TIFF '16 - Day 8: The Girl with All the Gifts, Ma' Rosa

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

The Girl with All the Gifts (UK, 2016): Between The Walking Dead and all the low-rent undead flicks, it’s hard to give a fresh twist to the zombie subgenre. The Girl with All the Gifts does its darndest to achieve it, but the surplus of ideas ends up hurting the outcome.

The film opens intriguingly enough. A group of inoffensive-looking children are treated like Hannibal Lecter by an overzealous military unit. One of the kids is the dependably polite Melanie (newcomer Sennia Nanua), who hangs pictures of a cat on her wall when no one is looking. Slowly we come to realize the children are partially zombified, but retain a semblance of humanity.

The matter of the kids’ right to be treated as people is one of the many issues the movie hints at, but doesn’t develop (likely, the novel that inspired the film is more thorough). One element I haven’t seen in other zombie movies is the suggestion that mankind is screwed anyway and we should just let it happen.

The Girl with All the Gifts may have been better suited for a TV series. As a feature, too much info falls through the cracks. Two stars.

Ma' Rosa (Philippines, 2016): I was not familiar with the filmography of Philippines most noteworthy filmmaker, Brillante Mendoza. Getting introduced to his work through Ma’ Rosa is akin to being thrown into the deep end of the pool: Gritty, relentless and depressing.

The drama follows 24 hours in the life of Rosa, a convenience store owner/crack dealer. Life in poverty has hardened the mother of three, and her relationship with her kin is punctuated by abuse. This day in particular her store is raided by the police, and the only way she can escape time in the clink is by ratting out her provider and put together a considerable amount for her “bail” (bribe).

The movie revolves around Rosa, but takes breaks to follow her children as they try to get the money in heartbreaking sequences. Also, we get to see the utterly corrupt police force try to make the most of the arrest (financially, that is). Brillante Mendoza employs a visual style very similar to late-period Michael Mann (handheld HD video), only in this scenario is more appropriate than say Miami Vice. Ma’ Rosa just looks chaotic, but has structural clarity and purpose. Four stars.

For #TIFF16 up-to-the-minute updates, follow me on Twitter at @jicastillo.

TIFF '16 - Day 7: Christine, Sand Storm

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Christine (USA, 2016): In 1974, Sarasota news reporter Christine Chubbuck responded to management pressures for more exciting stories by blowing her brains off on live TV. Since there is no mystery about her fate, this biopic focuses on the many factors that led her to take such drastic decision.

As depicted in the film, Christine Chubbuck (Rebecca Hall, Vicki Christina Barcelona) was the smartest reporter in the room, with hopes to go to a bigger market. Christine was also struggling with depression, infertility and an unrequited crush on the news anchor (Michael C. Hall, Dexter).

The film is broad but successful at exploring all the elements involved in Chubbuck’s suicide. But the movie’s biggest asset is a powerhouse performance by Rebecca Hall, who builds a sympathetic character without betraying the integrity of the person who inspired it. If Christine wasn’t an indie struggling with distribution, I would call Hall a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination. Three stars.

Sand Storm (Israel, 2016): As problematic as the issue of arranged marriages is in the Middle East, there are only so many outcomes available to filmmakers. Sand Storm finds a less explored strain, but fails at distinguish itself from other similarly themed films (Academy Award nominee Mustang hit theatres just last winter).

The eldest daughter of a Bedouin family, Layla believes that because her father allows her to drive and pursue an education, she can pick her own beau. She would be wrong. Mere days after bringing the boyfriend home, she is engaged to a less than stellar individual from her community.

Layla’s stern mother, Jalila, appears initially as the villain of the piece (she is the first one to oppose the young woman’s relationship), but soon becomes clear she is a realist with a better grasp of her husband’s character. Jalila is also fighting her own issues, namely the arrival of a second wife, much younger than her.

Sand Storm brings attention to the limited opportunities women have in this environment and hints at the resilience of patriarchal tradition. Worth watching, if you haven’t been exposed to the subject before. Three stars.

For #TIFF16 up-to-the-minute updates, follow me on Twitter at @jicastillo.

TIFF '16 - Day 6: Deepwater Horizon, Mean Dreams, Manchester by the Sea, The Salesman

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Deepwater Horizon (USA, 2016): Given director Peter Berg’s previous output (the disreputable Lone Survivor), I was honestly expecting this movie would be on British Petroleum’s side. Thankfully, Deepwater Horizon sticks to the official story and slaps some action scenes for good measure.

Berg’s go-to leading man, Mark Wahlberg, is Mike Williams, the second in command at the ill-fated oil platform. Because of greed inspired BP directives, a number of security checks are bypassed, so when they finally agree to a checkup, all hell breaks loose.

Even though Berg goes way over the top with the jargon, the filmmaker does a good job explaining the events that lead to the oil spilling (the environmental catastrophe that ensued is only mentioned in passing). But for all the didactic exposition and superb execution of complex action sequences, the characters are one-trait ponies. Kate Hudson is in this movie solely to pace around the house and look worried (and gorgeous). Two and a half stars. 

Mean Dreams (Canada, 2016): In any other year, Mean Dreams would have shined among TIFF’s Canadian offerings. However, given the strong crop in display this festival, it comes out as pedestrian.

In a rural area near Sault St. Marie, two troubled teens fall in love. Jonas (Josh Higgins, Max) is the son of an impoverished farmer who must quit school to help with the land. To the house next door arrives Casey (Sophie Nélisse, The Book Thief), a sweet girl with a rageaholic father (Bill Paxton). They soon fall for each other, but Casey’s dad doesn’t approve of the relationship. Two caveats: The father is a police officer and has a drug business on the side.

