![]() |
Director Igor Drljača attends the Canadian Screen Awards. |
5/31/2016
Not a Sad Clown Story: Igor Drljača Talks 'The Waiting Room'
Labels:
Canadian Film,
Igor Drljača,
interviews,
The Waiting Room
5/28/2016
Quick-Whitted
Love & Friendship
(Ireland/France/Netherlands, 92
min.)
Written and directed by Whit
Stillman
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë
Sevigny, Morfydd Clark, Xavier Samuel, Tom Bennett, Lochlann O’Mearáin
![]() |
Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale) in Whit Stillman's Jane Austen adaptation Love & Friendship. Photo by Bernard Walsh, Blinder Films. |
Jane Austen gets a quick-witted
counterpart in Love & Friendship.
This film marks the first page-to-screen adventure by Whit Stillman, the
writer/director of hip New Yorker indies like Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco, and Damsels in Distress, and the world of lady Jane is a perfect fit
for Stillman. Love & Marriage
seamlessly transports a comedy of manners over two centuries after its original
author put paper to pen thanks to the sharpness and contemporary sensibility of
Whit’s wit. Love & Friendship
might be Stillman’s first adaptation, but it’s one of his best and most
original works.
5/27/2016
'Mr. Right' Puts Happily-Ever-After in the Crosshairs
Mr. Right
(USA, 90 min.)
Dir. Paco Cabezas, Writ. Max Landis
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Tim Roth, James
Ransone, RZA
Trips through the dating world
often bring a little baggage. Maybe a prospective mate has some weird habits,
like eating tin foil or couch cushion stuffing, or perhaps someone seems like
the perfect match until he or she pulls out a bunch of kids that one just isn’t
ready to raise. Alternatively, maybe, like Martha (Anna Kendrick) experiences
when she finds Mr. Right, her perfect man kills people for a living. That’s
some awfully big baggage, but Martha, in typically endearing Anna Kendrick
fashion, brushes off Mr. Right’s blood-spattered shortcoming with a hop, skip,
and a shrug.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Anna Kendrick,
Mr. Right,
Sam Rockwell
'Revenge' is a Dish that Leaves Cold
Revenge (Hevn)
(Norway/Canada, 100 min.)
Dir. Kjersti Steinsbø; Writ. Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Kjersti
Steinsbø
Starring: Siren Jørgensen, Frode Winther, Maria Bock, Anders
Baasmo Christensen, Tron Espen Seim, Helene Bergsholm, Kine Botheim Jentoft
If revenge is a dish best served cold, then one can hardly
find a better match for icy chefs than a Canuck and a Nordic. Revenge, a rare co-production between
Canada and Norway, chills with steely tenacity as it makes an idyllic Norwegian
getaway a haven for past crimes. Siren Jørgensen stars as in a eerily detached
performance as Rebekka, a woman who travels to the fjords of Norway under the
false pretense that she is a travel writing aiming to profile a quaint little
hotel in a picturesque, but sleepy, little town. In the vein of recent
cold-blooded Scandinavian thrillers like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, though, Revenge
is a tale of men who hate women as this thriller builds a complicated rape
culture parable that nips, but leaves cold.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Canadian Film
5/26/2016
Canada at Cannes: 'Oh What a Wonderful Feeling' Review
Oh What a Wonderful Feeling
(Canada, 16 min.)
Written and directed by François Jaros
Starring: Karelle Tremblay, Frédérike Bédard, Catherine
Hughes, Tania Kontoyanni, Ellen David, Patrice Beauchesne, Louis Negin
Oh, what a wonderful feeling it is to experience an exciting
new Canadian director. Quebecois filmmaker François Jaros already has a steady
list of accomplishments in his career with back to back Jutra Gala
Cinema awards for the shorts Life’s a
Bitch (2014) and Maurice (2015), but
it’s nice to discover his work following its breakout on the international
scene. Jaros’s new Cannes debut Oh What a
Wonderful Feeling is a dark, allusive, and playfully demonic work of art.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Canadian Film,
Cannes,
Shorts
5/22/2016
The Tiger Roars
Dheepan
(France,
115 min.)
Dir.
