movies

After a decade of covering documentary at the Vancouver International Film Festival (29 September – 14 October), I've come to rely on certain staples. Each year, filmmakers tackle the issue of oil dependency with a sharp focus on the ecological and humanitarian travesty of the tar sands; wrestle with the vexed question of clean, green energy for all; fret about the downward spiral of biodiversity; and seek spiritual solace from the chaotic materialism of mainstream western lifestyles. All these are covered in one shape or other in the five films (one a drama) I've seen so far.

Morgan Spurlock, who shot to fame with his Big Mac burgerthon Supersize Me takes another comical adventure in his latest documentary looking at the sly, insidious, and highly effective practice of product placement in television and movies.

One noteworthy statistic from the 10th Whistler Film Festival (which ends on 5th December) is that cult Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald has three new feature films in the festival: the world premiere of Hard Core Logo 2 (the sequel to his popular 1996's Hard Core Logo), jail-house blues documentary Music From The Big House, and rock 'n' roll drama Trigger (10-16 at Vancity).

Fish Tank (out on 12 March) is one of those gritty working class, Brit flicks that makes few concessions to the demands of commercial cinema. Set in the grimy hinterlands of contemporary underclass England, it's a rite of passage drama about a bored and stroppy teenager Mia whose transition into adulthood begins when her mum brings a new man home to their grungy, high-rise flat.

As costume dramas go, The Last Station is perfunctory and it sags in the middle. Set in the last year of Leo Tolstoy's life, it dramatizes the battle between the author's wife Sofya and the leaders of the Tolstoyian movement that the writer founded, over the rights to his works.