Soon the 40th annual, Toronto Film Festival will be upon us and again I am proud to be volunteering for this fine event This year I will be taking up residence at the Bell Lightbox Theatre, but I am hoping to provide as many live reviews as I can during the festival.
Here are my picks for this year's festival
Demolition
Dir: Jean-Marc Vallee
Chosen as the opening night film for the festival, this one for French-Canadian director, Jean-Marc Vallee already has awards potential about it. When successful investment banker Davis (Jake Gyllenhaal) loses his wife in a car crash, his world begins to fall apart. With an actor like Gyllenhaal abroad, you know this story will be a hard hitting one. Also with support from the likes of Chris Cooper and Naomi Watts- this could be a festival highlight. Closer to the Edge's Best Director of 2014, Vallee is on a fine run of form and it looks like it will continue here!
The Martain
Dir: Ridley Scott
Ridley Scott again returns to the sci-fi genre and has brought with him one of the finest casts of 2015! Astronaut Mark Whatney (Matt Damon) is left behind and presumed dead after a disastrous mission to Mars. With limited supplies and little chance of survival, his only choice is to beam a signal back to earth. A cast also including Jessica Chastain, Kate Mara, Jeff Daniels, Chiwetel Ejiofor and surprisingly Kristen Wiig, Sir Ridley promises one of the big rides of this year.
Freeheld
Dir: Peter Sollett
Promising to be one the festival's rollarcoaster emotional rides, this effort from director Peter Sollett looks interesting. When New Jersey police detective Laurel (Julianne Moore) is diagnosed with cancer, she and her domestic partner Stacie struggle to secure her benefits to pay her for treatment. Featuring a pair a great pairing of Julianne Moore and Ellen Page, this is one story that is likely to capture our hearts.
Legend
Dir: Brian Helgeland
Tom Hardy is always has a fierce presence on screen, so just imagine the effect having him play two characters at once! Based on the story on notorious London mobsters, Ronnie and Reggie Kray (Both Tom Hardy) this film recounts the terror they beset upon the criminal underworld in the 1950s and 60s. Expect things to get heated and for Tom Hardy to be likely excellent twice over. The Krays were a formidable force, expect the film to follow suit!
Black Mass
Dir: Scott Cooper
In what could be one of the performances of 2015, Johnny Depp is infamous Boston mobster Whitey Bulger. Documenting his rise to becoming the most famous criminal in US history, director Scott Cooper has surrounded this film with a fine cast including Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson, Joel Egerton and Kevin Bacon. Depp looks like he could be providing us with a career best turn here, expect Toronto audiences to go wild.
Showing posts with label Jean-Marc Vallee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jean-Marc Vallee. Show all posts
Thursday, 30 July 2015
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
2014: A Year in Review
Another big year for film has come and gone, this year we saw 12 Years A Slave secure Oscar triumph, The Lego Movie remind us how 'Everything is Awesome' and the underwhelming effect of Godzilla returning on the big screen. We also lost two of the most loved figures in film in Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Williams, a void which will never truly be filled. Closer to the Edge also moved blog sites, but that is another story.
So live and direct from Toronto, Ontario I give you my review of 2014!
Top 10 Films of 2014
- Nightcrawler (USA Dir: Dan Gilroy):Dark, dense and utterly pulsating, debut director Dan Gilroy has created 2014 most original and enticing work. With a mesmerising central turn from Jake Gyllenhaal as Lou, a man drawn deeper into the underworld of freelance crime journalism, this proved to be a shocking yet awe inspiring tale. As each step takes him further across the lines of morality, our viewing takes another shocking turn. One of the dark horse contenders for the awards and rightfully my film of 2014! Read Review
- Whiplash (USA Dir: Damien Chazelle)After wowing Sundance and taking the Audience Award, the boundaries of the teacher pushed to the limit in Damien Chazelle's riveting drama. Featuring a star making turn from Miles Teller and a frightening career best from J K Simmons, this film was both heart stopping and psychologically testing for all. As Teller's Andrew strives to be one of the great jazz musicians, the prize will come at the ultimate cost. Read Review
- Birdman (ESP Dir: Alejandro G Iñárritu)The return of Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu provided one of 2014's most off beat dark comedies. Former caped crusader, Michael Keaton proved a surprise success as a former action star Riggan Thompson, who is floundering his way to attempted stage glory. The knives of the Boardway world are fully sharpened throughout and Iñárritu ignites this fine satire piece. Keaton's half naked spirit through Time Square is laugh guaranteed. Read Review.
