Category Archives: Good

Creed – Director, Ryan Coogler

Drama, Good, Loved it, Oscar 2016, Oscar Stuff, Uncategorized

Has it really been 40 years since the first Rocky movie? Creed is a homage to the Rocky series and is a remake in many ways of the original film only this time focussing on the rising career of Apollo Creed’s illegitimate son played by Michael B. Jordan. Coogler’s previous very well received film is called Fruitvale Station also starring Jordan. I have not seen the latter but will definitely hunt it down now. As for this film, I have to wonder how Jordan does not get a nomination or how Coogler (who is black) doesn’t get one either for directing. This is particularly bad when I look at the nominated films some of which simply do not measure up to this one. If it had been nominated it would have also gone some way toward addressing the whiteness of the Academy’s process.

It is clear why Stallone gets a nomination in the acting category. Although he is not known for great performances outside of the Rocky series he is actually really good in this film. I hope I am not being overly generous here and channeling my memories from 40 years ago but hey…I had a great time watching this movie and it took me back. So I think this counts as a really good movie and a tribute to the entire Rocky series. It has, and this is a warning, great boxing scenes and I know there are those who find this unpleasant and see it as barbaric. The latter may be true but that doesn’t take from the quality of this movie. Go see it if you can.

All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records – Director, Colin Hanks

Documentary, Good, Uncategorized

This documentary covers the 45 history of Tower Records, an international record retailing company that started modestly in Sacramento California and spread right around the world. From being one of the most successful retail companies in the world in 1999, they then filed for bankruptcy in 2006. A sudden and dramatic crash. The man who founded the company was Russ Solomon and he gathered around him in 1961 a variety of unusual people who liked the fact that employees could wear what they liked, let their hair grow, do drugs and charge them as a petty cash item and drink. They only had to show up for work in order to keep their jobs. He was however a great judge of people and gathered a group of people who loved music, were friendly and committed and in the end hard working in their own way. From a very humble beginning it grew to a mega corporation that really outgrew the skills and ability of its creator. The film and the archival footage of the stores reminded me of Sam the Record Man and Solomon reminded me totally of Sam Sniderman. Interestingly both companies closed within one year of each other. Sam’s started in the basement of Sniderman’s home in 1937 but opened its main store on Yonge street in 1961 the same year as Tower Records. The similarities suggest that Tower Records and Sam the Record Man were victims of the same forces and not really victims of the inability of the founders to adapt to a new reality. Nonetheless the similarities are stunning and the film is totally fun until the end when the corporatism just becomes boring and put me off as much as it did Russ Solomon. Nonetheless this is fun movie and worth your time particularly if you shopped for LP’s in the 60’s.

Cartel Land – Director, Matthew Heineman

Documentary, Good, Uncategorized

This is one of the 2016 Oscar nominated feature length documentaries. I recommend watching it either before or after you watch Sicario because it deals with the same topic only the real thing. The film follows two vigilante groups that are fighting the Mexican drug cartels. One is a US group of well armed men living in border towns in Arizona and the other is a group in central Mexico defending their homes and towns against the local drug gangs. The remoteness of the two areas has allowed the cartels to take over and the local populations have suffered as a result. Both areas are not adequately policed and so the citizens are on their own. Some decide to take on their own defence. The legal and moral issues that are looked at in Sicario are revealed here in stark reality. Both the cartels and the vigilantes are living in a lawless environment. While the vigilantes try to draw a distinction between themselves and those they are fighting the lines tend to blur. The moral compromising is illustrated with the occasional comments of a group of poor Mexican farmers who cook the crack cocaine and meth and grow the marijuana that the cartels sell. They are “philosophical” about it. Nothing will change and someone will do the job if they don’t. Its quite depressing to watch. A very good documentary but don’t take it from me. Rotten Tomatoes gives it 90% positive ratings and hey… it’s a Netflix production so easily available to everyone.

The Art of the Deal – Director, Ron Howard – I suppose

Comedy, Good, Uncategorized

There is a website called Funny or Die that creates comic and satiric films and has been doing so for years. These films are often on youtube but you can also go to their website. I have no idea how they are funded or how it all works but they just released this 50 minute film of Donald Trump starring Johnny Depp as Trump and including a number of film and TV stars in supporting roles including Ron Howard and Henry Winkler among many others. It is ostensibly based on the book The Art of the Deal by Trump himself. It is clearly very low budget and has both good and bad aspects but basically it’s a hoot. I recommend you watch it as you suffer the never ending US election process. Depp is brilliant and while this will never find its way to the Oscars it is worth some kind of award. Enjoy. Link attached.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/ad38087bac/donald-trump-art-of-the-deal-movie?_cc=__d___&_ccid=0c60aaac504a2f45

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – Director, Guy Ritchie

Adventure, Drama, Good, Great Trash, Uncategorized

 

 

