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12 Years a Slave |
12/29/2013
2013 in Review: The Top Ten Films of the Year
12/28/2013
'Cocaine and Hookers'
The Wolf of Wall
Street
(USA, 179 min.)
Dir. Martin Scorsese, Writ. Terence Winter
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Rob
Reiner, Kyle Chandler, Matthew McConaughey, Cristin Milioti, Jean Dujardin
The Wolf of Wall
Street thrusts Martin Scorsese balls deep into the squealing hog of
American capitalism. Scorsese doesn’t paint a pretty picture of the land of the
free and wealthy, but this adaptation of Jordan Belfort’s riotously
entertaining memoir is a gloriously debauched satire. Belfort is brought to
life by Leonardo DiCaprio, who gives one of his better performances as the sly
stockbroker steals from the rich and throws sexier parties than Jay Gatsby ever
dreamed of. The Belfort of Scorsese’s film grabs the green light by the balls
and makes the American Dream look like a Greek Tragedy. (Any film that begins
with its protagonist ingesting cocaine from a prostitute’s vagina is bound to
be a complete gong show.) The film should by all regards overdose on all of its
sinful behaviour, yet Scorsese and company mix a cocktail that is so bat-shit
crazy that it does the trick and stays remarkably lucid for all 179 minutes of
its rambunctious running time.
12/27/2013
Oscar Predictions: Round 4 - Boxing Week Match-ups
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12 Years a Slave |
12/23/2013
2013 in Review: The Best Performances of the Year
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August: Osage County |
12/20/2013
Contest: Win Passes to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum!
We have some free tickets to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum
up for grabs, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada, if you’re looking for
some fun stuff to do with friends and/or family over the holidays. (Passes offer free
admission for “up to 2 adults and 3 children.”) All you have to do to enter is
watch the space-themed short below and answer the following question:
Labels:
contests,
NFB,
Ottawa Arts
12/19/2013
2013 in Review: The Best Canadian Films of the Year
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Gabrielle |
This year might have been a quietly commendable year for
Canadian movies. The biggest names in Canadian film largely made films outside
the national borders: Denis Villeneuve with Prisoners,
Atom Egoyan with Devil’s Knot, and
Jean-Marc Vallée with Dallas Buyers Club,
for example. (And the bulk of attention garnered to Canadian cinema this year
probably—and rightfully—stemmed from the successful release of Stories We Tell in the USA.) This year
therefore allowed Canadian cinema to shine a light on unique talents and the
up-and-coming filmmakers. Films made an impression with their distinct voice
and style, rather than with their big names. It was an especially good year for
documentary, too, so the roaring success of Stories
We Tell might open the door for more doc discoveries on the international
scene for some of these great films.
My Picks for the Top Ten Canadian Films of 2013:
12/18/2013
Some Hustle to Escape
American Hustle
(USA, 138 min.)
Dir. David O. Russell, Writ. David O. Russell, Eric Singer
Starring: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper,
Jennifer Lawrence, Jeremy Renner, Robert De Niro.
The hair, the clothes, the cleavage, the cast, the con!
David O. Russell’s American Hustle
has finally landed and it’s as wild a ride as one could have hoped. The Silver Linings Playbook director offers
another solid ensemble piece that is easily one of the most enjoyable and
entertaining films of the year.
12/17/2013
Alexander Payne's America
Nebraska
(USA, 115 min.)
Dir. Alexander Payne, Writ. Bob Nelson
Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk,
Stacy Keach.
Nebraska is
another fine slice of Americana from Alexander Payne. The director of The Descendants, Sideways, and About Schmidt
returns with this finely-tuned character study of working-class America. Nebraska, Payne’s first feature for
which he is not credited as a writer (that credit goes to first time feature
film writer Bob Nelson), offers another of the director’s uncontrived and
down-to-earth ensemble pieces. It’s as funny and as heartfelt as anything Payne
has ever done.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Alexander Payne,
Bruce Dern,
Nebraska
12/16/2013
'12 Years a Slave' Leads Online Film Critics Society Awards
The Online Film Critics Society announced the winners for
their 17th annual awards today. The OFCS, of which I’m a member,
have the top honour to Steve McQueen’s 12
Years a Slave, which was the biggest winner overall with five awards. Gravity came second with four honours
including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón and a special award for Sound Design
and Visual Effects. The late Roger Ebert was also given a special award for
inspiring so many members of the OFCS. The group also released a list of the
Top Ten Films Without a U.S. Release.
