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Reviews
Alien Intervention (2023)
Heartfelt, intelligent sci-fi drama
This is an entertaining and very warmly crafted sci-fi indie drama where character and motivation rule the day, rather than elaborate special effects. It's both a "woman's picture" and also something very universal, with excellent performances and resonant dialogue that delivers on its themes without being show-offy about any aspect of the production. The performances are all very strong, with Gregory Jbara really nailing his colorful supporting role. The film also benefits from some casually stylish imagery, which pains a nice portrait, yet never calls overt attention to itself. We need more films like this one.
Pas devant les domestiques (2019)
Nasty Fun!
Mart Sander has made a small career out of some very striking short-films and this macabre black-comedy-thriller hits all the right tonal notes which adds up to something special. The performances are all extremely well-calibrated and in perfect harmony with the twisted narrative material. Sander also has a strong eye for directorial composition - this has been evident all throughout his work as a filmmaker. Efforts like this will vary in terms of the audience's level of enjoyment based on what they find to be "funny" - for this viewer - the film nails its mark.
London Fields (2018)
SEE THE DIRECTOR'S CUT - NOT THE BUTCHERED THEATRICAL VERSION
Up until a few weeks ago, I had no idea about Mathew Cullen's new film, the much discussed, often maligned, and barely-given-a-chance London Fields. I had no clue about the behind the scenes issues (Cullen battled the producers over his final vision with a compromised cut recently getting released in theaters on a semi-wide platform), and regardless of those various problems that the creative parties had with each other while making and finishing the project, I don't care about any of that stuff - I care about the movie in question. So when the opportunity presented itself to view Cullen's personal director's cut, I jumped at the chance. Cullen, founder of the visual effects company Mirada, has a background in commercials and music videos, and got his chance to play with a massive piece of storytelling for his feature debut, and I'll be curious to see what he does next, especially if he gets the chance to make a film and not become entangled in production nightmares.
So while I can't compare the director's cut to the producer's cut (or the novel which the film is based on), what I can state is that I very much enjoyed watching Cullen's preferred vision of London Fields. It's got a stunning sense of visual craft, with textural compositions that are strikingly bold and frequently eye-blazing, and the film's noir-esque plot of a distressed writer (Billy Bob Thornton) trying to make sense of his reality and the story he's in the midst of writing always remained interesting and unique. It also helps when ultra-eye candy actress Amber Heard is the femme fatale (in more ways than one); ever since Pineapple Express she's remained a most alluring screen presence, and it's clear that Cullen knew what he had on the other end of his viewfinder when he was setting up his mise-en-scene. Throw in a totally bonkers if slightly grating performance by Jim Sturgess and familiar faces like Jason Isaacs, Theo James, Jamie Alexander, Cara Delevinge, and an uncredited (and sorta hilarious) Johnny Depp, and you've got a starry cast that really brought the juice.
Given that original novelist Martin Amis co-adapted his own book (with Roberta Hanley), I can't imagine that he'd work to sabotage a filmic version of something he initially created, so I'd have to assume that the busy plot of the film follows the exploits of the book to a certain authentic degree. The dialogue is over the top and purposefully rosy, with the actors clearly having fun delivering their lines. Toydrum's musical score is brazen and fully alive at all times, and the sometimes surreal juxtapositions of archival footage mixed in with glossy cinematic artifice keeps the viewer disoriented and wondering what might happen next. Cinematographer Guillermo Navarro (Desperado, Jackie Brown, Pan's Labyrinth) really earned his paycheck on this movie - every shot is luscious. The film's credits list a staggering number of producers and production companies who were involved in getting this project to the big-screen. For some, London Fields will exist as a cheap and easy punching bag, but for others who can separate business from art, and if you can see Cullen's director's cut, many will find a very entertaining and conceptually wild movie that's just waiting to be discovered and embraced by a cult audience.
Actually (2018)
Strong Short Suspense Film!