Outside beautiful fall scenery, there nothing particularly moving about Mean Dreams: The lovers on the lam angle has been explored a thousand times and this film doesn’t have anything original to add. That said, Mean Dreams is competently made and Nélisse -who got started as one of Monsieur Lazhar students- is becoming a talent to watch. If nothing else, Bill Paxton’s scenery chewing is worth checking out. Two stars.

Manchester by the Sea (USA, 2016): Playwright, screenwriter and director, Kenneth Lonergan has a knack to capture the depths of an individual just by watching it go through their day. His dialogue never feels forced, but is revealing all the same. His movies are a low-key wonder.

Manchester by the Sea is only his third movie and the most complete one to date. Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck, never better) is a taciturn janitor sleepwalking through his life. The death of his brother takes him back to his hometown, a visit that troubles him for reasons that slowly come into focus. There is also a surprise in stock for Lee: He has been named his 16-year old nephew’s guardian, a task he believes he’s not up to, despite having an easy rapport with the kid.

As is tradition in Lonergan’s work, comedy and tragedy mix seamlessly. Teenage self-centeredness and Lee’s unsociable behavior lead to perfectly relatable (and often gut-busting) clashes. The writer/director doesn’t avoid the leg work and turns those minor indignities of everyday life into representations of inner turmoil. An early frontrunner for the Academy Awards, at least in acting and writing categories. Four stars. 

The Salesman (Iran, 2016): While Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami was celebrated for the lyricism of his work, Asghar Farhadi deserves credit for being the filmmaker who best has captured the country’s modern quandaries.

The Salesman is less well-rounded than Farhadi’s previous film -A Separation-, but is just as provocative. Emad, a teacher-cum-actor is forced to abandon his home when the shoddy building he lives in starts to fall apart. He believes he has found a bargain when a friend offers him another apartment, but not even a couple of nights after moving in his wife is attacked. A hunt for the perpetrator ensues, without the assistance of the police or the traumatized victim.

It’s never explicitly said, but the film strongly hints the assault was sexual in nature. Farhadi depicts a society unprepared to deal with crimes of this ilk, and men struggling to see women as their equals. That said, the picture of Iran is of a society much closer to the Western World than other countries in the region are. The Salesman may challenge some preconceptions, without losing sight of the problems that still affect the country. Three and a half stars.

For #TIFF16 up-to-the-minute updates, follow me on Twitter at @jicastillo.

TIFF '16 - Day 5: La La Land, Window Horses, Paterson

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

La La Land (USA, 2016): Director Damien Chazelle’s follow-up to the superb Whiplash shows a filmmaker willing to explore outside his zone of comfort. Narratively, La La Land is pat, but the visuals, music and choreographies more than make up for it.

The story is pure Hollywood lore: Mia is a small town girl (Emma Stone) struggling with getting her acting career off the ground. As she makes her way through Tinseltown, she encounters a jazz musician (Ryan Gosling) with whom she falls in love with. Opportunity doesn’t have a sense of timing and their careers get in the way of a fulfilling relationship.

La La Land is visually stunning and goes from feat to feat (the opening sequence set on a freeway is one for the books), yet it remains profoundly human. Gosling and Stone are top notch, both as song-and-dance partners and in the more dramatic sequences. The film features a coda so brilliant, it practically eclipses the rest of the movie. A strong candidate to best of the fest. Four and a half stars.

Window Horses (Canada, 2016): A phenomenal animated drama that proves you don’t need millions of dollars or Pixar-like precision to trigger an emotional response, Window Horses could be the surprise of this edition of TIFF.

Rosie Ming (voiced by Sandra Oh) is a young writer with little life experience who gets the surprise of a lifetime when she is invited to a poetry festival in Shiraz, Iran. It’s not entirely out of the blue: Rosie is of Persian and Chinese descent, and is curious about her absent father’s land. The culture shock is considerable, but more so the discovery of how little she knows about her craft.

An already captivating plot is further improved with the incorporation of traditional Iranian poetry and dollops of history. The film’s looks are deceptively simple (Rosie is a stick figure, but there is a good reason for that) and enables the participation of guest animators for the most lyrical sequences. There isn’t a weak link in this chain: Sandra Oh’s voice acting is on point, Don McKellar as a conceited German poet is a hoot and the narrative builds up to a powerful climax. Four stars.

Paterson (USA, 2016): Following a career apex (the superb Only Lovers Left Alive), Jim Jarmusch takes a step back and delivers a deceptively simple meditation on routine and art.

Not one to abandon his indie roots despite widespread recognition, Adam Driver plays the title character. Paterson is happy with his lot in life, a whimsical and loving wife, a pub that suits his sensibilities and a job (bus driver) that allows him to rove around his beloved city… Paterson, New Jersey. The only element that distinguishes him is his appreciation for poetry, both as a reader and as a writer.

Paterson flirts with surrealism, but never leaves the viewers hanging. For the most part, his approach is charming, like reencountering the leads of Moonrise Kingdom as teenagers with a rebel streak. Jarmusch’s attempt to achieve transcendence through repetition is daring, although the verdict on whether he succeeded or not may vary from one viewer to the next. Three and a half stars.

For #TIFF16 up-to-the-minute updates, follow me on Twitter at @jicastillo.

TIFF '16 - Day 4: Denial, Julieta, American Honey, It's Only the End of the World

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Denial (UK, 2016): A fascinating story that could be more at home on TV than on the big screen, Denial rises above pedestrian filmmaking thanks to the power of the material and strong turns by Rachel Weisz and Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner).

The court drama pits American historian Deborah Lipstadt against British rabble-rouser David Irving. Lipstadt accused Irving of fabricating and misrepresenting historic documents in order to support his belief that the Holocaust never took place. Rather unexpectedly, the neo-Nazi icon sued the academic for libel. Since in the UK the burden of proof lies with the accused, Lipstadt found herself having to demonstrate the systematic killing of Jewish prisoners during World War II.

