26 January 2007, early morning
I bought Shima the Little Mermaid for her birthday. Disney recently put it on DVD. We watched it on Monday, which was the day her birthday fell on. I haven’t seen the film in years. The plot is, as you probably know, about a mermaid who falls in love with a prince, much to her father’s chagrin. After all this time I think the film holds up quite well. It doesn’t feel dated. It’s a nice movie, from a period of time when Disney was churning out good cartoons. They had a pretty good streak going for a little while.
The official The Little Mermaid web site.
[Aside: My movie watching has slowed to a crawl. That sucks. There are so many films I want to see.]
Movies
4 January 2007, mid-morning
El Laberinto del Fauno
Mezan, Patrick and I watched Pan’s Labyrinth late last night at Varsity cinema. The movie is set in Franco’s Spain, shortly after the Spanish Civil War. A young girl and her pregnant mother are moving out to the country side to live in a rural military base. The girl’s new step-father, is the captain of the base, and is a real fascist jerk. The film was quite spooky, much like Guillermo del Toro’s other films I have seen. Guillermo del Toro is very creative and I think there are some very cool moments in the movie. The set design and character design are top notch for the more fantastic elements of the film. It is way more gory than I thought it would be, so if you are squirmish you may want to skip this one. Beyond that though, it’s a really good film. Pan’s Labyrinth is well worth watching.
On a somewhat related note, if you haven’t read For Whom the Bell Tolls you really should. It’s one of my favourite books, and takes place during the Spanish Civil War.
The official Pan’s Labyrinth web site.
Movies
24 December 2006, evening time
Ahilan really wanted to go see the new Rocky film. The two of us, plus two of my cousins, sat in an almost empty AMC cinema on Christmas Eve watching it. It was a nice film: cheesy and formulaic at times, but all in all quite satisfying. I didn’t think the last fight sequence was as long or as ridiculous as fights from the previous films, but it was still cool to watch.
The official Rocky Balboa web site.
[1] Movies
26 November 2006, late at night
I watched Casino Royale today. It has to be — and by a good margin — the best Bond film ever made. It’s a serious-ass spy flick. Most of the cliches from the earlier films have been toned down or simply tossed out. It’s a very gritty film. It certainly doesn’t feel like a Bond film. I imagine this might irk some fans, but I can’t imagine people watching the film and being disappointed. Daniel Craig has done a great job with this film. I’m guessing his performance will shut up some of his critics.
The official Casino Royale web site.
[5] Movies
12 November 2006, mid-afternoon
Brick is a cool movie; it’s a film noir but with high school kids. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the kid from 3rd Rock from the Sun, plays a hard boiled high school student named Brandon, who is trying to figure out what happened to his ex-girlfriend Emily, played by Emilie de Ravin who plays Claire on Lost. The acting is great; all the actors do great jobs with their roles; all the characters are really strange and interesting. The movie has almost unintelligible dialog, but what you can hear is great. The movie is shot really well, and has a very distinct style. (Almost every shot in the film has the sun in the background. The director of photography must like lens flare or something.) It’s a bizarre film, well worth seeing.
The official Brick web site.
Movies
12 November 2006, mid-afternoon
I’m a big fan of Sacha Coen’s. The Ali G show was excellent, and I think his Borat sketches are even better. The Borat movie is like an extended version of the clips that aired on Ali G. There is a very loose plot that ties it all together. Borat arrives in New York to make a film about America, falls in love with C.J. Parker from Baywatch, and decides to travel to California to meet her. On the way, he gets into all sorts of mischief. The movie makes you cringe. How he doesn’t get beat up during all his escapades is beyond me. It looked like he wasn’t going to survive being in New York at the start of the film: people weren’t putting up with his shit. The movie is really funny, definitely worth checking out.
The official Borat web site.
[1] Movies
24 October 2006, lunch time
I watched the The Illusionist last night. I haven’t seen the Prestige just yet, but I suspect that if you are going to watch one film about magicians operating in the late 19th century, make sure its not the Illusionist. I didn’t think it was particularly good. It stars Edward Norton, who I felt did a pretty so-so job in the film. Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell did much better jobs with their roles. Even Jessica Biel couldn’t save the film. It just wasn’t that interesting. (I would have liked the film more if Ed Norton’s first lines were: “Look, I’m not my father. I don’t do cabinets. I’m an illusionist. That’s who I am. That’s what I do.”)
The official The Illusionist web site.