- Foxcatcher (USA Dir: Bennett Miller)The true story of real life brother wrestlers Mark & Dave Schultz was brought to fruition by Bennett Miller in a slow burning but explosive fashion. Steve Carrell was the stand out in a career high role as their unpredictable and schizophrenic coach John Du Pont. With great support from Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, the tension rises to unbearable levels. What starts as a beautiful opportunity gradually becomes a nightmare! Read Review.
- Boyhood (USA Dir: Richard Linklater)Richard Linklater's 12 year project was well worth the long wait and served as the most naturalistic and most moving experience of this year. A revelatory turn from star Eller Coltrane gave the films its beating heart and we was ably supported by Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette. Linklater undertook a huge gamble, but the time invested has produced the most refined and seasoned movie of his career. Read Review.
- Nymphomaniac Volume 1 & 2 (DEN/FRA/DEU/BEL Dir Lars Von Trier)When Lars Von Trier is in town, expect things to get shocking, Nymphomaniac Vol 1 & 2 was yet another fine example of his polarizing style. With more flesh on display than you would see in a life time of European cinema, the story of sex addict Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) was stunning yet nauseating experience. With a bold turn from British actress Stacy Martin, Von Trier has again shown himself to be the master of awkward cinema. Read Review.
- Miss Julie (NOR Dir: Liv Ullmann)Liv Ullmann's first effort behind the camera in 15 years was a sexually charged battle of social classes as Midsummer Eve in 1890 Ireland begins to heat up. Boasting a fascinating central performance from Jessica Chastain as the aforementioned Miss Julie, Ullmann ensured that our hearts were put through the wringer. Big questions of love, desire, status and happiness were firmly asked, but this is one place where reassuring answers are a forgotten dream! Read Review.
- Wild (USA/CAN Dir: Jean-Marc Vallée')The story of Cheryl Strayed's 1100 mile trek of the Pacific Coast Trail was an enthralling tale of redemption by French/Canadian Jean-Marc Vallée'. Reese Witherspoon in a career best role superbly conveys Strayed sense of anguish through the premature loss of her mother (Laura Dern) and her fierce desire to get life back on the rails after falling off due drug addiction and divorce. This was one long walk that had a stiff yet uplifting feel that cannot be beaten. Read Review.
- Snowpiercer (KR Dir: Bong Joon-ho)Boon Jong-ho may have experienced a Harvey Weinstein style nightmare getting his arctic apocalypse drama to the screen, but it was worth the waiting. One of the more unique movies of the year, Joon-ho combines stunning visuals mixed with brutal yet ravishing violence. The gradually building animosity between classes on the big train soon reaches boiling point. When the battle begins, our eyes go wild with shock. Read Review.
- Dallas Buyers Club (USA/CAN Dir Jean-Marc Vallée')The second part of our Vallée' double bill gave us only the resurrection of Matthew McConaughey but one of 2014 most memorable characters. The exploits of AIDS patient Ron Woodroof gave us a real anti-hero who refuses to quit after his life changing diagnosis. His efforts to help people prolong life are ones that bring tears to our eyes. Ron may not be the most pleasant of men, but his heart is in the right place. Read Review.
