Week Ending 7/12/24
Fantasia International Film Festival begins July 18th!
FANTASIA TIME!
It’s that time again where summer makes way towards fall and the genre titles start hitting theater screens in Montreal for the Fantasia International Film Festival. This year marks the 28th edition (I’ve been remotely covering it since 2014) and the event continues to be a highlight of my festival season.
For those on-the-ground at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas (along with Montréal’s Cinémathèque Québécoise, Cinéma du Musée, Théâtre Plaza, and BBAM! Gallery), it’s another stellar, three-week (from July 18 to August 4) line-up of brand-new releases, festival faves, and repertory screenings. A ton of return filmmakers are on the docket for fans to keep their love alive and congratulations are in order for Mike Flanagan, recipient of the 2024 Cheval Noir career achievement award.
My highlights:
Ant Timpson’s world premiere of BOOKWORM, starring Elijah Wood, opens the festival on 7/18
E.L. Katz’s AZRAEL, starring Samara Weaving, has its Canadian premiere on 8/2
Carlota Pereda’s PIGGY follow-up, ERMITA [THE CHAPEL] earns its North American premiere on 7/23
Eugene Kotlyarenko’s SPREE follow-up, THE CODE world premieres 7/25
The Montreal premiere of Tilman Singer’s CUCKOO, starring Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, arrives on 7/30
WOLFCOP director Lowell Dean’s DARK MATCH world premieres on 7/21
Steven Kostanski, of THE VOID fame, has his latest FRANKIE FREAKO world premiering on 7/24
The Dale Dickey-led THE G, directed by Karl R. Hearne, holds its North American premiere on 7/26
The Adams Family (HELLBENDER) is back with HELL HOLE’s world premiere on 7/29
CRUMBS director Miguel Llansó world premieres INFINITE SUMMER on 7/27
Stanley Tong and Jackie Chan bring A LEGEND for its North American premiere on 8/3
Damian McCarthy’s buzzed-about ODDITY receives its Quebec premiere on 8/4
I LOST MY BODY director Jérémy Clapin’s live-action debut PENDANT CE TEMPS SUR TERRE makes its North American premiere on 7/22
Jayro Bustamante follows LA LLORONA with the world premiere of RITA on 7/25
Kostanski provides special effects for the world premiere of Vivieno Caldinelli’s SCARED SHITLESS on 7/21
YouTuber Chris Stuckmann’s debut SHELBY OAKS world premieres on 7/20
Alice Lowe is back in the director’s chair for the Canadian premiere of TIMESTALKER on 7/31
Joel Potrykus’ VULCANIZADORA goes international on 7/19 post-Tribeca
Filmmaking collective RKSS returns with the Canadian premiere of WAKE UP on 8/3
Genre stalwart Chuck Russell world premieres his latest WITCHBOARD on 7/26
I’ve only seen two titles thus far, but enjoyed both (STEPPENWOLF screens on 7/27 and 8/2 while THE ROUNDUP: PUNISHMENT plays on 7/31). As for what I plan to review: it all depends on what films are made available for remote press. Hopefully some of the above will be included, but I also love going in blind on titles I’ve never heard about made by and starring artists that are new to me.
The idea is to start watching this coming week, but, depending on embargo dates, I might not have any reviews until my 7/25 newsletter (with some also publishing at The Film Stage). Until then, be sure to check out Fantasia’s website for more details and make your own way to Montreal for the fun.
And I’d be remiss not to mention that Fantasia Fest workers went on a 24-hour strike as of Thursday morning, July 11. They hope to have a new, fair contract signed before the start of the festival (and have been negotiating in good faith since unionizing last year), but their fight bears mentioning regardless of whether the situation gets resolved in time because more strikes might be coming if it’s not. For more info: check out the links here and here.
What I Watched:
DANDELION
(limited release)
Growing frustrated with the lot of a gig performer playing background at upscale restaurants while customers eat, chat, and scroll their phones, Dandelion (KiKi Layne) is desperate for release. What can she do, though, with an ailing mother at home and a need to pay the bills? To get a full-time job is to lose the time she must dedicate to her art. To constantly have that art ignored rather than enjoyed on a concert stage is to wonder if her dream in music has run its course. So, Dandelion takes a chance and drives from Cincinnati to South Dakota for a biker-centric music contest. Will it be her big break or the last coffin nail?
