Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Timur Bekmambetov) is a spectacular mutant beast, the likes of which we’ve never quite seen before. This is a movie where a vampire picks up a horse and throws it at Abraham Lincoln, and that’s just the first beat of one of two incredible action set pieces in which director Bekmambetov mashes the conceptual gas pedal to the floor and simply dazzles us with the kinetic imagery he’s pulling out of his pulsing brain. The bones of the story are ridiculous – a stiff, clumsy retelling of salient points in the real Lincoln’s career, reflected through screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith’s gonzo notion that Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) balanced his storied life as a shop clerk, lawyer and politician with nightly acts of vampire slaying, coached by a good bloodsucker (Dominic Cooper). But we’re there to see a movie that’s as batshit crazy as its title promises – and you get one. 105 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Jun 22 at 401 & Morningside, Carlton Cinema, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Courtney Park 16, Docks Lakeview Drive-In, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Grande – Yonge, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
ALPS (Yorgos Lanthimos) finds Lanthimos following his absurd, Oscar-nominated comedy Dogtooth with another study of bizarre social dynamics. A quartet of well-intentioned people (including Anggeliki Papoulia and Aris Servetalis) offer a strange service to people who’ve lost a loved one: they’ll impersonate the departed for a few hours every week, the better to help the bereaved achieve closure. Of course, things go wrong almost immediately, as they did in Dogtooth, thanks to the unpredictable nature of human beings and the queasy sexuality of the participants. There’s a lot about ALPS that’s similar to Dogtooth, but that’s not a criticism Lanthimos is picking at something very specific about authority and repression in both films, and it’s fascinating to watch him work through his issues. Subtitled. 93 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Jun 22 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.
Brave (Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman) is a lovely, stirring and very funny mythical adventure about Merida (voiced by Kelly Macdonald), a Scots princess bristling at what she perceives as constant criticism from her mother (Emma Thompson) while her father (Billy Connolly) brokers an uneasy peace. When Merida refuses to be married off at a gathering of the clans, she not only defies her parents but brings the kingdom to the brink of civil war – and then something else happens that makes the story even more urgent and personal. Lifting elements from Disney and Studio Ghibli, directors Andrews and Chapman have constructed an entirely new myth – rooted in Scots mysticism, human pride and a very relatable mother-daughter conflict – and built a gorgeous movie around it, filled with spectacular visuals, inventive action sequences and a passionate heart. See it before people spoil it for you. 93 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Jun 22 at 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Coliseum Mississauga, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Courtney Park 16, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Grande – Yonge, Humber Cinema, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Mississauga, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Varsity, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
5 Broken Cameras (Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi) stands out among docs on the Palestine conflict with its unique and deeply personal perspective. The cameras belong to co-director Burnat, a farmer from Bil’in whose lands are being poached by Israeli settlers. He records his fellow villagers’ resistance in footage that is raw and unnerving, more so because he’s not a filmmaker by profession. Burnat, who purchased the first of the titular cameras when his fourth child was born, finds his home movies have unfortunately become entwined with local politics. He intentionally throws his family into the mix, marching with children in tow into situations where tear gas and rubber bullets (and sometimes live ammunition) are expected. This makes for questionable parenting but complex and compelling autobiographical cinema. Subtitled. 90 min.
Rating: NNNN (RS)
Opens Jun 22 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. See here for times.
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Lorene Scafaria) begins three weeks before the Earth is scheduled to collide with an asteroid the size of New Jersey, and follows the depressed, newly single Dodge (Steve Carell) and his slightly manic neighbour Penny (Keira Knightley) on a road trip to look up Dodge’s old girlfriend before everything ends. Making her directorial debut, screenwriter Scafaria (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist) has constructed an intriguing, effects-free take on the apocalypse genre, shifting nimbly between dark comedy and outright despair. She’s great with her actors, too Carell and Knightley are excellent, and Connie Britton, Patton Oswalt, T.J. Miller and Gillian Jacobs pop up for memorable cameos. Any similarity to Don McKellar’s Last Night – which envisioned a similarly lo-fi apocalypse back in 1999 – is entirely coincidental. 100 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Jun 22 at 401 & Morningside, Canada Square, Carlton Cinema, Coliseum Mississauga, Colossus, Courtney Park 16, Eglinton Town Centre, Empire Theatres at Empress Walk, Kennedy Commons 20, Queensway, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Mississauga. See here for times.