The film is bursting with fascinating info (even when defeat seemed unavoidable, the Nazis went out of their way to hide all evidence of the Final Solution) and serves as a primer on Britain’s justice system. Just as important as the Lipstadt-Irving showdown are disagreements within the historian’s defense team. While Irving’s position is indefensible, the debate over calling Holocaust survivors to the stand is a riveting one.

Denial goes above and beyond to provide a fluid narrative and a traditional climax (a challenge in films based on real events) and not always succeeds. Nevertheless, movies of this substance shouldn’t be dismissed. Three stars.

Julieta (Spain, 2016): Pedro Almodóvar’s work for the last decade has been hit-and-miss. A telling sign is whenever he abandons traditional structure: His weakest films are his most indulgent (I’m So Excited, Broken Embraces). I’m happy to report Julieta is one of his best efforts, up there with All About my Mother, a movie that shares a similar DNA.

Julieta unfolds as a mystery within an enigma. We first meet the title character (Emma Suárez) as she bails from moving to Portugal with her boyfriend. Soon we are informed the reason is her estranged daughter. Extended flashbacks reveal how young Julieta (the stunning Adriana Ugarte) came to meet the father, a fisherman, and how her entire existence has been marred to a feeling of guilt.

I don’t wish to spoil the surprises Julieta has to offer. Suffice to say the emotional punches are consistent and land more often than not. A soberer than usual Almodóvar depicts guilt as a destructive force that reproduces itself. Julieta’s dad offers a nice counterpoint to the lead character: Move on or become consumed by remorse.

Julieta works in most aspects, except for the over the top, melodramatic score. Not even Greek tragedies call for such violin abuse. Four stars.

American Honey (USA, 2016): A fairly new phenomenon in American cinema is the portrayal of the impoverished regions of the country. From to Beast of the Southern Wild to Hell or High Water, there seems to be an appetite for social cinema that wasn’t there five years ago.

American Honey falls in this category. It’s a character study (another anomaly in American cinema) with sociocultural undertones, simultaneously hard and compassionate towards millennials. Star (impressive debut of Sasha Lane) is a teen on the run from an abusive home. She joins a group of adolescents who roam across the southern states selling magazine subscriptions. While they maintain the illusion of free living, the collective is ruled with iron fist by Krystal (a terrific Riley Keough) and the charismatic Jake (Shia LaBeouf). Star and Jake begin a clandestine relationship, placing the newcomer in an awkward and potentially dangerous position.

Director Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank) pushes the envelope further than expected and ties the proceedings to a feeling of hopelessness. American Honey is never boring, but it’s hard to justify a 163-minute length. The film is challenging, but compulsively watchable. Three stars.

It’s Only the End of the World (Canada, 2016): I think I have Xavier Dolan figured out. Because of his early start as a director, he only trades on emotions. Rationality or any thinking matter have no place in his movies. This is all well and good for a couple of films, but the continuous praise has stunted his evolution. His latest is frankly unbearable. The most impressive francophone cast imaginable (Vincent Cassel, Marion Cotillard, Lea Seydoux, Nathalie Baye) is wasted on having them yelling at each other. Also, they play no recognizable human beings. Only Dolan’s stand-in -Gaspard Ulliel- survives this smorgasbord of overacting, mostly by staying quiet. One star.

For #TIFF16 up-to-the-minute updates, follow me on Twitter at @jicastillo

TIFF '16 - Day 2: Free Fire, Elle, Snowden

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Free Fire (USA/UK, 2016): Ben Wheatley is without a doubt one of the most interesting contemporary filmmakers at work, but his filmography is far from immaculate. He often engages in self-indulgence and glamorization of violence.

Free Fire embodies both of Wheatley’s main flaws. In fact, more than a movie, Free Fire feels like an exercise in style, following the infinitely more complex and ambitious High-Rise.

1978, Boston. A group of IRA members intents to purchase a number of automatic weapons from a shifty South African dealer at an abandon warehouse. The already tense exchange shifts into hyper-drive when men at both sides of the transaction succumb to the pressure.

The impish shoot’em up is undeniably entertaining, even though Wheatley fails to establish a visual geography to better follow the dispute. A number of recognizable actors (Cillian Murphy and Armie Hammer as the pros, Sharlto Copley and Sam Riley as the hotheads, Brie Larson as the liaison) are game to some down-and-dirty action, but Free Fire is just a minor detour for a filmmaker who can be more than another Tarantino clone. Three stars.

Elle (France, 2016): Perennial provocateur Paul Verhoeven has been very quiet lately. Outside a more or less traditional WWII flick (Black Book) and a forgettable short, the man who turned Hollywood on its head in the nineties has kept a low profile since.

His latest, Elle, is perhaps a career best. Verhoeven mixes genres with remarkable dexterity and is still capable of building a complex protagonist: The credits haven’t even finished rolling in when Michele (Isabelle Huppert, never better) is raped at home by an intruder. Reporting the attack is low in her list of concerns: Her son is about to move in with his pregnant girlfriend even though he may not be the baby’s father, her videogame company is developing a product that could make or break her business, and her long-time jailed father is up for parole.

You would think Michele is on the edge, but she remains in control and more together than everyone else around her. So much so, that the idea of being powerless becomes a thrilling one. You can figure out where this is going.

A layered mystery with a dollop of black comedy, Elle is very wrong in the best way possible. A contained Verhoeven is as good as his most debauched self, with the invaluable assistance of Huppert in a bravura performance. Four and a half stars.

Snowden (USA, 2016): It has been a long while since Oliver Stone was last relevant. His last few movies have gone from goofy (W.) to flat (World Trade Center). Even his attempt to be commercial (Savages) lacked the pizzazz his best efforts had.

While not entirely a return to form, Snowden is at least a fully shaped film that makes clear why the actions of the NSA contractor are worth our appreciation, regardless of the authorities’ scorn. Stone gives Edward Snowden the hero treatment: A former soldier of conservative tendencies appalled by the liberties the American government takes with civil surveillance. As the titular character, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a remarkable job matching the man himself, from the voice pitch to the deceptive composure.

