Note: this review is part of the Winter Sports blogathon hosted by the author of these lines Michaël Parent of Le Mot du Cinephiliaque
The Art of Flight (Curt Morgan, 2011)
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011. Show all posts
2015-12-01
2014-03-31
Starbuck
Starbuck
(Ken Scott, 2011)
David (Patrick Huard) is a delivery man for
the family butchery. He is the black sheep and owes 80 000$ to a gang. He
grows weed in his apartment and one day he learns that he is the father of 533
children. Having given more than 600 times to a sperm bank twenty years ago,
signing by the pseudonym of Strabuck the famous Canadian bull who produced
great milk cows, David is asked to reveal his true identity for a group of 142
of his biological children looking for their father.
2013-12-29
Top Films of 2011
1. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick)
2. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
3. Shame (Steve McQueen)
4. The Muppets (James Bobin)
5. The Ides of March (George Clooney)
6. Super 8 (J.J. Abrams)
7. The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
8. The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (Steven Spielberg)
9. Crazy, Stupid, Love. (Glen Ficarra & John Requa)
10. Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
11. Our Idiot Brother (Jesse Peretz)
12. The Descendants (Alexander Payne)
13. Friends With Benefits (Will Gluck)
14. Horrible Bosses (Seth Gordon)
15. The Hangover Part II (Todd Phillips)
Films I need to see to complete this list: Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami) Contagion (Steven Soderbergh) Cowboys & Aliens (Jon Favreau) A Dangerous Method (David Cronenberg) Drive (Nicholas Windin Refn) Le gamin au vélo (Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne) George Harrison: Living in the Material World (Martin Scorsese) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher) Hanna (Joe Wright) Hugo (Martin Scorsese) J. Edgar (Clint Eastwood) Martha Marcy May Marlene (Sean Durkins) Meek's Cutoff (Kelly Reichart) Melancholia (Lars Von Trier) Moneyball (Benneth Miller) My Week With Marilyn () Of Gods and Men () Rango (Gore Verbinski) Road to Nowhere (Monte Hellman) The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodovar) Sleeping Beauty (Janet Leigh) Source Code () Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Tomas Alfredson) Troll Hunter () War Horse (Steven Spielberg) We Bought A Zoo (Cameron Crowe) Young Adults (Jason Reitman) and more...
2013-11-06
A Separation
A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011)
My personal knowledge of Iranian Cinema started with The Taste of Cherry by Abbas Kiarostami and ended there. This masterpiece was my only encounter with the films of this part of the world except the short film The House is Black. In the later years, I wanted to discover more films from different countries and cultures. My quest of the 1000 Greatest Films of TSPDT was my basis to get to those films. With the last update of the list Kiarostami got 3 or more titles included on the list plus the ones he already had there. There was also an addition that was also on my list of recent films to discover; Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation. Praised everywhere it entered in competition and even nominated for Best Screenplay at the Oscars, it won the Best Foreign Film category.
2013-09-02
Shame (2011)
Shame (Steve McQueen, 2011)
This second collaboration of actor-director Michael Fassbender and Steve McQueen is a fascinating tale of the modern day sickness of sex addiction of the emptiness and the isolation of the post-modern world. Brandon (Fassbender) is a successful executive living in New York City and he is addicted to sex. Women are entering his bed one after the other. Some are complete strangers, others are prostitutes. He also masturbates in front of porn, web cam sex, at his office stall, and every way he possibly can. Nothing seems to satisfy his void and his needs. One day his distressed sister (Carey Mulligan) comes at his apartment and they sure have many subtext tensions. He was never returning her calls and he seems to have a retain when it some to intimacy with people.
2013-05-27
Limitless
Limitless (Neil Burger, 2011)
Based on the novel The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn, Limitless is the story Eddie Mora (Bradley Cooper) a writer who has troubles writing a novel, loses his girlfriend (Abbie Cornish) and slowly falls into alcoholism. One day he meets his ex-brother in-law and discovers a drug that gives him the power to use more than 20% of his brain. Well, it’s like as if he can use it all. With this jump star the becomes limitless in the possibilities of his life.
2013-02-19
10 Years
The 10 year reunion of a group of friends from High School is the setting of this one night story with an ensemble cast of Channing Tatum, Justin Long, Kate Mara, Chris Pratt, Rosario Dawson, Max Minghella, and many others. This plot line resumes well the movie that in fact shows different vignettes of the young adults having not really evolved since their high school years. The plot has many problems and one major is the fact that the characters have each their past in High School and we seem to never really get involved in their gang or to be able to get the big piucture. The failure of the director Jamie Linden is to not make us feel we are in the gang. Being the same age of these adults I was expecting to easily connect with the different characters but I feel that they are from a High School that is only possible in films and that the group of friends is so stereotyped that compared to a near-masterpiece like Dazed and Confused, 10 Years is a very poor film.
