Film Reviews

by Christopher McKittrick 

Father Erik (David Call) is a young priest on an island off the coast of Maine who is new to the island after the previous priest left under less-than-holy circumstances.  Along with the problem of a dwindled congregation, he is confronted by a family torn apart by the disappearance of their son.  Josh went missing when he was eleven years old and his father, Richard (Richard Berkins) is adamant that his son is still alive, but his long-suffering wife Ellen (Haviland Morris) enlists Erik’s help in convincing Richard to have a funeral for Josh.  After Richard finally agrees to finally “bury” his son, Josh (Liam Aiken), now sixteen, reappears.  When asked where he has been the only response he offers his parents and the police is, “I heard I was dead. I didn’t like that.”  However, he reveals the truth to Erik before disappearing again, and Erik, bound by his vows, is unable to reveal Josh’s whereabouts.  However, Erik will not let that prevent him from returning Josh home again.

Nor’easter features some remarkable performances.  Call’s Erik plays hockey on the mainland as an escape and joined the priesthood to find answers for problems in his own life, though there are indications that he questions his decision.  Call conveys Erik’s doubt without making Nor’easter overdramatic or melodramatic, and though he has been acting for years it’s clear he is only a lucky role away from a major breakthrough.  On the same level, veteran actor Danny Burstein turns in an extraordinary performance in a role that I don’t want to spoil.  His character is a major part of the film despite his limited screen time, and it was an extraordinarily brave decision on his part to take on the role of such a manipulatively heinous character.  However, a majority of the praise is due to writer/director Andrew Brotzman, who has created a refreshing thriller that pits the sacred rules of the clergy versus the rule of law and the moral obligation to save a boy’s life.  In particular, the staging of the climax is particularly clever.

However, there were a few bits that confused me.  After being a key character in the beginning of the film, Ellen is hardly present after the funeral.  Likewise Josh’s sister, Abby (Rachel Brosnahan) is a vastly underdeveloped character.  Her relationship to Josh is ambiguous, but again she only seems to exist to move a single scene along.  Instead of complete characters, they seem to be dashed “offstage” as soon as they serve their purpose.  I was also taken aback by the editing.  Nor’easter contains some beautiful scenery of snowy Maine that are rapidly cut, and I’m not sure why the pace was so quick in some parts because this 85 minute film mostly has an otherwise effectively slow pace.  Were these cuts a technical issue?

Still, Nor’easter is a rookie winner for Brotzman.  Although some might be turned off by the subject matter, there is so much potential here that it’s definitely worth a look.

RATING: A slow-paced, slow-burning thriller that reveals a lot of fresh talent (4 : See it ……. It’s Very Good / 5).

 

Nor’easter Trailer from David Lowery on Vimeo.

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by Chris McKittrick

The Lotus Eaters of Homer’s Odyssey spent their days indulging in food that made them ignore all of their wants and needs in order to pursue ultimate leisure. The aptly-titled film Lotus Eaters, directed and co-written by Alexandra McGuinness (Paris Noir), follows the modern equivalent of that mythological race, a group of young London models, actors, and rock stars whose society lives are filled with drug and booze fueled parties, yet all seem to suffer from the first-world problem of being profoundly bored with their lifestyle.

Lotus Eaters has an ensemble cast, but it primarily focuses on Alice (Antonia Campbell-Hughes), a model-turned-actress (though not a very good actress) who is dating Charlie (musician Johnny Flynn), a drug addict.  They run in the same circle with Felix (Benn Northover), a rock musician whose career is taking off.  In turn, Felix is involved with the manipulative, slightly-older Orna (Cynthia Fortune Ryan), who intertwines her life with Alice’s with unclear motives.  The film explores how this group and their other friends hide behind their lives of sex, drugs, and rock and roll to prevent themselves from having to deal with their actual feelings.

The film explores the self-destruction caused by luxurious idleness, yet in many ways Lotus Eaters as a whole has just as little substance as its characters.  On one hand, the actors pull off their characters really well, they look great in their stylish clothes, and the gorgeous black and white cinematography lends a timeless quality to the film, which could easily have been set in London in the 60s or 70s (though after a while it seems like you’re watching a 78 minute long Calvin Klein commercial with all these good-looking people).  However, it’s really only mildly amusing watching these superficial characters interact in their drunken and drugged stupors. In that sense, it’s a less clever version of the “young people with access with too much money” theme Whit Stillman did in Metropolitan back in 1990.

That doesn’t mean audiences aren’t due another film touching on that theme, but Lotus Eaters is simply less interesting than it could be considering how strong these characters are.  The “fly on the wall” storytelling style of Lotus Eaters doesn’t seem to be the best way to explore these personalities, and I believe that McGuinness and co-writer Brendan Grant could have said so much more with these characters.  As a result, the 78 minutes tend to drag because there isn’t much story to push the audience along, and that’s a bad sign for such a short film.

RATING: Though Lotus Eaters makes beautiful people doing nothing interesting, there is probably a lot more that could have been done with these characters (4/10).

Lotus Eaters opens in New York on April 5th and Los Angeles on April 12th. It will also be available on VOD on April 12th.

http://youtu.be/rACt1o5Uzmk

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by Lauren McBride

As an African-American woman, I have seen my fair share of films about the Civil Rights Movement. The America of the 1960s, torn apart by racism, sexism and a violent war, is well documented in film. The names, faces and perspectives that populate these films are rarely unique, but always poignant. It’s a history that America, white and black, constantly re-lives — perhaps in an effort to come to terms with its horrors or to prematurely congratulate ourselves on how far we’ve come. Either way, it’s rare to see a film that frames the Civil Rights Movement in a global perspective — that reminds its viewers that the message of the movement’s leaders reached far beyond the molehills of Mississippi and the slopes of California. For some, it reached all the way to shores of Melbourne, Australia.