Snowden does a much better job than Oscar-winning documentary Citizenfour filling in the audience on the programmer’s trajectory and his motivations. Once again though, Snowden’s partner Lindsay Mills gets the short shift, in spite of a spirited performance by Shailene Woodley. It’s never clear why Mills has stuck through thick and thin with the whistleblower. Love only gets you so far. Three and a half stars.

For up-to-the-minute #TIFF16 impressions, follow me on Twitter at @jicastillo.

TIFF '16 - Day 1: Toni Erdmann, Werewolf, The Commune, Neruda

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Toni Erdmann (Germany, 2016): A Cannes sensation, Toni Erdmann has already been celebrated as one of the comedic achievements of the decade, even making its way into the 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century list, according to the BBC.

Guess what. It’s overrated.

Don’t get me wrong, Toni Erdmann is far from a bad movie, but the 160 minutes-long comedy doesn’t deserve such unrestrained praise.

Winfried, a music teacher and incorrigible joker, tries to reconnect with his daughter Ines, a serious businesswoman on assignment in Rumania. The prankster fails in his first attempt, so he brings out the big guns, namely his alter ego, Toni Erdmann. The character is an obnoxious bore, but at least gets a reaction from Ines, noticeably depressed but unaware of it.

The deadpan comedy of Toni Erdmann is pleasant, even sharp at times, but the length is absurd. The film aims to criticize European corporations that favor efficiency and rules over the human factor, hardly a groundbreaking topic. I could be missing something, but it wasn’t the transformative experience I was expecting. Three stars. Toni Erdmann will be distributed in Canada.

Werewolf (Canada, 2016): A terrific feature debut by Ashley McKenzie, Werewolf is a gritty look at a couple of heroin addicts trying to ‘get better’ in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. While not the most original idea, the film is interesting as it shows the two leads navigating Canadian bureaucracy as they try to attain a degree of normalcy through job assistance and low income housing.

Even though they face similar obstacles in the rehabilitation process, Nessa and Blaise have different luck. While the former follows the (often patronizing) rules imposed by people in position of authority, the latter becomes easily frustrated and lands in a vicious circle that prevents him from getting better. The relationship suffers because of this and as painful as it sounds, cutting a loved one loose is sometimes the only way to survive.

McKenzie used non-professional actors for Werewolf and the strategy pays off handsomely. Andrew Gillis and Bhreagh MacNeil give fresh and unassuming performances, captured in tight, oppressive shots. As predictable as the film’s path is, it doesn’t make it any less harrowing. Three and a half stars. 

The Commune (Denmark, 2016): The Danish keep on killing it at finding new angles in family dramas. In The Commune, we see a marriage fall apart as they try to assimilate the new limits of personal freedom during the swinging 70’s. The moral of the story? Never a good idea to deal with emotional issues rationally. Three and a half stars.

Neruda (Chile, 2016): Not quite a biopic of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, this is like The Fugitive without the urgency (then it goes meta). There is a good idea at the center of Neruda, but director Pablo Larraín crams so much info, it gets lost in the shuffle. Two stars.

For #TIFF16 up-to-the-minute updates, follow me on Twitter at @jicastillo.

REVIEW: How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town: Not Really a Manual

The ensemble comedy goes for edgy, but comes short.

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

THE PLOT: Years after escaping her conservative hometown, Cassie (Jewel Staite, Firefly) returns to attend her mother’s funeral. While her mom gained some notoriety chronicling the joys of living in Beaver Creek, Cassie also made a living as a writer, but in her case a sex column that has led to a publishing career.

Her return puts her face-to-face with her old nemesis, mean girl Heather (Lauren Lee Smith, The Listener), who resents Cassie portraying the municipality as a land of uptight, sexless zombies. Unexpected news give Heather the opportunity of proving Cassie wrong and serve her own agenda: An no-holds-barred bacchanal. Unfortunately, their circle of friends is ripe with sexual dysfunction and arrested development for a proper execution.

CRITIQUE: The concept behind How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town is far superior to the execution. Comedies can work two ways: Featuring one-dimensional characters and being actually funny (see Airplane!), or by creating complex types whose interactions lead to humorous and even enlightening situations (see Annie Hall). Orgy relies on simpleminded characters (the henpecked husband, the harpy wife, the over-sexed best friend) and mistakes wit with shock.

The film disguises itself as edgy, but stripped of all crassness, Orgy is rather dull. The sexual politics here are equally problematic. Attraction is barely in the picture: Most treat the orgy as going to the dentist. Reasonable emotions like jealousy, regret or curiosity are either paid lip service or not portrayed at all. As presented in the movie, homosexuality is something you can be peer-pressured into.

Perhaps the biggest sin of Orgy is misusing a cast that seems game for anything. Written and directed by Jeremy LaLonde (Sex After Kids), the film takes the most obvious road every time and fails to provide any insight on its source of inspiration.

WHAT WORKS:

* Lauren Lee Smith does wonders with the thinnest of materials. Doesn’t get to save the movie, but at least seems human.

* Ennis Esmer is a good sport.

WHAT DOESN’T:

* The film’s number of nonsensical plot points is off the charts. Characters have sex with people they despise, some go to extremes to hide secrets they later reveal to passing acquaintances, others overcome serious sexual dysfunction within days with no professional assistance.

* Cassie is maddeningly inconsistent. A secret is revealed midway through the film that basically invalidates her entire background and we are expected to suspend disbelief.

* Characters don’t need to be likeable to get the audience behind them, but at least they should be interesting. Everybody is miserable here and no good reason for us to care is provided.

RATING: *1/2

RATING (CANADIAN CURVE): **

How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town opens today in Toronto, Halifax and in VOD.