Best of the Rest
- The Grand Budapest HotelThrough some excellent set design and memorable turn from Ralph Fiennes as concierge Gustave M, Wes Anderson brought us one of the most well designed and easy humored pieces of the year. His trademark quirk present as usual, there were also signs of a more mature and refined Anderson breaking through in future. Read Review.
- Starred Up (UK Dir: David MacKenzie)Jack O'Connell's hypnotically savage Eric lit up this grim prison drama from director David MacKenzie. One of the best pieces of British cinema this year, MacKenzie succeeds in bringing forth the horrors of British prison life. Watching Eric's hysterically laughter at hurting his first victim is assured to make you squirm. Read Review.
- Guardians of the Galaxy (USA Dir: James Gunn)By far one of Marvel's most fun and original efforts of years gone by, James Gunn helped put the smiles back on fans faces with a fast paced yet hilarious ride. Armed with the best soundtrack of the year and a winning performance by Chris Pratt, the next installment already has us waiting in anticipation. Read Review.
- The Wolf of Wall Street (USA Dir: Martin Scorsese)Few would have predicted that Martin Scorsese could do funny, well his look at the drug fueled life of Wall Street Jordan Belfort proved doubters wrong. It have alienated Academy voters with its overly time and over use of drugs and sex, but with a magnificent performance from old faithful, Leonardo DiCaprio, this ranks as Marty's best 21 century effort! Read Review.
- Blue Ruin (USA: Dir Jeremy Saulnier)Jeremy Saulnier's indie effort may have flown under the radar, but his tale of revenge is an effort destined for cult status. With an impassioned turn from little known actor Macon Blair, Saulnier gave us the perfect everyman to convey his tale. A director to watch in future, this man ensured that anxiety was cranked up the max and the unexpected was forever there. Read Review.
Male Star of the Year:
Matthew McConaughey
Few people would have predicted that Matthew McConaughey would be the main man of 2014! Many have frowned his past romantic comedy efforts and considered him a lost cause. Well an Oscar win later, McConaughey was the one laughing and along with starring in this years best TV in True Detective, he would end the year anchoring Christopher Nolan's heavyweight effort, Interstellar. We are now in the presence of a man who is becoming one of the actors of his generation! Just keep him away from Kate Hudson please.
Female Star of the
Year: Julianne Moore
Through her devastatingly brilliant turns in Maps to the Stars (which won her Best Actress at Cannes) and Still Alice, Julianne Moore has shown how she is one of the most underrated talents today. One more a contender for prizes, Moore has had one of the finest years of her career and still provides an alluring presence on screen (look how she lit up Mockingjay in limited screen time). Fast becoming one of this blogs favourite girl, Julianne is the deserved winner of this category.
Director: Jean-Marc Vallée' Wild/ Dallas Buyers Club)
Montreal native Vallée' has had his star being on the rise for years since 2005's CRAZY. This year would see his impact on the industry imprinted as he gave us the one/two punch of Wild and Dallas Buyers Club. Sporting a real eye for human emotion, his ability to highlight real people's strives makes for absorbing viewing and we should hopefully see this name on prize lists for years to come.
Scene of the Year:
Jordan Belfort Paralysed on Quaalude's
Scorsese's ability to do comedy was never better demonstrated than when Jordan Belfort finds out the exact effect of the ancient Quaalude's he has ingested. What starts as a simple phone call quickly descends into something far more shocking and hysterical. Prepare the stitching kit, it will come in handy after seeing this.
Finally I want to extend a massive thanks to all my readers in over 98 Countries who yearly listen to my rambling about film. Without you guys I am nothing, like Roger Ebert once said "I'll see you at the Movies!"
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Coast to Coast: Review of Wild
TIFF EXCLUSIVE
Wild
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
By Alex Watson
Numerous times in film we have seen people walking to get somewhere, and there are forever obstacles along the way. Just look at movies such Walkabout, Into The Wild and more recently the Mia Wasikowska starring Tracks. But the individual behind is always seeking a higher purpose and this route they are taking, can often be determining their course in life. French-Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee has this year brought us a stirring adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild which documents her 1000 mile trek along the Pacific Coast Trail. With Reese Witherspoon on board, this could be a journey of a life time.
