Tag: film review

Categories
Arts

Marvel walks a dark path with Logan

Latest superhero film featuring Wolverine is a worthy end to the story

Only a few moments into Logan, our protagonist is met with a confrontation. As the last installment to be included in the Wolverine saga, I felt the battle would be somewhat predictable. Perhaps the grizzled hero would swipe his claws across the villains’ chests or throw them around. What happened instead was surprising. Logan begins with a brutal and extremely violent fight sequence that is worthy of the film’s R rating. This battle sets the tone for the rest of the movie and reminds the audience that this is a dark movie, peppered with lighthearted moments to create strong contrast. In other words, Logan is a different Marvel movie.

The plot is not Logan’s strongest point—it essentially boils down to a ‘get from X to Y’ process. However, as is the case with many stories, it’s not so much about the destination but the journey itself. Loosely-based on the comic book series Old Man Logan, the film takes place in the future of the X-Men universe, when mutants have seemingly gone extinct. Logan, played by Hugh Jackman for the last time, is tasked with keeping a younger mutant, Laura (Dafne Keen), safe.

Along for the ride is series-veteran Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) who has deteriorated into a much weaker version of himself. Surprisingly, Professor X winds up providing the narrative with much needed-levity through his brash and vulgar interactions with Logan.

My biggest complaint, if any, is that the relationship between Logan and Laura felt underdeveloped. There are plenty of interactions between the two, all of which are performed excellently. However, by the time these interactions begin to feel truly meaningful, the film rushes to a close. Ultimately, the audience is left wanting more from an already lengthy film of two hours and 17 minutes.

Compared to other Marvel films, the action in this film is unparalleled. The fights are more akin to those in Deadpool, which focus strongly on brutality and gore. This works well with the darker tones of the story, and had me wincing and cringing as the beloved steel-clawed mutant hacked off limbs and impaled heads with his signature claws. This may point to Marvel’s acknowledgment of an older fanbase. With the success of Deadpool, it seems Marvel is willing to pursue the R-rating by tackling bloodier scenes and harsher themes such as mortality and aging.

In the end, Logan is a worthy send off for both the character and Hugh Jackman. All loose ends are tied up, and the conclusion is both satisfying and incredibly powerful. If there were to be a Marvel film to reinvigorate the now-tired superhero genre, this would absolutely be it.

4.5/5

Categories
Arts

The irrelevance of the best picture winner

Not winning a Best Picture at The Oscars is inconsequential in the long run

Last week’s Oscar ceremony proved to one of the most eventful in the Academy’s history. The night was a collection of great TV moments, including Auli’i Cravalho from Disney’s Moana being hit over the head by a backup dancer’s prop during her performance, and Denzel Washington marrying two tourists.

It was one of the rare award ceremonies that managed to keep my attention throughout its three-hour runtime. However, the broadcast ended abruptly after one of the greatest mistakes ever made at the Oscars: the wrong movie was called as the winner of Best Picture—the most prestigious honour in the cinematic industry.

The Best Picture winner is always one which creates friction and frustration amongst movie enthusiasts and the public. Often, more culturally-relevant films are snubbed, with the award going to a forgettable and generic film which will be forgotten in a couple of years, such as last year when Spotlight won instead of Mad Max: Fury Road. Several of the most popular and revered directors in cinematic history, such as Quentin Tarantino, Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick have never won a Best Picture award.

The Best Picture winner is selected by a voting system including all the members of the Academy, composed of over 6,000 individuals. The membership status is obtained by invitation or by winning an Academy Award. Therefore, any previous actor or director who won an Oscar during their career is eligible to vote for the Best Picture winner. Hence, the system can quickly become biased as the members can cast their votes for their friends and colleagues. Moreover, cinema is a subjective topic, making the result open for discussion and debate.

