Category Archives: Drama

Who am I – No System is Safe – Baran bo Odar, Director

Adventure, Drama, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

Sadly this movie will not likely show up in Toronto in the near future except maybe at the TIFF Lightbox. It is an all-German film about a group of computer hackers who start out having fun by hacking into right wing political parties and other obnoxious groups but got challenged to do more in order to be recognized by the hacker community. They started to take on bigger and bigger challenges until they go too far. The consequences are likely to land them all in jail but they manage to come out of it although how that happens is a very fun ride with at least two twists to the ending that leave you reeling. A fast paced ride that does not disappoint. If you can see this movie do so. It reminded me of The Usual Suspects and other classics of the genre.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/contemporary-world-cinema/who-am-i-no-system-is-safe

The Theory of Everything – James Marsh, Director

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

This was so far the best film I have seen this week and it is without doubt a likely contender for best picture of the year in any awards ceremony you can think of. The star Eddie Redmayne portrays Stephen Hawking from his early days at Cambridge to his diagnosis of ALS and his subsequent life up to the publication of A Brief History of Time. He is simply brilliant and will certainly claim an Oscar nomination if not the prize and his co-star Felicity Jones also turns in a great performance. The cast, the script, the music, the acting, the cinematography and the subject (Hawking) are without many equals. I can highly recommend this film to everyone. Simply superb. We saw the full cast at a Q and A after the film and they were eloquent and interesting particularly Eddie Redmayne.

Here are a couple of pictures outside the theatre as the stars arrive and the buzz inside the Princess of Wales theatre:

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/theory-of-everything

The Riot Club – Lone Scherfig, Director

Drama, Good, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

Today the theme was British Universities. First the Riot Club – a film about the British upper class at Oxford. The premise of the film is a secret but very exclusive club (only 10 members) committed to debauchery. The film has elements of the ultra-violence of A Clockwork Orange and a contemporary condemnation of the one percenters. Those who are moneyed and arrogant and totally without ethical foundation. The film happens almost entirely in a rural pub where the newly initiated members of the club are to be feted with drugs, alcohol and sex. The evening goes terribly wrong and the outcome is the lesson to be learned. It is not a pretty film and has little redeeming to say about this part of British society or of the top 1 percent of our society. I found it disturbing and unpleasant and not particularly insightful although my reaction was not universal. It is certainly not easily forgotten but I would personally not recommend it to anyone so if you are tempted by the information provided below I warned you.

http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/galapresentations/the-riot-club

The Drop – Michael Roskam, Director

Adventure, Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

This is an excellent thriller starring Tom Hardy as a bartender working a bar used as a money drop by Chechen gangsters. The film also stars James Gandolfino in what is likely his final film release. The story and script are by Dennis Lehane. We got to see the Director and the full cast for a Q and A after the film as well. It is a dark story with a tension that builds slowly and inevitably to what should be an expected but nonetheless surprising climax. Again, like The Judge, there is strong cast all making a contribution to a tight well written script. If you are a dog lover there is a subplot in this movie that will warm your heart. The movie will come out this fall and Hardy has to be considered for award nominations and Lehane for screenplay. Highly recommended.

Go here for the film description and trailer: http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/specialpresentations/the-drop

The Judge – David Dobkin, Director

Drama, Good, TIFF 2014, Uncategorized

It was great to have a chance to see this year’s opening gala presentation of The Judge, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall and a stellar supporting cast. It tells the story of a hotshot criminal lawyer (Downey) who returns to his small rural home town where he finds himself defending his estranged father (Duvall), a local judge, against a murder charge. The film is being touted as going back to the way films used to be, an honest drama where who is good and who is bad is never really clear. We need to be honest about this movie. It’s really a very Hollywood movie with mega stars and excellent cinematography but the story is not particularly strong and it has but a tear jerky happy ending. That said, the acting is stunning. Duvall and Downey drive each other to ever higher heights and the supporting cast is brilliant. There are some great scenes, my favourite being one in which the jury selection is done, and will be well worth your money when it is released this fall. Also there is little doubt that there will be some Oscar nominations coming for this cast. Go here for the official description and to see a trailer: http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/galapresentations/the-judge

The Wind Rises – Director, Hayao Miyazaki

Animation, Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

This was my last film of the week and was one of the best. For those who may not know him, Miyazaki is the founder of Japan’s best animation studio — Ghibli Studios. He and his studio have created some of the most beautiful animated films of recent years including Ponyo, Spirited Away (Academy Award winner), From Up on Poppy Hill, and The Secret World of Arrietty (based on the Borrowers stories). Many of these films are oriented toward children but the stories are so sophisticated and the films so beautiful to look at that they attract audiences of all ages. This film is aimed an adult audience and tells the compelling story of the man who designed one of the world’s most successful planes – the Zero fighter plane used by the Japanese in World War II. The plane was revolutionary in design and changed aeronautical engineering forever. The movie however focusses on the man and his life and despite the focus of his career the film has a major pacifist message while acknowledging the brilliance of Jiro Horikoshi the engineer. It is also a charming but tragic love story and explores the tension of love and career in time of war. From what I can find out it will be given limited release in the US to allow for Academy Award recognition and full release in early 2014. I recommend it to everyone and in the meantime if you have not already become a Ghibli/Miyazaki fan be sure to look at the other films listed above.

