Hey folks, Harry here. We'll be getting these wrapping up reviews for the next couple of days, and I would like to put a request out there for a film that I haven't heard a review of yet. GOAT ON FIRE AND SMILING FISH. The Dude was hawking this film up in Toronto according to Ebert, and Anton Sirius was out there hearing tidbits, but I've yet to actually hear from anyone who saw the film. Was it worth a shit? I don't know. Anyways... onto Subway Bear...
Subway Bear reporting again from Toronto.
What a week. I have several fine (read excellent), several mediocre, and one or two stinkers here at the Toronto Film Festival since I took in the amazing Felicia's Journey (which remains my personal favourite). Here are some quick reviews of what I saw (I apologise for repetition of movies that have already been reviewed, I'll be brief with them.)
American Beauty
American Beauty is everything others have boasted of, and more. Sam Mendes has put together an excellent film, hard to believe he's a first time film director, the transfer for him from theatrical direction to filmic is smooth. Most films that comment about suburban life seem to feel like they are too unrealistic, or too real to me. This one doesn't seem real, but it feels like a dream version of America to me. A lot of the events in it are based on cliches of modern North American culture, and situations are set up that might be seen in any generic Hollywood movie (see Mumford later on for what I consider Hollywood nonsense). What makes American Beauty different is the direction, and excellent acting (and not just on Kevin Spacey's behalf, every actor in this film was working very well). In the midst of laughs, there is a very dark ironic twist of the knife: is this really how we live? Working for people we don't want to work for, living the lives our parents want us to, not really connecting with people? This film has already been labeled a black comedy, but I'd wouldn't label it a comedy in the classic sense, more of an Irony...if there can be such a thing in film. Anyway, it's a fine film. Very good. Probably my second favourite besides Felicia's Journey that I saw at the festival this year.
Mumford
Talk about polar opposites. I took in this film right after American Beauty (I'm talking I had to leave the Qand A with Kevin Spacey and Sam Mendes early). And boy, was I disappointed. Now, I knew nothing about this movie, other than that Ted Danson was in it (I was actually hoping he might be there so I could mention how much I loved his performance in Saving Private Ryan (in reality I hated his cameo in it). The film, as you may have heard is about a "fake" psychologist in the town of Mumford, named Dr. (wait for it) Mumford. This leads to incredibly facinating dialog ("Wait a minute, you mean, your name is Mumford? Like the town? Like the town we're in right now? Mumford? Far out." and that was from Jason Lee!) This movie is what I would consider a Hollywood piece of crap in it's purest form. Jason Lee is the only thing that could have saved this movie as a skateboarding (duh) whiz kid who owns a huge company called Panda Modems. But alas, even he is wasted. I mean, the plot hinges on ridiculous information, not to mention the show Unsolved Mysteries. This would have been better as a TV movie. But, with all that said, this movie does do some interesting things...the first five minutes had me loving it, and there were certainly some very bizarre twists. Save this one for video.
The Limey
I have to mention this movie, though it's already been reviewed several times because I really enjoyed it. Ultra simple plot + experimental film techniques made it very entertaining for me. The movie seemed to be devided up into neat little sections, and within each section, the visuals would jump all around in the time within that section, and the soundtrack would be doing the same thing, but not at the same time. So the overall feel of most of the movie is of it being a montage. It was jarring at first, but very intriguing as you got into it. And I can't say enough how much I liked the soundtrack, especially the songs that sound like they are being played on a broken piano. Since I've seen other people's reactions to this, I'll say that you have to be of a certain mind to see this movie. It takes more than just a fan of the "revenge thriller" genre, but also a fan of experimenting with film.
Barenaked in America
Jason Preistly? Yes. Yes he directed this movie, and yes it was one of the best I saw at the festival. If this gets a wide release I will be very happy. If you are a fan of the Barenaked Ladies (or even have heard one of their songs on the radio) you will probably enjoy at least some aspect of this movie. It's just fun. I mean the first shot after the super classy credits is Ed Robertson taking a poop in a bathroom stall. Those Ladies kill me. I can't get enough of them. Look for this one. It's worth finding.
Jakob the Liar
When I first heard about this movie, I thought it sounded like a prequel to Good Morning Vietnam, but in fact it's a lot closer to Life is Beautiful in it's premise. Robin Williams is a Jewish Pancake vendor in a Jewish ghetto during World War 2 who through a series of circumstances is suspected of having a radio (something forbidden in the ghetto) which tells him the war is nearly over, and that the Russians are almost to Poland. He of course has no actual radio. ("Hence "the Liar") but his stories for the most part give hope to the other members of the ghetto and drop the high suicide rate. There are some really great filmic moments, (ie. when Williams pretends for the little girl to turn on the radio, but in fact does the broadcast himself speaking through metal bowls and other implements of the pancake industry) but as a whole, this film felt like it's already been done. And the end soured my whole viewing expereince. This is the worst ending I have ever witnessed in this type of a movie. This is worth seeing once.
Music of the Heart
Again, there is an interesting thing to be mentioned of the director, it's Wes Craven. (Who "gladly took time off from Scream 3 to visit Toronto".) And as Wes joked, fans of his other work should know that at no time does the heart of the title leave anyone's body. The film showcased Meryl Streep (who everyone by now probably knows, learned how to play the violin for this role.) in the true story of a music teacher going into an inner city school and you know, yadda yadda yadda. The funniest part of the evening was when Wes Craven got up there, and told the entire plot of the movie to the audience. It was hillarious! I'm not sure why he did this. Anyway, the film was well done, the only problem being is, we've already seen it! Take Dangerous Minds, add a pinch of Mr. Holland's Opus, and you've got Music of the Heart. But despite this, the movie is gripping. The one failure in my mind, is the camera work in the almost final scene, it is basically a slow montage, but it's grating after awhile. Not sure how it could be fixed though. This is a great movie to see if a teacher (especially a music teacher) ever touched you (and not in that way.)
