Mario Dhingsa's Blog, page 5

#SilverScreenBlack reviews: 'Puzzle' (2018)

(1hr 39mins)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

📣The Pursuit of Happiness: A housewife discovers her genius for solving jigsaws, but not all of the pieces in her life fit into place.

👍Jigsaws a breeze:
Kelly MacDonald is achingly good! You'll wish you could meet her character in real life, tell her how amazing she is, and give her a decent birthday party for once in her life!
MacDonald, Irrfan Khan, and David Denman all play such captivating, complex characters; they each take it in turns to bring a smile to your face and then break your heart with a mallet.

👎Manchego cheese:
Anyone expecting this film to be the 'Rocky' of jigsaws is going to be extremely disappointed.
The ending won't be to everyone's liking.
And, worst of all, this was Irrfan Khan's final English film before his death in 2020.

📽️Favourite scene:
The confrontation of the affair.
There's much that can be said in silence.

🥇Best quote:
"Life is messy. Life's just random. But when you complete a puzzle, you know that you have made all the right choices. What other pursuits can give you that kind of perfection? Not even love can do that."

🙁Best depressing quote:
"If kissing me is the worst thing you have ever done, then you are pretty damn lucky."

⏳Best lockdown quote:
AGNES: "Why do you do these stupid puzzles?"
ROBERT: "It's a way... to control the chaos."





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#SilverScreenBlack reviews: 'The Public' (2018)

(1hr 54mins)

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

📣Dog Day Evening: Cincinnati Library becomes a battleground to save 70 homeless souls from freezing to death.

👍Hail Caesar!:
There's a stunning ensemble cast here, with at least ten essential characters on screen. That they are all believable is down to good writing and great acting.
And if you don't leave this film without a smile on your face and a fire in your belly, then call a paramedic. Immediately.

👎Life in the Freezer:
This film won't be top of Cincinnati Visitors Bureau's 'must see' list.
And it may leave you with an incredible urge to become a librarian, followed by a deep regret that you've wasted your life up until now...

📽️Favourite scene:
The police readying themselves to breach the barricade.
Nothing could prepare them for what's on the other side...

🥇Best quote:
"Why do all this? To shake the tree. To let them know that we still matter. God gives us all a voice. It's up to us whether we use it or stay silent. We got to raise the level. We got to raise some noise."

🙁Best depressing quote:
"There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolise. And in the eyes of the people, there is a failure; and in the eyes of the hungry, there is a growing wrath. And in the soul of the people, the grapes of wrath are filling, and growing heavy for the vintage."

⏳Best lockdown quote:
"I do go home sometimes and just cry myself to sleep because... I mean, we're only human, right?"





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#SilverScreenBlack: Press Review - 'Come True' (2021)

⭐⭐⭐1/2

If you’ve always wanted horror that will hound you three days later, if you’ve always liked your sci-fi on the sinister side, and if you’ve always known how scary sleep can be, then make sure you catch ‘Come True’ because your dream just came true!

This intriguing tale from Canadian writer-director, Anthony Scott Burns, revolves around Sarah Dunn, an 18 year old student who has recently run away from home. Spotting an advert for sleep trials at the local university, and the chance to sleep inside again for the next two months, Sarah duly signs up. And then the havoc begins…

To say any more would spoil an intricate story that doesn’t finish unfolding until the final scene. If you’ve finished this film and it doesn’t make sense, just give yourself fifteen minutes. Just to go over it again in your head. Trust me - it will start to click! This is certainly a movie that demands a second viewing if you can. There are some inspired touches of storytelling here, but to discuss them now would review plot points that you will just have to experience for yourself!

​‘Come True’ has already made big impression internationally, winning six awards at the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival (Best Actress, Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, Best FX Make-up, Best Music Score, and Best Screenplay); and was crowned Best Fantastic Film at Spain’s Curtas Festival do Imaxinario.

There is unquestionably some excellent acting on show here. Julia Sarah Stone as Sarah Dunn is incredible, as her life and dreams are turned upside-down. She is able to balance fragility and confidence, terror and tenacity with an effortless grace. Christopher Heatherington as Dr Meyer is likewise mesmeric to watch as the orchestrating head scientist, trying what he can to keep them on track. But my favourite character here is sleep researcher Anita, played by Carlee Ryski. Her character arc is an impressively broad one, and Ryski carries it off with an incredible energy. Like Julia Stone, Ryski conveys so much in this film through her unspoken intensity.

