Flix Premiere Close Up Magazine - May 2018

May 2018

FLIX PREMIERE Close-Up

This month’s upcoming premieres

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Welcome Readers: The purpose of this magazine is to share with our movie-goers, the industry and our partners updates about what is happening at Flix Premiere each month. We aim to highlight and explore the upcoming month’s film premieres in each market, and occasionally announce new developments on our platform.

Happy reading!

Lo ve La nd

Sca rlet ’s Wit ch

IN THIS ISSUE: May Premieres Snapshot

Jimmy the Saint

Learn about our exclusive new premieres showing each week.

US May Premieres Snapshot - pg. 3 UK May Premieres Snapshot - pg. 4

Close Up: Premieres Feature Reviews

Th is is Us

A chance to immerse yourself in the wonderful stories premiering each week.

Jimmy the Saint - Zach Hursh, Anne Solenne, Brandon Breault, Jeff Murray, Christine Lakin - pg. 5 Embers - Jason Ritter, Iva Gocheva, Greta Fernández, Tucker Smallwood, Karl Glusman, Matthew Goulish - pg. 6 This is Us - Raymond Creamer, Jessica Parsons, Becca Scott, Amelia Brantley, Kayli Tran, Tracey Fairaway - pg. 7 Scarlet’s Witch - Avery Kristen Pohl, Emily Pearse, Marcy Palmer, Julie Moss, Carlie Nettles, Callie Haskins - pg. 8 Love Land - Monica Gaseor, Michael Iovine, Maddy Davidson, Memphis DiAngelis, Skyy Moore, Angelica Briones - pg. 9 The Open - Maia Levasseur-Costil, James Northcote, Pierre Benoist - pg. 10 Under the Blood Red Sun - Kyler Ki Sakamoto, Kalama Epstein, Dann Seki, Autumn Ogawa, Wil Kahele - pg. 11 Darkness on the Edge of Town - Olwen Catherine Kelly, Emma Eliza Regan, Brian Gleeson, Emma Willis - pg. 12

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“ Here’s the Best Science Fiction Discovery of the Year.”

Eric Kohn, IndieWire

UK PREMIERE May 5, 2018 - 7pm BST

After a global neurological epidemic, those who remain search for meaning and connection in a world without memory.

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UK PREMIERE May 12, 2018 - 7pm BST A modern day fairy tale about a lonely little girl named Scarlet who befriends a witch in the woods.

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US PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

Starring: Zach Hursh, Anne Solenne, Brandon Breault, Jeff Murray, Christine Lakin

MAY 4, 2018 - 7pm EST

Starring: Raymond Creamer, Jessica Parsons, Becca Scott Amelia Brantley, Kayli Tran

may 11, 2018 - 7pm EST

Starring: Monica Gaseor, Michael Iovine, Maddy Davidson, Memphis DiAngelis, Skyy Moore

may 18, 2018 - 7pm EST

Starring: Kyler Ki Sakamoto, Kalama Epstein, Dann Seki, Autumn Ogawa, Will Kahele

may 25, 2018 - 7pm EST

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UK PREMIERES SNAPSHOT

Starring: Jason Ritter, Iva Gocheva, Greta Fernández Tucker Smallwood, Karl Glusman

may 5, 2018 - 7pm bst

Starring: Avery Kristen Pohl, Emily Pearse, Marcy Palmer, Julie Moss, Carlie Nettles

may12, 2018 - 7pm bst

Starring: Maia Levasseur-Costil, James Northcote, Pierre Benoist

may 19, 2018 - 7pm bst

Starring: Emma Eliza Regan, Brian Gleeson, Emma Willis, Olwen Catherine Kelly, Cailla O’Shea

MAY 26, 2018 - 7pm bst

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Jimmy the Saint

US Premiere MAY 4 - 7PM EST

I

t’s not easy being a saint when you’re forced into the mob. Branden R. Morgan’s Jimmy The Saint is an intensely gripping film that shows humanity at its most cruel and depraved, while also illustrating the outliers in that dark world: the courageous individuals who help free others forced into inhumane conditions.

