27 May 2009, mid-morning
I completely forgot to write about Invisible City, which I was the last film I saw at Hotdocs a few weeks back. The film was phenomenal, so I don’t know why I didn’t say as much here. Invisible City is a film about two kids growing up in Regent Park. The filmmaker followed their lives for 4 years, chronicling their problems along the way. We hear from their exasperated mothers, who are raising them alone, a former teacher who is trying to mentor these fatherless children, and from the kids themselves. The film touches on all sorts of issues, though the main one seems to be the challenges involved with raising a son alone. The film had all sorts of well earned hype around it. I’m sure it will be on the Passionate Eye in no time.
A real review of Invisible City by Spacing.
Movies | Hot Docs 2009
13 May 2009, early morning
Following Final Fitting and Tinar we watched Calling Home and Cash & Marry. Calling Home was a short film about the separation immigrants are often forced to deal with. Shot entirely inside the long-distance telephone booths of a London shop, the audience gets to listen in to the boring, funny and touching conversations people have with their families abroad. All the conversations are juxtaposed together, creating a mix-mash of language and emotion. It was an interesting enough short film.
Cash & Marry was a very enjoyable film about the immigration in Austria. Two men are on the hunt for a wife so they can get proper papers to live and work in Austria. The film is an examination of how countries treat their immigrants, and some of the absurdity that surrounds setting up a two-tiered society. Much of the film is this sort of comedic frantic romp, but throughout it all there is this more serious and bleak undercurrent. The film ultimately ends on a more or less low note. (Until the credits begin, anyway.) I quite liked the film. It’s a strange adventure.
Calling Home and Cash & Marry at the Hotdocs web site.
Movies | Hot Docs 2009
12 May 2009, early morning
Shima and I watched Final Fitting and Tinar on Saturday afternoon, with her dad and Steph. Final Fitting was a short film about a tailor who makes the religious outfits for some of Iran’s most famous mullahs, including Khomeini. I suspect the goal of the film was to contrast the piety of the tailor with that of the mullahs he makes clothes for: one mullah is clearly living the good life, sporting a giant belly; another claims he’s already paid the tailor; etc. It’s a funny little film, but on the whole not that compelling.
The second film was Tinar — which as I understand things, means lonely. Tinar was amazing. The director filmed a young boy, a cowherd, living in rural Iran. The boy’s mother has passed away, and his father has remarried. The boy lives more or less by himself, the boy’s father living with his new family. The film maker did a great job of capturing the ins and outs of this boys life. The film maker said the movie was shot over 3 years, and that it took a long time for the boy to open up to him. (He was worried the film would be silent, as the first few months they were with the boy he more or less never spoke.) It is a very touching movie. The boy speaks of his love for his step-siblings, despite the fact they clearly enjoy a much better life than him. He talks about wanting to go to school, wanting to run away from his life as a cowherd. It is bleak. The film is shot beautifully. So many scenes would work as photographs. From start to finish it’s a well done film. One hopes the director can secure distribution for the movie. It’s well worth watching.
Tinar and Final Fitting on the Hotdocs website.
[1] Movies | Hot Docs 2009
7 May 2009, early morning
After Forgetting Dad Shima and I went for gelatos, and then headed back to the Royal to watch Grandmother’s Flower. The filmmaker’s grandmother was married to a partisan during the Korean war. After the war, she and her family suffer much hardship because of their ties to the communists. The choices his grandmother and grandfather made during the war haunt the family for generations. The filmmaker looks at the lives of his extended family, and through interviews and narration we learn their story. Though the film is slow, it’s very interesting and poignant. Each family member we are introduced to touches on some aspect of suffering, longing, or separation. The filmmakers story is essentially the story of Korea. (I didn’t touch on this when I spoke about Joint Security Area, but what really makes that film standout in my mind is that it also touches on these issues, caused by the North/South divide.) Grandmother’s Flower is an excellent film, well worth watching.
Grandmother’s Flower on the Hotdocs 2009 website.
