Netflix just came out with a movie called Tall Girl. Guess what it’s about?
Sixteen-year-old, six foot one, “misunderstood” student Jodi is trying to get through high school, despite intense bullying due to her height. The movie wasn’t that good, but that’s not why I’m here.
For context, I’m six feet tall.
Life has consisted of my parents explaining that I really was five years old, despite being almost a foot and a half taller than my peers. I was the tallest in my class until high school, and – you guessed it – I did play volleyball and basketball. Being tall is the biggest and most obvious part of my physical identity. Quite like the movie depicts with Jodi, my height is usually the first thing someone notices about me.
If you’re a tall girl, then you know exactly what I mean. Growing up in a society where women are taught to take up less space, be “dainty” and “cute,” can be difficult when you are basically making out with your knees on every bus, train, or airplane.
Just like Jodi, I used to want to shrink. Actually, a lot of the thoughts and worries she had, I had too. The movie displayed a lot of truths about the experience of tall women, but one thing it very obviously lacked was perspective.
Jodi fits every societal beauty norm. She is straight, lean, white and cis-gender. I guarantee that if this were real life, Jodi would not be bullied or ostracized to feel like an other as she was in this movie. It placed Jodi into a narrative of systemic discrimination, and that’s the problem.
Jodi is not a minority. She’s not even an outcast. She’s a privileged young woman that wants to fit in with her peers – quite like I did. Listen, I get it. I still have trouble feeling confident with my height. Some days I feel like it’s truly all people can see. However, framing Jodi this way is not only inaccurate, but it causes distortion and misunderstanding regarding a larger problem of prejudice.
So, to be clear, I am talking about two very different things. The first thing is my experience with my physical identity and the reality of existing in the world with a larger body. I can speak to this experience being difficult and frustrating. I can speak to being teased, feeling undesirable, and wanting so badly to fit in. The second thing, nonetheless, is very different; and the distinction here is crucial. What Jodi and I cannot directly relate to is being marginalized. This movie blurs that line. It places tall white women into a discussion that we should not lead.
Look, I would love to see more tall women with leading roles on television. Watching someone I can identify with physically on screen makes me feel empowered. This, on some level, speaks to the power of representation. This being said, I think it’s pertinent to note that as a white woman, I am constantly being represented, be it on television, movies, magazines, etc. This representation allows white women to have a range of emotions, personalities, characteristics, and nuances that people of colour, and other marginalized groups lack in film. This movie placed Jodi in a specific box and chalked it up to her height, when in reality, Jodi would not have been consistently influenced by this stigma.
Teen movies and romantic comedies have an impact on how we view the world, especially for women. If Netflix really wanted to make a movie with a tall girl in it, I would have been thrilled, along with 15-year-old me. But by framing it as a negative part of her personality, and not letting her just exist as a tall girl with normal problems, relationships and interactions, it really failed for me.
Instead, they created an oversimplified and erroneous depiction of an issue that is not systemic and is more to do with having trouble finding size 13 women’s shoes.
Anyone who’s spent a significant amount of time with me knows I’m a horror junkie. Even as a kid, I grasped onto any opportunity to feast my eyes on something that would permanently maim me. When I was just barely 10-years-old, I cherished sleepovers at my grandparents’ house because my grandmother would take me to the video store and let me pick out any DVD I wanted.
At home, I was never allowed to watch anything rated PG-13 or higher. I was sequestered while adults watched movies that all my friends had seen, like Titanic or Grease, until I hit double digits. My parents deemed Kate Winslet’s nipples and hickeys from Kenickie as content far too inappropriate for my prepubescent eyes.
My mom’s parents were never the sheltering type, though. Nor were they fond of enforcing strict bedtimes. The first horror movie I remember watching was in their basement, shortly after midnight, both of them fast asleep on the couch beside me. It was Child’s Play—often colloquially referred to as Chucky. The film is a 1988 Tom Holland slasher (the first of seven in the series) about a possessed doll who terrorizes a little boy and his mother. To an adult, it’s a fun, vulgar, slightly cheesy hour and a half. As a child, it was virtually my worst nightmare—and I couldn’t get enough.
Luckily, it wasn’t hard to find others that shared my dark taste in cinema, especially as I got older. From supernatural scares at seventh grade slumber parties, to ninth grade torture porn marathons, to Marble Hornets binges during senior year, I found that most of my friends shared this interest of mine (or at least tolerated it). I’m guilty of making a good handful of boys sit through the classics with me. My first relationship started in my family’s dingy basement, kissing on an old couch while the credits rolled on Friday the 13th. Our hearts pounded in our ears as a result of teen hormones, but mostly because of that insane shot where Jason Voorhees’ decomposing body shoots out of the water and totally wrecks Adrienne King.
The thing with horror is that, while it’s not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea, it’s become relatively accepted. It’s not hard to find people to bond over it with. Yes, an obsession with it might be off-kilter, but it still makes for good conversation, pizza night entertainment, and background noise for makeout sessions. Throughout my 20-something years, I never really considered my interest in horror to be “nerdy”. It was so vast and varied as a genre that I wasn’t forced to identify with a particular group. There was something in it for almost everyone. Before last summer, I hadn’t truly known what it was like to be into something that few people understood.
About a year ago, I discovered The X-Files—a sci-fi television show about two FBI agents who investigate cases that deal with the supernatural. I had always been generally aware of The X-Files. I knew it existed. Most people I knew had either tuned in occasionally when it originally aired in the 90s, or had seen an episode or two on Netflix and given up. One night, I came across it in my “Top Picks” and decided to give it a chance. It was one of those rare occasions where, from episode one, I knew I’d hit the jackpot. Everything about it screamed “me”. I promptly reached out to anyone and everyone I knew and was shocked to find that literally no one in my personal life thought anything of it. Not only did the show not stand out to them as special, but some people even admitted outright that they hated it.
Aside from a few other fans I found in real life who I texted during major plot twists, watching The X-Files was a completely solitary experience for me. I watched each of the 11 seasons and two films all by myself. Because of this, my experience of the show was very private in nature. It felt like my dirty little secret—an escape of sorts. I spent hours laughing, crying, and gasping in front of my television screen during popcorn-fueled binge sessions after the rest of my family went to bed. I became deeply attached to the characters. Unlike horror movies, it was the first time I had an obsession that I couldn’t share. It truly felt like the show had been created for me, and the fact that I had no one to experience it with was both entirely uplifting and mildly heartbreaking.
Up until this point, I had little-to-no experience with nerd culture. I’d never picked up a comic book, I didn’t really like anime, I’d seen only a handful of superhero movies, and I thought “gaming” was something that 30-year-old white guys with neckbeards did in their moms’ basements while double fisting Mountain Dew and Doritos. Plus, I had always associated nerd culture with sexism. In my mind, “nerdy” spaces were cesspools of male cliques firing off condescending remarks and participating in sexual harassment. I wanted no part of it.
Nearly every time I clicked into an online forum discussing The X-Files, my preconceived notions of these spaces were instantly validated. I simply didn’t feel welcome. This was jarring, especially considering the feminist tones of the show. I was annoyed and I concluded it was an interest I’d just keep to myself. But, it was lonely. I wanted so badly to be a part of a community I could share it with.
When I was first offered the opportunity to attend Montreal Comiccon as a member of the media this year, I was skeptical. I wanted to go to see if I could find fellow “X-Philes,” but I knew I’d have to write up something about the convention, and I didn’t want to have to write a scathing review about a toxic environment. Boy, were my preconceived notions ever wrong.
