movie reviews

Movie Monthly: Finding Oneself

Often, when watching a feature film, the shaping hand of the director is barely noticeable. There's a certain sameness, particularly with Hollywood stuff, in the tone and the treatment of the subject, which itself is often a rehashed or plagiarised storyline. The movie could have been made by any number of directors. There's no chance of that watching The Skin I Live In (La piel que habito), a most bizarre story of twisted obsession, which recently opened VIFF.

Movie Monthly: VIFF 2011 Preview

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.

Movie Monthly: Greatest Movie Ever Sold

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.

Movie Monthly: Drop Your Cable

I just caught Ron Mann's Grass, his manifesto for legalising pot. Okay, so I'm a little late to the party. It originally came out in 1999. Drug laws in North America might have eased a little since then, and the hysteria surrounding “reefer madness” that informed early US drug policy looks even more hilarious through the telescope of time a decade on. But this cheeky, pop history of pot is still relevant, and entertaining as it cruises through significant cultural and political landmarks in stoner history from Cheech and Chong to George Bush Snr.

Movie Monthly: OF Gods and Men

To stay or not to stay? That is the question at the centre of slow-burn, immersive drama Of Gods and Men (Des Hommes et Des Dieux). The men are eight monks living harmoniously in a local community in Muslim North Africa. As Cistercian-Trappists, they refrain from all proselytism, practising a devotional life within their minimalist monastery, farming, and providing support – in particular medical - to the local village.

Movie Monthly: The Illusionist

Screenwriter-director Sylvain Chomet chose to go the old-school route when he adapted French comedy legend Jacques Tati's previously unmade script into an animated feature.

Movie Monthly: Round-up

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).

Movie Monthly: Inside Job

The face of the financial crisis has taken many forms, from people lining up outside banks desperate to get at their savings, to the dilapidation of newly built suburban homes that have been foreclosed on. Inside Job, a punch-packing documentary by San Francisco based Charles Ferguson, the director who previously picked through the wreckage of US Iraq policy in No End In Sight, goes straight to the top.

VIFF: Wind Energy, Eastern European Gloom, and Hockey Musical

One of the less cut-and-dry eco docs at VIFF this year is Windfall (10th 12.40pm GR5; 13th 7pm GR1) a relentless attack on wind energy seen through the prism of a small town in upstate New York where industrial wind energy became a divisive local issue.

Movie Monthly: Eco Docs at VIFF

It seems more like a decade than a year since VIFF (30 September-15 October) last came round. Make that two decades. With Copenhagen's failure fast becoming a dot in the rear view mirror, one filmmaker has returned to footage from the first “Earth Summit” in Rio for inspiration.

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