TIFF 2012 – Jayne Mansfield’s Car Review (Paolo Kagaoan)

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Jayne Mansfield’s Car (2012)

Starring Robert Duvall, Kevin Bacon, John Hurt, Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Patrick, Ray Stevenson, Frances O’Connor and Katherine LaNasa

Directed by Billy Bob Thornton

From the opening shot I already felt like Jayne Mansfield’s Car was a miscalculation. The mustard colour scheme, the slow motion, the deep bass-based soundtrack, like a movie taking itself too seriously. After this introduction of an idyllic small town in scorching Alabama, we see three different brothers. Drug-using Carroll Caldwell (Bacon) is a ringleader of a conspicuous anti-war rally and is arrested. Jimbo (Patrick) and his wife encourage their son to join the army when he turns seventeen. The meek and dysfunctional Skip (Thornton) is told to turn his underground music down. All of them are under the thumb of their father Jim (Duvall), reprimanding them about something or other. He also is fascinated with car crashes which happen on a daily occurrence in his county.

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But that might change when they learn about their estranged mother’s death, her body being brought back from England by her second husband (Hurt) and his children Philip (Stevenson) and Camilla (O’Connor). And there’s flirtation between children, between Skip and Camilla and between Philip and Jim’s daughter Donna (LaNasa). These two new couples worry me, having to prove to myself that these overgrown children aren’t related by blood.

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Most of the performances feel off, especially Duvall who seems to just cruise through his lines. We don’t feel the fear or indifference that he’s supposed to be inflicting on his children. The movie’s best players are Stevenson and O’Connor, present on roles that I’m not used to seeing them taking. We’ve seen Stevenson, a dashing English gentleman here, as a robust swordsman in The Three Musketeers. O’Connor, however, has been in The Hunter as a single mother who can’t be more different from her groovy role here. But their characterizations are just costumes or types as opposed to fully fleshed-out characters. There’s a scene involving Skip and Jim which shocks but doesn’t let us sympathize with either character, and I can say the same about the rest of this forgettable movie.

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TIFF 2012 – Bwakaw Review (Paolo Kagaoan)

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Bwakaw (2012)

Starring Eddie Garcia and Rez Cortez

Directed by Jon Robles Luna

Bwakaw’s bleached cinematography perfectly reflects its protagonist Rene’s (Garcia) crotchety world view – that of an old man who can’t just wait to die. Through and with him we see the unvarnished wood of his pre-colonial wooden house, the white strands of his gray hair, the powdered pallor of his ex-girlfriend Alicia’s face. Then we as the audience know more of his life. His dog named Bwakaw who eats and seems healthy for an ex-stray, a nosy and superstitious neighbour, a hate relationship with a tricycle driver named Sol  (Cortez), a priest with whom he entrusts his will, and two gay friends whose idea of a house call is bringing in two more oblivious ‘boylets’ – or super cheap male prostitutes – to his house. And he treats those characters within his life like the curmudgeon that he is. We laugh with him as he laughs at his fellow man. But colour make a splash in his life before it’s too late.

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As an LGBT Filipino man myself I have to be weary about depictions of race and queerness. I worried whether or not Rene and the other gay characters would be cliched, but I find the term ‘gay stereotype’ problematic in itself. The persons controlling the labeling of gay men as stereotypes would find ways to accuse the latter of being ‘too gay’. Transvestism and pink hair – stereotype. Certain facial features – stereotype. It’s an uphill battle and an unwinnable war. It’s also arguable that Sol is a stereotype of troglodyte heterosexuality to balance the gay characters out.

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In that respect, this movie doesn’t make my blood boil but there’s a scene in it that almost did the job. The one I’m talking about in particular is between Rene and Sol, who develop a friendship. Cortez makes a few of his lines look wonky, but Lina, who also wrote the film’s screenplay, moulds Sol to be clueless about his footing within his relationship with Rene. Not to be spoilery, but it also seems like Luna arranged their final scene to excuse each other’s surprising yet alcohol induced decisions. But since this is an LGBT movie, we stay long enough with the gay characters for them not to be laughing stocks. Oh, they’re funny but the audience can also see their vulnerability and fraternal natures. Garcia also handles his character deftly, with stature and comedic charm, as expected of a veteran actor, elevating a movie that’s a part of the evolving Filipino queer cinema.

