Feeling A Little Bit Heisty: American Animals WIFF Movie Review

Check out my review of American Animals

American Animals is not your typical heist, it is far more compelling of a story that unfolds to make you question what you are watching is fact or fiction. For keeping those thoughts rolling around in my head throughout the film, I have to applaud director, Bart Layton.

Meet College students Spencer Reinhard (Barry Keoghan), Warren Lipka (Evan Peters), Eric Borsuk (Jared Abrahamson), and Chas Allen (Blake Jenner).  They are alive but barely existing in any sort of meaningful way, hoping to achieve a level above mediocrity. Desperately clinging to have one claim to fame, Warren comes up with the brilliant plan to embark on a group heist to steal rare books worth 12 million dollars from their local library, including Darwin’s; Origins of the Species and a rarity by  Audubon called Birds of America.  The one target they need to surpass is the watchful librarian; Betty Jean Gooch (played by Ann Dowd).

The story is layered, kind of like a lasagna, which is always a plus. Each character fits into a typical mold (the jock, the artist, the outcast, etc) so in many ways, it can feel relatable, since the struggle to find your identity exists within us all, no matter what stereotype you get labelled under. I also enjoyed the brief interviews that were cut into the film that involved the actual real men telling their own recollection of the events that took place with unbridled emotion. One cannot forget the real Betty Jean Gooch either, who was briefly interviewed as a witness to the crimes that were committed.

There are also throwback a-ha moments when you hear the names Mr Pink and Mr. Black which gives a quick homage to Quentin Tarantino’s gritty film, Reservoir Dogs.

With any action follows a consequence. The aftermath can be good or bad, depending on how you perceive it.  Did the punishment of these pseudo-reckless misfits really fit the crime? I think that’s up to the audience to decide. However, in the end, it is true that birds of a feather flock together.

Never Enough: Generation Wealth – WIFF Movie Review

Check out my review from the WIFF; Generation Wealth

https://519magazine.com/never-enough-generation-wealth-wiff-movie-review/

While some people may live paycheque to paycheque, there is an entirely different group of people who hold a position of power where money is no object to what one’s heart desires.

Generation Wealth (directed by Lauren Greenfield) delves into society’s obsession with wealth from celebrity culture to social status around the world and its dire emotional implications.  The film bounces around with different interviews with some of the most richest people around the globe. As an artist, Lauren films these segments in a hyper active intensity that feels a bit overwhelming at times. She also documents her own family’s recollections of life and reflects upon her own demons with the material world.

As we see in the film, there is a price to pay for wealth and that is the true absence of self.  Out of all the interviews that Lauren did, the most poignant moments were the raw footage with tycoon investment banker, Florian Homm. His arrogance starts out as eye-roll worthy, but as he continues to tell his story,  you can feel the pain through his uneasy laughter.  His rise and fall tale is not an uncommon one to hear.

Aside from the designer Fenty bags worth more than what most of us would ever be able to afford in our lifetime to the glamorous show biz facade of being “someone” and getting the best table in the most trendy restaurant, what is the real value to life when it all disappears? It cannot be measured in currency.

The takeaway message that I got from the film is that life needs balance.  How we can achieve that is perplexing, as there are so many demands put upon us and life is a juggling game. Often our judgment gets clouded by the innate need to have it all.

A cautionary hope to be careful what you wish for.

Triple Trouble: Three Identical Strangers WIFF Movie Review

Check out my next movie review; Three Identical Strangers

https://519magazine.com/triple-trouble-three-identical-strangers-wiff-movie-review/

Entering its 14th year of showcasing cinematic treasures from Canadian and International filmmakers, I had a wonderful opportunity to see several films this year at the 2018 Windsor International Film Festival.

Three Identical Strangers, directed by Tim Wardle, is an incredible eye-opening documentary of three brothers who were separated at birth, only to be reunited with each other in the most unusual circumstances.

The story begins as a light-hearted journey with triplet brothers; Eddy Galland, Robert Shafran and David Kellman.  Seeing them meet for the first time is like looking in a mirror, as it is very hard to tell them apart. However, despite their mirrored-mannerisms, ability to finish each others sentences, all having the same favourite colour and even smoking the same brand of cigarettes, growing up couldn’t have been more different with their adoptive families.

There are moments in the film that make you ache for these brothers and the situations they had to endure. What some may refer to the idea of “extraordinary claims need extraordinary evidence” is just a small piece of the puzzle to try and even piece back together.

Behind the dazzling smiles and incredible fame that bestowed the brothers for many years is where the raw emotions start to spill out.

The movie is well paced and edited in a way that (without spoiling too much) as many darker revelations are disclosed, these hidden secrets inevitably shake the brothers to their very core and change the course of each of their lives forever.

With all the probing thoughts that will definitely flood your mind and create a deep level of conversation afterwards, the question still remains; are we really a product of nature or nurture?