Imaginary Heroes

Release date: 14 May 2004 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

Written and directed by Dan Harris, Imaginary Heroes stars the ever-so-gorgeous Sigourney Weaver, Jeff Daniels, Emile Hirsch and Michelle Williams as members of the Travis family. The Travis family is thrown into turmoil when their eldest son, a high school (or it may have been college) swimming star, commits suicide. His death is the springboard for a whole host of melodrama with mom deciding to relive her 'flower power' drug days, father disappearing into a shell, and youngest son (whom the story revolves around) struggling to come to terms with abuse, his real roots in the family, and his sexual identity. This film is essentially a rework of the much better film Ordinary People. Where it ultimately fails is not with Sigourney or Hirsch's acting (both are great) but with the plodding pace and the director's decision to employ every melodramatic shtick ever invented in the film. As an aside, Daniels is just plain awful and I hope was simply miscast. Woefully self-important, this is a trite film trying to be something bigger and bolder than the stock Sunday-Night-at-the-Movie's drama it really is.

My rating 4 out of 10.

Ghost in the Shell (aka Kokaku kidotai)

Release date: 29 March 1996 (USA)

Based on the work of Masamune Shirow, this brilliant, brilliant anime film from 1996, directed by Mamoru Oshii, traces the action of Major Kusanagi, a (wo)man/machine AI as she tries to solve the death and subsequent disappearance of another AI, known as the PuppetMaster.

The film, on a simple level, is a police thriller but if viewed critically it's an exploration of ethics and philosophy surrounding life, the role of the state, and the continuing 'creep' of technology into our lives. It truly is, in a word: brilliant.

While I still find the ending disappointing, you have to give eprops to Shirow and Oshii for vision and for setting the trail the Wachowski brothers would follow with the Matrix trilogy three years later (in 1999). Rent it; see it!

My rating: 9 out of 10.

Wired to Win

Release date: December 2005 (USA)

Tonight we visited the Ontario Science Centre for a premier screening of Wired to Win, a documentary on 'surviving the Tour de France'. The film actually is more about your brain (generally) but certainly does a great job advertising the cycling. As you can imagine, G and I were keen to see this film having put a kilometer or three (actually 180km) on our own bikes when we raced in and completed the Ironman Lake Placid Ironman Triathlon in July 2004.

This film was shot in 2004 initially using Tyler Hamilton (who ironically was disqualified from the race that summer because of drug doping) and other riders. They've taken two years to rejing the film for theatrical release on the IMAX screen. The Omnimax images of the centenary Tour de France are astounding and worth any price of admission. To boot, I learn a few things about my brain and how it functions to boot.

My rating: 8 out of 10.

Hamam (aka Steam)

Release date: 16 November 1997 (Argentina)

Haman is a Turkey/Italy/Spain production directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Everyone seems to think this is a gay themed flick, and while it does have a Francesco-likes-Mehmet angle, it is more the story of a man reconnecting with his culture. Our lead, Francesco, dashes off to Istanbul to sell a hamam he's inherited from a dead aunt, Anita. However, on arriving he finds he loves the Hamam (not to mention Mehmet, the son of the family who has run the hamam since Anita's death) and decides to stay and restore it, which pisses off some nasty Turkish mafia guys. Francesco's wife, Marta, arrives on scene bent on divorce but seeing how much Francesco has changed opts to love him again and forego the divorce. But it's so-sad, too-bad as Francesco is murdered by the mafia bad guys leaving poor Marta to morph into dear, dead aunt Anita. The end. Aside from some lovely scenes in the hamam, not much more here to sustain me.

My rating: 4 out of 10.

Irreversible

Release date: 23 May 2002 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

Filmed back in 2002, it this is a VERY difficult movie to watch. Written and directed by Gaspar Noe, Irreversible uses the all-a-rage-now reverse-chronological order gag to tell the story of the rape of a gorgeous pre-Matrix-days Monica Bellucci and the subsequent brutal murder of the rapist at the hands of her ex-lover and boyfriend. The murder of the rapist in a gay club is brutal to watch while the rape scene, which seems to go on forever (9 minutes in fact), is clearly one of the most grotesque scenes filmed in a long, long time. Bellucci was so very brave to take on the role. In the end, this movie as it spins backward through time touches on themes of regret (Bellucci is pregnant by her boyfriend but regrets his silly boyishness when compared with her more cultured ex-lover); vengeance is it basest form; and the old catch phrase of hindsight is 20-20. Engaging and utterly, brutally, horribly disturbing this film is hard to deny.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

Come Undone (aka Preque rien)

Release date: 7 June 2000 (France)

Friday's movie was the 2000 French film, Presque rien, starring Stéphane Rideau. This film was directed by Sébastien Lifshitz, and, in typical French fashion, is slow, confused and depressing. Essentially a coming of age story, it follows Mathieu (played by Jérémie Elkaïm) as he heads south to his family's summer home and falls in love with Cedric (played by Rideau).

Sure, this film has full-frontal nudity of both lads but even that is not enough to make you interested in what's happening. The film leaves more questions than answers. Like, why does Mathieu leave Cedric? Like, what leads Mathieu to the obvious suicide attempt hinted at in the film. Like, why do the lads opt to head off to Nantes? And, like, who really cares? ...

All in all a tedious, flawed movie. Mr. Lifshitz's should have his director's status reviewed.

My rating 2 out of 10.

Little Children

Release date: 1 September 2006 (USA)

Based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, Little Children tells a story of dysfunction in quiet-town America stars Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly and a perfectly cast Jackie Earle Haley. Todd Field directs, finally doing justice to himself after the debacle that was In The Bedroom (I know it won Academy Awards, but, I'm sorry, just a plain terrible, awful film).

