Fyre Fraud (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Another recent documentary film on the Fyre Festival

Posted on January 29, 2019 by kaist455

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It was a curious experience for me to watch Hulu documentary film “Fyre Fraud”, which presents an unbelievably absurd story about the Fyre Festival fraud case in 2017. Not long after it was released in last week, another documentary film on the same subject, “Fyre” (2019), was released on Netflix, and I was certainly interested in watching both of them and then comparing them.

One of the main differences between these two documentaries is that “Fyre Fraud” focuses more closely on Billy McFarland, the man who is mainly responsible for the disastrous outcome of the Fyre Festival. While he is mainly presented via archival footage clips in “Fyre”, the directors/writers of “Fyre Fraud”, Jenner Furst and Julia Willoughby Nason, interviewed him in addition to a number of interviewees willing to talk about him and the Fyre Festival, and he seems to be ready to tell us anything in front of the camera.

However, as already suggested from the beginning of the documentary, McFarland is a compulsive liar and con man who cunningly exploited the growing desire for popularity and acceptance in the millennial generation, and that is exemplified well by how he could rise quickly with his steel credit card company Magnises. As promising many cool and luxurious things provided through exclusive card membership, he instantly drew lots of attention from media and public, and many young people were eager to be the members of Magnises, but Magnises was actually nothing but a superficial enterprise whose main purpose was giving more wealth and prominence to McFarland, who eventually moved onto another enterprise when Magnises collapsed a few years later.

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Around that point, McFarland happened to meet Ja Rule, a prominent figure of the American hip-hop industry who came to found a digital technology company along with McFarland. While looking for any good idea for promoting their company, named Fyre, they came upon an idea of holding a big music festival in the Bahamas, and they soon embarked on the public promotion of the Fyre Festival. They shot a promotional video at a small island where their music festival was supposed to be held, and the resulting promotional video went viral on the Internet mainly thanks to a group of popular social media influencers such as Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid, who promoted the Fyre Festival without any hesitation after getting paid a lot by McFarland and his company.

With the rapidly growing public attention on it, the Fyre Festival was expected to be the “Woodstock of the Millennial Generation”, but there was one big problem. The island in question did not have any appropriate infrastructure to support the festival from the beginning, and, above all, there was not enough time left for the preparation of the festival. Around the time when the location of the festival was eventually moved to a nearby island which had a bigger spot, the preparation process was still stuck in a rudimentary stage without any progress, and many people working on the festival came to have a growing doubt on the festival while also worrying about the worst possible situation.

In the meantime, McFarland and his company kept going further with their increasingly vacuous promotion process. Although nothing was built on the location of the festival yet, he impertinently sold tickets along with various luxurious options which did not exist at all from the beginning, and he even required his guests to deposit a considerable amount of money on electronic wristbands which were supposed to be handed out to them at the festival.

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Of course, some people came to have reasonable suspicion about the Fyre Festival, and one interviewee in the documentary tells us how he tried to give others a warning about the festival but, to his frustration, did not draw much attention mainly thanks to the aggressive promotion by McFarland and his associates. As the opening day of the festival came closer, more attention was drawn to the festival even though nothing much was done on the site of the festival except hundreds of cheap white tents and mattresses, and everyone involved with the festival sensed more of a big disaster coming toward them – especially when it rained quite hard on the day before the festival.

When hundreds of guests arrived on the opening day of the festival, they surely had lots of expectation on the festival, but then they were utterly shocked by many crappy things waiting for them at the site of the festival. The situation soon became pretty chaotic as they were stuck there for hours, and the documentary gives us several painfully absurd moments vividly showing their predicaments during that time.

After this catastrophic fiasco which caused considerable damages to not only hundreds of guests but also many people who were unfortunately associated with him and his company, McFarland was soon indicted for his fraud, but, believe or not, he tried another fraud even at that point. He was eventually charged with one count of wire fraud, and he is currently serving his 6-year prison sentence, though, in my humble opinion, his sentence is rather mild compared to all the pains and losses resulted from his delusional acts of crime.

Overall, “Fyre Fraud” does not provide anything particularly new outside what I learned from “Fyre”, but it presents its subject well with enough information while also making some incisive comments on our ongoing era of digital social media. Although it may feel redundant to you at time if you watched “Fyre”, it is still a good documentary worthwhile to watch, and you will come to reflect more on the dark sides of the growing influence of digital technology on our world and society.

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A Private War (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): Driven to front line

Posted on January 28, 2019 by kaist455

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“A Private War”, the first feature film directed by documentary filmmaker Matthew Heineman, looks into the life and career of Marie Colvin (1956-2012), an American journalist who devoted herself to her risky jobs till her unfortunate death in 2012. While showing us several career highpoints during her last 11 years, the movie vividly conveys to us the enormous personal cost she paid for her professional belief and integrity, and it eventually comes to us as a harrowing and touching portrayal of one intrepid war correspondent to remember.

After the opening scene overlooking the ruins of Homs, Syria in 2012, the movie moves back to 2001, when Colvin (Rosamund Pike) is about to go to Sri Lanka for covering the ongoing conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Resistance Movement. Despite the initial objection of her editor Sean Ryan (Tom Hollander), she insists that she should go there because people need to know more about what is going on in Sri Lanka, and she surely does her job well once she gets there, though she subsequently gets injured permanently in her left eye because of one sudden attack from the Sri Lankan government.

