Revelation Film Festival 2023

Revelation Film Festival 2023 - Wrap up

Just the lazy six for this year's Rev festival but it was a fun time all round (my balding ginger scone sneaks into the far left of the pic above). Here are the films I saw, descending in order of least to most liked.

Dùthchas ★½

A found 8mm footage doco from the island of Berneray in the Outer Hebrides. The approach could have been better, it's bit dull - just talking heads interspersed with said footage from the 60s & 70s. The idea of a culture and language on the brink of extinction has merit but it just takes to long to get to the nub. There's a film in here somewhere but the execution needed more oomph and less chat.

Holy Shit! ★★

This is a scatological German porta-loo thriller (words I've never said or written in that order before). A dude wakes up in a dunny with a metal rod stuck through one arm, trapping him in this enclosed filth. This is a more disgusting, less claustro version of that Ryan Reynolds flick, Buried. It sets up the story well enough, with some minor political intrigue but can't keep pace with its high concept idea.

Frank and Frank ★★★

Albany set drama about two fellas called Frank (Myles Pollard and Trevor Jamieson) who bond when one of them can't start a fire. Fine performances (esp. Jamieson) and some clever writing but one or two things didn't quite sit right for me. Minor grumbles aside, there's a lot of good stuff here - the camel monologue was pure class, the Great Southern region scrubs up nicely, and most of the jokes played well in the screening too. More to come from director Adam Morris and his crew, shooting around Albany - they plan to make one or two a year in the area.

Devil's Peak ★★★

This is a taut little thriller set in the southern US about a crime overlord and his unfortunate dependents. Billy Bob Thornton is excellent as the patriarch Charlie, Hopper Penn, less so as his son Jacob. It plays a bit like a redneck Animal Kingdom and Perth director Ben Young had some fascinating things to say at the Q & A afterwards. Considering its low budget, it's a credit to the technical folk that it looks so good and the final 20 minutes or so really cranks up the near-Shakespearean drama. Robin Wright and Jackie Earl Haley add some heft to the cast, and Young seems to be one of the good guys re: wanting to deliver character films rather than template streamer fare.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline ★★★½

Here's an environmental message piece dressed up as a clever thriller, complete with separated character 'chapters' in flashback and effective cross-cutting of the preparations and execution. Strong performances from a handful of semi-familiar faces fill this timely, noodle-provoking film. Whatever you may think about the politics of this film, there's no denying it's sharply shot and edited. Director Daniel Goldhaber hasn't made much up to now but I reckon that's due to change soon - he seems to know his way around a script.

Citizen Sleuth ★★★★

This is an intriguing backhander to true crime podcasts with a really engaging central character, Emily Nestor. She's a young West Virginian woman curious enough about a local girl's death to start the 'Mile Marker 181' podcast, but was it an accident or was it murder? The first half of the film shows an energetic, almost manic Emily, excitedly explaining the problems with the 'accident', but then it swings on a pivot when someone explains something that she had previously assumed about the tragedy, and from then on, the director, Chris Kasick takes things into his own hands, thereby diminishing Emily's role in her own film. Sounds odd, but it works in that this action gives her the impetus to face some hard truths (at least, that's how I read it). Like any doco about current events, there are multiple viewpoints from many concerned parties but I found this to be pretty balanced and entertaining to boot.

*Special mention must go to a great short film I saw before one of the main features. It's called Bald Future and it's a fucking hoot. Set in an awful office with an unhinged boss, it shows the trouble us chrome domes have to endure daily:) A cracker.

