Series Review: "Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul" (2022).

From the director of Legends Never Die: The Sandlot Story comes Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul. This documentary film directed by David Terry Fine. It is the eighth installment in the nine-part Untold documentary film series. Years after serving time for betting on games he officiated, former NBA referee Tim Donaghy revisits the scandal that shook up the league.

On January 7, 1967, former professional basketball referee, Timothy Francis Donaghy. He worked in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for thirteen seasons from 1994 to 2007 until he was caught in a gambling scandal. During his career in the NBA, Donaghy officiated in seven hundred and seventy two regular season games and twenty playoff games. Donaghy resigned from the league on July 9, 2007, after reports of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for allegations that he bet on games that he officiated during his last two seasons and that he made calls that affected the point spread in those games. In mid August 2007, Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation. In late July 2008, he was sentenced to fifteen months in federal prison. He served eleven months in a federal prison camp in Pensacola, Florida, and the remainder of his sentence in a halfway house, but was sent back to prison in August for violating his release terms. In early November 2009, after serving out his sentence, he was released. In late April 2014, Donaghy claimed that the league office was going to push referees to fix playoffs games to have the Brooklyn Nets beat the Toronto Raptors, which it was. In early May 2014, the Nets eliminated the Raptors after winning game seven of the series by a point. Before Game 5 of the 2017 NBA Finals, Donaghy claimed that referees would be instructed to extend the series for financial reasons. However, the series ended in Game 5 with the Golden State Warriors defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers 4–1. However, in late December 2017, Donaghy was arrested for aggravated assault. He was released on $5,000 bond and given an arraignment, scheduled for January 19, 2018. In late January 2021, Donaghy made his debut as a professional wrestling referee for Major League Wrestling (MLW).

The film falls short of the perfection of the best episodes of ESPN's "30 on 30", but it does have high points worth mentioning. Filmmaker David Terry Fine was behind the excellent Legends Never Die: The Sandlot Story. They continue the good work here. The choice of Donaghy's story is an excellent one. It's a compelling story when taken as a whole, whether or not you knew a thing about it going in. What the film does so brilliantly is control that chaos. The key players in the story all explain how they fitted into it, and they go far beneath the surface. Thew film isn't arriving to scold viewers for not paying attention sooner. It's more of an effective reminder that a lot of what seem like surprises become far more understandable if you know where to look.

Simon says Untold: Operation Flagrant Foul receives:

Also, see my review for Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist.

Film Review: "The Figo Affair: The Transfer that Changed Football" ("El caso Figo: El fichaje del siglo") (2022).

From Netflix and the directors of Crossing the Line and Pelé comes The Figo Affair: The Transfer that Changed Football (El caso Figo: El fichaje del siglo). This Spanish documentary film directed by Ben Nicholas and David Tryhorn. This documentary spotlights one of the most contentious deals in football history and the extraordinary player at the center of the storm: Luís Figo.

On 4 November 1972, Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a winger for Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, was born. He won one hundred and twenty-seven caps for the Portugal national team, a one-time record that has since been bettered by Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo and João Moutinho. He is considered one of the best Portuguese football players of all time. Renowned for his creativity and ability to get past defenders as a winger, Figo is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. His one hundred and six assists are the second-most in La Liga history, behind Lionel Messi. He won the 2000 Ballon d'Or, 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 Pelé named him in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. His controversial transfer in 2000 from Barcelona to bitter rivals Real Madrid set a world record fee of €62 million. Figo had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, including the Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups. At international level, he scored 32 goals for Portugal, representing the nation at three European Championships and two World Cups, helping them reach the final but finish as runners-up at Euro 2004.

As it paints an honest portrait of the complex relationship between sports and politics in Spain, the film suggests that the star transcended both. You'll be hard-pressed to find a subject as enthralling, human, or intrinsically linked to their culture and country as this one, and this documentary is a fitting tribute to that legacy. The story isn't as compellingly told as it could be and directors Ben Nicholas and David Tryhorn's efforts to examine the turmoil of the era doesn't quite come off. As it's been said, what the film says matters less what than what he did on a soccer field. And this documentary is faithful testimony of that. As a tightly focused look on one man's influence and dominance of a global game for more than a decade, the film is a more than entertaining watch. Here's a slightly more upscale contribution to the deluge of feature-length football documentaries that have flooded our screens in the last few years.

Simon says The Figo Affair: The Transfer that Changed Football (El caso Figo: El fichaje del siglo) receives:

Also, see my review for Pelé.

Film Review: "Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee" (2022).

From Netflix and the director of Terry Pratchett: Facing Extinction and Terry Pratchett: Back in Black comes Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee. This documentary film directed by Charlie Russell. Through raw, revealing footage and interviews with fugitive tech pioneer John McAfee, this documentary uncovers new layers of his wild years on the run.

