They Have Escaped (2014)

Directed by: JP Valkeapaa
Country: Finland / others

Movie Review: J.P. Valkeapaa demonstrates why he is a filmmaker to keep in mind, after presents us with “They Have Escaped”, the second feature of his career. In a small Finnish town, two misfits meet at a halfway house for troubled teenagers, initiating a caustic adventure that will change their lives forever. Reserved and quiet, Joni (Teppo Manner), of 19 years old, arrives to the facility with the mission of confiscating illegal substances, after having fled the military service due to stuttering. He was given no choice, since it’s that work or jail. Despite the warnings that strictly forbade him to make friends or hang out with the teenage dwellers, he becomes attracted to the 17 year-old, Raisa (Roosa Soderholm), a rebellious bleached-hair punk with red lips and heavy dark eyeshadow, helping her to get away with stolen cigarettes. Together, they will take the road of adventure towards Raisa’s home, plus a brief visit to her grandma. Guided by vague dreams and hopes of a more exciting future, this escapade won't be devoid of perturbation and mishaps along the way. Forced to steal and ask for a ride, they end up being caught in a final macabre experience that marks a radical change in the direction taken initially. The moments of enjoyment are as many as the afflictive ones, but “They Have Escaped” transforms itself into a really dark, claustrophobic experience that can be disconcerting in its last minutes due to its baffling final scene. It’s a shame that Valkeapaa only has created hypnotic dreamlike ambiances for brief moments, but the film benefits with strong performances, an impactful sound design, and the contrasting humor/terror of the tale. It works both as a social criticism and a cutting experiment on horror, set up in unrelenting tones.

The Water Diviner (2014)

Directed by: Russell Crowe
Country: Australia / Turkey / USA

Movie Review: With a screenplay by Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios, the shabby “The Water Diviner” is a product of Russell Crowe whose direction and performance didn’t shine. Inspired by true events, his fictional feature-length debut often struggles to find the path for the heart, in spite of the noble tolerance and perseverance evinced by its main character. Joshua Connor (Crowe) got so happy when he found water in his dried Australian land, that he runs home in an effusive state to tell his wife, Eliza. It was noticeable right away that something was wrong with them because, instead of sharing his happiness, she starts yelling at him. Soon we realize that, four years before, the couple had lost their three sons in the battle of Gallipoli, Turkey. In consequence of the pain, Eliza takes her own life and Joshua travels to Turkey in order to locate the bodies of their boys and take them home, next to their mother’s grave. In Istanbul, he is conducted to a cozy hotel by a smart little boy, but is seen with suspicion by the kid’s mother, Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko), who also had lost her husband in the mentioned battle. Joshua is taken to Gallipoli with expected difficulties, ironically conducted by Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan), an influential Turkish official who risks his own life to help. The possibility of one of his sons might still be alive was prognosticated early in the film, while flashbacks were recurrent to better clarify the past happenings, but not even the war was depicted in a convincing or exciting way to involve us. Playing with cultural differences and hazy romance, Crowe tries to push away any glimmer of sentimentality but ends up creating a soft exercise that becomes too dried on all fronts. It would be great if water could be found in this desert…

Black Sea (2014)

Directed by: Kevin Macdonald
Country: UK / Russia / USA

Movie Review: Scottish film director, Kevin Macdonald, knows how to handle a thriller, gathering all the possible familiar aspects inherent to a submarine thriller. “Black Sea” was still capable to catch my attention by adding factors like greediness, frustration, xenophobia and perseverance to a risky underwater mission outlined with routine moments of tension and claustrophobia. Jude Law plays Robertson, an offended submarine captain who got fired from the salvage company he had been working so hard for eleven years. Disappointed and physically detached from his wife and 12 year-old son who were both doing fine without him, Robertson seemed condemned to drink in pubs with depressed friends in the same conditions as he was. However, when a financed operation to find a WWII German U-boat lying in the bottom of the sea, supposedly full of gold, is put in his hands, he didn’t hesitate to fully accept it. For that, he will have to gather a crew of twelve men, half British half Russian, since the old submarine to use is from Russian origin. A senseless American called Daniels, connected to the investor, is also joining them in the risky treasure hunt whose accidents, threats, crazy maneuvers and dives into the unknown, are just some occurrences to expect. A substantial part of the tension comes from the men who were divided by country. Apart from Robertson, there’s a particularly interesting character that stands out for his sly behavior and defiant posture; Frazer is his name, a mad diver, superbly performed by Ben Mendelsohn. The adventure grows pretty exciting in the last thirty minutes and the finale, if not totally unexpected, did have a good impact on me.