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One Battle After Another

Before this film, Paul Thomas Anderson had at least one certifiable classic on his CV in There Will Be Blood . Now, make that two. In saying this, most of his films range from good to brilliant. This is his second adaptation of a Thomas Pynchon novel (after the uneven but interesting Inherent Vice ) and it looks at the lives of modern American revolutionaries, notably members of French 75. The group are apparently named after a WWI weapon, and then a cocktail, both of which have something of a kick. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Bob, The Rocket Man, who makes the ordnance for the group and is in a relationship with fellow revolutionary, Perfidia (Teyana Taylor). A combination of a run-in with Sean Penn's Colonel Steven Lockjaw, and a rash killing of a security guard triggers more interest in the group, and so a roundup begins. Perfidia is caught, then forced to name names before doing a runner. But not before she has a daughter with Bob, whom he is left to raise on the run. After this f...

Sicilian Letters

This Italian Film Festival offering is a post-mafia story from writer/director pair, Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza. Ex-school principal and local politician, Catello (Toni Servillo) is released from prison in the early 2000s, only to be co-opted by the Italian Secret Service to help apprehend the last Cosa Nostra boss still at large, Matteo Messina Denaro (Elio Germano). Catello is the perfect patsy. He was a good friend of Denaro's father, Don Gaetano, who made Catello the Godfather to young Matteo. I should mention this is based loosely on the life of Denaro, though it's at pains to acknowledge that much of this story is fabricated (a title card reads "Loosely inspired by real events, though the film's characters are the fruits of the authors' imagination.") In this chunk of Denaro's life on the run, Catello is tasked with writing letters to the fugitive, via a bespoke butcher-based post office. Initially, Denaro is moved by Catello's prose a...

The Running Man

This is Edgar Wright's ninth feature, just a smidge over 20 years since his reputation-making second film, Shaun of the Dead . The older folk reading this might remember the Arnie original from 1987, directed by Starsky himself, Paul Michael Glaser. I vaguely recall that film being silly and comically violent, one of a slew of Schwarzenegger pulp films of the era. This remake aims for similar stylings, but with a more po-faced, less ludicrous feel. The premise goes that Ben Richards (Glen Powell) needs money to ensure his child gets the proper medicine for her unnamed illness. He's lost his job due to 'insubordination', but really he's just a top bloke looking out for his co-workers. After promising his wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) that he won't try out for the near-suicidal game show The Running Man, he applies for other shows on the sinister Network, and gets selected anyway. Of course, or no movie. The scenes in this part of the film are probably the most succ...

The Long Walk

I had a bit of time to spare while the car was getting a service so I decided to visit the Greater Union Morley cinemas one last time (it closed a few days after I saw this). I think this was the first cinema I went to when I came back from Japan in 2016 and sadly, it hadn't had a touch up since then, possibly not for a long time before either. Fingers crossed for a brand spanking new cinema complex one day. Anyway, the film I saw was The Long Walk , and it's a bit of an oddity. It's based on a Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman) book from 1979. King seems to have a thing for these dystopian 'last one standing' stories (see also The Running Man , an Arnie adaptation was made in 1987, and Edgar Wright has a new version up his sleeve, opening soon). Director Francis Lawrence returns to the theme of his Hunger Games films, riffing on Battle Royale , but also, many of these types of films where characters get picked off one by one, from Alien to Monty Python an...

The Quiet Girl

This is a great film, especially in the way that it manages to create something interesting out of a reasonably mundane synopsis. A young girl is sent away to a relative's house for the summer where she is treated better than at home. Sounds like it could have a bit of Rohmer-style youthful awakenings? Or maybe some gritty Loach-ian societal comment? Even perhaps a revenge tinged 'fear the youth' theme? Well, it's none of the above, and more power to its style. The Quiet Girl herself (Cáit) is a newcomer, Catherine Clinch, and she was apparently found via an Irish language school call out. She's incredible - meek, direct, no airs nor graces whatsoever, with a clear-eyed awkwardness. She's almost like a little female Bowie in The Quiet Girl Who Fell to Earth (no, not a film but I thought I'd italicise anyway). There are orbiting performances that complement her perfectly. Carrie Crowley and Andrew Bennet play Eibhlín and Seán Cinnsealach, the couple who tak...