In order to win the Best Picture award, a film must be able to reach a larger audience, and must appeal to the majority of the Academy’s members. This explains how movies which tend to push the boundaries of cinema, or are targeted at a niche audience are not likely to win an award at the ceremony. Nicolas Winding Refn’s latest thriller, Neon Demon, whose cinematography mirrors La La Land’s in terms of precision and astonishing shots, did not get nominated for any category. A reason for this might be because it dealt with sensitive and shocking topics, such as cannibalism, pedophilia and necrophilia, therefore narrowing its mass appeal. There is also a tendency to avoid mainstream releases like superhero movies—they are often overlooked by the Academy’s members due to their escapist and sometimes childish nature.

Even though the mix-up which occurred during the announcement of this year’s Best Picture category was an entertaining moment, the outcome does not truly matter in the long term. Both Moonlight and La La Land were incredible films that equally deserved the award. But what makes a film stand the test of time is not necessarily the number of awards it brings in, but the impact it has on the collective consciousness of the audience.

Categories
Arts

A Cure for Wellness: Style over substance

Gore Verbinski’s latest horror film is nice to look at, but lacks interest

Gore Verbinski’s latest film, A Cure For Wellness, falls into the trap of focusing so much energy on making the film look pretty, that it’s not interesting.

The film was written by Justin Haythe and stars Dane DeHaan, Jason Isaacs and Mia Goth. It is set in a surreal “wellness centre” located in the remote Swiss Alps. Lockhart (DeHaan), an ambitious Wall Street broker and the epitome of the movie banker cliché, must leave his busy life in New York to retrieve his company’s CEO from this secluded location after receiving a strange letter from him.

As one would imagine, there is something amiss in this hospital, as all the patients seem to be under the influence of a mind-controlling substance. As the plot advances, weird and sometimes downright ridiculous situations unfold as our protagonist looks for his business partner and, consequently, a reason to leave this unsettling place.

The main issue with this film is its lack of effective pacing and editing. The movie drags for 150 minutes and the audience can feel every second of its runtime. Nothing happens for several scenes, and the biggest scares come from the perpetual nudity of the senior patients. Suspense-building music is used in a very frustrating manner. One scene uses a 30-second musical build-up to reveal a lipstick, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the sheer lack of competence from the film’s director.

Moreover, most of the film’s twists were revealed in its trailers, aside from one disturbing and unnecessary incestual subplot. There is little to no explanation for this awkward narrative device, which ends with the most unpleasant sex scene I’ve had to watch in recent memory. There is a feeling of hatred towards the viewer, and the director seems to be playing a sadistic game with his audience.

The only good aspect of the film is its artistic direction—the sets are interesting and showcase compelling visuals. Despite the loathing I have for this cinematic mess, I must recommend it for those who love poorly-executed and overly-pretentious vanity projects, as some scenes in this flick have to be experienced just for the sake of “it’s so bad it’s good” entertainment. I, on the other hand, prefer my viewing experience to be devoid of such sadomasochistic elements.

Categories
Arts

The Great Wall: Fictionalizing history

Chinese-Hollywood cinematic collaboration is biggest blockbuster yet

What if instead of protecting China against a Mongolian invasion, the Great Wall had actually been erected to protect against mythical creatures that devoured everything in their path?

That’s the premise of The Great Wall, director Zhang Yimou’s first English cinematic epic set in a mythical China. Written by Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro, the fantasy film stars Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Andy Lau and Pedro Pascal.

European mercenaries William (Damon) and Tovar (Pascal) find themselves embroiled in a clash between humans and monsters after stumbling upon the Great Wall in their search for gunpowder.

The wall is buzzing with activity, as thousands upon thousands of soldiers, their armor color-coded according to their branch, prepare for the biggest battle of their lives. The Chinese Nameless Order—the protectors of the wall—have had 60 years to prepare for the invasion of the Tao Tei—gluttonous green monsters with gaping maws that devour everything in their path. Not only are these monsters impossibly hungry, they are also intelligent and capable of learning. William and Tovar find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, on the eve of the greatest clash between humans and beings of myth.

