolated carnage. – IMDB

Matching very well to our current times, Hall is a horror movie surrounding a viral outbreak except it is fairly contained at the beginning phases in a hotel hallway. Its a bit vague on how the whole thing goes down but it does show how it starts and how the virus itself evolves as it infects the people on this normal hotel floor, especially focused from the angle of three characters: Naomi, a Japanese pregnant woman overseas for work running away from her past, Val, a mother getting ready to leave her abusive marriage with her daughter Kelly.

These three people are the choice characters as the story dives a little deeper into their story in something of a parallel execution in the first half of their arrival and what they all are doing before they realized something was wrong whether to themselves or those around them, including the people that they meet in the hallways who are now infected. The focus on three characters gives them each their own struggles that they need to overcome as they slowly come to grips with this infection happening to a different level. The backstory does feel like it cuts in to set up their situation and give them a connecting point to show what is at stake for their survival and their desire to escape this viral infection. Especially with their struggle to do it especially as the movie starts off with someone infected by the disease, crawling slowly down the hallway in their paralyzed state. Its a powerful way to open up a movie and quickly grabs attention to find out how it got there. The movie starts off more focus on one side of these characters and then ends with another side of the equation.

Its a clever way to execute this whole thing as everyone while similar in how they are escalating in their infection, each seem to progress in a different way. As clueless as the people on this hotel floor, Hall is all a mystery for its audience to discover how the virus works on its infected as the movie progresses. Hall is a subtle movie especially with its virus infection premise. Its a much more psychological fear that digs deep in its scenes of crawling down the hallway to how the infection changes the appearance of the infected. For some, its creates a more psychological effect and adding in the factor of the three characters especially Val and her daughter Kelly being separated for a duration of the film. In reality, Val’s subtle signs of her abusive relationship is also rather unsettling in its various scenes which builds more on a desire for her to escape this with her daughter.

Hall is decent horror film about a virus infection in its early spread in a normal everyday single setting of a hotel hallway. The long narrow setting gives the ones trying to leave its share of obstacles. There are some familiar tropes and some would argue they sandwich perhaps one crawling scene too much which points out a little pacing issue. It loses its effect a little at a certain point before changing the direction and pulling it the story back on track. At the same time, how the infection progresses in its different states is where the horror truly lies and perhaps partially with the people that these characters are escaping from. The characters are all scripted really well even if children will be children and Kelly’s character makes some silly child decisions which can be a little frustrating but overall, they all pull out pretty decent performances.

*Screener received from ChicArt PR*
*Hall will be screening in Blood in the Snow Festival 2020 on October 30th*

Fantasia Festival 2018: Rondo (2018)

Rondo (2018)

Director (and writer): Drew Barnhardt

Cast: Luke Sorge, Brenna Otts, Reggie De Morton, Gena Shaw, Michael Vasicek,  Ketrick Copeland, Steve Van Beckum

A kinky sex proposition devolves into a chain of murder, sex, revenge. And more murder. – IMDB

Right from the start, it is undeniable that Rondo isn’t going to be a normal film. A narrator (Steve Van Beckum) sets up the scene of what will unfold and this same narrator will return a few times to keep us up to date on what is going on in the minds of the characters. In some ways, this bizarre set up works. At least, it makes sure the audience knows exactly what is going on before they enter into a scene. Of course, this can’t be more odd than Paul (Luke Sorge), a neurotic war veteran whose sister Jill (Brenna Otts) sets him up to see a therapist (Gena Shaw) who in turn ends up being prescribed to a secret kinky arrangement with a password to get in. Crossing the lines into this criminal underworld leads him to meet Lurdell (Reggie de Morton) and the events spiral out of control from there.

Rondo is a bizarre film. It is the execution that makes it unique and not really the story itself. Choosing to use a narrator and then characters in certain roles that say out of the ordinary things is only the tip of the iceberg here. For the most part, there are some incredible monologues for the characters especially the therapist’s that set the tone of the film right away. It is peculiar and straddles between not knowing whether to laugh or to be disturbed. It is an odd feeling to say the least.  In other moments, the narrator talks as the characters just sit there and the camera zeroes into their expressions. It draws out the scene of the conversation. While it gives something of a stylistic difference, it does beg the question of why we don’t just get the dialogue itself. In terms of performances here, Rondo boasts some over the top moments including the performances themselves. A lot of times, it is deliberate and also feels that way also. Maybe it is the low budget feeling that it emits and how they turn it around to make it an over the top version that applies to the scenario.