Despite the first ten or so minutes being dedicated to the titular character, Nicole Riegel’s DANDELION moves to someone else upon entering that competition’s environment. Casey (Thomas Doherty) is much less anxious when he arrives. Rather than a newcomer searching for a Hail Mary, he’s a returning act who already gave up his dream three years prior. Here simply to help support his old friends and bandmates, Casey doesn’t really have any expectations beyond the reunion. Until he runs into Dandelion, invites her to their campfire, and finds the love for music through her presence once again.
Sometimes the narrative feels like a spin on ONCE with two singers joining forces to rekindle their creative juices en route to a passionate yet non-physical relationship. Other times it falls into the romantic routines of love-at-first sight whirlwinds assisted by the aphrodisiac of a shared artistic devotion. There’s obvious chemistry between Dandelion and Casey both musically and physically. They’ll surely act on the former, but the latter? Well, certain revelations throw that possibility in flux … until they don’t. Because of the transparency of their existence, though, I can’t deny that I couldn’t quite invest in the coupling beyond the songs. The other shoe was presented to us, so it dropping became inevitable.
I thought Riegel was going to use that to her advantage and deliver something fresh in the process—both because the first half of the film balances that line to perfection and because I was a big fan of her debut HOLLER. Unfortunately, the second half leans into the clichés rather than subvert them. It tries to find intrigue by going all Fleetwood Mac with one songwriting session (the two start getting under each other’s skin by bringing their conflicting emotions into the song), but ultimately dives full bore into a love affair that we know cannot last. So, we must hope it will at least teach its participants something through the experience.
Thankfully, at least where it concerns Dandelion, it does. However, by attempting to give Casey more weight than he probably deserves as a supporting character to her life, I really stopped caring about him as a three-dimensional human being himself. It makes a scene towards the end feel forced and fake in its design to tug on our heartstrings—a distraction from our real point of focus needing our support instead. Because this is Dandelion’s story. This is a rebirth in music and reminder that the pain and suffering of her life can fuel it. This isn’t therefore a love story between two people. Its marriage is between an artist and her art.
In that regard, there’s a lot to like. Layne is fantastic. She carries the whole emotionally as well as structurally with a joy for life when finally allowed to breathe and experience it on her own terms. Doherty is good too, but a secondary player masquerading as a co-lead while the music (written The National’s Aaron and Bryce Dessner, and much more enjoyable as “real” songs unlike the disappointing musical numbers they provided CYRANO) proves her actual costar. This is a journey of self-discovery and artistic craft as Dandelion’s sound, power, and compositions grow with each step forward.
The final song, “River (Ten Feet Deep)”, which is co-written with the Dessners by Riegel, Layne, and Noah Harmon, is worth the wait.
- 6/10
INTERMEDIUM
(VOD & Digital HD)
The shock I had upon learning Kyle Donovan (Beau Minniear), the young man haunting the current resident of his old room (Emily Keefe’s Bridget Daugherty), had only died a year ago rather than sixty was real. Between his love of Frank Sinatra, the Stanley Kowalski shirt, and the cadence of his speech, I thought for sure that INTERMEDIUM was going to prove to be a love story spanning time as well as liminal space. Not that it needed to considering there’s already a lot going on. I simply want to prepare viewers so they don’t hurt themselves with a double-take as I did.
Directed by Erik Bloomquist (a departure from his usual bloody horrors) and written by Taylor Turner (who also plays teenage accompanist Seymour), the film centers on Bridget as her life turn upside down. Forced to leave Chicago and all the opportunity an ingenue could want beneath its bright lights of future stardom because of a scandal, she now finds herself readying to finish her final high school semester in small town suburbia with her excited father (Sean Allan Krill) and stepmother (Amy Hargreaves). To therefore discover a ghost in her bathroom that only she can see and hear is merely icing on an already undesirable cake.
While the unlikely romance that ultimately blossoms between her dour, pathologically clean narcissist and his muscle-bound, wannabe greaser—assisted by their shared love for classic era music, movies, and show tunes—is the major through line, it’s not the main motivation. That is instead introduced by Mr. Christeo (Michael Rady), a high school drama teacher who, despite very limited resources, understands his job isn’t just to coast by on his students’ talent. No, he knows these performances are about community, camaraderie, and humility. Bridget may have the credits and ability to lead the show, but he knows she’ll learn more from being denied that chance.
It’s a bit of “not judging a book by its cover” only from the opposite direction of how that trope usually presents. Rather than the school discovering Bridget isn’t the selfish, entitled brat she seems (although that’s here too), INTERMEDIUM places her in the position to realize the world isn’t as black and white as the big city upbringing under the wing of her high-priced agent stepfather would have her believe. Not everything is a competition. Not everything must be perfect. It may take her longer to see this in terms of her acting rival (Haskiri Velazquez’s Nina), but not being able to ignore the contradictory nature of Kyle puts her on the right path to eventually get there.
