A Vigilante (2018)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Sarah Daggar-Nickson
Starring: Olivia Wilde, Morgan Spector, Kyle Catlett
Running time: 91 minutes

 

Sadie is a woman who escaped an abusive relationship that cost her the life of her young son. After attending support group meetings and seeing so many other cases like hers, she decides to train herself and serve justice to help other women and children stuck in situations of domestic violence.

Olivia Wilde is truly fearless in the lead role here, and I feel that the writer and director, Sarah Daggar-Nickson, did not do her performance justice here with some of her decisions. It is as if, while tackling such a difficult but very present issue, she was trying to be artsy and cute about it. She seemed to want to shy away from most of the violence. What we get is a film about vigilantism where most of the violence is implied. There was no need to be overly graphic, but some of the cuts in various scenes felt silly.

Nonetheless, mostly for Wilde’s performance and the riveting aspect of the story, I still appreciated this film.

Rating: «««

Incendies (2010)

 Genre: Franco / Drama
Réalisateur: Denis Villeneuve
Distribution: Lebna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette 

Durée : 131 minutes

 

À la mort de leur mère Nawal Marwan, qui avait refait sa vie à Montréal après avoir survécu à une guerre civile entre Chrétiens et Musulmans dans un pays imaginaire inspiré du Liban, les jumeaux Jeanne et Simon reçoivent du notaire Jean Lebel la mission de remettre deux lettres, une à leur père qu’ils croyaient mort et l’autre au frère dont ils ignoraient l’existence. Le film nous transporte alors entre la terrible histoire d’une mère et la quête de deux enfants à la recherche de réponses.

J’avais vu ce film peu de temps après sa parution, et j’avais reçu la fin comme un coup de poing en tant que spectateur. En le revisitant, je connaissais le punch final, mais cela m’a encore marqué. Quel film absolument magnifique. C’est dur, ce n’est pas pour les sensibles. Mais, c’est très réaliste. Le jeu des acteurs est solide, et l’histoire est captivante. Quel travail de réalisateur aussi. Vraiment un film à voir.

Note: «««««

This is 40 (2012)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Judd Apatow
Starring: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, John Lithgow
Running time: 133 minutes

 

Debbie and Pete are a couple with two kids going through a rough patch as they are both reaching the age of 40. Work is not going so well, so there are financial troubles looming, and both are questioning their relationship at this pivotal moment in their lives.

 This is a sort-off sequel to the film Knocked Up. Here, writer and director Judd Apatow put the focus on the characters played by Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann. The chemistry between the two leads is stronger than in the previous film, but a compelling story with loads of funny situations still gets buried in too much self indulgence. This movie would have benefited greatly from a little tightening up. It dragged on and on aimlessly at times.

Rating: «««

Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap: Every Song Tells a Story (2014)

 Genre: Musical
Directed by: John Barnard
Starring: Randy Bachman
Running time: 87 minutes

 

Inspired by his own radio show, guitarist Randy Bachman decided to go on stage with a group of musicians, in his hometown of Winnipeg, to tell the stories that inspired many of the songs he wrote with The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive. After telling the stories, he performed these songs, to the delight of the crowd.

Amazon Prime had been recommending this one to me for a while, so I decided to give it a chance. I loved it. Bachman is a great storyteller and musician. Vocally, he’s nothing to write home about anymore as a singer, but it did not matter. This was such a great walk through Memory Lane. I rediscovered many of those songs I had been taking for granted.

Rating: «««««

Knocked Up (2007)

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Directed by: Judd Apatow
Starring: Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann
Running time: 129 minutes

 

Alison Scott is an ambitious entertainment reporter living in her sister’s family guest house. After a night of celebration in a bar with her sister, she has a one-night stand with Ben Stone, an immature slacker working on a silly website with a group of friends. This affair leaves Alison pregnant, wondering what to do and if she can trust this new man-child in her life.

Revisiting this particular title years later, I did not like it as much as I originally did. It did not age so well. The chemistry, or lack thereof, between Rogen and Heigl is bad. You cannot even imagine that woman giving that guy a chance, even for one night. And, all through the movie, when they share scenes, you never really believe it.

