Fantasia Film Festival 2014: Time Lapse (2014)

On the same day as The Drownsman (my review HERE if you missed it), I saw Time Lapse with my boyfriend.  We had a double movie date plus, it was absolutely awesome that both movies were world premieres with Time Lapse being on its second showing (so not really world premiere anymore but just minor details) and had the cast hosting with Q&A.  Time Lapse has a really awesome concept and the trailer was so awesome.  When I saw that the first showing was one of the first movies to be sold out, my anticipation grew exponentially.

Director: Bradley King

Cast: Danielle Panabaker, Matt O’Leary, George Finn

A couple, Callie (Danielle Panabaker) and Finn (Matt O’Leary) and Finn’s best friend, Jasper (George Finn) live together in a complex.  While each are dreaming to pursue their own lives, some riskier than others, when checking up on a neighbor’s home, they discover a giant machine that is pointing into their living room and prints out photos every 24 hours of their future. Although Callie and Finn are reluctant at first, they are soon convinced by Jasper to use this machine for personal gain.  However, when the machine starts showing disturbing images, things start to go horribly wrong and knowing about their futures start messing with their own course of life.

Time Lapse is a spectacular sci-fi thriller which kind of tiptoes into the time travel area.  Time travel is always a tricky area to go into. I remember last year I saw I’ll Follow You Down and despite some little bits and pieces that didn’t fit well as I pondered on it more, it shows the ambition of diving into anything that works with this area especially when it is an independent film.  With that said, Time Lapse takes a very huge step and thanks to the brilliant minds of screenwriters Bradley King (also director) and BP Cooper, they put together a story that keeps us at the edge of our seats as the story slides down that slippery slope.  What started off at a beautiful relationship: love and friends turns into something completely into the ugly area of manipulation and greed.

Time Lapse is a well-rounded movie and one thats very enjoyable because although you may have a little questions and details, there are so small that I can’t even remember them right now.  The screenwriters are also very great because they address little issues and double back to give you answers.  As much as I like room for imagination, and they do give you that as well, they also give us enough answers to be satisfied and just enough questions to keep the audience intrigued. I can’t compliment Time Lapse without talking about the phenomenal character development and the amazing cast. You will see that each character develops as the plot thickens in each their own ways.  Everyone has something they want to protect, some gain they want to see and what is really at stake for them.  I can’t say that I’m particularly familiar with the cast except that the familiar face goes to Danielle Panabaker and I saw her in Piranha 3DD (minus the 3D since I saw it on Netflix) recently but that is a waste of her obvious talent.  Her character, Callie is one of the best characters in this movie because she gets caught in a few dilemmas and it just spirals out of control. And then we have the other totally amazing actor, George Finn who plays Jasper that just falls right into the role and convinces us every step of the way.  Although, not quite as out there, Matt O’Leary also delivers a great performance as the guy who tries to be the moral balance in this.  Except the question is, when personal gain is pulled in for whatever purpose or reason, are there morals that remain?

I’m going to end this write-up right here because anymore and I’m going to destroy the awesomeness of it.  The best part for any thrillers is to sit through with as little knowledge as possible and just dive in.  Time Lapse will carry you on a journey following the lives of these three friends and make you cling to your seats.  Definitely one of the the best movies that I saw at the Fantasia Film Festival.  Although it is an independent film, everything was done so well from the mysterious machine’s design to the well thought out plot and the amazing way the cast played off each other and carried the plot.  The concept is ambitious and just so awesome.  I love Time Lapse through and through and I urge you to go see it if you get the chance because its been a while a thriller has truly made me feel engaged.

Are you a fan of sci-fi thrillers? What do you think of Time Lapse? Have you heard of this before? 

Summer Fun Keeps Going On! :)

I can’t think of creative titles for summer anymore.  There’s only so many ways I can say that this summer is totally awesome.  The weather is beautiful and I’ve had some nice activities and some cool stuff coming up.  I’ve been totally loving the festivals and I think the autumn round of festivals in Montreal are the next ones I’m looking at now. Life’s been really treating me nice.  I’ve thought a few things through, set a few priorities straight and learned a whole lot about myself.  Really? That revelation in the last week made me extremely grateful to be alive and breathing. Sure, things don’t go perfect everyday but I also learned that with the bad comes the good and thats how things balance out.  I’m absolutely fine with that because at the end of the day, its the good stuff that sticks in my mind. I think back and I smile before I go to bed to welcome the next day.

