In this piece of faction from veteran Spanish director Carlos Saura, I, Don Giovani tells the story of Lorenzo Da Ponte and the development of his second collaboration with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Il dissoluto punito o sia Il Don Giovanni. Sauro collaborated on the script with Raffaello Uboldi and Alessandro Vallini.
The tale begins in Da Ponte's youth, when he is forced to convert from Judaism to Christianity to enable his widower father's marriage to an 18-year old Catholic woman. When he's older, he trains to be a priest, but practices the fine art of debauchery of in his spare time. He is surrounded by inspiration for the story he ends up writing for Mozart's opera, and in fact his on-screen life plays out in opera fashion, complete with musical performances of songs from the opera.
The story is intriguing, with seduction, cheating, back-biting jealous divas, illness, and other great opera themes. The film works Da Ponte's real life drama into the story of Don Giovani in a very clever way, which is only fitting since most of Da Ponte's work was in the form of adaptations of previous work. But while the picture is visually impressive, it suffers a bit in the sound department. Some of the post-production re-recorded dialog didn't match up with the picture very well, which proved distracting. The bigger issue, though, were occasional dull patches in the plot. My imdb rating: 6/10.
Showing posts with label TIFF 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TIFF 2009. Show all posts
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Review: Bare Essence of Life
My second to last day at the festival began with Bare Essence of Life, from Japanese writer/director Satoko Yokohama. Ken'ichi Matsuyama starred in the second consecutive movie in my schedule. Veteran Actress Komiko Aso plays love interest Machiko Kamiizumi.
In a jump of epic proportions, Matsuyama slides easily from a fugitive ninja in Kamui to a mentally challenged small-time vegetable farmer named Akito Mizuki in this film. Akito lives with his grandmother, who is trying to prepare him to survive on his own. With a mental age of about 7, things aren't going so well. Spoiler alert, I'm about to divulge the rest of the plot.
Machiko moves to the remote northern Japanese village from Tokyo, where the love of her life was decapitated in a horrific car accident. While the rest of the villagers whisper amongst themselves about her bad fortune, Akito falls in love with her. Initially, he freaks her out with his stalker behavior. That night, Akito, with the help of a local schoolboy, buries himself in the garden, with only his head sticking up out of the ground. The helpful neighborhood kid sprays the entire garden with herbicide, including Akito's head, and then heads home, leaving Akito planted. After being freed from his garden grave, he seeks out his love again, only this time she finds him more charming. Of course, Akito credits the herbicide application to his newfound success.
Now obsessed with giving himself regular applications of herbicide, he falls ill. As a result, presumably, his heart stops beating, but miraculously he's otherwise healthy as a horse. Eventually, though, he gets shot dead by hunters while on a field trip to the woods with Machiko and her class. Oddly, after the autopsy, the pathologist gives Machiko his brain in a jar presumably filled with formaldehyde, remarking that it's smaller than usual. She then takes the kids back to the woods, strangely unafraid that someone else would get shot. No one in fact does get shot, but they do stumble upon a bear. Machiko tosses Akito's brain in the direction of the bear, and she and the kids escape to safety while he munches on his dinner of formaldehyde-soaked human brain. The end.
And no, I'm not making this shit up.
I think the movie was supposed to be funny. However, I guess I don't find mentally challenged farmer jokes all that funny. Oh look! He's throwing the produce at the customers. Ha ha ha! She won't buy anything now, and he won't have money to pay his bills. Ha ha ha! My imdb rating: 3/10.
In a jump of epic proportions, Matsuyama slides easily from a fugitive ninja in Kamui to a mentally challenged small-time vegetable farmer named Akito Mizuki in this film. Akito lives with his grandmother, who is trying to prepare him to survive on his own. With a mental age of about 7, things aren't going so well. Spoiler alert, I'm about to divulge the rest of the plot.
Machiko moves to the remote northern Japanese village from Tokyo, where the love of her life was decapitated in a horrific car accident. While the rest of the villagers whisper amongst themselves about her bad fortune, Akito falls in love with her. Initially, he freaks her out with his stalker behavior. That night, Akito, with the help of a local schoolboy, buries himself in the garden, with only his head sticking up out of the ground. The helpful neighborhood kid sprays the entire garden with herbicide, including Akito's head, and then heads home, leaving Akito planted. After being freed from his garden grave, he seeks out his love again, only this time she finds him more charming. Of course, Akito credits the herbicide application to his newfound success.
Now obsessed with giving himself regular applications of herbicide, he falls ill. As a result, presumably, his heart stops beating, but miraculously he's otherwise healthy as a horse. Eventually, though, he gets shot dead by hunters while on a field trip to the woods with Machiko and her class. Oddly, after the autopsy, the pathologist gives Machiko his brain in a jar presumably filled with formaldehyde, remarking that it's smaller than usual. She then takes the kids back to the woods, strangely unafraid that someone else would get shot. No one in fact does get shot, but they do stumble upon a bear. Machiko tosses Akito's brain in the direction of the bear, and she and the kids escape to safety while he munches on his dinner of formaldehyde-soaked human brain. The end.
And no, I'm not making this shit up.
I think the movie was supposed to be funny. However, I guess I don't find mentally challenged farmer jokes all that funny. Oh look! He's throwing the produce at the customers. Ha ha ha! She won't buy anything now, and he won't have money to pay his bills. Ha ha ha! My imdb rating: 3/10.
Review: Kamui
After a couple films that occasionally seemed to induce more napping than anything, I needed some entertainment. Fortunately, the evening movie on the schedule was Kamui, director Yoichi Sai's version of the legendary tale of a fugitive ninja.
Ken'ichi Matsuyama takes on the role of the title character, who is born low on the social totem pole in 17th century Japan. As a way out, he becomes a ninja, but unhappy with performing the tasks required of him, he escapes to live a free life. As it turns out, the ninja society strongly adheres to the "Hotel Calfornia" rule, so Kamui spends a lot of time looking over his shoulder.
As it turns out, in 17th century Japan, ninjas have darned near super human powers. Kamui can do some neat tricks. For instance, his signature move is making it look like there are two of him. He cam also jump about thirty feet. These are handy skills to possess when you're a fugitive ninja.
