Room 237 (Rodney Ascher) is an exceptional documentary about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and viewers’ obsession with the film’s many mysteries. The cineastes director Ascher interviews may be trapped by Kubrick’s film like the ghosts haunting the Overlook Hotel. Equally Kubrickian is Ascher’s painstaking composition. Assembled largely from The Shining footage, the film is organized around various left-field interpretations. One speaker thinks Kubrick’s copping to faking the moon landing another talks at length about Minotaurs. Some of the theories come off like crackpot close readings. But Ascher isn’t interested in credibility. Rather, he’s concerned with the spells that films, and especially enigmatic ones like The Shining, can cast. 102 min.
Rating: NNNNN (John Semley)
Opens May 10 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.
Graceland (Ron Morales) follows Marlon (Arnold Reyes), the driver for corrupt Manila congressman Chango (Menggie Cobarrubias), who has a predilection for young girls. When kidnappers attack the car, they kill Chango’s daughter and snatch Marlon’s daughter (Elle Guevara). Reyes is superb as the driver anguished by his complicity in his boss’s creepy behaviour and desperate to save his daughter – and his ailing wife. Screenwriter Morales has a gift for twists and turns, and as a director he shows complete command of the material, the tone and the gritty atmosphere in what is only his second feature. As the story unfolds – leaking information that consistently subverts our expectations – Graceland takes an unblinking look at the mean streets of Manilla, police corruption and human trafficking. The child prostitution sequences are knockouts. Subtitled. 84 min.
Rating: NNNN (SGC)
Opens May 10 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.
The Manor (Shawney Cohen) uses the eponymous business, a legendary Guelph strip club owned by director Cohen’s family, to provide context into said family’s simmering goulash of psychological issues, including but not limited to self-denial, substance abuse and matters of body image, the latter almost certainly related to the constant objectification in which the Manor traffics. The doc could easily have tipped into caricature or grotesquerie, but Cohen’s compassion for his subjects keeps the project steady and respectful, only coming up short in the awkward final movement, when the lack of any real drama leaves the film fumbling for an exit point. 78 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens May 10 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. See here for times.
At Any Price (Ramin Bahrani) features Dennis Quaid giving the kind of performance that deserves awards recognition in a movie that won’t likely get that kind of attention. He’s terrific as an opportunistic patriarch expanding his family’s modern agriculture enterprise with questionable practices and little regard for those he plows down along the way. His son (Zac Efron, fine in an undemanding role) wants little to do with the business, opting to pursue dreams of NASCAR alongside his loyal girlfriend (Maika Monroe, a precious discovery). Director Bahrani’s art house background shows in this old-school generational drama. Although he occasionally gives in to obtuse melodrama, his lament for the loss of both traditional farming and families shows a soulful and subtle intelligence. 105 min.
Rating: NNN (RS)
Opens May 10 at Varsity. See here for times.
I Declare War (Jason Lapeyre, Robert Wilson) is the Canuck answer to Battle Royale. Toy-gun-toting kids go out to the woods to play Capture The Flag when their make-believe stick weapons morph into actual burning chrome and kids become casualties – but only till suppertime. What should be a PG affair shoots straight for R territory with slick, bloody effects, eardrum-ringing sound and the kind of cussing you’d hear on Xbox Live. The deadpan humour stretches out one good joke, where not so innocent kids pass the time between strategic kills discussing schoolyard politics – or maybe grabbing a juice. In the era of Call Of Duty, it’s not all that shocking. The talented teens in the cast deserve praise for keeping us hooked, gamely switching from adorable to dead “fucking” serious every time they lock and load. You’ll want to see how the battle plays out, but then you’ll hope they all get grounded afterwards. 94 min.
Rating: NNN (RS)
Opens May 10 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.
Slaughter Nick For President (Rob Stewart, Lisa Vespi, Marc Vespi) follows Canadian actor Stewart (no relation to the director of Revolution) from Brampton to Belgrade when he discovers he’s famous in Serbia for his role on the 1990s TV series Sweating Bullets. His character, beach bum detective Nick Slaughter, became an unlikely pop icon during the nation’s political and social convulsions. The doc – narrated by Stewart in dazzled voice-over – is an endearingly weird consideration of niche stardom from the inside out. Yes, it’s also a marketing tool for Stewart’s domestic comeback. But he kinda deserves it. Some subtitles. 72 min.
Rating: NNN (NW)
Opens May 10 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.
Blackbird (Jason Buxton) deals with relevant hot topics like bullying and public hysteria but unfortunately doesn’t add much to the argument. Connor Jessup (a fine actor who looks like Justin Bieber’s emo twin) plays Sean, a small town social outcast who isn’t keen on keeping a low profile despite the fact that his goth style and brooding emotions make him an easy target for bullies. The high school scenes are remarkably sensitive and authentic thanks to a young cast who were probably attending high school when the film was made. Blackbird goes off the rails after Sean posts a Columbine-like threat online and ends up the target of further torment, and director Buxton seems to enter foreign territory when Sean has to navigate the justice system. While I appreciate the rookie director’s attempt to present an alternative look at teen rage, I can’t shake the feeling that the overreaching Blackbird goes nowhere with only clichés to guide it. 106 min.
