Review: Jucy
After a few days of heavy dramas, horror films and thrillers, it was a real joy to go into this light-hearted, self-proclaimed “womance” about Jackie and Lucy, two best friends who want to quit being weird outcasts by finding jobs and boyfriends, all within a two month time limit.
Lucy (Francesca Gasteen) is curvy, bubbly, and wants to be an actress. She works in a video store and lives in her wealthy parents’ home with her younger sister (a hyper-responsible business gal) who disapproves of her slacker lifestyle. Flame-haired Jackie (Cindy Nelson) lives alone, manages the video store they both work in, struggles with what she refers to as her “chemical imbalance,” and is constantly mooning over local actor Alex, while totally ignoring the advances of total sweetheart Trevor. Read more
Review: Mamma Gógó
Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, one of the giants of Icelandic cinema, returns to TIFF with a comedy-drama about family and aging. A film director (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) who’s just made a terribly unsuccessful film (described by someone else in the film as being “about old people wandering around in the fog”) struggles to revive his career and make some money to pay off his many debts. Meanwhile, his strong willed mother, the titular Mamma Gógó (Kristbjörg Kjeld) is becoming more and more difficult for him and his two sisters to deal with – an attitude change that turns out to be connected to the onset of Alzheimer’s. Read more
Review: 22nd of May (22 Mei)
In 2007, Belgian filmmaker Koen Mortier totally blew my head off with his incredible debut feature, Ex Drummer. The gritty, horrifying-yet-hilarious story of a punk band of losers who recruit a well known writer to be their drummer (that’s only sort of what it’s about) is shocking, dirty, wickedly funny and utterly refreshing. I’m very pleased to report that Mortier’s followup feature, 22nd of May, shows him to be a multi-talented director indeed. The film doesn’t follow in Ex Drummer‘s punk footsteps, but it’s clear that the same confident, pull-no-punches director is at the helm.
TIFF Review: A Night for Dying Tigers
A Night For Dying Tigers is a dark, and often quite funny, portrait of a family so screwed up, it’s actually mind boggling.
In about a day, Jack (Gil Bellows) is going to prison for five years, and his family is gathering at their deceased parents’ home to celebrate his final night of freedom. Jack and his two brothers, Russell (John Pyper-Ferguson) and Patrick (Tygh Runyan), are all brilliant and successful, but their lives are on the verge of collapse. Jack’s married to Melanie (Jennifer Beals) but having an affair with Jules (Kathleen Robertson) who had something to do with why he’s going to prison. Russell’s a professor living with a 19-year-old grad student, and Patrick is an acclaimed film director who’s unable to give up on a lifelong affair with their deeply disturbed and unhappy adopted younger sister, Karen (Lauren Lee Smith). Read more
Review: Small Town Murder Songs
Perhaps the best thing about Ed Gass-Donnelly’s Small Town Murder Songs are the titular songs, in the form of an incredible soundtrack by Toronto-based experimental folk outfit Bruce Peninsula. The band’s sound – from the rumbling beats and powerfully growled lead vocals to the haunting choir of backup singers – is perfectly suited to the film’s setting, a rural Mennonite community where the murder of a young woman rocks the otherwise quiet landscape.
The film wears an atmosphere of a modern gothic very well, and the music does a lot to help that along, but the story doesn’t have quite enough soul or depth to pull it off in spite of some incredible performances from all the leads. Read more