Hmmm one of my favourite 60’s TV series and one of my favourite directors, what could go wrong? Well nothing much really except that this movie was not quite the quality I had hoped for. I guess I was hoping for a new Bond franchise and it just didn’t happen. This is not to say it is a bad movie by any means. The cast is great especially Armie Hammer as Ilya Kuryakin, and Hugh Grant as Waverly. Henry Cavill is good as Napoleon Solo but then I was never impressed with Robert Vaughan in the role and I think it’s the role’s fault more than the actor’s. Anyway everyone always like David McCallum the best, Right? Reviewers were all over the map on this one and I have to admit those who dumped on it had a point. Ritchie fails to recreate the atmosphere of the original TV series but lets face its been 50 years since McCallum and Vaughn created the roles, that audience is aging fast, and the Cold War is old news at least the one from the 60’s. The series needed a reboot to make it interesting to contemporary audiences but I fear that although it was fun to watch, it just didn’t quite cut it. The ending clearly sets up the possibility of a sequel with the two stars and hopefully Ritchie behind the camera but with the lack of critical success it will, I fear, not make it to a second romp in the Cold War. Still its fun and worth your time.

American Ultra – Director, Nima Nourizadeh

Adventure, Comedy, Good, Sci-Fi, Uncategorized

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was inspired to watch this movie because of Jesse Eisenberg and the premise plus a few online suggestions that it was one of the more underrated films of 2015. It had pretty terrible reviews on Rotten Tomaotes but nonetheless I was impressed despite the low rating. The movie is very strange and one is never sure whether to laugh or cry but mostly I laughed. It is incredibly violent but more in the style of Tarantino (though I would not put it in that category of quality) and tongue in cheek. So I would put this in the same category as Cop Car. It is interesting that the comments, unlike the reviews, on Rotten Tomatoes were almost universally positive and did not support the large number of negative critical reviews. There is no question that the critics misread their fans here. It’s no Oscar nominee but it is fun and deserving of more favourable opinion.

Eisenberg plays a young stoner who is living a pretty boring and uneventful life in small rural town. His girlfriend is clearly in love with him and he desperately wants to marry her and make her happy but his attempts to propose and take her away on a celebratory holiday are stymied by the fact that for some reason he just can’t leave town. Any time he tries he falls violently ill. Unbeknownst to him however he is the result of a secret CIA experiment to turn out the perfect secret agent and a highly trained killer. He has been brainwashed or at least brain wiped and has no memory of his role or his skills. Internal squabbles at CIA headquarters results in a decision to have him terminated as a failed experiment but the agent who trained him decides to save him and travels to the town to “wake him up”. The resulting chaos, confusion and copious bloodshed is the rest of the film. Again, like Cop Car, not the stuff of Tarantino or Coen Bros. but worth the 90 minutes of B movie thrills and fun.

Cop Car – Director, John Watts

Adventure, Drama, Good, Uncategorized

Gotta love Kevin Bacon. This may not be the best movie he has ever made but it is a lot of fun. Set in rural America, two 10-year-old boys out exploring in grassland find an abandoned police cruiser, unlocked, with the key in the ignition. Not able to resist they steal it and take off. Of course you wonder how an abandoned police cruiser would ever find its way to so remote a spot and with no police around and the film answers with a flashback to Kevin Bacon as the cop arriving, opening the trunk, and dragging a body out to be buried in an unmarked grave. He assumes of course that the car will not be disturbed but does not count on the kids. The balance of the film continues with Bacon, clearly a psychotic killer and cop, trying to retrieve his vehicle before the police department finds out about his way of dealing out justice.

Cop Car premiered at Sundance and so it is interesting that this movie was little noticed. To be fair, despite the violence and story line it is neither the stuff of Tarantino or the Coen Brothers but if you don’t pay too much attention to that you will have thrilling ride with a film that, as a NYT reviewer noted ” doesn’t ask much of you narratively or ethically.” A good comment.

My Internship in Canada – Director – Philippe Falardeau

Comedy, Good, TIFF 2015, Uncategorized

After seeing Black Mass we headed off to see this new Canadian satire. It was a relief. Light and funny and definitely to the point in its skewering of politics not only in Canada but in any democratic society. The issue the director wanted to address was the fact that politicians are not really free to vote their feelings or conscience on any issue. In parliamentary democracies particularly they vote the party line. The film speculates on the possibility of a politician actually having to make a free decision. The hero of the film is an independent member of parliament from a Quebec rural riding. He finds himself in the situation of being the deciding vote on whether or not Canada should send troops to a foreign war. He is aided in his situation by a young intern from Haiti who is there to learn about the political process. The result is a hilarious look at the political system we all suffer under. Although the story is entirely fictional (wink wink) there is a not too subtle portrayal of our Conservative PM, Quebec politics and the situation on which the film based really happened when Harper asked parliament to approve his latest military adventure. The twist is that the deciding vote rests with a poor independent MP who just wants to do what is best for his constituents.

