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Movies & TV

Weekend Movies: Ned Rifle, While Were Young, Furious 7 and more

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (David Zellner) stars Pacific Rims Rinko Kikuchi as a 29-year-old Tokyo office worker obsessed with a deteriorating videotape of Joel and Ethan Coens Fargo, ultimately seizing a chance to escape to America and validate herself by finding the (fictional) fortune Steve Buscemis character buried in a snowbank. The Zellner brothers, Nathan and David (who co-wrote and appear in the film, with David directing), have crafted a slow-motion tragedy about a delusional womans encounters with people who would really like to help her. And Kikuchi burrows into the core of Kumikos sadness with a stooped, sluggish performance that suggests someone whos long since stopped fighting her demons. Some subtitles. 105 min.

Rating: NNNN (NW)

Opens Apr 3 at TIFF Bell Lightbox. See here for times.

Ned Rifle (Hal Hartley) finishes the story arc writer/director Hartley began in 1997s Henry Fool and extended in 2006s Fay Grim. Now those two characters 18-year-old son (Liam Aiken) sets out to find his father (Thomas Jay Ryan) and kill him for ruining the life of his mother (Parker Posey). But first he has to figure out what the deal is with the odd girl (Aubrey Plaza) whos stalking his uncle, a poet-turned-web-comedian (James Urbaniak). Hartleys deadpan timing hasnt lost a beat, his ensemble knows how to play these notes in their sleep, and newbie Plaza slots in perfectly. Its weird, jazzy fun, just like the good old days. 85 min.

Rating: NNNN (NW)

Opens Apr 3 at Royal. See here for times.

While Were Young (Noah Baumbach) finds writer/director Baumbach synthesizing his earlier observational comedies with his later, crueller character studies of self-destructive intellectuals in this tale of a middle-aged Brooklyn couple (Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts) invigorated by their friendship with a couple in their 20s (Adam Driver, Amanda Seyfried). Drivers hipster energy bounces off Stillers assorted neuroses in unexpected ways, and Watts and Seyfried develop their own dynamic in the background. And you can wonder whether the story was inspired by the filmmakers real-life relationship with the younger Greta Gerwig or, as some New York cineastes have insinuated, by the career arc of indie filmmaker Joe Swanberg, with whom Gerwig made several features. But its unlikely that reality ever took the turn this film does in its third act, when the film becomes a strange spiritual cousin to Dan Gilroys Nightcrawler, while still somehow staying funny. 97 min.

Rating: NNNN (NW)

Opens Apr 3 at Queensway, Varsity. See here for times.

Cast No Shadow (Christian Sparkes) is a bleak drama about a troubled kid named Jude (Percy Hynes-White) whos struggling with an overactive imagination and an abusive, criminal father (Hynes-Whites real-life father, Joel Thomas Hynes, who also wrote the script) while coming of age in Newfoundland and Labrador. Director Sparkes invests his debut feature with a strong sense of place and mood, hinting at Judes unstable psyche by giving us flashes of the trolls and witches he believes lurk in the woods around his home. Hynes-White makes a compelling protagonist his smallish stature and delicate features belie the rage he holds within. But the last quarter of Hyness script gets mired in a tangle of confrontations, abandoning all the careful character shading for a clumsy, almost incoherent climax. Its the work of someone who really wants to make a profound statement but doesnt seem to know what he wants to say. 85 min.

Rating: NNN (NW)

Opens Apr 3 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.

Glen Campbell: Ill Be Me (James Keach) chronicles legendary country singer Campbells farewell U.S. concert tour after he went public with his Alzheimers diagnosis. Its an oddly effective music and medical doc hybrid, filled with moving footage of Campbell and his extended family, glimpses of his fans, both ordinary folks and stars (Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Bruce Springsteen), and terrific footage of the man in concert, where he comes alive. Its a tasteful film, sensitively edited, educational and uplifting. Theres a moving section on Campbell and his family going to Washington to lobby for increased funds for Alzheimers research. The taping of the Oscar-nominated song Im Not Gonna Miss You is a highlight. And one of the most touching scenes is a small moment when Paul McCartney goes backstage after a show and Campbell just smiles blankly and shakes his hand. 116 min.