Rondo is a film that will appeal to a niche group. It is over the top and weird in both good and bad ways. It is not quite as unique as it believes itself to be, just like the dark humor will land at times but not all the time. The cycle of events in the film is like a rondo (the musical piece reference), it takes its moments and snowballs them with their own variations involving different character in a similar scenario or amping up the mischief. Rondo is a harmless film to say the least. Its an indie film with a lot of heart but it won’t be for everyone.

Fantasia Festival 2017: Fashionista (2016)

Fashionista (2016)

Director and writer: Simon Rumley

Cast: Amanda Fuller, Ethan Embry, Eric Balfour, Alex Essoe, Jemma Evans, Alexandria DeBerry, Devon Bonnee

A woman who uses clothes as an emotional crutch discovers her life isn’t as ideal as she thought… – IMDB

Consumerism is a thriving issue to look at. The addiction of it all and here lies the centre of what this drama and mystery thriller is all about. As the words opening the movie at Fantasia, Fashionista takes you into a world of addiction, sex and rock and roll. Simon Rumley directs and writes this film in a non-linear fashion and films it mostly in that non-linear way. Experimental and unique and the texture of it all is also incredibly independent. It is one of the reasons that Fantasia Festival is such a wonderful experience as we get to see these special pieces of cinema and dive into worlds and film-making styles that we don’t usually get exposed to. Fashionista’s strength lies in this originality of its non-linear presentation. It makes its audience work hard to piece it all together throughout and draw their own conclusions. The majority of it makes sense and the final act will generally resolve most of your suspicions. It sends a message about consumerism and the addiction of one person possibly in an irrational way. Simon Rumley does a great job and capturing the emotions and making very artistic shots.

Its hard to talk about Fashionista without giving praise to its cast. Amanda Fuller takes on the role of April, a woman who lives a dream owning a vintage clothes shop with her husband, Eric ( played by Ethan Embry). She loves clothes and is addicted to its touch and fabric as we quickly learn. She goes through many outfits throughout the movie, something like over a hundred. Amanda Fuller embodies April very well as she is believable in showing us her addiction and as her life falls apart, the reliance on these superficial things in her life. Her behavior shifts easily with every scene especially as she finds out that her husband is having an affair. None of this is spoilers as the trailer shows it. This hops her into another phase in life which enters rich bad boy Randall (played by Eric Balfour) that takes her for another trip filled with sex. Of course, all this is jumbled as the film presents snippets of Randall in the first act and makes us wonder what his whole deal is. Both Ethan Embry and Eric Balfour play great supporting roles here. Their characters are different and in turn as the story unfolds gives us a different feeling.

However, Fashionista does fall short with a less than engaging first act. It takes a long time and spends a little too much time emphasizing on the marriage breakup. Perhaps it is to make sure we connect with April more to feel her pain and her reliance and release with her clothes as she has almost orgasmic reactions when she is with them. It creates a mesmerizing snapshot however it is done a little too much. Some parts of the slow first act could’ve cut down to make this a more compact experience. Not to mention that the fragments were a little much. While well-timed such as keeping the injection of a mysterious woman played by Alex Essoe delightfully short but enough to make us wonder her connection to the rest of the fragments that doesn’t seem to go together. Fashionista truly picks up as Eric Balfour enters the scene and takes us on another journey, similar but different and possibly a little more thrilling. It teases us with a few events and when the entire piece falls into place, it offers up a lot of tension but leaving space for still some mystery.

The rock and roll part is a cornerstone of Fashionista. Its carefully selected music that transitions from one scene to the next or highlighting a certain event or moment. However, it also is these moments where the music is overpowering. Perhaps it is to make sure it overwhelms to emphasize the emotions and become more involved with the story. Unfortunately, it is one of the situations a few moments in we wished that we were watching this at home and we can turn down the volume or later on, whether the movie would voice its story better and be more thrilling and experience using silence instead.

