Revelation 2016
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- 28 titles
- DirectorJean-Marc ValléeStarsJake GyllenhaalNaomi WattsChris CooperA successful investment banker struggles after losing his wife in a tragic car crash. With the help of a customer service rep and her young son, he starts to rebuild, beginning with the demolition of the life he once knew.REV#01: DEMOLITION. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man who responds to the sudden death of his wife by taking apart everything he can find, from the refrigerator in his kitchen to the restroom stalls at work. It's as quirky as it sounds, told at a frenetic pace and captures the emptiness of Gyllenhaal's character a little too well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UnSXelOJo0 - DirectorGabriel MascaroStarsJuliano CazarréMaeve JinkingsJosinaldo AlvesIremar works at the rodeo in North East of Brazil. From his home, the truck used to transport the animals, he dreams of a future in the region's booming clothing industry.REV#02: NEON BULL. A Brazilian bull-wrangler dreams of a career in women's fashion design. It's quite impressive that nearly every scene is covered in a single shot from a carefully-placed camera. But the awkward moments - from stealing horse semen to pubic grooming to unsimulated sex with a heavily-pregnant woman - had tonight's audience squirming. And a weak narrative makes me wonder if we're expected to do anything more than just observe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84cSaJqtyD4 - DirectorAlireza RaisianStarsLeila HatamiShahab HosseiniFarhad AslaniBita is a successful lawyer and her specialty is women's rights. A curious case is brought to her that changes lives of everybody involved.REV#03: TIME FOR LOVE. Leila Hatami (A SEPARATION) plays an Iranian lawyer who learns her client is having an affair with her husband. The client's problem, we're told, is she's behaving 'too much like a Western woman'. This is not the 'tightly scripted film' we're promised in the program, it's needlessly drawn out. And poor production design makes many interiors look like we're in an IKEA showroom.
(Trailer is in Persian, without subtitles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMXidqpjLBc - DirectorCan EvrenolStarsMehmet CerrahogluGörkem KasalErgun KuyucuA squad of unsuspecting cops go through a trapdoor to Hell when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building.REV#04: BASKIN. Five Turkish police officers are called to a remote mansion one evening and find it's filled with bloodthirsty, mutant, cannibal rapists. Projector problems at the Luna provided some relief from the cinematic sadism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9SfWmXQY3o - DirectorsJosh KriegmanElyse SteinbergStarsAnthony WeinerHuma AbedinJordan Zain WeinerAn examination of disgraced New York Congressman Anthony Weiner's mayoral campaign and today's political landscape.REV#05: WEINER. This is great! US Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner was forced to resign after a sexting scandal in 2011, where he sent a woman a photograph of his crotch on Twitter. Journalists and comedians had a field day, with such headlines as 'Weiner Exposed', 'Rise and Fall of Weiner' and 'Weiner Must Pull Out'. Two years later, he decided to run for Mayor of New York ... and was caught in a sexting scandal again. Not only did he fail to learn his lesson the first time but he invited along a documentary crew to record his disastrous campaign. Utterly absorbing viewing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ4FIGnJknk - DirectorsAleksey SolodunovDmitry StoykovOleksandr TechynskyiStarsStuart D. LathamAleksey SolodunovDmitry StoykovWhat does the violent heart of revolution feel like? A visceral documentary from Maidan square in the violent Ukrainian winter of 2013-14.REV#06: ALL THINGS ABLAZE. In 2013, protestors took to the streets in the Ukraine. They promised peaceful demonstrations but it wasn't long before everything was set on fire. Why? This documentary is less concerned with the politics and more concerned with showing us the anarchy on the ground. We see a statue torn down, vehicles destroyed and bricks pulled up from the pavement and hurled at riot police. After what feels like the hundredth Molotov cocktail thrown, I'd had enough.
