Fyre: The Festival That Never Happened - Netflix Originals Review

If one wanted to use a film quote to aptly sum up the failure of #FyreFestival that went from the "hottest party" to an example of the perils of PR, marketing and poor event management that will be taught in schools for years to come, one need look no further than Jerry Maguire:
"I'm finished, I'm fucked. Twenty-four hours ago, man, I was hot! Now... I'm a cautionary tale. You see this jacket I'm wearing, you like it? Because I don't really need it because I'm cloaked in failure!"
In 2017, the world watched on social media as a group of privileged American "influencers" had a meltdown on Twitter and Instagram as they arrived on an island in the Bahamas for an exclusive music festival only for it to go horribly wrong and quickly turn into a "first world problems" version of Lord Of The Flies as panicked Instagrammers ran around trying to find tents to sleep in and wept about the awful state of a cheese sandwich.
This Netflix originals documentary (one of two on the festival out this month) has been developed by one of the teams who were involved in the marketing of #Fyre so they have behind the scenes footage of owners Billy McFarland and Ja Rule as they plan to put on an event to help promote their music booking app #Fyre but just seem more concerned with having a massive piss up with supermodels on a deserted island than actually planning the logistics of successfully delivering a high-end, luxury event for people paying thousands of dollars to attend.
As the film counts down to the day of the festival, the sheer level of ignorance, ineptitude and stupidity on show is staggering as the team, under the leadership of McFarland, lurch from one disaster to another. McFarland, despite being in the face of an insurmountable number of problems, just keeps moving forward. It was as if he was the captain of the Titanic who could see the "Iceberg, right ahead!" and just continued on his current course, thinking everything will be fine, even to the point he goes down with the ship.
He is the physical embodiment of the dog in the house on fire meme "This is fine" and the festival-goers are Donald Glover walking into the room on fire meme!
The film has been described as a Jaws for millennials and the description is apt because the #Fyre team (including the affable, nice Andy King who has the single most shocking anecdote you will hear this year regarding Evian water) come across like the Murray Hamilton's Amity Island beach. He knows there is a shark that could kill everyone but still lets them in the water. The #Fyre team know the festival will fail, that they don't have enough accommodation and food for everyone (not even getting to the fact the accommodation is not what was advertised) and yet they still let them come to the island!

"I'm pleased & happy to repeat the news that in spite of some rumours, we have plenty of tents & cheese sandwiches for everyone attending. It’s a beautiful day, the beaches are open and people are having a wonderful time. Fyre Festival as you know, means Friendship!"

There is an old adage in Hollywood that "you couldn't make it up" and that the truth is stranger than fiction and this is one of those stories which is so incredulous and unbelievable in how it all unfolded that you will be sitting slack-jawed and shaking your head in disbelief throughout.
It is a fascinating look at the world that we currently live in and a timely reminder of the power that social media can have over our lives and that sometimes we should take a step back and switch off every now and again to avoid getting burned.

4 stars

The Eyes of Orson Welles - EIFF review

Synopsis:
The art, sketches, set designs and storyboards Orson Welles produced throughout his career act as an entry point for director Mark Cousins to delve into the life and career of one of cinema’s most talented filmmakers. Welles trained as an artist before becoming an actor and director, and Cousins has been allowed unprecedented access to a treasure trove of images that provide a fascinating glimpse into Welles’ visual thinking. This film is a journey through his life punctuated by delightful insight.

Review:

Mark Cousins' admiration for Orson Welles shines through in this intimate portrait of a man whose public persona was larger than life. Cousins uses access to Welles' personal works of art to paint a picture of the private man behind the image and how his artistic style on the page and canvas influenced his work on the big screen.
Cousins' uses his trademark and distinctive narration to converse directly to Orson via a series of "letters" looking at different stages of his life, career and personality.
Like the original cut of The Magnificent Ambersons, the documentary goes on slightly too long but provides a new perspective to Welles and new insights into his work. Even if, unlike Citizen Kane, he ultimately cannot be defined by any one particular piece of art.

3 stars

The Eyes Of Orson Welles screens at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on Sunday 24th June, 8.35 and Monday 25th June, 6.00. To book tickets, click here.

