Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a huge old load of reviews from Toronto. If you want to know what's what with the new crop of indie or low budget flicks then the below will set you on the right path. Tons of stuff below... Evil Aliens and Thank You For Smoking sound particularly up my own personal alley. What about you? What sticks out for you?
Vincent Hanna here. I went to Toronto and saw some movies. Here's my reviews. Thanks.
I saw 10 films during the three days I was in Toronto for this year’s festival. Once again, I had an absolute blast. The only downside is that I didn’t get to stay longer. Damn job. Without further ado, my reviews.
The Devil and Daniel Johnston
I know this one has played other festivals and will be released here, but I wanted to see it because of all the good buzz I’d been hearing. I didn’t know anything about Daniel Johnston or his music prior to seeing Jeff Feuerzeig’s documentary. The first and probably the best of the movies I saw in Toronto, this is a fascinating look at a seriously troubled man. Though Johnston himself is rarely heard from and he remains somewhat of an enigma even after the film’s over, Feuerzeig does a remarkable job of piecing together interviews with friends and family members as well as recordings that Johnston has made over the years. Alternately funny and sad, it’s mesmerizing from beginning to end. Johnston’s parents will break your heart. During a Q&A after, Feuerzeig stated that they are in poor health but still take care of Daniel.
Thank You For Smoking
This one is as good as the buzz. Quite an auspicious debut for young Jason Reitman. I was unfamiliar with the novel prior to seeing this, but now I want to check it out. Aaron Eckhart (in a truly superb performance) is Nick Naylor, spokesperson for Big Tobacco. The film opens with Nick on the Joan Lunden Show as part of a panel that includes a young boy dying of cancer and a representative of an anti-tobacco company Vermont senator (William H. Macy).
Nick tears apart the representative, demonstrating what he does best: dodge and spin. He advocates individuality and personal accountability when it comes to decision making, decrying “scientific studies.”
Unfortunately, to win over the audience (which he does), Nick promises that Big Tobacco will devote $50 million to an anti-teen smoking campaign. This does not sit well with his boss (J.K. Simmons). Charged with finding out how to improve the image of cigarettes, Nick comes up with the idea of having huge movie stars smoking in a major event movie after getting it on. Hollywood needs to once again show that smoking is cool, because despite Nick’s promise, Big Tobacco does not want less teen smokers.
Meanwhile, Nick is trying to be a good role model for his young son (Cameron Bright, not creepy for a change). At his son’s school’s career day, he makes a speech similar to the one he made on the talk show. He informs the students that not everything their parents tell them is true, and while he isn’t encouraging them to smoke, he does hope that they will make up their own mind about whether or not they should smoke. Like many others, the scene is fucking hilarious.
There are also a lot of laughs in Nick’s scenes with the other two Merchants of Death spokespersons, alcohol and firearms. They brag about how many people are killed by their company’s product in a year and trade strategies.
The stellar cast also features Robert Duvall, Katie Holmes, Kin Dickens, Adam Brody, Rob Lowe, Maria Bello, David Koechner and Sam Elliott. Thank You For Smoking is a wickedly funny and extremely entertaining movie.
3 Needles
I had never heard of this one prior to receiving the festival programming book, but it sounded intriguing and has a good cast that includes Chloe Sevigny, Sandra Oh, Lucy Liu and Stockard Channing.
Set on three different continents and telling three different stories all related to AIDS, 3 Needles offers up some beautiful scenery and strong acting, but the stories are hit and miss.
The most compelling segment stars Sevigny as a nun who moves to Africa to care for the sick. A daunting challenge, she (along with two other nuns) must contend with a clinic that secretly recycles its needles rather than issue new ones, a young man stricken with AIDS who sleeps with unknowing girls and a rich man who only cares about making money off of cheap labor and will help out only if given something in return.
Sevigny is outstanding, and there are a number of poignant moments detailing the dedication and sacrifice required for such difficult work. The stunning coastal setting doesn’t hurt either.