The story here is told quietly, artfully and disturbingly as the various characters collide in the repressed world that is American suburbia. An exceptional film. Haley and Winslet should get Academy nods.

My rating 9 out of 10.

Manufactured Landscapes

Release date: 9 September 2006 (Canada - Toronto International Film Festival)

This documentary is based on the works of the very celebrated Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. It speaks to the impact man is having on the planet due to industrialization, particularly in China. Manufactured Landscapes, directed by Jennifer Baichwal, starts with a fascinating extended shot (presumably done in one take) of a factory in China that goes on forever and forever and forever. From there, we get many frames of Burtynsky gorgeous and eerie photographs coupled with montages of himself at work in China and Bangladesh. The photographs, shown on the big screen, are worth the price of admission itself. Though Edward professes not to make judgements on what he is photographing (is industrialization good or bad?), many times the music Baichwal uses when showing images imply industrialization is bad. If nothing else, this film will get you thinking about your own impact here and will generate some discussion afterwards.

My rating 7 out of 10.

More info on Edward Burtynsky can be found at Artsy here.

La Luna

Release date: 29 August 1979 (Italy)

Bernardo Bertolucci's brilliant 1979 Italian film, La Luna, was utterly controversial for its day and age but clearly displays Bertolucci's brilliance. It is, in a word, a masterpiece. Written by Franco Arcalli (who also did Once Upon A Time in America), it is famous for its ice-cream palour seduction and - of course - for the incestuous scenes of mother Caterina (played bythe ever-fabulous Jill Clayburgh) masturbating her heroin-addicted son, Joe (played by Matthew Barry). The film remained mythically near-impossible to acquire on video, CD or DVD until March 2007 when Castlerock Italy finally, joyously released a DVD version. It is a film that requires patience.

My rating 10 out of 10.

Huozhe (aka To Live)

Release date: 18 May 1994 (France - Cannes Filme Festival)

I watched this wonderful gem of a movie, directed by Zhang Yimou back in 1994, on Wednesday. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and starring Ge You and (sigh) Gong Li, it is a sweeping and moving drama, a Chinese Gone With The Wind. The story centres on Fugui (played by You) and the trials and tribulations he and wife Jaizhen (Li) face as China suffers through the Revolution from the 1940s to 1970s. Fugui, a gambler, loses everything as the film begins and as the years move on he discovers "to live" is everything. In the end, we and he realize what it life is all about: family. Beautifully filmed and directed, it does have the tinge of a Sunday night at the movies drama.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Cut Sleeve Boys

Release date: 20 July 2006 (Thailand)

Directed by Ray Yeung (whom we met and directed the director up to Bloor for coffee), Cut Sleeve Boys centers on the lives of two gaysians, the hunky, muscle-obsessed Mel and the campy Ash as they proceed through their lives (and guys) after the death of their closeted best friend. This film is campy, laugh-out-loud funny, and endearing. To boot there is some fair sex scenes (woohoo dirty dancing in the tranny bar) and heartwarming moments. The one that stood out for me when Mel returns home to find his bf playing the piano. And of course there's some good music along the way.

My rating 7 out of 10.

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover

Release date: 11 September 1989 (Canada - Toronto International Film Festival)

Oh my gawd, could any film ever be as audacious, as brutal, as mean, and as utterly gorgeous as Peter Greenaway's 1989 The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover? I don't even know where to start describing this feast for the eyes and mind. Our cook prepares sumptuous meals for the brutal, animalistic restaurant owner thief while his wife (played by Helen Mirren) carries on an affair under his nose (and in his restroom and kitchen) with her lover.

This film was hard to watch and even harder to rate. It is avant garde, it is an art house piece, it is beautiful (thanks to costumes by Jean-Paul Gaultier), it is unlike anything you'll ever see. It is in a category unto itself.

Say what you will about this film ... its use of colour, that it's a modern fable, that it's a allegory for Thatcherism ... the fact is, retribution has never been captured so perfectly on film. Sickeningly so.

My rating 10 out of 10.

Colma: the Musical

Release date: 2006 (USA)

Colma, directed by first time director, Richard Wong (who was in the house on Friday), tells the story of Rodal, Billy and Maribel as they grow-up in the graveyard town that is Colma (just outside of San Francisco).

It is a musical coming-of-age story: fresh, funny, tender and worth whatever effort you may have to make to see it. There is love and partying and sex and struggle; the struggle being the central focus. Billy struggles to deal with the feelings he still has for his ex; Rodel struggles with his poetic voice and his homosexuality; Maribel struggles with her constant desire for sex and partying and keeping the two best friends, friends.

H.P. Mendoza, who plays Rodel, wrote the music and the screenplay, and, if this first effort is any indication, should go far. Well done mate. The direction is spot on, fresh (split screen use is great); funny (cartwheeling extras appear in one song; the beerhall inspired scene and song are fantastic); and tender (the song where Maribel and Rodel walk through the graveyard as 'ghosts' dance is so utterly tragic). You can sample some of the music here.

My rating 10 out 10.

Three Times (aka Zui hao de shi guang)

Release date: 20 May 2005 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

Directed by Hsiao-hsien Hou, Three Times tells three stories of love/longing in 1966, 1911 and 2005. The stories are not connected except by the two stars playing the lead characters in each segment - Qi She and Chen Chang.

Hou's direction is breathtaking (he and Wong Kar-wai approach film in a similar way). Each frame is gorgeous; with plenty - in a minimalist way - going on.

I felt the first story, entitled "A Time For Love" worked the best of the three. It is a wonderful homage to first love and the ends we'll go to find the person who sets our hearts aflutter. Hou plays out this story in a pool hall with not more than 100 words total during its 35-odd minute playing time. Storytelling with so few words and the Platter's lovely "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" music setting the tone was worth the rental alone.