Prisoners – Director, Denis Villeneuve

Drama, Meh!, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

Second and final film of the day was Prisoners from Canadian director Denis Villeneuve who is perhaps best known for Incendies which was nominated for an Oscar as Best Foreign Language Film and Polytechnique, a dramatization of the 1989 massacre of female engineering students in Montreal. This time he is working in English with a couple of major acting names: Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman and Paul Dano and making a very Hollywood thriller about a psychopath and two missing girls. Jackman plays the father of one of the girls and is a bit of a survivalist who decides to take a vigilante approach to the hunt for the perpetrator. Gyllenhaal plays the cop who takes the more measured approach, at least at first. Dano plays a really creepy guy who is a suspect but not the real villain. Dano also plays a totally creepy guy in 12 Years a Slave. He seemed typecast at the festival this year. So what did I think? Its okay, Gyllenhaal is very good as the cop but I was less impressed with the rest of the cast including Jackman who, as the vigilante, refused to use his Wolverine powers!! The movie is also way too long at 150 minutes and the tension is hard to maintain. I was also a little bit irritated that the director did not show up for the only showing of this film. Clearly this was a bit of a ruse to get some buzz going before the release. It’s okay I guess and if you like the lead actors and can stomach little girls being kidnapped by nasty homicidal maniacs well this is definitely your fare. Myself? Meh.

Bethlehem – Director, Yuval Adler Omar – Director, Hany Abu-Assad

Drama, Loved it, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

Sometimes when you go to TIFF in a serious way you encounter unique experiences. That happened on Wednesday for me when I attended the last two Middle Eastern films of my week’s schedule. Both films deal with Palestinian collaborators and their Israeli contacts. One, Omar, is directed by a Palestinian and the other, Bethlehem, is directed by an Israeli. Despite being filmed completely separately from one another and by different sides of the West Bank occupation, the stories are stunningly similar. Neither film tries to paint one side or the other as either good nor evil. Omar portrays the Israeli’s as more ruthless to some extent but what one sees in both films is both sides caught in a situation in which they are trapped with no way out. Both sides are depicted with the understanding that comes from living the reality of the struggle over Palestine. The acting in both films is superb often with amateur actors and both draw in your sympathy for all the characters on both sides. The action and tension keep you on the edge of your seat until the final predictable but brutal endings. I do not want to spoil the films for you so I will not tell you how they end except at the climactic moment (the same in both films) they both go to black and run the credits leaving you gasping. Needless to say these are not “fun” movies but very very good and I will be disappointed not to see them nominated for awards and winners of many. I think to understand what you read every day about the Middle East it is very important to see these movies along with Palestine Stereo (previously reviewed). Also needless to say – Night Moves which was described as an excellent thriller is really more a FWP (first world problem) kind of movie (Hollywood sometimes just doesn’t get it) and is boring and irrelevant in the face of these two films. (well to be honest it was boring all on its own) What a great day at the movies I had.

Ladder to Damascus – Director, Mohamad Malas

Drama, Meh!, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

Second film of the day and the last of the day. To be honest I did not make to the end of this one. I chose this film because of the description which noted that it had been made in Damascus during the current insurrection and was about living with that reality. I have chosen a few movies this year about the Middle East and this fit that pattern as well. I wanted to learn about how film directors from that region looked on their current lives and state of affairs and what messages they might have for us all. This film at least depicts the lives of ordinary people trying to live their lives in a perpetual war zone. The violence is never far away but the film focuses on other themes somewhat to the detriment of what I wanted to learn. So a bit disappointing for me but that may very well be my own fault. If you understand Arabic and enjoy films from this region go for it but otherwise… well go see Palestine Stereo instead.

Mandella: Long Walk to Freedom – Director, Justin Chadwick

Drama, Oscar Stuff, TIFF 2013, Uncategorized

I am a huge fan of Idris Elba for his spectacular roles as the drug dealing Stringer Bell in The Wire and as the London detective Luther. He goes it one better here in his portrayal of Nelson Mandella in this film based on Mandella’s autobiography. It is an epic in the real sense of the word and despite being two and a half hours long and holding your attention for the entire time, it still is only a glimpse into a fantastically complex story and an amazing human being. We are looking here at another Oscar nominee for Best Actor and Best Picture without a doubt. The story is told in a most compelling manner and Elba is brilliant as he ages from a man in his 30’s at the start of the film until he is in his 70’s and winning the first fully free election in South Africa’s history. At the end I had learned much but was left wanting to know more about the conflict he stopped, about de Klerk the white president who opened the door that let Mandella step up, about Winnie Mandella and her very opposite approach to the struggle of her people and about the people themselves. So rich is this film that it leaves you satiated but somehow still wanting much more. Can’t say too much more about this – make sure you take time to see this movie.