Hot Picks
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The Oak Room
Canada 2020
produced by Chad Archibald, Cody Calahan, Ari Millen, Nat Abraham (executive), Ira Levy (executive), Michael McGuigan (executive), Mark Myers (executive) for Breakthrough Entertainment, Black Fawn Films, Citizen Skull Productions
directed by Cody Calahan
starring RJ Mitte, Peter Outerbridge, Ari Millen, Martin Roach, David Ferry, Nicholas Campbell, Amos Crawley, Avery Esteves, Coal Campbell, Adam Seybold
written by Peter Genoway, music by Steph Copeland
review by Mike Haberfelner
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After years of drifting, young Steve (RJ Mitte) returns to his hometown
on a stormy winter night - or more precisely to his hometown's bar, that's
run by his deceased dad's (Nicholas Campbell) Paul (Peter Outerbridge).
And Paul doesn't think very highly of Steve, as he thinks Steve is at
least in parts to blame for his father's death. Plus, Steve still owes
Paul a lump of money and doesn't seem to be in a situation to pay. Steve
though suggests to pay Paul with a story - which Paul rejects as a rotten
deal, but Steve tells the story anyways, about a bar - the titular Oak
Room - just like the one they're in, where a stranger (Martin Roach)
bursts in one snowy and stormy night, asking for not much but a little
warmth, but the barkeep (Ari Millen) wants to close up, which ends in a
big argument ... and Paul isn't impressed by the story one bit. So he
tells Steve a story about his dad, with the express intention to see Steve
break down with guilt. He almost succeeds, but then Steve tells the first
part of the story he has left out before that sheds a whole different
light on things ...
As well-acted and well-directed as this film is, especially
given its budgetary limitations, what really makes it special is its
masterful and often deceiving script that's constructed like some sort of
a puzzle, where things only make perfect sense when everything is put
together, and scenes that seemed meandering earlier are suddenly seen in a
whole new light. And its many flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks
really increase the puzzle-like feel. But what seems somehow random at
first is eventually revealed as a well-structured run of things, with high
mystery and high entertainment value.
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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