Your Sister’s Sister (Lynn Shelton) is another heavily improvised study of 30-somethings at a point of crisis by Humpday director Shelton, this one centred on a grieving man (Mark Duplass) who finds himself trapped at a summer cottage with the sister (Rosemarie DeWitt) of his best friend (Emily Blunt) for a very eventful weekend. Efficiently establishing that each character is keeping at least one secret from the others, Shelton lets the tension and awkward comic fumbling flow freely all three of her actors adroitly dance on the edge of farce while keeping the drama at believably real levels. It’s rare to see a movie that throws around this much raw emotion and still gets laughs. 90 min.
Rating: NNNN (NW)
Opens Jun 22 at Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.
Patang (Prashant Bhargava) seems to exist largely because director Bhargava – who hails from Chicago – wanted to build a movie around the annual kite festival in Ahmedabad, India. And why not? Kites are pretty, and you get thousands of extras for free. But Bhargava welds that footage to a dull fictional narrative about a large family reunion that quickly disintegrates into anger and recrimination between the successful Jayesh (Mukkund Shukla) and the people he left behind. He’s also in love with a visual effect that makes his digital cinematography look like Super 8 film. It’s like watching the whole movie through an Instagram filter. Subtitled. 93 min.
Rating: NN (NW)
Opens Jun 22 at Carlton Cinema, Rainbow Woodbine. See here for times.
The Boss (Jaime Escallon-Buraglia) is a messy, jumbled farce about a Colombian human-resources manager (Carlos Hurtado) trying to juggle his responsibilities at work with his affair with his wife’s lusty best friend (Katherine Porto). Writer-director Escallon-Buraglia never gets a handle on the comedic tone (or the mechanics of the convoluted plot) and can’t decide whether his weaselly protagonist should be sympathetic or despicable. But the film’s biggest joke is on Telefilm, whose contribution to its budget is likely the only reason it’s opening here at all. Given that all we get for the agency’s efforts are throwaway mentions of U of T and the University of Montreal, here’s hoping hope someone kept the receipt. Subtitled. 95 min.
Rating: N (NW)
Opens Jun 22 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.
Bruno’s Blues (Michael Simard) is a mockumentary loosely inspired by the life of Canadian jazz pianist Bruno Hubert. Scenes of his life begining to fall apart – overdue bills, a court summons and finally his house being demolished – are intercut with sequences of Hubert performing in coffee houses and clubs. These showcase his talent and explain why the film is a perfect fit to screen as part of the Toronto Jazz Fest. But it fails to strike the comedic chord it’s aiming for and descends into gross-out humour (eating dog meat, yoga flatulence) – doing the music, and Hubert, a disservice. 80 min.
Rating: N (Kiva Reardon)
Opens Jun 23 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.
National Theatre Live: Frankenstein Encore (Danny Boyle) is a high-def broadcast from London’s National Theatre of Nick Dear’s stage adaptation of the Mary Shelley novel, directed by Slumdog Millionaire’s Danny Boyle. Actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternate in the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature, with this week (June 21 and 23) Miller playing the Creature. 150 min.
Opens Jun 21 at Coliseum Mississauga, Coliseum Scarborough, Grande – Yonge, Queensway, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Yonge. See here for times.
Raymonda: Bolshoi Ballet Live is a live broadcast of the ballet by the legendary Russian company. 185 min.
Opens Jun 24 at Coliseum Mississauga, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Grande – Yonge, Queensway, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Yonge. See here for times.