[2] Movies
11 September 2006, lunch time
Shima and I watched Radiant Cities with her planning class. It’s a documentary about the suburbs and how they suck. The directors of the film, before the screening, joked about how totally biased the film was, and how they pretty much went out to make a film that just made fun of the suburbs. When they talk about suburbs in this film, they are really referring to the sorts of suburbs they build now: big cookie-cutter housing developments with names like Sudden Valley. The film focuses on one particular family and their life in the suburbs. Interspersed throughout the film are interviews with several famous planners and architects who discuss how to deal with the problems of the suburbs. The suburbs as we build them now are not a sustainable form of development; they are a bad idea. In many ways the film is also about the documentary film format itself, though I don’t want to discuss this lest I ruin the movie for you. Radiant Cities is a cool film, definitely worth watching.
The official Radiant Cities web site at the NFB.
Movies
11 September 2006, lunch time
I watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Rishi this past Saturday. We had just come from lunch at the Pilot, and I had a few hours to kill before I had to head off for Tiff’s surprise birthday party. (Shima, Matt, Shawn and I managed to ruin the surprise somewhat, but it was a pleasant dinner nevertheless.) Anyway, Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang is excellent. It’s a funny send up of those cheesy film-noir films and books. The premise is as follows: a petty criminal ends up in LA to do a test screening for a crime drama, after inadvertently crashing an audition; once in LA he is paired up with a gay private eye who is to teach him how to play a detective; the pair end up embroiled in a murder-mystery. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer both do great jobs at their respective parts. Kilmer in particular, playing “Gay Perry”, is hilarious. You really need to watch this film. I think it’s a shame it didn’t do better. (If you need more encouragement, it stars Michelle Monaghan and Shannyn Sossamon.)
The official Kiss Kiss Bang Bang web site.
[2] Movies
25 August 2006, lunch time
I watched Canadian buddy-cop flick Bon Cop, Bad Cop yesterday. It was both awesome and ridiculous. Colm Feore and Patrick Huard play two cops, one from Ontario and one from Quebec, respectively. They are forced to work on a case together and hilarity ensues. The Ontario cop played by Feore is a straight-arrow dorky kind of guy, while the Quebecer cop is all hard-boiled like someone out of a John Woo film. It’s not high-art, but it is very entertaining. There are plenty of jokes on all things Canadian. They even spend several minutes explaining how to swear in French. It’s great. It’s nice to see a big budget mainstream Canadian film getting made. Hopefully it does reasonably well, and they can make a Bon Cop, Bad Cop 2, where the bad guys are all Albertans.
Movies
8 August 2006, the wee hours
Late last night my friends and I went to Paramount to see Miami Vice. Most have us have been pretty excited about seeing this film for quite some time. Michael Mann’s last film, Collateral was pretty damn good, so we all had high hopes for this film as well. The movie follows to vice cops, Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, who go undercover to catch some evil drug dealers. (In the process they meet the super-awesome Gong Li, who plays the white-collar money manager of the criminal syndicate.) I liked the film a fair bit. It’s not as good as Collateral, but it’s still pretty damn good. There are some cool gun fights, and some cool boats, some steamy sex, and a fair amount of violence. What more can you ask for from a movie?
The official Miami Vice web site.
[6] Movies
5 August 2006, early afternoon
I watched Lady in the Water yesterday night with Patrick. We walked all the way from Bathurst and Bloor to Yonge and Bloor, down Yonge to Queen, and across Queen towards Paramount Cinema. It was quite the trek. We wanted to see Pirates of the Caribean but it was playing a little too late. Matt had mentioned a few days earlier that he had enjoyed Lady in the Water, and I like M. Night Shyamalan, so I thought it’d be a good film to see instead. I liked the film, Patrick not so much. Apparently the movie is based on a story Shyamalan would tell his kids. The movie feels very much like a fairy-tale or children’s story. Unlike his previous works, there isn’t a contrived twist and the end to shock the audience. That was a nice change as well—not that there weren’t all sorts of twists throughout the film. The dialog is a bit grating, and the story is very fantastic, but I suppose that’s the whole point. Anyway, I think it’s a nice film. I enjoy most of his films, so keep that in mind.
The official Lady in the Water web site.
Movies
24 July 2006, lunch time
I made Dave and Carvill watch Junebug on Saturday. The film is about an art dealer traveling to the rural-South with her new husband to meet his family. Junebug is very much my sort of movie: slow and subtle. The acting is great and gives the film an authentic feel. Amy Adams in particular is really good as the pregnant and chirpy Ashley in the film. (Her husband is played by Ben McKenzie from the O.C.) The film has some funny moments, but for the most part the jokes are not in your face. The dialog is good and rings very true. I enjoyed the film, Carvill and Dave not so much.