In the second story, "A Time for Freedom", set in 1911 Hou takes a silent movie approach showing the characters dialogue on screen in the manner of a Keystone Cops flick. It works, I thought, and on the whole the story of a political activist and his concubine is good. The key moment coming near the end when she asks what his intentions are for her (i.e., freedom from concubineness). The answer, of course, is silence and we see she knows what life she is forever destined for ... despite the kindness of her master. The piano music in this segment is excellent.

In the last story, set in a grimy 2004 Taipei and entitled "A Time for Youth" we see Qi, now playing the role of a bisexual, as she maneuvers through drugs, sex, premature birth and emails while Chang wanders about looking for her ... and food. This segment did little for me. I think it captures what Hou was after though ... a statement on the lives we now live but I did not like it.

Three Times is poignant, visually magnificent, and will for some brief moments remind you of the pain/joy of love. Hou's film connects you with your own personal love history. And that is rare film-making. Bravo Hou!

My rating 8 out of 10.

Nico & Dani (aka Krampack)

Release date: 9 September 2000 (Canada - Toronto International Film Festival)

You can search online for the definition of what 'krampack' means. And while there is some of the definition clearly evident in this film, the story is far more a coming-of-age story told in a refreshing non-Hollywood fashion. I'll say 'amen' under my breath for that. Directed by Cesc Gay, this Catalan (i.e., Spanish) film is fun, unabashed about sex, and had me laughing outloud in several spots.

The teens here (in Europe in general) are far more intelligent and mature than any 18 year-old you'll run into at the Eaton Center. They approach life with a zest kids here in North America have lost. Nico arrives at the summer home of his childhood friend, Dani, and the two plan to idyl away the summer fishing and fixing a motorcycle when Elena and Berta appear on the scene and derail everything.

Dani, you see, is just coming to terms with his homosexuality and a classic tale of jealously ensues when Nico begins spending more time with the girls than Dani. It's predictable fare, yes, but done in a refreshing way. I was a little miffed at the scene where Dani confirms his gayness by trying to bed Berta (while she and he are drunk) and the whole plot line of Dani running to the local gay writer Julian for help and another avenue to confirm his sexuality.

That aside, this was an amusing little flick for a Sunday afternoon and worth a rent if you've 90 minutes to kill. In 2000 it won the Special Award for Youth at Cannes.

My rating 6 out of 10.

Open Water

Release date: 16 January 2004 (USA - Sundance Film Festival)

Well, where to begin with this sad and sorry piece of work? How about with how so very embarrassed anyone involved in this project must feel. The premise, based on "true story", has our husband and wife duo left behind in the middle of the ocean after detouring from a scuba tour in shark infested waters. Cut to scenes of shark fins; and scenes of thunder; and scenes of utter darkness; and a blame-game section; and then finally (blissfully) scenes of our couple being chowed down on by the sharks. The End.

Being kind, my rating 2 out of 10.

Match Point

Release date: 12 May 2005 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

Match Point was directed, of course, by the one and only Woody Allen and, I thought, was quite a departure for him. Sure, we have all the familiar Woodism in full array: love, betrayal, classical music, beautiful framing and characters not shy to speak their minds. Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays a thoroughly-detestable Chris, an ex-tennis star going nowhere fast until he lands a tennis pro job and meets up with floppish upperclass Brit, Tom Hewitt. Tom, has a sister, Chloe who Chris is soon bedding and marrying, and hence begins his climb up the corporate ladder of Chloe/Tom's papa's company.

The thing is, Chris also has the hots for Tom's fiance, Nola Rice (played by Scarlett Yawn-hanssen: this girl is lucky she's pretty cause she sure can't act). What results in the end, when (*spoiler alert*) Chris gets Nola pregnant is a deep, dark slide into murder and mayhew that ends, again I thought, brilliantly in a non-Hollywood ending.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Whale Rider

Release date: 9 September 2002 (Canada - Toronto International Film Festival)

This film wasn't what I expected. I dunno, I thought it would be about some lass riding a whale alla-Free Willy. So, imagine my surprise to find it was all about Maori history and culture. I loved this film. Pai (played by Oscar-nominated, and deservedly so, Keisha Castle-Hughes) must overcome her grandfather and a thousand years of Whangara history to win the respect of her community and the love of her family. Whale Rider is wonderfully acted, beautifully-shot and may have you reaching for a tissue. The story here is one of love and acceptance and how our own cultural history often blinds us. Absolutely worth a rent.

My rating 9 out of 10.

The Sentinel

Release date: 21 April 2006 (USA)

The Sentinel is a film meant to capitalize on the whole Michael Douglas doing spy/action films and a vehicle for Canadian, Keifer Sutherland, to stretch himself beyond his usual role in the TV show, 24. I'm joking of course, cause Keifer plays the exact same character he knows so well. The plot (and I use that word loosely) such as it is has Secret Service guru Douglas having to scamper around to clear his name after he is framed in a plot to kill the President. Course, adding to the 'realism' of this plot is the fact Douglas is also having an affair with the First Lady. Oh brother. Keifer plays the good guy Secret Service agent trying to track Douglas down. It's all ho-hum and (yawn) uninspiring.

My rating 3 out of 10.