Fashionista is a unique experience, highlighting an important message about addiction to consumerism. It is worth viewing simply for the fantastic performance from Amanda Fuller and its original concept of non-linear storytelling filmed in a non-linear way. It is a thrilling experience however it falls short due to a slow first act and overwhelming musical moments that took away from the movie more than it added. Less is more comes to mind in terms of that criticism. Fashionista is a worth a watch for all its outstanding elements however, perhaps more suitable as a home experience.

Triple Feature: Captain Fantastic, Justice League Dark & Havenhurst

Its been a while that I haven’t done a triple feature. For some of you that drop by That Moment In, you know that while the podcast has stopped, we are still recording audio discussions. Starting back in December, I had done a few of these movie review bits and to be honest, when I have already discussed a movie (and not in writing), I don’t feel like writing about it again. Not sure why. However, there were some titles that I wanted to share some quick thoughts on, so from now on, I’m going to do group them together and do triple features. These aren’t exactly in the order that we’ve recorded and released them. I still have probably another post or two to cover the rest of the movies. I’ll also include the audio so you can listen to it if you haven’t or would like to.

Here we go!

Captain Fantastic (2016)

Director and writer: Matt Ross

Cast: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso, Nicholas Hamilton, Shree Crooks, Charlie Shotwell

In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent. – IMDB

Captain Fantastic is a quirky movie. In fact, its incredibly quirky that at some parts, it seems to go a little over. The best part of it is definitely Viggo Mortensen’s performance. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the best performance I’ve seen of his. The opening showed so much potential from his own way of bringing up his kids in the wilderness and learning to take care of themselves physically and intelligently. His kids themselves also have great character and showed a great sense of disconnection from the real world when events we would have disregarded triggers much bigger (and possibly awkwardly hilarious/absurd) reactions. The youngest two kids definitely steal the show with their direct attitudes and smart answers. Captain Fantastic is a good movie with great performances, however sometimes it does take its quirky indie side and goes a little far in certain parts. However, this does turn into a rather heartfelt and emotional experience as the exposure of the real world somehow causes conflicts and disagreements to arise.

Justice League Dark (2017)

Director: Jay Oliva

Voice cast: Matt Ryan, Camilla Luddington, Jason O’Mara, JB Blanc, Ray Chase, Enrico Colantoni, Roger Cross, Jeremy Davies, Rosario Dawson, Alfred Molina

Beings with supernatural powers join together to fight against supernatural villains. This team of supernatural beings include John Constantine, Zatanna and Jason Blood also known as the demon Etrigan. – IMDB

I’m not a comic book aficionado or am I versed in anything superhero other than the recent TV series or Batman movies from the 90s till recent. My first DC animated film is this very movie, Justice League Dark. Filled with magic and many fun characters and charged with great dialogue and impressive visuals, this animation is enjoyable and fun. Constantine, voiced by Matt Ryan, comes to life as well as the quiet and subtle Batman that makes suitably short responses to a great female action hero, Zatanna, voiced by Camilla Luddington. There are also familiar names with voice from Rosario Dawson in a cameo of Wonder Woman. There are some back stories from various characters that help move the current investigations of the devil appearances causing harmful acts across the DC universe. Some characters would have benefited from having more emphasis however, as a first animated film, this one felt well  written and never felt like I was jumping in during an intermission and got lost by the characters. Justice League Dark is a fun animated film with good characters and a well-written script.

