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★★☆☆☆The premise of Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson's I Declare War (2012) is great: it's a children's game of capture the flag, but played out with real weapons. There will, presumably, be a lot of nostalgic goodwill towards this premise - this is the classic game of capture the flag many will have dreamt of. Our merry band of pint-sized soldiers includes rules-obsessed General P.K. (Gage Munroe), loyal lieutenant Kwon (Siam Yu), and their opposite numbers Quinn (Aidan Gouveia), his insubordinate deputy Skinner (Michael Friend) and budding love interest Jess (Mackenzie Munro). It's a large cast of similar-looking kids, and the ensemble has a Thin Red Line feel of ambiguity and unfamiliarity.

Stars: Siam Yu, Gage Munroe, Michael Friend, Aidan Gouveia, Mackenzie Munro, Alex Cardillo, Kolton Stewart, Eric Hanson, Alex Wall | Written by Jason Lapeyre | Directed by Robert Wilson, Jason Lapeyre

I Declare War is a war film which documents the horrors of war including torture, battles, violence and balloons filled with paint. Of course, War in this case is a summer game played in a forest between two teams of children. But this year is different. Will P.K Sullivan (Gage Munroe) be able to keep his title of reigning champion? Or will betrayal and jealousy on both sides lead to a much more serious and deadly game than anyone was expecting? Who will win War?

This film opens with action straight away and doesn’t let up the the entirety. I Declare War follows the two teams of children in the forest playing war but allows their imaginations to take...

Title: I Declare War Directors: Jason Lapeyre, Robert Wilson Starring: Siam Yu, Gage Munroe, Mackenzie Munro, Michael Friend, Alex Cardillo, Dyson Fyke If war is hell, then adolescence is too, in its own differentiated, downscale way. “I Declare War,” a brilliant, terrifically imaginative comedy of commingled nostalgia and allegory, gets this, on a gut level. Co-directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson, the film unfolds as a surreal, seriocomic riff on “Lord of the Flies,” exposing the hidden seams of psychological depth present in war-as-playtime, wherein kids (mostly boys) first start trying on some of the absolutes and certitude of adulthood. Unfolding entirely in a sprawling woods, “I Declare War” [ Read More ]

The post I Declare War Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

When the 12-year-old boys in I Declare War get together for a game of capture the flag, there are stringent rules to adhere by. Drafthouse Films has released a red band clip (featuring R-rated language) of the first five minutes, where we meet fearless leader Pk (Gage Munroe) and learn these rules before this intense game starts. Directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson, I Declare War is currently available on VOD formats and in select theaters. clickHere to see if this critically-acclaimed film is playing in a theater near you.

Armed with nothing more than twigs, their imaginations and a simple set of rules, a group of 12-year-olds engaged in a lively game of Capture the Flag in the neighborhood woods start dangerously blurring the lines between make-believe and reality. Rocks = Grenades. Trees = Control towers. Sticks = Submachine guns. The youthful innocence of the game gradually takes on a different...

When the 12-year-old boys in I Declare War get together for a game of capture the flag, there are stringent rules to adhere by. Drafthouse Films has released a red band clip (featuring R-rated language) of the first five minutes, where we meet fearless leader Pk (Gage Munroe) and learn these rules before this intense game starts. Directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson, I Declare War is currently available on VOD formats and in select theaters. clickHere to see if this critically-acclaimed film is playing in a theater near you.

Armed with nothing more than twigs, their imaginations and a simple set of rules, a group of 12-year-olds engaged in a lively game of Capture the Flag in the neighborhood woods start dangerously blurring the lines between make-believe and reality. Rocks = Grenades. Trees = Control towers. Sticks = Submachine guns. The youthful innocence of the game gradually takes on a different...

Title: I Declare War Directed By: Jason Lapeyre & Robert Wilson Starring: Siam Yu, Gage Munroe, Michael Friend, Aidan Gouveia, Mackenzie Munro, Alex Cardillo, Dyson Fyke, Spencer Howes, Any Reid, Kolton Stewart, Eric Hanson With so much straightforward supernatural and/or dystopian teen violence, Jason Lapeyre & Robert Wilson’s “I Declare War” is a welcomed and highly effective experiment in juggling preadolescent imagination and some very real, adult life lessons. Pk (Gage Munroe) is the master of war – capture the flag, fake gun, water balloon grenade, kid-style war. At the start of “I Declare War,” Pk is in the midst of his most heated battle yet. He’s got no trouble [ Read More ]