Falardeau is a very good director responsible for one of my favourite movies of all time Monsieur Lazhar and several other critically acclaimed films. He was there along with the lead actor Patrick Huard. They were charming, funny, and totally engaged the audience. Among the things we learned in the Q and A was that the young Haitian actor Irduns Exantus who played the intern is not a professional actor and this role was his first ever in any kind of acting capacity. He was wonderful. Much of the cast extras – first nations people, truckers, average citizens etc were all locals from the region where the fictional riding existed. It made for a really natural and real portrayal of the situations in which politicians find themselves. Without going into specific scenes I cannot express the simple joy of watching this film unfold. Really enjoyable and out shortly so no excuses, support Canadian cinema, this great director and enjoy yourselves.

Black Mass – Director – Scott Cooper

Drama, Good, TIFF 2015, Uncategorized

I try not to see too many films that are scheduled for release during or just after TIFF but this was an exception this year. I really wanted to see if Johnny Depp could still act after a series of pretty light and silly stuff and it turns out he can. While I enjoyed Legend, my other gangster movie of the festival more it was not a log more. Depp can be an accomplished character actor and as Whitey Bulger the infamous Boston mobster he creates a truly scary role. There are several scenes where you cringe more in your seat than the poor victims on screen. The movie covers Bulger’s career as he rose to become the most notorious crime figure in Boston during the seventies and eighties. He is a totally local boy from South Boston or Southie as its residents call it. At the time of the film Southie is a rough and poor part of town that spawned street toughs and gangs and Bulger rose from that to push out the mafia and other competition to make a crime kingdom that lasted for 20 years. His brother played by Benedict Cumberbach chose the more legitimate route of politics becoming a senator and later chancellor of the University of Massachusetts. Bulger manages to corrupt FBI agents and uses them to help wipe out the competition from the mafia and other gangs. He himself was ruthless and violent and made sufficient numbers of enemies that he is eventually brought down. He himself escaped and hid out for 13 years before he was finally caught and convicted for his crimes.

I have not said too much about the overall quality of the film I suppose because the story is very compelling and that may say it all. It is well scripted, brilliantly acted by a stellar cast, and shot to evoke the darkness of the story. Well worth taking in but again be warned that the violence is sort of omnipresent and the suspense will kill you. Again reflecting on the Hitchcock film, Cooper does a great job of cranking up the suspense and releasing it in sometimes surprising ways. Great film so since it is already out – get out and see it.

Return of the Atom – Mika Taanila and Jussi Eerola

Documentary, Good, TIFF 2015, Uncategorized

I chose this movie, the only Finnish movie at the festival this year, mostly because of the topic. It’s a documentary about the 2002 decision to build a new nuclear reactor in a small town in Finland but also the first reactor to be built in Europe since the Chernobyl disaster which occurred in 1986. Since that time of course Germany had shut down all of its nuclear reactors and the fear of another Chernobyl has sent most Europeans down the wind, hydro or solar route to renewable energy sources. Not so in Finland which still generates something like 25 percent of its power from the atom. The building of the reactor has been plagued with delays and a project that was to be completed in 2005 is now scheduled to come online in 2018 at the earliest and has cost over runs that are 3 times the original estimates. All this plus the health concerns of course and the risk of melt downs, earthquakes etc. The film is too long and in Finnish with English subtitles. Sadly much of the story is lost unless you speak Finnish but it is still a very important story. It shows, not what one would expect: namely a town mobilizing to stop government imposing a dangerous new technology but Instead the story of a town oblivious to the dangers or the policy errors or else strongly in support of the economic boon it would bring. Only a handful of locals oppose the project and they are ostracized as cranks and trouble makers. The film makers take the side of the cranks but show inertia of the town in the face of government decisions and the resulting frustration and impotence of the small group in opposition.

The film is promoted as full of humour and presenting the clear lies and machinations of the corporations behind the plan and the dangers of public/private cooperation. However because of the language issues and I think cultural differences between Finland and really the rest of the world, most of the jokes were missed by the audience including myself and at the end there was no applause which is very unusual for a TIFF presentation. I think in part because the audience was not aware the film had actually come to an end until the credits started to roll. It was a very confusing story and presented in a way that did not engage the audience I fear. However, after lots of thought I was glad I had seen it and have thought more about the issues raised in the time since. The scariest thing is the acquiescence of the community to the imposition of the reactors (there are two already there and more are planned) as well as the decision to store the reactor waste nearby the town. It is really not so different from Alberta’s and Canada’s decision to allow the tar sands exploitation. The risks are not dissimilar and the lack of engagement of the communities is much the same. If we can’t wake ourselves up to these issues we are doomed. The humour of the film therefore is hard to react to because it is very black. You have to laugh or you end up crying with the cranks.