Listen Up Philip (Alex Ross Perry) traps the audience with an unbearable character: Philip Lewis Friedman, a New York novelist whose self-regard outweighs pretty much everything in his life, pushing him away from the people he should care about most. Jason Schwartzman is pitch-perfect as Philip, letting loose his inner shitheel as he alienates his long-suffering girlfriend (Elisabeth Moss) and forms a parasitic relationship with an aging legend (Jonathan Pryce, who’s quietly as good as Schwartzman). Director Perry’s (The Color Wheel) film is literary in structure – with omniscient narration by Eric Bogosian – and lacerating in function, showing us precisely how Philip’s narcissism serves his art while chipping away at his soul. The real question is whether he’ll even notice or care. 109 min.
Rating: NNNNN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.
John Wick (Chad Stahelski) is an awful lot of fun for a movie in which dozens of people are violently shot in the head – and as such, plays like a tonic for the grim-as-hell tone of The Equalizer and Fury. Keanu Reeves is the eponymous anti-hero, a retired assassin and very recent widower who reactivates himself to go after the thugs who stole his car and killed the puppy his wife left him. In his directorial debut, veteran stuntman and action coordinator Stahelski sticks to what he knows, choreographing gripping, visually inventive action sequences that make the most of their unlikely locations. But more importantly, he makes the tone work, shifting from serious-minded character piece to full-on comic book excess so deftly you won’t even realize it’s happened. Some subtitles. 101 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Carlton Cinema, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Cineplex VIP Cinemas Don Mills, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Queensway, Rainbow Woodbine, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
Laggies (Lynn Shelton) finds director Shelton trying her hand at a scripted feature after the largely improvisational Humpday, Your Sister’s Sister and Touchy Feely. Written by Andrea Seigel, Laggies is about a Seattle woman (Keira Knightley) who freaks out at a marriage proposal and hides out at the home of a teenager (Chloë Grace Moretz) she’s just befriended, then finds herself drawn to the girl’s father (Sam Rockwell). It plays like a lighter, looser spin on Joanna Hogg’s brilliant British drama Unrelated, with the aimless Knightley caught in someone else’s parent-child dynamic, but it’s no less insightful or compassionate. 100 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
Levitated Mass (Doug Pray) documents artist Michael Heizer’s bid to bring a very large boulder to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the summer of 2012. Director Pray (Art & Copy) follows the journey from beginning to end, starting with the detonation at a California quarry that split the 308-tonne slab from a rock shelf and charting the long, complex process of transporting said rock (slowly, carefully and over several nights) to its current home as an exhibit at LACMA. Through it all, a sense of bemusement and goodwill surrounds the project, with Pray suggesting none too subtly that the human ingenuity required to make the thing happen is at least as artful as the thing itself. It’s kind of delightful, really. 88 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. See here for times.
The Irish Pub (Alex Fegan) delivers exactly what it says on the tin, as the saying goes: a tour of several Irish ale houses, where their owners and customers provide an oral history of the eponymous institution. Documentarian Fegan bounced all over Ireland to interview publicans and patrons at historic locations, shaping the footage into a charming testimonial to tradition, community and communal drinking. I’ve never been to Ireland, but I’ve logged enough time in English pubs that I felt right at home amidst the charming little stories and loving details Fegan captures. If any of the above rings true to you, you will probably enjoy The Irish Pub as much as I did, and for the same reasons. 76 min.
Rating: NNN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at Carlton Cinema, Kingsway Theatre. See here for times.
White Bird in a Blizzard (Gregg Araki) turns Laura Kasischke’s 1999 novel into a contemporary Douglas Sirk melodrama. Director Araki uses casting tricks and sleek visual language to put a subtly surreal spin on the story of small-town teen Kat (Shailene Woodley) trying to cope with the disappearance of her mother. Eva Green and Christopher Meloni manage the tricky task of playing Kat’s exaggerated memories of her parents, while Woodley’s layered performance shows us a young woman doing whatever she can to repress the truth about her parents’ relationship and her own sense of self. Strangely, all three actors are so good at wearing their characters’ secrets on their faces that they undercut the movie’s emotional arc. We know these people better than they know themselves, making the big reveal almost superfluous. 91 min.
Rating: NNN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (Alejandro González Iñárritu) is a near-total fiasco from a filmmaker bent on impressing the world with his prodigious talent. With this show-offy drama about a former superhero actor (Michael Keaton) making his Broadway debut by writing, directing and starring in a drama based on the stories of Raymond Carver, Iñárritu – the director of the flashy puzzle pictures Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel and Biutiful – labours as intensely as his increasingly desperate protagonist, and with much the same results. Keaton’s as magnetic as ever, but he and the all-star supporting cast – Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Zach Galifianakis, Andrea Riseborough, Amy Ryan – are mere pawns in Iñárritu’s technically remarkable but emotionally hollow funhouse. I suspect Iñárritu is trying to one-up his countryman Alfonso Cuarón’s remarkable, Oscar-winning accomplishments on Gravity. But where Gravity’s virtuosity served its story and its characters – and merited every prize awarded to it – Birdman’s cutting-edge production serves only its creator’s ego. It’s a godawful mess. 119 min.