The Salvation (2014)

Directed by: Kristian Levring
Country: Denmark / UK / others

Movie Review: “The Salvation”, a Danish western directed by Kristian Levring and co-written with the credited Anders Thomas Jensen (mostly known for Susanne Bier’s dramas), swings between the positive and the negative, escaping from a more severe sentence due to the solid performances from Mads Mikkelsen and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, some interesting details on direction, and a great visual design by cinematographer Jens Schlosser. The time is 1817. Jon (Mikkelsen) is a pacific Danish citizen and former soldier who settled himself in America seven years before, in the company of his brother, leaving his wife and son behind with the promise that one day they would join him. That day finally arrived, but instead of celebrate, Jon will mourn his family, killed by two abusive strangers who shared the same carriage that would take them home. Driven by indignation and grief, Jon makes justice with his own hands, never imagining he could still be in trouble. One of the men was the brother of Delarue (Morgan), the town’s savage ruler who swore revenge, ordering the frightened sheriff to bring him the responsible man alive. Jon wouldn’t be able to get away if he hadn’t the help of a 16-year-old boy and Delarue’s mute sister-in-law who was saved from the Indians and now refuses to submit herself to his whims. Clear skies and extensive prairies don’t hide the gloominess of a story whose predictability and far-fetched scenes (a silly escape from prison and a cigar who sets one of the villains on fire) are weighing factors. The finale didn’t satisfy either, proving the steep decline of a Scandinavian western that even started at full steam. It probably might work fine for the admirers of western category, but for me it got stranded in the difficult lands of screenwriting.

Jauja (2014)

Directed by: Lisandro Alonso
Country: Argentina / others

Movie Review: Different from anything else, “Jauja” is a picturesque, philosophical neo-western film from Argentinean Lisandro Alonso who counted with Viggo Mortensen in the main role and co-production. In a Patagonian desert, the Danish traveller, captain Gunnar Dinesen (Mortensen), tries to keep his beautiful young daughter Ingeborg (Viilbjork Malling Agger) away from the eyes of the obscene Lieutenant Pittaluga. However, his efforts are in vain since she runs away with the seductive soldier Coto, and later is taken by the mysterious Colonel Zuluago who everybody believed disappeared in uncertain territory. Dinesen resolves to hop on his horse to follow his beloved daughter’s trail in a journey where he finds death, experiences mystical situations, and discovers tortuous ways toward the soul. Once the narrative is a pipe dream, “Jauja” mostly relies in its bucolic visual aesthetics to impress. It’s simultaneously eccentric, excessively contemplative and vague in its insinuations (some ‘coconut heads’ are mentioned but we never put our eyes on them), requiring a lot of patience from the viewers. The deliberate slow pace and an infinity of humdrum distant long shots don’t make things easier, and not even ghostly dogs can awake us from this nightmarish trip to nowhere. Jodorowsky would have made it beautifully bizarre, while Tavernier (some resemblance in terms of mood) certainly would have made it narratively focused. Hereupon, “Jauja” is a very difficult film, that didn’t show any special motive to be distinguishable, beyond the beautiful cinematography from the Finnish Timo Salminen, habitual collaborator of filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki.

71 (2014)

Directed by: Yann Demange
Country: UK

Movie Review: With experience in TV series since 2007, the French-born director raised in the UK, Yann Demange, gives us sufficient motives to expect great deeds in the future, since his first feature, “’71”, is a breathtaking political action thriller, skillfully shot, competently structured, and filled with creepy tense moments. The story, set in Dublin, 1971, follows the 20-year-old private soldier, Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell), member of a Derbyshire security squad assigned to patrol the rioting streets that host two enemy political factions during the time of ethno-nationalist conflicts known as ‘The Troubles’. During a turmoil involving the crowd, Hook is forced to run after a young boy who stole a gun from one of his squad mates. Separated from his unit, he gets caught by merciless separatists, managing to escape death in a miraculous way. Severely wound and marked to die by the radicals, he has no other choice than follow his intuitions and trust a few local strangers, to survive in the perilous narrow streets of the city. Demange reveals a tremendous ability to deal with a plot that leaves no ambiguities, creating a nightmarish adventure, which was carried out with confidence, stirring motion and objectivity. Its appalling images strike us with brutal actions and realistic scenarios, brought into existence by efficacious handheld camera movements that increase the chaotic atmosphere lived, as well as the fear and pain endured by the brave soldier impersonated by Jack O’Connell. This is the same O’Connell who, earlier this year, left me well impressed in “Starred Up”. This is a fantastic debut from Yann Demange who was granted with a prestigious special mention from the ecumenical jury at Berlin.