HotDocs ’16 - Day 8: Bobby Sands: 66 Days

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Bobby Sands: 66 Days (Ireland/UK, 2016): This sprawling documentary about IRA member Bobby Sands’ hunger strike not only covers every day of his protest, but also his background, the organization’s history, the political context and the deterioration of his body. It’s precisely the desire to cover every nook and cranny of Bobby Sands’ brief but remarkable existence that hinders the outcome.

Some context: In 1981, Sands led a hunger strike to complain against the elimination of the Special Category status in Northern Ireland prisons, a classification that separated IRA members from the general jail population. The Thatcher Government remained steadfast in their refusal to acknowledge them as political prisoners, despite public and international pressure.

There are many angles in Bobby Sands: 66 Days that could have become a documentary in their own right: Bobby’s election to Parliament in absentia, the historical relationship between Irish insurrection and hunger strikes, the physical effects of fasting are just a few. The film’s insistence in combining all these issues leads to an overstuffed product that bombards the audience with facts that fail to register. The recreation of Sands’ days in jail is borderline cheesy and adds little to nothing to the narrative. 2/5 stars.

Bobby Sands: 66 Days will also play on May 7th.

HotDocs ’16 - Day 7: Life, Animated

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Life, Animated (USA, 2015): An interesting approach at depicting autism without delving on the cause, Life, Animated is smart enough to limit its scope to one individual and avoid generalizations.

The documentary revolves around Owen Suskind, a 23-year old preparing to move on his own. Owen has a moderate autistic disorder and although functional, he is easily overwhelmed by his surroundings. As a child, Owen was on the verge of shutting down, but his parents noticed he used Disney movies to understand emotions and took advantage of it to open channels of communication with him.

Now an adult, Owen still pop animated features regularly, but more as a source of comfort than as a map of the world. As his reality grows more complex, the once reliable Disney movies don’t quite cut it and Owen find himself in uncharted territory.

Using the fly-on-the-wall strategy and animation (Owen came up with a script of his own, populated exclusively with Disney sidekicks), the documentary delivers a positive portrait of living with autism, a rarity as of late. It takes a village and loving parents, but the result justifies the effort. 3.5/5 stars.

Life, Animated will also play on Thursday, May 5th and Saturday, May 7th.

HotDocs ’16 - Day 6: Under the Gun

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Under the Gun (USA, 2016): The Katie Couric-Stephanie Soechtig team seems hell-bent on exposing America’s malaises. In Fed Up (2014), they exposed the role of the food industry in the US obesity epidemic. Now they are going after a bigger fish (if possible): The gun lobby.

Using the many mass shootings down the border –particularly Sandy Hook and Aurora- as starting point, the documentary dissects the relationship between congressmen and the gun lobby, the NRA and weapons manufacturers, trade shows and crime, and gun owners and the organization that allegedly represents their interests.

There is nothing intrinsically new about American society’s trouble with guns, but the documentary presents the problem with remarkable clarity. Manufacturers develop close ties with the National Rifle Association; the NRA promotes a paranoid agenda (“the government is coming for your guns!” even though is legally unable to do such thing); people run to buy more weapons. The fact most gun owners would support background check legislation changes nothing. Or so it seems.

Not surprisingly, no NRA representatives, congressmen or gun-makers would speak on camera (to do so would be acknowledging there is a problem), but it doesn’t matter. Rationally, Under the Gun makes an ironclad case for the need of legislation. Too bad most people react emotionally to the matter. 4 ½ / 5 stars.

Under the Gun will also play Thursday, May 5th and Sunday, May 8th.

HotDocs ’16 - Day 5: Ants on a Shrimp/De Palma

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Ants on a Shrimp (Netherlands, 2016): Much like documentaries about climate change, after a while all food-centered docs start to look the same. There lies the brilliancy of filmmaker Maurice Dekkers, who cares more about discovering what makes his subject tick than cater to foodies.

Dekkers’ subject is a doozy: Chef René Redzepi, the man behind the best restaurant in the world, Noma. In 2015, Redzepi moved his entire team from Copenhagen to Tokyo for a few months to build an entire new menu and serve Japanese patrons for a few weeks. There were 58,000 people on the waiting list.

Far from the neurotic autocrats in most cooking shows (looking at you, Gordon Ramsay), Redzepi is soft-spoken and unflappable. How does he stay at the top of his craft? He challenges himself consistently. He doesn’t care for adapting Noma’s menu to Japan. Redzepi rather discover what’s unique about his new surroundings and turn it into a dish.

Redzepi’s capacity to think outside the box leads to spectacular discoveries (scallop fudge, deep fried fish sperm). More than a mere doc about food, Ants on a Shrimp presents us a genius at work at the peak of his powers. 4/5 stars.

Ants on a Shrimp will also play on Wednesday, May 4th.

De Palma (USA, 2015): For a movie about one of the most interesting American directors, made by two renown indie filmmakers –Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow-, De Palma is a letdown. Outside of voluminous amounts of trivia (the kind you could find in IMDb), there is little insight about what makes De Palma tick.

The documentary goes through De Palma’s filmography movie by movie. While it’s undeniably entertaining to find out that Sean Connery had to be begged to do another take of his death scene in The Untouchables, the fact De Palma barely pays lip service to his Hitchcock connection indicates Baumbach and Paltrow didn’t quite press the director into revealing more substantial information.

Without any other testimony, De Palma feels like a glorified interview, with top notch archive footage, but minimal production effort. Heck, even the framing is off. 2/5 stars.

De Palma will also play on Tuesday, May 3rd and Friday, May 6th.

HotDocs ’16 - Day 2: Weiner

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

Weiner (USA, 2016): Right before the scandal that all but destroyed his career, Anthony Weiner was a force to reckon within the Democratic Party. Passionate and eloquent, there were more than a few who saw him as a presidential card.