After going back to London and then getting her article published, Colvin draws more attention and admiration, but she finds herself often haunted by what she has witnessed from many conflict zones, and there later comes an unforgettable moment when she is covering the Iraq War in 2003 along with a British photographer named Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan). In a certain conflict area outside Baghdad, they watch the exhumation of the remains of hundreds of people killed under the Saddam Hussein regime, and they cannot help but deeply affected by the painfully human responses of local people while calmly and professionally observing and recording the exhumation process.

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Around that point, Ryan and other people close to Colvin come to notice how unstable and anxious she has become. It is apparent that she has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as going through many terrible and perilous moments on front lines, and she tries to dull her psychological pains with lots of alcohol, but there eventually comes a point where she comes to admit that she does have a problem and then goes to a rest home for recuperation.

Several years later, Colvin goes to Afghanistan for reporting on its ongoing conflict, and we get another harrowing moment when she and Conroy come across the aftermath of an improvised explosive device (IED) attack. She subsequently goes to Libya along with Conroy and many other war correspondents as the country is being shaken by a civil war induced by the Arab Spring in 2011, and she does not step back at all even when she in the middle of a tumultuous battleground with lots of bullets flying in the air.

As enduring more dangers and perils as required by her profession, Colvin comes to feel more psychological pain and exhaustion than before, but she still finds herself driven by her fierce professionalism as usual. While she gets some comfort from her new lover, she is still eager to go to another conflict zone to be covered by her, and she does not hesitate at all when a civil war in Syria is getting worse in 2012.

During its inevitable last act depicting the siege of Homs in 2012, the movie gives us a number of frightening and devastating moments. While we see many buildings totally demolished by the constant attacks from the Syrian government, we also watch numerous civilians in utter fear and despair without any hope, and the sense of doom on the screen is palpable to say the least.

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While frankly admitting that this is the worst conflict she has ever experienced during her career, Colvin does not flinch at all. When she has a live interview with Anderson Cooper at one point later in the story, she makes a clear point on not only what is going on in Syria but also why she went there despite overwhelming danger, and that moving moment will make you reflect on many brave journalists around the world willingly risking their life for doing their job even at this point.

It surely helps that the movie is supported well by another impressive acting turn from Rosamund Pike, who has been more prominent during recent years thanks to her Oscar-nominated turn in “Gone Girl” (2014). As ably balancing her performance between her character’s strong determination and aching vulnerability, Pike steadily holds the center, and the other notable cast members in the film including Tom Hollader, Jamie Dornan, and Stanley Tucci fill their respective spots around her as much as required.

Overall, “A Private War”, which is adapted by Arash Amel from the 2012 Vanity Fair article “Marie Colvin’s Private War” by Marie Brenner, is a solid feature film debut by Heineman, who previously made several acclaimed documentaries including “Cartel Land” (2015) and “City of Ghosts” (2017). He and his cast and crew bring considerable realism and verisimilitude to the film, and the result is an admirable biographical drama movie which presents its human subject with honesty and respect. Considering how much good journalism has been threatened during recent years, the movie is definitely something worthwhile to watch, and you will certainly not forget Colvin and her brave professionalism after it is over.

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Widows (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A strong female crime thriller from Steve McQueen

Posted on January 27, 2019 by kaist455

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Steve McQueen’s new film “Widows” is a rare piece of work we do not encounter everyday. In addition to functioning well as a top-notch crime thriller which will grab your attention from the beginning to the end, the movie vividly illuminates many different social subjects including gender, race, and class while never losing its focus on story and characters at all, and my admiration on its thoughtful storytelling and skillful technical aspects grows more as I reflect more on how its genre elements work almost perfectly together.

The movie, which is set in Chicago, begins with a big heist which goes pretty wrong in the end. It was planned by a renowned criminal named Harry Rawlings (Liam Neeson), and we see him and his three accomplices being chased by the police during the opening sequence. They manage to arrive in their hideout, but then they find themselves confronted by the police waiting outside, and they all eventually get killed by a rather aggressive response from the police.

While quite devastated by her husband’s death, Harry’s wife Veronica (Viola Davis) is soon visited by Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry), a local crime boss who has been currently running for alderman in his district in Chicago. Jamal is the man from whom Harry and Harry’s accomplices stole no less than 2 million dollars, and he forcefully demands to Veronica that she should pay back 2 million dollars to him within one month.

Because she knows too well that she cannot get any help from the police, Veronica decides to take care of this urgent matter for herself. Through Harry’s loyal chauffeur Bash (Garret Dillahunt), she comes to acquire a notebook which contains every robbery plan developed by Harry, and she decides to execute one of his future robbery plans, which will get her more than 2 million dollars if it is successfully executed.

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Of course, she cannot do this alone, so she approaches to the widows of Harry’s three accomplices. While Amanda (Carrie Coon) refuses to get involved with Veronica, Linda (Michelle Rodriguez) and Alice (Elizabeth Debicki) agree to participate in Veronica’s robbery plan because both of them have been in a desperate financial situation since they lost their husbands. While Linda belatedly comes to learn that she is going to lose her small business due to the gambling debts of her deceased husband, Alice comes to work as an escort because there is no money left by her dead spouse, and she does not like that at all even though she happens to get some nice guy as her main client.