Anyway, after some adventures in a forest, Kamui takes to the ocean. That turns out to be a rough life, and he winds up washing up on shore half-dead after a trippy run-in with a demented fisherman. The fisherman's daughter helps nurse him back to life, much to the dismay of her mother, who has secrets of her own. Some pirates show up, identities get exposed, and all hell breaks loose.
I'll leave the details out, in case you happen to catch this one. It's a fun story with lots of crazy ninja action, and the rather cartoonish low-budget CGI gives it the look of a live action anime film. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Ken'ichi Matsuyama takes on the role of the title character, who is born low on the social totem pole in 17th century Japan. As a way out, he becomes a ninja, but unhappy with performing the tasks required of him, he escapes to live a free life. As it turns out, the ninja society strongly adheres to the "Hotel Calfornia" rule, so Kamui spends a lot of time looking over his shoulder.
As it turns out, in 17th century Japan, ninjas have darned near super human powers. Kamui can do some neat tricks. For instance, his signature move is making it look like there are two of him. He cam also jump about thirty feet. These are handy skills to possess when you're a fugitive ninja.
Anyway, after some adventures in a forest, Kamui takes to the ocean. That turns out to be a rough life, and he winds up washing up on shore half-dead after a trippy run-in with a demented fisherman. The fisherman's daughter helps nurse him back to life, much to the dismay of her mother, who has secrets of her own. Some pirates show up, identities get exposed, and all hell breaks loose.
I'll leave the details out, in case you happen to catch this one. It's a fun story with lots of crazy ninja action, and the rather cartoonish low-budget CGI gives it the look of a live action anime film. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Review: Like You Know It All
From South Korea and writer/director Sang-soo Hong comes Like You Know It All (Jal aljido mothamyeonseo), the story of an art house film director and the folly of his day-to-day life. Kim Tae-woo takes on the role of Ku Kyung-nam, a director of critically acclaimed, but commercially unsuccessful movies.
The film begins with Kyung-nam attending a film festival as a judge. Quickly, it becomes apparent that the festival is much more about long nights of drinking with arrogant industry men and young attractive women than it is about screening movies. The screenings simply become a convenient time to catch up on sleep. The partying leads to one young woman delivering Kyung-nam a tongue lashing for leaving her defenselessly drunk at the residence of one of the other revelers. He soon leaves the festival, promising to review the movies on DVD instead.
Later, in one confusing scene, Kyung-nam visits the home of an old friend. The friend dies, and Kyung-nam sleeps with his wife while trying to comfort her. Moments later, the friend is once again alive, with no explanation as far as I could see, and throws a large rock at Kyung-nam, striking him in the face.
Kyung-nam's last adventure begins when he meets up with his college mentor, who he discovers has coincidentally married an ex-flame. This encounter begins with an admittedly hilarious moment of foreboding, but drags on in a confusing and seemingly endless series of conversations.
The irony of this movie is that it seemed like it was directed by someone just like the main character that the movie intends to make fun of. There were several funny moments on the film, but far too often I found myself wondering what was going on. My imdb rating: 4/10.
The film begins with Kyung-nam attending a film festival as a judge. Quickly, it becomes apparent that the festival is much more about long nights of drinking with arrogant industry men and young attractive women than it is about screening movies. The screenings simply become a convenient time to catch up on sleep. The partying leads to one young woman delivering Kyung-nam a tongue lashing for leaving her defenselessly drunk at the residence of one of the other revelers. He soon leaves the festival, promising to review the movies on DVD instead.
Later, in one confusing scene, Kyung-nam visits the home of an old friend. The friend dies, and Kyung-nam sleeps with his wife while trying to comfort her. Moments later, the friend is once again alive, with no explanation as far as I could see, and throws a large rock at Kyung-nam, striking him in the face.
Kyung-nam's last adventure begins when he meets up with his college mentor, who he discovers has coincidentally married an ex-flame. This encounter begins with an admittedly hilarious moment of foreboding, but drags on in a confusing and seemingly endless series of conversations.
The irony of this movie is that it seemed like it was directed by someone just like the main character that the movie intends to make fun of. There were several funny moments on the film, but far too often I found myself wondering what was going on. My imdb rating: 4/10.
Review: Tales From The Golden Age
Award winning Director Christian Mungiu brought together four other fledgling Romanian directors to direct five short films depicting life during Romania in the 1980s. Communist propaganda referred to the days of their rule as "The Golden Age". The five films each look at "legends" of the time in typically a humorous way. Apparently, there is a sixth film and these are being released as two separate films in Romania. I'm guessing they selected five of the six as a single film for the festival.
Each of the five that we saw told the story of a "legend" of the time.
Each of the five that we saw told the story of a "legend" of the time.
- The opening tale was that of a small town nervously preparing for the arrival of communist party officials, which ends with everyone getting drunk and then getting on a carnival ride with swings. Unfortunately, they forgot to leave somebody off the ride to stop it and simply had to wait for it to run out of gas.
- In a "forest for the trees" moment, state officials insist that alterations are made to a photograph before the newspaper can print it, but wind up needing an emergency recall of the morning edition.
- A family obtains a (live) pig through questionable means and, not wanting to draw attention of the neighbors, attempts to kill it via home made gas chamber, with somewhat predictable results.
- A man delivering truckloads of chickens finds a way to make a little extra by hocking their eggs part way through his route.
- A man introduces a young woman to a low stakes confidence scheme - tricking residents of apartment buildings into giving them returnable bottles, and then cashing them in.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Review: J'ai tué ma mère
The next film in this year's schedule was Canadian cinema part deux: the French language feature J'ai tué ma mère (I killed my mother). Xavier Dolan produced, wrote, directed and starred in this film. This is very convenient because you know who to blame if you don't like it.
This semi-autobiographical tale is about Xavier's relationship with his mother. For this film, he takes on the name Hubert, and his mother is not played by his mother, but rather by Anne Dorval. Hubert and his mother Chantale fight. A lot. Drop dead scream fests. In French. Québécois French, but French nonetheless. Hubert is mean, Chantale is mean, and it's hard to decide who's at fault, really.