The Sapphires tells the true story of three Aboriginal sisters and their fairer-skinned cousin who venture to Vietnam in 1968 to perform soul music for African-American troops. The film was powerful and dramatic at times, and hilarious and exciting at others. It brilliantly bears the weight of its place in history. Watching The Sapphires and seeing a similar struggle happen thousands of miles away at the very same moment makes it difficult to divorce the two histories: the struggle of African-Americans in the US, and that of Aborigines in Australia. As the film plays out it’s clear that the blending of histories and depiction of a shared experience is precisely what Wayne Blair intends. In some ways, it’s where the film succeeds the most.

It also shines is in the development of its characters and the performance of its stars. Gail (Deborah Mailman), Cynthia (Miranda Tapsell), Julie (Jessica Mauboy) and Kay (Shari Sebbens) master the sisterly dynamic — with its complex mix of love, jealousy, and a deep sense of responsibility. Chris O’Dowd’s Dave is completely flawless. O’Dowd, known to American audiences from his turns in Bridesmaids and a 5-episode arc in HBO’s Girls, is both hilariously tragic and totally transfixing.

While The Sapphires does have its occasional trite moments, it remains a must-see. Audiences will walk away with the songs of Marvin Gaye and James Brown swimming in their heads, and the words of Dr. Martin Luther King echoing in their hearts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywAGVfuFzxA

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by Lauren McBride

Bob Byington’s Somebody Up There Likes Me covers about 20 years in the life of Max Youngman (Keith Poulson). Through marriages, divorces, the loss of parents and birth of children, Max doesn’t seem to mature — physically or mentally. He is eternally in his late-twenties, gawky, awkward and much like the film itself, meandering without a destination.

We meet Max peering into a mysterious blue suitcase and driving toward the end of his first marriage. Wives and mistresses come and go; even his best friend Sal (Nick Offerman) matures and greys. But Max and his suitcase go on. The suitcase, which contains far more than the music and floating animations the audience sees each time it is opened, is the only constant thing in Max’s life. Its origins are unknown, as is its meaning to Max. He keeps it stuffed in trunks and closets, but it is undoubtedly magical — perhaps the secret to his eternal youth.

Max’s suitcase and its mysterious contents bring an air of whimsy to the film. The film’s bright colors and intermittent animations sharply contrast its characters’ darkness. Their selfishness and meanness seems absurd in the pretty world that Byington creates. That the story unfolds in a nameless American town makes it even more fantastical. Less film than fable.

The film has winning moments, often thanks to Offerman’s comedic timing and Jess Weixler’s masterful ability to be adorably awkward. As a whole, however, it lacks meaning and direction. And for such a brief film (with a runtime of only 76 minutes), it feels tedious and unending. Of course this could be intentional; Byington’s attempt to mirror that experience we all have in common: life.

http://youtu.be/BCsMykvQG3A

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by Chris McKittrick

In the year 2019, the American economy has collapsed to the point that the most powerful government entity is the Federal Reserve, which maintains control of the rapidly inflating currency.  This leads to crippling levels of inflation ($150+ for a gallon of gas, $50+ for a loaf of bread, and worst of all, $90 beer “specials” at bars!)  An underground form of currency made of pure silver, called silver circles, are instead being used illegally by the public.  One of the Reserve’s newest divisions is the Department of Housing Stability, which is responsible for maintaining the prices of homes – including forcing rightful homeowners out of them, if necessary.  An agent with “HouseStab,” Jay Nelson (De’Leon Grant) is investigating a recent firebombing of homes, and finds himself reluctantly caught in a battle against the Federal Reserve alongside Zoe Taylor (Philana Mia), an alluring female resistance fighter.

Unfortunately, the political message this computer-animated film is trying to make is undermined by its poor production quality.  There are many issues regarding the Federal Reserve’s role in the economic issues in the United States, so if Silver Circle leads to even just one person reading up on those issues and drawing his or her own conclusions it would be a plus for the movement.

But the animation is so poor that I doubt only people supporting its message will embrace it. Though the movie was shot green-screen, the computer animation looks like it is from a mid-1990s point-and-click CD-ROM game and not nearly fluid enough to look professional-quality.  In fact, the animation looks particularly awful when the characters walk, and they appear like creeping bowlegged scarecrows.  The only thing animated worse are the love scenes between Jay and Zoe.  Knowing what I know about film production, I find it difficult to believe that this film could not have been made cheaper and look much more professional in live action with a digital camera (the film’s website reports the production budget was $1.6 million, and I’ve seen plenty of better-looking, low-budget action movies).  Silver Circle debuted as a graphic novel, and frankly considering the production quality of the film it should have stayed that way because while director Pahsa Roberts, writer Steven Schwartz, and the rest of the Silver Circle team have created an intriguing concept for a meaningful political thriller, the cringe-inducing visuals of the finished product makes it difficult to take the movie seriously.

An appearance by Jon Schaffer (guitarist of heavy metal group Iced Earth and long-time critic of the Federal Reserve) sums up many of the problems people have with our current currency system, but that isn’t enough to cover the entire issue.  I would recommend that if you are interested in learning more about the Federal Reserve, research the issue – but skip on watching Silver Circle as a source of information or entertainment.

RATING: The media unfortunately fails the message here (1.5/10).

Silver Circle will debut at Cinema Village in New York City on March 22.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkQQ4MLasgs

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