Marie Antoinette

Release date: 24 May 2006 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

Based on Antonia Fraser's book, Marie Antoinette tells the story of the Queen of France from the time she enters the court of Louis XVI to the French Revolution, when both Marie and Louis lose their heads. I had high hopes for this film, directed by Sofia Coppola, but - having studied the French Revolution in great detail throughout university - I was disappointed with the outcome. While it all looks wonderful and gorgeous and splendid cinamatograhic-wise, I was utterly disinterested in the characters (especially Kirsten Dunst playing Marie). Perhaps that was what Coppola had in mind, showing us the splendor and excess to reinforce how utterly removed the Crown was from the people during the 1780s?? Bad acting aside (Dunst, Schwartzman) it is a 'pretty' film made a little more watchable with the choice of music.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Volver

Release date: 10 March 2006 (Spain)

Oh, what a wonderful, wonderful film! Pedro Almodóvar's (who is gay btw) Volver is simple, profound, complex, gorgeous. The story/screenplay is brilliant, woven thickly and incorporates today, yesterday, a ghost, a death and a murder ... and lots of stunning women, Penelope Cruz (playing the lead character Raimunda) in particular (who I would hope receives an Oscar nod). Too interlaced and beautiful to dare spoil by trying to explain here, I'll simply say, see it!

My rating 9 out of 10.

The Departed

Release date: 6 October 2006 (USA)

The Departed, which garnered great reviews, is actually stolen from the work of Hong Kong action film masters, Wai Keung Lau and Siu Fai Mak, specifically their brilliant 2002 film, Infernal Affairs. This version is set in Boston and stars 'it' boy Matt Damon, former 'it' boy Leonardo DiCaprio and I-only-know-one-way-to-act-and-do-the-same-character-everytime, Jack (yawn) Nicholson. I don't know about you but I'm so sick of Jack Nicholson and his one-dimensional acting that everyone thinks is so wonderful.

That all said, this movie directed by Martin Scorsese, is engaging (if terribly violent). I disliked it thoroughly but have to admit this is more because I dislike Nicholson so much. So blatant bias aside we have rookie cops DiCaprio and Damon joining the Massachusetts Police as moles of big bad Irish mob-guy Nicholson. DiCaprio plays the double agent role (working for Nicholson but actually working for the good guys) while Damon works for the cops but is actually on Nicholson's side. Two long sad hours of violence later, and with Nicholson finally gunned down, we reach the reason for this film: the Damon and DiCaprio denouement facing each other on a rooftop and in an elevator. Course, both end up dead and we're left thinking (or was it only me?): 'Yeh, so, what's the point of all this?'.

My rating 5 out of 10.

My Architect: A Son's Story

Release date: 12 November 2003 (USA)

This lovely documentary tells the story of Nathaniel Kahn, the illegitimate son of the titan of modern architecture, Louis Kahn. If you enjoy contemporary art and architecture you'll love this film. Kahn died (dirt poor in a washroom at Penn Station in New York in 1974) leaving behind his wife (and daughter) plus two mistresses and two illegitimate children. Nathaniel interviews folks who knew and worked with his father, including Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry, and I.M. Pei.

The film is a story of a son trying to better understand and come to terms with a father he barely knew. It is genuine and moving. And, of course, outside the story of a son looking for his dad, you get to see the wonderful structures this artist-cum-architect built that changed the modern aesthetic: the Exeter Library; the National Assembly in Decca (shown below); and the silent, beautiful Salk Institute in La Jolla, California.

My rating 8 out of 10.

He Liu (The River)

Release date: 27 August 1997 (France)

This film has been hailed (Chicago, Edinburgh, Berlin Film Festivals to name but three) and banned (in the backward military-state known as Singapore). It is directed by Ming-liang Tsai and requires exceptional patience and a very open mind to watch. Like many of Tsai's films, He Liu has water, emotionally detached families, no soundtrack and long, challenging shots of seemingly mundane daily activities. It stars, of course, Kang-sheng Lee (Tsai's alter ego) as a young lad who develops a painful neck condition which hobbles him after a dip in the Tamsui River. His mother (who is carrying on an affair with a pornographer) and father (who is carrying on affairs in gay bathhouses and fighting a relentless battle with a leaking roof) try every manner of remedy for the son. Like Tsai's latest film, I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, He Liu is - at its core - a story of isolation, loneliness and sexual repression. It is certainly not for everyone, and while it can be seen (and criticized) as sick, esoteric and challenging (all of which it is); if you are patient and let yourself go, you'll likely reveal truths about your own existence which you won't admit but know dwell within.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Snakes on a Plane

Release date: 18 August 2006

Well, does it get any stranger than this? Me thinks not. Only the sorry state that is Hollywood today could conjure up ridiculous plots like this and make a movie out of it. Directed by David R. Ellis (who's more known for his stunts than his directing), it stars Samuel L. Jackson and, well, a whole lot of other B-stars who are killed off by - wait for it - snakes on a plane. So why are there 1000s of snakes on this plane? Asian druglord Chen Leong (played by Canadian Terry Chan) is trying to knockoff a key witness (Sean Jones played by Nathan Phillips) to a murder he pulled off in Hawaii. Our star, Jackson, playing FBI agent extraordinarie Neville Flynn, is there to protect him. Course, the real story here is the snakes and once they slither and slide out all hell breaks loose, complete with biting, lots of blood and horrible, laughable acting. Snakes on a Plane is no classic but it will go down as a cult classic, bad as it is.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Elephant's Dream

Release date: 4 May 2006 (USA)

What is so interesting about this very well made first film by the Orange Open Movie Project is 1) it is a free download online movie and 2) it is the first movie made completely with open source graphic software. From the production side, knowing these folks had no money and no backing, the film is a stunning achievement. The visuals are brilliant as our two characters, Emo and Proog, wander the internal workings of some strange, presumably future, world. While Elephant's Dream is a technical achievement, I was a little lost by the obtuse story, which has something to do with our existence and what we perceive to be real and not real. Proog, who leads their wandering is suddenly challenged by his younger charge and that encounter ends badly ... for poor Emo. This film likely heralds the future of film in the internet world and for that alone, and the fantastic world the Dutch team have invented, is worth a peek.

My rating 6 out of 10.

