Alive. (2018), Movie Review

Alive. is a mystery in a horror setting, even though it is listed as a horror thriller. I don’t want to go into a lot of detail about the plot; it would be easy enough to give up the mystery. I’ll give you a jump on the mystery and other information about the movie.

I saw a screening of Alive.at the 2018 FilmQuest Film Festival (website).

Plot Summary

A man and a woman wake up in an abandoned building. It looks like it was possibly a medical facility of some sort. They have no memory of who they are and how they got there. They are unable to leave, or even see what is beyond the walls of the building.

They have a caretaker who is helping in their recovery. A man who is making sure that while they are getting better they are unable to leave.

I really want to say more about the plot of Alive., but it would spoil the fun.

(Small spoiler) The only fault I give to the story is how the leads don’t solve their own mystery. They are given the information by others which, however, sets the movie up to be a classic tragedy where the characters get what they want and not what they need.

Thomas Cocquerel and Camille Stopps

Cast

The male patient is played by Thomas Cocquerel (IMDb page). He is known recently for his role in Table 19, which is a very different role than what he has in Alive.. Camille Stopps (IMDb page) plays the female patient opposite of him. She is known for her work in television series including Guilt Free Zone. Their caretaker, listed as “The Man,” is Angus Macfadyen (IMDb page). Macfadyen has a long string of credits which include Robert the Bruce in Braveheart and Jeff in Saw III and Saw IV.

The actors are great in their roles. They took on their characters and brought them to life  throughout the movie. The interaction between them was disturbingly moving as they learned more about each other.

I was rooting for the characters to solve their mystery to see how they would react to the situation.

FilmQuest Cthulhu Awards

Alive. was nominated for six awards.

It was in the running for top honor of Best Feature Film.

Camille Stopps was nominated for Best Actress—Feature.

Angus Macfadyen was nominated for Best Supporting Actor—Feature.

Rob Grant (IMDb page) was nominated for Best Director—Feature.

Alive. was also in the running for Best Makeup—Feature.

The screenplay, written by Chuck McCue (IMDb page) and Jules Vincent (IMDb page) was nominated and recognized as the Best Screenplay—Feature.

Angus Macfadyen

Overall

Alive. is a well written mystery worthy of your time. If you are expecting a thriller, you will probably think that the movie moves slower than it should. However, those are the scenes where McCue and Vincent are subtly setting out the clues (and red herrings) to the mystery they have crafted.

I promised a clue to the mystery earlier and it has probably been annoying some you from the beginning of this article. The title is Alive.. Alive with a period. The additional punctuation and lack of capitalization after the period has been purposeful, just like in the title. So, say the title as “Alive Period” and think about how that sounds.

I give Alive. 4 out of 5.

This movie is worth seeing on any size screen if you get a chance to see it on. I know as others figure out the mystery they are going to want to share it.

If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can also join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter(@GuildMstrGmng).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Curvature, Movie review from the 2017 FilmQuest Film Festival

Curvature is a time travel adventure with a suspenseful twist bringing the lead character, Helen (Lyndsy Fonesca: RePlay, Agent Carter), full circle on herself.

Helen is a robotics engineer who, at the start of the movie is found recovering from the tragic suicide of her engineering husband. She retreats to the family cabin only to find herself waking up on her couch in the city with amnesia. The amount of time she is missing in her memory matches with the experiments her husband was doing with time travel.

With the help of a concerned friend, Alex (Zack Avery), she starts retracing her steps to find out what happened.

Helen comes to understand she sent herself back in time to stop herself from killing her husband's murder, his business and research partner Tomas (Glenn Morshower: Transformers: The Last Knight).

And the adventure begins.

The premise gives the movie a strong start. The acting is strong including the star power appearance of Linda Hamilton (The Terminator) as Florence, Helens Robotics advisor from her school days. The presence on the screen really shines and Diego Hallivis directs them into some stunning performances.

However, the story has some flaws that take away from the story. I noticed a couple of breaks in character and in the plot that made me step back some from the film. Which was a sad thing because I like what they were doing and where the story ended up.

The actors did what they could with the characters, and they did a great job. The flaws presented were in how the characters were written. It felt like there were changes made during production that didn't get incorporated well.

This could very well be the case because I heard the filming of Linda Hamilton's role had to be cut short because she had to leave the set to take care of personal matters.

Removing the minor flaws the story moves well. The scenes are well set and even though there is a very scientific look where it is needed, other parts, with the minor details in the background sets it in a current reality.

There is always a question of an ethical dilemma when time travel is concerned. This provides the basics that we've become used to. There is also an added subplot, developing an additional ethical dilemma, woven in throughout the film.

When we reach the end of the movie the separate plots are brought together nicely. Helen is brought full circle on herself. When she realizes what her true motive was, and, in a sense, is, it brought me back into the story.

Curvature has some mild language use, which would probably give it a PG-13 rating. There is nothing in it that would bring it close to an R.

I saw Curvature at the 2017 FilmQuest Film Festival. The film was nominated for 6 awards at the festival: Best Director (Diego Hallivis won this award), Best Actress (Lyndsy Fonseca as Helen), Best Supporting Actor (Glen Morshower as Tomas), Best Sound, Best Score, Best Ensemble Cast.

