Chopping Block
Reviewing films from the Legless Corpse collection is becoming a thankless task. How else do you describe these titles that are oh-so obviously made for the close-knit amateurs that make these low-budget indies?
September 2016
TIFF 2016: ‘150 Milligrams’
Emmanuelle Bercot’s 150 Milligrams may be a medical drama about a specialist fighting for justice, but – to me – the film was about how an ensemble cast fights against dense writing and direction, and manages to come out alive.
Addio Commentary: Much More to ‘Mother’s Day’
Let’s take a brief break from hot ticket TIFF screenings and talk about something that most movie goers have tried to forget: Garry Marshall’s Mother’s Day.
TIFF 2016: ‘Free Fire’
It is probably inaccurate to call Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire “a comedy of errors” given that term’s context, but perhaps the term “comedy of injuries” could be coined to describe this cross between cruelty and the absurd in a way that only Wheatley can do.
TIFF 2016: ‘Marija’
In Michael Koch’s feature film debut Marija, the audience observes the dishevelled title character’s routine and her struggle to support herself – it’s certainly enduring to watch.
TIFF 2016: ‘Paterson’
Paterson is a study of ennui in its purest form. Paterson is a love letter to the seemingly inconsequential town of Paterson, New Jersey. Paterson is about Zen and the creation of art. The fact that all of this is contained in a film about the quotidian activities of a man’s life across one week is nothing short of a miracle.
Urge
On Saturday Night Live, Bill Hader would frequent Weekend Update segments as hip clubgoer Stefon and review the latest, most bizarre nightclubs. Urge plays like a live-action version of what Stefon would describe as a “hot spot”. “After being admitted into the club by eyes projected on the side of the building, guests are fondled by the staff while a man in a balloon suit entertains them, followed by a night of bath salt binging”.
TIFF 2016: ‘India In a Day’
First, the good news: India In a Day moves quickly. As a fan of 2011’s Life In a Day (also co-produced by Ridley Scott), I can admit that Kevin MacDonald’s doc had sagging stretches of unhelpful video. The filmmaker and his editor were too comfortable, which meant they often forgo their timeline.
TIFF 2016: ‘The Unknown Girl’
The Unknown Girl marks another incredible achievement by Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne. Following up their equally brilliant Two Days, One Night, the Daredennes deploy their clinically austere style to great means in The Unknown Girl, which doubly serves as an investigation and character study.
TIFF 2016: ‘Le Ciel Flamand’
Written and directed by award-winning Belgian filmmaker Peter Monsaert, Le Ciel Flamand – which translates to “Flemish Heaven” in English – centers around a seasoned brothel owner, Sylvie (Sara Vertongen), as she attempts to protect her six-year-old daughter, Eline (Esra Vandenbussche), from the often violent reality of the family business. The film also stars Wim Willaert (Offline, Cafard) as Eline’s uncle Dirk, a bus driver with whom she spends the afternoons while her mother is at…