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SIFF Review: "The Bling Ring"

The Bling Ring

"The Bling Ring"
Directed by Sofia Coppola

Starring Israel Broussard, Katie Chang, Emma Watson, Leslie Mann, Claire Julien, Taissa Farmiga
Crime, Drama
90 Mins
R
 

In a funny way, The Bling Ring is Sofia Coppola's most accessible film to date. As cognizantly distant and empty-headed as the teens-on-a-tear at the center of the film are, Coppola takes aim at the celebrity-woozy, status-driven ethos of the eGeneration and blasts a cartoonish hole in the midst of it. At the center of this distorted "me, me, me" psychology is a generational confusion of money for fame that we've all grown accustomed to, and likely sickened by, since the proliferation of reality television. Behind the mass thievery in the film of designer clothing, excessive jewelry and cold hard cash and beyond the drivel of faux-postmodern wisdom, competent and unexpected camera work from the late Harris Savides drives Coppola's picture towards a lingering statement on the despondent emptiness of a life pursuing status and fame.

Read more: SIFF Review: "The Bling Ring"

SIFF Review: "Last I Heard"

Last I Heard

"Last I Heard"
Directed by Dave Rodriguez
Starring Paul Sorvino, Renee Props, Michael Rapaport, Andrea Nittoli, Lev Gorn, Steven Bauer, Chazz Palminteri
Drama, Comedy

 For a film whose focus is character, Last I Heard is pretty inept at characterization. Leading man Paul Sorvino does the best he can with his ex-mobster character Mr. Joe but he just doesn’t have it in him to play the star role nor does he have any character half decent enough to adequately play off of. His eventually coming-to-terms with life outside the confines of a prison cell should have felt poignant but instead stagnates and quickly becomes adrift in mediocrity. When the walls to the stony faced character are finally broken down, even his tears feel artificial and vapid. Director and screenwriter Dave Rodriguez uses heavy-handed pathos to try and move his audience but his actors just aren’t up for the challenge.

Read more: SIFF Review: "Last I Heard"

SIFF Review: "V/H/S 2"

SIFF Review: V/H/S 2

"V/H/S 2"
Directed by Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener, Gareth Evans, Gregg Hale,
Eduardo Sánchez, Timo Tjahjanto, Adam Wingard
Starring Kelsy Abbott, Devon Brookshire, Samantha Gracie, Hannah Hughes, Kevin Hunt, Lawrence Michael Levine, Carly Robell, Mindy Robinson, Adam Wingard and John T. Woods

Horror
96 Mins
R

V/H/S 2 is completely tone deaf to any semblance of mood that it tries to summon. Waffling between a lo-fi ghost story, perverse Zombie campiness, genuinely eerie cult atmospherics, old-school creature puppetry, and shockingly lame Alien clichés, the five portions that make up this film couldn't be more disparate and at odds with each other. Even without the complete overuse of crackling audio and tired finicky video errors, it's clear that this franchise cannot capture the almost realistic nature of the first film and instead settles with being a loose grab-bag of predictable horror staples.

Read more: SIFF Review: "V/H/S 2"

SIFF Review: "Wish You Were Here"

SIFF Review: "Wish You Were Here"

"Wish You Were Here"
Directed by Kieran Darcy-Smith

Starring Joel Edgerton, Felicity Price, Teresa Palmer, Antony Starr
Drama, Mystery
89 Mins
R

Cautionary tale and psychological thriller, Wish You Were Here is the worst of vacation nightmares realized. Veering around chronological storytelling, director Kieran Darcy-Smith twists an introspective journey into a taut thriller. With silence that feels as weighty as dialogue, Darcy-Smith stretches the alluring reveal on a little long but, when all is said and done, has left his mark and made a potent statement about the destructive nature of guilt.

Read more: SIFF Review: "Wish You Were Here"

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