One may choose to infer that the root of the problem is that Hubert has chosen not to divulge his homosexuality to his mother, though the film didn't directly state that. Hubert's father isn't much help, as he ditched the family years prior, deciding that parenthood just wasn't for him. Unable to deal with Hubert's rage herself, Chantale ships him off to a boarding school.
Along the way, Hubert strikes up a friendship with one of his public school teachers, Julie, and interacts with his main squeeze Antonin and his mother Hélène, who eventually outs Hubert in a chance encounter with Chantale.
Dorval gives a great performance as Chantale, especially in one scene when she rips the boarding school's director a new hole for suggesting that Hubert would benefit from a male influence in the home. Dolan is predictably convincing in portraying himself on screen. As a story, though, I found it a little frustrating watching these two people rip each other apart verbally for seemingly no reason whatsoever through most of the film. Sure, perhaps that's how the relationship was, but it doesn't necessarily make compelling cinema. My imdb rating: 5/10.
This semi-autobiographical tale is about Xavier's relationship with his mother. For this film, he takes on the name Hubert, and his mother is not played by his mother, but rather by Anne Dorval. Hubert and his mother Chantale fight. A lot. Drop dead scream fests. In French. Québécois French, but French nonetheless. Hubert is mean, Chantale is mean, and it's hard to decide who's at fault, really.
One may choose to infer that the root of the problem is that Hubert has chosen not to divulge his homosexuality to his mother, though the film didn't directly state that. Hubert's father isn't much help, as he ditched the family years prior, deciding that parenthood just wasn't for him. Unable to deal with Hubert's rage herself, Chantale ships him off to a boarding school.
Along the way, Hubert strikes up a friendship with one of his public school teachers, Julie, and interacts with his main squeeze Antonin and his mother Hélène, who eventually outs Hubert in a chance encounter with Chantale.
Dorval gives a great performance as Chantale, especially in one scene when she rips the boarding school's director a new hole for suggesting that Hubert would benefit from a male influence in the home. Dolan is predictably convincing in portraying himself on screen. As a story, though, I found it a little frustrating watching these two people rip each other apart verbally for seemingly no reason whatsoever through most of the film. Sure, perhaps that's how the relationship was, but it doesn't necessarily make compelling cinema. My imdb rating: 5/10.
Good Bye, Canada
I'm at Pearson Airport, sadly awaiting departure from our neighbors to the north. Only ten more reviews to write. Stay tuned, I'll be busily pumping out reviews for the remainder of the weekend...
Review: Cole
Every year, I make sure that I see at least one or two Canadian films, just as a "when in Rome" thing. Canadian movies don't have the budgets of American and English productions, but you can find some good young talent now and then, and the focus tends to be more on story, less on special effects. Cole was one of this year's Canadian flicks, directed by veteran filmmaker Carl Bessai.
Cole is part slice of life, part coming of age story of a young man from a stop light-less town in Canada, a few hours north of any major population. Cole's father is dead, and an accident has left his mother uncommunicative and with a habit of walking slowly onto the highway in front of the gas station his family owns and runs.
Cole dreams of being a writer and finally gets into a short story class he's wanted to take at the university a few hours south of his home. The class causes all kinds of stress for Cole and those around him. His sister Maybelline is stressed because she relies on Cole to help run the gas station and look after their mother, as her redneck boyfriend Bobby can only be relied upon to get drunk and make racist comments about her half black child. It stresses out Cole's best friend Frogger (great name, by the way) because Cole writes semi-autobiographical stories, and Frogger doesn't like his honest portrayal. And it stresses out Cole not only because of all the aforementioned reasons, but also because he falls for the beautiful Thandie Newton-ish Serafina.
Bessai gets solid performances from his major players: Richard de Klerk as Cole, Sonja Bennett as Maybelline, and Chad Willett as Bobby. Michael Eisner was especially good as Frogger, delivering great laughs as Cole's beer bonging best friend, with occasional flashes of serious acting.
My complaints about the movie are about the script. The character Bobby has absolutely no redeeming qualities and other than getting punched in the face pretty hard a few times, he never gets his due. Serafina and her family, as the well-to-do yin to Bobby's trashy yang, come off flat and unrealistic. They just don't approve of the small town boy driving the rusty pick up truck. Meanwhile, she seems to be almost oblivious to Cole's realities, carelessly putting him in uncomfortable situations.
I can't say that I didn't enjoy the movie, but I thought it could have used a script doctor. If they spent two minutes of screen time giving Bobby a redeeming quality and reworked Serafina just a bit, I think it would have worked. As it is, I don't want my time back, but I wouldn't urge you rush out to see this one. My imdb rating: 5/10.
Cole is part slice of life, part coming of age story of a young man from a stop light-less town in Canada, a few hours north of any major population. Cole's father is dead, and an accident has left his mother uncommunicative and with a habit of walking slowly onto the highway in front of the gas station his family owns and runs.
Cole dreams of being a writer and finally gets into a short story class he's wanted to take at the university a few hours south of his home. The class causes all kinds of stress for Cole and those around him. His sister Maybelline is stressed because she relies on Cole to help run the gas station and look after their mother, as her redneck boyfriend Bobby can only be relied upon to get drunk and make racist comments about her half black child. It stresses out Cole's best friend Frogger (great name, by the way) because Cole writes semi-autobiographical stories, and Frogger doesn't like his honest portrayal. And it stresses out Cole not only because of all the aforementioned reasons, but also because he falls for the beautiful Thandie Newton-ish Serafina.
Bessai gets solid performances from his major players: Richard de Klerk as Cole, Sonja Bennett as Maybelline, and Chad Willett as Bobby. Michael Eisner was especially good as Frogger, delivering great laughs as Cole's beer bonging best friend, with occasional flashes of serious acting.
My complaints about the movie are about the script. The character Bobby has absolutely no redeeming qualities and other than getting punched in the face pretty hard a few times, he never gets his due. Serafina and her family, as the well-to-do yin to Bobby's trashy yang, come off flat and unrealistic. They just don't approve of the small town boy driving the rusty pick up truck. Meanwhile, she seems to be almost oblivious to Cole's realities, carelessly putting him in uncomfortable situations.