This documentary covers Weiner’s run for Mayor of New York in 2013, after the photos of his junk hit Twitter, but before the sexting scandal. The film is a portrait of a smart, well-intentioned man with two fatal flaws: His libido and his ego. Instead of disappearing into the shadows after the original snafu, the politician went back to the trenches at the first opportunity, despite the fact his family was still reeling from his previous indiscretion.

Even more fascinating than Weiner is his wife, Hilary Clinton’s advisor Huma Abedin. A very compelling figure, here is a woman trying to save her husband career without jeopardizing hers. As for the marriage’s healthiness, the jury is out: Abedin may stand behind Weiner, but no gestures of genuine affection are captured on camera.

The access filmmakers Josh Kriegman and Elyse Steinberg got is remarkable. There are plenty of profoundly uncomfortable moments on display. Credit to Anthony Weiner for allowing such scrutiny. He may have wronged his family and blown his career to smithereens, but there are plenty of public figures that have done much worse and gotten a free pass. 4/5 stars.

Weiner will also play on Saturday, April 30th, and Friday, May 6th.

HotDocs ’16 - Day 1: Chasing Asylum

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

For the next few days, I’ll be posting reviews of the most relevant films to be shown in the current edition of HotDocs, the Canadian international documentary festival taking place in Toronto between today and May 8th. The event is the biggest of its kind in North America and will include over 200 docs.

I may get to twenty.

Chasing Asylum (Australia, 2016): Compared even to USA and Eastern Europe, the treatment of refugees in Australia is shameful. Those captured in boats on their way to the subcontinent, never get to set a foot there. Most end up in camps in Papua New Guinea and Nauru without a procedure in place to apply for refugee status, or at least a return date. The Australian government pays these smaller island-nations to keep the prisoners there, but provides very little insight on what to do with them.

This relentlessly grim doc makes smart decisions allocating resources. Outside statements by the refugees, NGO volunteers and administrators, the film features secretly shot footage from inside the detention centers. It’s overwhelmingly depressing, but drives the point home.

Chasing Asylum does a good job balancing the emotional component with data-fueled context. As it often occurs in documentaries of this nature, a list of the authorities who refused to speak on camera bookends the movie. This is all well and good, but given how important would have been to comprehend their reasoning, merely mentioning them doesn’t cut it. Sometimes, there is value in door-stepping someone. 3/5 stars.

Chasing Asylum will also play on Friday, April 29th, and Sunday, May 8th.

REVIEW: Numb Avoids the Cold Shoulder

A morality tale following A Simple Plan’s blueprint gets more tracking than imagined.

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

THE PLOT: Will (Jamie Bamber, Battlestar Galactica) and Dawn (Stefanie von Pfetten, one of the Decoys) are a marriage dealing with serious financial distress. An opportunity to escape of their predicament materializes in the form of a treasure hidden in the British Columbia wilderness. There are two obstacles between them and the gold: The harshest of winters and another couple –an ex-con and his hothead sister- they are forced to partner with.

Along the way, Will and Dawn face numerous moral predicaments and judgement calls they fail miserably. It’s a game of trust among people that don’t deserve any.

CRITIQUE: Similarities between Numb and Sam Raimi’s magnificent morality play A Simple Plan pop up almost immediately: The couple in economic disarray facing an ethical decision and picking the wrong horse. That said, the film remains interesting through its entirety by making the presumed main villain (Aleks Paunovic) relatable, and allowing the relationship between Will and Dawn deteriorate because of greed alone.

In order to spin this yarn, director Jason R. Goode and writer Andre Harden create a setup that demands considerable suspension of disbelief. The number of dramatic coincidences in Numb is off the charts, and the pivotal character that launches the doomed quest is the embodiment of plot convenience. If you are able to endure the contrivances, Numb offers plenty of rewards past the opening half hour, above all a hearty dose of unpredictability.

WHAT WORKS:

- The cinematography (by Jan Kiesser) is serviceable, although one can’t help to think on what Emmanuel Lubezki achieved with similar elements in The Revenant. If the look of Numb doesn’t give you the chills, the superb makeup will.

- The body horror quotient matches the moral decay beat by beat: You will never look at a crack on your shoe the same way.

- While Bamber and von Pfetten are fine as the hapless couple, Aleks Paunovic as their amiable-yet-menacing associate steals the movie.

WHAT DOESN’T:

- The dialogue could have used some more care. It fluctuates from stock lines to “no normal person speaks this way.”

- Marie Avgeropoulos (The 100) is miscast as a tough-as-nails antagonist. Her delicate features don’t quite scream hard life.

RATING: ***

RATING (CANADIAN CURVE): ***1/2

Numb is playing until March 10th in Toronto, Whitby, Kanata/Ottawa, New Westminster, Nanaimo, Kelowna and Winnipeg. Opens March 11th in Saskatoon and the 18th in Regina.

REVIEW: The Cocksure Lads Can’t Back It Up

The faux-Britpop band gets the movie treatment. The music is great, but it’s just a quarter of the film.

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

THE PLOT: Originally an homage to the Britpop bands that took North America by storm in the 60’s, The Cocksure Lads adopt a new shape as a faux-band on the verge of success. On tour in Canada, the moment they land in Toronto the Lads break up, following an ill-timed royalties negotiation courtesy of insufferable lead singer Dusty Fosterboard.

The foursome roams the streets of Toronto separately, undecided about cancelling a gig scheduled for later that day. As it happens in movies, each one of them has an encounter that enables them to face their own anxieties: Dusty’s obsession with monetizing his creativity, lead guitarist Reg’s musical snobbery, bass player Derek’s womanizing ways and drummer Blake’s obsession with cleanliness. Musical interludes throughout the film provide further insight on these characters’ psyches.

