The Island President Review (Kirk Haviland)

Photo Credit: Chiara Goia (www.chiaragoia.com)

The Island President (2011)

Starring Mohamed Nasheed

Directed by Jon Shenk

The Island President is the story of the President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, and his fight to save his island nation from a natural disaster brought on by global warming.  It follows his history from activist to president, but spends most of its time focused on the first year of his presidency and his influence on the Copenhagen Climate Summit held in 2009. The film has a strong environmental message behind it, but is the film as strong as its message?

The film opens with President Nasheed explaining the situation and dire circumstances of global warming on his island nation. We segue into a brief history lesson of the Maldives and its former dictatorship-like rule under the brutal hand of Maumoon Gayoom. Gayoom ruled for 30 years unopposed, he was compared to the likes of a Mafia Don more than a government official, with a reputation that included the torture and killing of others with opposing views and corrupt backroom dealings. After a political torture that resulted in death became public, with pictures of the beaten subject and all, the time for a change was ready in the Maldivian public eye. It was this atmosphere that allowed Nasheed, despite being imprisoned by Gayoom on at least 20 different occasions, to come to power. It was with this tenacity that Nasheed took to his newest and most deadly foe, climate change.

The film offers an unprecedented candid look at a world leader and the political barriers and red tape that must be addressed when trying to establish real change. Nasheed is an engaging character, one moment standing in front of a throng of reporters confidently delivering his message on climate change and regulation, the next fretting over the idea that he is the only leader in the room that still needs to duck out for a smoke. Nasheed can come across brash and aggressive when he needs to be and shows a brilliant intelligence for playing the political game. Unfortunately he has little clout in the game of world politics which is why he must strive and push and hard as he does.

Photo Credit: Lincoln Else (www.lincolnelse.com)

Director Shenk’s access is impressive. The fact that he has managed so much behind the scenes chatter and planning is unprecedented and in some instances, like the Chinese Delegations waiting room, shines a light on the uphill battle that Nasheed really faces. It’s the tidbits like these that really shine out as the rest of the film seems content to simply follow around Nasheed as he fight’s the good fight. Outside of his little circle we do not hear from the Maldivian people as to how they feel about their new leader and the time spent dealing with Nasheed’s family is very limited.

Ultimately it’s the message behind the film and not so much the film itself that lives on after viewing, but that may have been the intent. Based on the amount of access to a world leader captured on screen I must give the film a recommend.

The Island President starts it run at the Hot Docs Bloor Cinema on Friday June 15th.

Till Next Time,

Movie Junkie TO

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Get the Gringo Review (Matt Hodgson)

Get the Gringo (2012)

Starring Mel Gibson, Peter Stormare, and Dean Norris

Directed by Adrian Grunberg

Love him or hate him the caustic and often politically incorrect Mel Gibson is back with an action movie that got me hoping for something similar to 2010’s Edge of Darkness, which I have to admit I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Sure, all I had to go on was the advertising, but as you can see in the poster above – Gibson looks like he means business. Unfortunately, Get the Gringo doesn’t even come close to the fast-paced fun that was Edge of Darkness.

The film begins with two clowns racing towards the Mexican side of the US-Mexico border, paper bills flying out the window of their car, red and blue flashing lights hot on their trail. Of course these men aren’t actually clowns, but thieves in disguise who have just stolen a huge amount of cash. One of the thieves lies mortally wounded in the back seat, while the driver (Gibson) spots a make-shift ramp which just might launch their car over the wall and into the relative safety of Mexico. Gibson’s character takes the chance, escapes the American authorities but ends up in a Mexican prison, his money divided between some corrupt cops. The rest of the film is about Gibson’s character adapting to the prison life, which is really like a dangerous, over-populated small town. Gibson’s character befriends a young boy and his mother, discovering later that he may be the only person who can help them get out of this hellhole alive.

While the story of Get the Gringo is fairly basic, it still could have been a very fun and effective action\crime film. The prison as a family community is quite a different concept from the one normally depicted (ie. daily shankings, stolen fruit-cups, and the dreaded shower scenes). The prison in Get the Gringo is certainly dangerous, but is much more of a functioning community. However, this is where the originality and fun ends. Many of the ‘bad guys’ are laughable, the action sequences uninspired, and the 95 minute run-time is one of the seemingly longest I’ve had to experience. Frequently while watching the film I wished that I would just put on Desperado and have a much more inspiring and entertaining night on the rough streets of Mexico. A particular gunfight, inexplicably shown almost entirely in slow motion could have been entertaining as an early film school project, but certainly not as part of a multi-million dollar production.