Montreal Comiccon completely shifted my perspective on what it means to be a nerd. It channeled what the true spirit of what being a “nerd” really is. I mean, where else on earth can you walk into a room full of strangers by yourself and instantly feel completely welcome and at ease? Where else can someone who is in love with an odd, campy, 90s television show about aliens find a thousand other people who feel the same way?
Walking into a room full of hundreds of “X-Philes,” I felt the most included and myself I had in a long time. It also made me realize that nerds weren’t all straight, white men in cargo shorts tweeting about #GamerGate and quoting The Big Bang Theory. Nerds were 10-year-old girls, drag queens, disabled people, gay couples, women of colour… I suddenly realized that this thing—this series that I had turned into such a private indulgence—was far bigger than just my secret obsession. These characters that I had developed one-sided relationships with weren’t just mine, they were ours. They helped us all relate to one another.
Comiccon takes a person’s private experience with art and makes it social. The main reason people attend is to meet other people and find those who love the same stuff they do. Making friends only gets harder as you age, so finding somewhere you can be yourself, express gratitude to the artists behind your favourite work, and meet people from different walks of life with shared interests is something pretty special.
There will always be cliques, fandoms, and rivalries. We will always be into different kinds of art. We’ll always experience that art differently from one another. Comiccon showcases that perfectly, but also reminds us that, at the end of the day, we’re all just huge freakin’ nerds. Together.
Denis Villeneuve has had a stream of successes on the silver screen after the release of his 2013 film Prisoners.
Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins are at the forefront of a new movement of visceral films
Modern cinema has brought us so many films with too many cuts that make the action on screen nearly undecipherable. There are exceptions, but it is almost always a detriment, with many films using heavy editing as a lazy form of movie-making.
In contrast to this trend, Quebec-born Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins have been breaking away from the familiar by lingering on shots and not overly editing their films. As Deakins said himself when discussing Sicario in a Deadline.com interview, “We built the tension by holding the shots a lot longer then somebody else might.” The success of his films, and those with a similar approach such as The Revenant, prove there is a place for films that dive into an unflinching, realistic and unrelenting style.
Villeneuve truly broke out into the mainstream back in 2013 with the release of his film Prisoners. The film depicts the lengths a father will go to in order to find his missing daughter, and the strain of such an experience. In short, the movie is emotionally draining. Prisoners was Villeneuve’s first real chance to prove himself in Hollywood, and he expertly handled the pressure of a demanding story, while working alongside some of the best established actors.
Audiences were drawn in by the story, the eerie tone and the devastatingly vulnerable performances of Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. The beautiful, dark, long, steady shots that compose the cinematography are an essential part of the film’s haunting mood. The first scene sets the tone not only for Prisoners, but for every subsequent Villeneuve project. We open with a shot of the woods. A deer walks into the frame. The camera pans out to show two hunters. One utters a prayer and fires. The deer falls. This one shot sets the bar for the rest of the film.
This type of brutal honesty has been lacking from the silver screen recently. Villeneuve brings it back in a big way, thanks to breathtaking cinematography. Every shot in his recent films are masterfully composed. Every scene has a purpose.
Enter cinematographer Deakins, a 12-time Academy Award nominee, who has worked on classic films like The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo and The Big Lebowski. Deakins was the reason actors Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro accepted roles in Sicario, they said in an interview with entertainment news site Collider. Brolin, Del Toro and Emily Blunt, who also worked on Sicario, expressed their respect for the established cinematographer and his legendary status in the filmmaking community. His more recent films include successes like Skyfall and No Country For Old Men. His works never fail to instill a sense of dread and unease in the audience.
Villeneuve has been at the forefront of a new movement in Hollywood of creating truly personal films with mainstream entertainment value. His passion for the medium of visual storytelling is unique in this age of blockbuster, mind-numbing nonsense. Combine that with the genius of methodological and experienced cinematographer Deakins, and the audience is left with a unique film experience that creeps into the very soul. Their films are reviving a genre of intense and visceral movies, and this revival can only have a positive effect on filmmaking.
Photo caption: Spike Lee received MIBFF inaugural Pioneer Award in recognition of his body of work. Photo by Sofia Misenheimer.
Black Film Festival gives new meaning to the term “moving picture” for its 10th anniversary
The 2014 Montreal International Black Film Festival (MIBFF) wrapped up over the weekend, leaving patrons and aspiring filmmakers in anticipation of next year’s program. The festival screened nearly 100 independent films from around the world, many of which exposed festivalgoers to unfamiliar, and often uncomfortable, social commentaries. But the chilling themes of racial exploitation and gender violence that pervaded these MIBFF films were meant to move viewers, and inspire them to combat social injustice.
“The role of this festival is to educate audiences on black realities all over the world,” said Fabienne Colas, MIBFF founder and president. “The films we screen are meant to make you think.”
Photo caption: Spike Lee received MIBFF inaugural Pioneer Award in recognition of his body of work. Photo by Sofia Misenheimer.
The Festival opened with Hope, a gripping narrative feature by French writer-director Boris Lojkine. Though Hope starts as a seemingly expectant tale of characters in pursuit of new beginnings, viewers must quickly adjust to the realism of harsh migrant life. The film follows the arduous journey of Cameroonian man, Léonard, and Nigerian woman, Hope, in their pursuit of an idealized European future. They meet while crossing the Sahara Desert, when Léonard instinctively defends Hope from the unwanted attentions of an aggressive fellow migrant. Following her later rape and abandonment by another traveler, the two form a pragmatic bond. They slowly fall in love, but their relationship is violently tested in each ruthless underworlds they encounter over the course of the film.
Audience members seemed widely shocked by the film’s tragic progression and heartbreaking conclusion. This is understandable considering most Western blockbusters condition viewers to expect a happy ending. “Writing this story was not easy for me,” Lojkine said at a Q&A session after the premiere. The director described the years he spent researching African migration through Northern Africa to lend authenticity to his film. “I learned that hope is what pushes these people,” he said. That certainly comes across throughout the film, thanks to exceptional performances by an entirely non-professional cast. In fact, Lojkine chose real-life African migrants, who survived many of the same experiences as their fictional counterparts, to play the film’s protagonists.
Of course, hope and social commentary were ongoing MIBFF themes. At a press conference last Wednesday, writer-director Spike Lee expressed hope for the future of the film industry. “When we have more people of colour in the room deciding what gets made and what doesn’t get made, [we’ll] have more diversity [of] subject matter,” he said.
This year marks the 25-year anniversary of Lee’s hallmark film, Do the Right Thing, 20 years since Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa, and five years since Barack Obama became the first black American president. But the world has not changed enough for the better, according to Lee. “25 years ago I never would have thought there would be a black president… but there are more African Americans who are in poverty… [and] there’s a greater divide between the have and have-nots,” he said.
With that in mind, it seems clear that Canada’s largest black film festival has every reason to expose viewers to eye-opening realities that may inspire them to change the status quo.
“Each film we play is relevant, has a purpose… [and] will touch people’s souls,” Colas said. After all, knowledge and empathy, whether acquired from personal experience or from a moving film, is the only catalyst for widespread social activism and eventual change.
A look back on what the film industry had to offer this summer at the box office
Hollywood’s panicking! The news as stated by the New York Times is that summer 2014 was the worst summer film season since 1997 at the United States box office. Although the debate rages online as to why that is the case, that shouldn’t stop us from breaking down some of our favourite, and not so favourite, films of the season.