Movies | Hot Docs 2009
7 May 2009, early morning
Shima and I met Suzanne and Riadh, and the four of us watched Forgetting Dad. The filmmaker’s story is a compelling one: his father was involved in a car accident that cost him his memory; 16 years later his memory hasn’t returned — or has it? Interviews with family members and old footage give us glimpses of the father after his accident. Each family member has their own take on what’s happened, some believing his account of things, while others assuming he’s lying. All sorts of strange twists make the later case more reasonable, though who would fake amnesia for 16 years? It’s an interesting story, but I don’t know if I liked the way it was put together. There seemed to be far too much narration and melodramatic music. The music doesn’t really let up for the entire film. These points aside, it’s an interesting film, well worth seeing.
The official Forgetting Dad website.
Movies | Hot Docs 2009
4 May 2009, late at night
Hotdocs 2009 gets off to an interesting start. We watched one and a half films tonight, starting with the short film Colour of Blood. The movie is a short set of interviews with various North Londoners who are obsessed with blood and pain — people who cut themselves, drink blood, etc. The final interview is with a lady who thinks she is a straight up vampire. It’s interesting, a bit creepy, and a little bit funny. An enjoyable prelude to the main attraction.
The second film of the night was Aka Ana. It’s a film by Antoine d’Agata, who is a photographer at Magnum. I expected some amount of nakedness, and maybe some sex, but this film was way more explicit than I thought it would be. Way more explicit. The idea for the movie is as follows: Ladies working in Japanese brothels talk about their experiences, while we watch them; very explicit raw sexual violent footage paired with their soft intimate narration. It’s crazy. We ended up leaving early, Shima didn’t want to watch yet another Japanese woman have sex. I suppose I can’t blame her. This is the sort of film you really need ample warning about before you walk in and watch it. And this is definitely the sort of film you feel awkward watching in a crowded cinema. Some things you can’t un-see. What a movie.
Aka Ana on the Hotdocs 2009 site.
Update: And thinking back, the lady who did the introduction for the film mentioned how this film probably wouldn’t be seen on the big screen anywhere else, and made other off hand remarks that should have clued us to the fact it was going to be a whole of lot sex and va-jay-jays.
Update: This review of Aka Ana is great.
[3] Movies | Hot Docs 2009
23 April 2009, early morning
I watched Toronto Stories on the flight to London. The film was playing at TIFF last year, though it didn’t look compelling enough to watch at the time. The film is split into four parts, each very loosely connected by a mysterious boy who has arrived in Canada illegally and escaped from the airport. Each story is directed by a different director, and touches on a different aspect of Toronto. The best story is the last, about a homeless man who stumbles on the boy at Union stations, realizes he is being held captive by a shady dude, and then tries to get him saved — though no one believes his crazy-homeless-ass. This portion is the best because Gil Bellows does a great job playing this homeless fellow. The rest of the film is good, but pretty unexceptional. I enjoyed seeing Toronto featured prominently in a film, but I’m not sure that’s enough of a reason to watch the movie.
Reviews of Toronto Stories at Rotten Tomatoes.
Movies
16 April 2009, early morning
I’ve Loved You So Long
I watched a few movies while away. I’ll need to write about them all, but i’ll start with the one that sticks out in my head the most, I’ve Loved You So Long. This French film is about a women trying to reestablish a relationship with her sister, and return to a normal life, after spending 15 years in prison. Kristin Scott Thomas plays protagonist, and she’s absolutely amazing in the film. It’s actually not as art-house as it might sound. And though a little bit bleak, I don’t think the overall message of the film is bleak. It’s well worth watching.
The official I’ve Loved You So Long web site.
Movies
30 March 2009, mid-morning
A Peck on the Cheek
I watched Kannathil Muthamittal with Shima over the weekend. We’ve both seen it before, but I really wanted to watch it again. It is by far my favourite Mani Ratnam film. (And he’s done many good films.) He is probably one of India’s best directors.
The central figure of the story is a young girl whose parents tell her she is adopted on her 9th birthday. From there the film explores her reactions to the news, how she proceeds to treat her mother and father, and her quest to find her birth mother. The film does an amazing job looking at familial relationships and adoption.
