The Festival du nouveau cinéma or FNC (meaning Festival of New Cinema) is an annual independent film festival held in Montreal and features independent films from around the world.Over 160,000 people attend the festival each year, this year being the exception because of Covid-19.It is one of the oldest film festivals in Canada.This year the films can be accessed through purchase from their website:
The festival runs from Wednesday October the 7th till the 17th in theatres but this has been changed because of Covid-19 second wave closings. Below, please ind capsule reviews of self films screened at the festival.Capsule reviews will be added daily till the festival ends. But the majority of films can be rented for streaming beginning the 7th till the 31st of the month.
CAPSULE REVIEWS OF SELECT FILMS:
APPLES (Greece 2020) **
Directed by Christos Nikou
Director Nikou worked as the assistant director on Yorgos Lanthimos’s absurdist surreal comedy DOGTOOTH in 2009.His debut film, APPLES direct from the Venice Film Festival,obviously draws many similarities to Lanthimos’s style of direction.APPLES, however is a drama rather than a comedy making it a much harder and slower watch.The film opens with the main character played by Aris Servetalis being awoken on a bus, not remembering anything including who he is.He is brought to a hospital for examination.Apparently there is an epidemic going around where many are suffering amnesia out of the blue and for no reason.The character eats an apple and is seen eating apples which is the reason the film is so called.Nothing really happens except that the film visualizes the pain and suffering due to the unexplained illness.The character is offered a new identity by the hospital to survive as his memory is not improving at all, as evident in the tests (very slow ones) conducted.The film might be more current due to the Pandemic Covid-19 virus, but Nikou's film requires patience and goes nowhere.An OK watch if you like this sort of Kafka-ish thing, otherwise this exercise will be totally boring.
ATLANTIS (Ukraine 2020) ***1/2 Directed by Valentyn Vasyanovych
The film setting is a dystopian society in the future of the year 202., a year after the war ended.It is not a pretty sight to be living there but a marvellous sight, cinematography wise. Director Vasyanovych’s film contains stark and stunning images.The film is made up of vignettes that last around 10 - 15 minute each, where characters walk into the scene and move in and out the stationary frame. The vignettes are connected, creating a narrative that involves an ex-soldier by the name of Sergiy (Andriy Rymaruk).His mate jumps into the fire in factory in the beginning segment leaving Sergiy to run some errand involving travel into ‘the zone' where he meets a girl in the business of locating, identifying and properly burying soldiers and other war casualties found in unmarked, often mass graves.A strange but remarkable film that won the top price in the Horizons Section at the Venice Film Festival 2020.
DROWSY CITY (Vietnam 2019) *** Directed by Dong Long Dinh
The film’s setting is a crowded city called DROWSY CITY in the country of Vietnam.The lead charter is Tao, whose sole occupation is to slaughter chickens and the occasional duck for a living.So, expect a lot of fowl abuse - such as the pouring of hot water from a kettle to kill the poor animals.If this is not enough, there is is feather plucking off live chickens and the poisoning of adorable little chicks.Tao’s quiet and uneventful life is rudely interrupted by three squatters, 3 gangsters who move in next door together with a prostitute who Tao gets involved with.The film shows what happens when a quiet man is pushed far past his limit of endurance.Tao turns nasty and exacts a cruel revenge.Director Dong is fond of overhead shots which often depict both the poverty and hustle and bustle of the city. One might wait patiently for some message in this film but there is none.
CAUGHT IN THE NET (Czech 2019) *** Directed by Barbora Chalupova and Vít Klusák
Three adult actresses pose as 12-year-old girls with three fake bedrooms, three cameras, three chat boxes with fake profiles.A social experiment on the sexual abuse of young people online conducted live on camera is captured in this Czech doc. The aim is to catch the child predators caught in the act (net).It is scary to see how far the majority of these predators go - jerking off; blackmailing the girls; enticing them with money.Only one on the net, a 20-year old is decent warningone girl of the dangers of chatting.The film went on to be number one at the Czechoslovakian box-office and is Grand Prize winner (Czech competition) at One World International Human Rights Film Festival.But as the doc unfolds, it appears aimless as to what the filmmakers want to do with all the information received - besides shocking the world on the information.The faces of the predators and blurred, except for the decent 20-year old who turns out to be good-looking.Still, one of the film crew recognizes one of the predators as one working with kids int he city.