Making Fun: The Story of Funko - Netflix review

Coming off the back of the fascinating Netflix series The Toys That Made Us, comes a documentary called Making Fun: The Story of Funko.
Where the TV series focused on the toys of our childhood such as Star Wars, He Man, Transformers, etc. the subject of this new film is the Funko company, a relative newcomer to the toy and collectable game but one of the genuine phenomenons of the last twenty years.
And phenomenon is really the only word to accurately describe the company that started out in Mike Becker's garage in Snohomish, Washington in 1998.
Even if one doesn't own a Funko Pop, it is impossible not to be aware of them. Just go into any HMV on the high street and there seems to be more space on the shelves dedicated to Funko than there is for vinyl records or CDs.
The film starts by looking at the origins of the company that was set up by a group of friends making "Wacky Wobbler" bobbleheads of Big Boy and how their designs, creativity and fun attitude to the business led to a dedicated fan base called Funko Fanatics or "Funatics" who would help grow the company into what it is today.
In 2005, Becker sold the company to Brian Mariotti who developed key licencing agreements with the likes of Star Wars, DC Comics and Marvel that would take Funko to the next level. Giving them Cate Blanchett to essentially print money with every new item.
In 2011, the company released their very first Funko Pop. These are the iconic toys that everyone will know with the unique shape with the Stewie from Family Guy over-sized head and anime style face.
According to the doc, some original fans were not too keen on the new design, having built their collections on the wacky wobblers but it brought them a whole new audience and the rest is history.
The rest of the documentary spends time with some of the fans talking about their collections, fandom and what the toys mean to them as they all gear up for Funko open their new headquarters and landmark store back in the hometown of the company, Everett Washington.
It is at this point the film feels less like a documentary and more like a marketing puff piece to showcase how great the company is.
It is nice to see people passionate about the toys and collecting but it never delves deeper into the darker world of collecting; such as watching people fight at a comic-con over a limited edition Pop, or the ones who would "flip" the toys i.e. buying them and then selling them online for a profit which is something that happens a lot.
Ultimately, while a sweet starter for 10 look at the company, it feels as empty as the inside of a Funko toy's head and lacks a killer edge to make it really Pop!

2 stars

Nae Pasaran (Glasgow Film Festival) - review

Not all heroes wear capes...

Gala screenings quite often feature standing ovations following the film to show respect to the filmmakers and cast & crew present at the event. However it is rather rare to attend a screening that starts AND ends with a standing ovation but that is precisely what happened at the Closing Gala for the Glasgow Film Festival on Sunday.
The first Standing "O" was for the staff and volunteers of the Glasgow Film Festival who were forced to battle the #BeastFromTheEast when Glasgow turned into the set from The Day After Tomorrow and forced them to cancel some screenings. Despite the terrible conditions, they worked tirelessly to ensure that as many events went ahead as possible to satisfy the insatiable appetite of film fans and they were rightly praised for their efforts.

This was followed by the film closing the festival, documentary Nae Pasaran by Felipe Bustos Sierra. It explores the true story of the workers in a Rolls Royce engine factory in East Kilbride who refused to repair the engines destined for the Chilean air force so they could not be used to further the military coup in 1974.
Felipe interviews some of the men who refused to work on the engines including Bob Fulton who was the shop steward who made the call to "black" the engines. This was backed by the trade unions, essentially grounding much of the Chilean Air Force.
It is an incredibly powerful and emotional film and you could physically feel the affect it had on the sold out audience, many of whom having a direct link to those involved.
It wasn't just the factory workers who provided testimony but also some of the men who were in government at the time and became political prisoners and tortured by Pinochet's new regime.
These interviews were incredibly difficult to watch but from such pain and despair came hope when they heard about the Scottish protest over the radio and incredibly some of the men were released and found asylum in the UK when, still unconfirmed, they were traded for the release of four of the engines that were mysteriously taken from the factory after three years of sitting in a box on the grounds.
The film concludes with Felipe searching Chile for the stolen engines with the hope of returning them to East Kilbride as a symbolic gesture, along with the honouring of several of the Scottish workers by the Chilean government.
This brought the audience to wave after wave of rapturous applause before taking to their feet in a 10 minute long standing ovation for the cast, crew and the workers who attended the screening.