The movie is also an interesting look at the costs of war. The movie begins with a wedding in Mankulam, which is a town in Sri Lanka. From there there are a few sweet scenes between the bride and groom. During the last scene the husband hears the army marching on the town and runs off to stop them. And then the title sequence begins, where we learn through short vignettes that the newly wed is pregnant, that her town is being shelled, that her husband is MIA, that she flees to India, and that she ultimately leaves her daughter behind to come back to Sri Lanka. The second half of the film takes place in Sri Lanka. Mani Ratnam touches on several aspects of the war in Sri Lanka: the army shelling and bombing towns, child soldiers, suicide bombing, etc. There aren’t too many films about the war in Sri Lanka, so saying this is one of the better ones I’ve seen is faint praise. Regardless, it is. The film works well as a comment on the war because it’s about the war indirectly.
The cinematography is brilliant. There are so many great sequences in the film. The film features music by A.R. Rahman. The song playing during the title sequence is one of my favourite Tamil songs. The cast is stellar. Pretty much every part is filled by a famous South Indian actor or actress. Kannathil Muthamittal is easily one of my favourite films. I’ve yet to watch it with a girl and not have her cry at the end.
Movies
13 March 2009, early morning
I saw Watchmen last night with Mezan and Tyler. After the title sequence ended, I turned to Tyler and said, “This is fucking amazing,” or words to those effect. The film was damn good. The comic is phenomenal, and obviously the film will never be the comic, but the film does do a very good job at capturing the meat of the book. It’s a very faithful adaption, save for the ending. The actors were pitch perfect for their parts. THe special effects were great. Some shots seem like they were taken scene for scene from the comic. Rather than continuing to heap praise on the film i’ll just quote Patrick:
“It’s quite possibly the closest adaptation you’ll ever get in movie form from a comic book.”
“I feel like every comic book movie should be like The Watchmen.”
“It makes me realize how disappointed I was with every other comic book movie that has ever come out before”
“It’s like they did the entire movie spot on and then realized ‘no man, we can’t go ALL the way and recreate the ending, we need to change it slightly so the mainstream audience member won’t be scarred for life.”
You need to watch this film.
The official Watchmen website.
[5] Movies
9 March 2009, mid-morning
I watched Chungking Express over the weekend with Shima. I bought the Criterion Blu Ray disc for myself as soon as it came out, but lacking a Blu Ray player i’ve been waiting for a weekend in Scarborough where I could watch it on my brothers PS3. (My parents have surround sound and a giant television, which makes watching films on my iMac seem kind of lame.) Chungking Express was the first film I watched by Wong Kar Wai. I bought the VCD in high school, mostly due to the fact it starred my favourite singer at the time, Faye Wong. Watching the film on a VCD really doesn’t do it justice. The Blu Ray copy is stunning. The colours and sound are great.
Chungking Express is a somewhat surreal look at romance and relationships. The first story involves a heart broken cop (Takashi Kaneshiro) and a jilted drug dealer (Bridgette Lin). The second story is about another broken hearted cop (Tony Leung) and a woman who develops a crush on him (Faye Wong). Both stories really don’t intersect. What ties them together are their common themes. The central set piece in the film is a shawarma place that both cops visit, to eat and get advice from the proprietor, and this also helps keep the film from feeling too disjoint. The second story is probably the more famous of the two, and it features some of the better scenes and shots in the movie — like Tony Leung talking to inanimate objects in his apartment, and Faye Wong staring at Tony Leung while he drinks a coffee. The second story seems even more quirky than the first, which is probably part of its appeal.
Compared to Wong Kar Wai’s other films, Chungking Express stands alone in its tone and style. The film is filmed almost entirely hand held, and lacks a lot of the long and neatly composed shots that make up his other movies. Another departure from his other films is that both stories in Chungking Express end on a (more or less) happy note — though this is up for debate if you talk to Rishi. The movie is on the whole a lot more light hearted and accessible than Wong Kar Wai’s other films. It is one of my favourite movies. You should watch it.
Chungking Express at the Criterion web site.
