I’m up in NYC for the IFP’s Independent Film Week (more on that later), so let’s put a lid on finishing up the balance of my Toronto selections with the rest of these quick takes:
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED (4-Stars) - J Blakeson’s taut little British thriller is a heckuva lot of fun and shows just how much you can do with just 3 actors, especially when one of them is the wonderful Eddie Marsan (Mike Leigh’s HAPPY-GO-LUCKY). Two blokes are ready for their big score when they execute their prep work to perfection and kidnap a rich girl. Confining her to a bed in a temporary apartment while they await their big payday from Daddy, things don’t exactly go as planned.
THE WHITE STRIPES UNDER GREAT NORTHERN LIGHTS (3-Stars) - My only music film of the festival! An arty, cool (lots of b&w), intermittently wonderful look at Jack and Meg’s Canadian tour for “Icky Thump,” complete with some surprising numbers and performances in unusual spots in every single province. Their spontaneous mini-gigs the afternoon of each regular concert add a lot to the festivities. Emmett Malloy’s film won’t convert any non-believers, but it’s definitely a treat for hardcore fans.
THE ART OF THE STEAL (4-Stars) - Philadelphia power brokers and politicians conspire to transplant the priceless Albert C.Barnes collection of Post-Impressionist masterpieces (the greatest private collection in the world) to the Philly Museum of Art against many’s wishes, including the last will and testament of their owner. Don Argott’s totally engrossing and infuriating doc is very well done and allows the audience to get a look at these spectacular works of art, even as we curse those trying to “steal” them. Perhaps a bit too many talking heads for my taste, but word is a sale is imminent and it will have distribution shortly.
WAKE IN FRIGHT (3-Stars) - Fancy a drink? More alcohol is imbibed in this long-lost 1971 Australian debut from Ted Kotcheff (supposedly released here as OUTBACK) than I’ve seen in a film in ages. Part grindhouse and part sweaty, over-the-top drama with moments of odd humor, the film follows a young teacher whose overnight stay in an outback mining town on his way to Sydney turns into a 5-day bender of nightmarish proportions. An actual kangaroo hunt and a slimmer Donald Pleasance as a drunken, violent (who isn’t in this movie?) doctor add to the bizarre proceedings. They don’t make ‘em like this anymore…
MICMACS (5-Stars) - One of my favorite films of the festival! Jean-Pierre Jeunet (DELICATESSEN, AMELIE) is back with this charming, funny, downright magical comedy in which a band of salvage artists and circus misfits help an ex-video store clerk get revenge on the the two weapons manufacturers responsible for the landmine that killed his soldier father and the stray bullet that hit him in the head in a freak accident. This is gorgeous filmmaking—as visually inventive as you’ll ever see, plus a wonderful cast (including Danny Boon, Dominique Pignon, and the actress who played SERAPHINE).
SOUL KITCHEN (4-Stars) - Acclaimed German director Faith Akin surprises fans and critics alike with this terrific comedy about a young Greek man trying to succeed with a funky restaurant in an old warehouse. A sleazy, ex-con/brother with a gambling problem, a rock-star chef, a girlfriend leaving for China, a ball-busting tax collector, a villainous Udo Kier (what else would you expect?), and some awesome old music help create a gumbo of a food film that drew an extraordinary amount of applause at the press screening. A film that’s this much of a crowd pleaser has got to get picked up, no?
A SINGLE MAN (4-Stars) - Master fashion designer Tom Ford makes a formidable film debut with this visually stunning period piece based on the novel by Christopher Isherwood. Set during one day in the early 60s, the film’s focus is a gay college professor unable to deal with the grief from the loss of his longtime lover eight months after the car accident that claimed his life. Colin Firth and Julianne Moore are excellent, and the film is a lush and classy piece of art, but I wonder if straight audiences will be interested unless there’s Oscar nominations attached? Huge buzz from Venice and the first major pickup at Toronto, with the Weinstein Company hoping they have the next BROKEBACK or MILK. Only time will tell…
—Matthew
Indeed it was, as Chris and I closed out a week at the Toronto Film Festival in which we saw somewhere between 55 - 60 different features, remarkably still less than 25% of the total offferings in the program. Overall I was pleased with my selections, which started out a bit shaky with some disappointments but finished with a flourish. My group of titles included a number of recurring themes including mid-life crises, professors, bar mitzvahs, sleepwalking, revenge, ghosts, heavy drinking, and moms (not necessarily mutually exclusive). In fact, one of the days featured both Bong Joon-ho’s MOTHER and Xavier Dolan’s I KILLED MY MOTHER.