As I’ve said, Get the Gringo COULD have been an entertaining movie, although probably not a great one. However, too many poor decisions were made while making this one. A peek at the writing credits revealed Gibson to be the first author of the screenplay…this explained a lot for me.

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Lovely Molly Review (Kirk Haviland)

Lovely Molly (2011)

Starring Gretchen Lodge, Johnny Lewis and Alexandra Holden

Written by Eduardo Sanchez and Jamie Nash

Directed by Eduardo Sanchez

In 1999 Eduardo Sanchez practically invented the now booming “found-footage” style of filmmaking with his massively successful Blair Witch Project. Now he’s back with another supernatural thriller that, while using some of the found-footage style of filmmaking, uses a more linear style and documents the rapid descent into madness of its lead character.

Lovely Molly starts with a montage of the wedding of Molly (Lodge) and Tim (Lewis) and them moving into the family house. Shortly after this sequence we are witness to the first incident that happens. Through this we discover that the couple have been living there three months. Tim is a long-haul driver, gone for stretches at a time, and the house as it turns out was the scene of the demise of Molly’s father before they moved in. Molly’s sister Hannah (Holden) comes by and tries to get Molly out of the house while Tim is out on one of his hauls, but she refuses and ends up dealing with more “incidents” in the house. With these incidents starting to take an obvious physical toll on Molly we discover she is a former junkie and that these effects very clearly resemble her former state while under the influence. The plot continues to twist and turn to a grisly end as Molly continues her deep descent into madness.

Molly is a film built completely on one performance, and it’s a pretty damn good one, from Lodge. Her utter conviction to the role is admirable, completely throwing herself into the character and investing in her journey. Sadly the rest of the film could have used some of this conviction as it relies on tactics that seem very familiar. The supporting work from Holden is solid, but Lewis’ performance and those of the rest of the supporting cast feel underwhelming and don’t do much to bolster the film. That said, this is probably the best technical film of Sanchez’s cannon as it feels slick even though it was an ultra-low budget production.

Ultimately its the performance put in by Lodge that makes the film work. While far from a masterpiece, Lovely Molly is a mild recommend based on this.

Till Next Time,

Movie Junkie TO

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Prometheus Review (Kirk Haviland)

Prometheus (2012)

Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Loan Marshall-Green, Sean Harris, Rafe Spall and Charlize Theron

Written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof

Directed by Ridley Scott

Much has been made over Ridley Scott’s return to Science Fiction, and more specifically to the universe he launched with 1979’s seminal sci-fi/horror masterpiece, Alien. Just as much hype has been made by Scott himself, downplaying the whole connection to the Alien franchise, and as it turns out, rightfully so. Prometheus is very heavy on the SCI part of the equation and very light on everything else as Scott goes completely cerebral for a film clearly inspired more by 2001: A Space Odyssey than his own Alien.

Prometheus begins with a sprawling montage of beautiful vistas and landscapes that we soon discover are not earth, but a foreign planet similar to our own. A very humanoid looking, extremely pale white alien appears near a waterfall and we watch as he ingests a liquid that causes his demise. We then flash back to Earth. On the Isle of Sky in the Northern Highlands of Scotland we are introduced to doctors Elizabeth Shaw (Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Marshall-Green) who have made a discovery dating back generations in the caves of the isle. The film then jumps forward many years to the space vessel “Prometheus” and we are introduced to the only being awake (the rest of the crew is in cryostasis), the android David (Fassbender). David has spent his time alone awaiting the end of the journey, over two years, killing time with many pursuits and developing what may be an unnatural fascination with Shaw. Upon their arrival we meet the crew of the Prometheus: Vickers (Theron), the corporate representative, Janek (Elba), the ship’s Captain, Fifield (Harris), a geologist, and Millburn (Spall), another scientist, along with others.  The crew are then told by Shaw and Holloway that their benefactor Peter Weyland (Pearce, nearly unrecognizable) has sent them to this remote planet to meet the being they feel all humans were spawned from. Upon investigating a strange ruin on the planet’s surface the crew discovers the remains of some of these beings, and David discovers something else. As the group is forced back to the ship under unforeseen complications, they manage to leave Fifield and Millburn behind and they must stay the night, exploring the ruins in what may not be the best of ideas. And what exactly is David’s agenda aboard the ship?