And that’s before you consider a mission to help Kyle find the closure necessary to move on into the afterlife. Before you factor in Bridget’s father’s failing health, the emotional toll Kyle’s death took on Nina and Evan (Jesse Posey), or Darcy’s (Sadie Scott) amateur paranormalist finally having something “real” to study. There’s the heavy drama of Kyle’s past, the coming-of-age fear and anxiety in Bridget’s drive to conquer the world that leaves little room for hiccups to be deemed anything but failure, and the inherent comedy within a goofy high school musical package (including more than a couple laugh-out-loud quips and a genuinely affecting dance sequence led by Krill).
In the end, INTERMEDIUM is exactly what you think it will be with its indie roots and hokey plot progressions as well as proof that those things don’t preclude a film from possessing an ample amount of heart. Give Turner and Bloomquist a lot of credit here for delving into some complex subject matter in authentic ways despite the apparently saccharine package. There are levels and layers of character development and trauma response at work to justify the actions of those on-screen, but none of it is exploited to the point of miserablism either. The filmmakers and cast always know how to soften the blow with a good laugh precisely measured to never undercut its potency.
- 7/10
SHŌGUN
(streaming on Hulu)
Despite the title, Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada) is adamant about not seeking sole rule of Japan throughout Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks’ adaptation of James Clavell’s novel SHŌGUN. His every move is instead in service of ensuring the young heir of the realm’s late leader will take control when he comes of age. The main threat from doing so doesn’t come from outside the empire, though. It comes from those who do wish for that power themselves. That’s why Toranaga refused an offer to be sole regent. He knew others, like Ishido Kazunari (Takehiro Hira), would simply kill him and the heir. By helping to steer the ship with Ishido and three other Lords together, however, decorum might keep them alive.
Those versed in the history of Japan at the end of the Azuchi–Momoyama period will know that a shogunate is coming. This story doesn’t necessarily deny that fact despite its protagonist’s protestations, it merely refuses to pretend like that can ever truly be a thought now considering how much is stacked against Toranaga. Regardless of his desires, the drama that unfolds puts his very life at stake. He’s done his best to steward the heir and cultivate peace, but Ishido has consolidated power via promises to his fellow regents (and their Catholic backers lining pockets) in exchange for their votes to impeach Toranaga from the council. Doing so would prove a death sentence.
Enter John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), a Protestant English pilot on a Dutch ship that has been sailing toward the Pacific with the sole goal of taking over the Portuguese Catholics’ trade monopoly in the region. Unfortunately for him (whether he is willing to accept his failure or not), there are barely enough sailors to man the ship when it washes ashore let alone anyone with the strength to fight. The only reason he isn’t killed as a “barbarian” is the fact that he speaks Portuguese. That skill gives him a voice—one he’s all too willing to use to hang himself anyway, but also one that piques Toranaga’s interest as a distraction. The more issues for the council to juggle, the more time he has to hatch a plan.
And that’s pretty much the entire crux of the ten-episode miniseries—one that has been lauded for its faithfulness to Clavell’s source material while also currently being retrofitted into a “season one” as Marks and Kondo have earned the ability to expand its finite story into a trilogy post-success. “What is Toranaga’s game?” becomes a question that everyone on-screen asks. Ishido to know what it is he must do to defeat him. Blackthorne to know what it is he must promise to stay useful and perhaps curry favor into a quid pro quo. And Kashigi Yabushige (Tadanobu Asano), a lord who both pledges allegiance to Toranaga and deceives him, to know which councilman provides him the best chance to keep his head.
There’s obvious drama in this. Especially since circumstances are constantly changing courtesy of betrayals, incompetence, and pride. The real suspense is thus in the underlying theme of loyalty and the difference in its meaning between Japan and Europe. Here it is everything. So much so that men are committing seppuku to maintain their honor and fealty in the face of something as seemingly small as talking out of turn. There are women whose lives have been spared despite their families being sentenced to death who want nothing more than to join them if not for their duty to oblige their master’s request to live. Blackthorne, while admiring their courage, considers them all a series of pointless deaths.
