Starring: Sandra Hüller, Peter Simonischek, Michael Wittenborn
Family is one of the few things we do not choose in life.
We can change jobs, we can move to another country. But family is the one thing we cannot get rid off. No matter how hard we try.
The talented Maren Ade masterfully delivers an emotional story while criticising the corporate world in Europe and the ruthless German approach to ‘assist’ countries much less favoured economically, such as Romania.
But I am not into politics myself. As a European, I’ve had enough of that.
Watching Toni Erdmann took me back to a few months ago when my father came to stay with us. To me, he was relentless, embarrassing and short-sighted.
I could see myself in Ines. I could feel her struggle as she deals with her father.
The constant façade that she builds to prove that she can do better.
Her father’s transformation, an invasion of privacy at first, slowly becomes a fierce fight to recover his daughter by taking over a new persona. Toni and Ines’ story is a plea for coming clean, to reconnect with our family despite our differences.
Toni Erdmann is much more than a film made for entertainment sake.
I laughed, I cried and it made me think. And that is as much as you can ask for.
Maren Ade is a resourceful writer, director and producer. She founded the production company Komplizen Film with producer Janine Jackowski.
In 2015, Komplizen Film was honoured with the Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in German Film by the DEFA Foundation.
Producers: Scott Stuber, Dylan Clark, Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Hutch Parker, Dorothy Aufiero and Michael Radutzky
Screenplay by: Peter Berg, Matt Cook and Joshua Zetumer
Based on the book: ‘Boston Strong’ by Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge
Soundtrack: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Kevin Bacon, J. K. Simmons, Michelle Monaghan
Based on true events surrounding the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, Patriots Day details the hours leading up to, during and immediately following the attack which killed three people and seriously injured over 270 bystanders, sixteen of whom lost limbs.
Director Peter Berg and star Mark Wahlberg previously collaborated on the disaster flick Deepwater Horizon (2016), and their combined talents have enabled them to effectively recreate the Boston Marathon bombings with gritty realism.
Shot in a semi-documentary style, using hand-held cameras to capture the raw immediacy of events, the film effectively incorporates archival footage from the 2013 marathon. I think of this style as “shaky cam” and by the three-quarter mark of this 133-minute feature I was feeling very queasy, so if you prefer smoother camera work it might be best to sit far back from the screen. The synthesizer soundtrack music became repetitive and intrusive at times and a bit distancing, where silence might have worked better.
The actual bombing sequence wasn’t a surprise because most people know it happened, so the first half of the film focussed on establishing who would be directly affected by the bombings and allowed the audience to become attached to these people. The explosions were effectively staged and edited, and quite graphic without dwelling too much on the gruesome severed limbs.
After a slow patch the tension increased during the second half when the police and FBI manhunt turned to identifying and tracking down the perpetrators of the bombings.
Star Mark Wahlberg portrayed a fictional police officer, an amalgamation of several actual officers, and I felt he was the weakest link because he wasn’t based on a real person and his backstory was largely irrelevant. The sequence where the FBI call on his extensive knowledge of Boston streets to retrace the two bombers’ steps with technicians who then scroll through CCTV footage to find the culprits, really challenged credibility. Surely there would be effective IT software to achieve this without relying on the memory of one sleep-deprived man!
The home-grown terrorists (brothers) were not given much obvious motivation for their actions, aside from a short conversation with the owner of a hijacked car. The first shoot-out with the two terrorists when one of them was critically injured and captured seemed quite over the top with extensive gun fire, home-made bombs exploding and general mayhem ensuing, but a check of the facts indicates it really happened this way.
Boston and its people came across as the real heroes of this inspiring film, with the term “Boston Strong” becoming a rallying cry of hope and love in the face of horror.
What really got to me, however, was not the capture of the remaining terrorist but the photos of the three victims who had died at the scene, particularly the eight-year-old boy, whose sheet-covered body had to be left in situ until all crime-scene forensics had been completed.
That heart-rending photo of innocence really brought home the sheer waste and tragedy of this horrific event.
Starring: Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Brendan Gleeson, Chris Messina, Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Chris Cooper, Matthew Maher, Miguel J. Pimentel, Max Casella.
Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck) is a man recently home from WWI.After seeing so much wasted bloodshed, he refuses to believe in a system that applies no value to the people it governs.
The son of Boston’s Deputy Superintendent, Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson), a good cop and a cop who loves his son, Joe goes about life without regard for the law. He robs banks and falls in love with a gangster’s Molly, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller).
Joe wants to be free.And he is free, until the Italian Mafia decide they want the Irishman on their side.