On 18 September 1945, British-American computer programmer, businessman, and two-time presidential candidate, John David McAfee, was born. In 1967, McAfee received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Roanoke College in Virginia, which subsequently awarded him an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 2008. After receiving his bachelor's degree, McAfee began working towards a doctorate in mathematics at Northeast Louisiana State College but was expelled, in about 1968. In 1987, he wrote the first commercial anti-virus software, founding McAfee Associates to sell his creation. In 1994, he resigned and sold his remaining stake in the company. McAfee became the company's most vocal critic in later years, urging consumers to uninstall the company's anti-virus software, which he characterized as bloatware. He disavowed the company's continued use of his name in branding, a practice that has persisted in spite of a short-lived corporate rebrand attempt under Intel ownership. McAfee's fortunes plummeted in the financial crisis of 2007–2008. After leaving McAfee Associates, he founded the companies Tribal Voice (makers of the PowWow chat program), QuorumEx, and Future Tense Central, among others, and was involved in leadership positions in the companies Everykey, MGT Capital Investments, and Luxcore, among others. His personal and business interests included smartphone apps, cryptocurrency, yoga, light-sport aircraft and recreational drug use. He resided for a number of years in Belize, but returned to the United States in 2013 while wanted in Belize for questioning on suspicion of murder. In October 2020, McAfee was arrested in Spain over U.S. tax evasion charges. U.S. federal prosecutors brought criminal and civil charges alleging that McAfee had failed to file income taxes over a four-year period. On 23 June 2021, he was found dead due to an apparent suicide by hanging in his prison cell near Barcelona shortly after the Spanish National Court authorized his extradition to the U.S. His death generated speculation and conspiracy theories about the possibility that he was murdered. McAfee's wife, Janice McAfee, said she did not believe McAfee committed suicide, and claimed the suicide note was a forgery.

The testimony from some of McAfee's victims is brave and compelling, but the film feels like a strange mixture, simultaneously salacious and dull. The film is an extremely important testament to one of the most outrageous figures in history. While we watch it, it is impossible not to experience a roller coaster of emotions: disgust. A lurid and superficial overview straight out of a James Patterson thriller. McAfee's victims, who tell their stories in heartbreaking detail, deserve more than further exploitation in service of true crime content. Ultimately, the film makes no grand claims to unveiling any kind of truth, but instead settles itself with a grim catalogue of a depraved figure who escaped justice.

Simon says Running with the Devil: The Wild World of John McAfee receives:

Series Review: "Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist" (2022).

From Netflix and the directors of Truth Be Told: Rick Ankiel and In Football We Trust comes Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist. This documentary film directed by Tony Vainuku and Ryan Duffy. It is the sixth installment in the nine-part Untold: documentary film series. Born into a Hawaiian paradise, All-American football standout Manti Te'o leads a simple life summed up in just three words: faith, family, football. College football's golden boy could do no wrong, but when tragedy strikes, the increased scrutiny of his online relationship causes a media maelstrom that threatens his future and legacy. Featuring in-depth interviews with Manti Te’o and the person behind the online identity, Ronaiah ‘Naya’ Tuiasosopo.

On January 26, 1991, American football linebacker and now free agent, Manti Malietau Louis Te'o, was born. Te'o played for Punahou School, a private co-ed institution in Honolulu, where he had also attended middle school. In 2006, Te'o began his varsity career with stellar play that won him selection to the second-team all-state roster as a sophomore. In high school, Te'o had a 3.5 grade-point average and did volunteer work with the Shriners Hospital, Head Start preschool program, Hawai'i Food Bank and Special Olympics. In November 2008, Te'o also became an Eagle Scout. Te'o enrolled in the University of Notre Dame, where he played for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team from 2009 to 2012, where he was a consensus All-American and received eight national awards. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft, and played in the NFL until 2021. In early September 2012, Te'o told many media outlets that both his grandmother and his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, had died on September 11, 2012. Te'o said that his girlfriend had been injured in a car accident, and was discovered during her treatment to have leukemia. Many sports media outlets reported on these tragedies during Te'o's strong 2012 season and emergence as a Heisman Trophy candidate. In January 2013, after receiving an anonymous email tip, two reporters of the sports blog Deadspin conducted an investigation into Kekua's identity. In mid January, they published an article alleging Kekua did not exist and pointed to a person named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo (now Naya Tuiasosopo) as involved in the hoax of a relationship with Te'o. Tuiasosopo has been described as a family friend or acquaintance of Te'o. Pictures of Kekua that had been published in the media were actually of Diane O'Meara, a former high school classmate of Tuiasosopo.

We all know Manti Te'o's story, but the Untold entry on Te'o's life and career is still a valuable and insightful biopic. It was pure madness and there was plenty of blame to go around - but The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist does a journalistically sound job of putting events in perspective. The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist may not be a game-changing film but it shows that Netflix has potential to rival ESPN in the sports documentary department.

Simon says Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist receives:

Also, see my review for Untold: Breaking Point.

Meeting with the Ambassador of Ukraine to New Zealand Mr. Vasyl Myroshnychenko.

In March 2022, Ambasador Vasyl Myroshnychenko was fast tracked into the Ukraine Foreign Ministry to become the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Australia and New Zealand. The Ambassador was also appointed a foreign policy and communications advisor to the Ukraine Minister of Defence. Prior to joining the Foreign Ministry, the Ambassador was a founder and partner at CFC Consulting, advising companies on corporate and investor relations as well as business and governmental interaction. He graduated from the Institute of International Relations at the Taras Shevchenko National University, and also studied at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and at Lehigh University, in Bethlehem, PA, in the United States.

On August 14, his Excellency made one of his first public appearances in this country speaking to the Ukrainian community and their supporters in Auckland. The Ambassador provided the Ukraine Government's latest appraisal of the war and the international community's response. Moreover, he provided views on what the New Zealand Government and the broader public can do to help. Additionally, he discussed Ukraine’s bilateral relations with Australia and New Zealand, including military cooperation, trade, investment, culture and education. During his time as the Ambassador of Ukraine to New Zealand, his Excellency has made numerous media appearances on various TV channels such as 1News, Stuff, TodayFM and NewsHub (just to name a few).