After years of reckless behaviour, including a divorce from her husband, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) decides to walk along the 1000 mile trek of the Pacific Coast. Through this she attempts to heal the wounds of her old life and begin to find herself and become the person she had always wanted to be. But she must put up with several difficult obstacles among the desert and mountain terrain before completing her journey.
After his Oscar winning effort, The Dallas Buyers Club, Jean-Marc Vallee scores highly again and Wild proves to be a very prominent and beautiful filmed movie. From the Mojave Desert to the Forests of Oregon, this tale makes use of the immense space that it has to distinguish it from the more recent efforts. Combined with the stunning cinematography of Yves Belanguer, it effortlessly sums up the loneliness and isolation that comes with such a journey and what nerves and suspicions can come from such wide open spaces.
Refreshingly Cheryl isn't a woman who is running away from her problems, she is walking to change them. Vallee and screenwriter Nick Hornby decide against playing out her troubled back story in its entirety and only drip feed us moments of her drug fueled and promiscuous past. These images are presented to us as being like a horrific dream that she is only waking up from. But it's the tragic and premature death of her mother Bobbi (an excellent Laura Dern) that lingers heavily over this movie. Through her anguish and pain, Cheryl lost her way and she is now striving to get back on track to become the woman her mother would have been proud of. This may seem formulaic and awards tailored to some viewers, but Vallee finds a way to make this work and it gives his movie an air of lift towards it, particularly as we view the free spirited yet strong woman that Bobbi once was.
The perils of danger along her journey though are forever hanging on the air, and there are any number of stomach churning encounters such as rattle snakes, snow covered hills, raging rivers and in one frightening sequence, some drunken and frisky hunters in the midst of a large, lonely forest. A slightly nauseating opening sequence sees Cheryl have to remove a septic toe-nail onto top of a high ravine, only to have one of her trusty boots fall helplessly below! Experiencing these problems though only strengthen her resolve and for maybe the first time in life, she begins to come into her own.
Reese Witherspoon, despite being alone for the majority of this film gives a performance that is one of her best in some time. After some missteps following her Oscar win for Walk The Line, Witherspoon demonstrates that she has truly earned her critical praise with a determined yet sensitive turn. She doesn't seek to play Cheryl as an out and out victim of life, more a woman who looking to get back on the rails and begin living again. Whether she will be nominated for the big prizes will remain to be seen, but after this she hasn't certainly earn another shot at glory.
Wild is an adventure movie worth experiencing and gives more light to the talents of both Vallee and his star Witherspoon. This journey, like many before it is not a straight forward one, but it will certainly grab at your heart and refuses to let go.
Wild
Director: Jean-Marc Vallee
By Alex Watson
Numerous times in film we have seen people walking to get somewhere, and there are forever obstacles along the way. Just look at movies such Walkabout, Into The Wild and more recently the Mia Wasikowska starring Tracks. But the individual behind is always seeking a higher purpose and this route they are taking, can often be determining their course in life. French-Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee has this year brought us a stirring adaptation of Cheryl Strayed's memoir Wild which documents her 1000 mile trek along the Pacific Coast Trail. With Reese Witherspoon on board, this could be a journey of a life time.
After years of reckless behaviour, including a divorce from her husband, Cheryl Strayed (Reese Witherspoon) decides to walk along the 1000 mile trek of the Pacific Coast. Through this she attempts to heal the wounds of her old life and begin to find herself and become the person she had always wanted to be. But she must put up with several difficult obstacles among the desert and mountain terrain before completing her journey.
After his Oscar winning effort, The Dallas Buyers Club, Jean-Marc Vallee scores highly again and Wild proves to be a very prominent and beautiful filmed movie. From the Mojave Desert to the Forests of Oregon, this tale makes use of the immense space that it has to distinguish it from the more recent efforts. Combined with the stunning cinematography of Yves Belanguer, it effortlessly sums up the loneliness and isolation that comes with such a journey and what nerves and suspicions can come from such wide open spaces.