The music score for ‘Come True’ is one of the film’s greatest hidden joys. Composed by Electric Youth and Pilotpriest (a.k.a. Anthony Scott Burns again!) the synth soundscape will exhilarate and haunt you in equal measure. Electric Youth also provide the stand-out track ‘Modern Fears’, used to great effect by Burns in one particular dream sequence. If you liked Electric Youth’s ‘A Real Hero’ from Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Drive’ (2011), then you’ll love ‘Modern Fears’.

​No film is without flaws (including ‘Citizen Kane’) and ‘Come True’ is no different. While the plot is ingenious, the execution isn’t. There are pacing issues at times; and while it may be a slow burn, the combustion on screen can sometimes be a little too slow. The cinematography is also too dark and bleached for its own good. Moreover, there’s a romantic side plot that’s redundant and inappropriate, and thereby hangs a cloud over the third act of the film. And not everyone will find the ending convincing. The film may believe itself to be cleverer than it actually is. ‘Come True’ may hope to be ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, but only time will tell if it’s remembered that way.

For whatever faults you may find, ‘Come True’ remains a journey into the unexplored and a descent into unimaginable depths. And who can say no to that?...

Review published by DissectionReflection.com [1/3/2021].

'Come True' is available on Digital Download from 15th March 2021, & on Limited Edition Blu-ray from 5th April 2021!

#SilverScreenBlack reviews: 'Synchronic' (2019)

(1hr 42mins)

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

📣Se7en's Excellent Adventure: Two paramedics in New Orleans discover a trail of grisy deaths, and a roulette ticket to the past.

👍Time-hopping:
This is a wonderfully bold, brooding, and brilliant film by directors Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, with a sublime soundtrack by Jimmy LaValle.
Convincing non-linear story-telling, great effects,
and superb leads - this truly is some of Anthony Mackie's and Jamie Dornan's best work!

👎Pill-popping:
The final five minutes may be slightly predicatable for some.
(But if you're looking for sensational sci-fi, the 1960s had 'La Jetée', the 1990s had '12 Monkeys', and the 2020s now have 'Synchronic'!)


📽️Favourite scene:
Pick a trip. Any trip.

🥇Best quote:
"The clock just keeps ticking down and the lower your number gets, the more you realise how amazing now is. "

🙁Best depressing quote:
"You may see James Bond, but I experience Charlie Sheen."

❤️Best quote not to say to your partner:
"You know the real tragedy of meeting the love your life? If it happens, it's behind you."





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Finalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition!

My children's fiction, 'Robot vs Dad', has made it through to the finals for the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition!

Thank you ScreenCraft!

2021 - Nothing usual about this year 👍

See the full list here!

#SilverScreenBlack reviews: 'Paterson' (2016)

(1hr 57mins)

⭐⭐⭐⭐

📣Awakenings: Two artists in love struggle to find their place in New Jersey's greatest city.

👍Plenty of matches:
It's a film that shows you the best of people in the quietest of corners.
Delightful and delicately told, it unfolds effortlessly and evocatively; and swells into a crescendo before you've realised how it caught you.
(And if you like poetry, people, bull dogs and buses, this film will not disappoint.)

👎Plenty of sprouts:
It's not a fast-paced film, and the story's silent agency may be too subtle for some.
(And not everyone will be thrilled with Laura's two-tone interior decorating.)

📽️Favourite scene:
Marie (Chasten Harmon) and Everett's (William Jackson Harper) final argument in Doc's bar. There's no point imploding, unless you're REALLY imploding...

🥇Best quote:
"I take a chance and stare at you,
Amazed in love and afraid
That you might open your eyes
and have the daylights scared out of you."

🙁Best depressing quote:
"If you ever left me,
I'd tear my heart out
And never put it back."

⏳Best lockdown quote:
PATERSON: "Is there anything we can do?"
DOC: "Nah, I always say don't try to change things, or you'll make them even worse."





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#SilverScreenBlack reviews: 'Utu' (1983)

(1hr 47mins)

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

I Saw The Devil: An enlisted Māori soldier loses his loved ones in a British massacre, and begins settling a blood debt against his old regiment.

👍Four barrels:
A startling story incredibly well told. It's a film full of conflict, as the blood and mayhem rises unrelentingly, and the incredible cast begin questioning their actions and allegiances.
The New York Times described it as "Mingling history, anthropology, adventure and parable... [and] another testament to the vigor of film-making in New Zealand."

👎No piano:
151 years later, and the themes of racism, injustice and poverty still remain as relevant.

📽️Favourite scene:
The military court in the forest, where everyone has a reason to shoot Te Whiti, but who will pull the trigger?...

🥇Best quote:
COL. ELLIOT: "You speak French? You haven't been to France, have you?"
WIREMU: "I speak English. I've never been to England."