Rating: NN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at Varsity. See here for times.
Born to Fly: Elizabeth Streb vs. Gravity (Catherine Gund) spends a great deal of time getting familiar with rudimentary background on Streb, the titular 64-year-old “pop action” choreographer – family life, dance influences and progressive dance steps are dutifully covered. Her dancers are certainly a dazzling sight, performing routines that look like accelerated Cirque du Soleil, with a lot of banging against walls or ricocheting off massive metal contraptions straight onto a chiropractor’s table. According to Streb, being careful is frowned upon in this business. The physical punishment these dancers endure – with an ear-to-ear grin, never failing to praise their leader in the process – is the film’s most fascinating talking point. But the doc feels more padded than the floor mats Streb’s gravity-defying dancers bounce off. 82 min.
Rating: NN (RS)
Opens Oct 24 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. See here for times.
Eternity: The Movie (Ian Thorpe) follows naive Todd (Barrett Crake), who in the 80s starts the blue-eyed soul band Eternity with womanizer saxophonist B.J. (Myko Olivier). They find spectacular success thanks to gay record exec Barry (John Gires) and weather girl trouble – they’re both in love with Gina Marie (Nikki Leonti). When the band becomes popular, Todd loses his songwriting chops, which only blossom during periods of emotional upset. It’s satire for sure. The boys are meant to evoke Hall & Oates and Wham! – everyone assumes they’re queer. But unlike Music And Lyrics, which featured those great mock-80s videos with has-been pop star Hugh Grant, Eternity: The Movie doesn’t show the same smarts or affection for the era. Todd comes across as dumb and the womanizing B.J. as crude. A small segment of the LGBTQ audience may find this fun – the clothes are a hoot, the song lyrics ridiculous, and the gay innuendo constant – but it’s mostly just crass. 92 min.
Rating: NN (SGC)
Opens Oct 24 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.
Mall (Joseph Hahn) almost passes as satire. But it’s not funny and it offers zero social commentary. Meth head Mal (James Frecheville) kills his mom, torches their trailer and heads to the mall with a whack of guns to complete his killing spree. A bored housewife (Gina Gershon), a peeping Tom (Vincent D’Onofrio) and some alienated teens, including the philosophically inclined Jeff (Cameron Monaghan), are all there, unaware of what’s coming. Debut director Hahn gives the pic some energy but can’t find the right tone. Is it supposed to be one big gross-out or a gleeful splatterfest? Is it a sweet coming-of-age story about a bored high schooler? It could be that final possibility, except that Jeff’s voice-over in which he drones on about social dichotomies, capitalism and authority figures is laughable. That might merit the satire label, but watching Mall feels more like an ordeal. 88 min.
Rating: NN (SGC)
Opens Oct 24 at Pig Picture Cinemas. See here for times.
A Thousand Times Goodnight (Erik Poppe) draws from the director’s own experiences as a war-zone shutterbug whose risk-taking tormented his wife and kids. His photos used in this film reach for authenticity, but the journalist’s intimate story still feels contrived. Juliette Binoche plays Poppe’s onscreen stand-in, jumps into a caravan with a jihadi suicide bomber to get every last portrait before her subject’s final destination. She barely survives the ordeal, which convinces her to retire and attempt to create a “normal” life with her apprehensive family. Photogenic reunions lead to domestic fireworks, convenient plot machinations and overwrought life lessons. 113 min.
Rating: NN (RS)
Opens Oct 24 at Regent Theatre, Royal. See here for times.
Whiplash (Damien Chazelle) is a battle of wills between a drummer (Miles Teller) who challenges a monstrous conductor (J.K. Simmons) for a potentially life-changing spot in his school’s jazz orchestra. With Simmons hurling abuse and Teller doing his best to roll with each new humiliation, it’s basically Full Metal Drum Kit set at an elite Manhattan music college. Nothing matters but the battle of wills other characters are shut out or driven away. The only question is, will the kid crack or will the grown-up accept his talent? Teller and Simmons commit completely, and their performances are enough to power the drama through its first hour. (It’d make a hell of a stage play, if anyone were crazy enough to mount it.) But Chazelle’s plot twists grow increasingly ridiculous, prizing intensity over credibility, and the final act has the feel of a fever dream. I just couldn’t go with it. 106 min.
Rating: NN (NW)
Opens Oct 24 at Varsity. See here for times.
Ouija (Stiles White) is a horror entry about a ouija board session that goes out of control. First-timer director Stiles has special effects credits on Jurassic Park III and The Sixth Sense. Screened after press time – see review October 25 at nowtoronto.com/movies. 90 min.
Opens Oct 24 at 401 & Morningside, Carlton Cinema, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Woodbine, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