CRITIQUE: A pleasant, less-clever-than-it-thinks-it-is comedy, The Cocksure Lads Movie relays too heavily on the concept behind it. The idea of satirizing Britpop bands and their relationship with North American audiences has a lot of potential, but not much materializes here. The movie spends precious little time establishing the group before breaking it up, and the audience gets no good reason to be invested on the band’s faith.

Thankfully, the actors chosen to become the Lads are likeable or interesting enough to carry the film.  Derek and Blake’s misadventures trying to pick up Canadian girls are not particularly original, but are amusing enough to look forward to those segments. On the flip side, Dusty’s encounter with an attractive musician who reminds him of the joys of being part of a band it’s condescending. The manic-pixie-dream-girl plot device is so five years ago

The musical bits are fun and the melodies are contagious. The film could have used more moments like those and less comedy of the “I’m good at sex because I studied anatomy” kind.

WHAT WORKS:

·      Within the low-budget Canadian indie scene, The Cocksure Lads Movie looks impeccable.

·      Peter Higginson as the Lads’ long-suffering roadie out-acts everyone else in the film, and provides the rare moment of genuine emotion.

·      Overall, the songs show craftsmanship (no shocker here, they come from Great Big Sea’ Murray Foster and Moxy Früvous’ Mike Ford) and stand by themselves. “You Gotta Stay Cocksure” and “A Case of the Dropsies” and are sticky to a fault.

WHAT DOESN’T:

·      The main plot point of the movie is that the band can’t continue without the lead singer. Problem is, Dusty is hardly a prodigy and at least two of the other members have serviceable voices, rendering the whole journey moot.

·      There is no much complexity within the characters. Each one could be defined by a single personality trait.

·      If the movie had excised every scene with the Lads’ agent in England, it would have been a step in the right direction.

RATING: **

RATING (CANADIAN CURVE): ***

The Cocksure Lads Movie is now playing at the Magic Lantern Carlton Theatre and the Kingsway Theatre in Toronto.

REVIEW: Get Off My Lawn... and Into this Porch

Documentary filmmaker Sarah Goodman brings her non-fiction sensibility to the realm of make-believe.

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

THE PLOT: In the spirit of John Cassavettes –if considerably more gentle- Porch Stories chronicles a day in the life of three households in Little Portugal, Toronto, during a hot summer weekend. The ancillary tale focuses on Emma (Laura Barrett), a former musician in the process of moving out. Emma is engaged to Stefan, a caring if aloof individual who is not quite in the same wavelength as her.

Emma seems resigned to the idea of marriage until a former flame materializes outside her porch. The interloper is Gabriel (José Miguel Contreras), one of those aimless, easygoing drifters who coast on their counterculture stance but have little else to offer. In little time Emma finds herself torn, oblivious that there could be something calculated about Gabriel’s sudden resurgence.

Across the street, a bickering Portuguese couple sees their marriage disintegrate as a never-discussed indiscretion comes back to haunt them. Meanwhile, the ditzy neighbour next door must decide between the boyfriend she doesn’t care for and a suitor who may be too much of a nerd to have a relationship with him.

CRITIQUE: An unassuming yet biting portrait of city life, Porch Stories succeeds in many areas more expensive projects fail miserably: Builds a cohesive universe, the dialogue flows naturally and features properly developed leads.

Far from an affectation, the black-and-white cinematography keeps the audience focused on the story and hides any production design shortcomings (very noticeable in low-budget productions). While the cast is peppered with newcomers, the acting is strong, probably because nobody is stretching beyond their area of confidence.

The open ending feels more like unwillingness to commit than as artistic decision. At 73 minutes, Porch Stories could have used further development, particularly after making us care for the characters, not a small feat.

WHAT WORKS:

·      Besides the three main stories, we get to hear snippets of conversations taking place outside the porch. They are all compelling. It’s a nice little detail that makes the outcome richer.

·      Great casting work across the field.

WHAT DOESN’T:

·      The levels of hipsterism on display can be off-putting (the concept of “organic sausages” is practically an oxymoron).

·      The Gabriel character is immensely unlikeable, even though Goodman clearly wants the audience to root for him.

RATING: ***

RATING (CANADIAN CURVE): ***1/2

Porch Stories is playing Thursday 25th at 6.45 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto.

REVIEW: How Do I Get You Aloft?

Jennifer Connelly brings her brand of gritty-hot to Manitoba.

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

THE PLOT: The deck seems stack against Nana (Jennifer Connelly), a widow struggling to raise two kids in Northern Manitoba. Nana’s youngest is severely ill and in desperation, Nana agrees to see a healer. The visit takes a turn to the unexpected when is discovered she is the one with the powers. The development further strains her relationship with her eldest son, in desperate need of some maternal care.

A second storyline runs in parallel to Nana’s: Ivan (Cillian Murphy, 28 Days Later), a falconer with abandonment issues, agrees to participate in a documentary about his craft, unaware the journalist (Melanie Laurent, Inglourious Basterds) has an agenda that doesn’t involve birds of pray. The plotlines intersect in predictable fashion: There are scores to be settled and explanations to be offered. As for forgiveness, the wounds may run too deep for that.

CRITIQUE: Peruvian director Claudia Llosa gained notoriety thanks to The Milk of Sorrow, a magic realism-soaked take on political repression (the two subgenres Latin America is mostly known for). While significant, her transition to English-spoken films is not as radical as the one other Academy Award-nominated foreign directors have experienced (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and Olivier Dahan come to mind).

Aloft is a correct movie, but there is very little to it to make it stick out.  The film goes through the motions with the falconry element as only distinctive trait. If nothing else, Aloft is consistent with the universe around it: The cold, harsh Manitoba mise-en-scene provides the story with a weight it doesn’t really have.

For such an emotionally charged film, Aloft is too dour to leave a mark. The blame falls squarely on the script and the direction, as Cillian Murphy and Jennifer Connelly do their darndest to service their characters. Murphy has seldom feel this human, and Connelly is at her best in gritty environments (see Requiem for a Dream, the misery-porn extravaganza Shelter). An interesting let-down, but a let-down nonetheless.