Movies
7 March 2009, early morning
In De Tag Hinein
I watched the Days Between with Mahi at Cinematheque. The movie is stunning, and certainly one of the best films I’ve seen in recent years. The film reminded me a lot of the work of Wong Kar Wai, only with less dialog and latin music. The cinematography was brilliant. Everything seemed so calculated and pitch perfect. The mood throughout the film is bleak, and this is captured in the way everything is shot. The story is simple enough: a troubled girl develops a relationship with a Japanese exchange student. It’s all very self destructive. It’s a sad film. If you can find it, watch it. I haven’t been so impressed in quite some time.
A write up of The Days Between at Cinematheque.
Movies
2 March 2009, late morning
I watched Sukiyaki Western Django over the weekend. What a strange movie. The story is simple: an unnamed stranger rolls in to Western town, with a vendetta that is never made clear, and is hired by the townsfolk to rid them of the gangs that have been terrorizing them. The movie is in many ways a homage to other Westerns or Samurai films: there are lots of scenes that reminded me of other films I’ve seen, most notably, Once Upon a Time in the West. (And I suppose many westerns borrowed heavily from older Japanese Samurai films by the Kurosawa. So this could be seen as coming full circle.) The film is very surreal. The sets are outlandish, as is the story, as are all the costumes. Beyond that, the actors are all Japanese, but the movie is filmed in English. So every is speaking in bizarre heavily accented English. It’s very trippy. I suppose you can expect nothing less from Takeshi Miike. I quite liked the film, though amongst my friends the reception was certainly mixed.
The official Sukiyaki Western Django web site.
[3] Movies
28 January 2009, mid-morning
Shima and I watched The Darjeeling Limited last night. (Well, I watched it, she would occasionally look up from her knitting to see what was going on.) The film is the latest work by Wes Anderson, and something I had been meaning to see for some time now. I’m a big fan of Anderson’s films. The Darjeeling Limited is about three estranged brothers who are reunited in India in order to travel on spiritual journey organized by the oldest of the three. The movie covers similar themes to Anderson’s other works: estranged families, loss, death, dysfunctional love, etc. The problem I had with the film is that at times it feels like a parody of Anderson’s earlier movies. The movie is sad in the quiet way all of Anderson’s movies are sad, but the movie just didn’t have the same weight his other movies carry: it felt too light. Regardless, it is still an enjoyable film. There are lots of great moments and scenes in the film. The soundtrack is great, as usual. Visually the movie is beautiful. I look forward to whatever Anderson comes up with next.
The official The Darjeeling Limited web site.
Update: I forgot! The film also features British Tamil actress Amara Karan. (Who’s real name is apparently Karunakaran.) She’s quite charming in the movie.
[3] Movies
15 January 2009, lunch time
I watched Slumdog Millionaire with Shima on Sunday night. It was one of those movies everyone I knew wanted to watch, which usually means no one ends up watching it. The movie is very good, though I’m not sure it’s as superlative as all the reviews make it out to be. The story is as follows: a boy from the slums of Mumbai ends up on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, and ends up answering question after question; no one believes he could possibly know the answers, so he is taken by the police and interrogated; during the interrogation, we learn about his life, and how he knew the answers to each question asked of him. I’ve heard the film described as a cross between a Bollywood movie and a Capra film, and that sounds about right. It is also a little bit like a Dickens novel, with all the poverty and outlandish plot twists. The actors do a great job with their parts (Anil Kapoor as the condescending host of the show is great to watch, and I think Irrfan Khan is the coolest guy ever). The movie has some great shots, and some really great chase scenes. A.R. Rahman scores the movie, and this is yet another plus for the film. Though cheesy at times, this movie has too much going for it not to see.
The official Slumdog Millionaire web site.
[2] Movies
29 December 2008, early morning
My friends and I watched JCVD on Saturday night. The film is a fictional look at the life of Jean Claude Van Damme, and stars the actor playing himself. The story line jumps around a little bit, but the bulk of the film takes place during a hostage situation in which the cops think Van Damme has snapped and is robbing a post office. Van Damme is amazing in the film: I didn’t realize he could act. The film is really good and lived up to all the hype I had heard about it. It’s surprisingly avant-garde for a Van Damme flick, and a very interesting bit of cinema. I can’t say I’ve seen a film like it before. You should definitely watch this movie.