Trailer:
KILL IT AND LEAVE THIS TOWN (Poland 2020) *** Directed by Mariusz Wilczynski
The difficult to follow story, if there is one is described by this line: Fleeing from despair after losing those dearest to him, the hero hides in a safe land of memories, where time stands still and all those dear to him are alive.This animated feature from Poland is reported to have taken 6 yers in the making - a film about memories.The animation is often squiggly and difficult to figure out, but the drawings are often grotesque and dreary,often changing from one form to another.Insects seem particularly the favourite of director Wilczynski, though spiders and others get squished along the way.Other strange things like fish head bobbling up and down appear repetitively in the film. An animated feature that is not for everyone, but an intriguing one, nevertheless with one trying to figure out what is in the mind of Wilczynski when he was making the film.
This dreamy mainly black and white meditation is composed of scratchy archive footage retrieved from the Royal Belgian Film Archive. The hour or so long film offers an interpretation to old images as it ponders memory and existence.This is a disturbing and mesmerizing exercise that is definitely thought provoking.The premise is a mysterious virus that causes amnesia in its victims that is on the loose in a dystopian Kafka looking society.The people call it “night” because it infects the brain, eating away at memories and leaving nothing but darkness.To protect its citizens, the State steps in with a program to harvest and archive their memories. But all this appears to be actually happening today all over the world.Virus or not, old age, dementiaor Alzheimer’s cause human beings to lose their memory and if memories are lost we have nothing.As the voiceover goes:“We live to forget everything to be forgotten very quietly.”
OASIS (OAZA)(Serbia/France 2020) **** Directed by Ivan Ikic
This deserving winner of the Best European Film at this year’s2020 Venice Film Festival is a slow burn but an amazing look at mentally challenged teens.The film opens with the note that in the past, children that are backward were often drowned in the river.Maria and Dragana fall in love over Robert, all three in an institution in Serbia.The manipulative Dragana ends up slitting her wrists while Maria ends up pregnant.The authorities separate Robert and Maria while aborting the baby.What starts as a love triangle ends up a social study of what it means to be challenged.The challenged have feelings too and are as much human as anyone else and should be allowed to make decisions on their own, lest allowed to fall in love as well.Director Ikic works his wonders with his winning grey looking feature making his audience eventually care about his characters.The three are played by non-professional actor and they are either very good actors or act their part.The heartbreaking drama is one of the best films I have seen at the festival so far!
(Way Up the Mountain) (France/Belgium 2019) ***1/2
Directed by Benjamin Botello and Arnaud Demuynck
This absolutely charming and hilarious 37 minute animation follows 4 cows way up high in the mountain stuck in ice and snow.The 4 cows Clarisse, Maggie, Aglaé and Rosine venture on the journey after accepting the invite from JB, a ram to discover the snowy peaks.But when they learn from the sheep that JB has disappeared after leaving looking for edelweiss, the four heroines decide to go looking for him and save him from the terrifying bélébélé (bellybelly). They meet however, an ibex who reluctantly helps them in their quest.There is much to enjoy including the yodelling soundtrack, the imaginative animation, the goofy bovine antics and the laugh-out loud humour.A total delight!In French.
As weird as films go during this festival, this weird one is rather ingenious in the way it mixes fiction and reality for the purpose of absurdity.THALASSO refers to saltwater therapy and it is in such a saltwater therapy spa that audiences of this film find actor Gerard Depardieu and arguably the most important French literalist living today, Michel Houellebecq meet.Michel is now recuperating after a kidnapping, supposedly orchestrated by ex-President Lalonde to prevent Michel for running for office.Michel survives the kidnapping but will he survive the strict rules of the spa like no wine, no smokes and no more than 2 allowed in a room?Depardieu helps him with smokes and bottles of wine which he sneaks in.Things get weirder when Sylvester Stallone is rumoured to be frolicking naked on the nearby beach.Stallone played by look-alike/impersonator Jade Roberts appear at the end of the film with a machine gun, RAMBO-style.This film needs to be seen to be believed.And, there is a hilarious segment of the discussion of pussy transplant rejection.
Capsule reviews of French Films screened at TFF 2020.