Live by Night isn’t one of those gangster revenge films full of sociopaths and relentless shoot-outs. This is a film shown beautifully through the authentic setting of those 1920s streets of Boston and the vast skies reflected in the snake-like curving rivers of Miami.
It took a while but I was eventually absorbed by this story based on a novel written by Dennis Lehane (winner of the 2013 Edgar Award for Best Novel of the Year). The screenplay written by Ben Affleck has the benefit of well-thought characters and a ring of truth about the era: Prohibition and the underground rum trade in Tampa, racism, the fight for the American Dream. But what is The Dream? Girls, money, power, love?
Freedom?
There was a complexity here. This is a story about a man who wants to survive. But not at any price, not while there’s still a piece of heaven here on earth.< With an adaptation of a novel, it’s not easy to convey all without glossing over moments that would have been given more depth in the text. Although each character was portrayed so the fierceness, evil and beauty was shown in the dialogue, some extra seconds of those facial expressions would have conveyed more.
Offsetting the lack of depth was the beautiful camera work by Robert Richardson, giving access to the film through the depiction of setting.
I imagine it must have been difficult for Ben Affleck to act and direct in the same film. To be the one to portray what you have written, to show the vision of the story must be a hard task. And it shows. Ben being the least impressive actor in the film. I’m not saying his acting was bad, I’m just saying it wasn’t as believable as the performance of say, Sienna Miller or Matthew Maher (as RD Pruitt). Thankfully, the rest of the cast are phenomenal, given direction by the screenwriter, Ben. A headful, I know. And a hint into the space that is Ben Affleck. What an achievement.
Overall, Live by Night is one of those quiet movies that creeps up on you, a slow absorption into the point-of-view of Joe that doesn’t smack you in the face because that’s not in his psychological make-up: ‘I don’t want to be a gangster. I stopped kissing rings a long time ago.’
Produced by: Alede Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner
Starring: Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes, Naomie Harris, Janelle Monáe, André Holland and Mahershala Ali.
An emotionally charged, poignant film brought close to the audience through beautiful camerawork and the direction of open and honest performances making the story all the more real.
Moonlight follows the life of Cheron as he grows up in the Projects of Miami.
The story follows as he grows from Little (Alex Hibbert), just a kid already running, to Cheron (Ashton Sanders) in the midst of adolescence, to Black (Trevante Rhodes), the man he is destined to become. Each step of life is depicted by a different actor, yet the resemblance of the three is astounding.
Moonlight reveals the life of a boy as he struggles to grow through his mother’s drug addiction, loneliness, racism and his sexual identity. But this isn’t an in-your-face film that confronts and rips your heart out, this is a story shown with genuine artistry through beautiful shots of people and light and an openness where you can see the character up close, like the whisper of a secret.
The soundtrack (composed by: Nicholas Britell) is quiet and used to turn the tide of tone, carefully. The music making or breaking the mood of a film and the support of the soundtrack here essential as the story is shown through the subtle.
And that’s what makes the film resonate so loudly: the small movements, the way a head turns or the light as those eyes flick. All those awkward movements felt and shown, known.
We’ve all been there at some point: the fool, the humiliated, the hated. We’ve all felt the quiet. Yet the film shows love too, like kids sprinting then laughing because they feel the joy of the blood pumping, like kids do.
The authenticity of the story comes from the script based on a project written by Tarell Alvin McCraney: A Forging of Cinematic Identity of Miami, with director Barry Jenkins (Medicine for Melancholy) broadening the script and adapting for screen.
By coincidence both McCraney and Jenkins grew up in the Liberty City housing projects where most of the film is set. And the experience shows in how and where the film was shot.
This isn’t the Miami you see on TV. Yet the feeling of Miami is still there in the palm trees, the beach and the sea breeze.
The soundtrack, the setting, the camera work is all used to support the amazing performances of the cast. As Cheron grows into a man the performances are so open and honest I felt I could see into the soul of the man he becomes.
Moonlight is unique in that it’s both raw and subtle, creating something else, a feeling that stays with you that’s beautiful because it’s laid bare. What a rarity and an experience you won’t soon forget.
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen; Laurence Fishburne.
A love story set in space.
I saw the spaceship and the fantastic attention to detail (by award winning Guy Hendrix (Inception)) where each part of the ship is designed to take the audience into a place where androids like Arthur (Michael Sheen) tend bar and people are put to sleep for 120 years so they can migrate to a distant planet.
But more than anything, Passengers is a story about journalist Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence) and mechanic Jim (Chris Pratt), falling in love.
