A Brand New You
This sandbox is in the article namespace. Either move this page into your userspace, or remove the {{User sandbox}} template.
| A Brand New You | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Shawn Whitney |
| Produced by | Marie Adler Stephane Boutros Kathryn Palmateer Freya Ravensbergen Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz Shawn Whitney |
| Starring | Freya Ravensbergen Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz Clinton Lee Pontes |
| Cinematography | Alex Lisman |
| Edited by | Luke Sargent |
| Music by | Tristan Capacchione (original score) |
Production company | Dangerous Dusk Productions |
| Distributed by | Adler & Associates |
Release dates | 2014, April 6 (Houston WorldFest) USA |
Running time | 83 min |
| Country | Canada |
| Languages | English, Spanish |
A Brand New You is a Canadian feature film that was released in 2014. It is a dark comedy directed by married couple Kathryn Palmateer, Shawn Whitney and starring Freya Ravensbergen, Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz, Clinton Lee Pontes and Vanessa Burns. The film was described as "a low-key comedy about a widower (Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz) who enlists his roommates (Clinton Lee Pontes, Freya Ravensbergen) in a half-baked scheme to clone his dead wife".[1]
A Brand New You is a mocrobudget film and was produced on a shoestring. It was shot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada . A first feature by directors Kathryn Palmateer and Shawn Whitney, the film was hailed as an achievement by critics and garnered accolades as a first picture and won audience awards.
Plot
In this quirky comedy we first meet Santiago Morales (Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz) a former engineer who is unable to come to terms with the death of his wife Viviana (Dalal Badr), from cancer. Santiago rents a room in a shared house as he struggles to get his financial affairs from the marriage sorted out. Santiago quickly becomes suicidal, obsessing over his late wife by watching videos of her on an ipad and building a shrine to her in his room. Santiago is very particular and likes to keep things neat, tidy and organized which leads to clashes with his housemate and landlord Murray (Clinton Lee Pontes), who is a total slob and spends most of his time in his underwear in the living room of the house surrounded by trash and clutter. He finds out that Murray is actually a disgraced former geneticist with too much time on his hands. Murray was a rock-star in the cloning field until he was caught conducting illegal experiments and has fallen from grace but is itching to get back in the saddle. Together they devise a plan involving the other housemate, Laura (Freya Ravensbergen), to clone Santiago’s dead wife and thereby bring her back to life. Laura has just lost her waitressing job and is unable to pay her debts so when presented with a relative financial windfall for her role, she reluctantly agrees to take part in the scheme to be the surrogate for their bizarro cloning experiment.
The film is uniquely offbeat as the often twisted comedy plays out very much in the moment due to the strong acting of the ensemble. The logical consequenses of the characters intentions seem secondary. For example, it doesn’t appear to bother Santiago that his wife would be a baby and not in fact “Viviana” in any way other than genetically. In fact he missed her to such an extreme that its hard not to end up rooting for him to see her.
There is a secondary plot about another scientist seeking to undermine Murray's work. This comes into play as Santiago and Murray attempt to source the equipment they need for their experiment. Ultimately and perhaps predictably, the entire scheme ends up in danger of falling apart and that's when the creativity in the film shines. the character work and script development keep the characters moving along their dramatic arch in a funny and unique way. [2][3][4][5][6]
Cast
- Freya Ravensbergen ... Laura
- Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz ... Santiago Morales
- Clinton Lee Pontes ... Murray Wyndham / Victor Soares
- Elizabeth Whitmere ...The Undertaker
- Barbara de la Fuente ... Marny
- Michael Lake ... Nerdy Dude
- Vanessa Burns ... Natalie
- Edsson Morales ... Phil
- William Ellis ... Nerdy Dude
- Toni Ellwand ... Real Estate Agent
- Dalal Badr ... Viviana
- Scott McCullouch ... Dr. Steven Moritz
- Charles Burton ... Marny's Husband
Production
Themes
Info about the pair of directors [7]
Reaction
Critical response
the film is surprisingly likeable given it's obvious budgetary shortcomings with much of the credit going to the performances. One reviewer said "the characters are so weirdly specific and the actors who play them so invested that it kind of works in spite of itself".
The film appeared in a "worth a watch " year end list of Now Magazine in 2015
Audience response
Accolades
Best First Feature Victoria Texas Indie Film Fest 2015[9]
Best Dark Comedy Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival 2014[10]
Best Feature Comedy Highway 61 Film Festival 2014[11]
Nominee Best Supporting Actor Worldfest-Houston International Film Festival 2014[12]
External links
References
- ^ a b WILNER, NORMAN (APRIL 16, 2015). "A BRAND NEW YOU". NOW Newspaper. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "A Brand New You". Cinema Axis. 2015-05-12. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "FilmBizarro.com - From extreme underground horror reviews to independent arthouse and beyond". www.filmbizarro.com. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "First Look Review - A Brand New You". Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "Cinemablographer: Cloning Comedy A True Original". www.cinemablographer.com. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "The Film Corner with Greg Klymkiw: March 2014". klymkiwfilmcorner.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "A BRAND NEW YOU". 2014-10-16. Retrieved 2016-07-29.
- ^ "NNN: 121 FILMS OF 2015 THAT ARE WORTH A WATCH". NOW Newspaper. DECEMBER 22, 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Kids & Education". Kids & Education. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "WorldFest Houston (2014)". Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "Here are your winners! 2014 Highway 61 Film Festival competition results | Highway 61 Film Festival". highway61filmfestival.org. Retrieved 2016-07-31.
- ^ "News / Reviews ‹ A Brand New You The Movie". brandnewyouthemovie.com. Retrieved 2016-07-31.