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: «««