ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Jason Thai

Safety:

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Disney’s new film “Safety” is an autobiography on real-life NCAA player Ray McElrathbey (Jay Reeves), a struggling student on a football scholarship at Clemson University who must try to balance his life between school, work, football practice, and taking care of his younger brother. With their mother in rehab, Ray fights to persevere through the adversity and defies all odds.

As safety for the Clemson Tigers, Ray McElrathbey’s goal is to support his teammates as the last line of defense. In the same way, he must act as the last line of defense for his younger brother. With his mother in rehab and his father a criminal, Ray must choose between leaving his brother, Fahmarr (Thaddeus J. Mixson) in foster care or taking him in and risking his entire football scholarship. Being the loving brother he is, Ray decides to take him in. In the beginning of the film, Ray is relies only on himself, mentioning multiple times that he’s not a charity case. He lives his life clinging to the idea that total independence makes you strong and that you can’t rely on anyone but yourself. Over time, this idea has become embedded in his heart mainly due to his difficult upbringing and having to struggle so hard all his life to get to where he is now.

Overwhelmed and about to lose his brother to social workers, Ray’s team comes together to help take care of Fahmarr. Amazingly, his coaches and teammates create a community of support for the two brothers, taking turns taking care of Fahmarr and driving him to school as well as feeding him. While he may be the safety on the field, his team takes on the role of ‘last line of defence’ in his life and their support gives Ray the safe footing that he needs to push forward. 

Having said this, it’s important to note that, while the film carries a feel-good tone that’s appropriate for families, it does somehow feel like a missed opportunity to explore the types of challenges that Ray experienced. As a young African-American male struggling to survive, it may have been more appropriate at a moment like this to delve more into the lack of resources available to him and the loneliness that he would have experienced along his journey. Though the intent was clearly to provide a tale of uplifting joy, it also could be argued that it doesn’t always paint an accurate picture of life for students who have difficulty off the field as well.

Overall, Safety does amount to an inspiring film that charms its audience. As a student athlete, parent and working a full-time job, it’s fair to say that Ray’s journey is one filled with many roadblocks and challenges. Even so, what’s most inspiring is that Ray never thinks of giving up. As he pushes forward to do better, his sacrifice towards his brother is unwavering and his loyalty absolute. Though far from perfect, Safety ultimately ends up scoring as a true underdog story. 

Safety launches on Disney+ on Friday, December 11th, 2020.

Fatman: Santa Shoots from the Hip

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Written and directed by Eshon and Ian Nelms, Fatman begins when Santa (Mel Gibson) decides to give a spoiled 12-year-old a piece of coal for Christmas. Feeling slighted by the Fatman, the boy decides to hire a deadly hitman to kill Kris Kringle and have his revenge.

The film takes an interesting look into the realistic problems that Santa Claus would face by giving billions of children gifts for free, making him the biggest economic stimulus in the world. In a world driven on greed, profits, and capitalism, Santa Claus is getting frustrated by the state of the world. But more than this, Santa regrets not selling his image for royalties. With the Christmas season generating over $3 billion each year in the U.S alone, Santa can’t even afford to pay for his own electricity. Realizing that ‘altruism isn’t in their bottom-line’, Santa decides to ‘sell out’ and begins taking on a government military weapons contract for the money.

In doing so, however, Santa becomes the very thing he hated. Being the greatest social service on the planet has given him nothing in return, except unbearable poverty for him and his elves. In this way, Fatman becomes a metaphor for how commercialized Christmas has become in our culture. Once a celebration of giving and family, the holiday has become a barbaric season where businesses push their products on consumers. Everything about the Christmas season is monetized. 

Making the choice to depict Fatman as a hardcore action movie was hilarious and unexpected, especially due its extreme contrast of not only the Christmas season but the standard image of a jolly Santa as well. Personally, I thought it was a good choice as the action makes great use of the Christmas environments such as the elves’ workshop. (Besides, there’s not many movies where you see toy-making elves and Santa in a bloody shoot out.) The ridiculousness of the violence is pushed to the extreme when Santa “toughens up”, by dressing in a red pimp suit and turning his classic “see you when you’re sleeping” line into a threat. In moments like these, there’s some great dark humour throughout the film.