On 21st November 2013, large protests erupted on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Майдан Незалежності) or Independence Square in Kyiv sparked by the then-Yanukovych Administration's sudden decision not to sign the European Union-Ukraine Association Agreement, who were under pressure from the Kremlin. What followed was a wave of protests and civil unrest across the country which led to the 2014 Revolution of Dignity with more than a hundred deaths. After the fleeing of former President Viktor Yanukovych and key Ministers to Russia, Ukraine was hit with the Annexation of Crimea (a key strategic peninsula on the Black Sea) and the War in the Donbas, the latter having continued since 6th April 2014 with significant loss of life as well as millions displaced. 

In late 2021 and early 2022, Russia along with its ally Belarus began a military build-up around Ukraine's borders. This was subsequently followed by the Kremlin's official recognition of the two self-proclaimed Separatist States of Donetsk and Luhansk in East Ukraine on 21st February 2022. 

However, on 24th February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his administration launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This is seen as the largest military attack in Europe since World War II and as of March 2022, there have been more than two thousand deaths of military personnel and civilians along with more than two million who have been displaced from their homes. The Russian invasion has been condemned internationally with many countries imposing sanctions which have resulted in economic consequences for Russia and other countries. Various countries around the world have provided Ukraine with military and humanitarian aid. Moreover, protests have erupted all around the world condemning Russia's actions with those in Russia met with mass arrests and a brutal crackdown on censorship.

On Friday 3rd June 2022, the Russian war against Ukraine entered into its 100th day with no clear end in sight. According to Jon Henley from The Guardian, Moscow has seized about a fifth of Ukraine's territory but hasn't been successful in taking over any major cities. The Kremlin has vowed to continue their mass genocide of the Ukrainian nation "until all goals are achieved" with Russian troops pummelling the Donbas region. On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated that "tens of thousands" of civilians have been killed in the conflict. However, speaking in a video featuring the same key ministers and advisors who appeared with him in a moral-boosting broadcast the day Russia invaded, President Zelenskyy declared that "victory shall be ours". He also mentioned that the Ukrainian troops did "what seemed impossible" and stopped the "second army of the world". Several world leaders such as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised the "bravery" of Ukrainians as it "commands" our "respect and admiration". Moreover, according to Russian human rights lawyers and activists, some Russian troops have refused to return to fight in Ukraine due to their experiences on the front line. One particular Russian soldier who spent five weeks fighting in Ukraine earlier in the year told the BBC that he didn't want to return to "kill and be killed". He added that despite his initial thoughts on the Russian army being the "most super-duper in the world", him and his fellow servicemen were expected to operate without even the most basic equipment such as night vision devices. 

Despite the long distance between the two countries, New Zealand has stood with Ukraine in the nation's fight against Russian fascism. On Sunday 5th June 2022, the Ukrainian Association of New Zealand with support from the members of the Ukrainian Community in Auckland held a march in the largest city in the country in honour of all those innocent lives lost in the war. Gathering at Aotea Square, the group made their way through the major streets in the city centre to the Auckland War Memorial Museum. According to Radio New Zealand, there were more than one-thousand people present in voicing their support for Ukraine.

Film Review: "Nope" (2022).

"From writer/director Jordon Peele" comes Nope. This science fiction horror film written and directed by Peele. After random objects falling from the sky result in the death of their father, ranch-owning siblings OJ and Emerald Haywood attempt to capture video evidence of an unidentified flying object with the help of tech salesman Angel Torres and documentarian Antlers Holst.

In early November 2020, it was announced that Peele was set to write, direct, and produce a new untitled project. Peele commented, "I wrote it in a time when we were a little bit worried about the future of cinema. So the first thing I knew is I wanted to create a spectacle. I wanted to create something that the audience would have to come see." Speaking to GQ, he stated, "So much of what this world was experiencing was this overload of spectacle, and kind of a low point of our addiction to spectacle." He added that he "wrote [the film] trapped inside, and so I knew I wanted to make something that was about the sky. I knew the world would want to be outside and at the same time, I knew we had this newfound fear from this trauma, from this time of what it meant to go outside. Can we go outside? So I slipped some of that stuff in." He explained his decision to include a major focus on clouds in the film, "The beauty of the sky is enthralling — the first movies, in a way. Every now and then you'll see a cloud that sits alone and is too low, and it gives me this vertigo and this sense of Presence with a capital P. I can't describe it, but I knew if I could bottle that and put it into a horror movie, it might change the way people look at the sky." Peele publicly cited King Kong (1933), Jurassic Park (1993), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Signs (2002), and The Wizard of Oz (1939), movies about humanity's addiction to spectacle, as influences in his writing. In February 2021, it was reported that Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya were cast in the lead roles. Peele wrote the script with Kaluuya in mind for the role of OJ Haywood. By early June 2021, Steven Yeun, Michael Wincott, Wrenn Schmidt, Keith David, Donna Mills, Eddie Jemison, Oz Perkins, Devon Graye, and Brandon Perea rounded out the film's cast. Jesse Plemons was originally considered for a role. However, he had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts with his movie Killers of the Flower Moon which was shooting at the same time. At the same time, with a budget of $68 million, principal photography commenced and took place in the Agua Dulce desert in northern Los Angeles County and Burbank, California. The production received an estimated $8,364,000 worth of tax credits to shoot the film in the state of California. The film was shot on Kodak film, including 65mm film in IMAX, making it the first horror film in history to be shot in this format. In late July, Peele revealed the film's title and shared its first promotional release poster. Peele chose Nope as the title because he wanted to acknowledge movie audiences and their expected reactions to the film.