8½ Women

Release date: 3 July 1999 (Czech Republic)

This is another of director Peter Greenaway's works. Just mentioning his name ought to be enough to suggest this film was very theatrical, bizarre and beautiful, much like his film The Cook, The Theif, His Wife and Her Lover. Set in Tokyo and Geneva it revolves around a 55-year-old father (played by John Standing) and his son (Matthew Delamere) who wander down some rather unorthodox paths on the death of their wife/mother. Essentially, the father/son wander around their palatial villa in Geneva nude bemoaning the death of their wife/mother. Then after watching Fellini's 8½, they turn the villa into a brothel, populated with 8½ concubines.

Various twists and turns ensue as the concubines maneuver and plot for favoritism before each departs and the movie ends. It's all truly bizarre and surreal in an art-house sort of way. Surely though, from the 'art' of film-making it is quite astonishing. Greenaway is a master when it comes to film-making and his skill in framing shots is bang-on. Each is visually mesmerizing, however, the story - decadent as it is - doesn't hold together very well. 8½ Women is worth a rent if you're feeling artsy or randy yes.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Curse of the Golden Flower

Release date: 21 December 2006 (Hong Kong)

Well, where to start with this latest effort by Yimou Zhang (Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Happy Times)? ... Ok, probably with the two best parts: 1) Ye Liu stars as the Crown Prince Xiang. I can sit and look at Ye Liu with uninterrupted ease for hours on end; and 2) Gong Li's boobs. All the ladies in this film are corseted so you couldn't slide a dime between their breasts! How do they breathe? Sure, Curse of the Golden Flower looks splendid and spectacular as all Zhang's films do. The story? ... oh, a piddling tale of intrigue in the chinese court worthy of Shakespeare yes. Unfortunately, it weaves itself too slowly and then unravels completely into a gory, violent blood bath that left me bored senseless. Boo Zhang! Let's get you moving onwards from these chinese epics and back to things like Happy Times.

My rating 3 out of 10.

Notes on a Scandal

Release date: 25 December 2006 (USA)

This is an eerie and creepy film ... and fabulous. Based on the novel by Zoe Heller and directed by Richard Eyre (who also did the wonderful film, Iris), this film stars the incomparable Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. The story revolves around Babs, a 60-something no-nonesense school teacher, and closet lesbian, who falls for the new teacher on the block, the very married with two kids, Cate Blanchett. The plot turns when Cate is witnessed by Babs in a tryst with her 15 year-old student. Things move to the creepy edge very quickly after this with Babs using the power she now wields over Cate in a sick attempt to move Cate away from her paramor (and husband) into her own arms. It all ends rather poorly for everyone involved but, is it ever a thrilling journey to watch.

Bravo for this wonderfully written drama! There will be something very rotten in the state of Denmark if Notes on a Scandal doesn't garner a few Oscars: Dame Judi, Cate and supporting actor Bill Nighy (who plays Cate's husband), the screenplay by Patrick Marber and the music by the one-and-only Philip Glass are all brilliant.

My rating 9 out of 10.

Weekend

Release date: 27 September 1968 (USA)

If surrealist film is your thing, you'll love this 1967 classic. If surrealist film that makes little obvious sense isn't your thing, avoid this film at all costs. Another way to look at this decision: if you hated reading Brecht in school or just couldn't get Beckett's Waiting for Godot, AVOID this film. That said, wow, what a film! I mean, I thoroughly hated it (even with the Goddard scholar voice over) but interesting to watch if only to see how far ahead French film was in the 1960s (and continues to be?... think Cache; think Irreversible).

The film is a road movie of sorts with husband/wife Roland and Corrine (who essentially despise each other) heading to her parents' countryside home to have the will of her father read (and eventually kill her mother). Course, the film is more than this: there is murder, utter anarchy, long epistles on French involvement in Algeria, Emily Bronte appears, a brilliant sweeping shot of a traffic jam in the French countryside (which is justifiably famous), the live butchering of a pig (don't squeam when and if you watch this as I'm sure we all eat pork and this is the reality of what eating meat is about) and cannibalistic guerillas. In the end, Roland is killed and Corrine chows down on him. Heavy stuff, granted, but an amazing comment on French bourgeois society.

My rating, for the bizarreness alone: 3 out of 10.

The Belly of an Architect

Release date: 12 September 1987 (Canada - Toronto International Film Festival)

Brian Dennehy stars as American architect Stourley Kracklit, who comes to Rome to open a show on the visionary French architect, Boullee, with pregnant wife Louisa (played by Chloe Webb, with a very affected voice, I thought) in tow. The Etienne-Louis Boullee (1728-1799) angle to this story is very interesting and worth watching if only to better understand how, like Michangelo and Da Vinci, far ahead of his time this man was.

Once in Rome, things go sour quickly as Kracklit starts thinking his wife is poisoning him (with figs), starts (rightly) imagining Louisa is having an affair with a lead architect on the project, Caspasin Speckler (played by Lambert Wilson), begins obsessing on all things Boullee (including writing postcards to the long dead architect), and photocopying any picture of a stomach he can find. True to anything done by Peter Greenaway, The Belly of an Architect has ravishing shots that are utterly theatrical in their construction, a perfect music score, and an interestingly woven story pulled off by Dennehy's fine performance. Granted, the shots of Rome's architect and the attention to detail sure help too. While it all ends poorly with a cancer-riddened Kracklit dropping in (in a manner of speaking) on the premier of the show he's been maneuvred out of orchestrating, it is a satisfying 2 hour visual journey.

My rating 7 out of 10.