Overall, I enjoyed the world-building of Fatman. By portraying a more realistic image of Santa Claus and the real-world implications of acquiring the resources necessary to operate his magic toy shop in a capitalism world, this is an absolute blast for those who have been yearning for a ways to have their Christmas mixed with hardcore violence.

Fatman is available in select theatres and on demand now.

Memories of Murder: Murder, Mayhem and Mind Games

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From Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-Ho, the classic Memories of Murder is based on Korean’s first real serial killer who committed his murders from 1986 – 199 until they were caught in 2019. Originally released in 2003, Memories tells the story of a big city detective from Seoul who has to team up with 2 inept small city cops in order to track down an elusive murderer who plays games with both his victims and the officers that try to bring him down. 

Memories of Murder centers around two dimwitted cops, Park and Cho. Totally unprepared for this type of case, a big city detective named Seo has to join them. A detective story at its core, you get to see how the horrifying 5-year murder spree played on the psyche of these officers. As the killer plays games with them, they are increasingly driven to unethical interrogation methods in order to find the killer, torturing and intimidating any suspect they can get their hands on.

At first, having been pulled in to lead the investigation, Seo looks down on Park and Cho’s methods as idiotic, desperate, and barbaric. However, as the killer continues to toy with him, Seo begins to act in desperation with his suspects in the same way. In this way, Memories showcases how this allusive serial danced around every detective on the case for years and the psychological effect that this had on those who were pursuing him. 

Personally, I enjoyed Memories of Murder greatly. Bong Joon-ho thoroughly tells the stories surrounding the investigation and gives insight as to how the limited forensic technology of the time and the lack of preparedness of the detectives allowed the killer to get away for so long. (In real life, the killer’s name is Lee Choon-jae, having confessing to his crimes in 2019. Though, because he had passed the statue of limitations, he is a free man.) 

[Caution: Spoilers] Towards the end of the film, Park goes back to the old site of the first killings and runs into a girl. She proceeds to tell him that there was a man earlier who was revisiting for nostalgia purposes. When he realizes that this girl must have run into the killer, the camera zooms in on his face, eyes glaring at the camera. For Park, the obsession is unending as he uses his eye detector test to spot the killer, potentially in the audience of the film itself. [Spoilers end]

Overall, the rerelease of Memories of Murder did great in retelling the classic story. The film features a great dynamic from the trio of cops and shows their psychological struggle through 

Memories of Murder is available on VOD on Friday, October 23rd, 2020.

TIFF20: Black Bodies

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Directed by Kelly Fyffe-Marshall, Black Bodies is a short film on what it currently means to be black in America. Told through spoken word, the viewer experiences the major issues affecting the black community as a result of centuries of systemic discrimination, including police brutality and the disadvantages they have solely based on the colour of their skin. As a result, Black Bodies is a powerful film with a strong message that could not have been timed better.

Set in what appears to be a small prison complex, surrounded by murdered black bodies, the film immerses the viewer in the uncomfortable feeling of what it’s like to be Black. The spoken words describe the centuries of oppression brought on by their ancestors’ slavery at the hands of their white slave owners. Despite being “freed” not too long ago, it is no secret that black people still feel powerless and are still oppressed due to racist governing powers like the police. The film ends on a strong message, as the poet gets shot and a black woman is left powerless to help.

These intense visuals show not only the lack of power black people feel that they have, as but also how accustomed to pervasive racism and police brutality the community has become. Living in a society embedded with systemic racism, some members of the black community have accepted their place as a lower-class citizen and simply accepted they will be treated, not only less important than white people, but even human garbage due to the color of their skin. Black Bodies also shows the absurd amount of power police officers have in America, with a ‘license to kill, with no repercussions’.