- DirectorLaurie AndersonStarsLaurie AndersonArchieJason BergMultimedia artist Laurie Anderson reflects on her relationship with her beloved terrier Lolabelle.REV#07: HEART OF A DOG. Part love letter from an eccentric lady to her Rat Terrier, part mad ramblings on the 9/11 attacks and the sinister government. With constant voice over narration, this feels closer to an audiobook than a film, and not a particularly good audiobook either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v37BnyHefnY - DirectorStefano SollimaStarsPierfrancesco FavinoElio GermanoClaudio AmendolaA gangster known as "Samurai" wants to turn the waterfront of Rome into a new Las Vegas. All the local mob bosses have agreed to work for this common goal. But peace is not to last long.REV#08: SUBURRA. An Italian politician winds up with a dead, underage girl in his bed. As he tries to cover his tracks, he sets off a chain of events that leads to a mafia war. Here, violence is a way of life and corruption is everywhere, from the Parliament to the Church. This film is sensational. Every bit as good as Coppola's THE GODFATHER and Scorsese's GOODFELLAS, it's easily among the best films ever shown in Revelation's ninteen-year history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSiRXm4TOIE - DirectorJohn DowerStarsLouis TherouxTom CruiseMarty RathbunLouis Theroux documents his investigation into what goes on behind the scenes of the infamous Church of Scientology.REV#09: LOUIS THEROUX: MY SCIENTOLOGY MOVIE. Louis Theroux smartly follows in the footsteps of Michael Moore with this feature-length documentary comedy. Here, he explores Scientology in his disarming, bumbling way and is treated with hostility by officials from the church. A packed house, roaring with laughter at the Luna on a Saturday night, is exactly why we need to keep cinema alive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIyJOp-tK0k - DirectorYann Arthus-BertrandStarsLuis CancuAtmanBerthonyA collection of stories about and images of our world, offering an immersion to the core of what it means to be human.REV#10: HUMAN. This is epic. Yann Arthus-Bertrand interviewed over 2,000 people from 60 countries for this three-hour documentary. Participants talk about love, family, work, politics, war and what it is to be human, with interludes of aerial photography of vast landscapes. While many of the stories deserve to be told, a ninety-minute version would have a far greater impact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-Retnj3TsA - DirectorAmy BergStarsCat PowerJanis JoplinKarleen BennettMusician Cat Power narrates this documentary on Janis Joplin's evolution into a star from letters that Joplin wrote over the years to her friends, family, and collaborators.REV#11: JANIS: LITTLE GIRL BLUE. A tremendous talent, an unbeatable addiction and an untimely death. Janis Joplin had a unique voice but an all too familiar story.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_sReugRWYI - DirectorAnna BillerStarsSamantha RobinsonJeffrey Vincent PariseLaura WaddellA modern-day witch uses spells and magic to get men to fall in love with her, with deadly consequences.REV#12: THE LOVE WITCH. A modern-day witch just wants to find love. If the screenplay were as good as the production design, wardrobe and photography, this overlong melodrama spoof would be much less tiring.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1rMTHBSwuI - DirectorAndrea MariniStarsMark BorkowskiMichael CarterManulele ClarkArt of the Prank is an emotional and humorous journey following the evolution of Joey Skaggs, Godfather of the media hoax, as he tries to pull off the most challenging prank of his career. This is interwoven with amazing archive footage of his earlier escapades-all reported as fact by prestigious journalists. The resulting twists and turns provide unprecedented insight into Joey's work as an artist, activist and social satirist.REV#13: ART OF THE PRANK. Joey Skaggs has turned the practical joke into an art form, pranking the media for most of his life. He's been given endless airtime by unsuspecting journalists who believe him in the different roles he plays. This mildly-amusing documentary follows Skaggs as he tries to pull off a hoax involving shark teeth grown in a human mouth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzY0ZGcLkp0&app=desktop - DirectorYang ZhangStarsTsring ChodronTashi DawaTsewang DolkarA group of Tibetans make a 1200 kilometer pilgrimage to Lasa.REV#14: PATHS OF THE SOUL. We follow a group of Tibetans on a pilgrimage. For hundreds of miles they kowtow, touching the ground with their foreheads every few steps. Along the way we see a birth, a death and a motor accident. This beautifully-photographed docu-drama is more rewarding for the patient viewer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f_V8e4t0-s&app=desktop - DirectorFelipe RodriguezStarsPaulino NunesJohnathan SousaMichael ReventarIllegal immigrants to the United States are kidnapped, tortured, and forced to call home for ransom money.REV#15: KIDNAP CAPITAL. Phoenix, Arizona is, apparently, the kidnap capital of the United States, where Mexicans cross the border and can find themselves taken hostage by thugs wanting a ransom. Well-shot and with convincing performances, this film is relentlessly grim. Watching a dozen scared, sweaty, semi-naked men confined to a small room for ninety minutes is not the most wholesome entertainment. But something needs to be done if these crimes are actually taking place and raising awareness through film is a good place to start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq_s1xbBACw&app=desktop - DirectorBahram TavakoliStarsGolab AdinehSaeed AghakhaniJamshid HashempurA writer who stole his friend's work is forced to write another sad novel on his behalf while in the middle of a family fight.REV#16: I AM DIEGO MARADONA. We're told this is a comedy but with family members yelling at each other for most of the film, the result is more stressful than comedic. And it would be nice to have subtitles written by someone who understands basic punctuation.