Less satisfying but still reasonably interesting is a segment set in rural China. In an extremely poor village, people make money by donating blood at a clinic run by a woman (Liu) who isn’t concerned about clean needles. When a man’s young daughter becomes sick and dies after giving blood because he can’t, he desperately attempts to find out what happened. But in China, finding someone who cares isn’t easy.
Finally, there is the weakest link. A porn star (Shawn Ashmore) living and working in Montreal contracts AIDS from a co-star and covers it up by using his sick father’s blood for his required blood tests. His waitress mother (Channing) resorts to desperate measures in order to provide for them after learning of his affliction.
This segment receives little screen time and feels perfunctory. The movie drags at times because of it. If you dropped it entirely, the movie wouldn’t suffer at all, and a title change would be simple.
However, by the time the end credits roll, 3 Needles sticks with you, mostly thanks to Sevigny’s performance.
Banlieue 13
I wasn’t expecting much from this one. I’m not a fan of Luc Besson’s recent work, and I’m not impressed by learning that a film has been directed by the cinematographer of Unleashed and The Transporter.
Much to my surprise, the first 30 minutes or so are insanely fast-paced and a ton of fun. The story is simple enough. In 2010 Paris, a wall is built around the violent slums to protect the rest of the city. Drug lords rule the streets. One man is willing to stand up to them, which means he isn’t too popular. When he destroys a huge amount of drugs belonging to Gangster #1, he becomes a wanted man. To make matters worse, his sister is kidnapped by the bad guys, who also find themselves in possession of a bomb that would basically destroy the entire slum.
Our hero is paired with a street smart cop. Together, they hope to rescue the damsel in distress and save the slum from being annihilated.
The opening chase scene, following the destruction of the drugs, is about as exhilarating as any I’ve ever seen. The hero (David Belle) does things that boggle the mind, and apparently he did all his own stunts. He moves ridiculously, almost comically fast. Watching him elude countless henchmen with his quickness is a blast. It really separates this from other generic action movies.
Unfortunately, after a great start, Banlieue 13 becomes just another generic action movie. We don’t see much more of Belle’s moves, and the plot is as predictable as they come. Of course he and the cop hate each other. Of course they will respect one another by the end. Of course the cops are crooked. Of course the good guys will save the day. It’s all rather boring and uninspired, unlike the film’s awesome opening.
Worth a rental someday, just to see Belle’s moves in the beginning, but ultimately nothing special.
L’Enfer
Having loved No Man’s Land, I was highly anticipating director Danis Tanovic’s new movie, L’Enfer. My excitement increased greatly upon learning that it’s part of the Heaven, Hell and Purgatory trilogy that Krzysztof Kieslowski planned to make before he passed away. Tom Tykwer made Heaven, which I’m a huge fan of, a few years ago. I enjoyed Hell just as much.
The story revolves around three sisters living in Paris. Sophie (Emmanuelle Beart) learns that her husband is having an affair. Celine (Karin Viard) is in love with a much older man, her married college professor. And Anne (Marie Gillain) is being persistently followed by what she assumes is an admirer.
Though Anne is the only one who visits her, the three women have been greatly affected by a long ago incident involving their mother and father. He spends years in jail for apparently molesting a young male, and upon returning home after his release finds himself locked out. Demanding to see his daughters, he fights his way inside and seriously injures his estranged wife.
Though the affairs and troubled marriages cover very familiar territory, L’Enfer is elevated by excellent directing and acting, and a conclusion that forces you to reconsider everything that has happened (though there’s no twist or huge revelation). It’s an intelligent film that initially seems to be going nowhere, but that’s sort of a ruse. It’s deceptively smart and ends up packing a serious punch. Tanovic is a director to pay attention to. This couldn’t possibly be more different from No Man’s Land, but it’s about just as good.