In spite of the flaws, Knocked Up still has quite a few good gags throughout. While, as an ensemble piece, it is quite flawed, it still gives a certain dose of entertainment.

Rating: «««

Terminator Genisys (2015)

Genre: Science-fiction /Action
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, J.K. Simmons
Running time: 126 minutes

 

Kyle Reese, a soldier involved in John Connor’s post-apocalyptic war against Skynet, is sent back from 2029 to 1984 to save Sarah Connor, John’s mother, from death. As he arrives in 1984, he finds a world whose timeline was majorly changed by Skynet.

Arnold reprises his role as the original Terminator, who is now sort of a father figure to Sarah Connor. It’s a big stretch. At least, he had a few moments that made me smile or chuckle. The Kyle Reese character just looks so inapt, and Jason Clarke was not memorable in the role. Emilia Clarke was a weird choice to play Sarah Connor, after witnessing how badass Linda Hamilton was in the role originally. She feels like a child playing a woman you are supposed to fear a little. As it was, you cannot help but wonder how this trio can prevail in its mission.

The story of this fifth installment in the Terminator franchise just feels like a silly rehash in an attempt to revitalize something long dead and gone. It’s recycling bits and pieces of various things to try and make something worthwhile. Not very successful.

Rating: ««

True Confessions (1981)

Genre: Thriller / Film Noir
Directed by: Ulu Grosbard
Starring: Robert De Niro, Robert Duvall, Burgess Meredith
Running time: 108 minutes

 

Based on the John Gregory Dunne novel of the same name, True Confessions tells the story of Desmond Spellacy, a young catholic monsignor, and his older brother Tom, a police detective. As an investigation starts on the murder of a prostitute, the two brothers have very distinct interests to protect, but neither of them can protect each other in the process.

The major strength of this film is the presence of De Niro and Duvall as the two leads. They carry this one to a potable result. Burgess Meredith is a cool presence too. Both leads offer a good deal of solid acting performance, but, as a whole, this film simply lacks cohesion and a strong conclusion.

Rating: «««

Robin Williams: Come Into My Mind (2018)

Genre: Documentary
Directed by: Marina Zenovixh
Starring: Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Lewis Black, Elayne Boosler
Running time: 116 minutes

 

With a mixture of archived footage and interviews with family members and friends, this brilliant documentary covers the life and career of comedian and actor Robin Williams, from his youth to his rise to fame and to his unexpected passing.

I absolutely loved this documentary. I am a big Robin Williams fan, which helps. But this film is filled with so much great material. I laughed. I was deeply touched. Start to finish, I was hooked. It even put me a little more at peace with the man’s untimely passing. I particularly enjoyed Billy Crystal contribution to this movie. I can only imagine how tough it must have been for him.

Rating: «««««

 

 

Tim Dillon: A Real Hero (2022)

Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Ben Avery
Starring: Tim Dillon
Running time: 48 minutes

 

In this special, comic and podcaster Tim Dillon takes the stage, in Denver, Colorado, to rant about such topics as fast food, living in Texas vs California, the COVID pandemic, conspiracy theories and the danger in killing people heroes.

Considering how short this comedy special was, I expected it to pack more of a comedic punch. Sure, there was some good material here and there, but there were also many jokes that fell kind of flat. It felt a little all over the place at times.

Rating: «««

Licorice Pizza (2021)

Genre: Comedy / Drama
Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper
Running time: 133 minutes

 

Set in the California of the 1970’s, this film takes us through the story of the budding relationship between, Gary Valentine, a 15-year-old student, actor and aspiring entrepreneur, and Alana Kane, a photographer’s assistant in her twenties.

Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote and directed this film, relied on two fresh faces to carry his story. And he sure picked them right. I appreciate that he went for people who look like normal people instead of the supermodel type. Haim and Hoffman sure did a good job in what were their early steps in the business. It is particularly cool to see Philip Seymour Hoffman’s son have some of his father’s talent.