This film is a typical action film, with a peppering of historical accuracy and a whole lot of creative interpretation. The visual elements of the film are one of its strongest attributes. It is exciting, eye-popping and masterfully conducted, complete with sweeping landscapes and fast-paced action sequences that draw the viewer in. An interesting aspect of the film is that it doesn’t present a case of whitewashing. Chinese roles are played by Asian actors, and white actors play the roles of European tradesmen. It is a cultural cross-over rather than a hijacking. In that regard, the film succeeds where others, such as Gods of Egypt, have failed.

This is not one of Damon’s best performances. His accent—whether it’s supposed to be British or Irish is hard to tell—ebbs and flows during the movie, as if he’s still trying to figure it out himself. He delivers a decent performance, yet his character seems much more demure and restrained than other roles he’s played in the past, such as Mars scientist extraordinaire Mark Watney in The Martian.

But maybe his lackluster performance isn’t a bad thing. Damon’s character is a hero and central figure in the story, but he is not the hero. Although he has a hand in helping end the invasion, he is not the white European man who single-handedly saves the day. His character acts more as an entry point for Westerners into the story.

Is The Great Wall great? No. Is it terrible? No. It strikes a chord somewhere in the middle. It is still a good film despite its shortcomings and lack of solid plot. It’s the type of movie you know not to have too high expectations for, so you can sit back and enjoy it.

Categories
Arts

The Founder: Looking at the rise of the golden arches

An insider’s look at the man behind McDonald’s and his swerving path to success

Starbucks, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s—have you ever wondered how these franchises made it to the top? How rich people made their money?

In The Founder, director John Lee Hancock looks at how McDonald’s became the worldwide phenomenon it is today, through the story of Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton). He is the man who was instrumental in building the hamburger empire.

The film, based on Kroc’s memoir, Grinding it Out, was written by Robert Siegel, and gives insider information about the making of one of the most successful companies the world has ever seen.

Keaton portrays Kroc in a sophisticated, yet honest manner—after all, the man was incredibly flawed. Kroc is an individual whose shortcomings are evident in his actions: he simply wouldn’t take no for an answer. His firm character became infamous and shattered his business partnerships. He was the type of man you would trust with your finances, but wouldn’t trust as a friend.

In some aspects, he was even more detestable than The Wolf of Wall Street’s Jordan Belfort. Kroc didn’t do drugs or host impressive parties. Rather, he had an incredible lack of empathy—more harmful than any addiction could have been. Though his morality was questionable, his enduring motivation can seem inspiring to anyone going through hardship.

The strength of the movie lies in its sense of realism. There are no antagonists or protagonists, just events that unfold and characters who react. The story of the creation of fast-food is fascinating—it has become omnipresent, and the film gives us a voyeuristic look at how it became so entrenched.

The Founder is a captivating film that portrays one of the most important business models in history. It tells the story as it is, including the backstabbing, the questionable business deals and the blurring of ethical lines.

Categories
Arts

Moonlight: A story of friendship, guilt and identity

Moonlight’s engaging coming-of-age story weaves notions of identity, sexuality and the fact that only you can decide who you want to be.

Directed by Barry Jenkins, the film has racked up eight Oscars nominations

Moonlight, a coming-of-age story of a young African-American growing up in inner-city Miami while coming to terms with his own sexuality, may not exactly seem universal at first. But its themes of identity, friendship, guilt and acceptance certainly are.

Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, the film stars Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Mahershala Ali, Alex R. Hibbert, André Holland, Naomie Harris and Janelle Monáe. Based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, the film has received universal acclaim and has been nominated for eight Oscars.

“At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you gonna be. Can’t let nobody make that decision for you.” This is the proverbial maxim in Jenkins’ modern masterpiece, Moonlight. The film chronicles its protagonist in three chapters of his life: the young “Little” (Hibbert), the adolescent “Chiron” (Sanders), and the adult “Black” (Rhodes).

Those simple words of wisdom are spoken early on in the film by Juan (Ali, in a career-defining role), a kindly, if not modest, local drug dealer who befriends the often bullied and neglected Little. In fact, his enlightening words arguably set into motion the often painful process of self-discovery that our young protagonist undergoes throughout the film.