Sorry, Haters
One of the local papers said that this movie was one of the worst in the festival, so I wasn’t expecting much from it. After seeing it, I must strongly disagree. This is an incendiary film that I am still thinking about.
Abdel Kechiche plays Ashade, an Arabian New York City taxi driver. His brother has been locked up in Guantanamo Bay and Ashade is raising money to pay for a lawyer and help support his sister-in-law.
Late one night, he picks up Phoebe (Robin Wright Penn) outside an ATM. She has him drive her to New Jersey, where they sit outside a suburban home for a while before she keys a new SUV that sits in the driveway.
Phoebe, who from early on is clearly unstable, works for an MTV-type network and produces a show that’s similar to Cribs. She is also enraged about 9/11 and lets racist comments fly at will.
Just how unstable she is becomes more apparent as the movie progresses. A lonely woman, she steals money from Ashade and is jealous of her friend and co-workers (Sandra Oh) happy life.
Ashade, who has been nothing but nice to Phoebe, can’t figure out why she would want to hurt him. In the hopes of making amends, she puts him in touch with a lawyer who might be able to help get his brother home.
It all leads to an ending that left me speechless, my jaw open wide. Phoebe is capable of much more than lies about her employment and racial slurs. I can easily see this being a love-it-or-hate film, with passionate defenders on both sides. I am part of the former. It bluntly deals with sensitive issues and is entirely unpredictable. Powerful little flick.
Winter Passing
This is an example of a movie that works only because it has a top-notch cast. The material is entirely unoriginal and it would be painfully mediocre without the talent in front of the camera.
Reese (Zooey Deschanel) is an aspiring actress living in NYC. Her father is a reclusive, famous author who hasn’t written anything in 20 years. Promised $100,000 by a book editor (Amy Madigan) if she’ll allow her to publish old love letters from the author (Ed Harris) to his wife, Reese returns home to Michigan to retrieve them.
She moves back into her old room and finds herself part of a very dysfunctional family. In addition to her father, there is Corbit (Will Ferrell), a devout Christian and wannabe rock star who is a little slow, and Shelly (Amelia Warner), a former student of Reese’s father who now takes care of him.
Winter Passing is pretty slight. There are a few laughs, but for the most part it covers familiar territory without adding anything unique of its own. Yes, all families are fucked up in their own special way. Yes, our parents often mess us up. By the end, lessons are learned and people are seen in a new light.
Luckily, the four leads are quite good. They keep it watchable throughout. Other than that, Winter Passing has little going for it.
Lie With Me
I saw this one because I was a fan of star Eric Balfour’s work on Six Feet Under. He didn’t even bother to show up for the world premiere.
A look at commitment and modern relationships, Lie With Me is practically porn. Set during a scorching Toronto summer, it examines the relationship between Leila (Lauren Lee Smith) and David (Balfour).
Terrified of commitment, she loves sex and wants it often. When she can’t get it, she masturbates to pornography at home. She’ll fuck just about anyone, as she does in the opening scene, selecting some random dude at a party and bringing him outside for a quick romp.
David meets Leila at the party before she runs off with the other guy. They might have hooked up if not for David’s girlfriend, who drags him away.
Sitting outside in his truck with his girlfriend, David watches Leila and her random dick get it on. Leila blows him prior to fucking him, and David’s girlfriend does the same. David and Leila stare at each other the entire time.
They meet shortly thereafter and begin a passionate relationship that marks the first time Leila has been in love. But can she handle it? Can she commit to one person?
Though the story is nothing new and Leila’s narration can be quite pretentious and silly, Lie With Me is a fairly involving and honest look at the trials and tribulations of modern dating. It’s certainly more realistic and truthful than anything Hollywood churns out in that department. It doesn’t hurt that Smith is quite fetching and often nude. This one doesn’t hold back. There’s plenty of full frontal nudity from both leads and countless sex scenes.