Capsule Reviews:
BEGINNING (France/Georgia 2020) **** Directed by Dea Kulumbegashvili
BEGINNING is the story of Yana (Ia Sukhitashvili), wife ofDavid (Rati Oneli), a Jehovah’s Witness missionary in a predominantly Christian Orthodox mountainside village in Georgia. Their Kingdom Hall is attacked during a service and the modest place of worship left in ashes.David manages to obtain CCTV footage of the attack and Yana, who is searching for purpose in life, becomes fixated on justice.The film plays like an Andrei Tarkorvski film from director Dea Kulumbegashvili’s long takes and meticulously composed scenes where her actors often move in and out of the frames. There is a segment in which the camera lingers on Yana lying still on the ground for a full 5 minutes only to end with her telling her son: “I’m only kidding. I am alive.”The film takes a turn when Yana is visited by local police officer (Kakha Kintsurashvili) who has come in to question her about the fire.“Does your husband fuck you on the couch?” he asks her at one point during the interrogation.What follows is to be seen to be believed.A remarkable and assured work from Kulumbegashvili.
Trailer: (unavailable)
ETE 85 (SUMMER OF 1985) (France/Belgium) ***** Top 10
Directed by Francois Ozon
French director Francois Ozon in top form with a moving and complicated film about youth, the way older directors like Eric Rohmer make superior films on the subject.The film opens with 16-year old Alexis (Felix Lefevre) taken into questioning by the police on the death of an older boy David (Benjamin Voisin).It takes 30 minutes into the film before Ozon presents the first gay scene of the two young boys in bed.The film is told in dual time lines.Ozon teases his audience often creating the audience in anticipating what is to come creating both excitement and mystery.One is the death of David and it is only revealed how Alexis is involved after two thirds of the film.Alexis has a hard-on early in the film while entering the bath, and one wonders (before it is revealed of the gay relationship) whether that was due to the sexuality of David or David’s beautiful mother (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi).The love relationship is revealed to be a complex one with the idea of falling in love not with any person but an idea of a person one conjures up - the idea well communicated by Ozon.ETE 85 is based on the English novel DANCING ON MY GRAVE by Aidan Chambers which Ozon brilliantly adapted to the Normandy setting while putting his personal imprint on the story.(The film has already played in France.)
THE FATHER (UK/France 2020) **** Directed by Florian Zeller
In these times of Covid-19 when all the theatres are closed, it is indeed a refreshing pleasure to watch a good play even though it is an adaptation to the screen.Written by Christopher Hampton based on director Florian Zeller’s play, it is fortunate to have Oscar Winner Anthony Hopkins play the main character, an elderly named Anthony suffering from memory loss.Anthony refuses all assistance from his daughter, Anne (Oscar Winner Olivia Colman)as he ages.As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality. The play puts the audience in Anthony’s shoes.When he forgets someone from his memory loss, the audience sees another actor playing that someone.It is an amazing device that allows the audience to really feel for the demise of old age. A simple story about old age sensitively and beautifully told.Hopkins is superb as is Coleman.
Trailer: (unavailable)
GARCON CHIFFON) (My Best Part) (France 2020) ***
Directed by Nicolas Maury
If there is one film about the destruction jealousy plays on ones life, this film is the one.Not only is Jérémie a totally jealous mess but he attends a jealousy group that yields one of the film’s best segments.Director Maury gives a sad-sack performance as gay Jérémie Meyer, an out-of-work actor plagued by doubts, jealousy (he suspects his partner may be cheating on him), and an unhealthy emotional dependency on his mother, played by veteran French actress Nathalie Baye.Jérémie, in the film claims that he knows the smell of his partner’s sperm in one scene where he accuses him of cheating.Maury delivers a sympathetic performance and one wishes his character will succeed not only as an actor but in life as well.Great to see Bye again in a role deserving of her talents.The film is part of Cannes 2020 official selection.
Benjamin Adler (Noémie Merlant from PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE) and Aude(Soko) want to have a baby, but when they find out that it is not possible for Aude to conceive, Benjamin comes up with a plan to solve their dilemma. Benjamin will carry the baby.This sounds really strange but the less one knows about the film’s plot the better.I knew nothing of the story nor that the actor playing Benjamin is female as Benjamin is shown with a thin beard and lifting barbells in one of the film’s scenes.Shot in the region of Bretagne (Brittany), director Mention-Schaar makes good use of the location, with the sea visible in many of the film’s segments.One might think that subjects of LGBT films have run thin, but A GOOD MAN is totally original and a solid drama.A GOOD MAN is a Cannes 2020 Official Selection.At one point in the film, Ben and Aude remark: “Don’t you think we will be the coolest parents ever?”Truly they are and A GOOD MAN is clearly one of the coolest films ever!