III (2015)

Directed by: Pavel Khvaleev
Country: Russia / Germany

Movie Review: Pavel Khvaleev's sophomore feature film, “III”, can be as much contemplative and idyllic as sinister and eerie. Ayia (Polina Davydova) and Mirra (Lyubov Ignatushko) get completely devastated when their mother falls sick and dies from a mysterious disease that is making more and more victims over the city. While the older sister, Ayia, finds strength in her religious faith to deal with the grief, Mirra shows to be a non-believer, rejecting God, as she feels responsible for her mother’s death. She eventually catches the fatal disease, falling in a sort of delirious state where dark dreams mirror a hidden past of traumas and suffering. Soon an order to abandon the house arrives to the desperate Ayia, who can only count with the help of the town’s priest and family friend, Father Herman (Evgeniy Gagarin). The latter revealed to be wobbly in his faith but swore to take care of the sisters. Resorting to mystical practices and an esoteric book written by a shaman, the priest will try to connect the sisters’ minds, since according to him, the only way to save Mirra is to find and kill the deepest fear that resides in her subconscious. A burdensome journey to her sister’s worst nightmares doesn’t shake Ayia’s determination. Will this be sufficient to save Mirra? The powerful score, together with the intense images extracted from Igor Kiselev’s beautiful cinematography are the most positive aspects in “III”, a horror tale that couldn’t avoid gaps in the plot and a confusing narrative. It creates some good moments, though. The abrupt conclusions might divide the fans of the genre, but even flawed, a few thrills and surprises are guaranteed.

Dawn (2014)

Directed by: Anders Elsrud Hultgreen
Country: Norway / Iceland

Movie Review: In “Dawn” (aka "Morgenrode"), Norwegian director Anders Elsrud Hultgreen creates a deserted post apocalyptic world, depicted in black and white, where two wandering survivors wrapped in tatters, Rahab and Set, are trying to beat the fatigue and thirst. Their encounter wasn’t casual, since the former, after asking for the Creator’s guidance, is followed by the latter, a tricky man who pointed the direction of the coveted water and didn’t show any scruples when stole Rahab's precious belongings. In sparse words, Rahab had explained his cruel dream from ten winters ago, where something impossible to describe appeared to him. These enigmatic presences that we cannot see but implicitly hover in the foggy mountains, are an important key in a world where the incomprehensible reigns. During the first half I was bored by the repetitive cadency, completely unable to get into the story. The film works much better in the second half, where its scenes are not constantly interrupted by black screens, and deliver the exact radiance to become minimally appealing. At this point, the minimalism of its final images can be hypnotic in several occasions, proving that mono-tones are not synonym of monotony. A few audacious oblique camera moves enhances the sense of experimentalism in the approach used by Hultgreen, a filmmaker who showed potentiality in visuals but could have done much more in terms of narrative. Instead of striking, “Dawn” lacks clarity in every sense, (un)consciously blurring our perception with a too-long reiterative prelude.

Stations of the Cross (2014)

Directed by: Dietrich Bruggemann
Country: Germany

Movie Review: The fourth feature film by Dietrich Bruggemann, “Stations of the Cross”, was co-written with his sister Anne, making an interesting parallelism between a modern world tale, set in a Southern German town, and the 14 stations of the cross endured by Jesus towards Calvary. Maria is a14 year-old somber girl who lives obsessed with God and religion. Coming from a very conservative family, Maria feels helpless most of the time, struggling against the fear of sin and brainwashed by her merciless unloving mother and the town’s priest, Father Weber. While preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation, Maria is getting more and more obsessed with the idea of sacrificing her life for God to save her 4 year-old little brother who suffers from a mysterious disease. After start talking with Christian, a schoolmate who has a crush on her, Maria seems to vacillate in her intentions, giving signs of wanting to relate with outside people. As her mother denies her any type of affection and castrates her even more, Maria tries to extend her arms to Bernadette, a French friend of the family, who gave her the protection, trust and understanding that she couldn’t find in her real mother. However, and after getting seriously ill, not even a very concerned doctor seems capable to deviate the tormented young girl from her ordeal. We can glimpse a hint of the psychological strength of Haneke and Ulrich Seidl’s cinema, but never too intense to shock directly with its meticulous scenes and dialogues. Saint or not, the truth is that Lea van Acken’s performance was convincing, and the long shots of “Stations of the Cross” invites us to a sort of bitter commiseration.