The Best:
Guardians of the Galaxy
Marvel has done it again. The studio that can seemingly do no wrong has made audiences all over the world fall in love with relatively unknown superheroes, and actor Chris Pratt in the leading role. Directed by James Gunn, the film follows the story of Peter Quill, AKA Star Lord, a space pirate with a criminal record, as he assembles a group of misfits to fight a rogue supervillain named Ronan who’s hell-bent on destroying the galaxy.
While the storyline is typical of superhero movies, the film saw tremendous success, making it the top earner this summer. It also paved the way for sequels, mainly because, like most Marvel films, it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Chris Pratt’s delivered a solid performance and was supported by a strong cast. Combined with the talented director, it produces a fun, feel-good summer superhero film. Lets leave the “dark,” “realistic” superhero movies to DC. Guardians of the Galaxy was a definite summer season winner.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
The sequel to the 2011 film, Rise of the Planet of the Apes – in which human civilization collapses due to the spread of the ALZ-113 virus – takes place a decade later. While humanity struggles to survive, the apes, led by Caesar, evolve and build their own separate civilization. With the underlying theme being the coexistence of good and evil in all of us, regardless of species, both humans and apes end up going to war in their quest for dominance.
Directed by Matt Reeves, the film succeeds in delivering an original perspective on the classic franchise. Supported by great visual effects and exceptional acting across the board, Andy Serkis reprising his role as Caesar steals the show. Already a proven heavyweight in motion capture acting, giving audiences memorable characters such as Gollum, King Kong and soon Baloo in the upcoming Jungle Book: Origins in 2016, Serkis’s portrayal of Caesar is generating some well-deserved Oscar buzz. If he snags an Oscar nomination, the result could be game-changing in Hollywood, as the Academy has yet to acknowledge motion capture acting. Overall, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a must-see summer film.
Godzilla
Note: spoiler alert. A reboot of the Godzilla franchise, this film offers a new take to the classic monster story, which was originally created to reflect the destructive consequences of nuclear weapons. This film, however, portrays the monster as humanity’s saviour against creatures called “MUTOs,” who feed off of radiation and multiply, threatening to wipe out human existence.
This reimagining disappointed some fans of the franchise, especially in Japan, where Godzilla is an important cultural symbol. This was not the only risk taken by director Gareth Edwards: two lead characters–played by Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche– were featured heavily in the film’s promotion, only to get killed off. Yet for all the risks taken, the result was a critical and commercial success. The film gives a nod to classic monster movies, such as Jaws, by withholding a glimpse of the monster from the audience until roughly halfway through the film. Even then, scenes featuring Godzilla are sparse, so that the monster’s appearance leaves audience members intrigued and wanting more. It is a film worth watching, if for nothing other than the Halo jump sequence (you’ll know it when you see it), complete with a tribute to Stanley Kubrick’s classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The Worst
Maleficent
Maleficent is Disney’s latest retelling of one of its classic films. Director Robert Stromberg reimagines the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of one of the most powerful Disney villains, Maleficent. Maleficent is portrayed as misunderstood, turned evil due to being betrayed by a peasant boy, who uses her to gain the kingdom’s throne. She takes her revenge by cursing his daughter Princess Aurora; yet, as the princess grows older, Maleficent grows fond of her and eventually becomes good again because of her love for the girl.
Even considering the strong visual effects and a solid portrayal of Maleficent by Angelina Jolie–a part the actress fits perfectly–the film wasted its potential. The story line ignores any character development except for that of Maleficent. The narrative is constructed in a way that does not make the audience care for anyone other than the villainess, or understand why the story unfolds the way it does, resulting in a sloppy, boring retelling of a truly classic fairy tale. The movie is essentially 97 minutes of watching Angelina Jolie fly around in a kick-ass costume. Somewhere Walt Disney is turning in his grave.
Transformers: Age of Extinction
Explosions! 165 minutes worth of them! In the longest, and by far the worst, Transformers movie to date, director Michael Bay once again made a film which introduces new characters–human and alien alike. He also makes sure the audience doesn’t care what happens to those characters or even remember who they are when coming out of the theater.
The story takes place five years after the battle of Chicago, where humans have turned against the Transformers, hunting them down and forcing them into hiding. However, attempts to build an imitation of the transformers by a corporation called KSI leads to the reincarnation of Megatron (the big villain) who plans on using “the seed” to destroy mankind and create more Decepticons (the bad guys). This forces the remaining Autobots, the good guys, out of hiding, who then team up with Cade Yeager, played by Mark Wahlberg, and friends to save the day.
After four Transformers movies and countless complaints by critics and fans, director Michael Bay ignores all the noise, and with good reason. This latest installment is, inexplicably, the second highest grossing film of the summer in the United States box office, making over $1 billion worldwide, and is overall the highest grossing film of 2014. An absolute train wreck, but let’s hope that the fifth installment will be handed over to another director.
This summer, I was one of the thousands who went to see the natural sculptures in the Botanical Gardens. Originally, my friend and I had planned to visit La Ronde, but it was closed for the day. On a whim, we headed north to the Botanical Gardens. It was still early in the day: the sky was clear, the air was cool, and we had the gardens to ourselves. After strolling through the Chinese and Japanese Gardens, we sat down under the cherry blossom trees to enjoy a shared bento lunch I had made (my first attempt).
We ended up staying for hours, strolling around and looking at the sculptures. The artistry it takes to carve and build something is impressive enough; making it out of nature is simply incredible. At the time, many of them were not complete – but watching them grow, step by step, was its own joy.
Flamme Eternelle by Sara Baron-Goodman
While I was studying abroad in Paris this past semester, I had the opportunity to totally saturate myself in art–from the great classics (oh hey Mona Lisa) to some very interesting new wave exhibits. I’m usually not much of a contemporary art fan, but there was one exhibit at Paris’ Palais de Tokyo that left quite an impression.
The Palais de Tokyo is not quite a museum, but rather a sort of modern and contemporary art house / gallery space / nightclub (in the basement) that’s known to showcase some pretty avant-garde and thought provoking exhibits. The one in particular that I’m referring to was entitled “Flamme Eternelle”, by Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn.
The gallery space was completely transformed into a sprawling junkyard: tires piled high became makeshift walls, an interactive Styrofoam sculpture station blew bits of white fluff everywhere, banners and paper with witty, cynical slogans littered the floor. In the center was the “flamme eternelle,” a sort of fire pit surrounded by plastic lawn chairs that invited guests to come and sit and ponder a while. The whole exhibit was completely interactive, and all the arts and crafts encouraged passers-through to leave their mark. Other corners of the junkyard maze revealed poetry readings by philosophers and writers, dilapidated TV-screens showing postmodern films, and at one end, a café-bar where you could buy snacks at very reasonable prices (by Parisian standards at least).
The feeling of the space was very post-apocalyptic, and seemed to be a critique on all the crap that we leave behind and waste, and how “trash” really can be turned into art if you look at it a different way.
One’s “best concert of my life” by Elsbeth Cossar
What could be better than seeing your favorite band in concert? The thrill of knowing all of their songs, getting the chills when they point to you in a crowd of people… This summer, after my best friend and I heard that our favorite band, The Vocal Few, was doing a living room tour across Canada, we sent them an email desperately hoping that we could be chosen as a venue. Guess what, they said yes. Immediately we cleaned out the barn and turned it into the ideal indie music concert hall simultaneously selling tickets, and advertising to our friends. Finally the day came and the band pulled into the driveway. We casually ate burgers with the band members and their kids, you know, no big deal. Then, we sat in the front row and experienced all the thrills and chills you can imagine bantering with the band between songs. What an experience it was to feel the fan girl come pouring out of me in whoops and laughter. I’ve been to concerts that packed the Metropolis and overwhelmed Echo Beach, but being right in the middle of that rough barn, cheers bouncing off the rafters, and face to face with my favourite voice; was certainly the best concert of my life.