Yes, rambling again..I know.  Still, lets check out some nice stuff that happened this week 🙂

1) Planning Weekend Getaways

On the way to Saguenay Lac St Jean, 2012

I used this picture for last week’s photo challenge but its relevant to what I’m about to say.  I actually have a weekend getaway coming up soon (*ahem* like this weekend).  My boyfriend and I have been obsessing over our house so much that we just thought it would be a good idea to go away for a weekend since this is his last week of vacation this year.  So, we’re heading back to the beautiful and scenic Saguenay Lac St Jean area of Quebec.  Thats the road we probably will be travelling again through a fauna reserve/park. We have some hiking planned and a festival and perhaps some shopping if there are some good deals.  Maybe some waterfront walking.  In general, just time to relax.

I may have another weekend getaway coming up with my girl friends but thats still in discussion 😉

Some people save money for luxury products/makeup/clothes, etc. I like to save it up for my house and going away (and movies).  What can I say? We all have our little pleasures.

2) Sweet Potato Flowers

Sweet potato flower

I didn’t really know that sweet potatoes had flowers but apparently this one does and they have this cute light hue of purple.  It was hidden under the crazy amount of leaves but I saw it this past weekend and snapped a quick photo of it.

3) Raspberries!

Raspberries growing

They aren’t quite red and ripe yet but my raspberries are quite abundant.  They are drinking water like crazy and I’m actually struggling to keep them hydrated with the intense heat that took over last week.  I filled up two bottles and 24 hours later it was all gone.  Maybe its time for a 3rd bottle or just soak the soil through before inserting another bottle.  I’ll probably have to check that out tonight.

4) Into the Storm Advanced Screening!

If you follow my blog, you already know that I’ve been increasing the whole output of movie reviews and who knows, maybe I’ll change it to Tranquil Dreams Reviews one day. Its definitely something rolling around in my head since I do reviews of movies among other things.  Or I’ll expand it a little.  Whatever it is, I’m passionate about movies and Fantasia Festival this year has given me a few revelations.  One is that I’ve become more confident in my opinion of movies because when I sit in the Q&A and I listen to the questions, I realize that a lot of people actually have similar overanalytical personalities.  Like, although I’m scared to talk about it sometimes like ask about it during Q&A, I secretly have thought that.  Just a few movies have made me feel like, I’m not totally crazy..haha! Thats already pretty good and its a nice feeling.

Anyways, we’re not here to talk about that..  My FIRST advanced screening, my friends.  I may have not gotten the special screening of Guardians of the Galaxy but man, this was a completely different experience just being at the advanced screening and for a movie I wanted to see, Into the Storm 🙂

Review for that coming up with the next 24 hours 😉 I’m a tad behind on reviews but I’m trying to write the best I can for them so I’m giving each movie a few days to sink in a little.

5) Shopping spree!

I’ve been really trying to change my wardrobe a little since my style has slightly changed as well and its been a while that I’ve stocked up on summer clothes, especially  not that I’m a tad more comfortable with my physical appearance.  I need to get back to working out and toning but point is, I’ve been more comfortable with everything and well, the initial idea was to go groceries and to look for new shoes for work.  I usually go in running shoes but then when I want to wear summer dresses, I need flats.  I ended up coming home with some wedge sandals which look pretty good and are rather adorable. You can see them up there.  I got the beige ones.  I also got some clothes on sale at Dynamite and for those who don’t know, Jacob is bankrupt so everything is on sale right now 40-60% off and I got that dress which still cost me quite a bit but the quality was worth it 🙂

6) Date Night

Date Night with my boyfriend is a rarity nowadays, especially when it means moving our butts from our place.  This weekend, it was a date afternoon till night.  I had scheduled in two movies: The Drownsman and Time Lapse and we were out from 4pm till midnight.  The two movies weren’t disappointing and one totally exceeded my expectations.  Plus, both was hosted by people involved in the movie.  The Drownsman, which is the picture you see up there had almost its whole cast there and a bunch of people involved from director, producers, editors, sounds, etc. It filled up the whole stage.  Time Lapse also had it too with their producers and screenwriters.  It was very awesome.