Splitsville

This is the second film I've seen in a row where two blokes wrote the film and also starred in it ( see previous review ). This time round the two blokes are Michael Angelo Covino (also directing) and Kyle Marvin. The coup was signing Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona to play the wives, Julie and Ashley. On the face of it, it's hard to believe that these women would be with these two spuds, but the script allows for a suspension of disbelief. Marvin plays Carey, just over a year into marriage with Ashley (Arjona). On the way to a waterfront weekend with Paul and Julie (Covino and Johnson), Ashley explains that she wants a divorce. The trigger may have had something to do with them being part of a road accident death, a darkly amusing opening scene. Carey leaves the car in a panic and eventually finds his way to the beach house. Distraught, he decides to wallow with his friends until a discretion threatens to blow apart the relationship. To be clear, Julie and Paul's open rela...

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

A few years ago, we hit the S.S.P. (Superhero Saturation Point). And the best way for studios to arrest, or even maybe reverse, the law of diminishing returns is to JUST GIVE IT A FUCKING REST. There's enough residual goodwill in the fan base to guarantee profits....for now. But, as Malcolm Gladwell said, there must be a tipping point. So into this cinematic avalanche slips The Fantastic Four: First Steps , the first film of Phase Six and the thirty seventh overall! It's quite dull for the first 30 minutes, setting up the characters, ensuring the audience understands we're on a slightly different Earth (828), and a different time as well. It only gets going when the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) appears and promises everyone death by devouring. She's not going to eat them, she works for a massive space turd called Galactus, played by Finchy himself, Ralph Ineson. He'll do the devouring. Here's the thing - this film is a perfectly serviceable entry, not brilliant,...

Mid-year report - 2013

So here are the ten best films I've seen so far this year (up to June 30). This time round, I'm only picking films I've seen for the first time. In order, they are: 1. Wish You Were Here 2. The Imposter 3. We Need to Talk About Kevin 4. Argo 5. Even the Rain 6. Iron Man 3 7. The Kid with a Bike 8. Django Unchained 9. 500 Days of Summer 10. The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists And here's the offal. Worst first. 1. Intouchables 2. The Tree of Life 3. You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger 4. Life of Pi 5. Mamma Mia! 6. Morning Glory 7. Ted 8. Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai 9. Amazing Grace 10. Haywire

The Ballad of Wallis Island

Tim Key adds value to every film or TV show he appears in but here he has found his perfect role. Of course, it helps if you write the thing yourself (with help from co-star, Tom Basden). Key plays Charles, a slightly buffoonish, slightly clever 'lord of the manor' type who has invited Basden's Herb to his lightly-populated island to play a gig. Herb was part of a reasonably successful folk duo in years past but is now solo, and experimenting with genres (As another character queries, "Is 'commercial' a genre?"). Charles has the means to pay handsomely for this intimate concert but Herb isn't aware just how intimate it promises to be. Nor is he aware that Charles has also invited the other half of McGwyer/Mortimer, Nell, to the island, in order to reunite after nearly 10 years. Nell is played by Carey Mulligan, another casting triumph. She's always great but is really natural and confident here, with a fine singing voice (also heard in Inside Llewy...

The Naked Gun

This uncalled for remake of 1988's The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! is not a patch on the original, nor the TV show, Police Squad! that spawned them both. Director Akiva Schaffer has plenty of pedigree with stupid comedy, having directed oodles of Saturday Night Live episodes, as well as films like Hot Rod and The Watch . I haven't seen these films but I'm not about to now. The new Naked Gun has a fairly rapid rate of jokes - many successful - in the first 30 minutes or so, but once the film had to start servicing the plot, the laughs dried up. Throughout the film, the sight gags didn't work as well as the straight-faced wordplay, à la the 'awfully big mustache' classic from The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear . This might be due to the casting. Liam Neeson is fun and tries hard, but he doesn't get anywhere near Leslie Nielsen, though I thought Pamela Anderson was an improvement on Priscilla Presley (I guess being an actual actor helps). Ab...

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