Low-key yet extremely suspenseful, filmmaker Mart Sander has put together a darkly comic thriller with his newest 22-minute short film Actually, which subverts expectations and plays around with genre in a refreshing manner. Set in a single location (the bar-area of a shadowy, roadside motel) during a pounding and lightning-filled rainstorm, the action pivots on a woman (Jekaterina Novosjolova) who seeks refuge from the downpour, and strikes up an interesting conversation with an eccentric yet close-to-the-best bartender (Toomas Kolk), who shares his thoughts about the very specific date that the story is unfolding on (Friday the 13th...). And what's with all of the moaning and screaming coming from an apparently sick man who is living upstairs? Sander, also an accomplished actor, then shows up as the hotel's owner, and he and the bartender begin to unravel and discuss the mysterious woman's true motives, while attempting to put all of the pieces together about what's truly going on around them.
Sander has a gift for directorially evoking a strong sense of dread and a truly mysterious atmosphere, and while Actually might not unfold in the way you'd expect, there's no question that being surprised is part of this film's reason for being. A trio of fine performances anchors the piece, and the cinematography and editing are clear technical standouts. And just when you think you might know where the story is headed, Sander undercuts what normal genre fare is apt to do, and instead delivers something off-beat and humorous. The final shot is terrific and loaded with implications for the viewer.
The Heroes of Arvine Place (2013)
A wonderful holiday film about love and loss and picking up the pieces.
It doesn't matter how expensive, inexpensive, fancy, or plain a movie might be. Does it have a good story, with characters you care about, and has it been crafted with intelligence and an eye to accomplish the goals that it has set out for itself? Those are the questions I tend to ask myself when viewing cinema, and after watching Damian Lahey's warmhearted yet melancholy holiday drama, The Heroes of Arvine Place, I was reminded how some of the better items arrive in smaller packages. Lahey is an indie movie specialist, with various award-winning short films under his belt, while 2014's The Heroes of Arvine Place was his second feature film; let's hope that we don't have to wait much longer for his next effort. Lahey's natural filmmaking instincts are apparent, from his use of space within the frame, to his penchant for believable dialogue, and a story that feels organic, and at times, sadly all-too-believable.
Set in Jacksonville, Florida around the time of the Christmas holiday, the narrative centers on a nearly down-and-out single dad who is trying to make ends meet for his two young daughters. Still reeling for the recent death of his wife, Kevin Hedges, played by the excellent Cullen Moss, is a man at a mental and spiritual crossroads; how can he keep everything afloat when so much seems so far out of reach? A struggling children's author, Kevin is, way deep down, a good dad and a good guy, so it's a bummer to see him rely on so many other people in order for him to call the day a success. He's entered his newest book into a competition which might provide a financial leg-up, and wouldn't you know it, but a new romantic possibility might be lurking around the corner. But The Heroes of Arvine Place is more about a particular type of person who is learning as they experience, rather than contrived plotting and needless distraction. When people don't have all the answers to their problems, they can find themselves in situations beyond their grasp or control, and they have a tendency to get desperate, acting in ways that they might not benefit from in the long run. The Heroes of Arvine Place looks at exactly this idea, and does so with humor, pathos, and a believable sense of the here and now.
Lahey smartly juxtaposes the expected wintry holiday vibe with the sticky-heat of the American south, generating some nice visual humor out of his choices in locations and Jon Bosworth's art-direction, while cinematographer Tarina Van Den Driessche shoots in unfussy and intimate set-ups, stressing people and their natural reactions over anything unnecessarily gussied-up. Craig Moorhead's smooth editing keeps a fast but never frenetic pace to the 75 minute run time; short and sweet is the name of the game, here. But it's all in the writing with this one, as Lahey's script sensitively observes a family in a unique form of stasis, with rational questions being explored by the two precocious but never annoying daughters, who, like most kids, are just interested in the life that's going on around them, whether they understand everything or not. It's in these smaller, more emotional moments that The Heroes of Arvine Place truly finds its place as a piece of micro-budget but maximum-heart cinema.