Overall I found Curvaturea really good movie giving it 3 ½ out 5.

I give the acting and directing 4 out of 5.

I give the writing 3 out of 5.

Curvature is still on the film festival circuit. If you like sci-fi thrillers, I think you will like Curvature for its twist on the general theme that has been used before.

Director: Diego Hallivis

Writer: Brian DeLeeuw (also wrote Some Kind of Hate)

Cast: Lyndsy Fonseca (Helen), TV RePlay and Agent Carter; Glenn Morshower (Tomas), Transformers: The Last KnIght; Linda Hamilton (Florence), Terminator; Noah Bean (Wells); Alex Lanipekun (Kraviz), The Brothers Grimsby.

Curvature is 91 minutes long and was produced in the United States.

Originally published by Utah Geek Magazine.

If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can also join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (@GuildMstrGmng).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

The Gateway, Movie Review screened at FilmQuest 2017

Originally published by Utah Geek Magazine.

A particle physicist, Jane Chandler (Jacqueline McKenzie—The Water Diviner and Deep Blue Sea) has been working with her assistant Regg (Ben Mortley—Pale Blue Eyes and The Woodcutter) on making teleportation a reality. They are close to a breakthrough in their research as they've been able to dematerialize items, but, they haven't been able to get anything to materialize in the receiving chamber. A further complication is thrown into her research when her husband is killed in an accident.

While still grieving, she starts reviewing her research to bring her back to reality and her two children. At which point she comes up with an idea that might explain why the objects they've been teleporting are not rematerializing—they are being sent to a parallel universe. With a little ingenuity Jane is able to prove it.

But, Jane is still working through the grief of losing her husband, Matt (Myles Pollard—X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Tucker and Dale vs Evil). With what she has been able to prove, she comes up with a plan to travel to the other universe and find the man she's lost.

If it wasn't for the fact of the title and the marketing quote, the initial setup of the two teleportation chambers brings to mind the plot of a teleportation gone wrong story. Instead, it is a solid story bringing information from current research taking place around the world to heighten and deliver on the theme of being grateful for what you have.

What sets this movie apart are the subtle details used to illustrate the differences between the parallel universes. These are shown in the characters portrayed and the details added to the alternate universe to give it a different feel.

Wonderful acting brings each of the characters to life. The story is centered on Jane and Matt, and the writing of the characters really reflects that. The additional characters may not be as developed but they are what is needed to build the story.

I'm not saying the actors did poorly in portraying the characters, or even a breakdown in the storyline. They weren't the focus of the story. The additional characters, especially the children played by Ryan Panizza and Shannon Berry gave some pungent points to the scenes, rounding out the story being told. They brought another level of emotional involvement, and a viewpoint of the differences in the alternate character that otherwise would not have been visible.

Myles Pollard as Matt and Ben Mortley as Regg had the opportunity of playing the same characters in two different "roles" (Jacqueline McKenzie, had scenes as her alternate also). The two actors created two distinct characters fitting to the setting they were from. Pollard gives us the Matt of this world and the Matt of the other world in great contrast to each other. He accomplishes the differences without having to be blunt.

To help set the mood of the alternate universe there were touches in the settings that set the tone. The lighting and coloration of the alternate universe immediately gave the feeling there is something different. There were also little touches added to the look of the characters and backgrounds to further the feel.

None of this would have worked if the science wasn't done right.

I've followed science and have worked with a number of scientist, albeit not particle physicists, and The Gateway does a good job of representing the science. There was enough of the theory and practical activity being presented to give a sense of plausibility.

Teleportation has been getting more attention lately with the some of the research that has been coming out of places like Australia where The Gateway was made. I could tell consideration was given to current activity in the field. But don't be worried if you aren't a science geek. The information is delivered so that you don't need to be caught up on the peer reviewed articles coming out of the journals. I felt the amount they touched on, and how they did it kept with the pace of what they wanted to achieve. Personally, I wasn't thrown out of the story because they tried to get too much science involved, or skimmed over it too lightly.

I had the opportunity of seeing The Gateway at this year's (2017) FilmQuest Film Festival. At the festival it was nominated for best screenplay, best actor (Myles Pollard), best actress (Jacqueline McKenzie), best VFX, where it was up for several awards including the screenplay and the two lead actors.

During the question and answers after the screening it was noted that the script for The Gatewaystarted out as a time travel story. As they were working on it they felt there were a number of time travel movies already on the market and they wanted to do something different. They did.

Changing the story to dealing with a parallel universe works.

The other point brought up about the movie was they were looking at obtaining distribution in North America and Australia.

Overall

I liked The Gateway. A solid story maintaining a theme to give it cohesion from beginning to end. Enough detail to the research going on without being overbearing.

The story was compelling and there were twists that fit into the subtlety of the rest of the movie. We are given a promise at the beginning, and the promise is delivered. Even though, it may not be in just the way we thought it was going to happen.

The acting, directing, and cinematography were all well done. The feelings and mood of the movie were portrayed well.

I give The Gateway4 out of 5. It is worth seeing.

Director: John V. Soto (The Reckoning and Needle)

Writers: John V. Soto, Michael White (a large list of science related books since 1992)

Time: 90 minutes

If you have a comment, suggestion, or critique please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can also join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (@GuildMstrGmng).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad