Fantasia 2012 – Errors of the Human Body Review (Matt Hodgson)

Fantasia Film Festival 2012

Errors of the Human Body (2011)

Starring Michael Eklund, Karoline Herfurth, Tomas Lemarquis, and Rik Mayall

Directed by Eron Sheean

Science and movies almost never seem to mix, especially if you’ve ever had any experience with the slow and rigorous beast that is scientific research. It’s understandable given that the average movie is about 100 minutes and the average scientific inquiry probably takes year to complete from start to finish. The two are certainly not the most compatible. That said, some filmmakers have still been able to do it justice. Even though Altered States deals with pseudo-scientific material, it really feels like a scientific movie, and a damn good one at that. Errors of the Human body started off quite well and got me hoping for the next ‘Altered States’, however the story was taken in a different direction than I was anticipating and without as much impact to the viewer as could have been possible. The result is an odd film that is at times beautiful and intelligent, while at others a little confusing and not as hard hitting as it could have been.

Geoff Burton (Eklund) is a controversial scientist whose fame or notoriety is direct result of loss he has experienced. Burton and his now ex-wife lost their infant son to a rare genetic disorder, and now Burton’s goal is to use his son as an example to understand and prevent these sad stories in the future. Far from eugenics, Burton has developed a method of screening embryos in order to detect rare genetic illnesses. In a move to the cold and wintry landscape of Dresden, Germany; Burton reunites with an old student, Rebekka, also an old flame, who may be on the brink of an incredible discovery that would have incredible implications for Burton’s research. However, the research environment has the same kind of cutthroats previously found on the high seas, maybe even worse. Burton and Rebekka must work together to protect her discovery from a creepy scientist named Jarek who has ambitious plans of his own.

Errors of the Human Body features some beautifully appropriate photography of the frozen landscape of Dresden, the equally cold confines of research laboratories, and images of cells through the lens of a microscope. The world of science is really all about the micro as it relates to the macro and Errors mirrors this perfectly, especially in the first-half of the film. The images of cells and microscopes are lightyears away from the absurdity of 2011’s The Thing, in which I had to stifle my laughter as alien cells assimilated human cells in a parody of real science. Even though ‘real’ science will never have a place in a feature film, Errors does a remarkable job getting as close to the discipline as possible, creating a very plausible research environment.

The performances are quite solid across the board with the very creepy Lemarquis turning in the best performance in my books. It’s a shame that the script doesn’t have darker avenues for Lemarquis’ character to venture down, but I suppose the story didn’t call for it. Eklund does some serious brooding throughout the movie while still remaining a character who audiences should care about. He mentioned during the introduction to the film that he initially had no interest in traveling to Germany for a shoot. I wonder if Eklund channeled his personal wishes to get out of this frozen environment into his character, contributing to his solid performance as Burton. If I was in his position, I sure would have tried.

Errors tells the story chosen by the filmmakers, but it was a bit disappointing as certain scenes early in the film hint of very dark implications which are only partially realized. Errors could have turned into a frightening horror or sci-fi piece, but instead is happy to stay a drama or character piece. I have to admit that it is fairly successful as a character driven story, but I would have liked something more fantastical given the hints early on in the film. Finally, it was clear what the filmmakers were saying about their characters, but what they were saying about science, if anything, was a little harder to understand. This film could certainly be interpreted as anti-technology or anti-science by some, regardless of the intentions of the filmmakers, but I hope this isn’t the case. There are enough anti-science voices these days who don’t understand that science cannot commit atrocities, only people can. Science and technology are no more inherently evil than the brain of a newborn child.

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Fantasia 2012 – Under the Bed Review (Matt Hodgson)

Fantasia Film Festival 2012

Under the Bed (2012)

Starring Jonny Weston, Gattlin Griffith, Peter Holden, Musetta Vander, and Kelcie Stranahan

Directed by Steven C. Miller

Directed by Steven C. Miller, whose Aggression Scale I have heard rumblings of but have yet to check out, and produced by Brad Miska, Mr. Disgusting from the all-things-horror website Bloody Disgusting, Under the Bed was introduced at Fantasia as inspired by 80’s horror and adventure movies. While wearing a Goonies T-shirt, Miller told the audience that horror from the 80’s has been extremely influential on his career as a filmmaker and Under the Bed was his attempt to make a horror movie that no one seems to be making anymore. Imaginative kids, incredulous parents, bike riding, practical effects, and a focus on atmosphere, Under the Bed is a love letter to 80’s horror and adventure movies that has some character and logic issues, but deserves your attention for what it does well.