I can't say that I didn't enjoy the movie, but I thought it could have used a script doctor. If they spent two minutes of screen time giving Bobby a redeeming quality and reworked Serafina just a bit, I think it would have worked. As it is, I don't want my time back, but I wouldn't urge you rush out to see this one. My imdb rating: 5/10.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Review: The Informant!
We didn't get tickets for A Serious Man, and still had the vouchers to use up. Fearful of surpassing our quota of foreign language art house flops, we chose Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! The exclamation point, by the way, is part of the title; it was not me getting really excited about the fact that we picked that movie! This concludes my annoying use of exclamation points!
When I originally saw the title for this film in the festival guide, I immediately discounted it. I didn't need to travel all the way to Toronto to see the next drama about how some corporate dude risks everything to buck the system and save us all from the evil corporate giants. These movies are entertaining and all, but I can wait a month or two to see it in the theater when I feel like spending a couple hours choking down an $8 bag of popcorn. I'd heard that it was a true story, but the detail I'd missed until later, and what ultimately lead to its selection, was this fact: it's a comedy. I was intrigued.
Soderbergh has proven to be a bit of a chameleon, dodging between the Oceans franchise and movies like Che and The Good German. The script was developed by Scott Z. Burns from the non-fiction book by Kurt Eichenwald. You probably haven't heard of Burns, but he helped write the last Bourne flick. Matt Damon packed on 20 lbs. or so, by the looks of him, and grew a mustache for his role as Mark Whitacre. Scott Bakula adds clout to the cast as FBI agent Brian Shepard.
Whitacre was an officer at Archer Daniels Midland in the late 80s and 90's, rising to President of their BioProducts division. At the urging of his wife, he eventually became an FBI informant for a global price-fixing scheme at ADM, for which the company would pay out over a half billion dollars in fines and damages. Whitacre himself would eventually be jailed for other charges unrelated to ADM's criminal activity.
None of that matters. The movie is downright hilarious. It begins with a disclaimer from the filmmakers explaining that certain liberties had been taken in the making of the film -- conversations are fictionalized, some characters are composites, etc. --concluding with a very distinct "So there."
What follows is a zany journey through the next three or five years. I don't really remember how long exactly, as I was laughing too hard to keep track of the chronology. The movie is interspersed with Whitacre's voiced-over inner thoughts, frequently having nothing in particular to do with the plot. Trust me, it works. The movie's tone, similar to Austin Powers, is a blend of various influences from the late 60's and early 70's. Think Get Smart's dimwitted government man, Mary Tyler Moore's font, mixed with the flair of The Rockford Files or Charlie's Angels.
It wasn't just funny, though. It really is a fascinating tale that never gets predictable. Damon gives a wonderful performance, and I don't know that I've ever liked him in a movie this much, not that I have anything against him like some people. I went to this movie expecting a 7, but I liked it more than that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were a few Oscar nominations thrown its way. My imdb rating: 8/10.
When I originally saw the title for this film in the festival guide, I immediately discounted it. I didn't need to travel all the way to Toronto to see the next drama about how some corporate dude risks everything to buck the system and save us all from the evil corporate giants. These movies are entertaining and all, but I can wait a month or two to see it in the theater when I feel like spending a couple hours choking down an $8 bag of popcorn. I'd heard that it was a true story, but the detail I'd missed until later, and what ultimately lead to its selection, was this fact: it's a comedy. I was intrigued.
Soderbergh has proven to be a bit of a chameleon, dodging between the Oceans franchise and movies like Che and The Good German. The script was developed by Scott Z. Burns from the non-fiction book by Kurt Eichenwald. You probably haven't heard of Burns, but he helped write the last Bourne flick. Matt Damon packed on 20 lbs. or so, by the looks of him, and grew a mustache for his role as Mark Whitacre. Scott Bakula adds clout to the cast as FBI agent Brian Shepard.
Whitacre was an officer at Archer Daniels Midland in the late 80s and 90's, rising to President of their BioProducts division. At the urging of his wife, he eventually became an FBI informant for a global price-fixing scheme at ADM, for which the company would pay out over a half billion dollars in fines and damages. Whitacre himself would eventually be jailed for other charges unrelated to ADM's criminal activity.
None of that matters. The movie is downright hilarious. It begins with a disclaimer from the filmmakers explaining that certain liberties had been taken in the making of the film -- conversations are fictionalized, some characters are composites, etc. --concluding with a very distinct "So there."
What follows is a zany journey through the next three or five years. I don't really remember how long exactly, as I was laughing too hard to keep track of the chronology. The movie is interspersed with Whitacre's voiced-over inner thoughts, frequently having nothing in particular to do with the plot. Trust me, it works. The movie's tone, similar to Austin Powers, is a blend of various influences from the late 60's and early 70's. Think Get Smart's dimwitted government man, Mary Tyler Moore's font, mixed with the flair of The Rockford Files or Charlie's Angels.
It wasn't just funny, though. It really is a fascinating tale that never gets predictable. Damon gives a wonderful performance, and I don't know that I've ever liked him in a movie this much, not that I have anything against him like some people. I went to this movie expecting a 7, but I liked it more than that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if there were a few Oscar nominations thrown its way. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Review: The Last Days of Emma Blank
Ah, the Dutch. What can we say about the Dutch? They smoke marijuana and speak four languages fluently, according to Eddie Izzard. You have to admire them for that. It's a stereotype, I'm sure, but it's something I had in mind when I scheduled The Last Days of Emma Blank.
When the movie begins, we meet a woman named Emma Blank. She is apparently wealthy, as she has a staff of people tending to her every whim. She is also apparently either insane or quite a bitch, her whims are often rather absurd. For instance, Theo, played by the director Alex van Warmerdam, plays the part of the family dog. The chamber maid even has to take him outside while he does his business, and then scoop up the mess afterward.
Absurd comedy eventually turns dark. Slowly, we learn that Emma's staff is actually her family -- husband, sister, brother, nephew, & daughter -- and she's told them that if they want their portion of the inheritance, they are going to have to play along. We see the family move easily in and out of their roles and eventually turn on one another.