Miss Potter

Release date: 3 December 2006 (UK)

I am tempted to rate this film low simply for that horrible faux moustache they've pasted on poor Ewan McGregor! That said, this is a harmless little film constructed in a feel-good fashion about one of the world's most famous children storytellers, Beatrix Potter and her Tales of Peter Rabbit. Directed by Chris Noonan ("Babe") and starring Renee Zellweger (doing her usual forced English accent and pinched face), the film recounts Potter's childhood, unique (for the time) women's perspective and drive, and her relationship with publisher Norman Warne. The one dramatic moment in this film (and sorry, there is just one) comes when the engaged Potter hears her betrothed, Norman (played by Ewan) is dying. She rushes to London from the Lake District a day too late. Sigh. Miss Potter is quiet, occasionally humorous, often pretty (the shots in the Lake Counry are brilliant), but ultimately forgettable. It did, however, give me some insight into someone I knew nothing of.

My rating: 7 out of 10.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Release date: 9 September 2005 (Canada)

The Exorcism of Emily Rose, directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Tom Wilkinson, Laura Linney and Jennifer Carpenter, wasn't what I thought it would be. I was expecting a horror movie-alla-Carrie but what I got was a courtroom drama with some horror thrown in for good measure. The courtroom has parish priest Father Moore on trial for negligent homicide in the death of Emily Rose following an exorcism. Linney's character is defending him against, of course, a rightwing holier-than-thou public prosecutor. Told in flashbacks, it shows Emily's initial possession by the demon, her subsequent slide into freakiness, and the exorcism. There's the (yawn) redemptive moment when Emily see the Virgin Mary and decides to accept her lot as possessed for the betterment of mankind ... or some such rubbish like that. I'm sorry, if I'm possessed and the Virgin Mary asks me, 'hey, you wanna come to heaven with me now, or continue to suffer possessed?', I know what I'm saying! We've seen this stuff before and while the courtroom angle approach is promising at the outset, it doesn't make the movie any better in the end.

My rating: 6 out of 10.

Thank You For Smoking

Release date: 9 September 2005 (Canada - Toronto International Film Festival)

Thank You For Smoking, directed by Jason Reitman, takes a satirical look at the smoking industry from the point of view of its key spokesman, a fictional character named Nick Naylor (played by Aaron Eckhart), who will do and say anything to keep the choice to smoke an American right. It does draw such a thin line on this topic that one might wonder whether or not the film was actually financed by the tabacco industry. The film is fun and askew and wrong on oh-so-many levels but that's exactly what makes it watchable.

My rating (as a rabid non-smoker even!) 7 out of 10

The Queen

Release date: 15 September 2006 (UK)

We're all familar with this story. Like our parents who can tell you exactly where they were when they heard the news of President Kennedy's assassination, we too can recount exactly where we were when first hearing of Diana, Princess of Wales death in Paris. I was camping at Tobermory and happened to pick up CBC radio news that morning. Like so many, it did not compute in my mind Diana was dead. It was that unimaginable. The Queen, directed by Stephen Frears, recounts that week from the Queen and Prime Minister Tony Blair's perspective and gives, I think, a better understanding (fiction though it is) of the Queen's actions. Helen Mirren as Elizabeth is brilliant and she has the Oscar nomination to add to her Golden Globe. Michael Sheen playing Blair is also great. This is classic Frears stuff with not a false move, note or shot anywhere. I can't really say it's Best Picture of the year quality however. It's all rather pompous and dry stuff, sure, but that's the monarchy for you.

My rating 7 out of 10.

After This, Our Exile (Fu Zi)

Release date: 15 October 2006 (South Korea)

This quiet and ultimately sadly moving drama, directed by Patrick Tam, was released last year and premiered at the Reel Asian Film Festival here in November. It stars pop star Aaron Kwak as Sheng, an illiterate and volatile father with a gambling problem in Malaysia. Sheng is married with a wife, Lee (played by Charlie Yeung) and a young son, Boy (played by Gouw Ian Iskander). The film really has two parts. In the first section we witness the the odd love-hate relationship between Sheng/Lin before her ultimate abandonment of both husband and son. Left alone, and saddled with gambling debt, Sheng and Boy become itinerants, roaming from city to city in a downward, sad, spiral that leads to violence, theft, and beatings. In this second section we witness the odd love-hate relationship replay itself but between son/father ... until they too separate. This film is very quiet but I did enjoy it. I felt immensely sad for the little boy and perhaps, at its root, this was Tam's intent: when families disintegrate children suffer.

My rating 6 out of 10.

The Forgotten

Release date: 24 September 2004 (Canada)

OMG, where to start the review on this trainwreck of a movie. How about with, what on earth was Julianne Moore thinking? This 2004 stinker starts out promising but when Telly (Moore) starts questioning whether or not her son, presumably killed in an airplane accident, really existed (or not) and NSA men in black suits show up things go plummeting downhill quickly. Gary Sinise and Dominic West appear just as lost and confused as poor Julianne. It's like the worse episode of The X-Files you can image, but 91 minutes long. Joseph Ruben should have his directing credentials revoked for this effort (ain't happening mind you he's in preproduction for something titled "Crazy Dog" at the moment). Sony Pictures should be ashamed to have let this forgettable film loose. Unbearably stupid and horrible: avoid.

My rating 0 out of 10.

The Hole

Release date: unknown

This, essentially, soft-core porn is a spoof on the classic Japanese film, Ringu. Directed by Wash West (who did The Fluffer), it 'stars' (and I use the term loosely here) big and beefy guys Josh Hammer, Tag Eriksson, and Jason Adonis as lads who watch a video tape only to have the phone ring afterwards and be told "in 7 days you will be gay". It follows the original movie to a tee (make-out scenes aside) and has several laugh-out-loud funny bits. Big, beefy, muscle bound guys do absolutely nothing whatsoever for me so the make-out scenes are dull, boring and (yawn) tedious beyond belief. Course, everyone is not me, and G found them quite, um, engaging. Worth a rent if only to witness the ridiculous acting, terrible direction, and awful camera work.