I’m thankful the two lead characters were well-cast and well-beautiful because Passengers is a cheese-fest.
Sci-fi fans will be disappointed with the focus on a love story and I was disappointed because the story was a simple one.
On his way from immigrating from Earth to Homeland II, Jim is woken up from his hibernation 90 years too early.
The film asks the question, What would you do if you were alone in space for the rest of your life?
When Jim meets Aurora, they fall in love (of course). Two people stranded together isn’t so bad when they have each other. Until they realise there’s something critically wrong with the ship.
If bodacious bodies are your thing, Jen and Chris give you an eyeful. And I
really have to find out who the clothing designer is because the outfits and shoes are to die for. See here for interview with designer Jamy Temime. Not that the character, Aurora is happy about being on a floating prison where the destination will never be reached because she’ll be dead by then.
But you can see where I’m going with the description: it’s all about the visual aspect. And the love story. I kept on thinking, what if she gets pregnant?
Although a visually stunning film, Passengers fell flat when the storyline became a run-of-the-mill romance.
Starring: Will Smith, Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, Michael Peña, Helen Mirren, Naomie Harris, Keira Knightley; Jacob Latimore.
Who doesn’t love watching an intricate set of dominoes fall? But when I realised this was the disintegration of Howard’s (Will Smith) heart, the final crash of those dominoes took on a new meaning.
After the death of his daughter, Howard is falling apart. He does nothing but set up those dominoes only to watch them fall.
Once a successful advertising guru, the company is starting to fail because advertising is built on relationships so when the guru falls, so does the company.
Howard exclaims in a speech at the beginning of the film, the 3 truths of life: Death, Love and Time.
So when his daughter dies, it’s the 3 truths he writes to – posting a letter to each, expressing grief and anger that his daughter has been taken from him.
I don’t know why I always go into a Will Smith film with a cringe. I know he has that frank, openess that has a way to pull the heart strings, and the cast had to be amazing to pull this script into a realm of belief. And you just know you’re going in for a tear-jerker which I’m not a fan of. But at this time of year when maybe you’ve had a health scare, or the family’s not quite right, it’s nice to go into that suspension of reality.
I haven’t seen Edward Norten in a film for a while and have to say I was worried when he showed up in khaki pants. However, I bite my tongue because it got to me, this film about death and fear and love and loss and the great equaliser, time.
The soundtrack had something to do with this. And the all-star cast. Who else could pull off Death but Helen Mirren?
And notice I’m not going on about the directing, cinematography, costuming (although I had a few issue here with those fake blue contacts and khaki pants!) – it’s just not noticeable.
I was absorbed at the beginning with the fall of those dominoes and then held watching well-known actors dealing with stuff we all have to tackle, at some stage.
This isn’t my favourite type of film, but if you’re in the mood, Collateral Beauty is a wonderful escape.
Starring: Levi Miller, Bryan Brown, Jason Isaacs, Hanna Manga Lawrence, Calen Tassone, Thomas Cocquerel, Kelton Pell and John Jarratt.
Sweet and funny, set on the backdrop of red desert, burnt skies and a story about a red dog named Blue.
Red Dog: True Blue is the prequel to the well-know Red Dog, that received world wide acclaim back in 2011. A neat compliment that made me want to watch the original again.
Shown as a flash-back to the 1960s, True Blue is about young Mick (Levi Miller) who finds himself at a cattle station out in the middle of no where living with his grandpa (Bryan Brown).
Mick is surrounded by all sorts of characters from Jimmy Umbrella (Kee Chan), the Chinese-Australian cook who hates the sun, Bill (Thomas Cocquerel) the larrikin helicopter pilot, Big John and Little John (Syd Brisdane and Steve Le Marquand) who are always fighting, Taylor Pete (Calen Tassone) the budding activist and Durack (Kelton Pell) the Aboriginal stockman who just knows Blue (Phoenix, the dog) is a tricksta spirit.
Blue wasn’t the feature in this film, but he was certainly the main source of humour. Very clever of director Kriv Stenders (also director of the original Red Dog), as Bluealways remained blameless. And the addition of Willy, the crazy, blind-in-one-eye horse who thinks he’s a bull, made the film even funnier.
Aside from the humour, there are themes here to give the story more depth, such as the politics of equal pay for Aboriginal workers, of free love, landrights, punishment of boys who’ve been bad… But what really stood out was the beauty of the landscape and those never ending skies.