Although these three ladies do not know nothing about robbery, they stick together under Veronica’s firm leadership, and the movie gradually dials up the level of tension as they begin to work on their robbery plan. While getting to know about the target in question, they prepare a number of necessary things step by step, and they are almost prepared for their robbery plan around the time when Belle (Cynthia Erivo), a beautician who has also worked as a babysitter for Linda, joins the group later in the story.

In the meantime, the movie slowly draws the big picture surrounding our ladies’ robbery plan. While Jamal and his brother/enforcer Jatemme (Daniel Kaluuya) are quite interested in what Veronica is planning to do behind her back, they also have to deal with Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell), who is Jamal’s opponent in the upcoming alderman election and was also incidentally involved with Harry. As the son of an influential power broker, Mulligan seems to be confident about the election, but he is actually concerned about the growing possibility of losing to Jamal, and his aging father Tom (Robert Duvall) is not so pleased about that.

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All these and other things in the movie are dexterously juggled by the screenplay McQueen and his co-adapter Gillian Flynn, which is based on the novel of the same name by Lynda La Plante. Smoothly and precisely going from one narrative point to another, their adapted screenplay makes some sharp points on its social subjects, and I like how that aspect is effortlessly presented on the screen under McQueen’s masterful direction. While his usual cinematographer Sean Bobbitt provides a number of seemingly plain but strikingly impressive visual moments to be appreciated, the editing by Joe Walker, who is another usual collaborator of McQueen, is succinct and efficient as subtly accumulating narrative momentum along the plot, and Hans Zimmer’s unusually restrained score, which appears only after the first 50 minutes of the film, is judiciously utilized at several key dramatic points in the film.

Above all, McQueen assembles a bunch of talented performers, who give one of the most distinguished ensemble performances of last year. While Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Cynthia Erivo are all superlative as fully demonstrating their considerable talent, the other notable performers in the film including Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson, Jacki Weaver, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Garret Dillahunt, Carrie Coon, Jon Bernthal, Lukas Haas, Kevin J. O’Connor, Michael Harney, Matt Walsh, and Adepero Oduye are also excellent in their respective supporting roles, and Farrell, Henry, and Kaluuya are particularly entertaining to watch as the main shady figures of the story.

Despite the numerous positive responses it received from critics after it was shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in last September, “Widows”, which is McQueen’s fourth feature film after “Hunger” (2008), “Shame” (2011), and “12 Years a Slave” (2013), did not draw much attention from audiences when it was released in US two months later, and that is a shame considering the first-rate result from its cast and crew. This is surely one of the most compelling films of last year, and I think you should check it out as soon as possible.

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Back to Burgundy (2017) ☆☆☆(3/4): Life with their family wine

Posted on January 27, 2019 by kaist455

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Watching French film “Back to Burgundy” is a slow but pleasant experience to be cherished. While leisurely rolling its three main characters along its loose narrative, the movie gradually exudes charm, humor, and mood, and I like how it takes its time for making us appreciate its good elements under its sunny and crisp atmosphere.

At first, the movie is mainly told through one of its three main characters. When Jean (Pio Marmaï) comes back to his family home for seeing his father after many years of his absence, his younger siblings Juliette (Ana Girardot) and Jérémie (François Civil) warmly greet their older brother at first, but we soon sense the rather awkward relationship between Jean and his younger siblings. Mainly due to his personal conflict with his father, Jean left his family and then had wandered around the world for years without much contact with his family, and he even did not come when his mother died 5 years ago.

Anyway, Jean is willing to help his younger siblings as the harvest season has just begun in their winery. When their father at a nursing home suddenly dies just before their harvest, they are certainly saddened by this unexpected loss, but there are many things to do in their winery right now, and we soon see them working in their vineyard along with their several trusted employees and a bunch of temporary workers hired for the harvest season.

The harvest season turns out to be pretty good, and we observe how those harvested grapes are processed for the following steps of fermentation. As shown from a flashback scene, Jean, Juliette, and Jérémie know well about grapes and wines thanks to the early education received from their parents, but Juliette is more experienced and knowledgeable as a natural expert, and she is ready to produce her own wine although she is not so sure about whether she will be as successful as expected in her first official trial.

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After the work schedule for the harvest season is over, everyone in the vineyard/winery goes into a festival mood, and Jean and Juliette come to have some interesting time at a party. Although he has a wife and a son in Australia at present, Jean comes to be attracted a little to a young female temporary worker, and they instantly form a connection as recognizing their tendency to wander around here and there in the world. In case of Juliette, she finds herself drawn to a jolly male temporary worker with whom she clashed over a minor matter a few days ago, and we accordingly get a very funny moment when she subsequently comes to have a little private time with that guy.

When autumn comes, the vineyard looks less green than before, but there are still many things to be done by Jean, Juliette, and Jérémie, and they also have to deal with the imminent business matter involved with their winery. According to their father’s will, they are appointed as the joint owners of their winery, and they are fine with that, but they must pay a considerable amount of inheritance tax as soon as possible. Because they are short of cash now, it looks like they must sell a part of their vineyard, but then they come to clash over how much they should sell.

Now this looks like a typical setup for family melodrama, but the screenplay by director Cédric Klapisch and his co-writers Santiago Amigorena and Jean-Marc Roulot does not hurry itself at all while steadily maintaining its leisurely narrative pacing, and the movie continues to give us small good moments to be savored. For instance, I was tickled by several humorous moments showing Jérémie and his wife’s rather uncomfortable relationship with his parents-in-law, who expect their son-in-law to take over their own family business someday. I observed the seasonal changes in the vineyard with interest and curiosity, and I was also touched by a poignant scene where Jean comes to learn more about how much his father cared about him despite their estranged relationship.

