READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE

“Deepwater Horizon” recreates the devastating environmental oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico so expertly that you can almost feel the heat from the flames burning on the water.  This intense action film based on true events, starring Mark Wahlberg, Kate Hudson, Kurt Russell, and Dylan O’Brian brings you behind the scenes leading up to this monumental disaster.  Written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and Matthew Sand, and directed by Peter Berg, you will not only learn the inside story of what happened that day, but perhaps you’ll take a closer look at our environmental policies and fuel consumption.  But if that’s not your thing, you’ll love the high action and suspense this film brings.

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

The story is true.  On April 20, 2010, British Petroleum’s oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon, drilled 3.5 miles down into the ocean’s floor.  Due to human error, greed, and negligence, the rig blew, killing 11 crew members and creating negative environmental consequences that still effect us today.  The film doesn’t preach this aspect of the story.  In fact, at the surface (pun intended), this is just a suspenseful, high action, sometimes gory movie with lots of explosions and daring attempts to rescue and/or escape from the situation.  We are also briefly privy to the meaningful family relationships of Mike Williams (Wahlberg) and Felicia (Hudson), allowing us to more readily identify with the characters who are in peril.  It’s truly a dual level story that is mesmerizing, and if you allow it to be (and necessarily so), it’s also angering.

Wahlberg plays the everyday man: hard working, loyal, dedicated husband and father.  His integrity and honesty with an ability to be liked by everyone, shines in the face of disaster.  Wahlberg seems a natural fit for this role, carving out this ordinary, yet extraordinary man who could be your neighbor.  Russell portrays the real life Jimmy Harrell, the operations manager of the rig.  He has that experienced and rugged look that makes you immediately trust what he says.  Knowing that these actors are portraying real men, brings their performances to an even higher level.  John Malkovich shines as the BP head honcho whose inexperience in the field ultimately jeopardizes lives.  He is the consummate wolf in sheep’s clothing.  Using expressions and a manner of speaking only Malkovich could utter, he creates a very unlikeable bad guy.  His “Malcovich-Louisiana-speak” is the icing on the cake to make him a condescending, pompous blockhead.

“Deepwater Horizon” lays the foundation for what’s to come in obvious yet creative ways.  The impending doom is visual and visceral as we see everyone filling their cars with gas, the deafening, muffled banging of the drill into the ocean, and the push and pull between the characters and their knowledge.  Although we all know the end result of this “accident,” we don’t know the details and that’s what makes you catch your breath and hope for the best for each of the characters in the film.  Harnessing the fear and the courage of each of them is what “Deepwater Horizon” does best.  With amazing stunt work, realistic explosions, and a script that is captivating, this film has it all.

“Deepwater Horizon” is a film that is a must-see.  Yes, there is a message here, and a strong one, if you want to hear it.  Bringing this message to the masses in the form of a blockbuster Hollywood movie is a genius move for those who love intense action films and for those who want to know about just one monumental environmental disaster.  Stay for the credits as we get to meet the real heroes, some who lost their lives, and others who lived to tell the story.

4 STARS because we need to care about our Earth!

REELING: THE CHICAGO LGBTQ+ INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is currently underway through September 29th, offering award-winning films including full-length features, documentaries, and shorts.  Shaleece Haas (“Old People Driving”) documentarian headlines the festival with her film “Real Boy.”  The filmmaker follows Ben over the course of 4 years as he transitions from being “Rachael,” to “Ben.”  It’s a sublime look into the emotional toll this process takes on not just Ben, but his family and his relationships.  The raw honesty of this film enables you to better understand the personal struggle a transgender individual faces.

“Real Boy” not only harnesses important moments such as a surgical procedure, but through the use of interviews, we hear from Ben, his mom, and his best friend.  Ben’s quest to become the person he has always felt he should be, connects you with him.  The film reminds us that we all have the same wants and needs in life:  to be loved and accepted.

As a part of Ben’s transition, Joe Stevens, a member of the band Coyote Grace, mentors this young man as he too went through the same process.  Depicting these two parallel lives along with some amazing music from both Joe and Ben, and you have a film that will enlighten you during a time when the LGBQT community needs all of us to understand and accept everyone.

For more information about this festival and all of the films, go to www.reelingfilmfestival.org  or follow @reelingfilmfest on Twitter for updated info and ticket promotions.  The films are being shown at Chicago Filmmakers, 5243 N. Clark St., Chicago.

You’re in luck! See the stars, be the first to see not-yet-released films and even ask questions of the writers and directors following. Everyone who loves movies can attend the upcoming 52nd Chicago International Film Festival, or CIFF, from Oct. 13-27.

Read the article in its entirety here as it was published in the Friday, August 23rd edition of The Daily Journal.

Have you ever left a theater thinking, “I am so glad I spent my time and money to go see that film?”  If you haven’t, then this is the one that will make you utter those glorious words.  Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, and Liam Hemsworth star in this Australian tragedy/comedy stylized revenge film written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and based on the novel by Rosalie Ham.  It’s an over-the-top humorous look at Tilly (Winslet), her quest for knowledge and revenge while she attempts to reconnect with her reclusive and very feisty mother, “Mad Molly” (Davis).

WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

Set in 1951 in the outback of Australia, Tilly returns to this one-horse town comprised of just a few wooden structures.   It’s reminiscent of the “Little House on the Prairie” or the Wild West.  Tilly is a sharp contrast to her surroundings as she is gorgeously outfitted in her own designer clothing, armed only with a suitcase and a sewing machine to combat the town’s curmudgeons and busybodies.   And armed she must be as she is there to gain information about her repressed and apparent ghastly past.  As she marches up the steps to her mother’s rat-infested, dilapidated house on the hill, Tilly and Molly have a less than favorable mother-daughter reunion.  Soon the entire gossipy, caddy little town knows that “the murderess” is back, but Tilly fights back by transforming the local women into exquisite creations using haute couture.  It’s a wild ride filled with humor, love, compassion, and deep, dark secrets.  In other words, it’s a perfect combination!

This Aussie production reminds me of the recently released “Hunt for the Wilderpeople” as it creates a preposterously wonderful situation and runs with it.  Tilly is a classic beauty with intelligence and heart, but she needs to find the truth behind a tragic incident that occurred when she was a child.  As she begins to interact with the townspeople, all in need of a little Dior-esque magic, the town transforms.  With exaggerated roles, the story is rich and stunning, emotionally as well as visually.

“The Dressmaker” has the classic elements of an epic tale:  The mysterious woman, the evil doers, some slap-stick physical humor,  a few plot twists, and the deception, all in almost cartoon-like structure.  Oh!  And there’s a love story, full of dreamy romance that will make you feel like you’re being swept off your feet too!  It’s such a rich and stunning story, both emotionally and visually.

The cast is brilliant.  Who better to portray the designer wanna-be  Sergeant Farrat than Hugo Weaving? He’s an odd duck who just doesn’t fit in…he’s perfect.  Then we have Alison Whyte creating the timidly nervous Marigold Pettyman  who succumbs to the elixir her husband pours her each night.   She brings heart and compassion to the story in sublime balance.  And let us not forget the strikingly gorgeous Teddy McSwiney (Hemsworth) who Tilly yearns for, is a sheer pleasure to see on the screen.

Winslet was born to play this role with her classic beauty and innate sense of confidence.  Her character, hard-nosed with a protective armor, softens beautifully and we truly grow to love this woman.  At the heart of the story is her relationship with her mother played by Davis who is simply spectacular.  Initially thought to be senile, she conveys a wisdom with a playful sense of humor perfectly.  Davis is a master at delivering comedic lines as well as making us laugh with her physical comedy.  With both women, make up or a lack thereof (and a blacked out tooth) allows them to portray their characters with deft skill.   Hemsworth’s character would make any woman swoon as the film captures his exquisite physical beauty, but he also conveys a deeply thoughtful and understanding man.  He’s quite the dream.   Every character, no matter the role, is wonderfully over-the-top fun, allowing us to love, hate, or pity them.

The writing, acting, and directing all fit together with absolute precision.  It’s a film that you can escape into, laugh aloud, shed a few tears, and cheer for the heroine.  But at the heart of “The Dressmaker” is the unbreakable bond between a mother and a daughter.   When you combine love, truth, and revenge, you get a remarkably entertaining film.  It’ll make you feel like a kid again as you truly experience the film.  Who would have thought that haute couture could be so powerful?

4 Stars/10 Reels

“After the Storm” is written and directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, known for recent releases such as “Like Father, Like Son” and “Our Little Sister.”  Kore-eda’s ability to tell a story that crosses all cultural boundaries is a gift that continues to be a part of his most recent film “After the Storm.”  As an impending typhoon threatens,  Ryota deals with the aftermath of his father’s death, his ex-wife and young son, his feisty and wise old mother and a gambling addiction that is affecting every aspect of his life. This sometimes funny, yet poignantly relevant film is truly as refreshing as a summer storm.

Watch the trailer here

I had the distinct pleasure to sit down with this renowned filmmaker during the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to talk about “After the Storm.”  This demur and humble man, with the help of a translator, shared with me insights into what might be his most personal film to date.  After discussing the merits of my new Zoom H2N recorder and some great new transportable technologies, we talked about some of the wonderfully rich and complex characters within the film.  How can a man of middle age write from a perspective of a troubled man, a wise older woman, and a little boy?  He looked intently as he said, “You create the character…and then you take that character and say what environment am I going to put them in.  Once I get to that point, …I just let them talk and the voices just sort of come to me.  It’s like they start talking on their own.”  He began to smirk as he said, “That’s when everything goes smoothly…”

The film has autobiographical elements to it as he admitted that not only did his mother actually throw out every item his father owned after he died, there are many scenes which are based on Kore-eda’s own life.  For example, the little boy is certainly his voice when he was younger. He also sees himself in parts of Ryota Abe, but he also sees his own father in Abe as well.  He continued, “So it’s sort of a bit of both of us together that create the character.”  Parental relationships are a large part of this film and with life, as the wise mother in the film states, we all have regrets.  Kore-eda recalled that he too has regrets in life, especially concerning his relationship with both his father and his mother.  With both now having passed away, he felt that “…through film, you’re trying to sort of reconcile it.  I don’t know if you can get back what you haven’t done, but in a sense, maybe you can look at it from a different perspective.  Through working on the film, I, myself can rewrite what happened a little bit.”