The film stars Kaluuya, Palmer, Yeun, Wincott, Schmidt, David, Mills, Jemison, Perkins, Graye, and Perea. An amazing ensemble effort, the cast is first-rate. The film's biggest success comes down to its impeccable casting. With everyone pulling double-duty, it's insane the depth of performance we see. As good as these performances are, the film is undoubtedly a film carried by its two lead characters and the brilliant actors playing them. Performances in genre pieces are often dismissed and disregarded, but make no mistake: Kaluuya and Palmer's works in the film are some of the very best of their careers. Their powerhouse performances finds its equal in Peele's masterful storytelling. A horror tale that confronts us with humanity's dark obsession with spectacle. Palmer's exquisite blend of nuance and scenery-chewing as Emerald deserves to be listed among the best performances ever in a Jordan Peele film. Kaluuya turns in one of the best performance in his career and shows off his acting prowess.

Peele has committed most of his film's runtime to an unyielding, scary premise that proves the filmmaker has his audience wrapped around his little finger. The film almost packs the psychological punch of Get Out and Us, but it confirms that Peele's phenomenal debut film was no fluke -- and the praise he's given is indeed well deserved. The film introduces so many ideas that it can be difficult to focus. But it's fascinating to watch those ideas emerge, contort and dance around on screen, even if they don't always come together to form a cohesive story. Peele and his team get enough right with the film to make it a worthy follow-up to Us. Combining popcorn thrills with thoughtful commentary is Peele's calling card, something that should make him a director to watch for years to come.is a perfect storm of horror, acting, and social commentary: a beautiful dark mirror that conveys a confidence seldom seen in sophomore efforts. What sets the film apart from others in the genre, and likewise Peele apart from his contemporaries, is the voice that whispers a warning in every scene, a foreboding that follows you out of the theater and into your sleeping subconscious. Peele delivers more of his now signature style, but also flips a switch on something you'd never expect. His ability to create another flawless and compelling story truly cements himself as a true Master of Horror. What the film demonstrates is that Peele is not a one-hit wonder. It's easy to compare him to cinematic greats like Hitchcock or Kubrick, but he's already established that he is in a league of his own. Peele is turning into a unique, elite director whose vision integrates social commentary, terror and comedy like no one else.

Simon says Nope receives:

Also, see my review for Us.

Series Review: "I Just Killed My Dad" (2022).

From Netflix and the director of Girl in the Picture comes I Just Killed My Dad. This crime documentary series directed by Skye Borgman. Anthony Templet shot his father and never denied it. But why he did is a complex question with profound implications that go far beyond one family.

Anthony Templet was a seventeen-year-old boy living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. More than three years ago, Anthony murdered his father. Anthony shot and killed his fifty three-year-old father, Burt Templet, on June 3, 2019. He confessed his crime while on the phone with a 911 operator. Burt died a few days after the shooting. Anthony told authorities that things escalated during an argument over Anthony's phone. Burt had apparently tried to go through the phone to see if Anthony had been in contact with Burt’s ex-wife, Susan Templet. Anthony said his father was drunk and tried to hit him, before he ran to his room and got out a gun. Anthony was arrested after murdering his father, although he said he killed Burt in self-defense. Anthony says that he suffered years of abuse from his father, and told police that his dad would beat him for hours, controlled his movements, and even installed cameras around their home to keep tabs on him. Burt also failed to send Anthony to school. Anthony was originally charged with second-degree murder, which was reduced to a manslaughter charge.

Not a whole lot better or a whole lot worse true crime documentary, but if this is your jam you'll probably find it compelling. This series marks another concisely-crafted form of cinema by director Borgman about the shocking subject of child abuse. The series is the rare documentary series that addresses that chasm between our expectations and the world's reality. A moving portrait of the victim and the truth he admitted, outlining his kind and lively personality told by him and the people who know him. Despite its flickers of unsavory tropes, the series is a well-made and deeply emotional true-crime story that keeps its victim foremost and tells his story rather than burying him in the grisly details. The series starts off like so many other true-crime stories of its ilk, but soon finds its moral footing and lands in a more moving, profound place. The film understands that, when it comes to real life tragedy and loss, the crime is not always (and probably shouldn’t be) the main attraction. The series is another captivating example of documentary storytelling, while also acting as a beautiful tribute to someone with so much potential and resilience that it crushes a small part of you that her life turned out the way it did. There is a great deal to unravel here, and Borgman has put together an impressively detailed profile of the case. In the end, there isn’t much to glean from the series other than that some people are abhorrent sociopaths that may make it more of a disheartening reminder than a revelation, but it doesn’t diminish its gut-wrenching potency.

Simon says I Just Killed My Dad receives:

Also, see my review for Girl in the Picture.

NZIFF Film Review: "Watcher" (2022).

"Evil wants to be seen" in Watcher. This psychological thriller film written and directed by Chloe Okuno, in her theatrical feature film directorial debut. As a serial killer stalks the city, Julia – a young actress who just moved to town with her boyfriend – notices a mysterious stranger watching her from across the street in this terrifying thriller.

By early March 2021, Maika Monroe, Karl Glusman and Burn Gorman were cast in a psychological thriller written and to be directed by Okuno. The original script by Zack Ford was featured on Hollywood's 2016 Black List, an annual list of unproduced most-liked spec scripts. Ford wrote the script under a pseudonym Carl Young. At the same time, principal photography commenced and wrapped in mid April. Filming took place in Bucharest, Romania.

The film stars Monroe, Glusman and Gorman. Monroe, a soulful-eyed ingenue with a complex emotional repertoire, keeps the movie interesting even after utter predictability sets in. The film would sag without Monroe, carrying her first movie since It Follows and making credible connections with each co-star.