Refreshingly Cheryl isn't a woman who is running away from her problems, she is walking to change them. Vallee and screenwriter Nick Hornby decide against playing out her troubled back story in its entirety and only drip feed us moments of her drug fueled and promiscuous past. These images are presented to us as being like a horrific dream that she is only waking up from. But it's the tragic and premature death of her mother Bobbi (an excellent Laura Dern) that lingers heavily over this movie. Through her anguish and pain, Cheryl lost her way and she is now striving to get back on track to become the woman her mother would have been proud of. This may seem formulaic and awards tailored to some viewers, but Vallee finds a way to make this work and it gives his movie an air of lift towards it, particularly as we view the free spirited yet strong woman that Bobbi once was.
The perils of danger along her journey though are forever hanging on the air, and there are any number of stomach churning encounters such as rattle snakes, snow covered hills, raging rivers and in one frightening sequence, some drunken and frisky hunters in the midst of a large, lonely forest. A slightly nauseating opening sequence sees Cheryl have to remove a septic toe-nail onto top of a high ravine, only to have one of her trusty boots fall helplessly below! Experiencing these problems though only strengthen her resolve and for maybe the first time in life, she begins to come into her own.
Reese Witherspoon, despite being alone for the majority of this film gives a performance that is one of her best in some time. After some missteps following her Oscar win for Walk The Line, Witherspoon demonstrates that she has truly earned her critical praise with a determined yet sensitive turn. She doesn't seek to play Cheryl as an out and out victim of life, more a woman who looking to get back on the rails and begin living again. Whether she will be nominated for the big prizes will remain to be seen, but after this she hasn't certainly earn another shot at glory.
Wild is an adventure movie worth experiencing and gives more light to the talents of both Vallee and his star Witherspoon. This journey, like many before it is not a straight forward one, but it will certainly grab at your heart and refuses to let go.
Thursday, 4 September 2014
TIFF Schedule Update
So today it is finally here, the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival is underway!
On this fine day before I tread the boards of the magnificent Scotiabank Theatre, I am pleased to inform everyone that I have secured a place for Friday's Gala Screening of The Judge starring Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall at Roy Thomson Hall! This movie has been getting some great press in the last few months including some glowing praise for former Wedding Crashers director, David Dobkin so it could well prove to be one of the hits of the festival. So it appears that the first ever TIFF review on this blog will be coming to your screens sooner than anticipated!
Also on Tuesday 9th, along with seeing A Second Chance by Susanne Bier, I have also been able to attend a screening of Jean-Marc Vallee's highly anticipated film Wild starring Reese Witherspoon at the Visa Elgin Screening Room (where three out my five viewings will take place). Canadian director, Vallee is a talent on the rise so I am very excited about this chance.
Welcome to Ontario Film Lovers- enjoy your stay at the friendly film festival
On this fine day before I tread the boards of the magnificent Scotiabank Theatre, I am pleased to inform everyone that I have secured a place for Friday's Gala Screening of The Judge starring Robert Downey Jr and Robert Duvall at Roy Thomson Hall! This movie has been getting some great press in the last few months including some glowing praise for former Wedding Crashers director, David Dobkin so it could well prove to be one of the hits of the festival. So it appears that the first ever TIFF review on this blog will be coming to your screens sooner than anticipated!
Also on Tuesday 9th, along with seeing A Second Chance by Susanne Bier, I have also been able to attend a screening of Jean-Marc Vallee's highly anticipated film Wild starring Reese Witherspoon at the Visa Elgin Screening Room (where three out my five viewings will take place). Canadian director, Vallee is a talent on the rise so I am very excited about this chance.
Welcome to Ontario Film Lovers- enjoy your stay at the friendly film festival
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