The film shines a light on a fascinating story from Scottish history, one that not enough people were aware of and demonstrates the power that an act of solidarity can have, no matter how big or small. It also showcased the power and importance that the trade unions had in the Seventies and how industry must look to the future and try to strengthen the unions' positions again in society.
The curtain came down for another year, the entire audience stood in solidarity of the incredible impact the men in front of them had made and for a festival that is equally forward thinking, inclusive and passionate.

4 stars

Glasgow Film Festival - Opening Gala: While We're Young

The 2015 Glasgow Film Festival kicked off in style last night... well, the type of style that includes pork pie hats and skinny jeans because the film chosen to open proceedings was While We're Young by Noah Baumbach.

A couple in their forties (Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts) are growing restless and treading water. Stiller's character is still working on a documentary project he started ten years ago. Unable (or unwilling to have children) they are losing touch with their friends who are having kids, etc.
When they meet a young hipster couple at one of Stiller's lectures, they embrace their "joie de vivre" spirit and start embracing the "hipster" lifestyle but it starts to put hitherto unknown pressures on their work and relationship.

Baumbach's last film Frances Ha was centred around a group of New York hipsters and alienated a lot of viewers who just didn't particularly like or understand this "scene" and there was some initial hesitance going into this film that it would be more of the same.

However, Baumbach's screenplay is very much written from the point of view of the older characters and therefore whilst it paints an alluring picture to convince you that a world of homemade ice cream, street cookouts, pork pie hats and hip hop dance classes would appeal to a couple going through a mid-life crisis, it is not afraid to call the hipsters on the "oh aren't we cool, we use a typewriter" bullshit.

As the gloss starts to fade on their newfound "lifestyle" and friends (Adam Driver plays his role well coming across as appealing yet also a bit of a douche), Josh rallies against it. Bemoaning the fact that there are bands ironically named after adverts he saw as a kid. Or having a massive vinyl collection because it looks good in the oversized loft apartment where for Josh it was essential as a young guy as it was the only way to listen to music.

Stiller's Josh is from a generation of documentary filmmaker, inspired by his father-in-law (a nice cameo by Charles Grodin), where truth is paramount. Adam Driver's Jamie is of the generation where truth is "nice and all" but not if it gets in the way of telling a good story.

The first two thirds of the film are very funny, with a slight Nathan Barley-feel to its critique of a culture (amplified by great performances from Stiller and Watts as the fish out of water) but once an actual "plot" comes in and Stiller tries to expose his protege Jamie (who has now exceeded Josh's success) as a fraud, it feels rather weak and underwhelming.

Indeed, Josh's final rant and speech comes across as anti-climatic yet perhaps this is the point. The world is changing and people have to accept that and embrace the change... although they themselves do not have to change and instead be comfortable in their own skin.

After all, I myself am 34 years old and own a few trilbies but found myself agreeing with the viewpoint of the 44 year olds.

Perhaps Huey Lewis and the News were right and it IS hip to be square these days.

3 stars

Finding Vivian Maier - review

In the Sixties there was a film called Blow Up where a photographer played by David Hemmings believes he has captured a crime on camera and sets out to solve it.

Finding Vivian Maier is a documentary that features a similar mystery at heart but it isn't trying to solve a crime captured in a photograph but one man's search to discover who took a photograph.

John Maloof bought a box of negatives from an auction in Chicago and discovered a series of amazing photographs from a woman called Vivian Maier.

The only problem was that neither John nor anyone on google had seemed to heard of this photographer. Maloof sets out to find out who she was and why she hadn't become a famous artist.

He discovers she had died shortly before he found the negatives and Maier worked for most of her life as a nanny and took thousands of photos whenever she could thanks to a camera she seemed to permanently keep round her neck.

Interviewing the people she worked for and looked after, Maloof begins to piece together the puzzle of who Vivian Maier was whilst simultaneously building an archive of her photographs and showcasing her work around the world.

Maier would in death find the fame she never had in life but it is clear that it is not something she would have necessarily wanted or enjoyed.

What she did enjoy however, and predating the current camera phone trend by 50/60 years, was taking "selfies". So many in fact, that she could have even coined the term.

Unlike the majority of her photos, Vivian Maier's background and personality was certainly not black and white but this film does its best to add some colour and shade to this unique character.

4 stars