Isn't going to win any prizes for originality, but the new teen thriller understands its genre quite well, providing a solid film with some tense, creepy moments delivered in a straightforward manner. When it comes to recalling the best of Hitchcock's important film lessons, here is a decent movie that at least remembers the buildup is just as important as the jolt. In addition to borrowing the idea behind Rear Window, the film pays homage to Hitchcock in its sense of pacing, as well, in its use of the Hitchcock's signature slow build. As a thriller, this is mechanical and predictable - barely one-step away from cookie-cutter formulaic - and yet the film actually works up a decent amount of genuine feeling, thanks to the cast of characters. Smartly directed thriller with a witty script, a great performance from Monroe and some hugely enjoyable suspense scenes. Take an Alfred Hitchcock classic, remix it for generation youtube and you've got the film, a smart and involving thriller about the perils of voyeurism. The film goes through the Hitchcockian motions with great skill and good humour - but among the many pleasures it has to offer its viewers, there are few real surprises. Borrowing a page or two from of the Hitchcock classic Rear Window (1954), this riveting psychological thriller for the modern age delivers as compelling a variation on the helpless voyeur theme as one might hope to find. Suitably giddy with its horror-movie platitudes aimed at mocking the facade of European hysteria, this thriller thrives with the right amount of scrappy charm and intrigue. The film have indeed ripped off Hitchcock to some extent, but it's also quite original, and some of the visuals are breathtaking. Crisp performances, a creepy bad guy, absorbing plot twists, capable direction, and a script that has some telling points to make about the way we saturate ourselves with media make this thriller.

Simon says Watcher receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for Decision to Leave (헤어질 결심).

NZIFF Film Review: "Loving Highsmith" (2022).

From the director of My Life as A Film: How my Father tried to capture Happiness (Das Leben drehen - wie mein Vater versuchte, das Glück festzuhalten) comes Loving Highsmith. This documentary film written and directed by Eva Vitija. Drawing on the diaries of American novelist Patricia Highsmith, the film is an intimate portrait of the brilliant writer of screenplay-ready stories whose own gay desires were repressed. The Texan novelist has long been acclaimed for her strange, cinematic stories of suspense, which captured the imaginations of directors including Alfred Hitchcock, Todd Haynes, and Anthony Minghella. Best known for penning The Talented Mr. Ripley and sequels, Highsmith also wrote Carol (aka The Price of Salt), her only novel to feature an unequivocal lesbian relationship. In this intimate documentary, Highsmith’s unpublished diaries lyrically intermingle with the personal accounts of people who knew and loved her. The heart-rending character study depicts a visionary female writer, forced to repress her innate desires by a heteronormative society.

On January 19, 1921, American novelist and short story writer, widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith was born. She wrote twenty-two novels and numerous short stories throughout her career spanning nearly five decades, and her work has led to more than two dozen film adaptations. Her writing derived influence from existentialist literature, and questioned notions of identity and popular morality. She was dubbed "the poet of apprehension" by novelist Graham Greene. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train, has been adapted for stage and screen, the best known being the 1951 film directed by Hitchcock. Her 1955 novel The Talented Mr. Ripley has been adapted for film multiple times, the best known being the 1999 film, directed by Minghella. Writing under the pseudonym Claire Morgan, Highsmith published the first lesbian novel with a happy ending, The Price of Salt, in 1952, republished thirty-eight years later as Carol under her own name and later adapted into a 2015 film directed by Haynes. On February 4, 1995, Highsmith died.

The mystery of Highsmith's life leads to even greater enigmas about the woman herself in this intriguing and entertaining film. Through the director's sensitive rendering, the film gets at the weight Highsmith felt in existing in an era where she had to repress her true self and adds insight into her life, defiant final act, and downfall. Intentionally or not, the film is also very much a meditation on the sheer unlikeliness of Highsmith's celebrity. If you arrived too late on the planet to have been enamored by Highsmith's antics - she did die in 1995 after all - fear not. The joy she wrought and the outrage she often elicited is captured in this deliciously wry new documentary. The film is a compelling portrait of a pioneer, a brilliant lesbian woman who came from humble beginnings to rise to the top of the literary world on her own terms, even if those terms were ultimately her undoing.

Simon says Loving Highsmith receives:

Also, see my review for Emily the Criminal.

NZIFF Film Review: "Decision to Leave" ("헤어질 결심") (2022).

From the director of Oldboy and The Handmaiden comes Decision to Leave (헤어질 결심). This South Korean romantic mystery film directed by Park Chan-wook and written by Park and Jeong Seo-kyeong. A kind and polite detective ‘Hae-Jun’, one day, he was in charge of the murder case in the mountains. After he meets Seorae, the wife of the deceased, he feels suspicious and curious at the same time. A detective melodrama depicting the detour between suspicion and interest, the detour between the two.

By October 2020, Tang Wei, Park Hae-il, Lee Jung-hyun, Go Kyung-pyo, Park Yong-woo and Jung Yi-seo were cast in a romantic mystery film to be directed by Park and written by Park and Jeong. In an October 2021 interview, Park stated the film is deep into post-production, but with an uncertain release date due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eventually, the film was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. It screened for the first time at the Lumière Grand Theater on 23 May 2022 and was subsequently released theatrically in South Korea on 29 June 2022. In April 2022, MUBI acquired the rights to release the film in North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, India and Turkey. It will be released theatrically in the US and UK on 14 October 2022. According to CJ E&M, the film was sold to one hundred and ninety two countries ahead of its premiere in competition at 75th Cannes Film Festival. It will hold its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2022.

The degrees of shock, the foreshadowing and throwbacks throughout (both visual and in dialogue) all seem diminutive next to the amazing performances by the male and female lead. However, my affection for the film has mostly to do with the performance of Wei as Seo-rae, a sullen housewife who's desperately earning for the attention and love of Park He-il's insomniac detective.