Jacques Audiard, Writ. Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Noé Debré
Starring: Antonythasan Jesuthasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan,
Claudine Vinasithamby
![]() |
Jesuthasan Antonythasan (Dheepan) behind the car in Jaques Audiard’s Dheepan. Courtesy of Paul Arnaud. |
Dheepan finally hits theatres a year after its mildly
controversial win of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The hubbub
around Dheepan wasn’t one of sex, violence, or politics about its tale of
migration and Tamil Tigers, but rather one of merit. Did this new film from
Jacques Audiard really deserve the prize over hotly tipped critical favourite Sonof Saul, people asked.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Cannes,
Dheepan
Canada at Cannes: Xavier Dolan Wins Grand Prix
Well, here's a surprise! Canadian wunderkind Xavier Dolan wasn't this year Palme d'Or winner, but his trophy shelf got a Cannes upgrade. Dolan's It's Only the End of the World the the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The prize, essentially the festival's runner-up honours, are upgrade from the Jury Prize he received for 2014's Mommy. Coming in second was an impressive feat for a film that was largely expected to go home empty handed. The big winner was Ken Loach, who earned his second Palme after 2006's The Wind that Shakes the Barley, for I, Daniel Blake.
5/20/2016
'The People Garden' Needs a Good Tilling
The People Garden
(Canada/Japan, 80 min.)
Written and directed by Nadia Litz
Starring: Dree Hemingway, Pamela Anderson, François Arnaud,
James Le Gros, Jai West, Geneviève Brouillette, Liane Balaban
The People Garden
gets lost in the woods as young wanderer Sweetpea (Dree Hemingway, While We’re Young) paces circles around
her own fate. This second feature by Nadia Litz (Hotel Congress, plus the great short How to Rid Your Lover of a Negative Emotion Caused By You!) never
quite finds its full potential as a convoluted path and a drab lead bring it to
a dead end. The People Garden needs a
good tilling.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Canadian Film,
People Garden
Suzanne Clément Toasts 'L'chaim!'
À la vie (To Life)
(France,
105 min.)
Dir.
Jean-Jacques Zilberman, Writ. Danièle D’Antoni, Jean-Jacques Zilberman
Starring: Julie Depardieu, Johanna Ter Steege, Suzanne Clément, Hippolyte Giradot
Suzanne Clément toasts l’chaim!
in the French post-war drama À la vie.
Clément plays Rose, an Auschwitz survivor who returns to France from Montreal
when her friend Hélène (Julie Depardieu) seeks out her friends from the camp. L’chaim, like À la vie, translates to the film’s English title To Life (although the film generally
goes by its French title here) and the Mommy
star/muse of the Xavier Dolan oeuvre is easily the life of this fine film about
friends repairing wounds left by World War II.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Suzanne Clement
5/18/2016
Canada at Cannes: First Reactions to Xavier Dolan's 'It's Only the End of the World' (Updated)
![]() |
Marion Cotillard and Xavier Dolan on the shoot of It's Only the End of the World. An eOne Films Release. |
Canada at Cannes: First Reactions to 'Two Lovers and a Bear'
![]() |
Photo courtesy of Max Films |
Labels:
Canadian Film,
Cannes,
Two Lovers and a Bear
5/17/2016
Blu-Ray Review: 'Jane Got a Gun'
Jane Got a Gun
(USA, 98 min.)
Dir. Gavin O’Connor, Writ. Brian Duffield and Anthony
Tambakis & Joel Edgerton
Starring: Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Ewan McGregor,
Noah Emmerich
Give a three-gun salute to Mandy Walker. The Aussie
cinematographer behind the lens of Baz Luhrmann’s Australia and John Curran’s Tracks
once again proves herself among the best camerapersons on the frontier. She’s
one sharp shooter.
5/16/2016
'Fire Song': A Tale of Love and Death
Fire Song
(Canada, 96 min.)
Written and directed by Adam Garnet Jones
Starring: Andrew Martin, Jennifer Podemski, Harley Legarde,
Mary Galloway
Fire Song bravely
tells a story of love and death within a tightly knit First Nations community.
The intimacy of the Anishnabe neighbourhood is essential here because each
death of Fire Song takes its toll,
while the close proximity of family and friends tightens this tale of forbidden
love in Northern Ontario. Fire Song
is one of the first Canadian films to offer two-spirited characters as Shane
(Andrew Martin) wrestles with his love for David (Harley Legarde) while keeping
up appearances as boyfriend to Tara (Mary Galloway). Tara’s a perfectly nice
girl, and she’s clearly head-over-heels for Shane, but her college-bound
boyfriend would much rather head to school in Toronto with his boyfriend, who
happens to be a rising star amongst the young residents in the eyes of the bandleaders.