With echoes to a Bruce Springsteen sensibility, the film follows “saint” Jimmy Delfino (Rob Norton), a well-meaning man with a gambling problem and an insurmountable debt with the Italian mafia in New York, who eventually sell his debt to the Russian mob in Los Angeles.

There he works as a bagman for Anton (Brandon Breault) and his father Viktor (Jeff Murray), desperately waiting to pay his due and move back to New York. Meeting Kira (Anne-Solenne Hatte), the daughter of a prominent politician in Moscow forced into Anton and Victor’s sex- trafficking ring, strengthens his resolve to find a way out.

The terrific performances by the lead actors, Jeff Murray and Anne-Solenne Hatte, underscore the high emotional stakes of the film.

With its fast-paced editing, Brandan R. Morgan has created a rhythmic, electrifying work.

With its evocative cinematography, Jimmy The Saint explores the possibility of survival within an oppressive system that has seemingly no end. The cinematography is striking particularly because Jimmy The Saint is shot mainly at night, outside seedy stripclubs and inside houses that feel like prisons to their occupants.

Branden R. Morgan has cultivated an aesthetic centered on the artifice of neon lights and dangerous encounters, at once eerily beautiful and replete with moral decrepitude. With its fast-paced editing, Branden R. Morgan has created a rhythmic, electrifying work.

However, he succeeds equally with the quieter, more intimate moments. The relationships among the women allow for a space of real tenderness and camaraderie that help give the film a strong emotional core. The terrific performances by the lead actors, Jeff Murray and Anne-Solenne Hatte, underscore the high emotional stakes of the film.

The tagline for Jimmy The Saint is, “it’s hard to be a saint in the city.” Jimmy is your average Joe, but he must venture into murky moral territory if he wants to clear his name. He must lose his innocence, so to speak, in the city of angels. Perhaps it is a cliché, but the city of Los Angeles does seem to become a character in its own right. The viewer sees a greasy, seedy underbelly that belies the glamour typically associated with Hollywood.

Jimmy The Saint is a gritty and powerful film deeply entrenched with a classic Americana spirit of individualism.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Embers

UK Premiere MAY 5 - 7PM BST

I

n the world of Embers, a neurological virus infected most of the world’s population, leaving the surviving minority aimlessly wandering in search of purpose and human connection. Those contaminated are left with short term memory that is as fleeting as footprints on the shore during high tide. They can forget life-threatening situations, pain and trauma within minutes, but they can also lose grasp of their loved ones and themselves. Five stories are woven together in this new anonymous and chaotic world.

Two strangers wake up in each other’s arms and have to discover themselves and their love every single day. A young boy takes on a new caretaker each day in this world of unpredictability. A young man demonstrates his anguish and apathy by wreaking havoc on his surroundings.

And a teacher surrounds himself with books and spends his days trying to revive his memory potential.

It’s the sort of film that you'll want to see a second time right after the first because you'll want to reconnect with the characters and with the ideas floating around.

Steve Kopian, Unseen Films

Here’s the Best Science Fiction Discovery of the Year.

Eric Kohn, IndieWire

But in a world of lost memories, there’s not much peace for those who’ve escaped the ailment either. One father and daughter were able to escape into a sealed bunker- away from the epidemic, but fated with solitude. Special mention should go to Greta Fernández, who gives a wonderfully introspective performance; tormented by a loss of purpose and freedom of exploration, we too feel the suffocating safety of the bunker closing in around us.

Another commanding and unforgettable performance is given by Karl Glusman (Chaos). Even in a world where there are no longer laws or social conventions, it’s hard to swallow some of Chaos’ psychopathic behavior.

However, the scales of justice always find a way to balance themselves, and when they do, Glusman transforms a despicable brute into a sympathetic creature.