(This weekend was all about movies. I don’t remember the last time I watched so many in such a short period of time. I also watched Bottle Rockets and the first half of Chungking Express.)
The official JCVD web site.
Movies
29 December 2008, early morning
I watched Taken with my brother and his friends late Friday night. Taken was ridiculous in both good and bad ways, but mostly good. The film stars Liam Nielson as a bad-ass retired special-ops type guy — this is good. His daughter who runs really funny goes to Paris with her friend and the two of them are kidnapped. His daughter is played by Shanon from Lost, who can’t play a 17 year old to save her life — this is bad. Famke Janssen plays his ex-wife — oh hells yes. Nielson needs to go track his daughter down, killing and maiming all the human traffickers, their accomplices, and really anyone else who is slightly uncooperative — all kinds of good. So while the general plot line is a bit silly, Taken is well worth watching for all the ass kicking.
The official Taken web site.
Movies
29 December 2008, early morning
Wall-E was great. I’m sure you have all read review telling you as much. I think it is by far Pixar’s best movie. The movie is about a robot cleaning up waste in a post-garbage-driven-apocalypse. He meets (and falls in love with) a robot sent in a probe who is looking for signs of life on the planet. The film was surprisingly human and touching for a (computer) animated movie. The fact that they manage to convey so much emotion with so little dialogue is really quite amazing. I could gush about this film for ages.
The official Wall-E web site.
[1] Movies
15 December 2008, early evening
I watched Cloverfield Saturday morning. The movie is a sort of modern day Godzilla flick, but set in New York. It’s filmed in a style similar to the Blair Witch Project. The premise is that you are watching a tape obtained in the aftermath of this event. The movie starts at a fellows going away party, and quickly picks up pace as the alien attacks and a small group of friends race off to try and rescue a friend (and love interest). I though it was a pretty good film, though reviews for the movie were very mixed The production values are high and it’s very well choreographed. Some people will probably complain about how little about the monster is fleshed out. I don’t think this detracts from the movie. I actually want to watch it again to see what I missed the first time through, the film is so hectic at times.
The Cloverfield official web site.
Movies
27 November 2008, early morning
I watched James Bond last night with Dave, Sarah, and Limin. It was a thoroughly enjoyable film, so I really have no idea what all the mixed reviews are about. If you enjoyed the first film, I don’t see why you wouldn’t enjoy the second. The movie takes place more or less immediately after the first film. In this movie, Bond is trying to figure out what shadowy organization his former lover was indebted to, and trying to track down her killers. Bond kills a crap load of people, has some sex, and blows a bunch of shit up. If that’s wrong, I don’t want to be right. Seriously, this movie was good. Ignore all the haterade.
The official James Bond web site.
[5] Movies
29 October 2008, early morning
Shima and I watched a bunch of films during our holiday. At some point I thought i’d write a little blurb about them all, but so far, that hasn’t happened yet. One film we saw definitely does deserve some mention, because it doesn’t look like it’s going to get released here in Canada. On the plane ride to Sydney Shima and I watched Caramel, a Lebanese film about a women. There are basically 5 stories in the film, all playing out at the same time: one woman is having an affair, one is getting married but isn’t a virgin, one is having trouble dealing with her age, one is dealing with her sexuality, and one is trying to live her life while caring for her crazy sister. It’s all really well done. The lead actress in the film is also incredibly hot, which is a nice bonus. The films name comes from the fact that in Lebanon they use caramel in salons to wax legs (and wherever else).
The film’s trailer is online. More reviews of the film at Metacritic.