🙁Best depressing quote:
"I think my ambition escaped with the prisoner. Now I am part of Napoleon's retreat."

⏳Best lockdown quote:
"Aye, sometimes I'm mad. Sometimes I'm not."





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#SilverScreenBlack: Press Review - 'Away' (2019)

⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

‘Away’ is not just a stunning film to watch, but also essential visual therapy for anyone stuck in lockdown. Moving and meditative, brooding and beautiful, this marvellous movie is as poignant as ‘The Little Prince’, as perilous as ‘Mad Max’, as magical as ‘Spirited Away’, and as foreboding as ‘Labyrinth’.

The plot is elegantly simple: A boy crash-lands on an island, and from the outset, is chased across an enthralling land by a giant malevolent spirit. Nothing is ever spoken, for the film is without dialogue, but you won’t miss it. Everything here is expressed - clearly and naturally - through action, reaction, emotion and tone.

‘Away’ is the best of Disney without the worst of Disney. It is a film to be enjoyed by all ages, and by every generation. Its journey is thrilling and dangerous, tragic and humorous. And here, real actions lead to realistic consequences. One of the gifts of its writer is that in such a magical world, the fanciful seems logical, and the unbelievable remains believable. This is just one of the many acts of genius that the film has up its sleeve. Imagine if the astonishing, wordless storytelling of the first ten minutes of ‘Up’ continued throughout that whole film – well, this film has the nerve to do it!

This movie is the splendid product of gifted Latvian film-maker, Gints Zilbalodis. Such is the diligence of the creator that he received nine credits for his work here - Orson Welles only had four for ‘Citizen Kane’. Zilbalodis’ credits include writer, director, composer, and producer. Given the multiple nominations and awards that the movie has garnered on the film festival circuit, it is no surprise that it is much loved, and held in high esteem, by many.

The score is one of my favourite aspects of the movie. It is exceptionally well-crafted, from the ominous tension of each chase, to the joyful swells of emotional delight, the soundtrack will sweep you away each time. Such is its excellence that the film was nominated at the 2020 Annie Awards in the same category as ‘Frozen II’ and ‘Toy Story 4’, for Outstanding Achievement for Music in an Animated Feature Production. After you experience this film, you’ll know why ‘Away’ could compete with Hollywood.

Watching ‘Away’ will leave you with much to thank Zilbalodis for. He’ll show you incredible scenes of sheer animated beauty. He’ll take you back to being a 12 year old again. He’ll make you want to ride a motorcycle through a shallow lake. In our current lives of loneliness and isolation, Zilbalodis has offered you a chance to discover and travel, as fast as you can go, and as much as you can handle. You’ll see a forbidden oasis. You’ll soar across a mirrored lake. You’ll be led by cats to a well of dreams. There is always death to fear, in this world and Zilbalodis’; but there is more to life than death. ‘Away’ reminds us that there is love, and there is light, and there is laughter."

Review published for DissectionReflection.com [31/1/2021]

'Away' is now available on iTunes, Amazon and Google, and all other major download platforms.

Semi-Finalist in the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition!

My children's fiction, 'Robot vs Dad', has made it through to the semi-finals for the 2021 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Competition!

Thank you ScreenCraft!

2021 - I hope you never end 👍

See the full list here!

#SilverScreenBlack reviews: 'The Innocents' (1961)

(1hr 40mins)

4/5 (uncles)

A Woman Under The Influence: Deborah Kerr's governess tries protecting her children from a malevolent possession, as the tide of insanity rises around her.

👍Lake-rowing:
Gorgeously shot, innovatively framed, with a phenomenal ending!
Kerr is excellent here in one of her best roles - imagine 'The King and I' meets 'Paranormal Activity'.
And the children - Martin Stephens and Pamela Franklin - swing perfectly between sinister and sweet and back again.

👎Tortoise-throwing:
Pacing and plot can feel a little slow and repetitive.
Dialogue is sometimes overwritten.
And the lack of action by the other staff at Bly Manor, whether they believe Kerr or not, can be highly frustrating, given the house's past horrors and present chills.

📽️Favourite scene:
The final confrontation as Deborah Kerr fights for the soul of the children, and no one is budging an inch...

🥇Best quote:
"Love? Oh, I suppose that's what she called it. But it was more like a sickness. A fever that leaves the body burned out and dry. No pride, no shame."

🙁Best depressing quote:
"I am a very selfish fellow. It's most unfortunate for I have no room for the children, neither mentally nor emotionally."

⏳Best lockdown quote:
"I've been so frightened. I've felt so alone."





#20thCFlicks #empiremagazine #guardianfilm #totalfilm @mariodhingsa