The official Junebug web site.
[1] Movies
11 July 2006, lunch time
After attending a protest to mark the student uprising in Tehran in 1999, I met up with Dave and Patrick to watch A Scanner Darkly. It is a very cool film. The movie is based on the book by Philip K. Dick, who wrote Blade Runner and Minority Report. As you would expect, the movie is about a dark and dystopian future. Keanu Reaves plays an undercover narcotics officer who is getting more and more addicted a drug called substance D; substance D addiction is a nationwide pandemic. The film is funny at times, but gets quite depressing and dark as the story progresses. The film is quasi-animated; It’s hard to describe, so go watch the trailer. The film is really good, so you should definitely check it out.
The official A Scanner Darkly web site.
[1] Movies
2 July 2006, late evening
The Art Gallery of Ontario did a little Amir Khan festival of sorts last week. They showed four of his films. Carvill, Mezan and I went to see Mangal Pandey, a fictionalised account of the Sepoy Mutiny. The movie is a bit like an Indian Braveheart. The film was quite good. Amir Khan’s film are usually a step up from your typical Bollywood flick, so I was expecting a good movie. One thing of particular note was the racy little girl on girl dance number in the later half of the film. That came out of nowhere. Meow.
The official Mangal Pandey web site.
Movies
28 June 2006, terribly early in the morning
I just watched Superman Returns, the single greatest achievement of mankind. Everything we have accomplished as a civilization has lead us towards the making of this film. We can now go about destroying the planet, comfortable in the knowledge we accomplished what God put us down here to do: make a fucking awesome Superman movie. I’m quite happy.
The official Superman Returns web site.
[6] Movies
17 June 2006, mid-afternoon
I had very high hopes for Nacho Libre, and while not as crazy-super funny as I had hoped, it’s still pretty damn good. It’s such a ridiculous movie. Really, the very fact the film is about a fat Jack Black wrestling is entertaining in and of itself. A nice bonus is that the leading lady in the film is very pretty. As with Napolean Dynamite, the film is full of strange ugly people, which is in many ways refreshing. I want to be a luchadore.
The official Nacho Libre web site.
Movies
13 June 2006, late morning
Dave had free passes to see a early screening of Partition. The movie is essentially a romance, set against the violence surrounding the partition of India. Kristin Kreuk plays a Muslim girl from Punjab, traveling to Pakistan. The refugees she and her family are traveling with are attacked by Sikhs from the area, so she runs to hide in the woods, where she is found and saved by the gentle and peaceful Sikh ex-soldier Gian Singh, played by Jimmy Mistry (of Touch of Pink fame). The rest of the film is so very predictable. That isn’t to say it wasn’t enjoyable. I thought it was good for the most part. The version we saw wasn’t the final version: it still needed to be colour corrected; the sound and music needed to be finished properly, and the opening and ending credits were incomplete. I suspect that they might re-edit the film based on audience feedback as well. Dave and I both felt that at times the film seemed to drag. I imagine the final cut of the film could be vastly improved if it is edited to tighten up some of the scenes which drag a bit. I thought the actors did a well enough job with their various roles, though nothing particularly stand out or spectacular. Kreuk actually wasn’t half bad as an Indian girl. There are some particularly good shots in the film, and I felt it was filmed quite well for the most part. I think when the film finally does come out it will be good. Assuming they don’t get feed back to the effect of: “That partition business is too violent; it’s a real downer. You guys should drop that from the film.”
Previous discussion of Partition here.
[7] Movies
12 June 2006, lunch time
I watched Wimbledon last night. What a horrible movie. Paul Bettany plays an old tennis player who is just about ready retire from the game after playing his last Wimbledon tournament—he’s the wild card entry there. During the tournament he meets Kirsten Dunst, another tennis player, who through the power of sex (perhaps she has a magical cho-cha) makes him a better tennis player. The way they shot the tennis matches themselves was cool, but beyond that, it’s a pretty typical chick-flick. You wouldn’t be missing much if you never watched this movie.
The official Wimbledon (movie) web site.
Movies
Megatron: [surprised] Prime.
Optimus Prime: One shall stand, one shall fall.
Megatron: Why throw away your life so recklessly?
Optimus Prime: That’s a question you should ask YOURSELF, Megatron.
—From the greatest scene in cinematic history. I can’t wait for the 20th Aniversary DVD.
30 May 2006, the wee hours
I watched X-Men 3 on Friday. I wanted it to be much better than it was.