This therapeutic relationship with film actually goes much deeper than what meets the eye.  Kore-eda fondly recalls the feeling and the scene following a typhoon he experienced as a child.  “After the typhoon, I came outside in the morning.  I had my schoolbag on my back and the grass was so green and sparkling…it felt as if something had been purified, that something had been released in that moment.  That’s kind of the feeling in the film as well.  You have his [Ryota’s] life and it keeps going, but in that last moment….something has shifted, something has been cleaned out.  It’s refreshing and it looks different” without resolving everything.

Women in the film, no matter their role, are all very strong, wise, and independent.  Kore-eda confirmed that this is intentional and actually replicates his environment.  He also confided that a lot of men are quite helpless, much like the men in the film.  One of my favorite lines in the film made Kore-eda laugh aloud, confirming that this is typical of his male characters in “After the Storm:”  “Men can’t love the present.  They’re always chasing what they’ve lost or dreaming of what they can’t have.”

Laughter is actually one of his goals in this very poignant and touching film.  He loved hearing audiences at TIFF really laughing and responding to his humor.  He humbly said, “Certainly I don’t have some profound lesson about life.  I remember there was a group of women around the same age as Kiki [watching the film].  They laughed and cried.  You watch the film and you see a piece of yourself.  It’s very close to you and close to your life.  Seeing people responding in that way…that’s enough for me.”

“After the Storm” will touch your life and open your eyes to see things in a new and perhaps a fresh way.  The film will be a part of the upcoming Chicago International Film Festival, playing October 19 and 20.  For more information about getting tickets, go to www.chicagofilmfestival.com

“The  41st Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was a dazzling star-studded event with famous actors and an endless number of films, presentations, and parties. This charming city bursts at the seams with action, glamour, live music performances, outdoor dining, and more than 500 films and events to attend.  Unlike other industry insider festivals, here all are welcome to dine, listen to jazz, and see a few films.  TIFF is the place to see and be seen without all the pretension of Hollywood.  But in true Hollywood style, the red carpet action sizzles as onlookers get to see some of their favorite stars looking their absolute best.

To read the article in its entirety, go to FETE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE

To listen to the interview with Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis, go here

When you think independent film, you envision a creative filmmaker scraping together funding, asking friends to borrow homes or other settings for a day of filming, and even enlisting talented friends who might know sound engineering or those that can act.  I think this wonderfully written and well-executed production just might fit this rather romanticized version of an indie film.  Shot in North Carolina over a 23 day period for a mere $25,000, Michael Howard brought his words from the page to full living color with the help of talented individuals who believed in his project.  With the cooperation of the town to use churches, warehouses, and even the police department to shut down streets and use squad cars, Howard shows us that you don’t need a multimillion dollar budget to have a quality production.

“Where We’re Meant To Be” is a series of several vignettes which all overlap in seemingly random ways.  It is this coordinated “randomness” that brings to the forefront of our thoughts how meaningful those smallest of moments in life just might be.  As we find ourselves watching Charlie (Blayne Weaver) and Anna (Tate Hanyok) interact on a blind date, their journey sets the ball in motion, if you will.  Their actions reverberate like ripples in the ocean, setting the scene for the next story.   The domino effect of actions continues to stitch together several more stories revolving around death, God, happiness, murder, and even a first sexual experience.  All of these lives are intertwined, sometimes marginally, but always beautifully and powerfully to send home the message that our actions have a lasting impact.

The stories are all very poignant, but the two that stand out, because of the incredible acting, are the blind date and the kidnapping.  Weaver (“Favor”) and Hanyok (“Shameless”) portray that natural chemistry and awkwardness of a blind date that’s going quite well.  Their communication, both verbally and non-verbally, brings you to the table to experience their thoughts and feelings, always with a smile on your face.  It would be easy to listen to the two talk for hours as we learn about their lives and their older and wiser take on what the future holds.  The film then takes a darker turn as we witness a kidnapping and crime with an undercover cop.  It’s a brutal and harsh scene that will quite literally take your breath away.  Howard takes on the role of John, revealing that this talented filmmaker is comfortable both behind and in front of the camera.

While there are some pacing issues, particularly as the sister deals with the guilt and aftermath of her brother and nephew dying,  the heftiness of the topic may deserve the time allotted.  The musical score in this film augments the stories perfectly, creating hopefulness as well as emphasizing some of the more dire situations.  Overall, this film allows you to not only see the value in your actions and your words, but in the serendipitous nature of all the positive things in our world.

“Where We’re Meant To Be” is a thoughtful, beautiful film full of love and emotion.  Creating such a philosophical and entertaining film on this budget should be lauded as a true accomplishment.  Be sure to catch this film…it might just change how you see the world.