One could say the lesson of the tale is therefore teaching this foreigner that is certainly not the case. And there are many examples with which to do so during the show’s unflinching success at serving the narrative above all else. A lot of characters die in service of that message. Sometimes their deaths are as symbols of the culture’s heavy weight. Sometimes they are evidence of fate’s guiding hand to knock sense into those too stubborn to find it themselves. No one is off-limits (theoretically speaking since both Toranaga and Blackthorne are too crucial to the proceedings not to at least make it to the finale) and most of these demises become somber notes with which to sit with at the end of an episode.
The meaning behind each is only augmented by the three-dimensional performances delivered by a cast that knows they might be next. Nobody can afford to mail it in. Sanada and Jarvis are great at the top, carrying everything with the emotional heft of always having everyone’s eyes upon them. My favorites, though, are Asano’s Yabushige and Anna Sawai’s Toda Mariko. Both roles live with a duality between duty and desire. Yabushige wants fame and fortune, but he’s willing to die by Toranaga’s side so as not to tarnish his name in that pursuit (unless he can do so without that risk). Mariko wants to escape a punishing life she believes was stripped of meaning, but she’ll accept purpose through Toranaga’s need for her assistance.
Shinnosuke Abe’s Buntaro (an unequivocal hero and Mariko’s abusive husband), Tommy Bastow’s Father Martin Alvito (aligned with the Catholic Church’s mission yet keenly aware of the human cost it sometimes shouldn’t pay), Moeka Hoshi’s Usami Fuji (Blackthorne’s reluctant consort), and Tokuma Nishioka’s Toda Hiromatsu (Toranaga oldest and most trusted friend) are each fantastic in their own way too. They all have a role to play in the larger picture, but each is allowed agency in choosing how they fulfill it. The best drama on-screen comes when characters stand their ground and call each other out. Sometimes they sway the other to their side. Sometimes they don’t.
Filmed mostly in Japanese (and when English is spoken, it’s actually a stand-in for Portuguese being it’s the only European language Japan knows at this time), the vibe and production value seems steeped in the nation’s historical and cultural meaning. Sanada is a producer and there seems to have been a conscious effort to get as many Japanese and Asian voices in the room as possible to maintain legitimacy and keep things from becoming a “white savior” trope—something this is very much not. By centering Blackthorne, the script is able to educate us through him about the beauty of this land and its customs. It’s not about him saving Japan or the Church saving souls. It’s about Japan saving itself from the corruption those external forces brought to its shores. It’s the violent struggle to remember that life and death mean more than wealth and power.
- 9/10
SISI & I
[Sisi & Ich]
(limited release)
It seems like only yesterday that Marie Kreutzer’s film about Empress Elisabeth of Austria, CORSAGE, arrived, yet here we are with another hitting theaters already. Thankfully, co-writer (with Christian Kracht) and director Frauke Finsterwalder understood she couldn’t simply give us more of the same. Rather than make SISI & I about Elisabeth (Susanne Wolff) herself, Finsterwalder decides to tell her story from the vantage point of the empress’s lady-in-waiting, Countess Irma Sztáray (Sandra Hüller). The film becomes about their dynamic together, one that oscillates between friendship and servitude, and the shared struggle of being a woman in 19th century Europe.
As we learn later, both women are ruled by their mothers. Elisabeth’s forced her into “greatness” through the crown. Irma’s forced her into this job because she was already ashamed her daughter reached forty without marriage. And both must fight within themselves to seek happiness in their own way that’s removed from duty. Elisabeth finds hers by making Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria (Markus Schleinzer) allow her isolation at a women’s only commune in Greece, where she wields her position and superiority to abuse and use everyone around her for her own benefit. Irma, a pro at taking abuse, finds hers by reveling in the unbridled spontaneity of her mistress’s mischievous ways.
Whereas others in Elisabeth’s orbit have also given themselves over to her wants and desires, Irma is different. The line of decency is much further away as the empress’s self-satisfied playfulness is interpreted as such by the countess too. They become sisters as opposed to predator and prey, teaming up to attack the others even if Irma often gets caught in the crosshairs of overly violent “gags” herself. It begins to seem as though they are thick as thieves and unwilling to ever be apart until we recognize the looks upon the faces of the others. They too had that shorthand with Elisabeth. No one would stay without it. Someone else ultimately always takes the spotlight away.
Not that Elisabeth doesn’t admit as much from the start. She loathes boredom. Irma is thus an injection of life and laughter. But so is Viktor (Georg Friedrich). So is Franz whenever he deems her worthy of remembrance. So are countless other friends and acquaintances to be picked up and played with until they are unceremoniously left by the wayside again. Irma must then render herself to be indispensable in such a way that Franz wants to keep her on and Elisabeth wants to open her arms again when the sorrow of loss and rejection dissipates. Irma is the glutton for punishment who’s willing to weather the tumultuous tides and reap the benefits of sunnier days.