Personally, I enjoyed Black Bodies greatly as it definitely felt much needed at this time. Over the course of this summer, we have seen many riots for police brutality on Black Americans. Highlighting the fear and how unsafe it is to be black in America, the film sums up some of this year’s major events, including Breonna Taylor’s murder in her sleep and Eric Garner’s famous last words, ‘I can’t breathe’. The film’s last scene also brings up how the “Black Lives Matter” movement current feels within the general public. Much like the woman who leaves the poet after mourning, Black Lives Matter feels like it’s lost momentum. After not being able to defund the police, they have accepted the racial system in place and unfortunately lost hope, even from its own communities.

Overall, Black Bodies is able to express the incredible struggle of how it feels to be Black in America. Highlighting the history of systemic racism on the Black community and how it’s still affecting black Americans to this day, Bodies is an effective piece that offers perspective to anyone who doesn’t understand the current Black Lives Matter movement and why it is so necessary.

TIFF20: Shadow in the Cloud

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Set during WWII, Shadow in the Cloud is an action-packed horror movie that stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Maude Garrett, a flight officer who embarks on a secret mission to deliver a confidential package. As a woman alone in a group of men on a rickety aircraft, Garrett finds herself forced to take the ride in the worst seat possible, the bottom glass turret located on the belly of the plane. Soon after, strange things begin to happen on this aircraft and Garrett’s position on the plane forces her to come face to face with a mysterious, unexpected passenger. 

Set in the 1940s, this was a time filled with sexism and toxic masculinity. Though she’s an incredibly accomplished and well-trained soldier, Garrett remains at the very bottom of the social ladder due to her gender. Symbolic of the social hierarchy of men and women of the 1940s, Garrett is forced by the men to stay down in the glass turret located in the bottom of the aircraft. Meanwhile, as she languishes in the most terrifying and cramped area of the ship, the egotistical—and less talented—men undeservingly get to relax in the comfort of the cabin area. Even so, Garrett bites her tongue and, as the film progresses, she helps fight off enemy fighter jets and, yes, even gremlins, in order to save the same men who were belittling her initially. (Incidentally, it’s worth noting that the ‘gremlin’ was an imaginary scapegoat in the 1940s for pilots to blame if they ever made a mistake while flying.) In doing so, Garrett’s bravery symbolically takes her from the bottom of the plane to its highest position, the pilot’s cockpit. 

One of the most unexpected and spuriously badass scenes of the movie comes as Garrett is confronted with one of the gremlins. As Garrett battles the creature with her bare hands, with the supposedly brave men watching from the sidelines. In this moment, the gremlin becomes more than a beast to fight as it also represents the stupidity and sexist attitudes of the male pilots. In doing so, Cloud suggests once again that, despite the social inequalities set into place by our culture, women continue to show strength and perseverance.

Writer/director Roseanne Liang does a great job in utilizing Moretz in the lead role. Personally, I think that Shadow in the Cloud is an excellent example of how directors can create strong female roles in other action movies. As Garrett, star Chloe Grace Moretz oozes confidence as a strong, independent women in this film. Often times, I have found that female-driven action films and tv series include moments that focus too much on addressing its agenda through poor writing. (I’m looking at you, CW…) In doing so, while well meaning, these moments try too hard to prove why women are equal to or better than men. By directing attention to the issue in this way, this style of writing can undermine their agenda by emphasizing differences over gender equality, despite their well-meaning intent. In doing so, these moments can unintentionally create a gender gap where women are required to ‘step it up’. However, in Shadow in the Cloud, Moretz isn’t trying to prove anything to the sexist men or constantly trying to validate why she is strong like them. She simply is. Through her actions, perseverance, flight abilities, combat skills, and ingenuity, Garrett embodies female strength and courage in a way that inspires. 

Shadow in the Cloud is an adventure that will thrill you and surprise with its twists and turns. Personally, I never expected to see Chloe Grace Moretz in such a serious and empowering role as she sets an example for all female action heroes going forward. I highly recommend it.

Shadow in the Cloud is currently streaming at Bell Digital Cinema at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The New Mutants: Giving Life to our Demons

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With 20th Century Studios release of The New Mutants, the long gestating project introduces a new tone into the superhero genre that we haven’t seen before: horror! 