Wild Tales (2014)

Directed by: Damian Szifron
Country: Argentina / Spain

Movie Review: As the title implies, the Argentine “Wild Tales” is a collection of six wild short stories that work fine in its own terms, and smartly end up composing a bigger picture that bestows so much to ponder and appreciate. Away from feature-length film for nine years, Damian Szifron proves once again his skills as writer and filmmaker, creating a social-political satire that feels simultaneously outraging and hilarious. The shortest of the stories takes place onboard of a plane, and its presented even before the opening credits, giving the exact notion of what we should expect next: impetuous stories of vengeance in face of injustice, social discrimination, greed, corruption, and betrayal. In truth, crazy coincidences and insane behaviors continues in the next takes: a waitress serves the presumptuous man responsible for the death of her father; a man driving an Audi insults a driver of a modest car in a deserted dusty road; an engineer becomes jobless and struggles with divorce after a sequence of incidents with origin in his towed car; a wealthy father tries to use an innocent employee and negotiate with his greedy lawyer, in order to avoid the arrest of his irresponsible son; finally, a bride finds out during her wedding party that she was cheated by the groom, getting totally out of control and perpetrating a terrible vengeance. Everything is wildly depicted and in a pace that never slows down, but the really good thing in “Wild Tales” is that every tale is plausible and consequently every situation feels real, so no room for fantasies here, in spite of the saturated sarcasm. Pedro Almodóvar and his brother Agustin co-produced, while Ricardo Darin, Erica Rivas and Leonardo Sbaraglia stood out from the cast.

All the Wilderness (2014)

Directed by: Michael Johnson
Country: USA

Movie Review: Michael Johnson shows assured skills as a filmmaker in his first feature-length film, “All the Wilderness”, a drama that promises more than actually delivers, but overcomes its main obstacles with an innocent sensibility and good performances from the young cast. In terms of plot, Johnson has to ponder if this is the kind of stories he wants to present in the future, especially considering that we’ve seen this so many times, knowing almost exactly every next step. It’s actually gorgeously shot and transpires accurately some feelings and emotional states, but the too obvious course of happenings, together with a hasty resolution, slightly dragged the film down. The plot is centered on the restless and maladjusted James Charm (Kodi Smit-McPhee), a solitary teenager who ruminates about his deceased father and what he told him regarding the wilderness: a place of wonder and fear, life and death, where each man has to cross it alone. Spending most of his time drawing dead animals or reading dark poetry, James has no friends and considers himself a cursed person. He drives his mother crazy with his weirdness, especially when he anticipates the date for his hamster to die, or even worse, telling another kid the date of his death. Vague hope relies on Dr. Pembry, a laidback psychiatrist played by Danny DeVito, but effective recovery comes from experiencing real life when he starts hanging out with Harmon, a wanderer piano player, and Val, a street cart vendor, with whom he falls in love. Not everything will be easy and disappointments are a reality, however they will make James descend to earth from his outer world. The film ends as it started, with James revisiting the wilderness, but this time with hope illuminating his mind and soul.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Directed by: Matthew Vaughan
Country: UK