The post I Declare War Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

[This is a re-post of my review from Fantastic Fest 2012.  I Declare War opens today in limited release.] Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson's I Declare War is riddled with glaring, grating flaws. The performances from the young actors are inconsistent. The cinematography and effects look cheap. Character arcs and plotlines lose their energy and focus. And yet I Declare War is incredibly charming. It's fun watching kids be kids in a game adults have become too self-conscious to play. It has the vibe of a big, backyard movie that kids would make with their friends if they had a little more money and time. The picture also makes the worthwhile argument that coming-of-age means betrayal and jealousy, and that the kids games are about to vanish. Pk (Gage Munroe) and his friends are in the middle of a game of capture the flag. If you're hit with fake bullets, you're down for ten seconds; if you're hit with a blood balloon, you have to go home. The objective...

William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” was an allegorical tale about the savage decent into humanity’s heart of darkness seen through the eyes of a group of British kids on a desert island, and while Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson’s I Declare War isn’t much of an allegorical tale it is about the minor squabbles in every adolescent child’s life that seem like the biggest problems in the world and seen through the eyes of a group of Canadian kids playing fake wargames on a hot summer’s day in the woods. It ain’t literature, but it is definitely a whole lot of fun.

Sticks and branches stand in for guns, water balloons filled with red paint are grenades, you get paralyzed for ten seconds after getting “shot,” you’re “dead” and have to go home if you get hit by a grenade, and...

I Declare War Trailers. Jason Lapeyre, Robert Wilson‘s I Declare War (2012) teaser trailer and movie trailer star Siam Yu, Kolton Stewart, Gage Munroe, Michael Friend, and Aidan Gouveia. I Declare War‘s plot synopsis: “Armed with nothing more than twigs, their imaginations and a simple set of rules, a group of 12-year-olds engaged in [...]

Continue reading: I Declare War (2012) Movie Trailer 1-2: When a Kids’ Game Becomes Real...

Damn Hollywood for making me think my childhood was ten times more badass than it really was, but at the same time, God bless its boundary-less ability to enhance even the most mundane activity. In the case of I Declare War, directors Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson turn a simple game of capture the flag into an all-out war with children toting sub-machine guns, throwing grenades, and shooting laser beams out of their eyes. Don’t worry, it all makes sense as the visuals are technically just the overactive imaginations of each character. The kids aren’t actually killing one another, but the presentation of true weaponry is necessary when conveying certain themes, throwing children into the dog days of war while proving their strategic game is far more than child’s play.

In the game of “War,” the rules are simple. If you get shot, you have to count...

Check out new images from Drafthouse Films' I Declare War. Directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson. The action comedy opens On Demand from July 26th prior to its August 30th, 2013 theatrical release date. Starring are Siam Yu, Gage Munroe, Michael Friend, Aidan Gouveia, Mackenzie Munroe and Alex Cardillo. Armed with nothing more than twigs, their imaginations and a simple set of rules, a group of 12-year-olds engaged in a lively game of Capture the Flag in the neighborhood woods start dangerously blurring the lines between make-believe and reality. Rocks = Grenades. Trees = Control towers. Sticks = Submachine guns. The youthful innocence of the game gradually takes...

Everyone loves movie trailers; we can’t get enough of them here in The City of Films. It’s an art form that stands alone from the film itself and has a remarkable power to move us. Trailers can give us chills, laughs, goose bumps and sometimes even anger us. We can’t always post them all, so here’s where we play catch up; it’s Graham’s Trailer Roundup!

The Lifeguard

Synopsis: A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager.

Starring: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr

Release: Limited release on August 30th.

Trailer Analysis: What happened to Wendy Peffercorn from The Sandlot, that’s the premise and I dig it.

Out Of The Furnace

Synopsis: When...

What starts as an innocent game of Capture the Flag between 12-year-old turns into all-out warfare in the second trailer for I Declare War. Directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson, this action drama shows how engrossed these children become in the game, and how the line between reality and military fantasy is quickly blurred. We also have the Platoon-influenced poster for I Declare War, which debuts on VOD, iTunes and digital download July 26 before its theatrical debut on August 30.

Armed with nothing more than twigs, their imaginations and a simple set of rules, a group of 12-year-olds engaged in a lively game of Capture the Flag in the neighborhood woods start dangerously blurring the lines between make-believe and reality. Rocks = Grenades. Trees = Control towers. Sticks = Submachine guns. The youthful innocence of the game gradually takes on a different tone as the quest for victory pushes the boundaries of friendship.