Being Fringe by Laurent Pitre
For me, this summer was the summer of the Fringe! As a theatre student, I live for risk-taking, new, gritty, innovative and revolutionary theatre experiences. When and where can one person in our beautiful bilingual city get that? Every year in June, at the Montreal Saint-Ambroise Fringe Festival. With my new play, This is not a play, I hit the ground running, engaged audiences of all walks of life, met a myriad of amazing artists, and was lucky enough to be a part of this awesome performance arts festival.
As one of the most exotic festivals of the summer, Fringe is an excellent platform for arts students to acquire professional experience and experiment, develop and create new works. Furthermore, it is a great opportunity to see some groundbreaking performances and be part of a wonderfully eclectic community. What should you do next summer? Go and be as Fringe as possible!
A sentimental journey through Final Fantasy by Jocelyn Beaudet
Photo by Jocelyn Beaudet
At this year’s Otakuthon, the organizers brought in conductor Arnie Roth to perform “A New World: intimate music from Final Fantasy,” in front of a live audience. Roth’s previous performance of the previous “Distant World,” was a full-featured orchestral presentation, visiting fan favorites composed by Nobuo Uematsu. For “A New World”, Roth instead chose to strip down the sound to its basics, to the style of chamber music. While the smaller selection of players may seem like it would be detrimental to the roaring complexity of Uematsu’s originals, the concert turned out to be anything but. Each section had its moments, and the finale even had Roth himself play rather than conduct.
No era was spared, from the 25-year-old originals all the way to a modern rendition of “King Mog,” from Final Fantasy XIV, Roth conducted tear-jerking nostalgia in a way that no CD could ever convey. On top of it all, a solo piano rendition of Final Fantasy XI’s “Gustaberg,” provided haunting memories of the countless hours spent mingling with other players in its endless deserts to this editor. A New World will be touring the world in the coming months, coming once more to Canada in December, and if you’re a fan of Chamber music or Final Fantasy, this is a performance that you don’t want to miss! You can find out more information at http://www.ffdistantworlds.com/about
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is a musical that tugs at the heart strings.
The Best The Zero Theorem (2013)
Directed by Terry Gilliam
Set in a dystopian future, The Zero Theorem features a colorful cast of misfits.
From the comedic genius of Monty Python to the numerous surprising movies that he has made, Terry Gilliam has shown what is needed to become a giant in the artistic universe. The third and last opus of his “Orwellian triptych” reconfirms it. The Zero Theorem is a story about a peculiar character named Qohen Leth, interpreted by the always-wonderful Christoph Waltz, working for a Big Brother-esque company called Mancom. In a dystopian world, an array of colorful misfits pass through Qohen’s life to disturb his routine, either to help or disrupt his progress towards completing his important assignment. This said mission, bestowed upon him by the almighty Management of Mancom, is to prove the zero theorem, therefore confirming that everything in this universe is meaningless. For those of you familiar with dark but still fascinatingly amusing movies like Brazil and Twelve Monkeys, you can start to fathom what kind of absorbing and interesting world Gilliam is able to create. With his surprisingly lovable protagonist evolving in a not-so unrealistic futuristic society, Gilliam points out and critics many important and smaller facets of today’s world. With some slight exaggerations and caricatures of our own contemporary habits and surroundings, he is able to make us see the incongruity of an over-stimulated, productivity-obsessed, sex-driven civilization. The beauty of it is that The Zero Theorem never feels like it is patronizing. It uses clever humor and poetic representations to let us understand how absurd humankind could become. Let us hope that even in this dystopian future we will still be able to appreciate ingenious masterpieces such as Gilliam’s last work. Watch the trailer here.
Bloody Knuckles (2014)
Directed by Matt O’mahoney
Bloody Knuckles brings in the pain with the help of a zombie hand.
We all hate censorship. Well, at least when it concerns our favorites shows, artists or even media figures. Still, some people might think that a selective censorship is necessary for some “unacceptable” things in our society. In recent history, we can think of Jyllands-Posten’s Muhammad cartoons controversy for example. Bloody Knuckles, when you pass over the vulgar absurdity and the usual gore fest associated with decent B-movies, is a testimony of freedom of speech and the right of laughing about anything and anyone. The film portrays an uncompromising cartoonist named Travis (Adam Boys) using his comics to critique and joke in a particularly obscene fashion about well-know figures. Sadly for him and his soon to be severed hand – the subject of his last comic – Chinatown’s ultimate mobster, Leonard Fong (Kasey Ryne Mazak), is one of those people that thinks that sometimes you should censor yourself. Luckily for us – and the young, now depressed and silenced artist – the disconnected hand comes back from the dead with its offensive attitude to help his master get revenge. From there, the cartoonist, the zombie-hand, a clever journalist (Gabrielle Giraud), and one the most awesome and funny vigilante ever put on screen called Homo Dynamous (Dwayne Bryshun), group up to defeat the evil criminal gang. Bloody Knuckles is not what we would call a classic blockbuster. It will not win an Oscar and could be criticized for its few attempts at serious drama. Still, most of what Bloody Knuckles does is done right. If you are looking for an unconventional and wildly entertaining genre movie, go fetch this pus-covered hand and have a great and disgusting moment! Watch the trailer here.
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart (2013)
Directed by Stéphane Beria and Mathias Malzieu
Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart is a musical that tugs at the heart strings.
We all have this one Disney movie that we cherish and re-watch secretly every once in a while. We also have a special spot in our hearts for their soundtracks. Still, when we grow up we tend to get more and more annoyed by sing-songy characters and predictable children’s movies. That is why the musical and lyrical gem that is Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart more than surprised this Concordian! With its flamboyant characters, its classic but still interesting romantic story and its poetic penchant, this movie has the ability to charm you. One of the strong points of the movie is the surprising array of well-known French artists lending their voices and musical styles to the lovable animated figures. Grand Corps Malade’s guttural yet sensible sound for example, gives Joe – one of the villains – an indescribable quality. The gorgeous cinematographic style and the well-crafted story, both originating from Mathias Malzieu’s novel La Mécanique du Coeur, brilliantly complete this musical score composed by the French rock band Dyonysos. Yes, in the end it could be considered as just another childlike animated movie with singing redundancy, but that would be completely ignoring the ‘petit je ne sais quoi’ of Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart. This movie has something special to offer to young and old alike. You should give it a chance to charm you, you will not be disappointed. Just be sure to make a bit of place in your head for another lovely song or two to add along to your favorite Disney melodies. Watch the trailer here.
The One I Love (2014)
Directed by Charlie McDowell
The One I Love takes the tried and true romantic getaway for a new spin.