More Quick Takes:
CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY (4-Stars) - “Cleveland—We’re not Detroit!” One of the more hilarious bits is this mock-PSA in Michael Moore’s latest rallying cry against those in corporate America who put greed over all else. Yes there’s the usual amount of propaganda and some will claim it’s simplistic and no stretch from his usual formula, but the film is very entertaining, intelligent, informative, both funny and touching, and far better than the trailer would indicate.
BITCH SLAP (4-Stars at Midnight/2 any other time) - Russ Meyer would be proud of this 3-buxom bad-girls-in-the- desert flick by Rick Jacobson which clearly pays homage to every violent sexploitation flick from FASTER PUSSYCAT, KILL! KILL! to Tarantino’s DEATH PROOF. Way over the top in its action, direction, performances, camerawork, and dialogue, the film boasts an amazing opening credit sequence and even appearances by Lucy Lawless and Kevin Sorbo.
LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL (3-Stars) - Hong Sang-woo’s new film from South Korea is a too-long and intermittently funny observational comedy about a young indie art house director who’s a juror at a film festival and then goes on holiday and encounters some complex social situations. A little reminiscent of Larry David’s character in Curb Your Enthusiasm in which “stuff” just seems to happen to this guy. The parallels between the two parts of the film add a little substance to the proceedings.
VENGEANCE (4-Stars) - French icon Johnny Hallyday plays a former-hit-man-now-Parisian-chef who goes to Macau to find out who killed his daughter’s family. When he employs some gunmen from the local triad boss, the action and humor really take off in Johnnie To’s latest excursion into ultra-cool, Hong Kong gangland warfare.
MOTHER (4-Stars) - The South Korean director of THE HOST returns with this surprising and Hitchcock-ian small-town crime story about a mother who’s willing to go to any lengths to protect her simpleton son who’s been accused of murder. Cleverly plotted and darkly comic, this over-protective and almost psychotic widow brings motherhood to a whole new level and maternal melodrama to new heights.
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE (4-Stars) - An inspired ensemble cast including Robin Wright Penn, Alan Arkin, Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Julianne Moore, and Maria Bello bring life to Rebecca Miller’s new dramedy about a woman starting to unravel after moving from NYC to a Connecticut condo with her increasingly ailing older husband. Largely told in flashbacks to learn why Pippa is the way she is, this is a rich and humorous story that admirably nails its time periods.
VIDEOCRACY (3-Stars) - A buzzed-about Swedish doc about television-obsessed Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi controls a media empire including 90% of all broadcasting while enriching his friends and beguiling the nation. Some great and jaw-dropping archival footage add to the entertainment factor, but the other subjects of the film’s focus—including a fame-seeking, no-talent martial artist/singer and a sleazy,self-obsessed celebrity photographer—don’t warrant the attention or running time.
I KILLED MY MOTHER (4-Stars) - An impressive debut by 20-year-old writer/director/star Xavier Dolan, this is a semi-autobiographical, French New Wave-infuenced coming-of-age story about a gay, angst-ridden teenager and his absolutely tortured relationship with his well-meaning mom. Funny and uncomfortable, it’s easy to see why this French-Canadian work earned three awards in the 2009 Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes.
LIFE DURING WARTIME (4-Stars) - If there was ever a filmmaker whose work is not for everyone, Todd Solondz is the one. A sequel of sorts to HAPPINESS (1998), this is yet another disturbing and hilariously vicious satire of suburbia rendered as a series of linked sketches and dialogues between two people. The three Jordan sisters are still screwed up, this time played by Shirley Henderson, Allison Janney, and Ally Sheedy, and Michael Lerner, Ciaran Hinds, Charlotte Rampling, and Paul Reubens are integral parts of the cast as well. We’ll see what company is bold enough to take a shot at releasing this perversely funny yet deeply unsettling work.
—Matthew
Only in Toronto! Every morning on my 3/4 mile trek up Bloor Street from the hotel to the Varsity Theaters in the Manulife Center, I pass the University of Toronto football field and track stadium between 8 - 8:30. Maybe it’s routine up here, but I do find it surprising and admirable that the Girls Field Hockey team has been out there scrimmaging and practicing at that time of day—even on Sunday.
