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gregflakus
As a correspondent with the Voice of America (1980-2017) Flakus helped implement the television and internet video programs utilizing new digital video camera technology. He directed the documentary "Legends of the Blues" (2015) and over a period of 23 years provided video reports and material from more than 20 countries, primarily in Latin America.
Since retirement in June, 2017, he has been working as an independent filmmaker in Houston, Texas. Directed short film "Running the Numbers" for the June, 2018 48-Hours Film Project in Houston and "Haunted Waters" for the October, 2018 48 Hours Film Project's Houston Horror film competition.
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Reviews
Playing God (2021)
Nicely balanced drama/comedy
First-- a disclaimer-- I live in the Houston Metro area and I love how the city was depicted in this film. The opening montage really shows off the beauty of the downtown area. But the movie wasn't made to attract commerce or tourism to Houston, it was made here because Houston is an underused film location with a lot to offer.
Now-- getting to the film: It is not perfect and it does have some of the features of many other lower-budget, independent films, like music that sounds generic and detracts from a scene. But it succeeds in being funny at times and at creating a story with characters you care about. The brother and sister twins who carry out multiple cons, sometimes taking advantage of vulnerable, charitable people should be beneath our contempt, yet we can't help but identify with them. We even sympathize with Rachel, the female half of the team. Her brother, although charming and clever, shows a certain creepiness from the start. He has cold eyes.
Michael McKean is superb as their mentor, a recently-released-from-prison manager of a rundown roller skate rink who can't resist getting in on a good sting. Their target is a wealthy fellow who is full of despair after losing his daughter in an accident for which he feels responsible. McKean plays the role of God and meets with the guy on the roof of a downtown hotel. It is fun to see McKean getting into "the role of a lifetime." The filmmakers could have explored this aspect a little more and had fun with it, but perhaps that would have been too much of a good thing.
The movie is light and funny overall, but it does delve into some dark places. Rachel in particular shows empathy and guilt over her role in swindling and defrauding people she has come to love. But the plot thickens when a gangster threatens the twins with torture and death if they don't pay him the money they owe him. So, whether conflicted or not by her grifter crimes, Rachel has a lot of motivation to carry through with the scheme.
WARNING-- Spoliers ahead---
A few problems I had with the plot: The twins in one scene appear to be in a Mexican market where they meet a woman who offers them info on the wealthy man and his search for God for $10,000. First of all, why is a woman who operates out of a market stall able to obtain all this information? And is her little file worth that kind of money? It seems to me a Houston billionaire who is going around the world seeking redemption would be the talk of the town. They could have saved money and read about him in a local paper or in a feature in Texas Monthly. But what really shocked me is that when they say they only have $5,000. She caves in immediately and gives them the file. What kind of criminal informant would do that? That whole scene should have been dropped. It would have been more believable if their source had been some former business associate of the billionaire they come across who tells them the story.
Another problem is towards the end when suddenly thugs with guns appear. If you are doing a caper film the audience is expecting tension and uncertainty as the criminal protagonists try to pull it off. That's part of the fun. The gun play ruined it.
Then there is the disclosure about the billionaire and his connection with the twins that the brother gives to Rachel in order to keep her in the . This stretches the limits of what an audience is willing to accept in such a story. The coincidence is a little too much especially after we see them go to some third party in a Mexican market to get their basic info on the guy. If the info was so valuable it should have provided a lot of basic information that would have revealed the connection from the start. But I am being a bit picky. This is not "The Asphalt Jungle" or "Topkapi" or "The Sting"-- it is a film that entertains if you don't think too much about the details and sometimes that's just what you need.
The Wind (2018)
Some great elements, but unconvincing
As a horror movie this film has a lot going for it including some fine cinematography and good acting. The psychological storyline is very effective up to a point, but the creepy demon stuff doesn't work all that well. The scariest thing in the film are the wolves, which represent a real threat someone might have faced on the frontier.