Neal (Weston) is returning home for the first time after a two-year absence, but he doesn’t seem that thrilled and neither do his neighbors. Something horrible happened to cause Neal to be sent away and while we don’t know the exact details, it appears to have involved his mother and his old home, as both are now missing from his life. Shortly after pulling in the driveway with his father (Holden), Neal is surprised by a small gathering in the backyard of his new home, a ‘Welcome Back Neal’ party put together by his father’s new partner, Angela (Vander). Neal quickly puts the party in the back of his mind as he gazes up to the second floor of the house. His brother Paulie (Griffith) is somewhere up there, and he hasn’t seen him in two long years. Apprehensively, Neal makes his way to Paulie, who at first doesn’t seem to trust Neal. This distrust lasts only a moment and the boys quickly embrace. However, the happy reunion lasts only a moment as Paulie reveals that he is witnessing sinister happenings in the house. The descriptions provided by Paulie match the experiences of Neal and the boys must face a terrifying conclusion. Either they are both losing their marbles or there is a malevolent presence in the house which parents just won’t understand.

From start to finish Under the Bed seems to channel the spirit of 80’s horror and adventure movies. Goonies, The Gate, Poltergeist, Gremlins, and The Burbs, Under the Bed fits in with all of them, defying any belief that it was finished in 2012 in the process. That great layer of 80’s creepiness and adventure which transformed everyday homes and suburbs into fantastical adventures is definitely present in Under the Bed. Add to this the Goonies-style sign on Paulie’s room, a really fun and nostalgic bike-riding scene with the brothers, Neal’s mysterious sketchbook, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff that was found in the 80’s movies that Under the Bed is paying homage to. Unfortunately the movie also has it’s fair share of problems.

Under the bed has a few problems with the script, the performances, and the direction. To begin, the script is a little slow for the first hour. The direction of the story was clear enough, but it could have been kicked into a higher gear a bit sooner. Also, as Neal and Paulie battle the evil force in their home they seem to come up with some rules to stay safe, but they almost never take these rules into consideration (‘don’t move’ and ‘don’t make a sound’). It may not seem like a big deal, but it certainly breaks the spell for the viewer at times. Also, a scary scene early on with Angela seemingly has no logical consequences for her and the family which is a really hard pill to swallow that early on. The character and performance of the dad was way over the top. I think the filmmakers were going for a strict dad, falling apart at the seams, but who still loves his kids. Unfortunately he comes across as easy to hate and a terrible father. In my mind he was not even in the vicinity of being a ‘good guy’ throughout the story. Finally, in a few scenes that involved a scare or a sinister conclusion it was sometimes difficult to decipher what was supposed to be scary or sinister. The most obvious example is again the scene with Angela in which the ‘scare’ seems to be that her laundry basket has beened moved. I can assure you that the scene with Angela is actually a pretty good one, with some great build-up, but to have it end on something as dull as a moving laundry basket is a shame and kind of ruins what the rest of the creepy scene.

Despite the problems in Under the Bed, the last half-hour is extremely solid and worth the price of admission alone. The filmmakers utilized the best part of 80’s filmmaking which is the practical special effects and in Under the Bed we get some incredible creature effects. It’s really perplexing why more horror filmmakers don’t make the decision to use practical effects. When used properly, as in Under the Bed, it’s hard to find a better reason to love horror movies. Also, Miller and company have ratcheted up the gore found in 80’s horror movies, and as a result Under the Bed becomes more than just an homage, taking on an identity of its own.

Far from perfect, but with many more positive than negative qualities. If you’re looking for a scary night out at the movies then give Under the Bed a shot. If you’re like me and love 80’s horror movies then Under the bed is absolutely not to be missed.

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Fantasia 2012 – A Night of Nightmares Review (Matt Hodgson)

Fantasia Film Festival 2012

A Night of Nightmares

Starring Marc Senter, Elissa Dowling, Richard Portnow, Margaux Lancaster, and James Warfield

Directed by Buddy Giovinazzo

A theme throughout Fantasia 2012 has been self-aware or meta films. Especially in the genre world, it’s hard to make a film that oozes originality given that each genre has its fair share of cliches which often partly define the genre. If you take away all of the cliches, it might result in the destruction of the genre. Then what kind of film do you have? So it seems that self-awareness in genre film allows filmmakers to bolster originality in cliche-ridden films by uncovering another layer. That said, I find that films need to commit to being self-aware or meta for the technique to really work. A Night of Nightmares seems to be poking fun at the plethora of previous haunted house movies, but not nearly often or clearly enough. The end result is either a sub-par meta movie that doesn’t quite ‘go for it’, or one of the most unwatchable straight haunted house movies that I have ever seen.