Director of Photography Todd Antonio Somodevilla masterfully uses natural lighting and complements this stark, abandoned dystopian world. The locations and art direction are fascinating and makes it nearly impossible to take your eyes off the film.

We often believe we should leave the past in the past, but Embers leaves us wondering whether memories truly exist in the past or if they always live with us and inform us to the people we are.

Director Claire Carré does a beautiful job at tying these striking perspectives together with effortless and unique storytelling. Embers is a powerful and harrowing film about the human experience that will stay with you long after it has ended.

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This is Us

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere MAY 11 - 7PM EST

Tender, funny, and above all, true, This is Us is a heartfelt romantic drama that cannot be missed.

T

he cinema is an incomparable medium for the telling of love stories. Filmmaking is a constant exchange and interweaving of moments from the past, present and future. It inhabits a liminal space in time and can create such tender and powerful intimacies. Jerry J. White III’s This is Us is a perfect example of cinema’s incredible capacity to capture moments of love and loss.

The film is about Daniela (Jessica Lynn Parsons), as she attempts to break up with her boyfriend, Brendan (Raymond Creamer), but the world seems to have other plans for the couple. They are inextricably made to teleport, and Daniela must relive her memories with Brendan. With slight echoes of Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, except, perhaps, in reverse, Daniela must reenact and reexamine the seminal moments of her relationship.

...a uniquely realized story that lingers in the psyche even after the closing credits have rolled by. Richard Propes, The Independent Critic The cinematography is particularly exceptional, and it perfectly captures the nostalgia of lost love, the all-encompassing nature of their romance and the gravitas of this juncture in their lives.

The film is marked by cool temperatures and long shots that emphasize the emotional distance between Daniela and Brendan. The writing is equally strong, and successfully creates a distinctive world for the characters to inhabit. The time jumps always feel natural, fruitful and meaningful, and they perfectly create a sealed-off world for the couple.

There are no distractions, seemingly no side characters. Every interaction is urgent. Nothing extraneous inhabits the frame.

The actors deliver stellar performances that will not be forgotten, as the chemistry between them is electric and undeniable. Supported by witty and nuanced dialogue, Jessica Lynn Parsons and Raymond Creamer will feel both strangely familiar and foreign to the viewer, who might see aspects of their own relationships reflected in this epic love story.

One of the most inventive and compelling storytelling devices in this film is Jerry J. White III’s playful relationship with time. The characters have a highly complicated relationship with temporality. The more anxious of the future they become, the greater the strain on their relationship. And yet, a dance through time is exactly what provides a possible reexamination of their coupling. Time is not a concept in the abstract here, but is instead the catalyst that reminds them of what is most important, and forces them to be worthy of it.

Tender, funny, and above all, true, This Is Us is a heartfelt romantic drama that cannot be missed.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Scarlet’s Witch

UK Premiere MAY 12 - 7PM BST

A

n introverted and solitary child, young Scarlet has only one friend outside of home. A single person understands her.

Scarlet’s Witch is described as a fantasy, adult

Her companion just happens to be a witch.

Scarlet’s Witch is a thriller wrapped in a mystery.

fairy tale, but that hardly scratches the surface of this enticing mystery-thriller. What’s

Who is this sorceress, and why does she make herself visible to and befriend Scarlet?

With no mother and an uneasy relationship with children her own age, an understanding ear and an inviting grin are welcome novelties for the girl.

As years pass, though, the enchantress becomes possessive, jealous, and hurt by Scarlet’s refusal to wield her magic wand.

As their camaraderie falters and the hag’s rage grows one wonders: What is the price for offending a witch? The mystery unfolds in a surprising adventure.

...writer-director F.C. Rabbath takes an old fairy tale that has been done by everyone from the Brothers Grimm to Walt Disney and puts several contemporary riffs and twists on it.

Mark Hinson, Tallahassee Democrat

very interesting about Rabbath’s tale is that no matter how fantastic the magic within, From the beginning we are drawn

everything that transpires is believable.

into this story in the same way we

Film Threat

were drawn into the stories we heard as a child.