My rating, for the sheer inventiveness of a porn trying to have a plot, 2 out of 10.

Kairo (aka Pulse)

Release date: 10 February 2001 (Japan)

"Would you like to meet a ghost?" is the essential theme of this 2001 film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. Hollywood made an embarrassing remake in 2006 which is an utter disaster (people actually laughed outloud at the screening I attended). The premise is simple, ghosts connecting to our 'real' world via the internet. The original Japanese version is a cinematic tour de force focusing on the cult of 'hikikomori' (extreme social isolation) and how in life (as in death) we are essentially alone. Kairo is eerie, deep and dark. More creepy and psychologically scary than blood-and-guts-gross-you-out in its approach, it presents images of isolation and sadness that are truly ... haunting. The intelligent philosophy of this film and its magnificent images will follow you into your dreams. A movie, upon reflection, likely to put you in touch with your own inner ghosts. Watch it if you dare.

My rating 9 out of 10.

Little Miss Sunshine

Release date: 18 August 2006 (USA)

Oh, what a cute little movie. Odd, quirky, funny and sad it's certainly not worth a Best Picture Oscar nomination but is definitely worth a watch. This family on the edge of a meltdown road trip, directed by Jonathan Dayton, follows the Hoover family as they trek cross-country to ensure their daughter, Olive, can participate in a beauty queen (for 8 year-olds) pageant. On route, flop motivational speaker father, Richard, suicidal brother-in-law Frank, mute son Dwayne and heroin addict grandpa (played by Alan Arkin) all face personal breakdown points. There's many messages here about love, and support, and commitment to family and it's all done very well. But Oscar-nominated worthy ... for Arkin? for Abigail Breslin? (who plays Olive), for Best Picture? ... heavens, I think not! If anything Toni Collette as mom, Sheryl, deserves the nod here for holding this family (and movie) together. Olive, while not winning the Little Miss Sunshine pageant, sure teaches us a few things about dancing and the good stuff little girls are made of.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Babel

Release date: 23 May 2006 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

I finally saw Babel. I thought it had good editing. That about sums up my thoughts on this film. After watching all 2.5 hours of it I thought: yeh, so what?! Alejandro González Iñárritu has now made three films which are all exactly the same (this film, 21 Grams and Amores perros). And this somehow warrants an Academy Award nod?! Hmmmmmmm me thinks not. As you probably know, this film traces three stories that eventually interconnect (the Tokyo story line is tenuous at best). Brad Pitt struggles (as always) trying to act while Cate (I've-been-in-every-movie-made-in-2006) Blanchett does her best mostly lying in a bedoiun hut with a bullet in her shoulder. The Tokyo and Mexico storylines are the best and we do have to give nods to both Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi for fine performances. The editing is outstanding and absolutely worthy of an Oscar nod. In particular three cuts stand out: the cut from Chieko's hairy vagina to the goats; the cut from Santiago decapitating a chicken to Cate's blood and the cut from Cate's screaming as she's stitched up to Chieko's silent deaf-mute world were brilliant.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Stick It

Release date: 21 April 2006

This Disney film effort from 2006 does get (a little) better as the movie progresses. It stars Jeff Bridges (yes, he's still around acting) as Burt Vickerman, a has-been gymnastics coach burdened with taking on a fomer National star (now juvinille delinquent) Haley Graham (played by a buff Missy Peregrym). Stick It is sort of a Karaeke Kid moved to the vault, beam and floor routine world but not nearly as good.

My rating 4 out of 10.

Factory Girl

Release date: 2 February 2007 (USA)

Factory Girl tells the story of Edie Sedgewick, the uber-rich socialite that hung out at Andy Warhol's "Factory" from 1965-1968 and (arguably) put Warhol on the map (through the films they did together). Sadly, Edie's association with Warhol and the Factory spiraled into rampant drug addiction, poverty and ultimately lead to her drug overdose death at the age of twenty-eight. Directed by George Hickenlooper (unfortunate last name for sure), it stars Sienna Miller (as Edie), Guy Pierce doing a fantastic, cold, robot-like Warhol (not unlike the real man), and Hayden Christensen as the young, arrogant Bob Dylan. While the movie isn't very good when taken as a whole (the fault, I think, of a poorly constructed script and the fact no one here is actually likeable), I must say I was impressed with Sienna's acting. Watching her, I thought of Philip Seymour Hoffman in the film Capote last year - a better film granted - but similar in the intense character study of a unique individual in our cultural history. Kudos to Sienna's work here then and raspberries to the rest.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Nobody Knows

Release date: 13 May 2004 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

Nobody Knows is the 2005 work by the brilliant, brilliant Japanese director, Hirokazu Kore-eda, tells the story of 12-year-old Akira (played by Yuga Yagira) and his 3 siblings. After being abandoned by their mother, Akira takes on the role of caregiver to his younger siblings and tries as best he can to keep the family together as the money runs out, the hydro is disconnected and the stresses of confinement in a tiny Tokyo apartment start to take their toll. I loved this film. I loved Kore-eda's remarkable direction with the story told in quiet, unorthodox frames: Akira's mid-drift as he tries to play baseball with a stick and ball; the close up of the kids hands working the crayons; the refocusing on feet and tiptoes; the reoccurring shot of the stairs the kids climb. The sadness you feel for the family situation is real and when little Yuki dies, oh the tears. Yagira is brilliant; what a find! He won Best Actor at Cannes in 2005.

My rating 9 out of 10.