A lot could have been done with the psychological torment pioneers must have suffered being isolated on the windswept prairies. Some of them did go mad. But the pioneers depicted in this film seem to be pretty well off. They have wooden structures, which were rare on the plains where trees were few and far between. Since The Wind was filmed in scenic New Mexico we can see mountains nearby, which would have provided wood for rustic log cabins, but there would had to have been a sawmill to provide the lumber for the houses shown in this film. They also had carpets on the floor. Most pioneers would have felt themselves fortunate to have a floor. They had multiple kerosene-burning lanterns and yet they are supposed to be far from a town where they could have purchased such luxuries. It is also hard to see what they do on this homestead. Is it a farm? We never see them doing any typical chores other than the brief scenes where she is with chickens and a goat. That scene coming shortly after the terrifying wolf scene begs the question of why the wolves didn't just eat all that livestock. Of course, as we learn of her possible madness, it becomes apparent that what she experiences may not be real. Maybe there were no wolves.
Getting back to the nature of their homestead, they had a nice horse with a good saddle. Did they have some cattle around there somewhere? If it was a farm they were in a bad spot. The high plains close to the mountains are not very well suited to farming. But even putting that aside, no one could farm anywhere on the wild, unplowed plains without working from sun up to sun down on various chores, especially during the warm months. These people seem to have lots of time on their hands.
Then there is the gun. It is an authentic shotgun from that era, but she doesn't seem to have what is needed to load it properly and there are no caps for the hammers to strike. Without an exploding cap to ignite the gunpowder in the breach no shot could be fired. This could have been masked easily by just showing it in long shots, but we can see it in some fairly close shots.
A lot more could have been done with the books and the German ancestry of the neighbors. A woman capable of reading who brought a whole chest full of books to a frontier cabin is a resource that should have been exploited more. Witchcraft and superstition were common among European peasants and they brought some of those traditions with them. But the movie concentrated on something evil in that particular section of prairie. Connecting it to an old creepy German mythology might have given the film a much more frightening and intriguing plot.
The Rhythm Section (2020)
A few flaws, but a good action ride anyway
There are some good action scenes in this film, but at its heart it is about a woman (Blake Lively) dealing with the pain of loss and her own guilt. She is a pretty rough and beaten down mess when we first see her and, although she cleans up and looks pretty sexy, she is still a mess.
Jude Law enters the picture about midway and gives it a much needed boost and some gravitas. But the script pulls down any attempt to make the story plausible. Both Law and Lively do some good acting and there are some beautiful settings--Scotland, Paris, Madrid, Tangier, but for all its good effort the film never really rises above the level of a second-rate action thriller.
Lights in the Sky (2020)
A different approach to the UFO subject
Given the low budget of this film and the fact that it appears it was almost completely the work of one person, Krista Alexander, this is a remarkable little film. But the viewer will find something special by taking the time to follow the presentation and the theories she explores.
What sets this film apart from other films about UFOs and alleged extraterrestrials visiting earth is that it does not go for the sensational at all. Alexander uses her video work skills to analyze clips of various sightings and finds patterns that are common in nature, in space and in the strange world of quantum mechanics. She posits the idea that the strange lights people have been seeing in the skies could be manifestations of natural phenomena.
The film starts off a little slow with images of flickering lights and a dry narration, but after she gets into the body of her argument, it gets interesting. It may not be satisfying for people who really want to believe these strange sights in the sky are alien visitors, but it provides a look into fascinating theories about the forces that lie beneath what we perceive as the world.
The Gulf of Silence (2020)
Simple, believable story well told
I am not a big UFO enthusiast, but in these days of pandemic I have found amusement in some SciFi films and a few documentaries about UFOs and the possibility of extraterrestrial creatures cruising around earth. A good one is "Phenomenon," narrated by the excellent Peter Coyote, so you know it's all true. I came across "The Gulf of Silence" on Amazon and thought it might be fun to watch for five or ten minutes, just to see what it is.
It grabbed my attention and held it all the way to the end. I completely forgot that this was not a real documentary and got caught up in the story. It is fascinating, funny, sad, scary and mentally engaging. The acting by Mandy May Cheetham was very convincing. She did a great job of making the character real.