In writer/director João Paulo Miranda Maria’s sad take on misplaced culture, a black indigenous man, Cristovam (Antonio Potanga) has made sacrifices to adapt to the Austrian colonism of the north. Christovam has moved to the south and in the film’s opening, is given a long speech by management to explain his wage cut.He moves into an old abandoned house, the MEMORY HOUSE of the film’s title, which contains artifacts reminding him of the past.This is the story of a man pushed to the limits with disastrous results not only for him but for the community.The film is a slow burn with many long takes.Still, one has to be attentive as to what is going on onscreen.The cinematography by Benjamin Echazarreta is magnificent as is the soundtrack by Nicolas Becker.MEMORY HOUSE is a Cannes Festival Official selection and the only latin-American film in the selection.
LA NUIT DES ROIS (NIGHT OF THE KINGS) (Cote d’Ivoire/France/Senegal/Canada) ***1/2Directed by Philippe LaCote
NIGHT OF THE KINGS is set in a God-forsaken place known as the Maca.The Maca is a 5-star prison set in the deep jungle of the Ivory Coast.It is the place where inmates rule.When the current Lord of the cellblock, Blackbeard (Steve Tientcheu) is about to die from terminal cancer, the prison is thrown into chaos.Into the mayhem enters a new inmate, who the prisoners call Roman (Kone Bakary).He has to tell a story lasting the whole night in order to survive at the order of Blackbeard.Director LaCote, himself from the Ivory Coast weaves a fascinating tale of horror and survival - a world seldom seen and hardly imagined.French actor Denis Lavant as a cameo as a character called ‘Crack’ who gos about with a white chicken on his shoulder.Lacote builds the story to an intense climax where all hell breaks loose in the Maca.The film also contains a message that one cannot change destiny (God decides all!) and demonstrates the enormous power of storytelling.A remarkable film!
Trailer: (unavailable)
PASSION SIMPLE (France/Belgium/Lebanon 2020) **
Directed by Danielle Arbid
Simple passion or obsessive love? The film traces a mother’s falling into an addictive relationship with a Russian diplomat, with whom she has nothing in common.Hélène (Laetitia Dosch) cannot function without sex with the man (Sergei Polunin) who does not give her his name or address.She has to wait for his call for unbridled sex which causes her to go crazy.The sex scenes are erotic enough to show how passionate their love making is.Much, much more of the same, repeated and repeated as if the audience does not get the idea that she cannot function without him.Her relationship with her son Paul also deteriorates with her unable to focus on anything but sex. So what happens in the end?Two options - she either totally breaks down or she moves on.90 minutes one has to wait for the answer.
Suzanne Lindon performs triple duty in her feature film debut, writing directing and starring as a 16-year old schoolgirl bored with school and of her friends.Lindon is in real life 20 years of age though it is reputed that she wrote the script at 16.Her character falls into a romance with an adult, a 35-year old actor of a play staged near her lodging, which she passes every day on her way to and back from school.The two share the common interest of boredom.Her parents have no clue what is happening - which is not much in the case of the audience concerned.Lindon’s film demonstrates realistically whatteen goes through but nothing concrete comes out from the proceedings.Her film plays like a breezy dream with some musical numbers thrown in.Am ok watch - maybe Lindon will come up with something better later when she grows up.
Because of Covid-19, INSIDE OUT the LGBT film festival 2020 will take place largely vitally.Most of the films can be streamed to ones PC remotely for the price of an admission ticket.Most festivals including TIFF is done this way.A few firms can be seen in phyla theatres or in Drive-ins.
Go to the Inside Out website for full details as to how to access the films this year.
Capsule Reviews of Selected Inside Out Feature Films:
DRY WIND (VENTO SECO) (Brazil 2020) ** Directed by Daniel Nolasco
The dry wind of the title comes from the climate of the area around Catalan in Brazil's state of Goiás which is dry, very dry. The climate is reflected in the life of the film’s protagonist, a beard gay who works in the local fertilizer plant.Sandro’s life here is somewhat monotonous. He divides his days between the city club, work, soccer with friends and city parties.He has a purely sexual relationship with his colleague Ricardo.He always seems to be a bit of an outsider, not comfortable in his own skin, not really belonging. When Maicon, a man straight out of a Tom of Finland illustration, shows up in their small town and flirts with Ricardo, his burgeoning feelings of jealousy set a change in motion.DRY WIND is a pretty nasty movie, so if you do not have the stomach for very, very explicit sex scenes it is best to void this film that plays like a soft porn film.Nothing makes much sense in the story and it really does not matter.The sex scenes are erotic enough even if you do not like bears.