Prometheus looks beautiful. It ranks with Hugo and Avatar as the prime examples of what a talented filmmaker can do to master a medium that other directors are merely toying around with. Rapace shines as the film’s central character, the sequence with an unexpected visitor is particularly riveting and brilliant. Fassbender’s David is the perfect mix of naivety with a sinister core that makes his character the most dangerous aboard the ship. Theron’s performance is adequate, though she’s given little to do here. That said, the scenes she does have don’t always work the best. Elba’s basically the cigar chomping police chief from every late 80’s early 90’s cop film you can think off, but it works. And you clearly tell he’s having a blast doing it. Pearce is barley in the film and under so much makeup as to make him unrecognizable, yet he still does a good job. The rest of the supporting cast is strong in their roles, leading to one of the strongest cast performances of the year.

The real question to be answered here is ‘will this fulfill the expectations of the many Alien franchise fans that will cram the multiplexes this weekend?’ And that’s a tough question. I believe Prometheus is the type of film that will play better with a second viewing. With all the baggage that everyone will inevitably bring into the film, the more cerebral approach will undoubtedly be disappointing for most. But those that can see beyond that and delve into the characters and the story that is presented will most certainly get much more out of the film. It’s the lack of previous baggage going into a second screening that I feel will make it a more successful and enveloping experience.

Ultimately, Prometheus is a stunning looking film with many ideas about the evolution of both species and the Alien species. Its visuals and performances alone alone make this a recommend, and I certainly hope I’m right about my hunch when I see it for the second time.

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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ChickFlicking – Snow White and the Huntsman a ChickFlick? (Nadia Sandhu)

True Drunk’s First Kiss (Snow White and the Huntsman? Total Chick Flick)

Yes, the title of this article kind of has a spoiler in it. But only kind of, so please let us move on.

What stands out to me about this retelling of the classic fairytale is just how little of it is re-imagined from the original Grimm source material.  The biggest deviation is probably whose first kiss wakes Snow from her apple induced coma (hint- he’s a drunk).  Basically what I am saying to all you boys out there is this: you been had bro.  Snow White and the Huntsman is a straight up chick flick – and not the most satisfying one at that.

A queen pricks her finger, spilling three drops of blood, prompting her to wish she had a daughter with skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and hair black as ebony… check, check, check, check.  The Hunstman falls for Snow?  Yep.  Handsome Prince?  Well he’s a future Duke, but he’s still there.  Mirror on the Wall?  Present and accounted for.  Dwarves?  Oh boy are there dwarves.

Charlize Theron is our Evil Queen and she is still gloriously vain, if a little hysterical.  That pesky meddling mirror still causes all this trouble with his “fairest of them all” nonsense.  Our mirror seems to think that Kirsten Stewart somehow fits the bill, and I understand that legions of teen girls agree. #KanyeShrug.

If anything, the film just fleshes out the broad strokes of the modern Disney version – what happens when Snow awakes and her kingdom needs reclaiming?

Birds love Snow White.  Animals love Snow White.  Everyone loves Snow White.  So when the little sprites led her to the magical white elk, I thought we were in for some “when plants attack” kind of military assault on the Evil Queen.  But alas, looks like the CGI budget did not allow for a Lord of the Rings style epic storming of the castle and that is the real shame here.

Our vain Queen will go to any length to preserve her youthful beauty, the source of her magical powers in a male dominated world, and she is resentful of the new young thing.  This is classic bitchy stuff.  And it is also an ill concealed metaphor for sex appeal as a woman’s weapon – something I had somehow not realized was a major theme of this fairytale, alongside the more obvious fear of the new, the next, and your own obsolescence.

Having finally made this connection, I found myself reflecting on how much things haven’t really changed since medieval times.  Sex still sells and all too many ladies in our social media driven, narcissistic world define their self-worth by youth and beauty.

So yes, file this one under “Chick Flick”. And take a moment to admire Chris Hemsworth, who continues to impress. I’ll give this one a mercy pass. Catch it on DVD/VOD, if only for the obvious Star Wars homage at the end (that was intentional, right?)

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