Loida Garcia, Rogue Cinema

Director F.C. Rabbath has a frightening talent for building suspense and establishing an eerie mise en scène from everyday settings and objects.

An impressive piece of auteur cinema, Scarlet’s Witch benefits from the unified vision brought by Rabbath’s triple role as writer, director, and cinematographer.

The result is an exercise in masterful storytelling in which all of the creative elements of the film work in sync with one another to create a hair-raising tale.

Scarlet’s Witch benefits from a talented cast, with multiple actors sometimes required to bring consistency to the same role.

Under Rabbath’s lens, rural northern Florida and even Florida State University’s campus are transformed into the creepy domain of a vindictive witch.

The techniques Rabbath employs to personify the witch are inventive and effective, creating a simultaneously fearsome and yet enigmatic figure.

A majestic oak tree, dripping with Spanish moss, exercises mysterious power over the frame and within the story. Dirt paths surrounded by lush wildlife tilt ominously. An old cabin appears and vanishes without a trace along with its supernatural inhabitant. Magic wands come to life and lives are turned upside down.

Making a friend out of a witch is both a novel twist on tropes of good and evil.

And, as any number of fairy tales might suggest, it is probably not a wise idea. There is only one way to find out. Watch it yourself, and befriend Scarlet’s Witch.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Love Land

US Premiere MAY 18 - 7PM EST

Josh Tate’s Love Land is not only a gorgeous work of cinema, but it is also a film with an important social mission. Its superb writing gives the viewer highly nuanced characters, a strong narrative arc and an empowering message on the significance of representation of individuals with disabilities.

The film follows Ivy (Monica Gaseor) a headstrong woman who has suffered a brain injury from a traumatic car accident, as she navigates her recent placement in Love Land Ranch, a private institution that supports individuals with disabilities. She begins to resent the ranch, and eventually finds herself at a crossroads, where she must decide whether she will stay and accept her identity and community, or if she will try to make a life for herself outside of the system.

There is something truly unexpected and almost magical about Love Land. That such direction, story, and characters can make for an all-encompassing feature film. Highly recommended.

Sandy Hoffman, Aidy Reviews

A must-see movie. ...The cast... give both inspiring and award-worthy performances.

The Kenner Times

Love Land is empowering particularly because of the emphasis it places on depicting real people in the disabled community, and for its reliance on subjectivity: all of the characters in the film have rich and complicated interior lives, and are not just symbols of a greater cause. Ivy is constantly reflecting on her relationships with others in the community and with friends and family members outside of it. In so doing, she is constantly thinking about her placement in a society that doesn’t quite know what to make of her.

It asks us to think about what makes up a community-be it a religious or familial one, or comprised of people with shared experiences and identities--especially when labels are sometimes forced upon a particular community. Josh Tate makes the viewer grapple with the consequences of being ostracized from mainstream society, and above all else the humanness of disability. Ivy is always calculating and making decisions, and those decisions are sometimes selfish, and a little hasty. Tate gives her the freedom to make mistakes, as any coming of age film does, but he also gives her a platform to be able to communicate stories that are often left untold.

Josh Tate combines stunning cinematography with compelling writing, and directs tremendous performances. Ivy is at once heroine and anti-hero and the complexity of her role is refreshing and a joy to watch.

Love Land is a film that really sits with you. Or, perhaps, wrestles with you. It makes the viewer question the political and social systems that seek to neatly categorize and blanketly ostracize individuals.

It is a film of great performance and rare beauty.

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review UK Premiere MAY 19 - 7PM BST

The Open

A quiet, understated drama, it follows in a line of recent science fiction films such as Into the Forest and Embers that eschew the technological and focus on the introspective, human aspect of the unknown future Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Screen Anarchy

A

t the world’s end, all remaining humans are automatic enemies. After nations have crumbled, and modern life has been demolished under the weight of conflict, André and Stéphanie are consumed by a singular obsession – playing tennis. Without tennis balls, without courts, and without strings on their rackets, they train and prepare in untamed nature. Fighter jets zoom by, the world continues its collapse, and they pursue the dream of the final match at Roland Garros.