Pan's Labyrinth

Release date: 27 May 2006 (France - Cannes Film Festival)

Pan's Labyrinth directed by Mexican, Guillermo del Toro, has been receiving rapturous reviews around the world - and has garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film - so I was expecting a lot. And while I was not disappointed - this is a very good film - I wasn't blown away like seemingly everyone else has been. The story takes place during the closing days of the Spanish Civil War (circa. 1944-ish) and centers on a young girl, Ofelia, with a love for fairy tales of the darker variety. The underlying themes here are of quest, the battle of good versus evil (mimicking the resistance fighters vs. Franco's troops), and ultimately the choices we make in life. You see Ofelia is apparently the reincarnation of an ancient princess who ruled with her father in time immemorial and is set tasks by a brilliantly realized faun, Pan, whose goal it is to kill an innocent to set things to right again. All this plays out in the very creepy fairy tale world and the even creepier and exceptionally violent real world. This is a very good thriller with lots of subminimal massaging. It is definitely not for kids.

My rating 8 out of 10.

When Owen Met Beckham

Release date: 29 July 2004 (Hong Kong)

This 2004 Hong Kong film, directed by Adam Wong, is short (80 minutes) and shot like an MTV music video (I think it was shot in 16mm or using a digital camcorder). It suffers from too-much-i-tis. Meaning; our director isn't sure during the first 30 minutes what his story is going to be so we wander around the two leads, Michael and David, who are major soccer fans and their supposedly wheelchair bound female school chum; the school's gym teacher and his daughter; english as a second language classes; more soccer; and Miss Chan, one of the school's teachers. When we finally get down to the story, it's essentially a coming of age journey with a twist: seems Michael likes David who likes the supposedly wheelchair bound female school chum. Got all that? ... Anyway, A for F; E for execution (but with a couple nods to both young actors who do an okay job holding things together).

My rating 2 out of 10.

Dreamgirls

Release date: 25 December 2006

Oh, that it were a dream, is about all I can say about this film directed by Bill Condon. Better titled "Drearygirls" it focuses on the lives of three women all trying to make it big in Motown. Based on the theatre play, it stars every black movie star in America save Oprah. But even Oprah couldn't work her magic on this very long, very dull, very runny (when you hear the music you'll understand this comment) film. I can understand a number of the Oscar nominations it received: kudos to Eddie Murphy stretching himself [singing even], the art direction, the costumes, and Beyonce Knowles belting out a super original song in "Listen". Jennifer Hudson plays herself and somehow gets a best supporting actress nod to boot?! What's with that? Sadly no amount of singing can save a movie with a story we don't care about. Dreamgirls is a film trying hard to be bigger than it is; a film trying to be deep but which is ultimately very shallow.

My rating 5 out 10

Letters from Iwo Jima

Release date: 15 November 2006 (Japan)

Oh, that our leaders could be as good at making 'peace' as Eastwood is at making war movies! Oh, that we could perhaps just once, maybe, hopefully, learn one lesson from such movies! This film is Eastwood's part two of the Iwo Jima story (the first was Flags of our Fathers) and told from the Japanese point of view. It stars Ken Watanabe as General Kuribayashi, who is sent to Iwo Jima to defend it from American occupation. Course, we all know how this story ends. Yet in telling the story, in fact the other side of the story, we gain a new understanding of something elemental to our existence: we are all the same. We are all the same. And it is in that understanding that mercy dwells. Letters from Iwo Jima is an excellent film; a quiet film on many levels; a sad film. Kazunani Ninomiya (the Japanese pop star from the group Arashi), who plays Saigo, is outstanding and should have garnered an Oscar nod. While it could do with some further editing, this is the best movie of the five nominated for Best Picture this year.

My rating 8 out of 10.

Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War

Release date: 3 February 2004 (South Korea)

This film from 2004, directed by Je-gyu Kang, received lots of good press and I suspect had great resonance in South Korea. It tells the story of two brothers 'drafted' into the South Korean army at the start of the Korean Conflict, Jin-Tse and younger brother, Jin-Seok. There is no end to the melodrama in this film (some of it so bad I actually laughed out loud). This, however, was my own doing as I turned on the english voiceover. With the english voiceover off and the english subtitles restored, the film does improve. Jin-Tse spends the next 2 hours trying to get his brother out of the army by volunteering for many risky missions (with their requisite blood and guts). We see war in this film for what it is: men brutally and cruelly murdering each other. Despite what the Canadian/US military wants us to believe with their advertising, war is hell. But I digress. In the end, Jin-Tse jumps sides and ends up fighting for the North Koreans which, of course, leads to a big moment on the battlefield when the two brothers eventually meet face-to-face. Jin-Tse does not survive this battle, leaving Jin-Seok with a promise his dead brother cannot fulfill.

My rating 5 out of 10.

Ethan Mao

Release date: November 2004 (USA - Los Angeles International Film Festival)

This 2004 effort by part-time Canadian director, Quentin Lee, centers on the story of a young asian, Ethan Mao (played by Jun Hee Lee), who is kicked out of home for being gay when his step-mother finds a gay porn magazine. He heads into hustling to make ends meat (pardon the pun) and meets up with a Hispanic teenager, Remigio, who takes him in. However, Ethan is keen to return home simply to get his dead mother's necklace. That trip though ends up turning bad when his family returns home unexpectedly and he and Remigio end up taking them all hostage. This is a gay coming of age story a little outside of the box. It is gritty and serious and had some real dramatic moments. The sound mixing (at least on the dvd I got) needs work but all-in-all the acting and production are very good. In fact, I thought the movie got better and better as it progressed. But then, gosh, what was Quentin thinking with the ending? Picture the next to last frame when Ethan and Remigio are about to (spoiler alert) head out to meet the cops. Ethan spouts some corny line that "as I was standing there about to blow my brains out, I closed my eyes and thought of you, and you were the only reason I didn't". OMG, gag me with a spoon.

My rating 6 out of 10.