The full list of winners is as follows
Labels:
12 Years a Slave,
Gravity,
OFCS
The Folksmen
Inside Llewyn Davis
(USA, 105
min.)
Written and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Justin
Timberlake, Garrett Hedlund, John Goodman.
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Oscar Isaac in Joel and Ethan Coens' Inside Llewyn Davis. Photo: Alison Rosa ©2012 Long Strange Trip LLC |
“Ah, if you make a living out of it, more power to you,”
says the boorish Roland (played by a riotously larger than life John Goodman)
when Llewyn Davis (a revelatory Oscar Isaac) explains his profession to be that
of a folk singer. Ornery folks like Roland might assume there isn’t much money
to be had in composing eclectic and arty ballads that have something to say,
but the beautiful music of Inside Llewyn
Davis proves that business is a boomin’ in the folk scene. Inside Llewyn Davis is the latest effort
from the brotherly filmmaking team of Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and it’s easily
one of their best. And they made Fargo
and No Country for Old Men. A man
making a living with folk music tells stories of common Americans with cadence
and candour, and the Coens have done exactly that. Inside Llewyn Davis is true folk.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Carey Mulligan,
cats,
Coen Bros,
Inside Llewyn Davis,
Osca Isaac
12/15/2013
2013 in Review: The Worst Films of the Year
It’s that time of year again where Cinemablographer looks back on the year in movies. It’s better to
get the bad news over and done with so we can concentrate on the good stuff.
2013 was a good year for movies, but it wasn’t a very good year for the
studios. While independents offered new and exciting films, the big players
mostly churned out remakes, sequels, and rehashes. A lot of them seemed so
tired and familiar that I just couldn’t be bothered to see them. Why see
another Wolverine movie when the last
one was so forgettable? Part 1 of The
Hobbit was three hours of my life that I’ll never get back, so why throw
away three more on Part 2? Do I really need to endure Carrie and the excruciating duck face of Chloë Moretz just to make a predictable “They’re all
gonna laugh at you!” joke? I’ve always been a believer that it’s more worth the
time of a movie reviewer to write about what makes a film great, rather than
what makes a film worth skipping, so I avoided many of the big stinkers. (And
I’ll admit that I didn’t think that critically reviled movies like The Lone Ranger and Now You See Me were anywhere as bad as people said they were.)
Nevertheless, 2013 dropped quite a few stink bombs to add a nasty whiff to film
festivals and art house theatres. Here are the ten films that had me choking on
buttery popcorn and praying for the end credits.
The Worst Films of 2013:
Stephen Frears should thank his lucky stars for Philomena. I was all but ready to write
off Mr. Frears after the unspeakably bad Lay
the Favourite offered frame upon frame of dead energy for ninety-odd
minutes. Not an inch of this film works and the cast that includes Bruce Willis
and Catherine-Zeta Jones hit some of the lowest points of their career as they
joined Frears on autopilot to collect a paycheck. Star Rebecca Hall should be
the most thankful of all that Lay the
Favourite was overlooked almost entirely, for her career could have gone
the way of Elizabeth Berkeley, as Lay the Favourite inadvertently realizes Showgirls' prophecy that we are all whores.
Labels:
Bruce Willis,
Heather Graham,
Ryan Gosling,
turkeys,
Year in Review
12/14/2013
'In the Most Delightful Way!'
Saving Mr. Banks
(USA/UK, 125 min.)
Dir. John Lee Hancock, Writ. Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Annie
Rose Buckley, Ruth Wilson, Paul Giamatti.
Fidelity might be the most well-trodden angle to approaching
adaptation, but it’s the most consistently intriguing way to look at the
journeys books take as they become films. Fidelity can be one of the most
salacious approaches, too, thanks to the risqué connotation of the word. Writers
can feel like cuckolds when moviemakers change their precious works, but such protests
might be in vain. An author might not have any right to be unhappy when a
screenwriter plays fast and loose with a book because, as André Bazin once
said, “he sold it, and thus is guilty of an act of prostitution that deprives
him of many of his privileges as the creator of the work.”
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Emma Thompson,
Saving Mr Banks,
Tom Hanks
12/13/2013
World Exchange Cinema Update: Bad News?