What starts as an often seen storyline quickly changes to something much, much different. A couple, named Sophie (Elizabeth Moss) and Ethan (Mark Duplass), are struggling to save their marriage. Their therapists recommends a retreat, promising that this weekend away will renew their relationship. The couple embarks on a journey, unknowingly crossing the line between normal and abnormal.Once arrived at the retreat – which is a beautiful house – seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the couple spends a lovely evening. Things only start to go awry when Ethan discovers the guest house. In it lies an almost identical copy of their significant other. Only one member of the couple can be in the guest house at once, meaning that Sophie and Ethan cannot meet their clones, but can interact with the other version of their spouse. But how could this be? As the couple tries to wrap their brains around this new (clearly impossible) reality, even stranger things start to occur. What follows in an amazingly different story, a film that could be considered the perfect combination of a romantic comedy and science fiction. The film includes flawless acting from both Moss and Duplass, and beautifully shot scenes. It is incredible to think that such a complicated story line can be so well delivered by only three actors, one of which is only in the first few minutes of the film. The film will keep you guessing until the very last minute, and will leave you with a smile on your face, thinking ‘of course!’. Nothing less than genius can be expected from the people who created Jeff, Who Lives at Home and Safety Not Guaranteed. Still, The One I Love is one of the films to see this year. Watch the trailer here.
– written by Nathalie Laflamme
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai (2014)
Directed by Ching-Po Wong
Once Upon a time in Shanghai brings us back to the golden age of Bruce Lee and Asian Kung-Fu cinema.
Once Upon a Time in Shanghai is one of those movies that perpetuates the image of the god-like Kung Fu fighters, and does it really well. More traditional and lyrical in its approach and its cinematographic look than recent martial arts action movie such as The Raid. This movie takes you back to the era of old-school martial arts’ cinema, a time in which CGI did not over-stage the actual talent of the men and women seen on screen. This is probably one of the main qualities Once Upon a Time in Shanghai: it feels authentic. Still, the creators of this movie are well aware of the day and age in which we live in, and use plenty of effects and added stylistic details to give to the film a persona of its own. Simply put, it is theatrical and grand. A classy but still very dangerous Shanghai is portrayed and used as context for the two talented good guys, powerful mobsters and an evil army man trying to take over. It is the story of how it can be hard and unrewarding but still necessary to do good so that justice can prevail. A good old (but brand new) martial arts movie for everyone who misses the virtuosity of mister Bruce Lee himself. Watch the trailer here.
The Worst WolfCop (2014)
Directed by Lowell Dean
Trite and forgettable, Wolfcop is the bane of all buddy-cop movies.
A movie about a dreadfully stereotyped and one-sided alcoholic cop who becomes, in spite of himself, a werewolf. That is WolfCop for you. This review could probably end here and now, but it is necessary to make people understand how awful this film truly is. The unpleasantness of it all first comes in important things such as the characters. As mentioned, the main protagonist is a low-life alcoholic cop that becomes a werewolf (Leo Fafard). Around this un-nuanced character evolves an obnoxious cast including a redneck weirdo, an objectified barmaid, a puritan politician and a poorly executed mix of The Matrix’s Neo and the Driver’s role in Drive as the main villain. Other than that, the plot is pretty simple. A cop becoming a werewolf becomes an efficient wolfcop and starts cleaning the city of bad guys until the final revelation, a cheap and easy plot twist to say the least. Also, some on the most annoying things in WolfCop are some little, exasperating details and scenes. For example, you would be surprised how at how rapidly and seemingly without incident the main protagonist accepts his newly obtained status of werewolf. I don’t know about you. fellow readers, but I would need a few minutes to cope with the news. Additionally, there is an exquisitely ironic sex scene between a scantily clad red riding hood and wolfcop. Very classy, I tell you. It is necessary to admit though that the movie offers a few funny choreographies and werewolf moments. WolfCop could have been exempted from the “Worst” list since it is clearly a B-movie simply doing its thing. Nonetheless, other movies that could be included in the B-movie category such as Bloody Knuckles shows that it is possible to do it right. Sadly, Wolfcop failed miserably. Watch the trailer here.
Bros Before Hoes (2013)
Directed by Steffen Haars and Flip Van der Kuil
Forgettable, childish and misogynistic, Bros Before Hoes doesn’t quite deserve attention or merit.
There is not much to say about this movie, really. It is an example of what Hollywood does badly and repeatedly, this time executed by filmmakers from the Netherlands. Two brothers (Daniel Arends and Tim Haars), after living through their parent’s messy divorce, swear never to get involved in serious relationships, and therefore sleep with different women daily. Soon, one woman changes things (Sylvia Hoeks), and a love triangle become apparent. Sex related, scatological and all other kinds of stupid jokes are hashed and rehashed in this misogynistic movie for horny teens. The overused romantic comedy tale is painfully executed by a whole cast of characters that seemed to try too hard to imitate How I Met Your Mother’s over-the-top protagonist, Barney Stinson (Season nine Barney Stinson… Yes, it is that bad.) This movie uses all the poorest stereotypes and easy jokes there is in the book. By far the worst movie this sorry Concordian editor had to suffer through during this whole festival. Even the substantive amount of Rambo: First Blood quotes cannot save this movie from ending up in a good amount of body bags. Watch the trailer here.
The House at The End of Time (2013)
Directed by Alejandro Hidalgo
While The House at The End of Time might be formulaic, the ending is what truly adds the nail to its proverbial coffin.
This Spanish horror movie is as basic as can be. In the same veins as The Orphanage and The Others, The House at The End of Time is putting its viewers into the familiar setting of a strange and seemingly haunted house. It presents what appears to be a regular family with regular problems, well at least at first. This simplistic premise and set have been seen in numerous occasions, but this does not mean it is a bad thing. Even in the various techniques used by the director to scare the viewers–loud noises used in contrast with heavy moments of silence, mystery hiding behind a closed door, footsteps coming from beyond– almost every conventional horror technique is used. The horror genre is known to use the same formulas over and over again, and still succeeds to deliver some surprising and widely entertaining movies. You do not have to reinvent the wheel to make a great horror film. So, why is The House at The End of Time in the shameful “Worst” list you may ask? Simply put, it is mainly because of the last fifteen minutes. A no spoiler policy will be strictly enforced for this article so we will not go into any specific details, but what seemed to be a decent and honest horror movie just frankly lost it all at the end. Some other critics may be prone to advance the argument that this said ending is a complicated but still very clever twist. This is merely because in our generally simplified cinematic era, an over-complicated ending is often wrongly associated with a sign of quality. Confusion does not automatically rhyme with ingenious. Because of this unsuccessful attempt at cleverness, the movie just loses most of its significance. Sadly, the original tension that you felt during those few good moments just fall flat because of those odd and inconsistent final explanations. Sometimes, mysteries are simply better left alone. Watch the trailer here.
Monsterz (2014)
Directed by Hideo Nakata
With such a great pedigree under his belt, director Hideo Nakata’s Monsterz is forgettable at best.
We have all seen and been traumatized by either the remake or the original versions of some horrifying Asian movies, such as Ringu or Ju-on: The Grudge. Hideo Nakata, the director of the above-mentioned Ringu and Monsterz, is considered a master of the art. However, this recent installment will not stand in the annals of Asian horror movies. The plot revolves around two young men, one with the power of bending the minds of anyone unlucky enough to meet his gaze, and another that seems to be the only one immune to this power. From this premise comes an ever-lasting duel between those two superior beings while society decides that they are a threat to humankind. It is cautionary tale about exclusion and stigmatization. Yet, even if it is evident that there were people with good intentions and talent behind this movie, Monsterz does not hold up to the expectations. Annoying characters, including the most outrageous gay stereotype of the last decade showed on screen, sometimes totally illogical moments and ridiculous dialogues ruins the potential of the movie. This movie had a great concept at its core, but failed to exploit it properly. Hopefully, this will not be the swan song of one of the most talented director when talking about Asian horror movies. We will just need to forget about this unsuccessful attempt. Watch the trailer here.