JUMP, DARLING (Canada 2020) ** Directed by Philip J. Connell
Nothing really new or insightful in the Inside Out opening movie JUMP, DARLING that moves like a limp.A rookie drag queen, reeling from a break-up, escapes to the country, where he finds his grandmother in steep decline yet desperate to avoid the local nursing home.The drag queen, Russell is played by Thomas Duplessie who was hired for the role for his two drag performances on video that that he had sent to the casting director.Acting-wise he delivers an ok performance, especially in the company of Hollywood legend and Oscar Winner Cloris Leachman (now at the age of 94) as the grandmother.The film contains two of Fishy Falters (Russells’’s drag name) performances which are not bad, but the lightning is pretty dim for what is supposed to be a breakout performances.The predictable story goes on as expected and the humour could have been better.
Trailer: (unavailable)
SHIVA BABY (USA/Canada 2020) ** Directed by Emma Seligman
Writer/director Seligman’s comedy of discomfort takes place during a shiva.A shiva is the time of mourning practiced by Jews following the funeral of a loved one, where comfort is brought to the grieving.Those below the age of 30 need not be involved in a shiva so it is rather strange that the protagonist focuses on twentysomething Danielle (Rachel Sennott) who attends the shiva.Danielle is a perennial student who’s been lying to her supportive but overbearing parents about her faltering academic career.Then again, she has a lot of secrets she’s keeping, including her relationship with an older man, Max (Danny Deferrari), who also gives her money.At the shiva, everything goes wrong for her, including losing her cell phone, the appearance of Max and his family at the shiva and the appearance also of her lesbian fling at the prom.The film is not that funny and discomfort comedies cause audiences to feel uneasy.The result is a discomforting film that generates few laughs or satisfaction despite the fact that the actors try quite hard to make it all work.
SPIRAL, an atmospheric horror film set in 1995 is a well-made original - a gay horror movie.And one in which of the gay couple, the black and not the white is the protagonist.It is ten years after a traumatic incident in which Malik is still haunted by his past.To start afresh, he and Aaron, with Aaron’s daughter Kayla, move to a small town. Initially, they are warmly greeted by the town’s residents, but soon Malik senses that something is wrong.His discomfort escalates when his new house is vandalized, and he begins having visions of hooded figures that are lurking in the dark. Director Harder ties in the gay element into the horror story.Malik initially thinks the problem was that the town was not ready for a gay couple, but the trouble lies deeper.SPIRAL is a bit of a slow burn, but the suspense is well built up.At its best, it feels like Roman Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY, and its premise is totally believable, thanks to Harder’s meticulous handling of the material.
This year the Montreal based FANTASIA Film Festival takes on a virtual edition.But the films are no less interesting.Fantasia started off as an Asian fantasy genre based festival but have now mouthed into the international scene.The lineup of films are spectacular.Being virtual, one can attend the festival on line without the hassle of travelling to Montreal, amazing as the city is.
Being virtual, this is the first year that I am attending this festival.And I am very impressed with with it so far, in terms of organization, adapting it to Covid-19 times, efficiency of the staff, as well as the selection of films.
I have capsule previewed selected films in this article.Because of embargo restrictions, some reviews cannot appear till the day before a physical screening.Please check this site for new capsule reviews.
For the complete program of films and schedule, it is best to check the festival website at:
12 HOUR SHIFT(USA 2020) **** Directed by Brea Grant
Written and directed by Bea Grant (LUCKY), 12 HOUR SHIFT is an assured and very funny black comedy about an opiate addicted nurse, Mandy (Angela Bettis) who is involved with an organ harvesting scheme to fuel her drug habit.Set and filmed in Arkansas, the action takes place during her 12 hour killer shift where everything goes wrong.Mandy is determined to have everything sorted despite losing the organs due to her dumb witted blonde half cousin (Chloe Farnsworth) who demonstrates that there is nothing dumber than a dumb blonde.The humour is original and wicked with colourful characters all leading to an exciting climax where the action reaches a manic peak.David Arquette who also serves as the film’s producer has a supporting role as a thug who hates cops.Bettis plays the nurse Mandy with the sarcasm similar to Amy Sedaris in STRANGERS WITH CANDY.12 HOUR SHIFT is clearly the most entertaining film at the Fantasia International Film Festival.