Rating: NN (RS)
Opens May 10 at Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
The Good Lie tracks teenager Cullen’s (Thomas Dekker) quest for his birth father, who raped his mother. Dekker’s excellent as the angry young man willing to take risks in the search for his prey, the dialogue between him and his pals is edgy and real, and writer/director Linden knows how to create tension. But the story itself builds to a disappointing climax, and the narrative device of having the boys one-up each other with scary ghost stories, gorily dramatized, around the campfire before Cullen reveals all (basically nothing) fails. The Good Lie isn’t one of those typically Canuck pics that has a superb cast and nothing else. But decent performances – Matt Craven as Cullen’s dad is also good – a strong indie soundtrack and few scenes with crackling conversation can’t rescue a problematic screenplay. Linden has talent. He just hasn’t yet put it all together. 93 min.
Rating: NN (SGC)
Opens May 10 at Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann) is just the latest movie adaptation to misunderstand F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. It’s not about a rich man who yearns for the woman he loved and lost years earlier, but an elegy for the Roaring Twenties seen through the eyes of a cynical alcoholic. As much as he may want to engage with Fitzgerald’s essential message of sic transit gloria, Luhrmann can’t help piling on the spectacle. The first 90 minutes of his Gatsby are awash in sparkles, spangles, crystal and Jay-Z remixes, overwhelming the story and the actors. Leonardo DiCaprio looks the part of Gatsby but struggles to sell the character’s practised affectation, and the recessive, watchful Carey Mulligan is dead wrong as Daisy Buchanan, who’s supposed to be so lively and engaging that men are bewitched by her. Imagine Emily Blunt in the role instead and you’ll understand everything that’s wrong with Mulligan – and the movie. 142 min.
Rating: NN (NW)
Opens May 10 at 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Coliseum Mississauga, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Courtney Park 16, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Grande – Yonge, Humber Cinemas, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Mississauga, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Varsity, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
Skull World (Justin McConnell) introduces us to the subculture of Box Wars, a medieval-style outdoor battle in which participants’ armour, weapons and even fortresses are made entirely out of cardboard. The events are presided over by the gladiatorial Skull Man, aka an antic guy named Greg Sommer. He’s quite the character, and director McConnell knows it, basically just letting his camera roll while Sommer talks up his plans, hangs out with his buddies, complains about his inability to score with the ladies and stages another Box Wars event – over and over again. The problem is, nothing actually changes. There’s no ending the movie simply stops, with McConnell declaring when something does happen for Greg, he’ll be there cheering him on. Maybe he should have held off finishing the movie until then. 100 min.
Rating: NN (NW)
Opens May 10 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.
Tyler Perry Presents Peeples (Tina Gordon Chism) hits every cliché and misses all the punchlines. When Wade (Craig Robinson) decides to propose to his girlfriend Grace (Kerry Washington), he crashes her family’s annual getaway in the Hamptons to seek her father’s approval. The weekend soon turns into a nightmare, much like the film. Peeples is essentially a Meet The Fockers featuring what Wade calls the “black Kennedys.” But the cast is left hanging, forced to make lame jokes about boob jobs, lesbians and sagging scrotums. While watching Robinson struggle with the hollow material becomes increasingly painful, worst of all is seeing Washington, a true talent, with nothing to do but pout and play a daddy’s girl. Peeples fails to deliver one crucial thing: real people. 95 min.
Rating: N (Kiva Reardon)
Opens May 10 at 401 & Morningside, Coliseum Mississauga, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Courtney Park 16, Eglinton Town Centre, Rainbow Woodbine, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
The Last Will and Testament of Rosalind Leigh (Rodrigo Gudiño) is a horror film about an antiques collector (Toronto’s Aaron Poole) who inherits a house from his estranged mother only to discover that she had been living in a shrine devoted to a mysterious cult. 82 min.
Opens May 9 at Coliseum Mississauga, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Queensway, SilverCity Fairview, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
Paul McCartney & Wings: Rockshow is a screening of a 1980 concert film by Wings, filmed during their 1976 North American tour. It includes an interview with McCartney that’s exclusive to theatrical screenings. 145 min.
Opens May 15 at Coliseum Scarborough, Courtney Park 16, Queensway, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
Romeo And Juliet – Bolshoi Ballet Live is a high def screening of the famous ballet from the acclaimed Russian company. 153 min.
Opens May 12 at Coliseum Mississauga, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Grande – Yonge, Queensway, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Yonge. See here for times.