After capturing guerrilla fighter Ralph by force, the pair invites him to return to fighting or join their tournament. Compete against Stéphanie in exchange for training, shelter, food, and community or march to an inevitable lonely death. Initially incredulous and unable to feign engagement, with time Ralph accedes and moulds himself into a credible tennis champion.

Though set amidst a long-running global war, the film keeps combat at its periphery while placing at its centre a strange oasis of improbable pacifism. For a while battle planes roar over a bleak, wintry shoreline, a grief-driven coach and two traumatised tennis pros insist on ignoring the surrounding mayhem, and instead mime out a constructed, rule-bound scenario of peace-time normality…

Anton Bitel, Projected Figures

Eventually, it becomes clear that the sport is so much more than a game – it’s a vehicle for optimism and hope. It is a strategy for survival.

Director Marc Lahore’s debut feature, The Open is a unique blend of apocalyptic action drama and theater of the absurd.

Lahore avows wishing to evoke the unlikely pairing of both Mad Max’s setting and brutality, and Samuel Beckett’s existential humor. The result is an entirely original concept that is as striking in its impact as it is understated in its simplicity.

One might be tempted to think that Lahore has found a formula for budget-conscious cinema of the highest quality. Employ only three principal actors, shoot in desolate, spectacular landscapes, and work with a story of the highest quality. But the concept and delivery of The Open are so exceptional, that it defies formulaic reproduction.

The Open’s trio of actors work in synchronization to draw us into a charade of the utmost seriousness and make us feel its palpable stakes. Hailing from France, Pierre Benoist embodies the brutal leader, André, while Maia Levasseur-Costil plays his first trainee, Stéphanie.

James Northcote rounds out the group as the English mercenary who is roped into their pantomime.

Levasseur-Costil’s performance is particularly impressive in its physicality, and in her portrayal of psychological anguish.

Not to be upstaged, the landscape photography of the Scottish Outer Hebrides is striking in its expression of existential isolation and dramatic hopelessness. Making use of minimal costumes, props, and sets, the film’s essence is, nevertheless, epic in scale.

The Open is an extraordinary story of the tenacity of human enterprise in the midst of chaos, death, and destruction. Touching on loss and pain through both drama and light humor, it is not a film to be missed.

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Under the Blood-Red Sun

Close Up: Premiere Feature Review US Premiere MAY 25 - 7PM EST

Under the Blood-Red Sun is a well-acted and powerful film.

The Dove Foundation

T

he attack on Pearl Harbor has been brought to life in cinema through several epic films, recounted from the perspective of the national injury suffered by the US and its reverberations in international geopolitics and world-war. Few motion pictures, however, or works of art in general for that matter, have broached the subject of the consequences of the conflict for Japanese Americans living in US territories. During a time of renewed nationalistic currents throughout the global West, the story of their experiences in internment camps during this moment of history is more critical than ever.

Under the Blood-Red Sun introduces us to Tomikazu, “Tomi” Nakaji, US citizen and resident of Oahu, Hawaii. A typical boy, Tomi and his best friend, Billy Davis, play baseball in the fields, explore the wilderness near their houses, and go to school. Their lives will forever change, though, when the forces of escalating global tensions make a direct impact in their own back yard.

Entertaining, engaging and enlightening.

Fay DeMeyer, New Hope Christian College

An important and timely family drama, embedded in history, Under the Blood-Red Sun nevertheless has an optimistic and sunny outlook on a difficult subject that is conferred by a child’s perspective. The divisions cast upon groups per their appearance, race, or national background are troubled by the communion of young friends, impervious to the prejudices and politics of adults.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, which they witness from their homes, the peaceful island life of Oahu converts to one charged with dangers and tension. A curfew is enacted and a blackout enforced in local homes, Tomi’s family comes under intense scrutiny from the FBI due to their Japanese heritage.