Movies
16 September 2008, early morning
The last film I watched at the Film Festival was the Thai film Chocolate, by the director of Ong Bak. Chocolate is in a similar vein: light on plot, heavy on lots of crazy action. Unlike Tony Ja, the start of this film Jija Yanin didn’t have any prior martial arts experience. The director told the audience she trained for three years before making the film. I would say the martial arts is better in Ong Bak. That said, the action sequences in Chocolate are still really great, and reminded me of a Jackie Chan film. There are lots of crazy stunts. The last fight sequence on the side of a building was awesome. Judging by the out-takes shown at the end of the movie, if you see someone getting punched in the face during the film, they actually got punched in the face. People falling of buildings are probably falling off buildings. Thai “special effects” apparently aren’t effects. I guess that’s also part of the appeal. Chocolate was awesome.
I’ve been bitching about how stupid the TIFF audiences seem to be this year, but I do have to say that Midnight Madness audiences can’t be beat. The Midnight Madness program seems to attract people who are sincerely interested in the films they are seeing. I’m pretty sure a good chunk of the audience probably saw most if not all the films that screened during the week. You definitely need to check out Midnight Madness to enjoy a true TIFF experience.
Movies
13 September 2008, lunch time
The first film I watched at the film festival was Adela. It’s a quiet and slow look at the life of a 80 year old Filipino lady living in a shanty town dump site on the outskirts of Manila. The character who the film is named after, Adela, is played to perfection by Anita Linda, who is probably the Sophia Loren of the Philippines. (She’s 84 years old and travelled to Toronto to take part in the premier of the film. It was very sweet.) The movie itself was really good, although it’s a bit hard to watch. The director really wants you to feel the slow pace of Adela’s life, so while everything is hustling and bustling around her, we watch as she wanders around, waits for telephone calls, etc. Scenes play out longer than you would think they should & start without any characters at all in them; dialog is sparse; etc. The film is very well put together, but can be a challenge to actually watch. Still Anita Linda’s performance definitely makes the film well worth watching.
Movies
12 September 2008, early morning
I watched Three Monkeys with Carvill and Limin before watching Two-Legged Horse with Shima at the film festival . A rich man runs over someone in the middle of the night; his driver takes the fall for him, promised a big chunk of money when he gets out of prison. The movie is an examination of how this event effects the driver and his family — his wife and son. I quite liked the film. The movie gets particularly interesting when the father gets out of jail. The film seemed to be about the way we ignore obvious truths in our lives; how we leave things unsaid; etc. It’s shot beautifully: the cinematography was great. The 4 lead actors all give very nuanced performances. It’s a very quiet, subtle film. It would have been nice to have had the director around to ask him questions, but at our screening no one was there. The film was quite good, definitely worth watching if it makes it to DVD.
Movies
11 September 2008, early morning
The night before watching Treeless Mountain, Shima and I watched the Iranian film Two-Legged Horse at the film festival. The film is directed by Samira Makhmalbaf. (Her father is a very famous director in Iran, and she is certainly a good director in her own right.) The film is set in Afghanistan. A poor boy is hired to carry the son of a rich(er) man whose son has lost his legs to a landmine. The film is about the relationship between this boy who can’t walk, and his two-legged horse. The film is really an examination of human relationships — in particular of abusive relationships. The film gets very surreal very quickly. By the end of the movie you are watching a very strange film. It reminded me of Ashes of Time in the way it was edited. Within a single scene events may take place out of order. Some small scenes are repeated again and again. Both boys play their respective parts brilliantly — neither were professional actors. The casting must have been very difficult.
The Q&A following this film was a disaster. People were very upset after watching the film. I think that may actually be a sign the film was successful. I don’t know what it is about TIFF that seems to attract the ignorant and affluent, but the questions that were asked at this screening were ridiculous — opening with a comment on how stupid and horrible a depiction of Afghanistan was in the film, and ending with a query on whether Afghanistan was actually like this. (Hint: you aren’t watching a documentary.) Her answer to both questions was similar: “The movie is not about Afghanistan. I would have made the film in Iran if they let me.” Makhmalbaf handled herself very well, considering much of the audience was so confrontational.
Two-Legged Horse was a challenging film to watch, but it’s certainly a very good film. Shima is convinced it is typical Iranian fare, but I think it is particularly odd.
[1] Movies