In the end, Emma admits that she'd lied about the fortune, and the family gets to work on putting her out of her misery, in hilarious fashion. A couple others die as well, but I'll leave that for suspense, should you have the opportunity to catch this one at your local art house theater or on Netflix. My imdb rating: 7/10.
When the movie begins, we meet a woman named Emma Blank. She is apparently wealthy, as she has a staff of people tending to her every whim. She is also apparently either insane or quite a bitch, her whims are often rather absurd. For instance, Theo, played by the director Alex van Warmerdam, plays the part of the family dog. The chamber maid even has to take him outside while he does his business, and then scoop up the mess afterward.
Absurd comedy eventually turns dark. Slowly, we learn that Emma's staff is actually her family -- husband, sister, brother, nephew, & daughter -- and she's told them that if they want their portion of the inheritance, they are going to have to play along. We see the family move easily in and out of their roles and eventually turn on one another.
In the end, Emma admits that she'd lied about the fortune, and the family gets to work on putting her out of her misery, in hilarious fashion. A couple others die as well, but I'll leave that for suspense, should you have the opportunity to catch this one at your local art house theater or on Netflix. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Review: Colony
I was attracted to the documentary Colony in part because I have a beekeeper hobbyist friend, but more or less just because I think that if all the bees died, it would really suck for us, meaning people and other animals.
Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell followed a few beekeeping businessmen around for a couple years, during which time things go from bad to worse for the beekeeping industry. The film starts off well enough, educating the average film goer, say me, about how the beekeeping industry works. It turns out that the whole honey things is really just a side business, and that the majority of their income revolves around getting paid by farmers to haul their bees around the country and set them free around almond orchards, fruit orchards, and the like. Without bees pollinating the plants and trees, apparently things don't go quite so well.
After laying the foundation, the film moves on to the exploration the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. Apparently, entire hives of bees have just been disappearing. They're not found dead anywhere, they just "go away", and no one knows for sure why.
At this point, I felt the film began to lose its focus. Instead of fully exploring all the angles of CCD and the different theories behind its cause, it switches gears frequently between CCD, the effect of the collapsing economy on beekeepers, and the Seppi family itself.
The Seppis are admittedly a fascinating study, though in a really creepy sort of way. They seem more like fictional movie characters than real people living here on earth. We spend a lot of time with them and in one scene, they gather around a table taking turns praying for things like "good business advice". The mother is particular dominant in family matters, though she seems not to get involved directly in business matters. The combination of the collapse of the economy coupled with the collapse of many of their hives seems to be too much for the Seppi family, and they are losing money.
Is the movie about CCD? The beekeeping industry? The families that run these operations? Their dialog with Bayer CropScience, Inc.? I'm not sure, as the movie seemed to lose its focus and, at least in my case, its viewer. My imdb rating: 4/10.
Carter Gunn and Ross McDonnell followed a few beekeeping businessmen around for a couple years, during which time things go from bad to worse for the beekeeping industry. The film starts off well enough, educating the average film goer, say me, about how the beekeeping industry works. It turns out that the whole honey things is really just a side business, and that the majority of their income revolves around getting paid by farmers to haul their bees around the country and set them free around almond orchards, fruit orchards, and the like. Without bees pollinating the plants and trees, apparently things don't go quite so well.
After laying the foundation, the film moves on to the exploration the phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD. Apparently, entire hives of bees have just been disappearing. They're not found dead anywhere, they just "go away", and no one knows for sure why.
At this point, I felt the film began to lose its focus. Instead of fully exploring all the angles of CCD and the different theories behind its cause, it switches gears frequently between CCD, the effect of the collapsing economy on beekeepers, and the Seppi family itself.
The Seppis are admittedly a fascinating study, though in a really creepy sort of way. They seem more like fictional movie characters than real people living here on earth. We spend a lot of time with them and in one scene, they gather around a table taking turns praying for things like "good business advice". The mother is particular dominant in family matters, though she seems not to get involved directly in business matters. The combination of the collapse of the economy coupled with the collapse of many of their hives seems to be too much for the Seppi family, and they are losing money.
Is the movie about CCD? The beekeeping industry? The families that run these operations? Their dialog with Bayer CropScience, Inc.? I'm not sure, as the movie seemed to lose its focus and, at least in my case, its viewer. My imdb rating: 4/10.
Review: The Road
I read Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning book The Road about a year ago at the suggestion of a friend. It’s a great book, and my fears about seeing the film revolved around two feelings; (a) movies adapted from books frequently suck; and (b) the book is super-depressing. Someone thought it was a good idea to give the film to a relatively inexperienced director, Aussie John Hillcoat, whose biggest prior film was a western I don't think I've heard of called The Proposition, starring fellow Australians Guy Pearce and Noah Taylor.
In The Road, Viggo Mortensen plays the man, a nameless father of a young boy in the U.S. at an unspecified time. Australian Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the boy, who is at best guess around 10 or 11 years of age. The world is dead, or at least the part of the world they inhabit. There are no animals, no living trees or plants, and just a scant few people, most of whom should be feared. Fearful that they may not survive another winter and hopeful that they will find a better environment, they take to the road, headed south.
Through flashbacks, we learn that the man’s wife and boy’s mother, played by Charlize Theron, chose not to survive in this world. The man, growing ill with something I'm sure is far worse than smoker's hack, could not bring himself to follow her path, and instead chooses to teach the boy how to survive in this new world. Their travels bring them both horror and joy, but mostly just horror. They seldom interact with others, but we are introduced briefly to a couple characters along the way in cameo appearances by Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce.
The movie does not focus on the “why” or “how” of this destroyed world, but instead focuses on the relationship of a boy and his father. Hillcoat skillfully delivers McCarthy’s work in visual form, laying out what a man should, can and cannot do out of love for his son. Weepy movie goers may want to pack a tissue, or perhaps a pack of tissues. See the film, but schedule something happy afterward. My imdb rating: 8/10.
In The Road, Viggo Mortensen plays the man, a nameless father of a young boy in the U.S. at an unspecified time. Australian Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the boy, who is at best guess around 10 or 11 years of age. The world is dead, or at least the part of the world they inhabit. There are no animals, no living trees or plants, and just a scant few people, most of whom should be feared. Fearful that they may not survive another winter and hopeful that they will find a better environment, they take to the road, headed south.