Notable The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Directed by Tobe Hooper
There’s little that hasn’t already been said about this classic piece of cinema history.
If you are into horror movies, you must have been there with us. If you are a real fan, you could not miss this once in a lifetime chance. Yes indeed, I am talking about the screening of one of the best horror movies of all time, the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre in all its splendor on the big screen! Not only that, but the actual horror legend that gave us this horrifying gem, Tobe Hooper, was there to present it to the lucky people able to enter the presentation. For those of you who cried for a week after having realized the missed opportunity, here is a general overview of the evening. After an energetic presentation by the hyperactive Fantasia host and a short appearance by Tobe Hopper himself, everyone meowed their heart out and the festive ambiance suddenly became creepy with the opening credits and iconic photo-taking. Then the whole audience proceeded to scream, laugh and get traumatize by the amazing classic that is The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It was very interesting to think about how horrified the public must have been back in the day by the gruesome film. It was also easier to experience how this movie not only perturbs its viewers psychologically with its demented protagonists and the general craziness, but also how it affects the audience physically. Indeed, the fact that it was properly presented on a cinema screen with quality surround sound made you realize how unsettling the numerous camera movements, high-pitched noises and general atmosphere and that all those elements could affect you directly and physically. Overall, it was wonderfully frightening to see this movie screening with a public composed of die-hard horror fans. Sadly, the interview and Q&A that followed with the director was not as satisfying. After a few rounds of applause, the Fantasia host started a very interesting and informative interview, or at least he tried to. Maybe mister Hooper was tired or maybe he just did not feel like being there, but in the end even the most stimulating questions directed at him were answered by anecdotic moments or non-related stories. Frankly, it felt more like a reading of IMDB’s trivia pages than a unique opportunity to interview and listen to one of horror’s most talented directors. Still, Tobe Hooper will remain the creator of one of the scariest films ever made. Thanks to him, and the Fantasia International Film Festival, we could finally be scared properly by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Watch the trailer here.
Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014)
Directed by Kevin Finn and James D. Rolfe
As James Rolfe’s magnum opus, The Angry Video Game Nerd movie is a sure-shot for fans of the YouTube superstar.
Most people got to know him as the “Angry Nintendo Nerd” when he first began his short and corrosive reviews of old-school video games a few years ago. Today, James Rolfe is an Internet superstar with over 1.5 million subscribers to its YouTube channel and fans from all around the world, showing a dedication rarely seen on the web and its micro-celebrity sphere. With the help of these devoted fans, the nerd finally delivered his ambitious movie project. In this movie, the infuriated geek and his friends go on a quest to unfold the mystery surrounding the so-called “worst video game of all time”, Eee-tee The Extra-Terrestrial for the Atari 2600. James Rolfe delivers in this wacky film a fair and honest comedy that is surely going to appeal and amuse all of us who watched and laughed at his countless comical videos. The various references to different movie genres, the caricatural characters, the iconic frustrated moments of the nerd himself and the chaotic finale are all elements that kept the whole crowd laughing for nearly two hours. On the other hand, it is important to keep in mind that most of the audience members were Rolfe fans. The reason this movie is not in the “The Best” category is that this is a movie for those fans. It is very doubtful indeed that people who never heard of the “Angry Video Game Nerd” and its original web reviews will like this film. This movie is more of a continuation of the work of James Rolfe and the people that helped him more than a solid stand-alone film. Nonetheless, Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie will satisfy anyone who loves the rolling rock’s drinking character that will play those games that…Oh well, you know the song as well as I do and if not, you probably won’t like the movie. Watch the trailer here.
Mr. Go 3D (2013)
Directed by Yong-hwa Kim
It is a South-Korean blockbuster about a gorilla that becomes a baseball star…in 3D. What else do you need? Watch the trailer here.
Goal of the Dead (2014)
Directed by Thierry Poiraud and Benjamin Rocher
Who knew zombies and sports would go along so well?
What could have been a cheap use of zombies to justify a bad story installed in a sport related setting was after all a nice revelation. Not good enough to be in the honorific “best” list, but its uniqueness, a characteristic rare enough in our contemporary zombie-filled cultural landscape, makes it worthy of our attention. Created with the help of Canal+, this horror comedy will surely entertain you with its smart use of the sometimes laughable world of international sports and the anger and admiration it stirs up. By offering a nice little analogy of the absurdly violent hooligans, it gives us a light and easy to watch two-part movie. It is necessary to precise that people unfamiliar with the French general culture and people may find the movie a little less funny that it really is. Nonetheless, it stands as a nice zombie movie anyway and that is something we all ought to like. If you do not, well you can always go play soccer outside…at your own peril… Watch the trailer here.
It is important to precise that that many wonderful movies and plenty of very bad ones have been omitted in this article. Big titles such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Welcome to New York and I Origins have been left out but certainly deserve your attention. Indie gems such as The Unusual Metalhead and critically acclaimed international hits such as Jacky au Royaume des Filles have also been overlooked. This list is clearly imperfect and insufficient to give a complete portrayal of what the festival has to offer. Your humble writers had to make some difficult choices to bring you this article, and hope that you will understand that, to really experience the Fantasia International Film Festival, you have got to simply be there and make the most of its brilliant selection.
The city will be holding the 17th annual Montreal International Children’s Film Festival until March. 9. This festival encourages excellence in filmmaking and promotes the best of children’s cinema worldwide in order to foster a creative frame of thinking and a critical eye for a younger generation.
We asked you what film inspired you as a child, which one helped shape you and which one is your favourite.
Princess Mononoke
I am about eight years old, Christmas is around the corner and my brother and I are watching Tele-Quebec’s special holidayprogramming. The lady’s voice announces to us that we are now going to watch a darn princess movie — probably one of those girly Disney films that our sister is so fond of. Then, the movie starts and I rapidly realize not only that this is definitely not one of those boring princess stories, but also that this is probably the most epic and awesome movie I have seen in my entire life. During the hour and a half that followed, my brother and I screamed out of excitement and surprise, shared the profound pain of the kind yet doomed young prince and cried out from rage and despair while looking at the destruction of nature by the hands of greedy humans.
More importantly, I fell in love with the fearless Princess Mononoke. Ever since this marvelous abnormality that clashed so fantastically with the naivety typical of the usual children’s films that have entered my life, there has been very few holidays that did not involve an enchanting rendezvous with my favourite princess. You can all keep your apple-eating, shoe-losing, sing-songy princesses — mine has been raised by giant wolves, and that is only one of many things that makes her the best!
-Frédéric T. Muckle
Home Alone
As a child, didn’t you fantasize about staying up all night long to watch action-packed movies while eating ice cream in your parents’ bed? Home Alone gave us the opportunity to live that dream in a more thrilling way with the main character, Kevin, portrayed by Macaulay Culkin. This 8-year-old boy is accidentally left all alone at home by his parents. Besides fully enjoying this experience, he also proves that he can be responsible, by taking care of the house in a more than unusual manner.
Most of the film concentrates on the ingenious traps that Kevin fashions to get rid of the two burglars trying to invade his personal space. While in this particular situation, most children his age would probably panic and cry, but this little boy finds a fun way to solve his problems. Following Kevin’s approach would be almost impossible in real life, but this movie incites the audience’s imagination and invites us to consider that not making a mountain out of a molehill can bring an unexpected denouement. Being a child, I loved watching, year after year, the well-known blonde kid—the protagonist of a suspenseful plot emphasized by surprising special-effects and talented actors of one of the most appreciated children’s movies of the ‘90s.