BABY: THE SECRET DIARY OF A MOM TO BE (Hong Kong 2019) ** Directed by Luk Yee-Sum
The mom of the film title is a Hong Kong PR, Carmen (Dada Chan) more interested in her career than in her pregnancy.She threatens to abort the baby (she talks to the yet-to-be-born baby) if it makes her throw one more time.Abortion is not a laughing matter, and this segment comes across as really rather obnoxious than funny. She also keeps the pregnancy from her husband (Kevin Chu), a gorgeous basketball player who is cute that his cuteness hides the fact that he is a really actor.Director Luk (LAZY HAZY CRAZY) tries to be cute with her quirky characters but the immaturity of all her characters results in a film that is more annoying that anything else.The film boasts performances by Shaw Brothers’ actors Candace You and pop star Louis Cheng who also turn in annoying performances of annoying characters.The film gets much worse as it progresses.
Trailer: (unavailable)
BLEED WITH ME (Canada 2020) ***1/2
Directed by Amelia Moses
A 90 minute slow burn psychological thriller/horror in which not much happens in the first half, which is a good thing as director Moses builds up her audience’s anticipation in which not much can be guessed regarding the horror that will occur.Rowan (Lee Marshall), a shy and awkward young woman, struggles to integrate herself on a weekend getaway with her best friend, Emily (Lauren Beatty) and her boyfriend, Brendan (Aris Tyros).Feeling like a lamp post, she drinks to calm her nerves, pushing her body and mind deep into a hazy trance, where she begins to witness nightmarish late-night visions that make her feel increasingly unwelcome, unsure and unstable. Moses drops little hints of the horror that islet to come like a revelation that Emily has just recovered from some breakdown or the scene where Emily sucks the blood from the Rowan’s cut finger.The best scene is when Emily serves Rowan tea that Rowan knows has been drugged and Emily says to her: “Don’t you trust me?”A good old-fashioned satisfactory thriller that makes good use of suspense tactics that is worthy of Hitchcock.
THE COLUMNIST (DE KUTHOER)(Netherlands 2019) ***1/2
Directed by Ivo van Aart
THE COLUMNIST is a dark thriller with comedic overtones about social media bullying.Films about a timid souls forced to come out of their shells have proven to be great fodder for future films like Sam Peckinpah’s THE STRAW DOGS, and John Cassevetes’ GLORIA just to game a few.Femke Boot (Ktja Herbers) is a columnist and fresh novelist who has become the brunt of nasty tweets for her opinion that people should be nicer.The tweets she gets are downright nasty wishing her dead if not calling her names of really awful private parts.Her daughter is herself facing problems in school for being outspoken to help poorer countries in freedom of speech.Femke has finally had enough of the cyber bullying and decides to take matters in her own hands.The bullies find out that they have picked the wrong victim.Bullies are nasty but victims, when pushed to the limit can be just as nasty if not nastier.That said,THE COLUMNIST, a revenge fantasy is wicked and delicious entertaining set in the current times of unblocked social media.
Trailer: (unavailable)
FEELS GOOD MAN (USA 2020) *** Directed by Arthur Jones
Have you heard of Pepe the Frog?You would have if you are an ardent internet user or a kid watching cartoons or reading comic books.Or a total loser two has used Pepe as a meme.
The word meme has been popularized with the advancement of the internet, especially through Youtube and Facebook.A meme is an idea, behaviour, or style that becomes a fad and spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.Pepe the Frog is a meme.
The film follows artist Matt Furie, creator of the comic character Pepe the Frog, who begins an uphill battle to take back his iconic cartoon image from those who used it for their own purposes.
The title comes from one of Matt’s cartoons.Pepe discovers a friend while opening the toilet door, taking a piss with his pants and trousers pulled right down to the floor.“Feels Good Man” is the reason for doing so.This and Matt’s drawing of the sad face frog began to get extremely popular and surface on the internet.Others have used pep’s image to propagate hate crimes.Kill Jews are example of words that come out from Pepe’s mouth as posted on the internet by others.Pepe became a hate icon.Matt tries to take back Pepe the Frog, while suing the companies and the people who have used his frog character to commit hate crimes in the guise of free speech.Trump also comes into the picture.One can only say that that is America for you - free speech as an excuse to do despicable deeds.
Director Jones unfolds his film in a straight forward manner.He uses Matt throughout his documentary using with him appearing in a majority of the scenes.Matt is fortunately quite adecent looking guy, rather cool inaway with a good conscience thus making a different and of hero/protagonist. The film begins with a brief history of Matt and how he started creating Pepe the Frog.Director Jones interviews people to have their say on their impressions of Pepe.The doc then follows the unethical use of Pepe and the reason for doing so.Experts on the subject of memes are also consulted and interviewed.Matt comes back not the picture to reclaim Pepe’s innocence.The film focuses also on the mental effects all this has on Matt.