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TIFF 2012: Tower Review (Paolo Kagaoan)

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Tower (2012)

Starring Derek Bogart and Nicole Fairbairn

Directed by Kazik Radwanski

In the middle of Kazik Radwanski’s Tower, a dentist asks our protagonist, a man named Derek (Bogart) how old he is. He looks like what would happen if a skinnier Tom Cruise started balding but kept his other hair growing. God, just shave it all off and you’ll look better. Derek is thirty-four. Yet he hasn’t had his wisdom teeth out, he procrastinates going to the doctor to treat the infected wound in between his eyes, listens to dance hall music instead of finishing his animated movie, still lives with his parents, and hasn’t figured out his life yet.

To be honest, my first reaction towards watching the film was frustration, wondering why Derek isn’t doing anything ‘substantial’ enough for an audience like us to care. But then I remembered that like Tower, movies without structure actually reflect real life. Like John Cassavetes’ A Woman Under the Influence its looped way of plotting and editing, where it feels like the same encounters and arguments for certain chunks of both movies. Surprisingly enough, repetition doesn’t yield the same result nor emotions, as we feel anger and empathy or in Tower’s case, a sense of discovery within the mundane.

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Derek is a stripped down version of the valorized thirty-something man-child archetype that we’ve seen in comedies for the past decade. But Radwanski and Bogart choose a different approach to this character study. There are less social encounters where he can either charm his way to other people’s hearts or fuck it up yet make us root for him, although both scenarios are well-represented here. What we see instead is him in his solitary moments even within the crowds, taking 98% of the camera time. And despite of our opinion towards his character, Bogart takes on this Herculean task with Falconetti’s zen like strength, not faltering in this display of stoic naturalism. This isn’t acting but behaving or being, without resorting to any acting tics like movie stars woefully do.

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Tower portrays him while giving us a different sensory experience, hearing the sounds of the city while only seeing familiar locations through hints or blurry lights. Again Derek is close to us within an aesthetic and editing principles – no fade outs until it ends! – that would be considered dreamlike or impressionistic if his face wasn’t so…into our face. We see him fight the little battles, in some ways oblivious to life the same way that life is a mystery to many of us.

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TIFF 2012 – Antiviral Review (Dustin SanVido)

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Antiviral (2012)

Starring Caleb Landry Jones, Sarah Gadon, Douglas Smith, and Malcolm McDowell

Written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg

MINOR SPOILERS

Brandon Cronenberg gathered attention for his short film Broken Tulips, which screened at TIFF in the Emerging Artists program a few years back and was successful enough to gain funding and expand the premise into his debut feature. Being his father’s son may have had something to do with it, but to be fair that connection is what interested me enough to add Antiviral to my slate. As a debut film, I found its satire of celebrity obsession interesting, its performances tight and focused, and its Trent Reznor inspired score entertaining. That being said, there are issues in the script and the pacing lags a bit, but Antiviral remains an interesting debut.

Antiviral is the story of a near future in which the obsession of celebrity has reached such a level that obsessive fans are able to share a disturbing biological communion with their idols by commercially purchasing and injecting themselves with viruses and illnesses the celebrities have contracted, sometimes intentionally. Our protagonist Syd (Caleb Landry Jones) works for one of these viral clinics, and is regarded as one of the better sales agents, as we are shown in one of his sales pitches in the opening moments of the film. Sid also is in the business for himself – he quietly smuggles out samples of the viruses he offers the only way he knows how, by injecting the viruses into his own body and extracting them later to sell on the black market. This does come with some inherent risk as Syd is constantly sick and monitoring his temperature at all times and for good reason. Shortly after we are introduced to Syd, he is asked to step in for an employee and collect the latest virus from a willing starlet Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon). The extraction is successful and seeing an opportunity, Syd injects a pure blood sample into his body before turning over the rest to his employer. Within hours Syd begins to fall seriously ill and learns that the virus he injected could be fatal. He spends the rest of the film learning of the nature of the virus, its connection to the companies he is employed by, and the conspiracy that he has inadvertently found himself the centre of.

