Drama

F.Y.I.                                       

On September 11, 1973 Salvador Allende was overthrown in a coup d’état. The country was then ruled by a military dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet. What followed was unprecedented in the history of Chile, a police state characterized by systematic suppression of all political dissidence. The number of suspected leftists killed or “disappeared” soon numbered in the thousands.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS       

Gael Garcia Bernal: advertising executive René Saavedra

Antonia Zegers: Renés ex-wife Verónica Carvajal

Alfredo Castro: Renés boss Luis “Lucho” Guzmán

REVIEW

Due to international pressure Pinochet was forced to call a plebiscite on his presidency after 15 years of dictatorship. This fact-based film covers the efforts of the “No” campaign to sway the population using ads on television during the 27 days leading up to the actual vote to extend his rule for another eight years.

However it is shot in low-definition video using jerky hand-held camera which sorely distracts from the viewing pleasure. For me it was not made clear early on that René and his boss were on opposite sides which made it rather confusing as events unfolded. The acting is quite perfunctory as the script does not call upon them to emote all that much.

CLASSIFICATION

 for language.

CAESAR MUST DIE

Drama
Original title: Cesare deve morire

In Italian with English subtitles

F.Y.I.

William Shakespeare (April 1564 – April 1616) was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon. He married Anne Hathaway when he was 18 and began a successful career in London as an actor, writer and co-owner of a company producing plays. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language.

His early plays were mainly comedies then he began writing tragedies and ultimately it was mostly romances at the end of his career. One of his best known tragedies is Julius Caesar. Based on actual events it portrays the conspiracy against the Roman dictator in 44BC and the consequences thereafter.

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Salvator Striano: Brutus

Cosimo Rega: Cassius

Giovanni Arcuri: Caesar

Antonio Frasca: Mark Antony

REVIEW

The cast are not trained professionals and did not come together as a group because of their acting ability. Instead they are all criminals serving time in an Italian maximum security prison. However they do an admirable job as the film follows their rehearsals prior to the actual stage performance of Julius Caesar.

Clearly this will appeal to those who enjoy Shakespeare’s plays; others will probably take a pass.

CLASSIFICATION

for one scene of violence.

ADMISSION

Romantic comedy

PRINCIPAL CAST MEMBERS

Tina Fey: Princeton admissions officer Portia Nathan

Michael Sheen: her live-in boyfriend English professor Mark

Wallace Shawn: Portia’s boss Clarence, Dean of Admissions

Gloria Reuben: Portia’s associate Corinne

Paul Rudd: Director of New Quest John Pressman

Nat Wolff: one of the school’s students Jeremiah Balakian

Lily Tomlin: Portia’s mom Susannah

Travaris Spears: John’s adopted son Nelson

REVIEW

Certainly not the best movie of the year, but not the worst either. There are moments of real drama and inspired comedy but at other times it is beyond plausible.

Contrived situations stand out in large measure because they do not meet our expectations. Case in point: Portia is a very experienced highly regarded key member of a prestigious university yet she embarrasses herself at a student party. Perhaps we are supposed to giggle at this out-of-character behaviour? I’m sure if the writers tried harder they could come up with something better than that.

With the all-star cast this could have been a real winner. Could have.

CLASSIFICATION

for language, some sexual material.

FOR NITPICKERS ONLY

• Portia’s pen on the left hand side of her desk moves about from one change of scene to another.
• This is one of my classic nitpicks: when Portia hangs up, John hears a dial tone. In reality the dial tone is only heard after picking up the phone before dialling. That’s why it’s called a dial tone.

P.S.

Autodidact: noun

A self-taught person

THE CROODS

 Animated comedy\adventure

PRINCIPAL VOICE MEMBERS

Emma Stone: teenager Eep Crood

Nicolas Cage: Eep’s father Grug

Catherine Keener: Eep’s mother Ugga

Clark Duke: Eep’s 9-year-old brother Thunk

Randy Thom: Eep’s younger sister Sandy

Cloris Leachman: Eep’s grandmother Gran

Ryan Reynolds: teenager Guy

Chris Sanders: Guy’s pet sloth Belt

REVIEW

This story about a prehistoric family coming to terms with changing conditions borrows heavily from other movies and so lacks in originality:

• the rebellious red-headed teenage daughter facing off against a protective parent we saw in Brave
• rather odd looking creatures encountering one calamity after another we saw in Ice Age
• the well worn messages about being your own person and living life to the fullest has been around for ages

 Relying upon slapstick rather than witty dialogue to appeal to the younger crowd it keeps their attention by employing the age old technique of non-stop peril. That soon becomes boring and the outcome is entirely predictable with the result there is a temptation to leave and get on with your life.

CLASSIFICATION

 for some scary action.

P.S.

This one gets my vote as the dumbest movie title of the year. 

THE LEGEND OF SARILA

Children's fantasy

PRINCIPAL VOICE MEMBERS

Christopher Plummer: the old shaman Croolik

Rachel Lefevre: beautiful teenager Apik

Dustin Milligan: the young shaman Markussi

Geneviève Bujold: the old widow Saya

Tyrone Bsnskin: village chief Itak

Tim Rozon: his son Poutoulik

REVIEW

Geared to the younger audience the dialogue is kept simple (‘We must go after them. Yes we must.”) and lacks the sophisticated realistic rendering of clothing and hair we have become accustomed to from Pixar and the other big studios.

The story too is unsophisticated: an evil Inuit shaman has put a curse on the village and a young shaman with his friends will attempt to save their clan from starvation. Any bets on the outcome?

CLASSIFICATION

THE GATEKEEPERS

Documentary

REVIEW

Similar to the security branches in the USA with the FBI handling domestic issues and the CIA the ones abroad, the State of Israel has two agencies: the Sherut haBitachon haKlal, better known by its English acronym Shin Bet and Mossad.

Six former heads of Shin Bet speak frankly about their time in office and the major events that they oversaw. In total there are seven segments ranging from the original inception of the agency to coping with Jewish terrorism, dealing with the Palestinian situation and the aftermath of the Oslo Peace Process.

            

In each instance archival film footage or CGI recreations gives us some idea of what transpired but they were all too brief as many of these events are not something most of us are familiar with. This shortcoming results in more questions than answers for the average viewer.

CLASSIFICATION

for disturbing images.