Through flashbacks, we learn that the man’s wife and boy’s mother, played by Charlize Theron, chose not to survive in this world. The man, growing ill with something I'm sure is far worse than smoker's hack, could not bring himself to follow her path, and instead chooses to teach the boy how to survive in this new world. Their travels bring them both horror and joy, but mostly just horror. They seldom interact with others, but we are introduced briefly to a couple characters along the way in cameo appearances by Robert Duvall and Guy Pearce.
The movie does not focus on the “why” or “how” of this destroyed world, but instead focuses on the relationship of a boy and his father. Hillcoat skillfully delivers McCarthy’s work in visual form, laying out what a man should, can and cannot do out of love for his son. Weepy movie goers may want to pack a tissue, or perhaps a pack of tissues. See the film, but schedule something happy afterward. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Review: Whip It!
With our free passes from the Barry Levinson no-show, we decided to give ourselves a treat. No deep Belgian examination of some kid’s love/hate relationship with his mother, who happens to breed hamsters for a living, dreaming of someday stepping up to guinea pigs. Nope, we went straight for the roller derby flick directed by first-time director Drew Barrymore. I think this able young woman may have a future in the film business.
Whip it! begins with 17-year old Bliss Cavendar, played by Juno star Ellen Page, uncomfortably getting through a girls' beauty pageant, the kind that really make your stomach turn. Similar to the character Juno, Bliss doesn’t feel at home amongst these people. She doesn’t carry any particular grudge, she’s just looking for something different. By chance, Bliss stumbles upon the recently revived world of Roller Derby in Austin, Texas, not far from her native tiny-town Bordeen. Immediately entranced by her new role models, Bliss tries out for and makes a team, fibbing about her age along the way.
Her new secret life as a roller derby star stresses out her relationships with her best friend Pash, her pushy beauty pageant mother (veteran actress Marcia Gay Harden), her football obsessed father, and her new rocker boyfriend Oliver.
Drew displays a good eye for comedy and for the most part avoids overly sappy moments. Page, meanwhile, shows that she can still convincingly play a high school girl (I guess she was only 21 at the time of filming) and impressively uses no stunt double during the making of the film. There’s a great supporting cast of roller derby tough girls, lead by the return of Julliette Lewis, who recently split from her band Juliette and the Licks, and Drew herself.
Whip it! delivers some good lines, doesn’t get overly predictable, and has fun characters. You probably won’t see this one again and again, but it is a decent date flick. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Whip it! begins with 17-year old Bliss Cavendar, played by Juno star Ellen Page, uncomfortably getting through a girls' beauty pageant, the kind that really make your stomach turn. Similar to the character Juno, Bliss doesn’t feel at home amongst these people. She doesn’t carry any particular grudge, she’s just looking for something different. By chance, Bliss stumbles upon the recently revived world of Roller Derby in Austin, Texas, not far from her native tiny-town Bordeen. Immediately entranced by her new role models, Bliss tries out for and makes a team, fibbing about her age along the way.
Her new secret life as a roller derby star stresses out her relationships with her best friend Pash, her pushy beauty pageant mother (veteran actress Marcia Gay Harden), her football obsessed father, and her new rocker boyfriend Oliver.
Drew displays a good eye for comedy and for the most part avoids overly sappy moments. Page, meanwhile, shows that she can still convincingly play a high school girl (I guess she was only 21 at the time of filming) and impressively uses no stunt double during the making of the film. There’s a great supporting cast of roller derby tough girls, lead by the return of Julliette Lewis, who recently split from her band Juliette and the Licks, and Drew herself.
Whip it! delivers some good lines, doesn’t get overly predictable, and has fun characters. You probably won’t see this one again and again, but it is a decent date flick. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward
I'm exhausted, low on sleep, and heading into a four-movie day, already behind by three movies. I'll be lugging my laptop around the city with me today, writing when I can. Wish me luck!
Review: Shortcuts Canada Programme 3
Every year I make it a point to see a batch of short films, and generally Canadian ones. This year, I felt fairly fortunate with my selection, especially since I saw them immediately after walking out of my previous movie. Here are individual short reviews of each of the short films.
Pointless Film: Directed by Peter Wellington, this black and white short shows the negotiation between two men for a "barely used" futon. Humorous (unless you used to work in purchasing) and well made, but nothing too earth shattering. My imdb rating: 5/10.
Man v. Minivan: This film, whose title alone lead me to choose this particular batch of shorts, was perhaps the most elaborate short of the bunch, at least in terms of crew. A groom with cold feet, a trouble-making future brother-in-law, a stripper with a heart of gold (I know, I know, that's never been done before), and a gift of a brand new minivan the morning of the wedding lead to a humorous set of events. There was even a Fight Club inspired “punch in the ear” moment. Well-acted and directed, I enjoyed this film and expect a feature in the next couple years from its awesomely named director, Spencer Maybee. My imdb rating: 7/10.
The Island: Trevor Anderson used regular film mixed with animation to reflect on an actual e-mail (famous in some circles) he'd received suggesting that he and all the other gays should just go to an island somewhere and "give each other AIDS". Trevor uses humor to brush aside the piece of "fan mail", sent directly from the good ol' USA! My imdb rating: 7/10.
Homeland Security: Isaac Cravit directs this short story of a jealous man who suspects his wife/girlfriend of cheating. He works for Homeland Security and takes out his anger on a group of Canadian women traveling to New York for a bachelorette party. Do the women really have something to hide? My imdb rating: 6/10.
Soap: This mid-80's period piece was directed by Dusty Mancinelli. With very little dialog, he tells the story of an unhappily married mother of one and what she's willing to do to keep her lifestyle when her lover slips on a piece of soap in the shower, bangs his head, and dies right there in her bathroom. A slight Coen brothers feel haunts the cop scene. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Runaway: Two-time Oscar-nominee Cordell Barker spent an incredible seven years producing this 9-minute hand-drawn animated short. Working in a back-and-forth method with musician Benoît Charest for this film, it begins as an amusing tale of a coal-powered train carrying two cars, one with partying elite and the other with normal folk. It ends rather darkly and illustrates Barker's rather dim view of our society. My imdb rating: 6/10.