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Enjoy the whales on your last trip up the escalator at the World Exchange cinema |
There's been a disappointing development in the ongoing
campaign to save the movie theatre at the World Exchange Plaza in Ottawa. The
theatre, which is currently the last remaining multiplex in downtown Ottawa,
has been a point of discussion ever since Empire Theatres decided to pull out
of the movie business and left the theatre in limbo. Landmark Cinemas took over
the theatre (as they did the Empire 24 in Kanata) and expressed interest in continuing
their business at the World Exchange despite the fact that Empire’s lease was
up at the end of the year and that the landlord made it pretty clear that a
movie theatre wasn’t the WE’s ideal partner. New developments suggest that the theatre will indeed close at the end of the year.
The news comes from Marybeth in the Facebook group that was
started in support of a theatre at the World Exchange and has been running a
fine campaign to rally public support:
Hi folks. Just wanted to let you know that I have been informed that despite effort from both Landmark Cinemas and the landlord for the World Exchange Plaza, the parties are "unable to reach a mutually acceptable lease arrangement"… Given the time that has passed, this is not too surprising. The landlord will continue to look for a new tenant (which could include a theatre, though it is unlikely).
Labels:
Ottawa Arts
12/12/2013
Golden Globe Nominations
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Amy Adams in American Hustle |
I guess Captain Phillipps got a boost it needed, but The Butler isn't as strong as it was yesterday, as the film was shut out entirely. Even Oprah!!! That's a surprise. She was hosed. This Oscar season will be very interesting/strange if even Oprah isn't safe for that performance.
But bad surprises also mean for good surprises, since an out for an Oprah meant an in for Sally Hawkins, who really deserves some recognition for Blue Jasmine. (And I can't really complain, since Sally would be on the spot above Oprah on my ballot.) Other good nods include Greta Gerwig for Frances Ha, Kate Winslet in Labor Day (yay!) and Robert Redford for All is Lost (back in the game after the SAG snub). 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle lead the pack with 7 nominations each. These two films offer the only overlap with the SAG prize for Best Ensemble, as August: Osage County, Dallas Buyers Club, and The Butler all missed out on the top prize with the Globes. Throw in Gravity (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney never really had much of a chance for Best Ensemble) and maybe The Wolf of Wall Street, and you probably have your top four.
The nominees are:
Best Picture - Drama:
Rush12/11/2013
Reviews: 'Frozen', 'Get a Horse!', 'Drug War', 'Despicable Me 2'
Frozen
(USA, 108 min.)
Dir. Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee; Writ. Jennifer Lee, story:
Jennifer Lee, Christ Buck, Shane Morris
Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh
Gad, Santino Fontana
Frozen is a return
to form for Disney animation. It’s been a while since the magical kingdom of
the little black mouse produced an animated tale that harkens back to the
pre-Pixar days. Frozen still
showcases computer animation in all its three-dimensional glory, but this
wintery princess musical is old school Disney at its finest. Frozen is the Beauty and the Beast for this generation of moviegoers.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Animation,
Capsule reviews,
Frozen,
Shorts
SAG Nominations
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August: Osage County |
Oustanding Ensemble Cast:
12/10/2013
Brothers in Arms
Lone Survivor
(USA, 123 min.)
Written and directed by Peter Berg
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Emile Hirsch, Ben
Foster
Based on the failed mission “Operation Red Wings” which
tasked four members of SEAL Team 10 on June 28, 2005 to kill Taliban leader
Ahmad Shah, Lone Survivor is an
under-the-radar drama that could take audiences by surprise when it opens in
January. Awards prospects might not be the in the sights of this
late-in-the-game player, yet Lone
Survivor should provide solid drama and inspiration for those looking to
avoid both art-house award season fare and the annual glut of “January
releases”. This true-life story is a compelling and inspiring film, and a
sturdy effort from writer/director Peter Berg (Battleship, Friday Night
Lights).
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Lone Survivor,
Mark Wahlberg
Contest: Win Tickets to 'August: Osage County' in Ottawa, Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Halifax! (Contest Closed)
If you’ve been reading the pages of this here blog, you’ll
know that Cinemablographer.com is a
pretty big fan of the incomparable Meryl Streep. (And if you’re a new reader,
welcome!) Meryl has been earning rave reviews for her tour-de-force performance in the upcoming August: Osage County ever since the film premiered at TIFF this
fall.(You can read Cinemablographer’s
review for the film here.) Streep headlines a family of acting royalty in her
role as Violet Weston, the drug-addled, cancer-ridden, and acid-tongued matriarch
of a Southern family. Streep’s onscreen family is played by Julia Roberts, Ewan
McGregor, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Margo
Martindale, Dermot Mulroney, Julianne Nicholson, Sam Shepard, and Misty Upham
in what is surely the best ensemble cast you’ll see this year.