But what really impressed me is that this whole film is just a series of clips from various "interviews" with the subject, a woman who once worked for highly secret government agency that investigated UFOs. In between those segments are some flashing light sequences, some blurry shots of L.A. at night taken from a car, some computer generated images of flying saucers and alien spacecraft, and a few shots of drawings, newspaper headlines and book covers. That's it. The filmmakers managed to grab my attention and hold me with the well-paced story, told by an attractive and very believable woman and not much else. The only other film of this type that I recall finding entertaining was "Swimming to Cambodia" from way back in 1987. In that movie you also had a person (Spalding Gray) sitting down telling a story to the camera with a few cutaways to other locales and scenes from the movie "The Killing Fields." Gray held you in the palm of his hand for the length of the film.
Some believers in alien space ships visiting earth may be bothered by some of the glib points she makes in this film, but remember this is fiction. More to the point, though, is the clever jibe at the whole UFO Conspiracy business and entertainment sector. It works in part as a good satire. But it also has convincing drama in regard to the character's personal life and how it was disrupted by her experience witnessing an incident. Then there is her story about Rachel, the head of the government team. We only know a little about her, but somehow she emerges as a real person as well and we feel something for her as well. Now that is great storytelling!
I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
A Film for Adults who crave intellectual stimulation
This is not a mass market entertainment film that allows you to park your brain next to the popcorn bowl while watching. This is a film that challenges you in many ways, but it is not inaccessible to an average viewer. You just have to sit back and take it for what it is. Don't look for a traditional story line. Don't look for some revealing explanation of everything.
The film starts with a couple talking in a car as they drive through a snowy environment. From the start we learn that the young woman is having doubts about the relationship and in her mind asks the question that provides the film's title. But as things move forward (are they moving forward or backward?) we begin to question the true nature of the people we see and where we are in time and space. There are numerous references to historic as well as literary figures, which is intriguing if you are well read, but could be off-putting to an average viewer. Some might even hurl the term "pseudo-intellectual" at the filmmakers. But let's give writer/director Charlie Kaufman some slack and assume he has drawn on these sources for a reason; that he is exploring issues that should be of interest to all of us as human beings.
The film has many references to historic and cultural figures, which can be illuminating, but you don't have to be familiar with every person cited to enjoy the film. If you pay close attention you will see items and hear quick statements that telegraph an issue or even a cultural figure that will come up later. For example, the young woman (the excellent Irish actress Jessie Buckley) is exploring the childhood room of her boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) and we see a pile of books on the top of which is a large volume by the late film critic and essayist Pauline Kael. Later, on their drive home, she and her partner discuss a movie that he liked. She then goes into a long recitation of what I assume was Pauline Kael's New Yorker article on the film.
There are touches of Kubrick in this film, especially in the staging and composition. Fans of David Lynch will find a lot to love as well. There is a bizarre scene at an ice cream stand on winter's night that could have been created by Lynch. There are also some scenes that reminded me of Terrence Malick. If you are not a fan of those kind of films, this may not be for you.
I enjoyed this movie for its style, the acting, the cleverness of the script, the beauty of the cinematography and the dreamy exposition that leaves you wanting more. Within hours of my first viewing, I watched it again. People who have read the book it is based on say it helps, but I think the film works just as well without being tied too closely to the book. They are each distinct forms of art. Just watch it and don't try to figure it out as you do so. Just go with it and think about it later.
Frantz (2016)
Simple, beautiful and true
This film is true in the sense that it portrays universal truths about human beings, their interactions and their effects on one another. The story, about a Frenchman who comes to visit the grave of a German soldier after World War I, is one that begins with a simple gesture and then takes us along for a ride through the fields of human longing.
Many of the people in the German town resent the Frenchman. They are bitter about losing the war and quite a few families there lost sons in the conflict. They do not treat him with hostility, but they are correct in their behavior, not friendly. The one person who does take to him is the sister of the dead German, whom the Frenchman claims to have known years earlier in Paris.
He establishes an endearing friendship with the parents of the dead German soldier, tells them what he remembers of their son and listens to their stories about him. Little by little we can see an attraction growing between him and the sister.
I will leave at that so as not to make a spoiler/ Suffice it to say that what he and the young woman discover through their friendship is a connection to the truth, not just in details about something that has happened and can never be taken back, but in the sense of learning about their own feelings and their own destinies.
The story is told in vibrant black and white for the most part and the cinematography is superb. The acting is also outstanding. There are no big emotional outbursts this movie, only subtle movements, glances and soft conversations that reveal all that needs to be revealed.
GMF