2013-02-18
Intouchables
A seriously handicaped rich man (François Cluzet) seeks for an aidant, but the task is very hard and even if it is well paid the number of people who occupied the position is huge. This goes on until he meets a young black man (Omar Sy) from a poor milieu with a great heart and a lot of pragmatism.
This comedy had every ingredient to fall into the easy path of melodramas and the victimization of wheelchair handicaped people. However, the angle of approach of the two directors (Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano) brought an encounter of two improbable person becoming best buds. It is the overused concept of the Odd Couple, where two very different kind of characters get along in a way that only buddy flicks can, that can be one of the most obvious elements of the plot. Mostly because of the many times the same story has been done over and over again, I was expecting something very convetional and obvious. And even if the story is inspired by true events and characters, we feel that the plot hasn’t been that much romanced.
2012-11-05
The Descendants
The
Descendants (Alexander Payne,
2011)
A land baron tries to re-connect with his two
daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.
Back in 2011, the first movie of Alexander Payne in seven years received mixed reviews and was more
or less appreciated by movie goers. Starring the Cary Grant of our time, film
star George Clooney as the
descendant of the last Hawaiian princess with a bunch of cousins owns a huge
chunk of land on Kauai Island. They want to sell to a group who wants to put
Hotels and condos on this piece of paradise and make a big profit in the
transaction. But at the same time, Matt (Clooney) must deal with his wife in a
coma from a boat accident. Learning that she’ll be unhooked from the machines
that keep her alive, Matt learns from his eldest daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) that his wife had an
affair and wanted to leave him for another man. Since, he was too busy with his
job it was Elisabeth (Patricia Hastie),
his wife, that raised the children and kept the house going. Matt must face his
responsibility of taking care of his daughters, arranging the final moments of
Elisabeth, and deciding what to do with the land.
With the voiceover, we are share Matt’s thoughts and
we understand his mixed feelings towards the man with whom Elisabeth cheated on
him, his desperation in his facing of the situation, and his dilemma for the
sale. Having been in Hawaii for my honey moon in August 2011 I feel that the essence
of these people has been very well assimilated by the script and I can sense
that the original material was true to the protection of the land that the
natives cherish. The narrated opening of the film with Clooney telling how the
perception of paradise of Hawaii from the people of the continent might be not
as picture perfect as many would think. It’s just that it has its own culture
and way of living.
The indie feeling of this comedy meets drama might get
on some people’s nerves since the line isn’t always very clear; some situations
might even be funny when they weren’t really supposed to. However, this is a
very good script and I think that without an actor like George Clooney the
character of Matt King would have felt a little flat. And as Jeffrey M.
Anderson mentioned it, the film has its moments of bliss while other parts are
unequal. I liked the pace and the very simple but beautiful photography. It’s
not very difficult to take a breathtaking image of Hawaii, but the use of
colors and textures captures the essence of the land.
Alexander Payne’s fifth picture isn’t a great film
neither a bad film and once again he puts the accent on a middle aged man
having to face a crisis that will bring him to be a better man, model, and
human being. Payne’s ability to present believable human characters under a
multitude of angles is giving them more than just a simple color. He gives them
many shades and colors just like the rainbows that represent the state of
Hawaii. This is a sensibility that few talented directors have in their craft.
2012-10-22
The Last Gladiators
The Last Gladiators (Alex Gibney, 2011)
In Ice Hockey no one is tougher
than the "goon". Those players have one mission: to protect the star
players at any price.
Recently, the fine folks at Phase 4 Films
have provided me a review copy of this Documentary about Hockey player Chris “Knuckles” Nilan. An in depth
observation of his career in professional Hockey as a “goon” but also in his life
and how he now manages to live with the scars of his career of violent Hockey
player. In thirteen years in the NHL, he played for the Montreal Canadiens, the
New York Rangers, and the Boston Bruins. He amassed more penalty minutes than
any other player and fought over 300 fights. This resulted in thirty operations
on his body. He is a physically broken man and the documentary brings the light
on the fact that what he had to deal has hurt him in a very profound manner.
Directed by Academy Award Winner, Alex Gibney, this human portrait is presented in a very
conventional way; with head shot interviews and a voice over. We have the
commentaries of Nilan’s parents, his ex-wife, ex-teammates, childhood friends,
and many other NHL enforcers. While the NHL puts the light on players like
Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby, we tend to forget that players like Marty
McSorley or Nilan were the guys who defended and protected the star players.
Giving the mic and the spotlight to the “goons” isn’t what the sport has been
selling. It is very interesting to discover how these key players in the
success of a team had to deal with their post career.
 |
| Chris Nilan |
Sadly, the point about concussions isn’t even addressed
in the documentary, a plague that is making the sport look bad these days. It
also brings up how the players are on their own and they must be advised to
help them find a job when they retire. Most of these men don’t have much
education and their lives have been about Hockey and about almost nothing else. It is
difficult for them to get into the real world and live a decent life.