Movie Review: “Kingsman: the Secret Service” is an action-packed espionage thriller directed by Matthew Vaughan (“Kick-Ass”, “X-Men: First Class”) and starring Colin Firth, Taron Egerton and Samuel L. Jackson. The film, bestowing a lot more action than really espionage, also presents more chaff than wheat, never reaching high levels of satisfaction but showing enough competence in order to be considered entertaining. Vaughan and Jane Goldman joined efforts to write a script, based on the comic book “The Secret Service” by Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar, which relies on familiar structural methods and formulaic details instead of adding something extra to win our recognition. This doesn’t mean that “Kingsman” isn’t capable of offering a few interesting characters, putting face to face the elegance/snobbism of the members of a British intelligence agency, and a freaking tech-tycoon who endangers the world with his self-centeredness. All starts when Harry Hart (Firth), decides to give an opportunity to Gary ‘Eggsy’ Unwin (Egerton), the son of a former agent who had been killed in duty by the lethal legs of Gazelle, shield of a mad Internet entrepreneur, Richmond Valentine (Jackson). The latter carries out an evil plan to annihilate great part of the population, watching them kill one another through a device that causes uncontrolled rage - 'as in the movies we both love’, he says to Harry. “Kingsman: the Secrete Service” is acceptable, even with a few holes in the plot and repetitive action scenes occasionally detailed in slow-motion. This is the kind of film in which the fans of raucous action will thank, while the ones looking for something else might leave the theater disappointed.

Waves (2015)

Directed by: Don Gerardo Frasco
Country: Philippines

Movie Review: “Waves”, Don Gerardo Frasco’s directorial debut, is a Filipino English-language romance that lives from intimate conversations, fluctuating moods, complications and uncertainties in a revived relationship between two former lovers, Ross (Baron Geisler) and Sofia (Ilona Struzik), who first met in New York years before, and now decide to give another chance on love by spending a few days in a paradisiacal Filipino island resort. He is a lonesome local resident who became jobless and drinks heavily to drown his sorrows. She is an American model who is about to catch a plane to New York, where she lives and works. The couple seems to enjoy the company of each other but is confronted with old feelings, occasional jealousy and the fact that Sofia has a promising career and a boyfriend waiting for her in New York. We can sense a sort of discomfort when the question if they should or should not sleep in the same bed arises. The mystery and vagueness associated to their past worked well, and the script by Scott Curtis Graham is not so bad, even considering that the film drags here and there. Its main problem has to do with the editing, which revealed some amateurism, especially in the moments where the images present annoying hops and sudden light changes. In terms of performances, experienced Geisler was better than Polish/American model, Struzik, who makes the third cinematic appearance since her 2008 debut. Cebuano filmmaker and cinematographer, Don Frasco, presented some awesome shots, culminating with a swim with sharks, in an emotional waving drama that despite the efforts was unable to always genuinely aim straight to the heart.

Fifty Shades of Grey (2014)

Directed by: Sam Taylor-Johnson
Country: USA / Canada

Movie Review: “Fifty Shades of Grey”, the long-awaited cinematic adaptation of E.L. James’ novel of the same name, is surely one of the worst movies of the year, making my patience and boredom drop very below acceptable levels. The film, directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (“Nowhere Boy”) according to Kelly Marcel’s script, doesn’t bring anything worthy apart from some inspired lines that from time to time trigger some giggles as a deplorable way of dissimulating our deep disappointment. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan’s performances didn’t convince at all, unable to draw the desired intensity from their languorous erotic scenes. The story starts with a fatal attraction between Anastasia Steele (Dakota), a quasi-graduate of English literature, who accepts to interview the young businessman tycoon, Christian Grey (Dornan), substituting her sick friend. The foolish encounter ends up in a sadomasochistic relationship with the right to a signed contract, sealing the commitment between dominator and dominated. Grey slowly drags his new prey into his little games composed of wild sexual fantasies, which were never capable to jump out of monotony. There’s an excessive sweetness composing the lackluster scenes, throwing the romance to ruinous conventional territories. This is revelatory that Taylor-Johnson’s approach didn’t have the boldness necessary to handle the story in a more enticing way. Other crucial aspects that contributed to disaster were the inert pace, lame score, and a total inability to provoke us, whether with its emotional simulations, whether with its lascivious pretentiousness. Let’s hope they give up from the annunciated sequel, because “Fifty Shads of Grey” is unnecessary and scandalously ineffectual.