[8] Movies
15 May 2006, lunch time
Mission Impossible: 3 was pretty good. Tom Cruise has to stop Phillip Seymour Hoffman, an evil arms dealer, from dealing arms. The action sequences are quite good; there is a scene where they actually show you how they put on one of those Mission Impossible masks, which was one of the cooler scenes in the film. The Persian girl from Crash has a small role in the movie. The movie may be worth watching just to see Maggie Q, this hot Eurasian chick, wear this red dress that is smoking hot. The movie is entertaining, but really can’t compete with the first Mission Impossible film.
The official Mission Impossible web site.
Movies
8 May 2006, lunch time
The contempt the Sri Lankan government shows for the people it is there to serve is oh-so-palatable in the documentary From Dust. The film is about the after-effects of the Tsunami that leveled much of Sri Lanka’s coasts. I can take heart in the knowledge the Sri Lankan government has no qualms about screwing over the Sinhalese as well as the Tamils when it comes to misappropriating coastal land. In the eyes of the Sri Lankan government there is only One People in Sri Lanka; Sri Lankans of all walks of life, from all ethnic backgrounds, are ripe to be taken advantage of. It’s touching really. (Well, no; that’s a lie.)
Much of From Dust is spent talking to a few families that are trying to rebuild their lives after they lost their homes and their loved ones. The rest of the time is spent showing how the Sri Lankan government has done little to nothing to help those effected by the Tsunami, despite sitting on something like a billion dollars in foreign aid. The film, like many at Hotdocs, makes you angry. I liked it a lot. Haran and his sister both enjoyed the film as well, though he felt it was a bit meandering at times, and I suppose I would agree with him. The films focus is on one fishing village in the South West, though it is clear that what is going on their is going on all over the Island. Unfortunately, the director couldn’t travel to the North and East parts of the island, those areas under LTTE control, or under the control of the Army (like Jaffna).
Haran has the interesting — is that the right word? — perspective of actually being in Sri Lanka when the waves hit. (There are two other posts that follow-up on his initial reaction to the disaster: Melodrama Much? and Mullaithivu.) Haran got to see the LTTE’s response to the waves first hand. He said it was like night-and-day comparing the slow paced, “what the fuck are we supposed to do?”, response from the government with the fast and efficient response from the Tigers. I suppose when you have a military organization which is trained to deal with refugees of war, the mass displacement of people due to natural disasters isn’t unknown territory. It’s a shame the LTTE are terrorists. I am glad to live in a world where everything complicated has been turned black and white. (I should add it was nice to see a movie about Sri Lanka that didn’t mention ethnic groups and conflict. Not like this blurb about the movie — man I’m such a jerk.)
[1] Movies | Hot Docs 2006
6 May 2006, early afternoon
Voices of Bam was far too art-house, even for someone who loves movies as much as myself. It was a very well done film, don’t get me wrong, but I think it’s very hard for documentaries to be as uninformative as Voices of Bam was, and still work. This was the first film I’ve seen at Hotdocs, and I have seen around 15 now between the 2 years I have been going, that I have seen people walk out of — a fair number of people. The movie was very similar to Elephant, Battle in Heaven and “The Forsaken Land“/blog/the-forsaken-land in its style: long drawn out scenes; very few cuts; very little dialog. What dialog there is in the film is mostly survivors speaking to their dead relatives. It struck me as very unnatural. The film has a few touching moments, but for the most part just doesn’t work — at least in my humble moving-going opinion. I understand what the director was going for, but it really felt far too forced to me. Shima and her mom also disliked the film. The movie is interesting if only because it is so different than the other documentaries i’ve seen this year. Still, it’s not really enough to make the film worth watching in my opinion; it’s far too slow.
Movies | Hot Docs 2006
5 May 2006, the wee hours
In the Footsteps of a Soldier was crazy. This documentary had so many twists you would think there was no possible way it could be non-fiction. Steven Ndugga is the “star” of the film, a Ugandan who was forced to join a rebel militia at the age of 13. The movie was originally going to be about his story, when he discovers his son, who he believed to be dead, is alive and fighting as a child-soldier in the Congo. The film then shifts focus, and is about his quest to get his son back. You might think that there could be no more twists after one such as that, but the movie’s twists don’t end there. Normally I wouldn’t feel bad about talking about a documentary in some detail, but this is the sort of film its actually worth knowing very little about going in. The way the film ends is really surprising. This film is playing again, and is definitely worth checking out.
Aside: Once Hotdocs is done with, I plan to write a post about the festival as a whole, to link all these “reviews” together, and to add links for more information to the posts themselves.
[1] Movies | Hot Docs 2006
