TIFF11 REVIEW: Friends with Kids [2012]

“Death by shark or alligator?” This has been the year of romantic comedies doing their best to overcome the genre and crossover to succeed with men and women alike. An unintentional reunion for four members of the Bridesmaids cast, the world premiere of Friends with Kids at the Toronto International Film Festival tries to equal its success in those regards. As star Jennifer Westfeldt’s directorial debut, she gives us some R-rated vulgarity, doesn’t pull punches, and finds a way to tug at the heartstrings too. Built upon the idea that…

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TIFF11 REVIEW: Le Havre [2011]

“Money moves in the shadows” According to André Wilms—the star of Le Havre—during his hilarious stream of consciousness Q&A at a screening for the Toronto International Film Festival, director Aki Kaurismäki decided it was time to make a comedy/fairy tale. The Finn had created so many “desperate” films that a change was needed. And what better setting than France to bring it to life, a country who’s film history is held dear and apparently seen as dead by the director, (sentiments Wilms agreed with only half-jokingly). You’ll notice subtle nods…

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REVIEW: The Guard [2011]

“I’m Irish, sir. Racism is part o’ me culture.” All Sergeant Gerry Boyle wanted was to be left alone. A guard in Connemara, Ireland, he got through his workday by having a pint, rough-housing with the youngins, and stationing himself at the sharpest curve in the road to pickpocket illicit drugs from the kids lying dead from car crashes. Days off mean escapades with his two favorite prostitutes, crime scenes are for enjoyment rather than documentation for actual police work, and his constant bucking of authority is status quo. Gerry…

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REVIEW: POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold [2011]

“I can’t wait to get me some of that sweet Hollywood ad money” At the end of the day, marketing works. It’s a concise line at the end of the film that perfectly encapsulates all we’ve seen. Whether artistic media utilizes the help subsidizing costs with product placement achieves or not, something will be advertised. You can alter logos or black out icons only so much before it simply draws attention to the camouflage and makes you realize the brand more. So why not, “take the money and run,” as…

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FILM MARATHON: Movie Musicals #11: Victor Victoria [1982]

“I’d sleep with you for a meatball” You’re down on your luck, famished, and unable to get a job despite having a voice like no other. What do you do? Victoria Grant (Julie Andrews) is asking herself that very question when we see her auditioning for Chez Lui—a dump populated by gangsters and hotheads that’s closed almost ever other night due to brawls. This soprano can shatter glass with a high B-flat at whim but her empty stomach barely allows her to walk home. And then, of course, once she’s…

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REVIEW: Something Borrowed [2011]

“Don’t Blame Cameron Diaz” I really must have seen a lot of bad films recently because I genuinely enjoyed Something Borrowed. All its romantic comedy tropes, its lame attempts at making the distinct white and black hats into gray, a litany of obvious tells showing who in fact loves and belongs with each other, and even the epilogue to try and smooth out the last remnants of blow-out—I had fun with it all. Maybe I was just in a good mood. Maybe I can’t help myself from being charmed by…

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REVIEW: Jumping the Broom [2011]

“Do they even let black folk in China?” A tradition held by many different cultures throughout the world, ‘jumping the broom’ has very specific roots in the African American community. Used often by Welsh Gypsies as the customary way to show who will rule the household—the person jumping the highest winning—Salim Akil’s film’s purposes are quite different. Since marriage between slaves wasn’t acknowledged in the 1800s, those wishing to devote their lives to one another did so with a broom. Witnessed by their friends, jumping was akin to saying “I…

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REVIEW: Mars Needs Moms [2011]

“A world of trash … it is awesome!” And the hippies shall inherit the world—said world being Mars, of course. Ours has already pushed that faction of humanity to the fringes in order to wallow in their pot smoke, unwashed bodies, and ratty hair far from the rest of society. And by we I mean the generalized average of Earth. Not me. I love petula oil and Cherry Garcia. But when it comes to the new animated film Mars Needs Moms—distributed by Walt Disney but not created by them—hippies are…

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REVIEW: Beginners [2011]

“I’d wait for the lion” We all have chapters in our lives ripe for rebirth. Check-stops on the journey through the years alter us irrevocably, making us begin anew in desperation to leave the old behind. Sometimes these epiphanies happen when we are young, some when old. But no matter the place on your own personal timeline, each moment is marked by the world surrounding you. And while the details of the things going on at that time resemble the ones in the past and future, they are never quite…

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REVIEW: Your Highness [2011]

“I want you to be gay with me and father” I knew Your Highness was going to be bad, but I never anticipated just how much. I thought that no matter how horrible the trailers were, Danny McBride and James Franco re-teaming would make things tolerable. They helped support Seth Rogen’s stoner action flick, Pineapple Express, Franco’s complete absurdity and McBride’s acquired taste enhancing the writer’s formula we have come to love. While Rogen and partner Evan Goldberg have discovered mainstream appeal, though, McBride and co-scribe Ben Best are still…

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FILM MARATHON: Movie Musicals #10: Bugsy Malone [1976]

“I’ve spent my entire life coming back tomorrow” A director with a career infused by music for three decades, Alan Parker’s feature length debut came in the form of Bugsy Malone. Completely populated by kids under seventeen, it’s a gangster film that exists as though in an alternate reality, working on all levels whether treated seriously or as farce. The child actors are in Prohibition-era specific costumes, attend a popular speakeasy run by the biggest crime boss in town, and talk the talk as though they’ve lived the life, seen…

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