Evil Aliens
When writer/director Jake West introduced his film Evil Aliens to the Midnight Madness crowd in Toronto, he gave simple instructions: while watching the movie, get in touch with your inner teenager. Turn off your brain and have a good time.
Michelle Fox (Emily Booth) works for a tabloid TV show (which I believe is called Weird World, if memory serves). Her ratings have plummeted, and if she doesn’t get them back up in a hurry, management will find someone who will.
Luckily, aliens have abducted a couple in the Welsh countryside. In the opening scenes, the horny twosome smoke some weed before having sex. Afraid of what her brothers would do if they found them, the girl takes off.
Soon after, her boyfriend hears her scream. Next thing you know, an alien has captured them and brought them aboard their ship. And this is when the insanity begins. The boyfriend is subjected to a disgusting, hilarious and extremely graphic anal probe, and the uproarious crowd loved every second of it. Basically, a rapidly rotating drill is roughly inserted up his ass.
Back on Earth, the girlfriend is somehow eight months pregnant and insisting that aliens abducted them. This is the story that could save Michelle’s career. She enlists a small group to travel with her to the secluded Welsh farm where the young woman lives in order to interview her and create a crude reenactment for Weird World viewers.
The ragtag group consists of Michelle’s cameraman boyfriend, a UFO nut who’s along for technical advising, a gay man who will play the boyfriend and Michelle’s boss’s trophy girlfriend, who of course will star as the impregnated country girl.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the aliens are real, which they find out quickly. And that’s about all there is to it. But no one is expecting a groundbreaking story in something called Evil Aliens. I doubt anyone is even expecting something remotely scary. They certainly shouldn’t be.
What viewers should expect, and what they will get, are ridiculous amounts of gore and plenty of laughs. Both come fast and furious and more than make up for occasional slow spots, of which there are a few. Getting the running time to 90 minutes means that the aliens will have to be evaded for a while, and at times the movie drags.
But that is a minor complaint. Seeing it with the perfect crowd probably raises the enjoyment level a little, but Evil Aliens is a blast. The amount of gore on display is mind-boggling. One character gets impaled up the ass and the post ends up coming through his/her mouth before they slide down on it. It would be impossible to count the amount of limbs that go flying and the heads that roll. Aliens are subjected to chainsaws, firearms, vehicles and pretty much anything else our heroes can get their hands on.
The make-up effects are excellent, and I didn’t notice too much CGI. The alien costumes are amusing. Essentially they have a human body and an ugly alien head. Considering the tone of Evil Aliens, it’s perfect.
It’s hard to imagine horror geeks not loving this movie. It’s incredibly silly from beginning to end, and unfortunately the two sex scenes involve fully clothed females, but this was clearly made by someone who loves and respects the genre wholeheartedly. West knows exactly what genre fanatics want, and he delivers.
Neverwas
Like Winter Passing, this is another mediocre movie that happens to have really good cast.
Neverwas stars Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellan, Nick Nolte, William Hurt, Brittany Murphy, Alan Cumming and Jessica Lange.
Eckhart stars as Zach Riley, a psychiatrist who leaves his job at a prestigious East Coast university to take a job at the small hospital that treated his children’s author father (Nolte) prior to his suicide.
His father wrote a famous book called Neverwas, which seems to be a cross between Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings. In it, a boy (based on Zach) who must embark on a dangerous adventure to rescue his father, the King of Neverwas.
Zach has never read the book and even changed his last name to avoid the notoriety that came after his father’s death. But he hopes that working at the hospital will allow him to learn more about the mysterious man and what drove him to end his life.
A patient (McKellan) who insists that he is the King of Neverwas knew Zach’s father and may be able to help him discover more about him.
A love story with Murphy, a childhood friend and graduate student in town to study botany, is thrown in for good measure.
Neverwas is harmless and the cast does its best with the weak material, but it’s far too obvious and tame. A little edge or humor would have gone a long way. It takes itself much too seriously and is bland and tedious.
