CHAOS WALKING: 2 STARS
On paper 鈥淐haos Walking,鈥� a new dystopian movie starring Daisy Ridley and Tom Holland and now on PVOD, seems like a can鈥檛 fail for sci-fi fans. In execution, however, the story of a world where men鈥檚 thoughts are manifested for all to see, is a letdown.
Based on 鈥淭he Knife of Never Letting Go,鈥� the first book of the Patrick Ness 鈥淐haos Walking鈥� trilogy, the story takes place in the year 2557 in a place called Prentisstown on the planet New World. Colonized by refugees from Earth, New World鈥檚 original inhabitants, the Spackle, fought back, slaughtering many of the male settlers and all the women. The surviving men contracted something called 鈥淭he Noise.鈥�
鈥淚t happened when we landed on the planet,鈥� says Mayor Prentiss (Mads Mikkelsen). 鈥淓very thought in our heads is on display.鈥�
Prentisstown residents, like Todd Hewitt (Holland), walk around with their thoughts exposed like wisps of multicolored cigarette smoke swirling around their heads.
When her spaceship crash lands on New World, it leaves earth woman Viola (Ridley) stranded in this strange world. Todd, who has never seen a woman before, helps her navigate the dangers of her new home, as they both discover the deeply held secrets of New World.
鈥淐haos Walking鈥� has ideas that feel ripe for satire, social commentary and drama but squanders them in favour of crafting a tepid young adult friendly dystopian story. Todd鈥檚 鈥淣oise鈥� reveals the kind of thoughts a teenager may have when first laying eyes on a girl, although in a g-rated fashion. His inner voice mumbles 鈥淧retty鈥� in Viola鈥檚 presence, but that鈥檚 about as deep into his psyche we get. It鈥檚 a shame because the 鈥淣oise鈥� device could have been used to provide some much-needed humour into this earnest story. Or to more effectively drive the plot or the tension between the two characters.
Instead, it is inert, a ploy to add some interest to a generic dystopian tale.
鈥淐haos Walking鈥� was shot in 2017, deemed unreleasable, and has been fiddled with ever since. It hits PVOD as a film of unrealized potential, a minor footnote on the IMDB pages of its stars.
TINY TIM: KING FOR A DAY: 3 ½ STARS
There was a short time when Herbert Khaury, a.k.a. the falsetto-voiced Tiny Tim, was one of the biggest and most unlikely pop stars in the world.
In 1968 he had a top twenty hit with 鈥淭iptoe Through the Tulips,鈥� a cover of a song that originally appeared in the 1929 movie 鈥淕old Diggers of Broadway.鈥� He appeared on 鈥淟augh In鈥� and played at the Royal Albert Hall. The following year, forty million people tuned in to see him marry Miss Vicki on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, earning the second-highest rating to the man walking on the moon. There were Tiny Tim bobble heads, dolls and games, and he was even mentioned by Snoopy in a Peanuts cartoon.
鈥淚t sounds strange to say that Tiny Tim arrived at a time when the country needed a Tiny Tim,鈥� says television producer George Schlatter, 鈥渂ut we did. The world was screwed up, not unlike it is today. We needed someone who was that sweet, vulnerable and kind. Tim walked in and became a national hero.鈥�
Then, almost as quickly as it began, Tiny Mania waned. A new documentary, 鈥淭iny Tim: King for a Day,鈥� now streaming via the Yuk Yuk鈥檚 website, paints a picture of an outsider artists who endured ridicule in return for the warm embrace of applause.
Narrated by 鈥淲eird Al鈥� Yankovic and featuring animation, archival clips, readings from Tim鈥檚 diaries, musical numbers and interviews with those who knew him best, the documentary goes beyond the falsetto to reveal a performer who was haunted by shame, sexual suppression, religious stress with women and memories of his brief time at the top.
鈥淲hen you look at where Herbert Khaury begins and Tiny Tim ends,鈥� says biographer Justin A Martell, 鈥渘othing was ever normal from top to bottom, from start to finish.鈥�
At just seventy-five minutes 鈥淭iny Tim: King for a Day鈥� steps lively through Tiny鈥檚 story.
Interviews with his daughter and his third wife Susan Marie Gardner, combined with the diary readings, provide insight lacking from some of the other talking heads who tend toward platitudes.
The music may not be for everyone鈥�1960s icon Wavy Gravy says, 鈥淧eople either got it, or they didn鈥檛.鈥濃�攂ut the beyond the bromides is an extraordinary story of resilience and of walking one鈥檚 own path.
鈥� via Eventive in partnership with YukYuk's:
THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY: 3 ½ STARS
The road to legal weed has been a twisty, turny journey with many strange detours along the way, including a Canadian study called Project Venus. A new film, 鈥淭he Marijuana Conspiracy,鈥� now on VOD, details the inner workings of a true-to-life experiment that assigned 鈥渢oke times" to a group of female test subjects.
Set in 1972, the story begins as a group of young women are recruited to take part, as paid subjects, in a provincially funded cannabis study. The women were isolated and supplied with marijuana. In return a team of nurses and scientists studied their reactions and did brain, kidney and blood tests.
What the women didn鈥檛 know is that they are being used as shills, test subjects in a clinical investigation determined to prove that marijuana use will lead to lowered productivity.
When the 98-day study didn鈥檛 return the results the organizers hoped for, they secretly increased the THC levels in an attempt to prove their hypothesis that smoking weed will lead to some kind of reefer madness.
鈥淭he Marijuana Conspiracy鈥� is a multi-pronged story. It鈥檚 an historical exposé of the unethical treatment of human subjects in a bogus medical study. In light of the pandemic, it鈥檚 also a timely comment on the efficacy of government studies in regards to health concerns. Most of all, and best of all, it is also a carefully constructed portrait of the friendship and resilience of the women.
Director and screenwriter Craig Pryce gives the ensemble cast time to establish their characters and allow the audience to understand why each and every one of them signed up for this unorthodox experiment. What could have been an exercise in finger pointing instead has a deep core of humanity.
As we follow these characters they grow and adapt to their circumstances, always with an eye to the future. Solid performances from Tymika Tafari, Julia Sarah Stone, Morgan Kohan, Kyla Avril Young and Alanna Bale and carefully curated 70s period details bring the individual stories to life. Marie Ward鈥檚 performance as Nurse Alice, imagine a Nurse Ratched type, has a nice, unexpected arc that adds layers of texture to an already detailed story.
鈥淭he Marijuana Conspiracy鈥� mixes and matches docu-drama with humour and even a taste a of horror to tell an interesting story of ulterior motives, exploitation and regulation all bound together with empathy and just a bit of intrigue.