Deadman: Switching gears, Chelsea McMullan directs this documentary film about wannabe cowboy Matt Sandvoss and his dream to build a ghost town version of Disney World in British Columbia. He is one of those people commonly referred to as a “harmless kook”. Obsessed with the "wild west" folklore of the U.S., he completes phase one of his endeavor and produces a western film to celebrate and promote the event. In one hilarious scene, the movie within the movie contains a shootout between two gangs of seven or so members each, each gang standing side-by-side, standing about three meters apart. It goes on for about fifteen seconds with not a single gunman going down. Strangely the lady next to me and I were the only two people in the theater laughing. While Mr. Sandvoss may not be a talented filmmaker, Ms. McMullan captures his dream with expert care. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Pointless Film: Directed by Peter Wellington, this black and white short shows the negotiation between two men for a "barely used" futon. Humorous (unless you used to work in purchasing) and well made, but nothing too earth shattering. My imdb rating: 5/10.
Man v. Minivan: This film, whose title alone lead me to choose this particular batch of shorts, was perhaps the most elaborate short of the bunch, at least in terms of crew. A groom with cold feet, a trouble-making future brother-in-law, a stripper with a heart of gold (I know, I know, that's never been done before), and a gift of a brand new minivan the morning of the wedding lead to a humorous set of events. There was even a Fight Club inspired “punch in the ear” moment. Well-acted and directed, I enjoyed this film and expect a feature in the next couple years from its awesomely named director, Spencer Maybee. My imdb rating: 7/10.
The Island: Trevor Anderson used regular film mixed with animation to reflect on an actual e-mail (famous in some circles) he'd received suggesting that he and all the other gays should just go to an island somewhere and "give each other AIDS". Trevor uses humor to brush aside the piece of "fan mail", sent directly from the good ol' USA! My imdb rating: 7/10.
Homeland Security: Isaac Cravit directs this short story of a jealous man who suspects his wife/girlfriend of cheating. He works for Homeland Security and takes out his anger on a group of Canadian women traveling to New York for a bachelorette party. Do the women really have something to hide? My imdb rating: 6/10.
Soap: This mid-80's period piece was directed by Dusty Mancinelli. With very little dialog, he tells the story of an unhappily married mother of one and what she's willing to do to keep her lifestyle when her lover slips on a piece of soap in the shower, bangs his head, and dies right there in her bathroom. A slight Coen brothers feel haunts the cop scene. My imdb rating: 7/10.
Runaway: Two-time Oscar-nominee Cordell Barker spent an incredible seven years producing this 9-minute hand-drawn animated short. Working in a back-and-forth method with musician Benoît Charest for this film, it begins as an amusing tale of a coal-powered train carrying two cars, one with partying elite and the other with normal folk. It ends rather darkly and illustrates Barker's rather dim view of our society. My imdb rating: 6/10.
Deadman: Switching gears, Chelsea McMullan directs this documentary film about wannabe cowboy Matt Sandvoss and his dream to build a ghost town version of Disney World in British Columbia. He is one of those people commonly referred to as a “harmless kook”. Obsessed with the "wild west" folklore of the U.S., he completes phase one of his endeavor and produces a western film to celebrate and promote the event. In one hilarious scene, the movie within the movie contains a shootout between two gangs of seven or so members each, each gang standing side-by-side, standing about three meters apart. It goes on for about fifteen seconds with not a single gunman going down. Strangely the lady next to me and I were the only two people in the theater laughing. While Mr. Sandvoss may not be a talented filmmaker, Ms. McMullan captures his dream with expert care. My imdb rating: 8/10.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Review: The Window
Each year, you run a risk at the Toronto International Film Festival. The risk is that the programmers are low on sleep, drunk, incompetent, or just like to play mean tricks on people. I don't know which of those applied Sunday evening, but something was certainly afoot.
At worst, the film description on tiff.net for Buddhadev Dasgupta's The Window suggested a film that might be slightly bad, maybe boring, but it was a chance perhaps to see a story presented from the point of view of another culture. What it did not say is what it should have said: This is a bad, bad movie. Do not see this movie. Whatever movies you have seen over the last 10+ years, this one will go right to the bottom of the heap of the worst. Please, please stay away from this movie, unless it's being presented on a future episode of something along the lines of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
I first had an inkling that the movie would be bad when a character spoke. The sound was horrible. They had obviously rerecorded the dialog after original filming and not only did the dialog sound bad, but it just didn't quite match the lip movements. Then there were the subtitles. Most of the movie was in the Bengali language, but there were parts in English. It wasn't too strange that the subtitles continued when the characters spoke English now and then due to the accents. It was strange, however, that the subtitles did not even closely match what they were saying. And yeah, the music was bad, too.
Now that the technical stuff is out of the way, we can move on to the moronic plot. Bimal is a lean, muscular Indian man who is love with Meera, a very beautiful young Indian woman. At the beginning of the film, they discover that she is pregnant with his child, and they begin to try to figure out how they can get married and support themselves, because they're fairly broke and don't have good jobs. Bimal works at an old folks home for grumpy old men who frankly don't look that old. Maybe Indian men age well. Meera, meanwhile, is a customer service rep for American Airlines and frequently talks with inane and/or rude American customers.
Anyway, Bimal per chance ends up touring his old high school, which is now in disrepair. He decides to do his part to help the school by replacing a window from one of his classrooms that has since been stolen or broken. And hey, why not, he drains he and Meera's life savings to make sure that the window, as closely as possible, resembles the original window. Yeah, he's going to be a dad and all, but these kids need a window. Sure, he's only replace one of about 50 missing windows, but he wants to do his part.
Along the way, there's an asinine subplot about some petty thief, which is supposed to provide humorous relief from the crappy drama, but it falls flatter than cheap naan. Flatter, even, than that lame reference to Indian food. The thief steals the window (Bimal, though in fine shape and about 20 years younger, cannot manage to catch him in a horribly choreographed chase scene) and when Meera discovers that the bank account has been drained, she quite reasonably dumps Bimal and he is miserable and sad. End of story.
Don't waste your time. My imdb rating: a rare 1/10.