Ultimately, both his father and grandfather are sent to internment camps constructed to “neutralize” them as perceived threats. Will Tomi, his mother, and sister be reunited with their kin? And how will they survive in the meanwhile?

Director Tim Savage and a diverse and international cast bring Tomi and Billy’s story to life, depicting how a gorgeous island paradise can be quickly lost. The friendship between the two boys is particularly poignant, with Kyler Ki Sakamoto starring as Tomi and Kalama Epstein playing Billy.

While the children are at play, the dark forces of conflict gradually seep into and pervade even their world. Sakamoto wields a subtle sensitivity to this impending catastrophe, even while conveying the carefree nature of youth.

Under the Blood-Red Sun brings viewers back to a painful time in US national history and challenges them to reconsider it from a fresh and crucial lens. Furthermore, it tells a universal story of friendship overcoming insurmountable obstacles.

Be sure not to miss it, only on Flix Premiere!

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Close Up: Premiere Feature Review

Darkness on the Edge of Town

UK Premiere MAY 26 - 7PM BST

O

n one crisp night in the outskirts of Dublin, Cleo’s sister, Aisling is found dead in a public bathroom, neck slit by a knife. Motivated by the grief for her murdered sister, Cleo begins an investigation of her own in order to exact the killer’s comeuppance; and with Cleo being an Olympic level shooter, you know she’s out for blood.

Accompanying her is Robin, her long-time partner in crime. While inquiring about her sister, Cleo discovers a darker side to Ashy and is left questioning their estranged relationship.

But in a small town plagued by fear and suspicion, the killer may be closer to Cleo than she realizes.

Darkness on the Edge of Town is a strong debut from Ryan and makes for an entertaining and unique revenge film.

Director Patrick Ryan and

Adam Patterson, Film Pulse

cinematographer Tommy Fitzgerald create countless striking scenes…

Nikolai Adams, Filmizon

Excellent casting choices guide the film’s credibility, coaxes the audience’s sympathies towards these troubled girls, and provides effortless flashback sequences. Rambunctious and extroverted, Emma Willis (Robin) commands our attention with a complex character study and foils Cleo’s character very nicely.

Similarly, Emma Eliza Regan (Cleo) strengthens the story with her brooding demeanor, intimidating silence and internalized grief. Both girls are volatile and violent, informed by a lifetime of experiences that have shown them the same treatment, and

In addition, lighting is used as significant symbolism, as it indicates truth or level of knowledge in the film. Cleo is usually covered in shadows because of both her emotional state as well as the fact that she is being kept in the dark about her sister’s murder. This contrasts with other characters who are boldly and harshly lit, reflecting their knowledge of the brutal truth. A clever visual Easter egg for those who pick it up.

Director of Photography Tommy Fitzgerald exercises creative control and a consistent visual vocabulary in terms of composition and lighting. Due to the shock of her sister’s death, Cleo vacillates between apathetic and emotionally volatile. This is reflected in Fitzgerald’s cinematography as Cleo is separated by framing from other characters.

Writer/Director Patrick Ryan captures the audience with irresistible dramatic irony in the first couple minutes and doesn’t let us go until the very end. His characters are extremely well developed and he puts a twist on the classic Western film by setting it in the luscious rolling hills of Ireland. Darkness on the Edge of Town is a formidable action-packed suspense film that keeps you on your toes.

HOME OF AWARD-WINNING CINEMA AND MORE

“ Jimmy The Saint is a gritty and powerful film deeply entrenched with a classic Americana spirit of individualism. ”

US PREMIERE May 4, 2018 - 7pm EST A bagman for the Russian mob finds himself in over his head when he falls for a young prostitute.

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“...a uniquely realized story that lingers in the psyche even after the closing credits have rolled by. ” Richard Propes, The Independent Critic

US PREMIERE May 11, 2018 - 7pm EST A young woman breaks things off with her boyfriend but finds out the universe has other plans.

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