Following recent trends, Meryl Streep won an Academy Award for a convincing portrayal of a recent historical figure in a biopic that was enjoyed by many (following Sean Penn in Milk, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote and Jamie Foxx in Ray). Others portrayed dynamic characters and captivated audiences but Streep truly brought The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, to life. Looking back at a nearly forty year political career while suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Streep (and Jim Broadbent who played Denis Thatcher) soar to heights that the plain film is incapable of reaching.
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is the film that Steven Spielberg has always aspired to make. Combining 3-D and motion capture technology, the director actions action scenes which defy physical and leap from the screen in the realm of absurdity. The film cannot capture the audience’s imagination because it goes well beyond that; Tintin is action for the sake of action, innovative because it showcases scenes few had conceived before. Though many current films may follow the same mantra of “watch now, think later”, they cannot replicate Spielberg’s panache. For better or worse, the film entertains consistently throughout its concise 144 …
Monsieur Lazhar
After an elementary school teacher hangs herself in the classroom, a school is left shaken. The principal cannot find a substitute teacher to take over the assignment and the students are coping with their grief over the death of their popular teacher. Monsieur Lazhar, claiming to be a teacher from Algeria who is a permanent resident in Canada but cannot obtain a permanent job, arrives and is tasked with restoring some order to the class.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Part II
Remakes sometimes prove weak derivatives of the original film but The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo deserves to stand on equal footing as the Swedish original. The strengths of the original film – an enigmatic title character, dark themes and a cold setting which is not often portrayed on film – remain intact as do the weaknesses, such as the stilted plot and anti-climatic conclusion. The first chapter of the Millennium Trilogy is more suited to film, where it can be edited and altered to retain the audience’s interest, than a 631 page tome. Many films follow Akira Kurosawa’s model …
The Artist
An ode to silent films and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen, The Artist could easily become camp yet manages to rise above the novelty of black and white scenes, dialogue replaced by caption cards and a 4:3 aspect ratio. The film succeeds because it preserves the magic of Hollywood, not the techniques of 1920s filmmaking. Ultimately, the purpose of films is to entertain; silent films became obsolete when viewers wanted to see “talkies” and black and white films were replaced when colour was demanded. The Artist aspires to entertain the audience with a simple and charming story and …
Carnage
Carnage, based on the play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, is a brief but charming comedic film. Much like Reza’s other Tony award winning play ‘Art’, it features a group of people who come together for a seemingly innocuous reason only to slowly annoy, provoke and antagonize each other. Instead of three friends coming together to view an all-white painting, Carnage describes how two set of parents meet after their sons get into a fight at a nearby playground. Penelope and Michael Longstreet – played by Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly – host Nancy and Alan Cowan – …
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The problems with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows began with the poster prominently displayed outside the theatre, featuring the protagonist grasping a revolver. This is a misunderstanding that envelops the entire film, substituting explosions, MMA and cross-dressing for the thoughtful detective work of the novels. The film looks fantastic and brings Europe at the turn of the twentieth century to live but neglects to do likewise for the titular character. Unfortunately, the eccentricities of Sherlock Holmes are exaggerated far too much by Robert Downey and he is made to be a comedic figure. While Arthur Conan Doyle created a …
Margin Call
More than one audience member felt that the reason Margin Call seemed so depressing was that the events depict on-screen actually occurred, a small group of traders leaving the economies of the world to deal with their reckless actions. Like the real word, the film a large financial firm is populated by a myriad of people some who are very well-paid and do very little and others who are very effective but wield little influence. Margin Call recounts a thirty-six hours period when a risk management analyst realizes the precarious position that the heavily-leveraged firm has created for itself and …
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
This past weekend, two films opened that allowed views to choose between their amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Those who wanted to react could watch Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and relish the ceaseless action and those who wished to reflect could screen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and revisit the intrigue of the Cold War. There is nothing wrong with explosions and fisticuffs but I wanted conspiracies and mysteries so I chose the latter. I was happy with my choice but others in the theatre were not, believing that there was not sufficient violence for their liking. Based on the 1974 novel …
Shame
Shame exemplifies a recent trend in cinema to portray an emotion – or a moment in time – rather than a narrative or a story. Dialogue and plot development may be minimum but the audience is shown a realistic and intense exposé about the effects of addiction on individuals and relationships. There really is no moral, other than the message: “this is out there, it is what it is and we need to be aware of it and deal with it.” Michael Fassbender stars Brandon, initially a seemingly successful executive whose life gradually comes apart after his sister Sissy, played …
Of Gods and Men
Trappist monks who lived in the monastery of Tibhirine existed in harmony with Muslims in the mountains of Algeria until a civil war erupted in the 1990s. Seven monks were captured by the Armed Islamic Group and were killed two months later, although the exact circumstances of their deaths remain unclear. Director Xavier Beauvois revisits the tragic events in his film, Of Gods and Men, chronicling how the monks debated whether or not to remain in North Africa amidst rising tensions between Christians and Muslims. The monks weigh the issue thoroughly, understanding that although they play no role in the …
The Interrupters
In many respects, The Interrupters showcases the dichotomy of documentary filmmaking: the execution of the film is flawed but the story is spellbinding. Shot over the course of a year, the documentary follows “Violence Interrupters” affiliated with the group Cease Fire as the roam the streets of Chicago’s most at-risk neighborhoods, mediating confrontations and diffusing dangerous situations. The group’s goal is two-fold: to reduce violence as much as possible because acts of violence beget violence and lobby to address some of the root causes of which violence is a symptom. The group is founded by a doctor named Gary Slutkin …
Moneyball
Salary caps and sabermetrics do not seem suited for the silver screen but Moneyball entertained an audience for a couple of hours and recounted a reasonably true story. After star free agents Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen, Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane enters the 2001 off-season wondering how to win an unfair game. For two years, the Athletics had made the playoffs but lost to the New York Yankees, a team with almost four times the financial resources. Unlike Michael Lewis’ book – which accurately describes the Oakland front office and the philosophy which had been in …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part V: Into the Abyss
Werner Herzog returns to the Toronto film scene with Into the Abyss, another existential work strangely similar yet totally unlike his last documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams. The documentary is both a rumination on the meaning of life and a true crime story, a version of In Cold Blood for the twenty-first century. Herzog recounts a triple-homicide in Conroe, Texas in 2001 when Michael James Perry and Jason Burkett killed three people in order to steal a Camaro. Interviewing friends and family of the victims and perpetrators, Into the Abyss exposes the audience to lives impacted by poverty and marred …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part IV: Carré Blanc
A dystopian vision of office life in the future, Carré blanc is combination of George Orwell’s 1984 and Delicatessen. Jean-Baptiste Léonetti spent nearly five years putting together his stark film that combines ubiquitous corporations, sycophant co-workers and greed. The planet resources have been consumed and world is controlled by a single-minded company which seems to be a combination of Apple and Starbucks. Humanity faces a paradox: the population is plummeting but people are most valued as food. Philippe is a mid-level manager who is charged with performance evaluation, delivering tests which vary from sadistic to absurd to his colleagues. Earlier …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part III: The Kid with a Bike
The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au vélo) tells the story of Cyril, a child who is struggling with the realization that his father does not want to take care of him. Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the film focuses more on the young protagonist rather than a storyline. Cyril experiences some difficult times but the film progresses based on how he reacts to the events rather than the events itself. At first he is angry, in a state of denial about his father’s abandonment, later struggling to fit in and find a father figure and later accepting …