Mark (Senter) is a passionate music video-blogger, who revels in discovering new talent and sharing their music with the viewers of his site. Tonight is a special night for Mark, as he is driving out to the country for an evening with his latest discovery, an enigmatic young singer named Ginger (Dowling). The night starts off slowly with Mark and Ginger growing accustomed to each other. However, when the sun goes down the evening takes a sinister turn. Ginger is not who she claims to be and someone is watching them from the safety of the shadows outside. Add to this some menacing supernatural events and it looks like Mark and Ginger are in for a night of nightmares.

My only experience with the work of Buddy Giovinazzo was the ‘I Love You’ segment from last year’s The Theatre Bizarre. Well it was not strictly horror, it was one of the better segments of the anthology, and I looked forward to checking out his next work. A Night of Nightmares was probably an ultra-low budget movie, and I always take this into consideration when reviewing, but it was a personal trial in patience to get through this short screening. From moment one the dialogue feels awkward, as if the characters are reading off the pages of a script. Mark is incredibly unlikable, but his character is not a bad guy. It would be unfair to put the blame solely on the writing or the acting , as both probably contributed to the problem. In one particular scene Mark and Ginger discover a record player, seemingly turned on by itself. They find a spray bottle that may have fallen from the shelf and explain to each other that the wind must have blown the bottle off the shelf and then the bottle must have hit the record player, turning it on. Satisfied with this explanation they continue about their day. If this scene was written for laughs then it missed the mark. If it was written as a serious explanation then it makes the audience want your main characters to die sooner than later for being the most amazing of morons. I found myself falling into the latter category.

Aside from the dialogue and the acting falling far short of the mark, even for independent film, the story never seems to grab the audience by the throat, as most horror movies should eventually do. Also, some of the scarier moments of the film are ruined by incredibly uninspired bits of filmmaking. In one particularly hilarious scene, Ginger has something in her throat that she is trying to cough up. For the ‘money’ shot, the back of Gingers head fills half the screen, while somebody clearly throws a fistful of pennies onto the floor as if she had thrown them up. I wonder what they were thinking in the editing room including this scene. Asking one of the most film-literate audiences in the world to believe this effect in a serious film is incredibly naive.

I wish I had better things to say about A Night of Nightmares, but I want it to be clear that this type of movie is not enjoyable anymore. The haunted house sub-genre is full of classics. We need something original at this point. If a filmmaker is going to be self-referential, then it needs to be more clear. If they are going for a straight horror film, then it actually needs to be scary and put its own spin on the genre. As it stands, A Night of Nightmares didn’t let us in on the joke if there was one. If there wasn’t a joke and it was supposed to be scary, then I don’t even know what to say.

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The Watch Review (Kirk Haviland)

The Watch

Starring: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Will Forte and Billy Crudup.  

Written by Jared Stern, Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen.

Directed by Akiva Schaffer

The film originally known as Neighbourhood Watch (it was shortened to The Watch after the Trayvon Martin incident earlier this year and had all of its bullet-ridden original advertising pulled) finally arrives in theaters from Fox this week. Perhaps being extra cautious due to the circumstances surrounding the Martin incident back in February, The Watch enters theaters with a lot less advertising and fanfare than you would expect from a film with this kind of star power. But can the combined comedic chops of Stiller, Vaughn, Hill, Ayoade (director of last year’s brilliant Submarine) and Forte along with director, and one-third of the comedy troop of The Lonely Island, Akiva Schaffer, deliver the comedy of the year?