Rating: NNN (GS)

Opens Apr 3 at Bloor Hot Docs Cinema. See here for times.

Woman in Gold (Simon Curtis) stars Helen Mirren as L.A.-based Maria Altmann, who in 1998 is determined to recover her familys painting stolen by the Nazis. She hires a lawyer (Ryan Reynolds) to sue the Belvedere Museum, where the Klimt masterpiece Woman In Gold hangs, and is compelled to return to Vienna, where she relives painful memories of Hitlers rise and the torment her family suffered. (Tatiana Maslany plays the young Maria.) Reynolds simply has to play against type as the nerdy attorney, but Mirren is superb, doing wonders with the smallest of gestures, a small flick of her hair to suggest her vanity, a steely gaze to convey her resolve. The narrative is by-the-book, the segues to the flashbacks are a bit corny, and the conflict the suit engenders between the lawyer and his wife (Katie Holmes) is too easily resolved. Forget the Hollywoodization of the story and just watch Mirren do her thing. Some subtitles. 110 min.

Rating: NNN (SGC)

Opens Apr 3 at Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Cineplex VIP Cinemas Don Mills, Eglinton Town Centre, Queensway, SilverCity Yonge, Varsity. See here for times.

Pretend Were Kissing (Matt Sadowski) is a modest Toronto romance about street posterer Benny (Dov Tiefenbach) whos smitten with the pleasant Jordan (Tommie-Amber Pirie) but cant make a movie because of paralyzing self-doubt. Their courtship unfolds over an intense couple of days, and while writer/director Sadowski has some really interesting ideas about connections and compatibility, theyre ultimately undermined by the leads lack of chemistry. It also doesnt help that Tiefenbach seems about a decade too old to be playing a character like Benny. Ill allow that the lack of chemistry may well be the entire point of Pretend Were Kissing, but its not executed in an engaging or illuminating way. It just hangs there while everyone does their best to steer around it. 84 min.

Rating: NN (NW)

Opens Apr 3 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.

Last Knights (Kaz I Kiriya) is set in a medieval world where an empire reaches across the whole world, enveloping people of every race, colour and creed, which at least explains why Morgan Freeman speaks in an American accent while everyone else is English or trying to be. Not quite fantastical enough to qualify as fantasy and not quite interesting enough to work as anything else, the movie stars Freeman and Clive Owen as a nobleman and his retainer whose refusal to bribe a pissy minister (Aksel Hennie) triggers their downfall. A revenge plot follows eventually. Its like watching an entire season of Game Of Thrones, but a version made for people who dont like sex, dragons or fun and just want to watch actors glower at each other and talk endlessly about honour. Its crushingly dull and an utter waste of talent. 114 min.

Rating: N (NW)

Opens Apr 3 at Carlton Cinema. See here for times.

Furious 7 (James Wan) is the latest in the vroom-vroom action franchise, and the last starring the late Paul Walker. Screened after press time see review April 3 at nowtoronto.com/movies. 137 min.

Opens Apr 3 at 401 & Morningside, Beach Cinemas, Cineplex Cinemas Empress Walk, Cineplex VIP Cinemas Don Mills, Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Eglinton Town Centre, Grande – Steeles, Humber Cinemas, Queensway, Rainbow Market Square, Rainbow Promenade, Rainbow Woodbine, Scotiabank Theatre, SilverCity Fairview, SilverCity Yonge, SilverCity Yorkdale, Varsity, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.

Nfinity Champions League 2 is a high-def broadcast of a cheerleading competition. 150 min.

Opens Apr 2 at Coliseum Scarborough, Colossus, Queensway, Yonge & Dundas 24. See here for times.

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