The two fresh faces are backed by an ensemble cast of talented actors such as Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper and Tom Waits.

This film generated some controversy for the age gap between the two protagonists and because of some insensitive racial material. This stuff was not out of the ordinary in the context of a movie set in the 1970’s. As such, it did not bother me. It is a very good film. It dragged on a bit, but, in the end, I enjoyed it.

Rating: ««««

 

Lincoln (2012)

Genre: Biographical / Drama
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field
Running time: 150 minutes

 

This film covers the final four months of US president Abraham Lincoln’s life as he tries to abolish slavery by getting the House of Representatives to adopt the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field do a tremendous job as Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd Lincoln. So does Tommy Lee Jones, as Republican congressman Thaddeus Stevens. This film sure feels like it was a giant undertaking. The subject matter is serious and important, and Spielberg tackled it with the right decorum. Sometimes, the costumes and the over-the-top acting by some took away from the package, but, all in all, this is epic film well worth watching.

Rating: ««««

Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)

Genre: Comedy / Drama
Directed by: Susan Seidelman
Starring: Rosanna Arquette, Madonna, Aidan Quinn
Running time: 104 minutes

 

Roberta Glass is a bored housewife from New Jersey who becomes fascinated with the story of Susan, a bohemian drifter who communicates with her boyfriend through the personal ads in the newspaper. After getting too close to the situation, Roberta is involved in an accident that briefly wipes her memory and she is mistaken for Susan.

This film is fine for what it is. It is a fun and silly little comedy. The acting is good enough, and the oddball story is somewhat interesting. It was cool to revisit this one. Nothing to write home about, but nothing bad either.

Rating: «««

Le bruit des moteurs (2022)

Genre: Franco / Drama
Réalisateur: Philippe Grégoire
Distribution: Robert Naylor, Tanja Björk, Marie-Thérèse Fortin
Durée : 78 minutes

 

Alexandre est suspendu de son emploi de formateur pour l’armement des douaniers canadiens après que son employeur a jugé ses comportements sexuels comme étant compulsifs. Il retourne donc dans son village natal, chez sa mère, qui est propriétaire d’une piste de course d’accélération. Alexandre fait alors la rencontre d’une coureuse automobile islandaise, avec qui il développe une belle relation, mais les autorités reviennent assez vite mettre le nez dans ses affaires.

J’ai trouvé ce film fort bizarre. Je comprends le point de vue artistique et le désir de passer un message, mais l’absurdité de l’histoire n’est pas venue me chercher. La distribution a somme toute fait un travail potable, mais le mélange des silences et ensuite des cris, avec une histoire absurde, j’avais hâte que ça se termine.

Note: ««

A Single Man (2009)

Genre: Drama
Directed by: Tom Ford
Starring: Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode
Running time: 100 minutes

 

Based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man tells the story of George Falconer, a gay British university professor living in the Southern California of 1962. He is deeply depressed following the death of his lover in a car accident and he is contemplating suicide.

The quality of this film relies greatly on the acting performance offered by Colin Firth. He is totally believable as George Falconer. Julianne Moore, on the other hand, is uncharacteristically bad. The fake accent and the over-the-top acting almost ruined this for me. Thankfully, she was not a focal point of the film.

The pace of A Single Man is slow and deliberate, but delivers a lot of emotions that are worth investing into if that is your thing.

Rating: ««««

Killing Them Softly (2012)

Genre: Thriller / Film Noir
Directed by: Andrew Dominik
Starring: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn
Running time: 97 minutes

 

Based on the George V. Higgins novel titled Cogan’s Trade, Killing Them Softly tells the tale of three small-time crooks decide to rob a group of men during an illegal gambling operation operated by the Mob. The Mob then hires two hitmen to take care of this matter.

Brad Pitt is quite convincing in his role here. James Gandolfini offered something we were not used to with him, playing someone truly pathetic. As for the story itself, while it certainly had its moments of brilliance, it felt a little convoluted and messy for me. Still, I was entertained by this very imperfect movie.

Rating: «««