For a movie so relentlessly bleak, the film is also one of the most romantically charged movies in the mystery genre. The film truly enters the dreamy, disturbing world of psychological romance. Park manages to sidestep a lot of the cliches of this genre by injecting seemingly inappropriate bits of humor. The broad humour ends up undercutting the potential poignancy of the ending. Never mind, because it's not every day you see two people locked in such a colourful apache dance of destruction, filmed with such aplomb. Perhaps no auteur is as suited to the mystery genre as South Korean director Park Chan-wook, a man who has made a career out of films full of sexual perversity, doomed romances and a seemingly insurmountable volume of violence. The story of a kind and polite detective compromised by the victim's wife is opulently brought to the screen by one of South Korea's leading filmmakers. What sets Park's film apart from the standard mystery picture has more to do with its tone, characterizations, and its strange blend of lyricism and pitch-black comedy.

Simon says Decision to Leave (헤어질 결심) receives:

Also, see my reviews for The Little Drummer Girl and Loving Highsmith.

Film Review: "Bullet Train" (2022).

"The end of the line is just the beginning" in Bullet Train. This action comedy film directed by David Leitch, written by Zak Olkewicz and based on the 2010 Japanese novel Maria Beetle (published in English as Bullet Train) by Kōtarō Isaka. Ladybug, an unlucky assassin determined to do his job peacefully after one too many gigs gone off the rails. Fate, however, may have other plans, as Ladybug's latest mission puts him on a collision course with lethal adversaries from around the globe—all with connected, yet conflicting, objectives—on the world's fastest train.

The film had been initially developed by Antoine Fuqua through his Fuqua Films banner. It was also originally intended to be a dark, violent R-rated action thriller in the vein of Die Hard (1988), but the project turned into a light-hearted action comedy in the style of Hudson Hawk (1991) during the development process. In June 2020, it was announced that Sony Pictures hired Leitch to direct the adaptation of Isaka's novel with Olkewicz penning the script. In July, Brad Pitt was attached to star. By mid November, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Michael Shannon, Benito A Martínez Ocasio, and Sandra Bullock rounded out the film's cast. Lady Gaga was originally cast as Maria Beetle. However, she eventually dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with House of Gucci (2021). At the same time, with a budget of $90 million, principal photography commenced and wrapped in late March 2021. Filming took place at the Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, as well as Tokyo, Japan. According to the film's stunt coordinator, Greg Rementer, Pitt performed 95% of his stunts in the film. The film was originally scheduled for an April 8 2022 release date, before being delayed to July 15, 2022, then again to July 29, and then to August 5.

The film stars Pitt, King, Taylor-Johnson, Henry, Koji, Sanada, Shannon, Ocasio, and Bullock. Pitt has never been better as he throws punches in all directions and his comedic skills are spot-on. There's still entertainment to be had as Pitt goes through his usual leading man routines, but here he uses comedic chops more than gun and/or hand-to-hand combat techniques. Pitt's rapid fire delivery is both hilarious and, at times, infuriating. But this is still a laugh-out-loud action romp.

Good set-up, well-shot, but Pitt never allows any villain to be much of a challenge for his character, which saps the tension. This fizzled brain-storm from the director of Atomic Blonde and the writer of Fear Street: Part Two - 1978 looks like a cinch for the first supplement to "The 50 Worst Films of All Time." A not-the-greatest-luck project that saw former stuntman and director David Leitch and star Brad Pitt for an action comedy thrill ride. The final result is a choppy all-star thriller that's obviously a truncated two-hour salvage job. It isn't as good as one would expect, but it moves quickly, has great stunts and special effects, and is a lot of fun.

Simon says Bullet Train receives:

Also, see my review for Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.

NZIFF Film Review: "Emily the Criminal" (2022).

From the director of Patrol comes Emily the Criminal. This crime thriller film written and directed by John Patton Ford, in his feature film debut. Emily is saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Desperate for income, she takes a shady gig as a "dummy shopper," buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a handsome and charismatic middleman named Youcef. Faced with a series of dead-end job interviews, Emily soon finds herself seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills of black-market capitalism, and increasingly interested in her mentor Youcef. Together, they hatch a plan to bring their business to the next level in Los Angeles.

In August 2021, Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gina Gershon, John Billingsley, and Brandon Sklenar were cast in a crime thriller with Ford as writer and director. Principal photography was shot in just twenty days in "the worst parts of L.A."

The film stars Plaza, Rossi, Echikunwoke, Gershon, Billingsley, and Sklenar. Among a good overall cast, Plaza does well as the exasperating, painfully misguided Emily, bringing out both the humour and the pathos in her futile efforts at connection. It's an emotionally charged, ambitious work that gives Plaza a great deal of room to show this character's unstable range of emotions. It's easily the best work she's ever done. Plaza carries this story through amusing, biting satire that is outrageous enough for wry chuckles, but recognizable and dangerous enough that it's a memorable little film.

Earnest character work by Plaza, the cast, stylistically relevant visuals, and emphatic themes surpasses the script's numerous pitfalls. Relevant, timely, and uncomfortably close to home, the film delivers a serious, stark, brutal, legitimately unsettling cautionary tale about societal failure and criminality. Somehow, the film manages to provide commentary on society without coming across as condescending or archaic. It's a dark film, and one which could go down as 2022's hidden gem. Fittingly dark and emotionally tragic, the film is a biting, off-the-cuff commentary on neediness and the tragic failure of society. I think Ford does a very good job of folding in the social aspects of societal failure alongside Emily's constant struggle with her inner demons. The film definitely has something special here, Ford has created what may be the most relevant film for millennials in 2022. Saved by its relative complexity and acting talents, the film works best as a psychological drama, rather than a critique of society. Thematically, the film delights in the feelings of seeing another person's life and the reasons behind these feelings. Fortunately, typecasting or not, Plaza's skills of both comedy and emotional timing are used quite well in the film a new crime thriller from Ford. The film succeeds just by putting the audience in the middle of that criminal headspace, where everything bad that happens anywhere is ignored by society, and the only way to get out of it is to become the very thing the law hates: a criminal.