Today’s gripe: whoever designed the cup holders for the seats at the Varsity blew it. They are way too shallow for most cups and water bottles, so much so that any random contact can result in your drink ending up on the floor and rolling away. Would it have killed them to make ‘em a couple of inches deeper? Pretty obnoxious…
More film short takes:
THE IMAGINATION OF DR. PARNASSUS (3-Stars) - A centuries-long contest between the leader of a travelling sideshow magic troupe (Christopher Plummer) and the Devil (a dapper and mischievous Tom Waits) is the focus of Terry Gilliam’s new fantasy and his best film of the decade (though that’s not saying much). Inventive, colorful, and chaotic, the story ultimately falls flat and drags, despite the inspired device of using Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell to replace/supplement Heath Ledger’s final performance as a con man and making it one of the more effective aspects of the film.
ACCIDENT (4-Stars) - When is an accident not an accident? When a team of criminals do murder-for-hire and plan their intricate hits down to every last detail to make them appear to be a freak occurence. But when a job goes disastrously wrong, paranoia sets in and the gangleader begins to suspect that someone else may be pulling the strings for an “accident” of their own. Soi Cheang’s tightly plotted and very cool thriller from Hong Kong was produced by acclaimed HK action master, Johnnie To.
AIR DOLL (2-Stars) - Yikes! What happened here? Hirokazu Kore-eda, one of Japan’s greatest directors (AFTER LIFE, NOBODY KNOWS, and last year’s TIFF favorite, STILL WALKING) adapts a graphic novel about a life-size sex doll who comes to life during the day when her owner is at work. The otherwordly charm of a cute actress playing a blow-up doll and encountering the real world for the first time wears thin, and this is one fairy tale that ends up being flat-out boring. Very disappointing…
SHAMELESS (4-Stars) - Oscar-nominated Czech filmmaker Jan Hrebejk (DIVIDED WE FALL) scores with this smart, funny, and sexy tale of a popular TV weatherman who experiences a turning point in his marriage and begins a series of dalliances and relationships. One of the more irreverent and ridiculous main characters I’ve seen in a long time, and it’s refreshing to see such an intelligent adult comedy about a pre-midlife crisis. This is a winner!
THE VINTNER’S LUCK (2-STARS) - Wow, this one is almost begging for a Mystery Science Theater treatment, Gorgeously shot with handsome production values, Niki Caro’s (WHALE RIDER) period piece is set in 19th century France and concerns an ambitious young peasant winemaker (French Michael York look-alike Jeremie Renier) and his quest to produce a wine like no has tasted before. Along the way there is the love of his life and wife and mother of his children (Whale Rider’s Keisha Castle-Hughes, all grown up), the proudly intellectual Baroness he goes into business with (a frighteningly pale Vera Farmiga ?!), and a homoerotic angel with whom he takes a meeting once a year. No, really. With dialogue full of howlers and pretentious slow motion shots (how many times can a single white feather fall from his wings?), this one is just wrong in so many ways—too bad.
—Matthew
Well that’s certainly not something you hear everyday…Here we are for our first day and a half in Toronto and I found it somewhat amusing to hear that phrase in general conversation. The party (which we were not invited to unfortunately) was in honor of Lars Von Trier’s controversial (so what else is new) new film, which press screened right as we were getting to our hotel yesterday. Oh well, I’m sure we’ll catch up to it at some point. In the meantime, we’re off to a busy start and the weather is just sensational—mid-50s to low 70s and no humidity. What a pleasure after an Orlando summer.
Riding in from the airport I spotted an article in the newspaper in the cab that shocked me a bit. Popular Canadian/Indian actress Lisa Ray, only 37 years old, apparently has been diagnosed with
an inoperable form of bone marrow cancer. The lovely and talented Ms. Ray is in two new films at the festival, COOKING FOR STELLA and DEFENDOR, and has been a frequent star of recent Enzian/ACA-produced South Asian Film Festival favorites such as BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD, WATER, and THE WORLD UNSEEN. Our thoughts and prayers are with her.
