Month: October 2005

By Garth Paulson

Thumbsucker was one of the most eagerly anticipated entries at this year’s Film Fest, evidenced by the massive lines and throngs of people turned away at both of its screenings. Thanks to the buzz it will also go down as one the most disappointing. The film isn’t bad, it’s just entirely average. Boosted by clever… Continue reading Film Fest: Thumbsucker

By Garth Paulson

Fittingly ending the festival, Happy Endings is an intricate and delightful comedy about a Los Angeles group who can’t help but mess everything up. The film follows several interconnecting stories of ruined relationships before they all reach their inevitable, but carefully done happy endings. The movie isn’t very surprising but it’s pulled off with the… Continue reading Film Fest: Happy Endings

By Peter Hemminger

L’Enfant (The Child) was highly praised at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is usually a solid barometer, and it didn’t disappoint. Essentially, it’s the story of a petty thief, his girlfriend, their newborn son and a series of bad decisions. The thief is one of the more despicable characters ever committed to film, completely… Continue reading Film Fest: L’Enfant (The Child)

By Peter Hemminger

Buster Keaton holds a reputation as the most inventive of the silent film comedians, and The General is often held up as his crowning achievement. Watching it in the Uptown’s main floor theatre with its glorious 1920s architecture is about as authentic a reproduction of the glory days of film as one can find. The… Continue reading Film Fest: The General

By Peter Hemminger

A strong collection of entertaining and occasionally poignant shorts featuring sex education à la H. P. Lovecraft, a re-telling of Che Guevara’s revolutionary experience in 30 seconds and a hilariously graphic and bizarre horror/thriller parody. The inclusion of two re-tellings of the Oedipus tale was a bit unnecessary, and technical issues forcing the collection to… Continue reading Film Fest: Comedia Shorts

By Garth Paulson

In Grizzly Man director Werner Herzog documents the tragic attempt of filmmaker and cult-celebrity Timothy Treadwell to live with and protect a group of Alaskan Grizzly bears. Largely relying on Treadwell’s own footage the film paints a portrait of a man with an unbreakable conviction and love for animals but also crippling mental problems. The… Continue reading Film Fest: Grizzly Man

By Garth Paulson

If Paul Reiser isn’t enough to scare you away from this father-son reconciliation story everything else about it should do the trick. The story is predictable, the acting is grating and the humour consists of generational misunderstandings and farts. Despite all this, The Thing About my Folks delighted its target audience–middle-aged couples–which should tell you… Continue reading Film Fest: The Thing About my Folks

By Peter Hemminger

A disclaimer: the print of Mango Yellow actually melted midway through the screening, hurting the Brazilian drama’s momentum. Still, it’s easy to see director Claudio Assis has a natural ability for pacing, as he effortlessly weaves together the lives of a group of Sau Paulo outcasts. Sex, death, jealousy, infidelity and a generally pessimistic outlook… Continue reading Film Fest: Mango Yellow

By Peter Hemminger

Canadian film has enough of a stigma attached to it already, and it would be a shame to discourage people from taking risks on smaller films. Condemning a movie someone spent 13 years–an eighth of a century–working on also feels horrible, but All of a Sudden deserves it. Last year’s Phil the Alien showed Canada… Continue reading Film Fest: All of a Sudden

By Garth Paulson

Acting as an almost-sequel of The Mood for Love Wong Kar-Wai’s 2046 is a complicated film following an author, Mr. Chow, through a series of relationships and paralleling them with the tale of one of his character’s escapes from a futuristic city. Though confusing, 2046 expertly examines the trials of love using time in an… Continue reading Film Fest: 2046