Shane and David profess their love to one another long before Fire Song begins, but their fear of
sharing their love with others only adds to the complexity of life in their
small poverty-stricken community.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Canadian Film,
Fire Song
Canada at Cannes: First 'Mean Dreams' Reactions (Updated)
![]() |
Sophie Nélisse stars as Casey in Mean Dreams. Courtesy of Elevation Pictures. |
Labels:
Canadian Film,
Cannes,
Mean Dreams,
Nathan Morlando,
Sophie Nelisse
5/15/2016
Swinton and Guadagnino Make Waves Once Again
A Bigger Splash
(Italy/France, 124 min.)
Dir. Luca Guadagnino, Writ. David Kajganich
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias
Schoenaerts, Dakota Johnson
Tilda Swinton and Luca Guadagnino make waves once again. The
actor/director team of 2010’s scrumptious I am Love returns with the sizzling drama A
Bigger Splash. The film once again brings audiences to the sweltering
sexiness of Italy as Swinton stars as rocker Marianne Lane, who recuperates on
scenic Pantelleria Island following vocal cord surgery. Swinton is a near-silent
marvel here and she’s matched by a strong trio of actors as Ralph Fiennes,
Matthias Schoenaerts, and Dakota Johnson all craft deliciously complex
characters within this dark and atmospheric slice of Italian sexytime. Fun,
bubbly, and artfully debauched, A Bigger
Splash is one of the year’s better leaps for alternative indie fare.
5/13/2016
Canada at Cannes: New Stills from Kim Nguyen's 'Two Lovers and a Bear'
Kim Nguyen’s Two
Lovers and a Bear is one of several Canadian films hitting Cannes over the
next week. The director returns with his first drama since 2012’s Oscar nominee
War Witch. This Nunavut-shot film
star’s Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany
alongside Life’s Dane DeHaan and
Canuck icon Gordon Pinsent. Distributor Les Films Séville recently released a
whack of images before the film’s premiere at the Directors' Fortnight at the
Croisette. Stay tuned for more coverage of Two
Lovers and a Bear and other Canadian films at Cannes as Cinemablographer rounds-up news from the
world’s biggest film festival. Spoiler alert: unlike Vic + Flo, it seems as if these lovers actually see the bear.
Team Clooney/Roberts Hits the Money
Money Monster
(USA, 98
min.)
Dir. Jodie
Foster, Writ. Jamie Linden, Alan DiFiore, Jim Kouf
Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O’Connell
Gandhi's famous line says that an eye for an eye makes the whole
would blind. Money Monster, however,
argues the opposite theory. If a party in power does the little guy wrong, pop
him in the pupil to give him some perspective.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
George Clooney,
Jodie Foster,
Julia Roberts,
money monster
Trailer for Patricia Rozema's 'Into the Forest' Starring Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood
A trailer is out for Patricia Rozema's dystopian drama Into the Forest. Ellen Page and Evan Rachel Wood star in this stunning new film from the Canuck director. Forest sees Rozema adapt Jean Hegland's novel about two sisters who endure the elements when society collapses. The film opens in Canada June 3 from Elevation Pictures. I caught the film during its Canada's Top Ten run this January and am a big fan of Into the Forest. It's easily my favourite film among the Canadian releases this year, so it's one to catch if you can.
5/12/2016
'Rainbow Kid' Doesn't Find Gold
The Rainbow Kid
(Canada, 93 min.)
Written and directed by Kire Paputts
Starring: Dylan Harman, Julian Richings, Nicholas Campbell,
Krystal Hope Nausbaum
The Rainbow Kid is
one of those movies that a reviewer will really wants to get behind, but just
can’t. This festival film has admirable intentions. It hits theatres when the
demand for diverse stories is louder than ever, so dismissing it is an awkward
gamble, yet championing The Rainbow Kid
seems like an empty and lost cause. This drama about a young man with Down syndrome
ambitiously puts actors and characters with special needs front and centre in
the frame of their own story. However, the noble intentions of The Rainbow Kid don’t inherently make it
a good film. It’s a rambling, contrived jaunt down the Yellow Brick Road that
ultimately offers a pat on the head.
Labels:
2016 reviews,
Canadian Film
5/10/2016
Contest: Win 'Dirty Grandpa' on Blu-Ray!
The naughty hijinks of Dirty Grandpa gets a second wind as the irreverent Robert De Niro and Zac
Efron comedy hits Blu-ray and DVD on May 17 from VVS Films. Lucky
readers looking to tap that can win a copy of Dirty Grandpa on Blu-ray. Answer the trivia below for your chance
to win a copy!
Labels:
contest,
dirty grandpa,
Robert De Niro,
Zac Efron
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)