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During its last part, the movie drags a little as becoming more predictable than before, but it remains buoyed by its amiable atmosphere. When winter goes and then spring eventually comes, the vineyard comes to look greener than before, and there comes a hope for new beginning for everyone including Jean, who, not so surprisingly, comes to learn about the importance of family and realize how important his wife and son are to him in the end.

The cast members of the movie are all enjoyable in their likeable performance. While Pio Marmaï humbly holds the middle position, Ana Girardot and François Civil are equally fine in their respective roles, and they and Marmaï are effortless in their interactions on the screen. Right from their first scene, we can sense a long history of life among their characters, and that is the main reason why it is always engaging to watch their characters’ small ups and downs along the story. In case of supporting performers, Jean-Marc Roulot provides a stable counterpoint as a seasoned employee, and María Valverde and Yamée Couture hold each own small place at the fringe of the story as two different spouse characters.

On the whole, “Back to Burgundy” is a mild but fairly charming and entertaining family drama decorated with nice mood and lovely sceneries, and I certainly felt refreshed a lot after watching it. It may be a little too slow for some of you, but you will not be disappointed once you give it a chance, and you may want to sip a glass of vintage wine when it is over.

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Capernaum (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): A little boy rebelling against his poor life.

Posted on January 26, 2019 by kaist455

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Lebanese film “Capernaum”, which received the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival early in last year and was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in this week, is an extraordinary drama about a young little boy struggling in a poor neighborhood of Beirut. As vividly and realistically presenting a harsh and difficult reality surrounding him and others around him, the movie gives a number of powerful moments to remember, and that is more than enough to compensate for its few notable weak aspects.

The early part of the movie shows how life has been pretty hard for a 12-year-old boy named Zain (Zain Al Rafeea) and his parents and siblings, who live together in a small, shabby apartment building located somewhere in a slum area of Beirut. As Zain’s parents do not pay much attention to their children (they do not even have birth certificates for their children, for example), Zain is usually the one who takes care of his siblings, and he also works here and there everyday for earning money for his family.

And then there comes a change he does not want at all. When his dear younger sister Sahar (Cedra Izam) shows a certain sign of maturity, Zain tries to cover that as much as he can, but there is nothing he can do when their parents decide to send her to some older guy to marry her, and what follows after that is one of the most heartbreaking moments in the film.

Feeling quite frustrated and exasperated, Zain decides to leave his family, but, of course, he is reminded again of his hard reality as being alone by himself on streets, and then he comes to encounter Rahil (Yordanos Shiferaw), a young Ethiopia refugee woman who has worked in a small amusement park. Because she has a young baby named Yonas (Boluwatife Treasure Bankole), Zain becomes Yonas’ babysitter while living with Rahil, and he feels a little happier than before as often spending time with Rahil and Yonas.

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However, his little happiness does not last long. On one day, Rahil does not return because she happens to be caught by the police for working without a permit, and now Zain must take care of Yonas for himself. While often feeling desperate about their situation, Zain does not give up at all, and we soon see how smart, resilient, and resourceful he is, as watching him trying to earn money by any means necessary. At one point, he willingly lies just for getting food at a center for refugees, and he also tries drug dealing later in the story.

While it is often difficult to watch Zain’s continuing struggle along the story, the movie keeps holding our attention via its raw realism reminiscent of those classic Italian neorealism films in the 1940-50s. A number of real locations used in the film look so vivid with numerous dirty and shabby details shown on the screen that you may often cringe during your viewing, but the movie is also full of the sense of life and humanity, and we come to find ourselves more immersed into the world inhabited by Zain and others around him.

Although the story becomes a little sentimental and unrealistic during its last act which is involved with a legal conflict between Zain and his parents, the movie still maintains its narrative momentum well, and director/co-writer Nadine Labaki, who previously directed “Caramel” (2007) and “Where Do We Go Now?” (2011), handles several emotional highlights during this part with considerable sincerity, honesty, and empathy. While we mostly empathize with Zain, we come to understand his pathetic parents to some degree, and I must say that it is rather amazing that Zain grew up to be a tough but compassionate child under such lousy parents like them.

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Furthermore, the movie is anchored well by what is one of the best child performances of this decade. Zain Al Rafeea, a young Syrian non-professional actor who lived a hard life not so far from his character’s before being cast for the film by Labaki, is simply unforgettable in his remarkable natural performance, and he is especially wonderful when he effortlessly conveys to us innocence and vulnerability behind his shabby appearance. While never asking for any pity toward his character, he diligently carries the film on the whole, and, in my inconsequential opinion, he deserves to be compared with Fernando Ramos da Silva in “Pixote” (1981) and Alejandro Polanco in “Chop Shop” (2007).

The other cast members in the film, who are mostly non-professional performers, are also excellent in their unadorned performance. While Yordanos Shiferaw brings gentle warmth to her character, Kawthar Al Haddad and Fadi Kamel Youssef are believable as Zain’s irresponsible parents, and several young performers in the film including Cedra Izam and Boluwatife Treasure Bankole are suitably cast in their respective supporting roles.

In conclusion, “Capernaum” is a superlative piece of work which impresses us a lot with its substantial emotional power generated from its earnest storytelling and superb performances. As a matter of fact, I was not so surprised to notice considerable emotional reactions from the audiences around me during the screening I attended this afternoon, and I am sure that you will be touched as much as them.

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The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): A militia group stuck in standoff

Posted on January 26, 2019 by kaist455

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“The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” is a moody but engaging genre piece drenched in shadows and doubts. Focusing on a group of characters who happen to be cornered by their grim situation second and second, the movie slowly and deftly accumulates anxiety and suspense along its simple plot, and it is often quite compelling although it is occasionally limited by its thin narrative and broad characterization as well as its small budget.

In the beginning, we get to know a bit about how the characters of the film come to gather in a big lumber warehouse located at some remote spot. They are the key members of a local militia group, and they are all nervous because of a mass shooting incident which has just happened at the funeral of a dead cop. They heard that lots of people including a bunch of policemen attending the funeral were killed by an unidentified guy still on the run, and they worry about whether this terrible incident will lead to the police raid on their militia group.

And then their worst fear turns out to be true. Not long after their leader Ford (Chris Mulkey) arrives, they decide to remove every weapon they have hidden in the warehouse, and they soon discover that one of their several automated rifles is missing. Considering they are the only members who can access to a secret place where their weapons have been stored, it looks like that one of them is the guy the police are currently searching for, and it is pretty clear to everyone in the warehouse that they are really in a big trouble.

Determined to find the culprit as soon as possible, Ford orders Gannon (James Badge Dale) to investigate and interrogate other members mainly because Gannon once worked as a cop and seems to know well how to interrogate and then extract a confession. After checking the other members besides Ford, Gannon singles out Morris (Happy Anderson) and Keating (Robert Aramayo) as two most likely suspects, and then he proceeds to interrogate them alone respectively.

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While mainly consisting of the verbal interactions among Gannon and other characters in the film, the movie seldom bores us as steadily building up the sense of isolation and paranoia around its characters. Many key scenes of the film are constantly shrouded in dark and gloomy atmosphere, and we cannot see the characters in the movie well at times, but this visual approach, which was probably necessitated by its small budget, further enhances the nervous uncertainty among them. Cinematographer Jackson Hunt did a good job of establishing the grim and anxious mood well on the screen, and he gives us several visually striking moments including the interrogation scene between Gannon and Morris, which is unfolded within a space looking relatively wider and brighter.

As talking with Morris during that interrogation scene, Gannon slyly induces Morris to let out his old grudges against the police, which naturally makes him one of two main suspects from the beginning. As they push and pull each other during their interrogation, the movie gradually dials up the level of suspense, and then there eventually comes a point where Morris comes to reveal more about himself than he wanted after pushed further and further by Gannon.

In contrast, Keating is a tougher opponent to crack. As your average disaffected lad (He has a copy of “The Catcher in the Rye”, for instance), he does not speak easily, so Gannon decides to take a different approach to this young man, but, as getting more frustrated and exasperated than expected, he subsequently finds himself losing the control of the situation between them, and that leads to one of a few violent moments in the film.

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Meanwhile, as implied by the sound of a ticking clock on the soundtrack early in the movie, time is running out for everyone in the warehouse as things seem to get far worse outside. As one of them keeps trying to contact other local militia groups via radio communication, he hears about a string of violent incidents happening to the police, and it looks like that incident leads to what they have supposedly prepared for: total anarchy.

Except one flashback moment, the movie continues to focus firmly on its characters’ circumstance as before. There is a tense sequence where its characters must be both silent and watchful inside and around the warehouse, and there later comes a suspenseful scene involved with a certain member who turns out to have a secret behind his back.

I must point out that the movie does not provide much depth in terms of story and characters, but its cast members ably fill their archetype roles as required. While James Badge Dale, who has been one of the most reliable actors in Hollywood since his small but significant supporting role in “Flight” (2012), steadily holds the center, the other notable cast members including Chris Mulkey, Patrick Fischler, Gene Jones, and Brian Geraghty are solid on the whole, and Happy Anderson and Robert Aramayo have each own moment during their respective scenes with Dale.

“The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” is the first feature film directed by director/writer Harry Dunham. What he achieves here in this film looks modest on the surface, but his overall result shows his considerable skill and talent, and I guess we can have some expectation on what may come from him during next several years. It is still January, but this is surely one of interesting debut works of this year.

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Piercing (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): A certain kinky foreplay

Posted on January 26, 2019 by kaist455

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“Piercing” is a little kinky comedy thriller which wryly unnerves and amuses us. As cheerfully observing the very tricky foreplay process between its two deeply perverse characters, the movie provides a number of darkly amusing moments along with some nice stylish touches to be appreciated, and we come to go along with its twisted comical spirit even while observing its story and characters from the distance.

Right from the very beginning, the movie clearly shows us a murderous urge churning inside its hero. While he seems to be an average family guy on the surface, Reed (Christopher Abbott) has struggled with his growing impulse to kill, and we get a very disturbing moment showing him on the verge of the tipping point with an ice pick held right above his baby child.

