As the landscape of home viewing and streaming continuously changes, major studios have taken more notice with schemes of simultaneous streaming/theatrical releases at a higher price point. Paramount is the next to come up with a streaming plan, though this is one that may have some legs. First reported at the Hollywood Reporter, the mega studio has partnered with mega theater chain AMC to shorten the theatrical release window for two upcoming films. Two October releases, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension and Scout’s Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse, will hit VOD just 17 days following its theatrical release (as opposed to the typical theatrical runs of 4-6 weeks for films of this size). This may be a small impact at this point, and you may not be interested in the two films that will experiment with the strategy, but it is important to know that Hollywood is taking more notice on how we consume films. It’s still difficult to see the theatrical model changing dynamically, but more diverse viewing platforms is a step in the right direction. Before you check out a new Paramount film from the comfort of your couch, here are some new titles to streaming to check out this weekend.

Netflix

Faults (Riley Stearns, 2014)

The best films of the year so far just keep dropping on Netflix. Faults, #19 on our mid-year best of list, is a thrilling and darkly funny two-hander between a woman escaped from a cult (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and the crack deprogramer hired to ease her back into society (Leland Orser, in a career performance). Cults have been a hot topic in indie dramas the past few years, so now we’re seeing films able to take those tropes into new directions – Faults does so in clever and rewarding ways. In our “Must See Indie” review of the film we called it an “original feature debut, a compelling chamber piece boasting fantastic performances, and so soaked in charisma that it’s almost impossible not to be enchanted from hilarious start to insatiable finish.”

Other titles new to Netflix this week:
The Long Way Home (Mark Jonathan Harris, 1997)
The Search for General Tso (Ian Cheney, 2014)
Serena (Susanne Bier, 2014)
Wild Canaries (Lawrence Michael Levine, 2014)
Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny (Richard Trank, 2010)

Fandor

A Woman Under the Influence (John Cassavetes, 1974)

This week Fandor is profiling the work of American indie pioneer John Cassavetes, with A Woman Under the Influence, his most vital film, being the highlight. Starring Gena Rowlands in her career defining performance, it is one of the most challenging looks at mental illness on-screen. Cassavetes’s matter-of-fact style puts you right in the room while the struggling Mabel and her hardened husband (Peter Falk) have a series of intense, emotional altercations. A Woman Under the Influence certainly isn’t an easy film-watching experience, but it is a perfect example of the power of cinema for character, story and thoughtful direction. Other Cassavetes films available on Fandor this week include The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, Faces, Opening Night and Shadows – and all are available without Fandor’s two-week viewing window, but that doesn’t mean you should wait to see this fantastic films.

Other titles new to Fandor this week:
Children of Paradise (Marcel Carné, 1945)
The Past Is a Grotesque Animal (Jason Miller, 2014)
Under the Roofs of Paris (René Clair 1930)
La Vie de Bohème (Aki Kaurismäki, 1992)
Vivre sa Vie (Jean-Luc Godard, 1962)

MUBI

A Simple Life (Ann Hui, 2011)

One of the unheralded auteurs currently working today, Ann Hui’s simple, touching films often look into worlds that aren’t represented well in cinema. A Simple Life is a great example of this, the story of an elderly maid after suffering a stroke. After moving to a retirement home, the woman begins a friendship with a young man she cared for as a maid for many years. Usually when a film is set in a retirement home there is some sort of evil or incompetence at play, or at the very least the staggering melodrama of aging, but Hui chooses to focus on simple pleasures like food and friendship. There are certainly dramatic elements that come into play, but the film never strains for them. It is a nice change of pace.