(Unless you count Brightburn, which no one does…)

Set with new characters from the X-Men cinematic universe, New Mutants follows five teenagers that have recently awakened to their powers who live in a hospital so that they can learn how to use them. However, things aren’t exactly as they appear to be as (what seems like) demons begin to haunt the youth. Will they escape from this living nightmare or with they rot in this prison of a hospital? 

Directed by Josh Boone, the main focus of The New Mutants is the internal battle of good and evil. For example, each of the five young mutants have all done terrible things to get them trapped in the hospital, whether its killing loved ones accidentally or otherwise. Whatever the case, each character carries a burden of shame for what they’ve done and fear the traumatic awakening of their powers. Each young mutant is at an age of emotionally instability, causing them to crave a path of self-destruction, regret, and shame. This becomes intensified when Danielle the newest mutant on the team, causes all of their fears to become reality. All of a sudden, the repressed fears and shame literally come back to life to haunt them.

Because of their inability to deal with their past, these young mutants allow their fear to become self-destructive and constantly running away from them only makes things worse. In this way, New Mutants best sums up the mental and the physical struggle that these characters face when Danielle references a proverb that her father used to say. Quoting a Native American proverb, he would tell her that, “Within every [person] there are two sides fighting for control of your soul: the good, representing love, trust, and compassion and the evil that represents fear, shame, and self-destruction.” Recognizing the internal struggle that we all face, The New Mutants understands that it is only through facing and fighting our fears that we able to overcome and defeat our personal demons.

The New Mutants makes good use of the setting and characters that they bring to life onscreen. Visually stunning and intriguing, scenes where characters make use of their powers are extremely creative and feel like a full-blown superhero epic. But the best aspect about the film is the way that it incorporates horror, an element that has not yet been incorporated into any superhero cinematic universe. In many ways, Danielle becomes the perfect character choice to develop these new elements. Haunting and terrifying on both a physical and mental level, Danielle’s journey works well and creatively pushes the genre. (After all, what’s scarier than having your fears literally come to life to kill you?) What’s more, setting the film in an old hospital is also an effective narrative choice. Known as a place of illness and where the insane go to die, there’s simply no better location for these new mutants to “get better.”

As a fresh boost into the series, The New Mutants does a great job of blending both superhero and horror genres together. While horror films are best known for low-budget efforts, this entry has the budget of a superhero film and makes good use of their special effects. (Also, to its credit, for the record, you don’t need to know anything about the current cinematic universe to understand the story either.) Worth the time for fans of either genre, New Mutants introduces audiences to a whole new world of film.

The New Mutants is in theatres on Friday, August 28th, 2020.

Tenet: Christopher Nolan is Back (and Backwards)

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The [only?] blockbuster of the summer is finally here. 

In Christopher Nolan’s next hit film, Tenet, the director brings us another trippy, mind-blowing Inception-style movie. Tenet stars John David Washington as “The Protagonist” (which is not subtle at all), a special agent recruited into the mysterious Tenet organization. Tenet’s goal is to prevent World War III through a time-disrupting apocalypse that would end all life (and all time). Featuring mind-blowing special effects, Tenet uses time travel in a way that has never been explored on the big screen before. (In fact, it’s not time travel at all… It’s inversion!)

[Caution: Spoilers] Let’s breakdown Tenet‘s method of “time travel”, easily Nolan’s most confusing plot device within the movie (like Inception‘s wild dream sequences). In Tenet, time travel is actually the ability to move something (or someone) through time inversely. By doing so, one is able to move backwards and reverse time, while the entire world is moving forward around them. By doing so, the film explores time uniquely through the theory of determinism, a philosophy that all events all actions are set already. For Nolan, time is non-linear. It’s a circle that exists in a loop. In Tenet, the past, present and future all exist at the same time and interact with each other. This idea once again interacts with determination theory, by arguing that events are set and the idea of freewill both is [and isn’t] real. As Neil says multiple times in the film, “It happened.” Tenet believes that time is fixed and unchangeable. (Incidentally, this idea should have been fairly obvious in hindsight considering that the film is called Tenet, which means a belief or philosophy, referencing the determinism. What’s more, the title is also a palindrome, symbolic of time’s never-ending loop within the film.) [Spoilers End] 