(Trailer is without subtitles)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtQ6gzbqUcU&app=desktop - DirectorBehtash SanaeehaStarsMohammad Taghi Shams LangroudiMaryam MoghadamPourya Rahimi SamManoucher is a sixty-year-old single man. His mother always wished to see his marriage when she was still alive but he didn't even have a friend except Khosro.REV#17: RISK OF ACID RAIN. A lonely man tries to track down an old friend and makes some new friends along the way. I like the simplicity but the pace is so slow and the story is almost inconsequential.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk5fI3ckcP8&app=desktop - DirectorSion SonoStarsKenji EndoYûto IkedaMegumi KagurazakaA feminine android delivers packages to the scattered humans in the galaxy. With years to spare the android and us have time to contemplate what it is to be human.REV#18: THE WHISPERING STAR. A Japanese android travels the galaxy and delivers parcels in her faulty spaceship. Her journey lasts years and she doesn't age, doesn't tire and doesn't grow bored. Unfortunately, we sure do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ-ebh6rNOc - DirectorAmir Hossein SaghafiStarsMahmoud NazaralianLevon HaftvanMazdak MirabediniAn old man, living with his only doughter, tries to keep her close by any means. She is maried to a worker. She loves a horse which Is a memorial of her mother. The Old man makes her stay by letting the horse run. She dies. And the old man becomes a horse.REV#19: THE MAN WHO BECAME A HORSE. A bitter old man does everything he can to restrict the life of his adult daughter. Some very impressive photography here but the slowness of pace makes this Iranian drama utterly insufferable.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owz8GcODySQ - DirectorRobert G. PutkaStarsJennifer LafleurMaryann PlunkettEilis CahillA matriarch past the point of a nervous breakdown, her two daughters that don't give a damn, and the heat-seeking missiles of resentment they toss at each other.REV#20: MAD. There's rivalry between sisters while their mother is institutionalised. The offbeat characters and scenarios are more mind-numbing than they are amusing.
(Trailer not available) - DirectorGabriela TollmanStarsRichard AbrahamDaniel AhearnWyeth James AhearnTwo sisters struggle with what it means to be a mother. One after the sudden loss of her baby, the other with her own inability to care for her young child. Together they find hope in the face of tragedy.REV#21: SOMEBODY'S MOTHER. A woman suffers after the death of her child and is determined to make everyone around her suffer too, including the audience. It's not until the third act that this mildly-pretentious pity party starts to kick into gear.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq5FXi_ZSS4 - DirectorTerry McMahonStarsKerry FoxMoe DunfordPhilip JacksonWhen a young man with mental health issues becomes intimate with a suicidal flight attendant, his obsessive mother enlists a dysfunctional cop to separate them.REV#22: PATRICK'S DAY. When a young man with poor mental health finds a girlfriend, his controlling mother tries to convince him she is a figment of his imagination. Bleak and cruel, with good performances.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXEFbgVRoGg - DirectorDominic RodriguezStarsSamuel 'Uncle Kage' ConwayGary MatthewsDominic RodriguezThis documentary follows a few groups of Furries, as a social commentary of this fandom, its stigmas and how it is perceived through sensational media coverage.REV#23: FURSONAS. A furry is someone who dresses up in a full-body animal costume. Fair enough. Everyone should have a hobby, I suppose. But where's the narrative?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaGFsfoEpGw - DirectorsDaniel KwanDaniel ScheinertStarsPaul DanoDaniel RadcliffeMary Elizabeth WinsteadA hopeless man stranded on a deserted island befriends a dead body, and together they go on a surreal journey to get home.REV#24: SWISS ARMY MAN. A man stranded on an island finds a corpse with a bad case of flatuence. What starts as a gleefully ridiculous buddy comedy becomes increasingly profound as it progresses.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrK1f4TsQfM - DirectorBen WheatleyStarsTom HiddlestonJeremy IronsSienna MillerLife for the residents of a tower block begins to run out of control.REV#25: HIGH-RISE. A residential tower block as a metaphor for social structure? I love the film's look but with a hack like Ben Wheatley at the helm, a promising idea delivers nothing in the way of entertainment. It's an utter bore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4pujABeKuA