Redirected (2014)

Directed by: Emilis Velyvis
Country: Lithuania / UK

Movie Review: “Redirected” is a gangster action comedy film made in Lithuania and UK, being the sophomore feature from Emilis Velyvis who, together with Jonas Banys, also wrote this rambunctious tale. Vinnie Jones stars as Golden Pole, the feared leader of a Londoner gang, whose esteemed ring and money becomes the aim of three greedy friends: Johnny, Tim and Ben, who just added the ‘unavailable’ Michael to their dangerous stratagem at the last minute. After seizing the ‘stuff’, the plan was to flee to Malaysia but the eruption of an Icelandic volcano thwarted their intentions, and the boys are deviated to Lithuania. Apart from the angered Michael, who was literally kidnapped to get into the plane, leaving his girlfriend in England, the other thieves just enjoy their time, partying in a local nightclub. This draws the attention of local thugs and corrupted cops, who simultaneously with the robbed gang arrived from London, will try to grab the dough and butcher its holders. The overcooked plot revealed too much impracticable coincidences and the sequence ‘caught-beaten up-captivity-escape’ was used so many times that before the first 30 minutes we’re already fed up and asking for something new. Speaking of new, “Redirected” was probably the most unoriginal film I saw last year, being a cheap imitation of the mood created by Guy Ritchie in his successful gangster films (“Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels”, “Snatch” – Vinnie Jones are on both) with the aggravating factor of adding some allegedly humorous scenes that make us more disgusted than pleased. With an anarchy that feels phony, Velyvis selected a lousy way to pass a horrible image of his country.

When Animals Dream (2014)

Directed by: Jonas Alexander Arnby
Country: Denmark

Country: “When Animals Dream” marks the directorial debut for Danish filmmaker, Jonas Alexander Arnby, who counted with a convincing performance by Sonia Suhl and an admirable cinematography by Niels Thastum, to present a modern werewolf tale set in a small fishing village of Denmark. The script, written by Rasmus Birch, focuses on 19 year-old Marie (Suhl) who starts to be concerned about a rash that appeared in her chest. During a medical check-up done by the family doctor, he seemed to know exactly what this is about, since Marie’s mother had evinced similar symptoms before she became mute and completely debilitated for mysterious reasons. Everyone in town looks at Marie with a certain fear and suspicion, exactly as they were doing with her mother whose past is shrouded in blood. However, in her new job at the fish processing plant, Marie seems to get along with Daniel and Felix, but starts having some issues with Esben, a jerk who enjoys pulling tasteless pranks. Frustrated with the increase of strange symptoms (alterations on nails and gums, hair growth over the body, and a radical change of behavior), sad with the illness of her mother, and not very happy at her job, Marie was completely aware of her condition. The question was to know when and how it would happen, and who would be hurt. The idea behind “When Animals Dream” was auspicious, and Arnby was even capable of bestowing a chilled mood, similar to what we saw in “Let the Right One In”. However, the story’s conclusion felt hasty and short, interrupting what it had been built so tastefully. A more psychological approach was chosen instead of the usual graphical, and Arnby proves us he can cook a story. He just needs to throw in some surprise factors, especially for the endings.

Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead (2014)

Directed by: Kiah Roache-Turner
Country: Australia

Movie Review: Wyrmwood’s opening scene gives us the right notion of what the film will be: rural Australian landscapes transformed in ferocious battlefields between zombies, seen as the invaders, and humans, mostly represented by military forces and survivor groups that armed to the teeth, do their best to remain bite-free. The story starts to be built in three fronts: Benny (Leon Burchill) is an aboriginal who didn’t have the guts to shoot his brother in the head when he became a zombie, letting him loose to infect other people; Barry (Jay Gallagher) is a common man who was forced to kill his wife and daughter and for a while tried to kill himself with no success; Brooke (Bianca Bradley) is Barry’s adroit sister, who was captured by two soldiers, falling afterwards in the hands of ‘the Doc’ (Berynn Schwerdt), a frantic researcher and disco music lover. After a freak first encounter, Barry and Benny end up teaming up and joining other anti-zombie fighters. Brooke, in turn, realizes she developed a strange telepathic power that allows her to control the zombies, without avoid gradually becoming one of them. Debutant writer/director Kiah Roache-Turner, who also produced and edited, was able to innovate a little by introducing a couple new elements to the washed-out genre; to give an example: here, the zombies’ blood and breath was proved to be inflammable, so useful in many situation throughout this gory adventure. At times, the energetically foolish “Wyrmwood” can be nauseating in its mayhem, however it’s also technically competent and confers sufficient action to minimally satisfy in this particular film category.