Havenhurst (2017)

Director and co-writer: Andrew C. Erins

Cast: Julie Benz, Belle Shouse, Josh Stamberg, Danielle Harris, Fionnula Flanagan

A troubled young woman takes up residence in a gothic apartment building where she must confront a terrifying evil. – IMDB 

Horror thrillers are usually my cup of tea. I love them but they also are incredibly hard to nail down perfectly. Havenhurst starts out with all the right tones. Its setting in a huge apartment complex reminds us right off the bat of the eeriely isolated Overlook Hotel in The Shining. The performances here work for the most part. However, the environment does feel wasted when only one floor of this complex is shown and the limited inhabitants revolve around only a few people. The mysteries aren’t revealed well enough to make it worthwhile and the final twist feels like a cheap effort to just make our watch feel unique. However, Havenhurst does carry a lot of the atmosphere for most of the movie and keeps up the suspense and mystery and keeps us guessing for half of the movie before the much too early turn of events causes it to lose momentum. Plus, it does feel like there are nods to various successful horror films. Not to mention that there are also some familiar faces from TV and perhaps the most renowned being Fionnula Flanagan who plays the landlady which had a fantastic performance as the housekeeper in The Others (at least thats my highlight role I remember her in).

Netflix A-Z: I Believe in Unicorns (2015)

Netflix A-Z is back! We’re continuing on. Last time, before I left for vacation, we ended on H as in How I Live Now. So far, the Netflix list has been quite a discovery. Not all total winners but all have their charm. I Believe in Unicorns has caught my eye for a while but it sounds rather odd so I haven’t watched it yet. Here is the perfect opportunity!

Let’s check it out!

I Believe in Unicorns (2015)

Director and writer: Leah Meyerhoff

Cast: Natalia Dyer, Peter Vack, Julia Garner, Toni Meyerhoff

A road trip through the stunning and complex landscape of troubled young love.-IMDB

I Believe in Unicorns is an odd film. It is a coming of age tale for a teenage girl, Davina. Davina has had quite the tough life when her mother learned about a disease while she was pregnant with her. As a result, her father also has left the picture. All her life, she has been taking care of her sick mother who can no longer walk. Davina takes selfies of herself a lot and she seems to be unease with herself for the most part. She seems sad about many things. Her joy is to hide away in her imaginary world sometimes through her dreams that features herself as a fairy of sorts that has a unicorn. Or maybe she is the unicorn. Until in the real world, she meets an older guy called Sterling. Right off the bat, as the audience, we already know, Sterling has something. It may be the crowd he is in or the easiness he has of stealing from vending machine or convenience stores. It might be that sly smile or that changing attitude. Many many warning signs. However, at the beginning, Davina falls in love with him and is wrapped up in the beauty and joy of this relationship. Until it starts falling apart…

 I Believe in Unicorns takes on a roller coaster ride of looking at various issues of coming of age, mostly in the form of young love, first love (perhaps) and the loss of love. Or even the desire to feel loved. Lots of loving going on. And it shows, there is quite a few making out scenes in here but its done not in revealing way but yet holds the powerful message and dynamic it needs. This movie probably deserves extra viewings. While the real life aspect of it is rather easy to decipher where the story is going, its fantasy parallel with unicorns and Davina as a fairy (or magical creature of some sort finding its wings) create a lot of symbolism. It starts lighthearted in a wonderment and eventually descends into a world of battle. The question I kept asking myself was what is the symbolism of the unicorn? Does it represent first love, or the love she has for Sterling and their relationship, or innocence or simply her naivety or childhood? To really understand this is that we follow Davina who seems to really live in this fantasy world for us to understand her feelings and its how we learn about how she really feels despite her innocent exterior in reality. As the road trip goes on and Davina and Sterling start to fall apart a little, Davina become more vocal about what she wants and how she feels and eventually have a confidence that we didn’t see at the start. What I’m saying is that other than the role being written really well, Natalia Dyer does really well in showing off Davina’s character and development.

 I Believe in Unicorns probably isn’t for everyone. Its pretty odd and a little slow and its really reading between the lines. Davina’s character has quite a bit of development as she realizes that running away from her problems and believing that the feeling of first love she had in the first place might be misplaced. Its a lot of realizations. There is something very unique about this movie that makes it not only extremely fitted in the indie scene but also profound and thought-provoking. The parallels breath life into this coming of age between fantasy and reality. When her first love dies, her innocence and naivety seem to leave with it. Watching the process of her growing up and truly being an adult at the end is a very well-written journey. It shows talent not only in the storytelling abilities of the writer-director but also the young star, Natalia Dyer.

I think it is time to check out Stranger Things…

Have you seen I Believe in Unicorns? What did you think?