Any lingering questions regarding the unlikely friendship between an older, genteel drug dealer and a quiet, reserved young boy are quickly made irrelevant in large part because of the instant, tender chemistry between both characters. Juan and his girlfriend Teresa (Monáe) quickly establish themselves as surrogate guardians, filling the emotional void left by Little’s erratic mother Paula (Harris)—a young single parent in the throes of drug addiction. When Juan angrily confronts Paula, asking, “You gonna raise your son?,” she defiantly shoots back, “You gonna keep selling me rocks?” There is a definite power struggle between these two parental figures.

The middle chapter focuses on the emerging bond between adolescents Chiron and Kevin (Jharrel Jerome). While Kevin is reserved, mostly silent and continuously bullied, his friend is much louder, more boastful and much more confident. Their pivotal scene on the beach, under the moonlight, is perhaps Jenkins’ finest-directed one in the entire film—the dialogue is eloquent, the setting is serene and its conclusion is satisfyingly romantic.

By the time we revisit our protagonist as an adult 10 years later, Black (now played by Rhodes) looks to be in stark contrast to his past self. He is physically imposing and intimidating, and stylistically, he is an homage to Juan. However, the facade quickly reveals itself the moment he receives a surprise call from Kevin. The vulnerability is evident in Blacks shifting gaze, as if he is instantly reverted back to his younger, unsure self. In the emotionally-devastating climactic end of the film, Kevin bluntly asks him, “Who is you, man?” and we are reminded of Juan’s words of wisdom. “At some point, you gotta decide for yourself who you gonna be…”

Categories
Arts

When the dead fight back

The film raises the terror factor through masterful use of creepy settings and uncomfortable situations.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe brings a fresh breath of terror to the horror genre

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is the type of film that will leave you too terrified to sleep alone. Directed by André Øvredal and starring Emile Hirsch, Brian Cox and Ophelia Lovibond, the film’s unique concept makes it both a refreshing and chilling addition to the horror genre.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe tells the story of Tommy Tildon (Cox) and his son, Austin (Hirsch), as they perform an autopsy on a woman’s body that was found at a crime scene earlier that day. The father-son team soon discover this is no ordinary body. While her exterior appearance seems in perfect shape, the autopsy reveals that her body is rife with inexplicable internal injuries, hinting at a history of intense suffering.

Soon after they begin the autopsy, strange occurrences and unfathomable terrors take place, and the two characters struggle to complete their examination in an attempt to uncover the secrets of Jane Doe and hopefully put an end to her malice.

The movie is very much about the relationship between Tommy and Austin. Tommy is knowledgeable and experienced, while Austin—though he still has a lot to learn—is filled with curiosity. While in the morgue, Tommy tells his son “down here, if we can’t see it, touch it, it doesn’t matter” in response to his son’s curiosity about the horrid condition of Jane Doe’s internal organs.

Jane Doe is representative of the father and son’s relationship: there are deeply hidden problems, such as that Austin wants to leave his father’s practice, that they need to dissect and work on together to overcome.

The film does an excellent job of brewing terror. The setting is terrifying on its own. What could be a creepier profession than dissecting the dead? The audience gets thrown into a morgue, somewhere unfamiliar and uncomfortable, which is the perfect state to be in to reach the maximum level of terror. Slow, menacing shots are used to build up the tension, keeping the audience in suspense by not revealing too much. Combine that with the emotional connection between the characters, a unique and well-executed plot and a soundtrack that will haunt your dreams, and you have a solid horror flick.

The Autopsy of Jane Doe is now playing in theaters.

Categories
Arts

Fences: A wonderful work of adaptation

Denzel Washington stars as flawed father Troy Maxson

Denzel Washington stars in and produces one of this year’s best films

Oscar season is in full bloom and moviegoers have been spoiled this year with an extensive list of great films. Among such movies are runaway successes like La La Land and Moonlight. However, some of the other great Academy Award contenders can easily be overlooked. Naturally, one can’t watch every single nominated movie in theaters as it would be a time-consuming and, let’s face it, expensive endeavor.

However, Fences, an adaptation of the play of the same name, is one movie worth the time and money. The script was originally written by the American playwright August Wilson and won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for drama.

Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington) is a hard-working African-American man living in 1950s Pittsburgh. His aspirations of becoming a professional baseball player were dashed due to his age and ethnicity. To cope with his unfulfilled dreams, he drinks excessively. Troy is married to his loving wife, Rose (Viola Davis) whom he has a son with. Troy often becomes distant and aggressive for seemingly no justifiable reason. He also has a complicated relationship with his son, Cory (Jovan Adepo), and often belittles him and his goals. Washington portrays this character as an authoritative figure with an unpredictable nature. As well, Davis gives one of the best performances of her career.

The dialogue between Troy and Cory is dry and conveys the disconnect in their relationship and the different outlooks they have. Cory is being scouted by college football recruiters, and has a chance at playing in the NFL. Troy is dismissive of this, as he believes the barriers that prevented him from playing major-league baseball are still rampant, and will hamper his son’s success. The audience becomes increasingly aware of this unsolved dispute throughout the film, as the tension between the characters reaches a culminant point that leaves the audience bewildered.

Even though Troy has the traits of the perfect antagonistic character, Washington’s on-screen charisma makes him compelling, and the viewer can’t help but feel sorry for his circumstances. It is made apparent as the film progresses that he has had a difficult life. Moreover, he is unaware of his abusive behaviour or his drinking problem.

Fences is a character-driven movie with a musical score that makes the action on screen seem more realistic. The first 30 minutes might seem slow for the average moviegoer, however, it builds up to a climatic ending which is more than worth the wait. Fences is a wonderful adaption of the original play and remains loyal to the difficult subject matter of addiction and abuse.

Categories
Arts

Image+nation film festival comes to Montreal

Handsome Devils, the festival's opening film, is a coming of age story set in Ireland.

Image+nation film festival comes to Montreal

From Nov. 24 to Dec. 4, the image+nation film festival will present a diverse array of LGBTQ+ films hailing from all corners of the world.

“I think it’s an important opportunity to see great independent film, and it’s also an opportunity to see yourself reflected on the screen if you happen to be a queer person,” said Katharine Setzer, the programming director for the festival.

Image+nation, which is in its 29th year, is the oldest queer film festival in Canada. It will present films from a variety of genres and formats, including powerful documentaries, beautiful shorts and award-winning features. There are over 30 films to choose from.

“There’s a power in coming to a festival,” said Setzer. “It is a genre festival—it is a queer festival. There’s a power of being with your people, sitting and congregating in the dark and watching images of yourself on the screen.”

This year, the festival will have a focus on Irish and American cinema, two countries that legalized same-sex marriage in the last year. Handsome Devil, the opening film of the festival, which will screen on Nov. 24 at 7:30 p.m. is part of this Irish focus. Directed by John Butler, the film is a coming-of-age story about Ned, a young outcast in a rugby-crazed, all-boys boarding school who sets out on a mission to finally have his voice heard.

According to Setzer, queer cinema has evolved over time. Although there’s still a place for coming-of-age and coming-out stories, the focus has shifted to representations of queerness that go beyond this, looking instead at the experience of living as a queer person in the world.

Golden Boys, an Israeli film directed by Revital Gal, takes a look at the ageing gay community in Tel Aviv and explores the challenges these men faced coming to terms with their own sexuality in a country which hasn’t always been open or tolerant. Golden Boys will screen on Dec. 3 at 3:15 p.m.

Although the festival includes films from around the world, it still has a local focus. Long-time festival staple Queerment Quebec gives an opportunity to see short films produced by Montreal filmmakers. These shorts will be presented on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Phi Centre and include bustling local talent.

Films from this year’s festival will be screened at a number of different venues, including Cinéma Imperial, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Concordia’s JA de Sève cinema and Cinémathèque québécoise.

Tickets can be purchased both at the door and online. Regular passes are $12.75 per film or $9.50 for students. For information on the festival or to buy tickets for screenings, visit www.image-nation.org.