Geoffrey Hall has returned as Director of Photography, this time making a conscious effort to keep the colour palette of the landscape authentic. And an anamorphic approach was used for filming giving a narrow depth of field. The result being beautiful, picture card moments with the weather and landscape becoming another character of the story.
At the end of the year when you drag your feet and wonder when summer is actually ever going to begin, it’s great to see a film that has it’s own brand of humour; that evokes laughter bubbling up from the belly; where the story is sweet (without being too sweet) and uplifting.
Yeah, the kid Mick, annoyed me a bit at the start – all private school and precious. But I think that was the point. And the character grew on me through-out the film which may have something to do with the mateship that develops between a lost kid and a cheeky dog named Blue (AKA Marlunghu the tricksta spirit).
And I’m thankful the film didn’t tear my heart out as some of these animal films tend to do. I was left smiling about a story that relates to life while also giving a positive twist making me really, really want to get a pet dog!
Based on the original screenplay by: Robert Siegel
Produced by: Aaron Ryder and Don Handfield
Starring: Michael Keaton, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch, Laura Dern, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson, B. J. Novak.
Business is war. It’s not even dog eat dog, it’s rat eat rat.
A true story based on the uprising of McDonald’s, The Founder is a remarkable story of Corporate America. Of how persistence and will power can create an empire for a man with a mouth and a keen eye for a successful business.
The film begins in 1954, showing Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) on the road trying to sell five-spindle Multimixers used to make milkshakes to the owners of Drive-In Diners.
After sitting in his car waiting for over 30 minutes for his meal, Ray checks in with the office to get an order for six Multimixes. He decides to drive out west to San Bernardino, California, to see what sort of restaurant would require so many milkshakes. And that’s when the real story begins, when Ray pulls up to the original McDonald’s, to see the lines of people waiting for their meal served not in 30 minutes, but in 30 seconds.
McDonald’s was a vision set in motion by the two McDonald brothers, Mac (John Carroll Lynch) and Dick (Nick Offerman). It was the McDonald brothers creation of the Speedee System, an assembly-line style of food preparation, that made the delivery of food to customers, fast.
The golden arches, the iconic symbol of fast food that’s now dotted across the globe in 35,000 locations was created by Dick McDonald.
The brothers are the true Founders. But without the business acumen of Ray Kroc, McDonald’s would have remained just one restaurant.
The Founder is a character driven story with the crazed look of Keaton matching the perverse determination of Ray Kroc perfectly.
And the story is certainly an interesting one.
What fascinated me was Ray’s fortunate meeting of Harry Sonneborn (B. J. Novak), the financial whiz who came up with the idea to buy the land and then lease to the McDonald’s franchisee.
The idea that McDonald’s is one of the biggest realestate company’s in the world is mind boggling.
But that’s where the fascination ended.
Even with the gumption of Ray, a character to admire from afar as any closer you’d wonder if you’d be left with your wallet, the story just followed from one event to the other.
The monologue of Ray speaking to the camera at the beginning (and the end) added a bit of spice, but I was left wanting more.
The film evoked memories of childhood, of those gherkins flying through the air because no one liked the gherkin. Seeing the 1950s version of the meat patties made me wish McD’s hadn’t changed from the original – thanks Ray!
But isn’t it interesting that McD’s is providing more quality burgers these days, at more expense to the diner? The post-war 1950s pushed for more and faster, and the Speedee System was born. Is it a reflection of today’s society? Quality even if it costs more?
The Founder is thought-provoking but a greater insight into how Ray’s mind worked, like seeing the Speedee System work, would have given the story more flavour.
And I question the calm camera work here, as there’s a vibrant chaos to the McDonald’s restaurants, that brings out the fun of childhood – just think of those clowns! Showing a bit of craziness would have heightened the movie experience.
Based on:Tony and Susan, written by Austin Wright (first published in 1993).
Starring: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough; Michael Sheen.
A dark emotive story within a story that’s sometimes confronting and always thought-provoking.
Susan Morrow (Amy Adams) is living the life she thought she always wanted: a successful gallery owner married to a handsome husband. But as her marriage begins to disintegrate she begins to think of her first husband, Edward Sheffield (Jake Gyllenhaal), often. When she receives a manuscript from Edward, dedicating the novel to her, the film shifts from the life of Susan Morrow to the story written in the novel.
There’s a stark simplicity in both tales here, yet together they create a delicate knot of tragedy.
The garish setting and understated elegance of costume and character is how director and screenwriter, Tom Ford, shows the reality of Susan Morrow. Art can be trash – ‘It’s trash’ states Susan. A statement of regret and a hint of her feeling of loss. Yet the second story, the novel, is a stark crime novel, set in the desert of Texas. A tale of family, murder, revenge; of the simplistic reality of life. A gut wrenching story compared to her quiet grief and disbelief of the life she’s currently living.