Other titles new to MUBI this week:
Artificial Paradises (Marcos Prado, 2012)
Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2002)
Fogo (Yulene Olaizola, 2012)
A Room with a View (James Ivory, 1985)
Tears of the Black Tiger (Wisit Sasanatieng, 2000)

Video On-Demand

’71 (Yann Demange, 2014)

One of the most overlooked films of this year, ’71 is a taught thriller starring Jack O’Connell as a British soldier who gets trapped behind enemy lines after an incident on the streets of Northern Ireland. A smart mix of action, thriller, war and espionage genres, ’71 perfectly uses its unique time and space to create a unique film. At times it feels like a 1980s hero-driven action flick before seamlessly transitioning into something like a supremely good John le Carré adaptation. Set in a highly political environment, the film deftly navigates the issues between the people and its government without being didactic. Now that ’71 is on DVD and VOD, it can hopefully find some legs as we begin ramping up to our best of the year lists.

Other titles new to VOD this week:
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, 2014)
Merchants of Doubt (Robert Kenner, 2014)
Red Knot (Scott Cohen, 2014)
Woman in Gold (Simon Curtis 2015)

‘71, named after the year in which it is based, is director Yann Demange’s striking début feature, which follows a British soldier left abandoned in the middle of Belfast at the height of the conflict in Northern Ireland.

The film is told from the perspective of Gary Hook (Jack O’Connell), a brand new recruit in the British Army, who is sent to Northern Ireland after barely having time to finish his basic training. Cook is clearly not the only soldier out of his depth, as his commander makes the perilous mistake of sending his troops into the middle of a riotous Belfast, without protective gear. When the British Army arrive in the heart of the Republican part of Belfast there is an immediate hostility towards them. An encounter between the British troops and a mob of protesters quickly becomes violent and the resulting skirmish leads to Hook being separated from the rest of the British Army and subsequently trapped behind enemy lines.

Quickly becoming apparent in the opening scenes of the film, Demange is reluctant to let ‘71 become bogged down in the complexity of political context to the conflict. Rather than explore the Republican’s motivations for seeking independence for Northern Ireland, or the Protestants opposing arguments, we are instead thrust straight into the heart of the conflict. This may frustrate political ‘anoraks’, but it gives the film a sense of urgency that propels it forward with a compelling frenetic energy.

After being dropped behind enemy lines, Cook is trapped like a rat in a maze as a group of menacing young IRA soldiers drive around searching for him, as well as a group of British undercover officers, whose true loyalties are ambiguous. As with all great thrillers ‘71 is at times unbearably, painfully tense. This is due to fantastic performances throughout the cast, but especially from Jack’ O’Connell, who is in a terrific run of form at the moment after his mesmerizing performance in Starred Up. The cinematography is also excellent as Tat Radcliffe (who unsurprisingly worked on BBC’s dark and stylish The Shadow Line) gets the maximum amount of drama and suspense out of Belfast’s narrow, dark, cobbled streets; dusty, smoked filled pubs; and imposing apartment blocks. Added to ‘71’s dramatic cinematography is a pulse-pounding soundtrack to ratchet up the tension.

Demange strives to convey those caught within the conflict as ordinary people simply trying to survive. One of the effects of the film in following a single soldier and one who appears seemingly apolitical, is to convey the chaos and the senselessness of the violence on both sides of the conflict. There are some particularly provocative scenes in the film, juxtaposing the speed with which shocking violence can occur, arising out of seemingly ordinary and familiar situations which will undoubtedly stay with the audience. Occasionally, Demanges’ naturalism can come across as a little contrived but this is rare with the director more often than not delicately balancing nuanced performances from his actors with all the thrills that you would expect from a genre film.

With ‘71 Demange has created a distinctive film which is undoubtedly one of the best British thrillers of the year. Whilst the film does have political messages, most notably conveying the chaos of war, as a political film its arguments, whilst truthful, are simplistic. As such, whether or not ‘71 possesses the political weight to be counted among British classics dealing with the Northern Ireland conflict, such as Paul Greengrass’s Bloody Sunday, is debatable, but as a piece of genre fiction it is first class.

Originally published on Oct 21, 2014

Celebrating its 5th Anniversary (just like us!), The Toronto Irish Film Festival, established to help promote Irish film within Canada, is exhibiting a unique collection of Independent Irish films over the course of three days.