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Antiviral is a strong debut feature that benefits from an excellent concept and some fantastic sequences of body horror. The director has stated publicly that he has never seen or been interested in his father’s work, but his film seems to indicate otherwise, as it seems like ideas were directly lifted from the elder Cronenberg’s earlier films. The moments of gore aren’t very gratuitous or terrifying and there is a very subtle art-house beauty present in the design of the practical effects. The idea of the melding of technology and flesh is just as present in Antiviral as it is in Videodrome or Dead Ringers or even Naked Lunch. That being said, Cronenberg does have his own ideas and vision and I laud him for making the film his way. This is very obvious in his decision to shoot the film nearly entirely in front of white backgrounds and images to focus and keep the viewer’s attention on the actors and the effects

I enjoyed all the performances in Antiviral, particularly Caleb Landry Jones. Jones is choosing a variety of work to challenge his skillset and clearly understands his limits and what works for him. I have seen two films with him this year and it appears as though the actor is working to strengthen his weaknesses. The supporting cast is all up to task and don’t seem to be reaching or overacting, including a surprise cameo that strengthened the needed exposition at the halfway point of the film.

Although the film’s plot and intricacies are completely ludicrous at times, its ideas and the satire on display is spot on with the present day and time. I enjoyed Antiviral wholly because of its introduction of a director who, just like his father, has an original voice. I am looking very forward to seeing what he can present to an audience outside of the body horror sub-genre. I think it’s safe to say that Brandon Cronenberg is a Canadian talent to look out for and Antiviral is a good place to start.

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TIFF 2012 – Sightseers Review (Matt Hodgson)

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Sightseers (2012)

Starring Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Eileen Davies, Jonathan Aris, Richard Glover, and Monica Dolan

Written by Alice Lowe, and Steve Oram

Directed by Ben Wheatley

Last year Ben Wheatley planted himself firmly on my radar with Kill List, his incredible second feature that left the crowd at TIFF absolutely stunned. One year later and Mr. Wheatley finds himself deservedly back at TIFF with his third feature, Sightseers. His latest film is of a decidedly different tone than Kill List. While Kill List takes the audience into a a very dark place that you can’t climb out of even if you tried, Sightseers is a comedic journey across the idyllic English countryside, although it wouldn’t be a Ben Wheatley movie if it wasn’t twisted in one way or another.

Tina (Lowe) and Chris (Oram) are a brand new couple in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. They rarely argue, have trouble keeping their hands off each other, and have decided to go on a roadtrip to take in pastoral England. Complete with a trailer for sleeping in, the couple pack their bags, leaving Tina’s overprotective mother at home. The trip starts out as expected, but it isn’t long before rude tourists start to bother Chris. Fortunately, Chris has a very specific way of dealing with people who grate on his nerves, but will Tina embrace his unconventional methods or will she run away screaming?

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With two days left of the festival, Sightseers is hands down the best movie I have seen at TIFF 2012. The wonderful script was written by the two leads, Lowe and Oram. The storyline and the central characters are hilarious and emotionally endearing at the same time, which is truly remarkable considering the dark subject matter that is usually in the foreground of the story. During the Q & A Lowe explained that her and Oram had been pitching Sightseers as a television series and it was only after working with the material for five or so years that we finally have a feature film to enjoy. I’ve seen many movies, particularly independent features, that have been written in a matter of months, weeks, and sometimes even days. Sightseers is a testament to the advantage of having ample time to know the characters and the story inside and out, as Lowe and Oram clearly did. The characters feel incredibly real, while it is hard to imagine that the comedic beats could have had better timing.

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Behind the camera Wheatley continues his rapid climb to the top of my ‘favourite directors’ list. He has such an expert understanding of the dark and macabre, while also demonstrating an amazing understanding of the comedy that can be found in the most unlikely places. Also, I don’t know of any other directors who are so easily able to steer away from cliche, turning the expectations of audiences on their heads. Having also seen his short that was a part of The ABCs of Death, I am at the point where I would watch a 90-minute weather report, so long as Wheatley was behind the camera.

Sightseers is dark, hilarious, and absolutely absorbing for the entire run-time. Wheatley has hit another one out of the park in what I consider to be one of the best movies I have seen all year.

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