While he manages to repress his urge when his wife comes, Reed discerns that he really should do something about his urge, so he comes to plan a murder. After telling his wife that he will be absent for a while due to his work, he goes to a hotel, and then he reviews every detail of his murder plan after checking into his hotel room. In addition to preparing several sharp tools including that ice pick, he tries a little experiment on how long his victim will be anesthetized by chloroform, and we get a darkly hilarious moment when he later practices a bit on how to take care of his victim’s dead body in the bathroom.

Once it looks like he is fully ready for his nasty business, Reed calls an escort service, and he is notified that a girl will soon come to his hotel room. After that girl in question, named Jackie (Mia Wasikowska), arrives around one hour later, everything seems to be going well according to his plan as she looks eager to do anything demanded by him, and the mood becomes a little playful and absurd when Reed clumsily asks Jackie whether she can do a certain kinky thing, which is necessary for his murder plan.

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While never overlooking what may happen between these two characters in the end, the movie slowly dials up the level of tension during this part, but then it suddenly takes an unexpected narrative turn. I will not go into details here, but I can tell you instead that the adapted screenplay by director/adapter Nicholas Pesce, which is based on the novel of the same name by Ryû Murakami, subsequently pushes its two characters into more absurdity, and I assure you that you will get a good laugh when Reed seriously ruminates at one point on whether Jackie is actually aware of what is really going on between them.

The situation becomes a little tenser later in the story as Reed comes to Jackie’s cozy residence along with her. She seems to be attracted to him, but she remains elusive to him as before, and we come to wonder who has the real power over the situation. Does she really know about his true intention? If so, does she merely want to be playful and tantalizing before fully submitting herself to his dark urge? Or, does she have an intention which may be more perverse than Reed’s?

As constantly toying with these possibilities, the movie occasionally emphasizes its warped reality of its two characters via several stylish elements. While the urban environment surrounding them is mainly presented through a bunch of miniature buildings shown in the background, the artificial ambience of the film is further accentuated by the slick cinematography by Zack Galler, and the soundtrack, which mainly consists of various pop songs, functions well as an effective counterpart to the unnerving interactions between Reed and Jackie.

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The movie depends a lot on the talent and presence of its two lead performers, who play against each other as well as, say, Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson in “Hard Candy” (2005). As ably conveying to us his character’s increasing bafflement and confusion along the story, Christopher Abbott, who recently drew our attention via his soulful performance in “James White” (2015), keeps his acting straight throughout the film, and that is why the very last shot of the film works as a nice punch line. While Abbott steadily holds the ground, Mia Wasikowska, who has advanced a lot with a string of solid performances since “Alice in Wonderland” (2010) and “The Kids Are All Right” (2010), has a juicy fun with her character, and she is particularly commendable in several key scenes during the second half of the film.

“Piercing” is the second feature film directed by Pesce, who previously made “The Eyes of My Mother” (2016). I have not seen that film yet, but, as far as I can see from “Piercing”, he is a competent filmmaker who knows how to engage us via mood and storytelling. While there are a couple of moments which will surely make you wince for good reasons, they are presented with some restraint at least, and I appreciate how deftly Pesce handles his disturbing story materials without resorting to any gratuitous moment.

Although it often feels like a short film stretched out a bit too long, “Piercing” mostly works during its rather short running time (81 minutes), and so I recommend it with some reservation. Sure, it is definitely not something you can comfortably watch, but it is skillfully made with enough style and atmosphere, and I sort of enjoyed that anyway.

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Fyre (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Absurd and devastating

Posted on January 25, 2019 by kaist455

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To be frank with you, I did not know much about the Fyre Festival incident in 2017 before watching Netflix documentary film “Fyre”, which gives us a close look on how absurd and devastating that unbelievable case of fraud was in many aspects. During my viewing, I could not help but amused by how far a man behind this fraud case could go, but I also came to feel saddened as observing the enormous damages done to numerous people who unfortunately happened to be associated with him and his fraudulent project, and the documentary did a good job of presenting its incredible real-life story while also working as another cautionary tale of our digital age.

The man in question is Billy McFarland, a young entrepreneur who was the co-founder of Fyre around that time. While trying to promote an online application developed by his company, he and his co-founder Ja Rule, who is a prominent figure in American hip-hop industry, came to have an idea of holding a big music festival on a certain small island of the Bahamas, and they quickly embarked on the promotion of this future event of theirs. They and others including several beautiful female models flied to that island for shooting a promotional video, and everyone had a pretty good time there while the camera crew members shot their fun time as much as possible. Although the shooting process was not exactly smooth, the final result, which glamorously showed these beautiful women and others having a luxurious fun on the Bahamian beach, was more than enough to draw attention on the Internet, and that certainly looked like a promising start for McFarland and many others who participated in the preparation for the festival.

However, the situation looked problematic from the very beginning. The festival was supposed to accommodate more than 5,000 people, but the island where it was supposed to be held did not have any infrastructure for that, and it did not even have any proper staying places for festival attendees. While looking lovely on the surface, it had heat and mosquitoes problem, and things got more complicated when the owner of the island did not let McFarland and his people use the island after learning that the promotional video emphasized that the island once belonged to Pablo Escobar.

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Eventually, the festival was moved to a nearby island, but McFarland and his people faced another set of many problems there. While they managed to get a big, wide location, they still did not have any substantial infrastructure for their festival, and they did not even build staying places for attendees although the scheduled date of their festival approached closer and closer.