Nocturnal Animals shows the emptiness found in life where priorities made outside ourselves lead to choices that are later realised as mistakes. And living with those mistakes creates an emptiness. What was so important is no longer what life is. Sometimes, it leads to so much trash.
There’s an influence of the superficial world of fashion here, stemming from Tom Ford’s past life as a fashion designer. But he uses the contrast the two stories (the life of Susan Morrow against the story written by her ex-husband), of the beautiful house and extravagance of the successful against the dust and murder in the novel, together, to combine both stories into the complex emotion of loss.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays the ex-husband and character in the novel as a sensitive, complicated yet good man, well. There’s just the right touch here, a subtle and realistic tone.
I remember first seeing Amy Adams in the film Junebug (2005) – those soulful eyes used by director Tom Ford so well here. It’s remarkable how well she plays tragic torn sadness.
And the highlight, Michael Shannon as the down-at-heal Detective Bobby Andes. A likable character. The only truly likable character which makes the story all the more real because the characters are complicated.
The film is based on the novel, Tony and Susan, written by Austin Wright. The novel unsuccessful at first because thought to be too literary, but then enjoying critical acclaim when released in the UK. Then taken up and written for the screen by Ford. An ambitious project. Yet the cast, pacing, orchestral soundtrack (Abel Korzeniowski) and setting frame the story beautifully. But this isn’t a beautiful story, this is a thought-provoking tale, shown to confront the audience because the truth is fragile and delicate.
It’s difficult to rate this film as I didn’t particularly enjoy watching. Yet, the film resonates. It’s not about the enjoyment, but capturing the emotion of regret.
‘I have no right to be unhappy because I have everything’, says Susan Morrow (Amy Adams). ‘Happiness is relative,’ replies her friend at a dinner party. A bourgeois luxury. Yet grief and loss equalises all.
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan, Fogler, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Ezra Miller, Jenn Murray, Faith Wood-Blagrove, Jon Voight, Ronan Raftery; Josh Cowdery.
‘Worrying means you suffer twice,’ says Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). Which is another way of saying, Why worry, when there’s no point. If something bad is going to happen, suffer through it once, not twice! What a gorgeous way of treating life, the sentiment setting the tone of the film.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is J. K. Rowling’s debut as a screenwriter. The inspiration from the Hogwarts textbook of the same name, written by her character, Newt Scamander.
It’s difficult not to compare Fantastic Beasts and the previous Harry Potter films as there’s a similarity in vision; not only writer, Rowling, being the creator of both worlds but David Yates returning after directing the previous 4 ‘Harry Potter’ films.
But this is America, not England. There’s a new language where Muggles are now called No-Maj (humans without magic). Where the American’s have the Second Salemers – fanatical No-Maj’s who want to get rid of wizardry for good.
Terrified of exposure, Director of Magical Security at MACUSA (Magical Congress of the USA), Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) makes short work of anyone who threatens the fragile hidden world of magic. Until Newt arrives with his suitcase full of fantastic beasts.
Instead of Harry Potter and his young friends battling their way into adulthood, with an exploration into all the dark corners of life in magic and life as neglected children, we have adults running through 1920s New York trying to re-capture cute magical creatures. Instead of a darker adult outlook, I found Fantastic Beasts to be more childish in its tone.
There was a lack of depth, the feeling of a beginning, a building of a story rather than a whole which was disappointing after the Harry Potter introduction of J. K. Rowling’s magical world.
But what lacked in story was somewhat off-set by the magical creatures, the Niffler, reminding me of a platypus with a keen eye for all that glitters and all that’s gold.
I couldn’t help but grin and giggle at the behaviour of these creatures, and that brings me back to the childish tone of the film.
Eddie Redmayne as the protagonist, Newt, was likeable and I could relate to his awkwardness, which was essential as I felt if you liked Newt, you liked the film.
But I admit I wanted more from this film, from this story.
The characters were likeable, the creatures adorable, but the story didn’t have that darkness that make the Harry Potter films such a surprise.
Fantastic Beasts is a M-rated film that I’d take my nephews to watch for some fun entertainment. Which doesn’t make it a bad film just not thought-provoking. The Harry Potter films were an adaptation with more thought to the themes like good versus evil and all the inbetween. Whereas Fantastic Beasts felt more like a glossing over of the story.
I’m expecting a series here. A series that will get deeper and darker as the story progresses.