The final result is a happy ending that FEELS GOOD MAN.Jones’ film is informative, good natured and shows that good will eventually triumph over evil and stupidity.
FEELS GOOD MAN is currently playing in Virtual Theatres during the Montreal based Fantasia International Film Festival and also opens on VOD September the 4th.
Trailer:
MARYGOROUND (Maryjki) (Poland 2020) *** Directed by Daria Woszek
Though slated as a comedy, MARyGOROUND is more a psychological drama/horror that follows 50-year old virginMary as she attempts to change her life after reaching menopause.She begins hormonal therapy to help her transition, which is all the more frustrating since she has never had children. She fills her apartment that she shares with her niece by statues of the Virgin Mary, a clear and unequivocal representation of her hopes for a miracle. Though basically a feminine themed film, director Woszek bring both genders into Mary’s secluded wold of work at a small grocery store and her home.Her decent into madness is creepily documented while the audience is kept sympathetic towards her.Mary is played by Grazyna Misiorowska (who looks a bit like Ingrid Bergman) who delivers an unforgettable performance. Not so much a comedy but what happens to Mary is sort of funny/weird.
A fascinating mystery thriller that has the feel of GROUNDHOG DAY without the comedy. It all genius in a country village, where Soo-hyuk, a primary-school teacher adored by his pupils, and his wife, the sweet and shy Yi-young, seem to be the ideal couple. However, the latter is afflicted with a strange evil. At nightfall, her personality changes dramatically, as if she were possessed, and in the morning she becomes the young woman everyone loves again. When one of the curious villagers comes across a Yi-young in judoka mode, the community, frightened by her unpredictability, decides to build a cage for her in the attic of her house. Unfortunately, this idea quickly turns to tragedy and the couple trapped and burnt to death. Enter Detective Hyung-gu, who arrives in the village to investigate the fire that claimed the couple’s life.The detective now becomes the film’s protagonist as he suddenly adopts the teacher’s identity losing everything he has had before.He believes it a nightmare except that he does not wake up from it. An original story only too fascinating that it leaves an unexplained open ending that might frustrate some viewers.Still director Jung takes his audience for a wild ride keeping themguessing all the time.
THE OAK ROOM is played in mainly two acts each with two actors doing all the talking with the exception of one little flashback story of a kid on the farm.Cody Calahan (ANTISOCIAL) directs from a stage bound scriptby Peter Genoway in a film that feels too much like watching a play.The story begins on a snowy night in a small Canadian town. Paul (Peter Outerbridge) has just closed up his bar when a young man named Steve (RJ Mitte) walks in the door – carrying a lot of baggage.The shared history between the two results in significant tension before Steve says he’s got a hell of a story to tell. It’s about another bar, The Oak Room, another snowy night, and another bartender visited after hours, this time by a stranger.In the flashback story of a kid, it is mentioned that the kid is very poor but the filmmakers make a boo-boo with the kid shown running out of a gorgeous huge house that only a wealthy family can afford.Given the limitation of the film’s settings, the cinematography and camerawork are impressive.
THE OLD MAN: THE MOVIE (Vanamehe film) (Estonia 2019) ***1/2 Directed by Oskar Lehemaa and Mikk Mago
I have only seen a handful of films from Estonia but of the ones I have seen (DARKNESS IN TALLINN), they are of superb quality.THE OLD MAN: THE MOVIE runs in the same category, a stop animation plasticine cartoon (looking like the British WALLACE AND GROMIT animation cartoons).There are twin themes in theplot.One is the glory of milk and how milking a cow is an art.The villain of this story is an evil ex-farmer (or ex-milker) who want to behead cows, notably then that has escaped from the family farm.The second theme is the relationship the family - between the grandpa and the three children left by their parents under his care.The children used to spend all their time playing games on their mobile phones till grandpa feed their cellulars to the pig in the barn.The humour is funniest when it gets goofy and absurdist.The story could not have been more inventive or funnier.The outstanding thing about this film is its gorgeous old-time animation process which is worth more than the price of the ticket.Warning! This animated feature is not for children.