At worst, the film description on tiff.net for Buddhadev Dasgupta's The Window suggested a film that might be slightly bad, maybe boring, but it was a chance perhaps to see a story presented from the point of view of another culture. What it did not say is what it should have said: This is a bad, bad movie. Do not see this movie. Whatever movies you have seen over the last 10+ years, this one will go right to the bottom of the heap of the worst. Please, please stay away from this movie, unless it's being presented on a future episode of something along the lines of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
I first had an inkling that the movie would be bad when a character spoke. The sound was horrible. They had obviously rerecorded the dialog after original filming and not only did the dialog sound bad, but it just didn't quite match the lip movements. Then there were the subtitles. Most of the movie was in the Bengali language, but there were parts in English. It wasn't too strange that the subtitles continued when the characters spoke English now and then due to the accents. It was strange, however, that the subtitles did not even closely match what they were saying. And yeah, the music was bad, too.
Now that the technical stuff is out of the way, we can move on to the moronic plot. Bimal is a lean, muscular Indian man who is love with Meera, a very beautiful young Indian woman. At the beginning of the film, they discover that she is pregnant with his child, and they begin to try to figure out how they can get married and support themselves, because they're fairly broke and don't have good jobs. Bimal works at an old folks home for grumpy old men who frankly don't look that old. Maybe Indian men age well. Meera, meanwhile, is a customer service rep for American Airlines and frequently talks with inane and/or rude American customers.
Anyway, Bimal per chance ends up touring his old high school, which is now in disrepair. He decides to do his part to help the school by replacing a window from one of his classrooms that has since been stolen or broken. And hey, why not, he drains he and Meera's life savings to make sure that the window, as closely as possible, resembles the original window. Yeah, he's going to be a dad and all, but these kids need a window. Sure, he's only replace one of about 50 missing windows, but he wants to do his part.
Along the way, there's an asinine subplot about some petty thief, which is supposed to provide humorous relief from the crappy drama, but it falls flatter than cheap naan. Flatter, even, than that lame reference to Indian food. The thief steals the window (Bimal, though in fine shape and about 20 years younger, cannot manage to catch him in a horribly choreographed chase scene) and when Meera discovers that the bank account has been drained, she quite reasonably dumps Bimal and he is miserable and sad. End of story.
Don't waste your time. My imdb rating: a rare 1/10.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
A Serious Man Will Have To Wait
With all the ruckus going on at the screening for Up in the Air, we couldn't get to the rush line in time to have a chance at getting into A Serious Man. And, since the second screening interferes with the recent schedule addition Whip It!, we will have to wait along with the rest of you for the next Coen Brothers flick. Don't worry -- there are less than three weeks (Oct. 2) before it comes to a theater near you...
Brush with fame: George Clooney and more!
It didn't used to be this way. Canadians didn't gather around to scream at the likes of George Clooney like he was some sort of Beatles member. At least, I don't remember that from my early days at the festival. They sure do now, though.
George showed up sporting a gauze wrap on his right hand (no word on what that was about) for the screening of Up in the Air, along with numerous others, including cast and friends alike. Others present at this screening were director Jason Reitman, cast members Jason Bateman, Anna Kendrick, and Vera Farmiga. Even Scott Bakula, who had nothing to do with the movie as far as I know, showed up. He asked if the seats behind us were taken and got turned away. Sorry, Scott.
George showed up sporting a gauze wrap on his right hand (no word on what that was about) for the screening of Up in the Air, along with numerous others, including cast and friends alike. Others present at this screening were director Jason Reitman, cast members Jason Bateman, Anna Kendrick, and Vera Farmiga. Even Scott Bakula, who had nothing to do with the movie as far as I know, showed up. He asked if the seats behind us were taken and got turned away. Sorry, Scott.
Review: Up in the Air
Jason Reitman, fresh off the success of his Oscar-winning film Juno, returned to the film festival this year with Up in the Air. This comedy/drama has an exceptional cast, including George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga.
When Jason began adapting the Walter Kirn novel of the same name six years ago, he didn't realize how relevant the subject matter would be. Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a "career transition consultant", which is essentially a guy who gets paid to travel around the country and fire long lists of people. Ryan is good at his job, and doesn't give a second thought to the trail of bodies in his path. Instead, he concentrates on other goals, like amassing huge sums of frequent flyer miles and minimizing personal baggage.
His mileage goals become threatened by Natalie, a young hot shot, when she convinces management at their "consulting" company to put the kibosh on air travel in favor of firing via video conference. His personal baggage becomes heavier when he falls for Alex, self-described as "[Ryan], but with a vagina", with whom he has started an affair. Throw in demands from his family to attend the wedding of his sister, who he admits to not really knowing, and Ryan's world is just all jumbled up. Will he abandon his road warrior life style for something more?
Clooney is as likable as ever, even if this character isn't very different from others of late, and the rest of the cast give solid performances. There are some great comedic moments in the movie, and though the third act moves a little slowly, Reitman earns bonus points both for avoiding a saccharin-sweet ending and having Ryan fire people in Des Moines, Iowa. My imdb rating: 7/10.
When Jason began adapting the Walter Kirn novel of the same name six years ago, he didn't realize how relevant the subject matter would be. Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a "career transition consultant", which is essentially a guy who gets paid to travel around the country and fire long lists of people. Ryan is good at his job, and doesn't give a second thought to the trail of bodies in his path. Instead, he concentrates on other goals, like amassing huge sums of frequent flyer miles and minimizing personal baggage.
His mileage goals become threatened by Natalie, a young hot shot, when she convinces management at their "consulting" company to put the kibosh on air travel in favor of firing via video conference. His personal baggage becomes heavier when he falls for Alex, self-described as "[Ryan], but with a vagina", with whom he has started an affair. Throw in demands from his family to attend the wedding of his sister, who he admits to not really knowing, and Ryan's world is just all jumbled up. Will he abandon his road warrior life style for something more?
Clooney is as likable as ever, even if this character isn't very different from others of late, and the rest of the cast give solid performances. There are some great comedic moments in the movie, and though the third act moves a little slowly, Reitman earns bonus points both for avoiding a saccharin-sweet ending and having Ryan fire people in Des Moines, Iowa. My imdb rating: 7/10.
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