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)

Directed by: David Zellner
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Kumiko the Treasure Hunter” presents as much absurdity as moments of fun, becoming the most interesting film of David Zellner, who co-wrote with his brother Nathan. The story follows a depressed Tokyo woman, Kumiko (Rinko Kikuchi), who after discovering an old videotape of Coen Brothers’ “Fargo” in her frequent treasure hunts, gets obsessed with a particular scene of the film where Steve Buscemi buries a suitcase full of money in a precise spot of the North Dakota’s frozen city of Fargo. Impelled by the film’s ‘based on a true story’ and an eager necessity of adventure, nothing can stop Kumiko from pursuing the forgotten suitcase of Fargo, a treasure she’s convinced to be real. Discontent with her solitary life, as well as unmotivated as office clerk, she just regrets to get rid of her only companion Bunzo, a fluffy brown bunny, before depart to the US without notice, leaving her complaining mother in a verge of a nervous breakdown. Along the route to her destination she will meet a couple of strange men who welcome her at the Minnesota airport; an old woman who offered house, food and a much estimated book of James Clavell’s novel ‘Shogun’; and a courteous policeman who offers his help but ultimately lets her down. In the last stage, the resolute Kumiko is by herself, wrapped in a stole blanket she showed no fear of facing the bitter cold and accomplish her mission. The surprising finale guarantees us that “Kumiko The Treasure Hunter” is fictional, and therefore everything can happen. An exceptional direction, genuine performance by Kikuchi, and the beautiful photography by Sean Porter (“It Felt Like Love”), helped to shove us into this delicately humorous adventure.

The Rewrite (2014)

Directed by: Marc Lawrence
Country: USA

Movie Review: “The Rewrite” may be the most interesting work of writer/filmmaker Marc Lawrence, author of light romantic comedies such as “Two Weeks Notice”, “Music and Lyrics”, and “Did You Know About the Morgans?”, but its product still remains very far from satisfying. Hugh Grant continues to be Lawrence’s first choice for the male leading role, and despite his efforts and commitment, the film ends up being a flop both as comedy and romance. Keith Michaels (Grant) is a divorced screenwriter who became famous in 1998 with “Paradise Misplaced”, winning an Academy award. Currently he’s facing a creative crisis that leads him to teach at Bingamthon University, upstate New York. Keith is a great talker but reveals a huge lack of vocation concerning his new job. Insecure and unavailable at first, he will find his own strategies to conquer everyone’s heart, even the extremely severe Professor Mary Welden  (Allison Janney), an unpopular Jane Austen scholar. Among new friendships, talent discoveries, and some headaches for dismissing the class and having an illicit relationship with Karen (Bella Heathcote), a problematic student, Keith will find a helping hand on Holly Carpenter (Marisa Tomei), an enthusiastic sophomore and single mother, with whom he falls in love. Too standardized in presentation and derivative as concept, the gentle yet indifferent “The Rewrite” will hardly impress the fans of the genre, since the romance was too predictable and dispassionate, while the humor was mostly unproductive – exception made when Welden surprises Keith having an inflamed conversation with Karen during his ‘office time’. Did “The Rewrite” need to be rewritten? Definitely yes!

Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014)

Directed by: Spike Lee
Country: USA

Movie Review: “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus”, the new Spike Lee joint, is an unorthodox, lavish vampire romance that ultimately is not so striking as intended. The film was funded with the help of a kickstarter campaign, and is an unmodified remake of 1973’ “Ganja & Hess”, written and directed by Bill Gunn. Despite the lack of novelty, the witty dialogues and voluptuous scenes made me keep watching it with some interest. There’s a trashy approach mixed with religious connotations and a bourgeois posture, which are not completely repellent, only the narrative stays a bit behind, with some encounters seeming sometimes too fictitious to be believable. Stephen Tyrone Williams plays Dr. Hess Green, a cultivated collector, expert on African art, who is doing research about an ancient tribe of blood drinkers. After being violently stabbed with one of the tribe’s mysterious weapon, by his suicidal assistant, Mr. Hightower, Hess becomes a merciless vampire. He shows no compassion or remorse when craving for blood, whether if the victim is a prostitute or an innocent mother. Something changes when he meets Hightower’s British ex-wife, Ganja (Zaraah Abrahams), and insane as it sounds, the solitary vampire marries her and turns her into his feminine equal. The intensity of carnal pleasures and blood feast will increase when they lure Hess’s old female friend to their den. The score includes assorted genres, from combative rap music to Brazilian captivating rhythms such as of Milton Nascimento and Jorge Benjor. Spike Lee, whose good ideas are becoming very scarce lately, manages to get away with “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus”, especially considering his budget limitations.