Personally, I loved Tenet’s use of “time travel” in this movie. Nolan is able to cleverly tell a story that was non-linear, able to loop and connect the story with the forward timeline with its inverse as well. Without question, this is no easy task to do as a story. Very rarely do you see paradox-free time travel, and it’s amazing how the story interacts with the other fragments in time. Fans of Nolan’s Inception will appreciate that the action was incredible. Watching people fight in normal time against someone going in the inverse is trippy and mesmerising, featuring bullets that fly into guns, people that seem to fly and even coming back from the dead. Incredibly exciting from start to finish, the film really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Overall, Tenet is a must-see movie. Not only is Christopher Nolan back, but this is also a strong film to return us to theatres. As bizarre as it is beautiful, this action film is backed by one of the cleverest time travel stories that you’ll ever see.

Tenet is available in Canadian theatres now and opens in the US on September 4th, 2020.

Enter the Fat Dragon: Learning Who You Are

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In an obvious homage to Bruce Lee’s classic film, Enter the Dragon, Donnie Yen stars in Enter the Fat Dragon. In this action comedy, Yen stars as Fallon Zhu, a ripped hardcore action cop who doesn’t play by the rules. Millions caused in property damage? No problem. Though his bosses may hate him cause he’s reckless, he gets the job done. Hong Kong calls him by many names “Jackass of the century” and “reincarnation of Bruce Lee” but, after being demoted and losing the love of his life, he becomes a washed-up deadbeat, inflating from a tight 145lbs to 250 lbs. When he finds himself entangled in a case that could make or break his career, Zhu must fight those in his way and, maybe, win back the girl as well. 

Donnie Yen as an actor has had many successes over his career, but he can’t help be compared to Bruce Lee’s success and achievements and continues to be viewed as a less talented version of the martial arts icon. In this way, Enter the Fat Dragon feels like this may be Yen’s way of addressing the shadow of Lee’s that he has lived in throughout his entire life. (Even the title of the film is a self-mocking parody of Bruce Lee’s most famous film, Enter the Dragon.)  With this in mind, the film speaks to the theme of accepting one’s true self and being who you are. When Fallon becomes overweight and loses his girlfriend Chloe, they fight about the career paths they’ve taken and who they are as people. He is constantly ridiculed for his weight (even by Chloe). Later in the film, as he gets his confidence back, he begins to fight like he once did, he realizes who he is and gains new perspective on his identity (and his relationship with Chloe as well). Similarly, Chloe also begins to have the same realization about her own life. Looking back on the path that she’s had to take to reach success as a second-rate actress, she begins to have an identity crisis and questions her decisions along the way. Both Zhu and Chloe must decide whether to accept each other’s paths and who they are, flaws and all.

In the same way, this also seems symbolic of Yen’s journey of having to accept being his own person as well. He will never be the next Bruce Lee but he doesn’t need to be. Clearly, Yen has accepted the career path he’s had and who he is and he as a person.

Once again, Yen is able to bring the action we’ve seen with previous movies hits of his career. The comedy works really well with the contrast of super choregraphed intense action that makes great use of their environments. The characters are also very endearing, and even relatable with their struggles. All around, Enter the Fat Dragon is a hilarious action comedy that does the martial arts genre justice. As always, Yen pops off the screen and long-time fans of his will truly appreciate the story played out through the film. 

Enter the Fat Dragon is available on VOD and DVD/Blu-Ray now.

Peninsula: When Zombies Mirror Reality

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A sequel to the South Korean zombie film Train to Busan, Peninsula is set four years after the events of the initial outbreak and follows a new cast. Jung-seok (Gang Dong-Won), an ex-military and survivor of the outbreak, and his brother-in-law, Chul-min (Kim Do-Yoon) are treated as second class citizens after escaping the now quarantined South Korea and flee to Hong Kong. Wanting to change his life, Chul-min decides to take a deal with a Chinese gang in order to acquire millions of dollars. The catch is that the money is in a truck that is stuck in the now apocalyptic South Korea. Worried about Chul-min’s safety, Jung-seok joins him and his squad to get the money. Intent on surviving the hell that awaits them, they must fight both zombies and the psychotic survivors of South Korea in order to get their money and leave.