Simon says Emily the Criminal receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for Family Dinner.

NZIFF Film Review: "Family Dinner" (2022).

From executive producer Ant Timpson comes Family Dinner. This Austrian horror film written and directed by Peter Hengl. Overweight and insecure, Simi spends Easter weekend with her famous nutritionist aunt. The hope is that it’ll help her get on a healthier track, but as the aunt’s family’s icy dynamics and an increasingly malevolent atmosphere leave Simi feeling uneasy, weight isn’t the only thing she’s about to lose.

The film stars Pia Hierzegger, Michael Pink, Nina Katlein, and Alexander Sladek. The first half is sadistically intense, Hierzegger makes a wonderfully creepy psychopath, and Hengl and cinematographer Gabriel Krajanek burnish the film to a high polish that's rare for the genre. The emotions of Katlein are clear and complex -- her conflict dominate our experience of the narrative as powerfully as all the devices telling us to look elsewhere for the movie's themes.

The film uses the narrative of a typical horror film set within the confines of a home and makes fun of the set expectations and clichés in the audience's mind. Yet we, as the audience, are invited to participate in the amoral act, and soon we have to question our own feelings, lest they stray too close to the vicious antagonists we are rooting against. The film is a viciously effective polemic against the placid acceptance of film violence, a perverse experiment in audience manipulation that lures us into watching what should be unwatchable and then draws our attention to our unexamined desires. Ultimately, the film confronts why we consume horror, questioning the viewer subtly every so often between the brutality: why are you still watching? As Haneke's films are famously pessimistic, blackhearted affairs that peel back the thin veneer of politesse hiding human monstrosity. So is this one. It isn't the best film of the year, but it is his most viscerally frightening. So much of it is elevated to engrossing observation because it is a movie that takes these ideas seriously, not as tools meant to turn a stomach. What Hengl has actually done is to satirize the complex relationship between the story and the audience. On that level it's a triumph. Alternately infuriating and harrowing, the film is a potent piece of shock cinema that thrives on making the audience uncomfortable. A firestarter for post-screening arguments, alight with ghastly images and actions, and essayed by a spot-on cast and storyline that flows seamlessly from one nightmarish incident to the next. This beautifully acted and paced German variant of The Wicker Man and Get Out is tricked out with a number of Brechtian devices to catch audiences in a voyeuristic trance. I respect the film, and think it a valuable and important work of art, but I wouldn't sit through the thing again for a sum with fewer than three figures. It's a film you might argue with, but its sparing use of on-screen violence, some extraordinarily protracted scenes and sensitive handling of thorny subject matter make it also a film you ought to see.

Simon says Family Dinner receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for Corsage.

Film Review: "Buba" (2022).

From the creators of How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) comes Buba. This German dark humor crime film directed by Arne Feldhusen and written by Sebastian Colley and Isaiah Michalski. When a small-town con artist joins the local mafia with his manipulative brother, his obsession with balancing his karma gets hilariously brutal.

The film stars Bjarne Mädel, Georg Friedrich, Anita Vulesica, Soma Pysall, Jasmin Shakeri, Michael Ostrowski, Michael Schertenleib, Maren Kroymann, Damian Hardung, Maximilian Mundt, and Danilo Kamperidis. We're not sure if Buba, the main character in the show is supposed to be a total creep or not. But seeing this man become a drug dealer will be an interesting watch. Mädel lives it up like the top dog and swagger into staggering performances. Deplorable, hysterical, phenomenal. The show spirals with sins and sizzles with exuberance. Mädel is a nuclear bomb as Buba, the actor basking in the ridiculousness of his surroundings and eclipsing them at every turn. Buba is in the wrong. That's for sure. But to walk away and not realize we're at least a little complicit, too, would be foolhardy.

The film depicts an intriguing and marvelously loathsome human beast in its natural setting, where the verdict on its judgment lies in the hands of its audience. The show doesn't want to be lovable. It just wants to remind you how excessive drugs can get and catch you being entertained by it. You can't target excessiveness to hate without being excessive in its depiction. In an all-too-familiar drug-dealing world, Kässbohrer offers an uncompromising portrait of the German drug-dealing industry hedonists' unscrupulous excesses. If this show doesn't shock you about how people abuse the system to get abundantly rich - I don't know what show will. The film is a bit long, but the performances are to die for from Mädel. So outrageous you would swear it wasn't real! It is! Kässbohrer, creator and writer of How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast), has written a marvelously comedic script, with howlingly funny bits of dialogue. When the show focuses on Buba and stays focus on it, it is at its best, taking viewers on an exhilarating ride. But, oddly, the biggest problem with this film about excess and over indulgence is that it feels too excessive. It is a good show but it's also polarizing. A viewer is either going to love it or hate it. The reason being not because the show itself is bad - it's an A+ effort on all fronts - but because the story is repulsive. It's funny. It has the ring of truthfulness and it has a keen awareness of pop-culture and nerd ephemera that helps both the characterizations and the gags. And it has perhaps more confidence now than it did before. A terrific watch, and bound to be one of the funniest films of the year, but perhaps a tad indulgent and lacking the emotional resonance that could've escalated it to truly unmissable status.

