Review
It takes skill to keep an emotionally charged account of children affected by the death of their elementary school teacher from becoming a syrupy and saccharin tale. In the hands of a lesser-skilled writer-director the story of Monsieur Lazhar could have trickled into a film about how hugs make everything better and love transcends death. Mercifully, writer-director Philippe Falardeau expertly balances the intricate delicacies of this emotionally powerful story....
How far would you be willing to go to display a truly brilliant performance? That is bound to be the question on the minds of anyone wandering out of a screening of The Iron Lady. Make no bones about it, Meryl Streep’s performance is brilliant. It cuts much deeper than just a stellar impersonation (perhaps the only knock on her brilliant turn in 2009’s Julie & Julia) as she captures the essence of a once-fierce dynamo reduced to a shell of herself. The problem with The Iron Lady is that beyond Streep’s astounding turn, the film is a total mess. Margaret Thatcher’s life would...
The buddy cop movie has been produced to great success many times, with the Lethal Weapon series being a prime example. There is a template that most follow and a short list of scenarios that show up in each. Writer/director Adam McKay was the man behind the widely popular Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. However, in creating The Other Guys, McKay appears to have ignored most of the standards as well as his own recipe for funny....
When people ask me what I like best about silent films, I like to tell them with much delight that I like the music. Most silent films that were performed back in the day were performed with live music. It can change from performance to performance and make you look at the film you had seen before in a whole new way. Andrew Downing’s new live film score for The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a great example of this. Andrew Downing debuted his new score live with the film with a 7 piece band at the Tranzac Club in...
It was fitting that the second night of the Toronto Silent Film Festival was Toronto born Mary Pickford’s birthday. Mary Pickford was one of the most successful silent screen stars and producers, and was married to action star Douglas Fairbanks. Together they were the most famous couple in Hollywood in the 1920s. We didn’t get to see one of Mary’s films during this screening but Fairbanks’ The Black Pirate (1926) was a treat and it didn’t disappoint....
With a title like Kick-Ass there is a certain sense of entitlement for the audience to have high expectations and typically be let down. But here’s the surprising thing, Kick-Ass and the team behind it (Director Matthew Vaughn and original comic book creator Mark Millar) were scrappy enough to deliver the goods in this over-the-top and more importantly fun film. Most superhero movies in the last decade kept audiences at arm’s length, keeping the idea behind a glass case not to be touched, but Kick-Ass breaks that rule and urges you to play with their world....
Watching Sherry White’s Crackie is somewhat like witnessing a naturalist version of a Maury Pauvich episode, since it involved a slew of social problems crammed into one movie. However, it deviates from typical Maury in the sense that it opens one’s eyes to a side of Canadian society that is unknown to most Canadians, and makes the viewer care for the people of Newfoundland who are living within it. The movie follows Mitsy (Meghan Greeley), an aspiring hairstylist, who lives with her grandmother, Nan (Mary Walsh), in a hut. As a result of an unwanted pregnancy, she is abandoned by her alcoholic mother, Gwennie, who resurfaces and starts dating one of Mitsy’s ex-boyfriends. Both mother and...
The second day of the CMW Film Festival, now at The Royal, which was kicked off by Seperado! from Gruff Rhys of the Welsh band the Super Furry Animals. Clearly aware of the caveats of a typical “road movie” that bands and artists typically phone in for a profit, Rhys, like his music, takes a completely different turn. More like a psychedelic folktale than a simple retelling of his South American tour, Rhys manages to create meaning without getting lost in the eccentricities that have sometimes hampered the Furries over nine albums. Instead the flourishes are provided over top of...