Then we actually discovered in between the movies, a restaurant called Charcos Rotisseries, a chicken place.  We stopped there for dinner.

This place makes some pretty delicious fries.  I found the Chicken fingers a bit dry but the grilled vegetables were done really well. My boyfriend at the chicken burger and he said it was heavenly.  We followed up with iced tea lemonades at Starbucks and then a little bit of arcades in between the two movies.

7) At home Brunch

Brunch

My boyfriend started his last week of vacation so on Sunday morning, we went for early groceries and he was super awesome and made us a complete hearty breakfast with scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon.  Yummy! 🙂

8) ONE FINAL REVELATION

Yup, right on! I made a lot of revelations this year about myself: blogging, movies, analysis, life, work, positive outlook and the final one I had just last night was fully accepting this. I’m completely okay with this but I saw something last night and reminded me that there are some things thats really worth it to let go of. Not a frequent occurrence so I won’t say too much.

Now, before I leave you, how about some music to loosen up the mood a little?

Super fun video for Sam Tsui’s Wildfire.  Love it! 🙂

Now that overtime is over and Fantasia is rolling to its end with one more movie left, I’m all yours…well, until I go on my getaways, that is 😉

Happy Monday my lovelies! 🙂

Fantasia Film Festival & My Line-up!

Fantasia Film Festival starts this week in Montreal. It runs from July 17th to August 6th.

Last year, I lost track of when it started and ended up catching 2 movies.  Sad and pathetic, yeah, I know.  In my defense, I was super sick and was on antibiotics.

This year, I amended my old ways and tracked the event and waited for the schedule to go up and then chose my movies and was ready to pounce at those tickets the first moment they went online.

My plan is to see 10 movies and as this goes up, I’m still hoping that one of them will open up because I don’t quite understand what “restricted availability” is but I have a few backups, I that I can choose from. I’ll tell you which one in a little bit.

No rambling on today.  We’re going straight to business.  This is my line up in order of when I’ll see them.

1) JULY 18: OPEN WINDOWS/SPAIN/USA/2014

Open Windows is one I’m not completely sure about.  Sasha Grey isn’t all that convincing to me but then I’m guessing she’ll strip so there’s a appeal to people who like that but my reason is that Elijah Wood has been on a crazy streak of horror movies and they’ve all been received well.  I haven’t seen Maniac or Grand Piano yet but the trailers for those looked good as does this one.  I’ll try to squeeze in Maniac before I go, just to get an idea of Elijah Wood in horror movies, but no guarantees 😉

2) JULY 19: I ORIGINS/USA/2014

I Origins is probably one of the most anticipated movies in 2014 for me.  Brit Marling has been doing amazing movies with Another Earth and The East. She is unstoppable and this one is loaded with cast that I love.  This one was squeezed on a not very good day with another one that I’ll talk about in the end that I had to miss because of my friend’s wedding.  This one cuts into hers just a little but I’ll only be 20 minutes late max.  It should be okay, right? I just couldn’t give it up…what else can I say?

3) JULY 20: CYBERNATURAL/USA/2014

http://www.fantasiafestival.com/2014/en/films-schedule/250/cybernatural

Somehow Youtube didn’t have a trailer for this one but they have a trailer if you follow the link the festival’s page 🙂

Cybernatural is one of the last decisions that I made when compiling this list.  I gave my boyfriend a few choices since he’s going to see some of the weekend movies with me (especially horror).  This one was the final choice.  It looks like it has a pretty intriguing setup and seems to touch on various social issues in the process.

4) JULY 26: JACK ET LA MECANIQUE DU COEUR/FRANCE/2013

In English, the title is called Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart.

Last year, I saw a few animated movies from France and the style just charmed me so much that when I saw this one and the trailer, I knew I had to see it.  I like the whole dark Gothic style and the original idea of having a boy with a cuckoo clock as his heart.  I’m really excited for this one.

5) JULY 27: HAL/JAPAN/2013

Back to back days of animation.  How can I go to Fantasia and not see something from Japan? I almost wanted to choose a Korean one but it didn’t really work for me other than the cute characters and this one seems to have a more intriguing storyline whether its love or maybe something more. Plus, its only 60 minutes and the animation looks really nice.