Next up is letter J! Any guesses?

Fantasia Festival 2016: The Unseen (World Premiere 2016)

Fantasia Festival is off to a good start with two world premieres in my line-up to kick things off. Every Fantasia, I try to get a few Canadian films in there. Fact is, Canada has a lot of talent and sometimes it all ends up being tucked away and no one sees these really great works. Fantasia is that time in the year when I can see what it has to offer and its one of the many reasons I’m always excited for the festival.

This time around, we agreed to go see the world premiere of The Unseen hosted by the director Geoff Redknap and alongside as bonus, producer Katie Weekley and actress Camille Sullivan. Without even a trailer on the Fantasia site, the plot was enough to make us want to go. The premise seems like a refreshing one.

Let’s check it out!

The Unseen (2016)

Director and writer: Geoff Redknap

Cast: Aden Young, Camille Sullivan, Julia Sarah Stone, Ben Cotton, Max Chadburn, Alison Araya

A man who abandoned his family now risks everything to find his missing daughter, including exposing the secret that he is becoming invisible.-IMDB

The Unseen is a slow-burn horror thriller touching onto perhaps some science fiction with the whole Invisible Man premise. It is also an exceptionally intriguing watch with some parts that borders on dragging out but remembers to pick up its pace almost immediately. There are many strengths to this movie and a lot to love. First of all, the cinematography is fantastic mostly because where the movie is set is simply beautiful in small rural areas from the sawmill industrial area to the small town where the main character Bob’s family was located. It creates a feeling of isolation that works really well with the atmosphere The Unseen is trying to achieve. Second, the score itself is unnerving. It builds tension and drama when needed. However, the feeling I had in certain parts also applies to how I felt about The Witch earlier this year, and that is to see whether it is equally as effective if the score was removed. However, that may be one of the few criticisms (if it even counts as one) I have of this thriller.

One thing that needs to be touched on are the special effects and makeup which is the background of director and writer Geoff Redknap. He is part of some big budget films. The most recent being Deadpool. With all this experience, its hard to imagine that this film utilises not a lot of special effects or makeup. The invisibility part does take on a lot of the effects but The Unseen takes the turn of a progressive invisibility which adds on to the suspense but in the Q&A session in the end, he also talks about the decision to do that and also taking out the typical science gone wrong aspect and change it into a disease or condition of sorts, which is a unique and rather clever approach.

A lot of the credit of the success of this film goes to the engaging and intense character delivered by Aden Young who plays the main character, a father who has to leave because he realizes that he is mysteriously disappearing, leaving his young daughter and severing all ties. He lives by himself and he doesn’t attach himself to anything. The pain of disappearing is huge, so much that he needs to use drugs to numb the pain and yet he also acquires certain abilities. There are subtle nuances to notice about his condition and the character development of Bob is outstanding. Not to mention the disappearance of his character is gruesome and possibly the more horrific images of the movie with organs exposed  and sections of flesh gone.  The performance he delivers from a quiet and isolated man to his struggles and pains and then to his protective father and angry, unhappy man is all so captivating to watch.

That isn’t to say that the other performances weren’t done as well. Everyone delivers a fine performance but Bob is the center of action here and the focal point as he races with time before he disappears to find his daughter

The Unseen might not be for everyone but it definitely takes a unique approach at a mysterious condition that plagues a man. While I do criticize that it sometimes seems to drag and there is one particular scene that seems a little far-fetched and needs a little more explanation and seems a little misplaced in the plot, there is a lot to appreciate about this Canadian thriller. The best part is that the director works hard to put together a story that lets us as the audience derive the connections and make our conclusions through our own observations. It keeps us guessing and hints towards certain bits and pieces of the plot but manages to tie up all the loose ends and wraps up an intriguing thriller.

I could go on but a good thriller is one that deserves to be experienced and everyone will catch something different or build another connection. The Unseen is a Canadian thriller set in a beautiful landscape and full of outstanding performances with a tight-woven story. It has a few little criticisms but nothing unforgivable. In fact, at the end, I didn’t even bother to think about them because of the unique approach and the dramatic and thrilling story it told. If you get a chance, see it!