The Toronto Irish Film Festival runs from Friday March 6-Sunday March 8th for more info visit: http://torontoirishfilmfestival.com/

The Festival opens with Standby, a gentle romantic comedy based in Dublin. It stars Brian Gleeson as Alan, a musician with a passion for skiffle music. Alan is fed up, stuck with a boring job in a tourist office in an airport, being perpetually single and living alone with his father. His life appears to take a turn for the better when he runs into his former fling Alice (Jessica Pare, Mad Men), who is grounded in the city after a delayed flight and needs somewhere to stay. Standby is a charming, naturalistic comedy, and the perfect opening to the festival. (The screening also features a Q&A session with Brian Gleeson) (Screening: Friday, March 6, 2015 at 7pm)

Also showing at TIRFF is the uplifting Good Vibrations, which tells the story of Terri Hooley, a man who, in the midst of the ‘troubles’ in 1970s Northern Ireland, opened the record store ‘Good Vibrations’. Hooley and ‘Good Vibrations’ was hugely influential in establishing the Belfast Punk scene, and the film features great music from punk bands of the era including The Undertones and lesser known bands such as the The Outcasts. It also offers an honest account of life in Belfast during one the most difficult moments in its history. (Screening: Saturday March 7, 2015 at 3pm)

Also based in Belfast in the heart of the conflict in the 1970s is the outstanding ’71 which I raved about back when it was released in the UK. Starring Jack O’Connell, it follows a British solider separated from his unit and left to survive the night in a hostile West Belfast. It’s a fantastic debut from director Yann Demange, one that shouldn’t be missed. Consider this a sneak preview screening too, since it’s showing a week before its theatrical release in Toronto. (Screening: Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 5:30pm)

Finishing off the Saturday evening is Irish Film and Television Award winning comedy Gold, a film which sees Ray (David Wilmot) trying to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend and her daughter (Maisie Williams), now a potential track and field star, who is under the thumb of her controlling PE coach stepfather (James Nesbitt). (Screening: Saturday, March 7, 2015 at 8pm).

The festival finishes on the Sunday with Rebuilding the World Trade Centre, an observational documentary by Belfast artist and filmmaker Marcus Robinson, which chronicles construction on the new World Trade Centre. The film uses a mixture of time lapse photography and interviews with those working on the build, offering insights into this important attempt to rebuild one of New York’s most iconic buildings. (Screening: Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 7pm)

The festival also includes a series of 6 short films highlighting the work of new and upcoming Irish film directors as part of TIRFF 2015 IRISH Shorts Programme. (Screening: Sunday, March 8, 2015 at 4pm)

As the 23rd Annual Philadelphia Film Festival came to a close this weekend, the Philadelphia Film Society released the names of the festival’s prize-winning films. Awards are annually handed out to the best narrative, documentary and short films screening in competition at the Philadelphia Film Festival, as well as spotlight awards on features produced locally or made by local talent.

Taking away the festival’s Grand Jury Prize was Peter Strickland’s lesbian BDSM drama The Duke of Burgundy (read our review). Also receiving honors from the jury were the French-made Girlhood, which took away the Special Jury Prize, and the British action-thriller ’71 (read our review) whose director Yann Demange won the jury’s Best Director Prize with his work on his debut feature film.

The Pinkenson Award for Local Feature, named after the Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office Sharon Pinkenson, was bestowed upon Crescendo! The Power of Music, director Jamie Bernstein’s documentary examining El Sistema, a youth orchestra program for at-risk children. Other films highlighted by the Pinkenson Award included Listen Up Philip’s Honorable Mention for Innovation in Storytelling (dir. Alex Ross Perry), and Tomorrow We Disappear (dir. Adam Weber and Jimmy Goldblum) with an Honorable Mention for World Vision.

Jesse Moss’ powerful documentary The Overnighters (read our review) won the festival’s Best Documentary Prize while the animated Port Nasty (dir. Rob Zywietz) won Best Short and The Cut (dir. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles) received an Honorable Mention for Best Live Action Short.