Despite the fact that The Last Gladiators is a very traditional documentary, the subject
matter is still very actual. In 2010, three players of the NHL died and they
were also goons. At 54 years old, Chris Nilan has fought from his childhood in
the streets of Boston, he is still struggling very hard to get his head over
the water and be a sober man and have a life with his new life partner. For
every Hockey fan and even Sports Fan there is a lesson to learn because even if
what the Leagues and Associations are selling, the players are all humans after
all. I’ll paraphrase Nilan himself: they are all just men just like us.
 |
| Nilan with the Habs in the 1980's. |
Note: I
was invited to interview Mr. Nilan in a press conference this month, but I had
to decline the offer because I didn’t had the time to drive three hours back
and forth. However, I’d like to personally thank Chris for his dedication and
to have the courage to show his true personality on the camera.
2012-09-20
Midnight in Paris
Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen, 2011)
A
family travel to the French capital for business. The party includes a young
engaged couple who are forced to confront their differing views of a perfect
life.
Directing a
film per year since the early 1970’s, Woody Allen might become one of the most
productive directors of all time. Let’s not count John Ford’s early Westerns or the many short films some directors
may have directed in a year. Writing and directing a film every year at 76
years old might be a challenge since the Woodman has been occasionally accused
of repeating himself over and over again. However, Midnight in Paris, released in 2011, became one of his most
successful movies at the box office. So it was with high expectations I sat through the 94 minutes of this ode to the Paris of the 1920’s.
Gill (Owen Wilson) is about to marry Inez (Rachel McAdams), obviously the wrong
girl and moreover the wrong family. He is a daydreamer and he wants to escape
his screenwriter job to become a “real” writer and finish his novel. Gill is another
Woody Allen-like protagonist, about that there is an interesting fact about the names of his
characters. They are always short because he doesn’t like to lose too much time
writing them. But here I digress, the couple is visiting Paris with Inez’ parents (Mimi Kennedy & Kurt Fuller). They also encounter Carol (Nina Arianda) and Paul (Michael
Sheen) a couple of Inez’s friends. The latter is an old crush of the young
woman. Completely exasperated by Paul’s scholar bragging, Gill decides to go walk alone one
night. This will lead him to taste the dreams he always wanted.
Similarly
structured as The Purple Rose of Cairo,
Midnight in Paris is a movie for
cinephiles and daydreamers. The romantic depictions of Paris, the encounters
with historical figures are elements that I don’t want to spoil for those who haven’t seen
the picture. It feels like if Woody wanted to connect with his own nostalgia like his
very autobiographical movie Radio Days. The
Gill character, played by Owen Wilson, got all the ticks and fads that Allen did
when he used to star in his films. Wilson does a good job but it is more an
impersonation than actually a composition. Not having read on Allen’s directing
to Wilson might be a flaw for this review, but I tend to think that Wilson was on his own (no real directions from Allen)
and rewatched early films of Woody and did his best to catch the unique
character.
With my high
expectations, Midnight in Paris felt
a little flat for me and it is because the story isn’t that original or
surprising. Even if Darius Khondji’s
cinematography is warm and beautiful, the whole of the film lacked in depth and
the script could have used some fresh air. However, we are in a Woody Allen
movie and the recurring themes, the characters, and the unique Allenian feeling
is there. Recommended.
2012-09-12
The Muppets
The Muppets
(James Bobin, 2011)
With the help of three fans, The
Muppets must reunite to save their old theater from a greedy oil tycoon.
Having not published my Top 10 films of 2011 yet is
one of the most shameful issues that I have with this blog. Each time I look in
my drafts it stands there pointing the fact to me that I have so many films of
2011 to catch up that I can’t even publish a self respecting list of the best
films of 2011 that I have seen. Well, The
Muppets, I swear, will get a very high spot on this list that I am still
working on.
When Jason
Segel announced that he wanted to reboot The Muppets I was more than
thrilled. His work on Forgetting Sarah
Marshall, I Love You Man, and the
popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother
proved that the man has a talent for comedy and storytelling. Add Kermit, Miss
Piggy and the whole gang plus the very talented Amy Adams and an almost endless list of guest stars and cameos then
you get my favourite comedy of 2011. This bold statement, considering that I
have seen and liked The Artist, is
made without hesitation.
Unfortunately, I’ve never seen a Muppet Show or a
Muppet Film, but I am always eager to watch children films. What stoked me the
most was the comedy à la Mel Brooks,
the puns at the movie conventions, and the whole story of the film. Since I don’t
like to spoil the comedy or the story of a film in my reviews I will tell you
that if you kept your heart of your childhood and have a good sense of humor
you’ll be in for a great time.
With the introduction where we discover Walter and
Gary (Segel), the two brothers. One is a man and the other one is a muppet,
from the first glimpse the filmmakers interact with us with a voice over like
the opening of Goodfellas. As if,
Walter was saying: I’ve always knew that
I wanted to be a Muppet just like Hank Hill in the aforementioned Martin Scorsese picture.
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