-Cristiana Iulia Ilea
Pokémon: The First Movie – Mewtwo Strikes Back
Having been immersed in both Eastern and Western cinema, choosing one ultimate film from a plethora of films is a painful decision to make. However, there is one that strikes a chord and induces a sense of nostalgia, where I enjoyed and cherished the moments watching that movie with people who were close and dear to me. After all, isn’t that what an awesome movie experience is supposed to be?
It was Pokémon. Yes, I am that much of a fan when it comes to this multimedia video game franchise conceived by Satoshi Tajiri. People who know me personally are well aware how much I geek out over these cute, powerful little creatures. I guess there is something really exciting in this film that me and my cousins enjoyed when we first watched it together back in 1999.
Just like the group of young trainers going on an adventure, this movie was in itself a personal cinematic quest — including good times and bad.
We had the colorful holographic trading cards, the moment when Ash Ketchum rescues a fainted Pikachu from the wraths of the villain-possessed Mewtwo and on top of that, who could even forget M2M’s sweet and sappy rock ballad, “Don’t say you love me”?
You may judge me, but please don’t. Pokémon was my favourite movie as a child.
-Saturn de Los Angeles
The Land Before Time
When I told my friends I wanted to have a nostalgia-themed movie night and watch The Land Before Time, I was surprised to see just how excited they were to revisit this childhood gem. Seems that anyone who grew up in the ‘90s has fond memories of Littlefoot, Ducky and all the rest of the prehistoric pre-pubescent creatures on their perilous adventure to find the Great Valley.
The reactions I got from my friends (both in the latter half of their 20’s) when re-watching this film as adults, sums it all up:
“That’s Cera. She’s such a bitch,” spewed the 26-year-old marketing executive — hateful venom in her eyes, when the triceratops character first appears.
“This movie is so sad!” wept the 29-year-old pharmacist, hiding her face in her hoodie, while Littlefoot’s mother lay dying in the rain.
Don’t let the cutesy cartoon dinosaurs and their childish names deceive you. This is a movie with a dark streak — a movie about the greatest fears that plague us all.
It is these universal, powerful fears that make this a profound experience for children and adults alike: fear of losing your loved ones, fear of braving the great unknown, fear of those that are different, and ultimately, fear that the path you’ve chosen may lead you not to a lush evergreen valley, but to a fiery volcano. On this dark and fearful journey who better to keep us company than a cast of characters that are funny, colourful and unique. It is their optimism and bravery that guides us through the bleakness, showing us in the end that courage and friendship can truly conquer all.
Does The Land Before Time stand the test of time? In the words of Ducky, “Yup yup yup!”
-Tomer Shavit
Toy Story
One of my earliest memories is of exploring my grandfather’s substantial VHS collection—drawers upon drawers of films, recordings
and songs. Surely more than enough to last you a lifetime, but I didn’t need most of them — I had Toy Story. To think of it, that was possibly the first movie I ever saw.
It came out in 1995, one year after my birth, so I must have been about three when I first fell under its spell. Back then, I spoke not a single word of English; needless to say, the film’s existential themes, the witty dialogue, the amazing voice-acting, all flew right over my head.
I was genuinely shocked, having rewatched the animated classic for the first time in over 10 years, to discover it only ran 81 minutes. How could that be? It used to feel as if a whole day — or all of eternity — had gone by from the moment Buzz Lightyear made his exuberant entrance to the end credits filled with bloopers that made you believe the film was made not on computers but with traditional cameras.
Yes, this is one of my favourite films. Its characters have never left my mind — I still have a life-size Woody toy — and to see the third movie, arguably the best of the series, on the big screen was an experience to behold.
There is bias here. We fell in love with the book in tenth grade. Like Gatsby himself, most people have been waiting five years for this dream to come true. And like Gatsby, it seems that reality never quite lives up to the fantasy.
Graphic Jenny Kwan.
Baz Luhrmann’s version of the movie was the embodiment of a Jazz Age party. It was visually vibrant, the musical score was modern, and the camera dipped and swirled across the screen like it was dancing the charleston. The casting was spot-on, with Leonardo DiCaprio being the obvious successor to Robert Redford as Gatsby, and Carey Mulligan charming us all as the wide-eyed Daisy.
However, bits of the film felt recycled from other Luhrmann pictures. In particular, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway, sitting at his typewriter while the words lift off his page and float around the screen – if one were to screw their eyes up right it could just as easily have been Ewan McGregor typing away in Moulin Rouge.
Another qualm was the narration. Nick becoming the author of the book, writing it from his sanitarium, seemed like a cheap reference to Zelda Fitzgerald living out her later life in a similar place, doing work her husband took credit for. Maybe this is reading too much into it, but it is irksome nonetheless.
Most Likely to Become a Cult Classic: Sharknado -0/10 if you’re taking it seriously; 10/10 if you’re not.
This gem of a movie, starring Tara Reid and Ian Ziering, premiered July 13 on the Syfy channel.
For those of you who live under a rock and have managed not to hear about this TV movie masterpiece, the title says it all. It essentially involves sharks who get sucked up into a tornado, and subsequently rain down on the unsuspecting citizens of L.A. Of course, by sharks, this really means the low budget option, which would be shark-like puppets and recycled stock footage of hammerheads in murky water.
Spoiler alert: the best moment was the scene in which Ziering’s character gets swallowed whole by one of the sharks. Just as the audience begins to accept his unceremonious death, he cuts his way out of the animal’s underbelly and emerges from the flaps of shark flesh, covered in blood. It was hauntingly reminiscent of a birth canal, and made only more fantastic by him pulling out one of the other protagonists behind him. A shout-out also goes to Reid, who seems to have wholly forgotten how to act. Most Pleasant Surprise: The Conjuring – 8/10
The prediction was that The Conjuring would be a hybrid of The Exorcist and Chucky.There were no expectations beyond some cheap thrills. Then five crucial words appeared onscreen: based on a true story.
This is the hook that kept the interest piqued, and prompted a Wikipedia search to find the details of the real story.
The merging storyline of paranormal investigator couple, Ed and Lorraine Warren, and the haunted Perron family made it more compelling and story-driven than the usual fear-mongering film. The use of gore was minimal, making it all the more stomach-churning when disturbing images did pop up.
Go to the cinema up the street some time and look at what’s playing. Montreal has a huge selection of movies but right now there’s a semi-slump in the film calendar. So unless you feel like seeing The Dark Knight Rises again, you’re probably giving the cinemas a wide birth. Have no fear however, there are other options.
The 8th annual Montreal International Black Film Festival begins on September 19 and runs until September 30. During this time, people from all walks of life can treat themselves to an incredible selection of films unavailable anywhere else. There are two films in particular being highlighted by this year’s festival, and they do an excellent job showcasing the diverse styles of filmmaking on display.
First there is the opening film, Winnie, which stars Terrence Howard and Jennifer Hudson. This emotional drama chronicles the life of Winnie Mandela, an extraordinary activist as well as the wife of Nelson Mandela. Those who saw Invictus a couple years ago will remember the incredible job that Morgan Freeman did playing the South African political hero. Winnie, however focuses on the time Mandela spent in prison and deals primarily with how his wife continued the fight and threw her own spirit and tenacity into the battle for South African freedom. For those film buffs out there, you may want to note that director Darrell Roodt will be on hand for the premiere.