WHAT WORKS:

·      Cinematographer Nicolas Bolduc (Enemy, Rebelle: War Witch) does a superb job capturing the cold, merciless environment. Keep an eye on this guy.

·      A passionless affair in a pig farm in the middle of winter? Sex doesn’t get more depressing than that.

WHAT DOESN’T:

·      Early Alejandro González-Iñarritu called. He wants his style back.

·      The hook-up between Ivan and the journalist. Comes out of nowhere and leads to nothing.

·      I find hard to believe anybody on the Prairies would leave a mother and her two kids stranded in the middle of nowhere, particularly during winter season.

RATING: **1/2

RATING (CANADIAN CURVE): ***

Aloft is now playing in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Edmonton.

REVIEW: The Pigs of Berkshire County

As personal growth stories go, this one has a pretty high body count.

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

THE PLOT: An error of judgement turns model teen Kylie Winters (Alysa King) into the school’s pariah. Outside becoming her classmates’ laughingstock and landing in hot water with the faculty, Kylie is belittled by her own mother, utterly disappointed by her behaviour.

Unbeknownst to Kylie, her day is about to get considerably worse. Forced to babysit a couple of tykes at a mansion in the middle of nowhere, the mentally frail girl must battle three delinquents in pig masks and obscure intentions. Pushed to the limit, Kylie must learn to fend for herself, or die trying.

CRITIQUE: Part Degrassi, part You’re Next, Berkshire County has all the marks of a first-time filmmaker. Formally, the movie is fine, but lacks a voice of its own. Most of the film’s beats are preordained: The babysitter in trouble is one of the oldest tales in horror and it takes considerable work to give it a new twist (last time it happened was six years ago with The House of the Devil.) The dialogue is not only perfunctory, but also plain.

The second half of Berkshire County is better. Director Audrey Cummings doesn’t flinch when it comes to the gory stuff, but her efforts are hindered by the predictability of it all. Weirdly, as soon as the identity of Kylie’s antagonist is revealed, immediately becomes the most interesting character of the movie, based on the strength of the performer and the absence of a backstory. I would have liked to know more about this person, and less of Kylie or her suitor/fiend.

WHAT WORKS:

·      In spite of her character’s inconsistencies (Kylie goes from shrinking violet to Ripley in nanoseconds), Alysa King does a decent job as the troubled teen.

·      As location scouting goes, the house where the main event takes place is a find.

·      The coda is intriguing, if a bit Halloween II.

WHAT DOESN’T:

·      Outside the lead and the main antagonist, the acting gets really dicey. Marcus had me wincing, but not of fear.

·      For a band of vindictive criminals, they are awfully careful with breaking any windows.

·      Motivation is a problem across the board. Inexplicable and senseless are not the same thing.

RATING: **

RATING (CANADIAN CURVE): **1/2

Berkshire County is now playing in Toronto, Kingston and Calgary.

REVIEW: The Dry Wit of a Wet Bum

Sometimes, you have to swim forward, whether you like it or not.

By Jorge Ignacio Castillo

THE PLOT: 14-year old Sam (the wonderful Julia Sarah Stone) is about to enter the worst spring of her life. Not only she must work cleaning rooms at the retirement home run by her mom (Leah Pinsent), Sam also has to endure considerable bulling at swimming class from girls more developed than her. Upset and self-conscious, Sam refuses to change her swimwear in front of the others (hence the title), causing further taunting. Her only source of comfort is the swimming instructor, who may or may not be a predator.

Unbeknownst to Sam, two of the people entering her orbit may possess more value than her first impression of them indicated: A lonely, kind retiree and a cantankerous old man (Kenneth Welsh) reluctant to accept the retirement community as his new home. Sam must learn to navigate uncharted territory with little guidance and experience. Mistakes are bound to take place, but also plenty of self-discovery.

CRITIQUE: Wet Bum works with a very limited canvas, but the creative team behind it makes the most of it. Since the lead is a painfully shy 14-year old, the movie doesn’t rely much on dialogue. Instead, we get a fairly complete character study based on Sam’s reactions: While sympathetic, the lead is allowed to be difficult or exhibit lack of judgement, much like an average teenager. Doesn’t hurt that Julia Sarah Stone has a singularly expressive face and her emotional state is easy to read.

Sam goes through teenage hell, and the payoff is far from Hollywood-like, yet is more lasting: Being at ease with oneself. Director Lindsay Mackay steers clear of Lars Von Trier territory (thankfully), but doesn’t shy away of Sam budding sexuality. In a particularly difficult scene involving the lead and an older suitor, Mackay underlines the improperness of the situation with remarkable grace.

The cinematography of Wet Bum exemplifies how far you can get with good composition and a clear idea of how do you want the movie to look like. Besides some nifty under-the-water camera work (the only place in the entire world Sam feels at ease), the cold palette on display is submersing.

There are some unnecessary flourishes (like the very opening scene) that add little to the story, but overall Wet Bum accomplishes what it set up to do.

WHAT WORKS:

·      I can’t emphasize this enough, Julia Sarah Stone is a find. Far cry from a Nickelodeon starlet-in-waiting, Stone has the screen presence and acting chops to carry a movie.

·      Leah Pinsent, recently wasted as the putative villain in Big News from Grand Rock, manages to create a more textured character with about the same amount of screen time.

WHAT DOESN’T:

·      Some of the “kids” cast as high-schoolers look way too old for the part.

·      The ADR work is rather distracting, to the point that one wonders if it was really necessary to take the audience off the movie to correct a minor detail.

·      Was there a purpose to set Wet Bum in the late 80’s/early 90’s?

RATING: ***

RATING (CANADIAN CURVE): ***1/2

Wet Bum is now playing in Toronto. Opens May the 29th in Vancouver.