As more aware of the increasingly messy situation surrounding their festival, a number of people who had closely worked with McFarland naturally became more concerned, but, as many of them admit during their interviews in the documentary, they only found themselves more deeply involved in McFarland’s project, which was not only inherently faulty but also evidently fraudulent. While there was virtually no appropriate preparation for the festival, he sold thousands of tickets along with several luxurious options which did not really exist from the start, and he even promised the appearances of a bunch of notable musicians such as Major Lazer.

One crucial element in McFarland’s fraud scheme was social network services, and the documentary closely examines how his festival received lots of public attention through those popular social network services such as Instagram and Twitter. He paid lots of money to various online celebrities who willingly promoted the festival without asking too much, and the result of this online promotion turned out to be so popular that some sobering warnings about the festival did not get any attention at all despite many clear evidences.

In the end, the festival began on April 28th, 2017, and the people working for the festival came to realize that they were tumbling into a circumstance way over their heads. As hundreds of attendees came to the festival site, chaos reigned because nobody knew what to do with these attendees, and we see and hear about how nightmarish the situation was for everyone at the festival, which, not so surprisingly, was canceled on the very next day.

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The aftermath was devastating to say the least. Many people involved with McFarland were fallen into serious financial debt as a consequence, and there were also hundreds of local workers who did not get paid at all while only left with anger and frustration. In case of a middle-aged local lady who has run a small restaurant near the festival site, she and a group of people hired by her worked very hard for earning the money promised to them by McFarland’s company, but then she came to lose her lifetime savings as paying her employees instead, and it is really heartbreaking to see her still feeling hurt by her financial loss.

On the whole, “Fyre” is an engaging and informative documentary, and director Christ Smith deftly handles his subject as providing us a clear, disturbing view on how thoroughly McFarland deceived everyone with his winning smile and charisma to the end. He was eventually charged with one count of wire fraud and is currently serving his 6-year prison sentence, but, to be frank with you, I think that is rather mild compared to all the pains and losses resulted from his delusional acts of crime.

Sidenote: Incidentally, “Fyre” is not the only recent documentary film on the Fyre Festival incident. Not long before it was released on Netflix, Hulu released documentary film “Fyre Fraud” (2019), and I will soon watch and then write about it.

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Close (2019) ☆☆1/2 (2.5/4): A passable action thriller from Nexflix

Posted on January 25, 2019 by kaist455

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Netflix movie “Close”, which was released on last Friday, is a passable action thriller with some good things to be appreciated. While it does not break any new ground in its genre territory, the movie brings some nice fresh air to its familiar plot and premise via its tough heroine, and the overall result is fairly watchable although it is often stuck with its genre clichés and conventions.

Noomi Rapace, a wonderful Swedish actress who is no stranger to playing strong-willed female characters as shown from her unforgettable breakthrough turn in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (2009), plays a female professional bodyguard named Sam Carlson, who is doing her latest job when we are introduced to her during the opening scene. She is protecting a couple of reporters working in a conflict zone of South Sudan, and, not so surprisingly, they soon find themselves in a perilous situation where she must think and act fast for their escape and survival.

Not long after she returns to her modest residence, Sam receives a message from her security company. A young wealthy heiress named Zoe Tanner (Sophie Nélisse) happens to need a new bodyguard right now after the previous one leaves due to his inappropriate relationship with her, and, despite her initial reluctance, Sam agrees to take this new job mainly because there is not anyone available in her security company.

Right from their first encounter, Sam and Zoe do not get along well with each other, and Zoe does not like constantly being watched and protected by Sam, but the situation becomes quite serious for both of them as Zoe happens to be the sole owner of her recently diseased father’s prominent global mining company as inheriting a large amount of company stock originally belonging to him. Her stepmother, who is incidentally the daughter of the founder of the company, is understandably not so pleased about that, but there is a big business matter to be handled by her as soon as possible, and the last thing she wants is any trouble from Zoe, your average problematic girl who still feels hurt by her unhappy childhood.

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Shortly after the will of Zoe’s father is read, Zoe is sent to Morocco along with Sam as instructed by Zoe’s stepmother, and they subsequently arrive at a big family house located in some remote area, which, as Zoe sarcastically points out, looks more like a fortress in its drab appearance. While her stepmother handles that business matter, she will be stuck there as protected by Sam as well as other guards and the high-tech security system in the house, and it looks like Sam’s job will be soon done without much trouble.

Of course, her job turns out to be a lot more dangerous than expected, and it is not much of a spoiler to tell you that Sam and Zoe come to run away from a bunch of figures chasing after Zoe. Even though she is officially not Zoe’s bodyguard anymore, Sam becomes quite determined to protect Zoe as much as she can, and we accordingly get a number of intense action scenes as she and Zoe struggle for any chance of survival. While there is an impressive action scene unfolded inside a vehicle, we also get a brutal physical action sequence which will probably make you cringe at times, and there later comes a well-made underwater action scene which is as thrilling as required.

These and other action sequences in the movie are handled well under the competent direction of director/co-writer Vicky Jewson, who wrote the screenplay with producer Rupert Whitaker. While thankfully avoiding dizzy camera work and choppy editing, the movie did a good job of conveying to us the palpable impacts of the physical actions depicted on the screen, and Jewson demonstrates here that she is a skillful action director who knows how to present effective action scenes on the screen.