Labels:
August Osage County,
contests,
Meryl Streep
12/09/2013
'12 Years a Slave' Leads Online Film Critics Society Nominations
The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), of which I am a member, announced the nominations today for its 17th annual awards honouring the best in film. 12 Years a Slave leads the pack with eight nominations, while Her and Inside Llewyn Davis have six noms apiece. The winners will be announced Monday, December 16th.
Best Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Before Midnight
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Drug War
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Short Term 12
The Wind Rises
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Before Midnight
Blue Is the Warmest Color
Drug War
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Short Term 12
The Wind Rises
Oscars: Round 3 - Golden Globe and SAG Predictions
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The Wolf of Wall Street |
12/07/2013
Pittsburgh-Style 'Furnace' is both Overcooked and Undercooked
Out of the Furnace
(USA, 116 min.)
Dir. Scott Cooper, Writ. Brad Ingelsby, Scott Cooper
Starring: Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson,
Zoe Saldana, Sam Shepard, Willem Dafoe Forest Whitaker.
What a disappointment. Scott Cooper follows his terrific
2009 debut Crazy Heart, which won two
well-deserved Oscars for Best Actor (Jeff Bridges) and Best Song, with the
well-intentioned actors’ showpiece Out of
the Furnace. The only problem is that there doesn’t seem to be much point
to the film besides letting some talented actors let loose. Yes, Out of the Furnace is an intense drama
full of YELLING and ACTING, but filmgoers looking for fine character-driven
drama in the vein of Crazy Heart best
look elsewhere.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Christian Bale,
Woody Harrelson
12/06/2013
Contest: Win Tickets to 'American Hustle'! (Contest closed)
Some hustle for respect. Some hustle for love. Others hustle
for truth. But we all hustle to survive.
We also hustle for free tickets.
Win tickets to the Ottawa sneak peek of American Hustle, the new film from director David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter) starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence! (Click below for details.)
We also hustle for free tickets.
Win tickets to the Ottawa sneak peek of American Hustle, the new film from director David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter) starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams, and Jennifer Lawrence! (Click below for details.)
'Mandela' a Fine and Fitting Tribute
Mandela: Long Walk to
Freedom
(UK/South Africa, 139 min.)
Dir. Justin Chadwick, Writ. William Nicholson
Starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris
Thursday night’s Ottawa sneak peek of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom was preceded by a solemn moment of
silence. It was ironic bit of timing to see a biopic of an incomparable man on
the day of his death. However, it also seemed wholly fitting to let the show go
on, as those attending Mandela: Long Walk
to Freedom had a fine opportunity to learn about and reflect upon the
legacy of former South African President Nelson Mandela. One suspects that Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom might have
yielded an altogether different film experience had it screened on Wednesday,
but this dramatization of Mandela’s life offers a fine and fitting tribute to
one of the greatest and most revolutionary men to ever walk this earth.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Idris Elba. Naomie Harris,
Mandela
'Eat the Fish, Bitch!'
We have the "Eat the fish, bitch!" scene that had audiences roaring at TIFF this year. (Review here.)
Watch Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in all the angry, plate-smashing glory of this new clip from August: Osage County. (via Simply Streep)
Catfish is always on the menu at my family's annual "fish dinner" at Christmas. Stop by for some catfish Meryl!
Watch Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in all the angry, plate-smashing glory of this new clip from August: Osage County. (via Simply Streep)
Catfish is always on the menu at my family's annual "fish dinner" at Christmas. Stop by for some catfish Meryl!
Labels:
August Osage County,
Julia Roberts,
Meryl Streep
The Mad Prophet of the Movie House
Mourning has Broken
(Canada, 76 min.)
Written and directed by Brett Butler and Jason Butler
Starring: Robert Nolan
It starts like any other day for the unnamed husband, played
by Robert Nolan, in the Canadian indie darling Mourning has Broken. He wakes up and feeds the cat, Mignon (an
adorable scene-stealer), while his wife continues to sleep. It seems like the
start of a good day as the man prepares a fancy steak for the hungry kitty,
cooking it in butter and herbs like his grandma taught him, and creating an air
of joie de vivre by chatting to his
feline friend in Julia Child-ish faux-French flair.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Canadian Film
12/04/2013
'Catching Fire' Beats the Odds
The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire
(USA, 146 min.)