Categories
Arts

Rowling’s wizarding world is back

A hunt for missing magical creatures soon becomes much more complicated when dark forces appear.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them brings a whole new wizarding world to the big screen

Demiguises, erumpents and nifflers are just some of the fantastic creatures that have slipped out of Newt Scamander’s (Eddie Redmayne) magical suitcase, causing havoc in 1926 New York City in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The film, adapted from J.K. Rowling’s book of the same title, is directed by David Yates and stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Colin Farrell and Dan Fogler. Written by Rowling, it has the same familiar feel the Harry Potter series offered. This familiarity makes it easier for the audience to relate to the film, although this era of the wizarding world is much darker.

Newt Scamander is a magizoologist studying all manner of magical beasts and creatures, cataloguing them for a book he’s writing. After disembarking in New York City, a mix-up between suitcases leads to a few of his creatures roaming free in a city rocked by anti-wizard sentiment. Newt, no-maj (American term for muggle) Jacob Kowalski (Fogler) and disgraced auror Tina (Waterston) team up and attempt to round up the magical creatures. Although they aren’t dangerous per se, these creatures can be annoying. One of Newt’s nifflers, a mole-sized creature attracted to objects that shine and sparkle such as coins and gems, gets into trouble ransacking a jewelry store and storing its contents in its marsupial-like pouch.

Things get more complicated when Newt discovers an obscurus is on the loose. This dark magical entity, taking the shape of a roiling black cloud, is a creation that comes about when a magical child tries to suppress their powers for fear of discovery by the non-magical community. While Newt wishes to find the child to save them from themself, other forces wish to use the obscurus for their own agendas.

The world we are introduced to in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a fractured one. The beginning sequence emphasizes this: headline after headline warning of humans suspicious of magical activity, calling for a second Salem witch-hunt in Manhattan. At the same time, there is fear of a magical war being sparked by Grindelwald, a powerful wizard tired of hiding from no-majs. Divisions exist between no-majs and wizards and between wizards themselves. Newt’s journey to document magical creatures brings him to the epicenter of these tensions, and he becomes entangled in an effort to prevent an all-out war.

Rowling’s incredible imagination is once again brought to life on the big screen. The creatures she’s whipped up are funny and troublesome, dangerous and sneaky. For a film that needed to introduce a whole other subsection of a hidden world, the pace is quite good, albeit a little information-heavy at times. It might have been worthwhile to take some more time to develop Newt’s character, especially seeing as how Fantastic Beasts is set  to be a five-part series. Newt is a funny character who has trouble interacting with humans. Instead, he finds refuge in his suitcase, which contains a whole ecosystem of creatures, beasts and magical things.

Fantastic Beasts is now in theaters.

4.5 stars out of 5

Categories
Arts

Highlights from Cinemania film festival

Kristen Stewart, who has avoided being typecast in her roles, plays a fashion assistant who attempts to communicate with the dead in Personal Shopper.

Slack Bay and Personal Shopper were the talk of the town at the Cannes film festival this year

As a rift grows between the more conspicuously commercial elements of the French film industry and the personal, unconventional auteur pieces that defined French cinema for much of its golden era, it is the latter that continues to be a staple of international film festivals. Montreal’s Cinemania festival, which celebrates the brightest French productions of the year, featured two films that have been attracting attention since their premiere at Cannes this past spring.

Ma Loute, known in English as Slack Bay, is singularly grotesque. What could have been a straight comedy—the slapstick, satire and absurdity—is instead an entrancing, if unsettling experience. The film’s humour is so relentlessly over-the-top it seems to be mocking its own audience. Even the viewer’s act of marveling over the striking setting—a coastal region of Northern France, home to director Bruno Dumont—is ridiculed during the film.

Who are we to identify within this caricature of class warfare? On one side, we have a decadent bourgeois family, played by well-known actors who overact as if in a state of drunken insanity. On the other, a mysterious family of oyster farmers and ferrymen, played by eerie-looking locals whose presence intensifies the surreal style of the film, making it seductively hostile.

