Review: ‘The True Adventures of Wolfboy’ is a whimsical lesson in life and self acceptance.

 

Paul lives an isolated life with his father in upstate New York. He finds making friends impossible due to a rare condition he has known as congenital hypertrichosis – an affliction that causes an abnormal amount of hair growth all over his face and body. On his 13th birthday, Paul receives a mysterious gift that compels him to run away and seek out the mother he has never known.

The True Adventures of Wolfboy will tap into something deep down inside the viewer. This film manages to be both one of the most emotionally impactful and one of the most whimsical films of the year. Told in chapters like a 19th-century fairytale epic, Paul is our flawed and fragile hero. While tortured for his hypertrichosis, a condition that causes uncontrollable facial hair growth, Paul is battling a father that tries desperately to build his confidence, a mother who abandoned him, on top of unfathomable cruelty from his peers. In an act of defiance and peak frustration, he leaves his home on a journey that will shape the way he perceives himself and those around for the rest of his life. Encountering a number of other misfits, all with a story and past that teaches Paul bravery, acceptance, boldness, and compassion.  The chase between police and Paul is on. The shenanigans along the way will amaze you. The True Adventures of Wolfboy is pure delight.

John Turturro as Mr. Silk is a masterclass. Like every one of his roles, he is a chameleon. He is slyly one of the evilest characters we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s the nuance that makes this performance so incredible. He is a representation of all that is negative and manipulative about the real world. Chris Messina as Paul’s father is a beautiful anchor. His care for this role is evident from the very beginning. Eve Hewson is a firecracker. Her shocking energy makes you smile wider than you thought possible. Sophie Giannamore is a wonder. She is the very person Paul needed to meet for innumerable reasons. Her chemistry with Jaeden Martell is electric. The ease with which she handles the dramatic and lovely nature of her character is perfection. Jaeden Martell is Paul. His quiet strength and vulnerable nature let us live in his shoes. I’ve seen every one of his roles and he is a star. His ability to breathe life into Paul allows the audience to sit back and let Martell take their anxiety and run with it. He represents the outsider we all felt like we were in some form or another.

It’s visually splendid, from the circus colors, the lush costumes, each character having a stand out color pop. And then, there are the chapter illustrations. They are gasp-worthy gorgeous. The brilliant combination of Olivia Dufault’s screenplay, DP Andrew Droz Palermo‘s camera work, Aaron Osborne’s production design, Donna Zakowska‘s thoughtful costumes, and director Martin Krejcí overall vision make for a stunning and important lesson in 2020. Not only does it serve as a lesson, but it endlessly entertaining. The True Adventures of Wolfboy is a film we can all get behind right now.

Available On-Demand & Digital Friday, October 30

Directed by:

Martin Krejcí

Written by:

Olivia Dufault

Produced by:

Kimberly Steward, Josh Godfrey, Lauren Beck, Declan Baldwin, Benjamin Blake

Starring:

Jaeden Martell, Chris Messina, Eve Hewson, Michelle Wilson, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Sophie Giannamore, Chloë Sevigny, John Turturro

Rating:

PG-13

Run Time:

88 Minutes

Review: ‘TIME WARP: THE GREATEST CULT FILMS OF ALL-TIME VOLUME 1 MIDNIGHT MADNESS’ available now!

SYNOPSIS: From “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” to “The Big Lebowski” and everything in between, this fascinating deep-dive documentary begins its celebration of the greatest cult movies of all-time discussing the birth of the midnight movie.
I was 13 the first time I saw The Rocky Horror Picture Show. My life was forever changed in every way. I was a Catholic school kid who knew that a lot of what I was being taught felt wrong. I had danced since the age of two and had seen how music and showmanship affected an audience. This film was singlehandedly responsible for my college choices and the path I’ve taken ever since. There is something about a cult film that makes you feel at home. You’re in a room filled with people who get “it”, free-spirited, open-minded individuals with a sense of humor. What’s better than that? TIME WARP: THE GREATEST CULT FILMS OF ALL-TIME VOLUME 1 MIDNIGHT MADNESS is now available for everyone to experience themselves. With sitdown interviews with some of the greatest stars and directors of the most famous midnight madness films like Pink Flamingo, Reefer Madness, Freaks, The Warriors, just to name a few. This doc is a genre, cult, cinephile’s dream. It discusses the cultural shifts that occurred because of these films. How they influenced not only the audience but films that came after. There will be two more volumes; VOLUME 2 HORROR AND SCI-FI & VOLUME 3 COMEDY AND CAMP. I cannot wait to see who and what come up in the last two docs. They are undeniably fun and incredibly informative. What until you find out who was originally supposed to star in Point Break! You’ll feel like you’re in good company watching these films and maybe even add some films to your watch list (at least you should). So, set a virtual watch party with friends and catch Volume 1 now! Check out the trailer below!
TIME WARP: THE GREATEST CULT FILMS OF ALL-TIME VOLUME 1 MIDNIGHT MADNESS – April 21
RUN TIME: 105 minutes
CAST: Jeff Bridges, Pam Grier, Rob Reiner, Barry Bostwick, Michael McKean, John Turturro, Gary Busey, Jeff Goldblum, Fran Drescher, Penelope Spheeris and Peter Bogdanovich