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It surely helps that the movie is supported well by its two main performers. While ably embodying her character’s stoic toughness, Rapace brings considerable intensity to her action scenes, and she is also complemented well by Sophie Nélisse. a young Canadian actress who has steadily advanced since her memorable supporting turn in Oscar-nominated Canadian film “Monsieur Lazhar” (2011). Thanks to their solid performance, the development of their characters’ relationship is believable and engaging, and I like how they gradually bring out their characters’ softer side along the story.

However, I must point out that the movie does not entirely work as remaining with its genre clichés and conventions. While several narrative turns in the story may not be that surprising to you if you are a seasoned moviegoer like me, you can also easily discern what is really going on if you are well aware of the Law of Economy of Characters. In addition, Jewson and Whitaker’s screenplay falters when it attempts to explain what motivates its heroine, and I think the movie could be a bit better without that clumsy attempt of explanation.

Anyway, despite its several weak spots, “Close” is still an efficient genre piece clearly showing the efforts from its cast and crew, and I will not deny that I enjoyed it to some degrees while appreciating its good elements including the strong acting turn from Napace, who surely confirms to us that she can play an action movie heroine as well as Charlize Theron or Gal Gadot. Although I am not entirely satisfied with the movie, it was not a waste of time at least, and I hope that Rapace and Jewson will work again together for something better in the future.

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Matangi/Maya/M.I.A. (2018) ☆☆☆(3/4): An intimate and dynamic portrait of M.I.A.

Posted on January 20, 2019 by kaist455

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Documentary film “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.”, which received the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award when it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival early in last year, is an intimate and dynamic portrait of one renowned female musician who is not only very talented but also quite opinionated. As looking around here and there in her extraordinary life and career, the documentary often provides a number of moments both revealing and compelling, and we come to have some understanding on her irrepressible spirit and talent.

The early part of the documentary revolves around the early years of M.I.A., who was born as Mathangi “Maya” Arulpragasam in Sri Lanka, 1975. Because her father was one of the founders of the Tamil Resistance Movement around that time, she and her mother and siblings became refugees as the civil war in Sri Lanka got intensified, and they eventually immigrated to Britain in 1985 while her father remained in Sri Lanka for continuing his fight against the Sri Lankan government.

Because she wanted to be not only a musician but also a filmmaker, M.I.A. had heaps of archival footage clips which were shot during her adolescent years in South London, and we see some of those archival footage clips while she reminisces about her adolescent years. She tells us an amusing episode about how she happened to encounter hip-hop music for the first time, and we also get to know about her rather estranged relationship with her father, whose political background influenced and inspired her a lot nonetheless.

One of the most memorable moments in the documentary comes from a series of archival footage clips showing her visit to Sri Lanka in 2001. While meeting several family members including her dear grandmother, she became more conscious of her cultural/ethnic identity, and she accordingly came to feel more of the need to express her thoughts and feelings through her music.

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And then the chance soon came to her. Not long after working for British rock band Elastica as their music video director, she came to the recording studio of XL Recordings with her several songs including “Galang” in 2004, and the following success of “Galang” was followed by her first album “Arular”, which turned her into a new hip-hop musician to watch. After that, she further advanced with her second album “Kala” in 2006, and she subsequently received an Oscar nomination for her collaboration with A.R. Rahman in “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008).

However, due to her consistently outspoken attitude, she frequently got herself into troubles and controversies. As she frequently expressed her supportive position on the Tamil refugees in Sri Lanka while also openly criticizing the Sri Lankan government in public, she came to be criticized a lot by numerous detractors including the Sri Lankan government, and the documentary shows us how unfairly she was mistreated by the media, which is exemplified well by the excerpt from Lynn Hirschberg’s scathing New York Times profile on her.

While trying to handle her enormous fame and pressure, she kept moving on, and then she came upon more troubles and controversies. Her new music video was criticized for being too blatant and gratuitous in its graphic depiction of violence, and there was also that notorious incident during the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, where she performed along with Madonna on the stage. In the middle of the show, she committed a small act of defiance which inadvertently offended lots of people, and she was even sued by National Football League (NFL) although, as she points out at one point, nobody got hurt from her action.

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As freely moving between several different time points, the documentary is occasionally confusing at times, but it ultimately works as a kaleidoscopic collage which illuminates the talent and personality of M.I.A. with some insights to observe. Despite all those troubles and controversies throughout her career, she does not step back at all as a strong-willed woman who has always been driven to be direct and outspoken in her artistic activities. She may not fully grasp where her life and career are going at present, but she is determined to keep going on anyway, and that is evidently glimpsed from the opening scene and the closing scene of the documentary, which showing her enthusiastically preparing for shooting her latest music video along with others.

I heard that there was some tension between Loveridge and M.I.A. during the production of the documentary, but, as far as I can see from the final result, Loveridge did a commendable job of presenting his human subject with respect and honesty. Thanks to his editors Marina Katz and Gabriel Rhodes, the documentary fluidly flows from one moment to another without a hiccup, and the score by Dhani Harriso and Paul Hicks is effectively mixed along with several hit songs of M.I.A. including “Paper Plane”, which I still remember well after watching how it was wonderfully used in “Slumdog Millionaire”.

Although I think it could have been more focused and coherent in its non-linear storytelling approach, “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.” is still engaging enough to recommend on the whole, and you may find yourself becoming a bit more interested in the works of M.I.A., if you are, like me, not so familiar with her career. She is indeed a remarkable person and artist, and I hope she will keep going as usual.

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