Evan (Stiller) seems to have it all together. He has a lovely wife (Rosemarie DeWitt), a great house and a steady job as a manager of the local Costco in a sleepy suburb in Ohio. One morning Evan arrives for work to find his night security guard has been murdered and the police have him on the list of suspects. Evan, being the man behind many social groups in the community like the “running group”, decides he must start the Neighbourhood Watch to find the real killer and patrol the streets. Organizing the first meeting at his house, Evan is taken up on the offer by Bob (Vaughn), a father who in essence is bringing up his teenage daughter by himself due to his wife’s hectic work schedule and desperately craves male; Franklin (Hill), a high school dropout and reject from the police force who wants to crack some skulls; and the awkward Jamarcus (Ayoade), who simply is looking for a way to fit in the community. The Watch are ridiculed and not taken seriously by the community at large, especially by the police and Sgt. Bressman (Forte), as they strive to investigate the death of Evan’s former employee. Eventually they discover that the killer may not be of this earth and they may be in for a much bigger fight than they had first thought and it may or may not include Evan’s strange new neighbour, Paul (Crudup).

The Watch is a very silly movie. Obviously a believer in free reign and tons of ad-libbing, Shaffer lets his stars run loose and it shows. Stiller and Vaughn deliver exactly what you have seen them do so many times before. Stiller brings his goofy everyman with a penchant for landing in awkward situations while Vaughn’s motor-mouth rapid-fire style is on full effect. Jonah Hill gets a little edgier than normal here, but also manages to hit all those familiar “too close” moments that he’s famous for. Hader brings to life another awkward character that doesn’t completely work all the time. The real star here is Ayoade. Ayoade manages to steal every scene he is in and his history as a writer/performer in such BBC shows as The Mighty Boosh shines through. This really could be a star making performance for Ayoade and you leave the theater hoping they had used him more and craving the inevitable footage that will make up the DVD special features. I am a big fan of all these men but Ayoade outshines them all this time around.

The Watch, thanks mainly to Ayoade, works a lot more than it doesn’t. While far from a brilliant, The Watch fits the bill for mindless summer fun. The Watch is a recommend.

Till Next Time,

Movie Junkie TO

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Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance Review (Kirk Haviland)

Photo Courtesy of VKPR

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance

Written and Directed by Bob Hercules

Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino were the two visionaries behind the creation and innovation of the Joffrey Ballet. Narrated by Mandy Patinkin, Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance tells the history behind the Joffrey Ballet and the story of these two men. Through archival footage and interviews (both men have passed on) director Hercules attempts to lay out the history of the influential ballet company.

Co-founded in 1956, the then titled “The Robert Joffrey Ballet” was a touring company of six dancers traversing the US in a borrowed station wagon with Joffey choreographing and Arpino as lead male dancer. Eventually Arpino would move into the choreography role himself as the company grew in size and talent. The to men started a school of dance where they insisted on classical ballet proficiency but would then add many other contemporary styles into the routines of their dancers, making them adaptable and pushing the boundaries of traditional ballet. The Ballet took on a backer in Rebekah Harkness in the early 60’s who eventually tried to commandeer the entire group. Unwilling to re-title his company “The Harkness Ballet”, Joffrey and Harkness parted ways, with Harkness taking 90% of the dancers under contract to her foundation and leaving Joffrey and Arpino with two dancers and a school of students to restart. Convinced that he could do it again, Joffrey proved it as the ballet flourished and grew larger than ever before. Surviving yet another financial crisis and a move out of New York to Chicago, the Joffrey Ballet remains a vital and boundary pushing company of dancers and choreographers to this day.

Photo Courtesy of VKPR

Probably the most lasting fact to come from this documentary is the amount of former Joffrey dancers/proteges who are now major forces in the dance world, acting as company heads and/or head choreographers across the United States. Through tons of archival footage and interviews with these influential grads mixed with the aforementioned archival interviews we have the entire history laid out piece by piece. Even with the rare footage we are given the opportunity to see, the film comes off as flat. Director Hercules manages to fill our heads with stats and glorious imagery but fails to give a personality or a ground-breaking presence to his film. With the inspirational subject that is the backbone of this film, it’s sad to realize that we don’t get much inspiration out of this film.

Dance enthusiasts will probably revel in the archival footage, as they should, but as a complete film I cannot rate Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance anything more than a disappointment. Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance is a mild non-recommend.

Joffrey: Mavericks of American Dance starts an exclusive run at the Bloor Cinema starting Friday July 27th.

Till Next Time,

Movie Junkie TO

Make sure to keep up with what’s going on at Entertainment Maven by liking our Facebook page and having updates delivered right to your Facebook News Feed. It’s the only way to stay on top of all of our articles with the newest blockbusters and all the upcoming films and festivals in Toronto.

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