The closing film of the festival is a much darker piece. The Central Park Five is a documentary about the lives of five black and Latino individuals who were wrongfully imprisoned for a series of rapes which took place in New York City. This film showcases the failure of police, media and society as a whole to ensure that justice was done. It paints the stark and brutal reality of prejudice that still exists in the first world.
Activist and musician Harry Belafonte, who will be receiving the 2012 Humanitarian award at this year’s festival, will be there opening night for a screening of his biopic film Sing your Song as well as an in-depth Q & A session. Also speaking at this year’s festival is best selling author Stedman Graham.
There are over a hundred films on display, one for every type of moviegoer. For more information on showtimes and tickets visit www.montrealblackfilm.com
The film begins with a seemingly normal married couple, casually chatting in the car, until they take out a Vaseline tube. Giggling wildly they simulate what can only be described as a mini happy ending for the classic lip chap, eventually squeezing the tube to allow the clear gel to squirt out of the top. It’s weird. Very weird. But it’s the kind of inside joke that true best friends can share without inhibition. We immediately realize that Celeste (an absolutely perfect Rashida Jones) and Jesse (a sweet and subdued Andy Samberg) have a unique and meaningful relationship. What we do not yet realize is that the pair have been separated for the past few months.
“It’s the perfect breakup,” says Samberg’s character, who is still living in his ex-wife’s guest house – until it isn’t. Although Jesse is not ready to call it quits, Celeste is set in her decision, and the ex-couple finally decide to do the unthinkable: cut each other out of their lives for good.
Jesse initially tries to change Celeste’s mind but when that proves futile, Jesse decides to move on and suddenly it’s Celeste who is in turmoil over the breakup. The movie slowly churns on as we follow Celeste’s endearing Type-A personality through a string of classic breakup scenarios and attempts at healing her broken heart.
There is a club scene, emotional eating, marijuana-fueled pity parties, including a hilariously honest heart-to-heart between Celeste & her creepy yet charming drug dealer, Skillz, played by Will McCormack. As if that wasn’t enough, there is snooping through trash, house parties, bad dates, yoga, discussions with her gay best friend (an adorable, although cliché, Elijah Wood), divorce papers, Facebook stalking, and of course, karaoke (which leads us to conclude that while Jones can successfully carry a movie, she should probably leave music up to her father, Quincy Jones).
The movie is heartfelt, funny, and just a little bit predictable. Jones and Samberg prove that they can charm any audience, but the script (penned by Jones and McCormack) is less than perfect, sometimes leaving us with jokes that fall short and characters that, with the exception of Celeste, could be further developed. However, it is the sincerity of its main characters and the thoughtful, genuine way in which Celeste goes about her rediscovery, that makes the movie so enjoyable.
She definitely fails more times than she triumphs, but along the way there are meaningful and honest moments, cleverly cushioned by humour and a heartbreaking soundtrack, from Donnie & Joe Emerson’s “Baby,” to Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend,” it might be the most diverse soundtrack of the summer.
The cinematography is surprisingly impressive as well, with one of the film’s most poignant scenes culminating in a striking frame of Jones, smoking a cigarette, her hair and coat blowing in the wind as she stands in front of a white wedding tent.
If there is a pair who can laugh while signing divorce papers and then high five while they leave the building, it’s Jones and Samberg. Celeste and Jesse Forever is sad at the same time as it is heartwarming and will probably join the ranks of classic indies such as (500) Days of Summer.
As the credits roll, we are left with a string of questions to contemplate. Can friendship between two people be forever, even if they aren’t? Is there such a thing as the right person, or even the wrong person? Can two people truly love each other, move on, and still be happy for one another? The movie’s main truth may be that we grow with every relationship, whether we wish to or not.
As Skillz says to Celeste while they take hits from a massive blue bong, “When you can no longer change the situation, you need to change yourself. Victor Frankl… or Biggie… I don’t know.”
Celeste and Jesse Forever will open Aug. 31 at Cineplex Forum. See your local listings for showtimes.
Kunis and Timberlake star in Friends With Benefits, due out in July.
Kunis and Timberlake star in Friends With Benefits, due out in July.
The end of our semester doesn’t exactly coincide with the beginning of summer, but it does mean we all have a lot of extra time to indulge in those guilty pleasures you probably snuck in during midterm studying time: movies.
Summer movies are generally associated with noise, explosions, popcorn, sequels and remakes, but if you look for them (and you don’t even have to look that hard), some quieter, local films are also being released that will be well worth the price of admission.
Montreal director Jacob Tierney’s first effort since last year’s The Trotsky will be released June 3. Good Neighbours stars Jay Baruchel (who is likely to play an awkward extension of himself, again), Scott Speedman, Emily Hampshire and Quebec film phenom Xavier Dolan. The movie is set in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce during the 1995 referendum on the separation of Quebec, but residents of an apartment complex also have to deal with a series of murders that coincidentally start occurring when Baruchel’s character moves into the neighbourhood.
Kevin Tierney, Jacob’s father, will make his directorial debut with French Immersion on July 1. The elder Tierney has been mainly producing films in Canada, including Bon Cop, Bad Cop, which he also wrote and won a Genie award for. His first effort as a director is about four anglo-Canadians and a New Yorker who take part in a two-week French immersion program in a northern Quebec town, where “only” 97 per cent of the population is “pure laine.” The remaining three per cent? Vampires (maybe… although in all seriousness, with no Twilight film coming out this summer, a vampire plot twist could make French Immersion the biggest hit of the season).
Starbuck starring Patrick Huard comes out on July 29. The movie is not about the coffee chain, but rather about Huard’s character, an immature 42-year-old man who decides he wants to reinvent himself into the adult he should have been decades ago. Thing is, right when he wants to turn his life around, he finds out he is the biological father of 533 children.
Pour l’amour de Dieu will be released on May 11. Directed by Micheline Lanctôt, the story of the forbidden romantic relationship between Sister Cécile and Father Malachy in 1950’s Montreal is seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old female student, who also has a crush on Malachy.
But not all Quebec films look promising this summer. So You Think You Can Dance Canada season one winner Nico Archambault stars in what can only be described as Quebec’s version of the ghastly and nausea-inducing Step Up series. Sur le rythme comes out Aug. 12.
The boys are back in town, in Thailand this time, for Hangover 2.
As for the Hollywood fare coming out this summer, director Roland Emmerich (2012, The Day After Tomorrow) once said “Nobody makes movies bad on purpose.” He should know; his movies are as disastrous as the events depicted in them.
This summer, Hollywood continues its assault on your senses with follow-ups to the Pirates of the Caribbean and Transformers series. On Stranger Tides and Dark of the Moon come out on May 20 and July 1, respectively. More sequels abound as this summer will also mark the end of the beloved Harry Potter franchise films. Part two of The Deathly Hallows comes out July 15. Zach Galifianakis and his wolf pack go to Thailand for The Hangover Part II for Stu’s (Ed Helms) wedding on May 26.
Last January’s Natalie Portman-Ashton Kutcher film No Strings Attached had such a resonating theme that a similar film is due. Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis star in Friends with Benefits, out July 22, a movie about two friends who want all of the physical and none of the emotional attachment. Original.
One comedy worth checking out is likely to be May 13’s Bridesmaids, the Judd Apatow-produced Kristen Wiig vehicle. Women deserve a great comedy that respects them as moviegoers, and men deserve a movie that will not make them cringe when they’re going to be dragged to it.
