Fantasia Festival review day 3
Lupin the Third - (2014/Japan/Action) Based off the manga and old animated series, this live action movies follows master thief Lupin and his friends as they try to recover a priceless item stolen from their headquarters. I'm not familiar with the series, but judging by the squeals and howls from the audience, the director did an amazing job of transferring the cartoon to live action. The movie is very stylish, with an awesome jazz/funk soundtrack that perfectly captures the mood. The one inexplicable part of the movie is how the actors switch from Chinese or Japanese to English at the drop of a hat. The action and effects are top notch, and there's a healthy dose of humor running through the movie as well. More blockbusters in Amercia should have the kind of heart and style this movie has. Rating: 5/5 heists
Experimenter - (2015/USA/drama) This movie was shot in a pseudo-documentary style, where the lead actor (Dr. Stanley Milgram) will break the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience. The movie focuses on his social experiment, where people were asked to read questions to someone and administer increasingly large electrical shocks if the answers were incorrect. Despite the cries of alarm from the person being shocked, most people would continue to follow orders and administer the shocks. These tests made him famous, but also drew lots of ire from people who couldn't stomach the results of his tests. No one wants to think they could inflict pain on other people by just following orders, but the desire to please and follow authority is deeply ingrained in all of us. The movie follows Dr. Milgram's life and career, including the various ups and downs and the numerous other tests he employed. It's a scary look inside human nature, and rooted completely in reality. Which makes it all the more scary. Rating: 4/5 shocks
Anima State - (2013/Pakistan/Drama) A masked killer is making his way through Pakistan, with no rhyme or reason for his killings. His attempts to be arrested or put on TV all fail, no one seems to be interested in his crimes or takes him seriously. The director takes aim at Pakistan culture, analyzing its psyche, the fears and concerns that its people have, and their jaded response to daily horrors. Domestic violence, violence in the media, corruption in the police, attitudes towards the USA and India, all come under analysis. You see these kind of films in America pretty often, but rarely do you see another culture put under the microscope like this. You can see a lot of uncomfortable similarities between Pakistani and US culture, even with different religions and levels of freedom. The tone of the movie shifts dramatically in the middle, in a very surreal way, that didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the movie. That being said, it was a very interesting look at another culture, unaffected by western bias, a story told by someone from that culture. Rating: 3/5 bullets
Strayer's Chronicle - (2015/Japan/sci-fi) In the search for altering human evolution, two groups of people are produced with super powers. One group are the offspring of people treated with high stress hormones in order to pass on abilities to their descendants, the other genetically altered with traits found in the animal kingdom. Their powers take a great toll on them, and they are not expected to live past twenty years. One group works for the government team that created them, the other operate off the radar on their own. But forces are aligned that will compel both groups to fight together against a common foe. The parallels to the X men are obvious. The special effects on the powers are pretty low key and realistic, and lots of time is spent on characterization, but a number of the characters (especially the girls ) fall flat. The ending of the movie falls apart a bit into melodrama and random action, taking the shine off what could have been an excellent movie if they lost about fifteen minutes of wasted screen time. Rating: 3/5 powers
That wraps up Fantasia for another year! After my last movie I joined Juliet and Tony at the Wiggle Room, where they had just caught a burlesque show and were talking to the performers. Mark, Amanda, George, and Kat all joined us and we closed the bar down, then went back to George and Kat's for more drink and shenanigans unitl four thirty or so. Did I mention we had to be up at 8:00 so I could get back to Boston for my next trip? Good thing I wasn't the one driving!
Experimenter - (2015/USA/drama) This movie was shot in a pseudo-documentary style, where the lead actor (Dr. Stanley Milgram) will break the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience. The movie focuses on his social experiment, where people were asked to read questions to someone and administer increasingly large electrical shocks if the answers were incorrect. Despite the cries of alarm from the person being shocked, most people would continue to follow orders and administer the shocks. These tests made him famous, but also drew lots of ire from people who couldn't stomach the results of his tests. No one wants to think they could inflict pain on other people by just following orders, but the desire to please and follow authority is deeply ingrained in all of us. The movie follows Dr. Milgram's life and career, including the various ups and downs and the numerous other tests he employed. It's a scary look inside human nature, and rooted completely in reality. Which makes it all the more scary. Rating: 4/5 shocks
Anima State - (2013/Pakistan/Drama) A masked killer is making his way through Pakistan, with no rhyme or reason for his killings. His attempts to be arrested or put on TV all fail, no one seems to be interested in his crimes or takes him seriously. The director takes aim at Pakistan culture, analyzing its psyche, the fears and concerns that its people have, and their jaded response to daily horrors. Domestic violence, violence in the media, corruption in the police, attitudes towards the USA and India, all come under analysis. You see these kind of films in America pretty often, but rarely do you see another culture put under the microscope like this. You can see a lot of uncomfortable similarities between Pakistani and US culture, even with different religions and levels of freedom. The tone of the movie shifts dramatically in the middle, in a very surreal way, that didn't seem to mesh with the rest of the movie. That being said, it was a very interesting look at another culture, unaffected by western bias, a story told by someone from that culture. Rating: 3/5 bullets
Strayer's Chronicle - (2015/Japan/sci-fi) In the search for altering human evolution, two groups of people are produced with super powers. One group are the offspring of people treated with high stress hormones in order to pass on abilities to their descendants, the other genetically altered with traits found in the animal kingdom. Their powers take a great toll on them, and they are not expected to live past twenty years. One group works for the government team that created them, the other operate off the radar on their own. But forces are aligned that will compel both groups to fight together against a common foe. The parallels to the X men are obvious. The special effects on the powers are pretty low key and realistic, and lots of time is spent on characterization, but a number of the characters (especially the girls ) fall flat. The ending of the movie falls apart a bit into melodrama and random action, taking the shine off what could have been an excellent movie if they lost about fifteen minutes of wasted screen time. Rating: 3/5 powers
That wraps up Fantasia for another year! After my last movie I joined Juliet and Tony at the Wiggle Room, where they had just caught a burlesque show and were talking to the performers. Mark, Amanda, George, and Kat all joined us and we closed the bar down, then went back to George and Kat's for more drink and shenanigans unitl four thirty or so. Did I mention we had to be up at 8:00 so I could get back to Boston for my next trip? Good thing I wasn't the one driving!