Big Kahuna
A nice little film that as much as it tries not to be, still feels a little bit like a play on film. However, that is not a bad thing. The dialog is very tight, and the conflict between the characters is very real. DeVito is great in this, the best I've seen him since One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. And Kevin Spacey is excellent as usual (almost the opposite of his character in American Beauty). The young actor (I'm embarrassed to say his name has slipped my mind) is also very good. The film is a story of three travelling salesmen put together in a Hospitality Suite trying to score an account with the "Kahuna Grande", the president of a big company. It's funny, and poignant. Worth seeing a several times just to absorb it all.
Black and White
Going into this film, as with so many others at the festival, I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that Claudia Schiffer was in it. When the director James Toback spoke in his introduction, I had a feeling I would like this movie, and in the end, I did. The movie is like a cross between a documentary on inner city Hip Hop culture, and a traditional Hollywood narrative movie. A very strange mix. The list of famous actors in it is vast: Brooke Shields, Robert Downey Jr. (hey isn't he in jail?), Elijah Wood, Gaby Hoffman, Mike Tyson (a shocking portrayal of himself), the Wu-tang clan, Claudia Schiffer, Ben Stiller and I'm sure there were more that I missed. There are tons of characters, but it was not at all hard to follow what was going on. Sometimes the tone seemed a bit forced, when the characters were musing about racial things, but others times it came off very naturally. The most beautiful moments in this movie are when dark classical strings come in, a solemn contrast to the hip hop that is usual pounding throughout. What I liked most about this movie is the experimental aspect. It wasn't out to be the next Boyz in da Hood style movie, it was there to do something new, and I appreciate that. It made me overlook the flaws in the film. Worth watching for me, but it might be depressing/hard to watch for others.
Guinevere
Sarah Polly, a national treasure to us here in Canada, is once more being "lent" as director Audrey Wells put it, to the USA in the film Guinevere. (The highlight of this evening for me was making Sarah Polly laugh as me and two friends started reading off out loud the stupid words on screen for an Air Canada ad which precursored every film at the festival. The whole theatre seemed to be saying it with us, and others seemed to be yelling for us to shut up, but Sarah Polly was laughing her head off and turned around to look at us. And yes, in case you were wondering, I don't get out much.) The film is about an artist named Connie Fitzpatrick (played by Stephen Rea) who has amorous affairs with young women in which he tries to make them into artists. Sarah Polly plays Harper, his newest "Guinevere". Rea's character is treated objectivly, which is nice. Even though the temptation to hate what his character is doing is there, there is the intense need to feel sorry for him as well. Though this film might not be as one possibly psychotic Sarah Polly fanatic in the front row said in the Qand A "The most beautiful film I have ever seen!" it was certainly a very interesting and well put together movie.
Love in the Mirror (aka Amor nello specchio)
The only foreign film I got a chance to see this year at the festival, it was very well shot, the dialogue came off a lot of times sounding like poetry, and the backdrop of the basic story was incredible. Okay, it sounds more like the story of a pornographic Italian picture than a serious one, but here is the story. A young woman attempts to join a group of players in 17th century Italy mostly because she is infatuated with the man that leads it and writes the plays. The man however is married to one of the other players, and his wife becomes very jealous of the affair that develops between the leader and the young woman. So the wife devises a plan that seems like it's right out of Shakespeare, she will make the young girl fall in love with her instead of her husband. This love triangle leads to some very interesting developments, but what I liked most about this movie was the backdrop of 17th century theater in Italy. There are no stage lights, so candles and mirrors are largely used, but some of the other props in it are ingenious as well. Large arrays of spinning mirrors propel light throughout the theatre. Very interesting. There is one dream sequence I would have deleted entirely from the film (you'll know what it is if you ever see the film), but other than that, it was very good. I wish I knew Italian so I didn't have to watch the subtitles. Worth watching if you have a thing for this type of movie (It reminded me most of Prospero's Books by Peter Greenaway and The Adventures of Baron Munchousen, though don't go in expecting Baron Munchousen.)
Breakfast of Champions
At last, my final movie of the festival. I was going to try and sneak into the closing night party, but in the end I chickened out. Ah well, always next year, and an unlimited number of years to follow after that. Breakfast of Champions was either completly brilliant, or utterly retarded. Take your choice. Many people will think this movie is a waste of film, others will praise it. I happen to be one who is ready to praise it. If you've read anything by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (the dude who wrote the book this is based on) you know that his writing is not conventional. This movie is also, not conventional. To those going to see this film because Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte are in it, sorry, don't bother. This film requires a certain amount of appreciation of the absurd. You have to find it funny that there happens to be a convict with almost the exact same name as Bruce Willis' character that is obsessed with him. You have to appreciate how worried Nick Nolte's character is about being exposed to his boss as a cross-dresser. You have to appreciate the weird visual effects and advertisements everywhere that make the movie seem all too real. One of my favourite moments is when a character looks out a window, and says "This would be a great location for a fried chicken franchise. Right next to the prison." It doesn't reall make sense, but in a way it does. Albert Finney as Kilgore Trout is also very good, I kept thinking of Vonnegut as I heard what this character had to say. Very clever writing. I thought overall that this was a fine adaptation, and a very interesting movie. To the taste of those that bask in the ridiculous.
Sorry for the extreme long-windedness of myself, but I had to have some way of winding down after seeing that many movies. It's just over, and I can't wait for next year already.
And without further ado,
The Subway "no, not like the place you buy subs" Bear signs off.