Trailer: (unavailable)
PERDIDA (Colombia/Mexico 2019) ***1/2
Directed by Jorge Michel Grau
A dark thriller with a Hitchcockian theme, PERDIDA (a remake of the Colombian film THE HIDDEN FACE) follows the path of three characters.Eric (José María de Tavira) is a man in crisis.The conductor of a prestigious Mexican philharmonic, his seemingly happy life is shattered by the abrupt breakup with his wife, Carolina (Paulina Dávila), who leaves him with only a goodbye video and nothing else.Eric meets waitress, Fabiana (Cristina Rodlo), and finds himself returning to life.Nothing more should be revealed of the plot that contains lots of sinister overtones, as knowing more would definitely spoil the entertainment.Director Grau (the cannibal film WE ARE WHAT WE ARE) toys a lot with audience anticipation, a trait found in many of Hitchcock’s films.The real personalities of the three characters emerge only at the last third of the film, when once only wishes the best for the victim who had essentially put herself in the predicament in the first place.A slow start but the film picks up after the second half with everything neatly tied up at the end.I have not seen the original, but this remake is a solid emotional thriller that should not fail too satisfy fans of the mystery/thriller genre.
Evelyn, a young Filipina nurse (Aina Dumlao), has moved to the remote Texan estate of the Regans.Tasked with taking care of the family’s aging matriarch, Dena (Jayne Taini), she also takes in her nephew – suspended from school, and whom Dena suspects of stealing her things.As the symptoms of dementia get worse – especially at night, when the elder’s behaviour becomes truly unpredictable – the relationship of care turns increasingly strained and abusive. The supernatural element of the film comes from Evelyn hearing mysterious noises emanating from the intercom, and the family’s cockatiel exhibits its own strange behaviour.Director Magnus’ film is a very slow burn.The film has an excellent moody and creepy atmosphere better captured here than in many a horror film.But the narrative is weak and never clearly explains the reason behind the the weird happenings.The result is letdown of a movie that had already build up high expectations.The film is shot in Filipino and English.The film also captures the terrible burden of giving palatial care for the aged.Warning: This film is terribly depressing!
Re-make of an Indian/Malaysian film DRISHYAM, SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD is the Chinese box-office champion in 2020 that looks like the typical Hollywood action flick where a protagonist has to fight thugs to save his family.The father in this case is a Chinese living in Thailand.His daughter has been taken advantage of by the Thai son of a politician and police chief and accidentally killed by mother and daughter.So, it is up to father, trying to bring his estranged family together as well as protect them.Why the film is set in Thailand is a mystery, perhaps to give the film a more exotic flair.It is odd that this apparently backedChinese production puts down a corrupt government, though it be the Thai, which likely could stand in for the Chinese government.It is not the typical action flick where the father is a martial-arts champion fighter.He is in this film, an ordinary man using brain instead of brawn to save his family, a scenario that includes two surprise plot twists that makes the film more credible.
SLAXX derived from the word slacks is a sorry excuse of amedic horror film that supposedly tackles the issues of every day life like GMO products and child labour.When a possessed pair of jeans begins to kill the staff of a trendy clothing store, it is up to Libby McClean (Romaine Denis), an idealistic young new salesclerk, to stop its bloody rampage.All the action takes place at the CCC Clothing store where an assortment of managers and workers attempt to survive the mayhem.The villain of the piece is the store manager Craig (Brett Donahue) aka robot king who demonstrates accurately in the film what overacting is. Co-written by director Kephart is one movie that wears its plot thing and dreary.Over-violent for a comedy that is generally unfunny!so-so special effects with th slacks walking on their own.
There have been weird subjects for documentaries but this one takes the cake. YOU CANNOT KILL DAVID ARQUETTE is a documentary about the actor and his obsession with pro-wrestling.David Arquette is an actor best known for the SCREAM movies. He even got himself to win the World Wrestling champion, much to the anger of pro-wrestling fans. This doc follows Arquette’s obsession and the psychology that goes with it. If one cannot stand pro-wrestling or Arquette, best to give this film a miss. The interviewees on view include a choice of his siblings, brother and sister (Patricia Arquette) who have pretty nothing insightful to say, his current and ex-wife Courteney Cox as well as Rick Flair, the Godfather of wrestling.As much as pro-wrestling is staged with all the action pre-arranged, one also wonders how much of this doc is real - or really shot in real time or re-enactments. The segment where Arquette gets his neck cut or vomits tons into a card box box would most likely be re-enactments. All this for the sake of entertainment.
LES FEMMES EN OR (Two Women) (Canada 2025) *** Directed by Chloé Robichaud
Violette and Florence no longer understand what's happening to them. Respectively on maternity leave and off...