COMING SOON:

TIME WARP: THE GREATEST CULT FILMS OF ALL-TIME VOLUME 2 HORROR AND SCI-FI – May 19
TIME WARP: THE GREATEST CULT FILMS OF ALL-TIME VOLUME 3 COMEDY AND CAMP – June 23

New York Film Festival 53 Review: ‘MIA MADRE’

NYFF 53 bannerMIA MADRE_1304Impending death of a loved one is something we’ll all face in our lifetime. Everyone deals with it on their own very personal way. In Nanni Moretti‘s new feature MIA MADRE, Margherita knows her mother is on the verge of death, but is in the kind of denial that turns her world into a tailspin. Trying to separate her professional life and her home life is not working. Relationships with her volatile American actor, her loving brother, young daughter, and her film, are all in jeopardy as she flails through feigning normalcy.MIA MADRE_1252Margherita Buy is beyond brilliant as our lead. Never a false moment or a skipped beat. her presence is perfection and the story is relatable on every level. John Turturro’s outstanding performance as over the top American actor Barry Higgins is equally captivating. His boisterous sense of importance is the perfect foil to Margherita’s slow emotional unraveling. The film’s impact is pretty massive. It will stick with you long after you leave the theater. It’s a true study in human behavior.MIA MADRE_1228jpgIn the press conference immediately following the screening, Nanni Moretti and John Turturro sat down to chat about the experience. Moretti crafted this script when his own mother became ill while he as editing one of his films and later passed away. He explained that Margherita Buy was his first choice to play the leading lady, and that he felt that it would be more interesting to play the story out through a female character. As he was writing and shooting, his catharsis also occurred in his portrayal of the character Giovanni, Margherita’s brother. “Giovanni is the character I wanted to be (in real life), but I’m not.” This quiet, grounded performance speaks volumes and is another gorgeous emotional counterbalance to Margherita.

There was a whole lot of improv on the set. I asked John if it was complicated to switch between fluent Italian and English in the same monologue stream or if that was precisely how Nanni had written the dialogue. John revealed that Nanni asked him to memorize all the lines in Italian, go back and learn them again in English, then once he had a true sense of who ,Barry Huggins was, he had the freedom to play within the languages. He admitted it was incredibly complicated. Let me assure you, it is deliciously effective.

MIA MADRE is a beautiful film. One that we, at Reel News Daily, highly recommend.

  • Directed By Nanni Moretti
  • 2015
  • Italy/France
  • Italian and English with English subtitles
  • DCP
  • 106 minutes

Margherita (Margherita Buy) is a middle-aged filmmaker who has to contend with an international co-production starring a mercurial American actor (John Turturro) and with the realization that her beloved mother (Giulia Lazzarini) is mortally ill. Underrated as an actor, director Nanni Moretti offers a fascinating portrayal as Margherita’s brother, a quietly abrasive, intelligent man with a wonderfully tamped-down generosity and warmth. The construction of the film is as simple as it is beautiful: the chaos of the movie within the movie merges with the fear of disorder and feelings of pain and loss brought about by impending death. Mia Madre is a sharp and continually surprising work about the fragility of existence that is by turns moving, hilarious, and subtly disquieting. An Alchemy release.

Showtimes

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28

9:15 PM

Standby Only

Michael’s Review: ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’- This One’s Not Heaven Sent

Exodus_Ver2_Wave PosterWhen I first heard of director Ridley Scott’s willingness to make a feature length interpretation of the story of Moses and his quest to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, I had my doubts of the outcome. Scott has not had a very good track record of making historically epic films with duds like 1492: Conquest of Paradise and Kingdom of Heaven in his resume. Armed with a  cast of white actors to play the lead roles of Hebrew and ancient Egyptian characters,  Ridley Scott sets out to retell the story of Moses no matter what the cost and what audience he alienates in the process. The portrayal of Moses which will no doubt leave religious audiences scratching their heads and others with little more than a visually stunning movie with little substance. Read More →