It is an often baffling, unclassifiable work, comparable in part to David Lynch and Monty Python but bathed in French sensibilities, incorporating both theatre and carnival traditions. It will alienate viewers who find it suspect for being fundamentally unexplained, or frustrating for its deliberate lack of cohesion. However, those curious to immerse themselves in a foreign vision, one that is unpredictable and perhaps beyond reach, may come out pleasantly mystified by the experience.

Another film at Cinemania is the much less compelling and blandly titled Personal Shopper, starring Kristen Stewart as a fashion assistant who attempts to communicate with the dead. Stewart, made famous by the Twilight series, has become something of a darling in France—she was the first American actress to win a César Award, which is comparable to an Oscar, and the film’s director Olivier Assayas called her one of the best actors of her generation. While it is true that she has successfully avoided being typecast and has proved herself to be a reliable talent, such enormous praise remains puzzling. Assayas’ assertion back in September that Stewart has “an infinitely [large] range” is at odds with the fact that she is notoriously inexpressive, and rarely has that been more obvious than in Personal Shopper, which barely gives her any character material to work with.

A ghost story provides ample excuse for suspense and frights generated by an invisible, watching presence, but such luxuries are in short supply here. The film works best when dealing with the supernatural, but it is essentially a parable for grief, more akin to a European existential drama than to, say, this year’s gripping Under the Shadow.  Personal Shopper indulges in long, empty scenes that involve Stewart’s character walking through a deserted manor or shopping for clothes and accessories—not an activity most audiences are likely to find exciting.

No release date has been announced yet for Slack Bay. Personal Shopper will be released in theaters on March 10, 2017.

Categories
Arts

Performance art and history

Howard J. Davis brings forgotten racial injustices to the forefront in C’est Moi, his filmmaking debut.

Performing artist, Howard J. Davis, debuts his film, C’est Moi, based on black Canadian history

Performing artist Howard J. Davis marked his debut as a filmmaker with C’est Moi, a story based on a little-known event in black Canadian history. It is a reminder of the many forgotten incidences of racial injustices that pepper Canada’s past.

Set in 18th century New France—now known as Montreal—C’est Moi is the tale of Marie-Josèphe Angélique, a slave in her late 20s who was convicted, tortured and hung for starting a fire that ravaged what is now Old Montreal. The fire was allegedly part of her plan to escape her slave-owner, but the evidence presented at the trial was inconclusive. “The beauty of storytelling is that the audience should be left to decide,” said Davis.

Angélique is “an emblem of resilience against slavery in Canada,” said Davis. He added that a big inspiration for imagery in the film was Joan of Arc.

C’est Moi was filmed in Montreal, with dancer Jenny Brizard starring as Angélique. The music and lyrics were composed and written by Davis.

The creative process for C’est Moi began eight years earlier, in 2008, during his first year at Ryerson Theatre School, said Davis. He said the story was first performed as a dance, then in spoken word before Davis decided to make it into a film. Davis decided on cinema as the most appropriate way to tell Angélique’s story because of the intimacy this medium allows.

Unapologetic about the length of time it took him to complete this project, Davis said, “I am at such a formative stage of my career that I should be allowed to take my time, and to let things sit and see how they resonate.”

Born in Britain, and of mixed race, Davis was raised in Kelowna, B.C. and lives in Toronto. Davis said he was attracted to the performing arts at a very early age, and he can’t think of a time when he was not performing—either at home with his two sisters or while at school.  Despite the fact that neither of their parents were involved in the performing arts, Davis’ sisters are also performing artists. He added that, while growing up, he idolized British actor and comedian Sir Norman Wisdom, and was mesmerized by the films he starred in.

Davis is  a member of the Dora Award, an annual arts award in Toronto, winning ensemble for Passion Play, and also a cast member of the Dora Award for nominated play Bombay Black.  More recently, Davis was promoted on set of Downsizing and was given a speaking part. Downsizing is a soon-to-be-released film directed by Alexander Payne.

Davis said he submitted C’est Moi to several film festivals and has launched a crowdfunding website to help defray the associated costs. The trailer for C’est Moi is available at www.howardjdavis.com/c-est-moi, where anyone interested in viewing the film can sign up to receive information on screening dates and locations.

Exit mobile version