TIFF Quick Hits (using the Orlando Sentinel/Weekly 5-star system):
FISH TANK (4-Stars) - Cannes Jury Prize winner and UK director Andrea Arnold’s latest after the Oscar-winning short, WASP, and the terrific RED ROAD, this a gritty and totally compelling look at the troubled, dance-loving 15-year-old Mia and her relationships with her party-girl Mom, her younger sister, and her mom’s new boyfriend in contemporary working-class England. Newcomer Katie Jarvis is a discovery, and Michael Fassbender (HUNGER, INGLORIOUS BASTERDS) and the rest of the cast are spot on.
NYMPH (2-Stars) - Thai director Pen-ek Ratananaruang gets his BLAIR WITCH on in this elliptical, poetic, and slow combination of marital infidelity tale and horror film set in the forest. Between the numerous scenes of photographing trees and blurry images of a naked woman/demon in the background, the thought that most frequently came to mind was WTF?
A SERIOUS MAN (5-Stars) - The Coen Bros. come through with their most personal (and certainly most Jewish) film to date, and it’s a brilliantly funny, gorgeously shot (by Roger Deakins) meditation on the meaning of God in a Minnesota suburb in the late 60s. The excellent Michael Stuhlbarg (who?) stars as a college physics professor who must endure an absurd amount of personal, professional, and spiritual challenges in the days leading up to his son’s Bar Mitzvah. The rest you’ll have to discover on your own—add this to your Must-See list now!
UP IN THE AIR (4-Stars) - How do you follow THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and JUNO? Jason Reitman continues his winning streak with this very smart, very funny, and very timely comedy about a pro’s pro (expertly played by George Clooney) who fires people for a living while spending 90% of his life in airplanes and hotel rooms on business trips. Things get a bit more complicated when he meets his match in another frequent flier businesswoman (the always good Vera Farmiga) and an all-business new colleague (a well-cast Anna Kendrick) whose grand plan is to change the business by terminating workers via video-conferencing. A couple of plot points may be a bit predictable, but this is an accomplished and topical work that’s also entertaining as hell.
THE HOLE (3-Stars) - Joe Dante, director of THE HOWLING, GREMLINS, the William Castle tribute MATINEE, and the best episode from the TWILIGHT ZONE movie, has always been one of my favorites from the Corman alumni. Here he’s made a perfect horror/fantasy film for tweens (my 13-year-old, Jack, would love it) about a hole with a locked door in the basement of a house that unleashes one’s innermost fears. It’s up two young brothers and the cute neighbor next door to solve the mystery while they contend with killer clowns and J-horror-like ghosts of little girls. Good, creepy fun, in awesome 3-D no less, but anyone over 15 may not be into it. Watch for the Dick Miller cameo for old times sake!
LOVE AND OTHER IMPOSSIBLE PURSUITS (3-Stars) - In this new film from Don Roos (THE OPPOSITE OF SEX, HAPPY ENDINGS), the stunning Natalie Portman gives a complex and mature performance as “the other woman,” a shunned stepmother who’s dealing with all kinds of problems—from the horrible loss of her baby at the age of 3 days to the strained relationship with her husband’s 8-year-old son to the boy’s bitch of a biological mother (a shrill Lisa Kudrow). There are some nice moments here and Portman plays a rich character, but this is too melodramatic and weepie for my tastes.
ONG BAK 2: THE BEGINNING (3-Stars) - The prequel-sequel to the 2003 TIFF Midnight hit Thai martial arts epic again stars (and now is directed by) the amazing Tony Jaa as the prodigal son out for vengeance against 13th century warlords who killed his parents. Simply plotted with a weak and highly repetitive narrative, the action is nevertheless awesome and guaranteed to satisfy. The jaw-dropping stunts he does with elephants are worth the price of admission alone.
—Matthew
In no particular order (other than alphabetical), here are my five favorite films from the two dozen I checked out at this year’s Toronto Film Festival:
1) THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD (Kim Jee-woon)
2) SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (Danny Boyle)
3) STILL WALKING (Hirokazu Kore-eda)
4) WALTZ WITH BASHIR (Ari Folman)
5) THE WRESTLER (Darren Aronofsky)
And on the flip side, here are five that somehow I missed due to scheduling conflicts that I hope to have an opportunity to see sometime down the road (hopefully soon). So much good stuff, so little time…
1) ACNE (Federico Veiroj)
2) FLAME & CITRON (Ole Christian Madsen)
3) HAPPY-GO-LUCKY (Mike Leigh)
4) HUNGER (Steve McQueen)
5) OF TIME AND THE CITY (Terence Davies)
—Matthew
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