Drafthouse Films, the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, announced their acquisition of Us rights to 2012 Toronto International Film Festival favorite and Fantastic Fest Audience Award winner I Declare War, directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson.

Produced by Lewin Webb, Robert Wilson and Patrick Cameron from SamaritanEntertainment, the film centers on an epic game of capture-the-flag. In their quest for victory, a group of adolescents pushes beyond the game and the boundaries of friendship into an adventure where fantasy blurs with reality. A VOD and theatrical campaign is planned for the second half of 2013.

Directors Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson set out to construct an action film from the darker side of a 13-year-old's mindset, while also examining sincere conflicts of enduring friendship. Using the kids' overactive imaginations, a neighborhood forest setting becomes a full-fledged woodland battlefield: sticks transform into guns, water balloons into grenades and eyeballs can shoot lasers.

I Declare War

Directed by Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson

Canada, 2012

Philadelphia Film Festival

Inevitable comparisons to Lord of the Flies or Battle Royale aside, Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson’s ‘kids-in-war’ film is a moderately successful drama. Clunky as a commentary, I Declare War is rather strong as a meditation on social cliques.

Pk (Gage Munroe) has won the last several wars. He’s a legend and his men mostly know it. But when a new war rival Quinn (Aidan Gouveia) challenges him, Pk and his soldiers will be tested. There’s also an X-factor in their midst. Jess (Mackenzie Munro) has her own agenda.

The big draw of I Declare War is the imaginative play between reality and fantasy. Tied together sticks become guns with a well-placed edit. Water balloons filled with paint become grenades with an explosion sound effect.

Sure, it’s a testament and celebration of the childhood imagination,...

If you’re school was anything like mine growing up, you may have been assigned to read William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, but if not, maybe you’ve seen one of two film adaptations that have been made. This serves as a jumping off point for better understanding I Declare War. No, this isn’t another remake of Lord Of The Flies, but it does share some of the classic thematic content. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, it’s all right. It’s far from mandatory for enjoying this hidden gem.

Written by Jason Lapeyre and co-directed with Robert Wilson, I Declare War tackles the darker heart of what happens when innocent fun evolves into real-life danger. I can imagine the contemporary societal obsession with video games and the abundance of violence prevalent in these games as having an inspiration, but are the...

I Declare War

Directed by Jason Lapeyre, Robert Wilson

Written by Jason Lapeyre

Canada, 2012

Youth imagination and violence reaches newer-ish peaks with Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson’s I Declare War, a film that will instantly be compared to the likes of The Hunger Games, Battle Royale, and potentially The Lord of the Flies. While War is seemingly more influenced by the aura of pubescent jealously and betrayal, its core concept of youngsters brutally battling it out is far too familiar to ignore. There’s both good and bad spread throughout the picture, but the film’s most pleasing trait revolves around the believable relationships that the kids maintain. The filmmakers aren’t pushing the envelope as aggressively as one might think, but it’s not outside the realm of possibility for any of these youngsters to appears on the news one day. A film that should appeal to a wide-range of demographics,...

Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson's I Declare War is riddled with glaring, grating flaws.  The performances from the young actors are inconsistent.  The cinematography and effects look cheap.  Character arcs and plotlines lose their energy and focus.  And yet I Declare War is incredibly charming.  It's fun watching kids be kids in a game adults have become too self-conscious to play.  It has the vibe of a big, backyard movie that kids would make with their friends if they had a little more money and time.  The picture also makes the worthwhile argument that coming-of-age means betrayal and jealousy, and that the kids games are about to vanish. Pk (Gage Munroe) and his friends are in the middle of a game of capture the flag.  If you're hit with fake bullets, you're down for ten seconds; if you're hit with a blood balloon, you have to go home.  The objective...

The trailer of Jonathan Sobol's A Beginner's Guide to Endings is already online. The film is currently being screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.

According to the Tiff, here's the story:

Duke White (Harvey Keitel) hasn’t been an ideal father to his five boys. An inveterate gambler who never experienced a windfall he couldn’t blow within twenty-four hours, he has come to the end of his rope, literally. Years ago, he signed up his three eldest sons for unsafe drug tests that turned out to have dire consequences: the boys’ life expectancy have been substantially reduced. Upon receiving the news after their father’s funeral, the sons return to their family home in Niagara Falls, where they respond to their eminent demises in different yet equally hilarious ways.

Womanizing Cal (Scott Caan) is determined to hook up with Miranda (Tricia Helfer), the one girl who got away.