Directed by Yeon Sang-Ho, Peninsula showcases the pain of the survivors of the outbreak and the manner in which they handle their pandemic. As we endure the reality of a global pandemic ourselves, this movie couldn’t have been timed better either. As they fight to survives, selfish human behaviour is fully on display. For example, in the beginning of Peninsula, as Jung-seok leaves South Korea, he abandons both a family begging for help and his elder sister and child in order to save himself. Considering himself a good man, Jung-seok tries to convince himself that he did all he could under the circumstances. Survivors hoard food. Factions divide the population.

While the film was completed far before the global pandemic, actions such as these mirror the self-justifications that we have seen in real life. For example, when faced with the outbreak of COVID-19, people raided grocery stores took as much as they could for themselves and their family with no regard for others. Even now, as the current pandemic has slowed, people are refusing to wear masks as they value their own comfort than the lives of others.

In an ironic twist, while on his mission in South Korea, Jung-seok encounters a horde of zombies and is rescued by the very same people that he abandoned four years earlier. Faced with his own selfishness, Jung-seok has a chance to do all that he can to help them. As the film goes on, the classic opportunity for redemption arises and Jung-seok must decide whether or not he will attempt to pay back the very survivors that he had left for dead in the first place.

I loved Peninsula. Director Yeon Sang-ho creates a truly immersive apocalyptic world. There’s lots of great shots of the destroyed South Korea that show the audience the vastness of the destruction, and how South Korea has fallen as a country. This is especially true within the set design of 631 unit’s compound, which creates a realistic—and horrifying—area for survivors. Throughout the film, there was never a moment where the film feels unrealistic in tone, and the CGI moments are well-implemented.

While the zombie theme has become a common in recent years, I personally think Peninsula is one of the few films that gives the genre new life. Peninsula handles its narrative extremely well and, through no fault of its own, is also timed perfectly, considering the current global situation. Through Jung-seon’s journey, we see that human selfishness and greed lead to nothing but misery to those involved. Peninsula understands that, by working together, we are able to get through hell which, frankly, is something we need to hear during the very real pandemic that we find ourselves in today.

Peninsula is in select theatres across Canada on Friday, August 7th, 2020.

Last Moment of Clarity: Running from the Past

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Directed by Colin and James Krisel, Last Moment of Clarity is a thriller mystery film about Sam (Zach Avery), a man who has abandoned his identity in order to run away from the mob that’s after him. Scared and alone, Sam is plagued by the memory of his now deceased girlfriend Georgia (Samara Weaving), who was killed in cold blood by the same European mobsters. A few years later, Sam sees an actress that he is convinced is Georgia. Determined to track her down, Sam travels from Paris to L.A see if it really is Georgia and find some answers, all while trying to avoid death from the mob.

Last Moment of Clarity contains the underlying theme of running from our past mistakes. Though both have taken different paths since the night of their attack, Sam and Georgia have decided to run away from their problems. Instead of returning back home to L.A, both Georgia and Sam disactivate all their social media and identity, staying low and under new personas in Paris in order to avoid the Mob. As they constantly live in fear that their past mistakes will come to confront them, they try to avoid death in the present. It’s not until they come together that they are finally able to overcome their past and move on in the present. In other words, as they reconnect, the two are able to move on with their lives, no longer living in fear and regret of the night of their attack. 

In the end, Clarity is a fun film that intrigued me through its mysterious premise. Is the woman that Sam sees really his lost love, Georgia? If it is, why didn’t she contact him? Has she lost her memory? Why does the mob want to kill Sam, who appears to be a nobody? As the story unravels, it creates a web-like cat and mouse game between Sam and the mobsters that keeps you guessing as who will eventually get the drop on their enemy first. With this in mind, I recommend Last Moment of Clarity which builds an intriguing mystery that keep the viewer 

Last Moment of Clarity is available on PVOD now.