Simon says Buba receives:

NZIFF Film Review: "Corsage" (2022).

From the director of The Ground Beneath My Feet comes Corsage. This period drama film written and directed by Marie Kreutzer. Empress Elizabeth of Austria is idolized for her beauty and renowned for inspiring fashion trends. But in 1877, ‘Sissi’ celebrates her 40th birthday and must fight to maintain her public image by lacing her corset tighter and tighter. While Elizabeth’s role has been reduced against her wishes to purely performative, her hunger for knowledge and zest for life makes her more and more restless in Vienna. She travels to England and Bavaria, visiting former lovers and old friends, seeking the excitement and purpose of her youth. With a future of strictly ceremonial duties laid out in front of her, Elizabeth rebels against the hyperbolised image of herself and comes up with a plan to protect her legacy.

By early March 2021, Vicky Krieps, Florian Teichtmeister, Katharina Lorenz, Jeanne Werner, Alma Hasun, Manuel Rubey, Finnegan Oldfield, Aaron Friesz, Rosa Hajjaj, Lilly Marie Tschörtner, and Colin Morgan were cast in a period drama with Kreutzer as director, who also penned the script. At the same time, with a budget of €7.5 million ($8.1 million), principal photography commenced and wrapped in early July. Filming took place in Vienna, Austria; Schifflange, Luxembourg; and Ethe, Belgium. When asked how much of the film was real and how much was fiction, Kreutzer, said she could not tell in percent because she could not even remember exactly, but that some parts were made up, such as the ending.

The film stars Krieps, Teichtmeister, Lorenz, Werner, Hasun, Rubey, Oldfield, Friesz, Hajjaj, Tschörtner, and Morgan. The performances are strong and it has a melancholic, existential way of moving along the story that is effective. The film benefits from a compelling performance from Krieps, but even that can't stop it from slowly falling apart when it engages with topics such as alienation, loneliness, and the stressful life of postmodernity. Nonetheless, the film consistently serves as a powerful showcase for the talented Pachner, who manages a performance that is both distant and achingly vulnerable.

Here director Marie Kreutzer examines the femininity. The tragic side. While giving it the look and tone of a drama. Though it isn't just. The film is Kreutzer's take on Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It's a jarring confrontation, a mirror placed in front of the audience to show how a woman like Elisabeth back then is like any woman today. Kreutzer paints a nuanced portrait of the dehumanizing effects of the aesthetically-sterile, male-dominated world. The film thus raises the age-old and sadly still relevant question: can a woman ever be truly free when living in the patriarchy? In the superbly calibrated new feature from Kreutzer, the clash between the two sides of Empress Elisabeth is interpreted as an ambivalent psychological drama enriched with searing social commentary. While it sometimes dons the characteristics of a psychological drama, the film eventually unfolds a powerful, metaphor-driven fable, one full of sorrow and anger about the way we live now.

Simon says Corsage receives:

Also, see my NZIFF review for Flux Gourmet.

NZIFF Film Review: "Flux Gourmet" (2022).

From the director of In Fabric comes Flux Gourmet. This black comedy film written and directed by Peter Strickland. Set at an institute devoted to culinary and alimentary performance, a collective finds themselves embroiled in power struggles, artistic vendettas and gastrointestinal disorders.

The film stars Asa Butterfield, Gwendoline Christie, Ariane Labed, Fatma Mohamed, and Makis Papadimitriou. Featuring standout performances from the cast with Christie looking like the female Vogue version of Coppola's Dracula while delivering the most deliciously tortured formal dialogue, making the film is a hoot.

The film is well acted, mounted and designed, and defiantly weird in a way that will leaving you talking for hours/days/months afterwards. A film with comedic depths exploring a new subject matter... what's not to love, right? Well, the structure of this film is where people are going to decide whether it's just a confusing journey or whether it's an amazing movie. This is not the film to see if you're after a sleazy good time. It's more like a game of hunt the symbol, with possible interpretations scattered so thickly it is hard to pick just one. With such a promising premise that could have been strange but alluring, you're left with a confused and irritating feeling that nothing really made sense. Strickland has crafted a devilish comedy here, what with his attention to dialogue that can bang the doldrums or rasp the mind as it so pleases. If you're a devotee of cinema of the weird like me and dig the outré stylings of Wes Anderson, the film is a good bet for you. It feels so tantalizingly close to a perfect, atmospheric film. Still, fans of Strickland's work will continue to find a lot to love here. At its best, the film achieves a density that transcends weirdness to become authentically alien-nightmare stitched into its very tissue. Strickland packs more wildly ravishing moments into the first fifteen minutes of the film than most filmmakers could muster in their entire careers. Had the pacing issues been worked out, or the message populate some of the boringly handled transition sequences, the film might have been something really special. If the film is initially hindered by the literalism of Strickland's vision, it still manages to prove irritatingly suspenseful, at times even pleasurably shocking. Strickland is a genre fetishist with a dark, delirious sense of humor, and the film is his most ecstatically demented fantasia to date. The film isn't for everyone, and it's that way by design. For those attuned to its sensibilities, however, it's a delightfully eccentric world to get lost in for a couple of hours. Strickland's films, while profoundly cerebral, are always meant to processes playfully and instinctually. Like a breathy Serge Gainsbourg song caught on celluloid, it's evocative as the feel of silk sliding over skin. The film is still a constantly captivating one through its aesthetic elements, and makes for a very entertaining and engaging experience, even if it does suffer from some problems surrounding its plot, structure, and reliance on metaphor.

Simon says Flux Gourmet receives:

Also, see my reviews for In Fabric and Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time.