The result is an entertaining ride. Think of these two as children in adult bodies wreaking havoc on those in their employ and on each other. Because the longer Elisabeth’s immaturity is left unchecked, the more opportunity there is for her tantrums and antics to go too far. That’s when we see the truth of what’s really occurring beneath the fame and idolatry. That’s when we see the pain of a life that has forced her to build-up walls and refocus her vengeance upon those in arm’s length. And while Irma is able to break down those defenses in spurts, the constant spells of rejection compound to the point where she selfishly sabotages Elisabeth’s happiness for her own.
It’s a codependent relationship of love and admiration on both sides. Not romantic, but fiercely loyal just the same. And the more the curtain gets drawn back, the more Irma realizes the risk-taking and games are heading toward tragedy. That’s why everyone must take a side. How far will Viktor’s love for his sister-in-law take him in ensuring her safety? How large a gift of land is enough to change the mind of a close friend who says she’ll follow Elisabeth anywhere? Who here truly cares about the person behind the celebrity? Can we really count Irma as one considering some of the choices she makes? Can all be forgiven with one final act?
SISI & I is a fantastic character study that does well to spend time on the masks these women wear as well as the lives trapped beneath. With great production value and modern costuming (Irma’s frills are literally burned the second she arrives in Greece), the film proves a feast for the eyes as the tomfoolery escalates to heights that ultimately ensure a rapid descent into melancholy. This rise and fall is helped by a surprisingly anachronistic soundtrack of pop songs (I gave myself whiplash the moment Portishead’s “Wandering Star” starts playing amidst period specific visuals) that invigorates the subject matter from stuffy to timeless. Because this struggle to survive the patriarchy still endures.
- 8/10
Cinematic F-Bombs:
This week saw BERNIE (2012), HANNA (2011), LIKE CRAZY (2011), A LITTLE BIT OF HEAVEN (2012), and SONG ONE (2015) added to the archive (cinematicfbombs.com).
Ira Bounds dropping an f-bomb in BERNIE.
New Releases This Week:
(Review links where applicable)
Opening Buffalo-area theaters 7/12/24 -
BHARATEEYUDU 2 at Regal Elmwood & Transit
DANDELION at Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
Thoughts are above.
FLY ME TO THE MOON at Dipson Amherst, McKinley, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
HINDUSTANI 2 at Regal Elmwood
HUMANIST VAMPIRE SEEKING CONSENTING SUICIDAL PERSON at North Park Theatre (5:00pm showings only)
“Despite its darkly supernatural package, however, Louis-Seize's film adheres to its idiosyncratic tone of purposeful excitement for a future that’s hardly assured. Because death can be a beginning too.” – Full thoughts at The Film Stage.
INDIAN 2 at AMC Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit & Galleria
THE LION KING 30TH ANNIVERSARY at Regal Transit, Galleria & Quaker
LONGLEGS at Dipson Amherst, Flix & Capitol; AMC Maple Ridge & Market Arcade; Regal Elmwood, Transit, Galleria & Quaker
SARFIRA at Regal Elmwood
UCHA DAR BABE NANAK DA at Regal Elmwood
Streaming from 7/12/24 -
ARCADIAN – Shudder on 7/12
“It leads to some badass moments, but very little emotion. You could pretty much say that about the entire film [...] because ARCADIAN is all set-up. [And] in that regard, the film works.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.
BLAME THE GAME – Netflix on 7/12
THE CHAMPION – Netflix on 7/12
DESCENDANTS: THE RISE OF RED – Disney+ on 7/12
LOBOLA MAN – Netflix on 7/12
FAYE – Max on 7/13
WILD WILD SPACE – Max on 7/17
Now on VOD/Digital HD -
THE BIKERIDERS (7/9)
THE EXORCISM (7/9)
THE GARFIELD MOVIE (7/9)
KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES (7/9)
LATENCY (7/9)
TIGER STRIPES (7/9)
THE CONVERT (7/12)
CORA BORA (7/12)
THE OUTLAWS (7/12)
SORRY/NOT SORRY (7/12)
TWICE COLONIZED (7/12)
WILDCAT (7/12)
“[Hawke is] using the art as a means to understand the artist [delivering] an intriguing dance between "fact" and fiction that plays with the idea that each influences the other in myriad ways.” – Full thoughts at HHYS.