6) JULY 28: INTO THE STORM/USA/2014

I already had Into the Storm in my anticipated movies for 2014 but seeing as this showed up in Fantasia Film Festival, I’m guessing it might not make it to the theatre near me.  Plus, I get advance viewing from everyone else in Montreal whose not seeing this on July 28th? Who needs perks anyways? I just want to see Richard Armitage in a leading role and I love disaster movies.  This one could hit the over the top area but sometimes, it works well 🙂 I’m staying optimistic for this one!

7) AUGUST 1: DYS-/QUEBEC/2014

I’m usually not running towards Quebec productions and no, that should say Canada because as much as Quebec wants to believe its unique and not part of Canada, it is.  Just so no one bans me from the movie for saying that, I’m going to shut up about that part.  This movie is weirdly in English (take that, Quebec :P) and its shot in my friend’s condo building.  I recognized the hallways.  Plus, it has a creepy vibe to it.  Its the only horror that I will be going to see by myself, unless some friend decides to join me.

8) AUGUST 2: THE DROWNSMAN/CANADA/2014

Last year, I wanted to check out Antisocial, which looked mad gory but it had some messed up time where I was always at work.  I know a few of you of reviewed it.   The Drownsman is done by the same team, I believe I read that somewhere.  Confession time: I can’t make it through the trailer? My boyfriend watched it for me and gave it a thumbs up for scary and potentially awesome and he laughed because he doesn’t know how I’ll get through the movie if I can’t get through the trailer.  I don’t know either but I’ll figure it out when I’m sitting in the theatre…

9) AUGUST 2: TIME LAPSE/USA/2013

Thats right! August 2nd is a double feature for us.  We have back to back movies with a little time slot in the middle to eat dinner (hopefully). I wasn’t so sure about Time Lapse until I saw the trailer and then I was sold.  Time Lapse looks intense and pretty intense.  The question with these sci-fi time travel-esque movies is whether it makes sense.  I’m confident that it will but I’m also curious to see how this pans out 🙂

Thats what I’ve bought so far!

The movie I believe slipped out of my grasp is also the one I expected to also: the special screening of Guardians of the Galaxy.  I don’t really mind too much.  I’ll still end up seeing it opening weekend, I’m pretty sure.  One of my friends seem pretty hyped up about it.

BUT, that means to complete my 10 movie run, I need to choose one more.

I have to miss Suburban Gothic (and the chance to see Matthew Gray Gubler) because of my friend’s wedding but here’s the trailer:

This just looks so good.  But I had to make a choice and I have prior commitments.  Lets see other options…

There is one that made me laugh called 3D Naked Ambition, a Hong Kong movie at 11:55pm.  Red light flashing on it possibly being in the porn department since its like at midnight.  As I was trying to find the trailer, I actually found the full movie on Youtube so nope, especially since I won’t have public transport to go home either.

Honeymoon also looks pretty good, but I’m not too fond of watching too many horrors on my own.

As interesting as this is, its also a pass.

Now, I could go on because there’s a few action movies that looked decent as well but I came to the final conclusion that it doesn’t feel right to give up the chance to watch a Hong Kong movie on the big screen.  They have one, From Vegas to Macau which I actually bought when I went to Hong Kong earlier and I will review it during this festival time (if I find time for it).

The final choice goes to That Demon Within.  Its somewhat of a horror action flick, if that even exists.

Nick Cheung has been churning out hit after hit and he’s just been out of control.  Daniel Wu is also one of my favorite actors.  The more I watch this trailer, the more I’m convinced this is going to be epic.  On top of that, its a crime thriller and I just can’t resist them.

Thats it for Fantasia Film Festival for now! I’ll be back with reviews in a little bit 🙂 I’ll try to get them out as soon as possible but with the movies mostly at night, I might have a few days delay depending on my schedule.  Things will stay as normal as possible here.  For sure, the focus will be geared towards movie reviews but I still remember that I have the Hong Kong trip that I have a few posts to put up also at the very least.

What movies peak your interest? Have you been to the Fantasia Film Festival? If you are going, what are you seeing?