Dir. Francis Lawrence, Writ. Simon Beaufoy, Michael Arndt
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth,
Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam
Claflin, Jena Malone.
![]() |
Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Photo credit: Murray Close |
The odds weren’t in the favour of Catching Fire, but the second installment in the Hunger Game franchise is on par with
the original film. The Hunger Games has
even more street cred this time around now that Katniss (aka the consistently
amazing Jennifer Lawrence) is an Oscar winner and is joined by some equally
talented newcomers to the franchise like Jeffery Wright, Amanda Plummer, Jena
Malone, and Philip Seymour Hoffman. The added pedigree (of which the franchise already
had plenty) shows how this adaptation of the Suzanne Collins trilogy is in a
league above most other teen lit fare. Catching
Fire is, above all, solid and breathless entertainment, but it’s also a
smart allegory with its finger on the pulse of contemporary culture. Despite having to meet the very high
critical and commercial expectations set by the first film, Catching Fire holds its own.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
Catching Fire,
Hunger Games,
Jennifer Lawrence
It's Out There: TIFF Picks Canada's Top Ten of 2013
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Rhymes for Young Ghouls |
12/03/2013
Contest: Win Tickets to 'Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom' (Contest Closed)
Labels:
contests,
Idris Elba. Naomie Harris,
Mandela
Oscar's Documentary Shortlist
Awards Daily reports
the shortlist for the Oscar race for Best Documentary Feature. Stories We Tell is in the running, which
means that Sarah Polley is having a very good day after scooping the Best
Non-Fiction Film prize from the New York Film Critics Circle earlier today. Other
expected frontrunners still in the race are The
Act of Killing (which, unfortunately, I haven’t seen nor been able to get
my hands on a copy…), 20 Feet from
Stardom, and Blackfish. The
documentary shortlist is usually one of upsets and controversies, and has
traditionally been the place where acclaimed favourites come to die, but recent
revamps in screening and voting practices are bringing improvement. There’s no
significant omission in this list. I might have liked to have seen Muscle Shoals or Blood Brother and (especially) The
Ghosts in Our Machine, but it’s hard to argue with the choices on the list.
(Although Pussy Riot is a somewhat
dubious choice since it’s a crudely shot piece of reportage without much
penetrating analysis.) The only omission that really surprises me is Let the Fire Burn, since it's blood-boiling Oscar fodder... but its use of archival footage is nothing in the league of the formal play of truth and storytelling going in Stories We Tell. Best of luck to the selected docs!
The shortlist is as follows, with links to reviews:
Labels:
Documentary,
Oscars,
Stories We Tell,
Twenty Feet from Stardom
12/02/2013
Capsule Reviews: 'A Place at the Table', 'Kiss of the Damned', 'Monsters University'
More reports from the screener pile:
A Place at the Table
(USA, 84 min.)
Dir. Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush
![]() |
Jeff Bridges in A Place at the Table, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures. |
The people (re: Executive Producers) who brought you the
Oscar-nominated documentary Food, Inc.
have put America’s fraught diet on the menu once again, but it’s disappointing
to report that they’re serving a microwaved meal. The new doc explores the
growing percentage of America’s population that is going hungrier day by day. If
Food, Inc. offers a scathing and
thoroughly objective deconstruction of the unappetizing fact that it is cheaper
to eat poorly than it is to eat healthy in America, then A Place at the Table conveys a similar point only without the
flavour that had the taste buds of doc fans tingling on all sides of the
tongue.
12/01/2013
EUFF Review: 'God Loves Caviar'
God Loves Caviar (O
Theos agapaei to haviari)
(Greece/Russia, 101 min.)
Dir. Yannis Smaragdis, Writ. Yannis Smaragdis, Panagiotis Pashidis, Jackie
Pavlenko, Vladimir Valutskiy
Starring: Sebastian Koch, Evgeniy Stychkin, John Cleese, Catherine Deneuve
It was another packed night at the European Union Film
Festival on Saturday for the Ottawa premiere of Greece’s God Loves Caviar. The film ranks as one of the more high-profile
projects at the festival, since this historical picture is an epic
international co-production with some big name talents. Stars like John Cleese
and Catherine Deneuve are sure to help draw attention to this hit offering of Greek
cinema, and the large scale God Loves
Caviar is a worthy commercial pic to help advance the national cinema
alongside art house hits like Dogtooth.
Labels:
2013 reviews,
CFI,
EUFF
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