Alex's TIFF 2015 Picks

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.

This Charming Man: Review of St Vincent

St Vincent

Director: Theodore Melfi

By Alex Watson

Bill Murray is undoubtedly a favourite of many movie lovers and it is always easy to see why! His easy going charm and natural comedic talents succeed in raising potentially unlike-able characters to a level that is hilarious. After winning over audiences at TIFF (where it gained runner up in the People's Choice Award), his latest film, St Vincent could well see him turn on his finest performances in years gone by. Prepare for immense cursing, drinking and visits from a 'Lady of the Night'.

Vincent MacKenna (Bill Murray) is a broke, foul mouthed, gambling, heavy drinking old man who hates everything and everyone around him (a compliment that is swiftly repaid). But when his new neighbour Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) moves in, he is forced to bond with her shy young son Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher). Together the pair begin to change to each other in different ways, but not all them good ones.

St Vincent is certain to delight lovers of Bill Murray cinema, because first time writer- director Theodore Melfi's film is a wonderfully unorthodox and shocking laugh fest which is impossible to dislike. The most impressive quality to this film, is just how lovable Vincent is even in spite of his numerous flaws. From the moment we meet him, he  drunkenly runs over his own fence, then moments later he falls over and passes out. The next day he then hilariously accuses his newly arrived neighbour of doing the deed!

There is no doubt over what a bad influence Vincent is on all who meet him. Maggie reluctantly leaves her son Oliver in his care despite her major concerns. His idea of bonding constitutes going to horse races and him meeting Russian hooker Daka (Naomi Watts). But in the fact of what could have been a scaring encounter, Vincent begins teaching Oliver life lessons that broaden his character and make him a tougher person. When asked to do a school project about Saints- he begins learn that Saints do live among us in the world, just sometimes you have to look beyond the layers of rubble!

But unusually for a first time film maker, Theodore Melfi brings a highly accomplished feel to St Vincent. Alongside the laughs is a dominant emotional core as Vincent's true life intentions are revealed. Throughout, this man is at other end of the financial spectrum and is always hustling to make bucks wherever he can! However, witnessing him care for his sick wife strikes a cord hard and suddenly his money making schemes become less dubious. At heart Vincent is a good man with honest intentions, he is just to lost inside himself to notice.

Only Bill Murray could have played Vincent and he effortlessly brings this cantankerous old man to life! Melfi has written the character that Murray fans have been waiting for and thanks to his physical comedy, he reminds just how funny he can be. He may notoriously selective and is known for not being the easiest star to reach- but when Bill believes in your project then he will give things his all and it shows in his performance here.

Jaeden Lieberher makes for a great new star and alongside Murray, the pair share a great chemistry that makes the film tick. His character throughout is one that is drawn to the risk that Vincent poses and Lieberher raises his game in the films latter stages to give a performance that rivals Murray's. Melissa McCarthy is given an almost straight role by her standards but impressives nonetheless in the less wacky role. Her worried face throughout is rightly justified and you can't help but share her fears over what will come next?

St Vincent is one the most original yet heart tugging comedies of this year and Bill Murray fans will no doubt go away feeling delighted. The man may not always grace our screens, but we are always delighted when he does!

Flying Without Wings: Review of Birdman

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu

By Alex Watson  

If someone had told you that acclaimed Mexican director, Alejandro González Iñárritu's return to the big screen would be a black comedy starring Michael Keaton (aka Batman) then most people would probably ask you how many pints you had consumed! But it appears that this has come to fruition and the Babel and Amores Perros director returns with his dark satirical film, Birdman. Keaton hasn't had a role this meaty in years, can Iñárritu bring out the best in him? 

Riggan Thompson (Michael Keaton) is a washed up movie star who was once the beloved star of the Birdman movie franchise. In an attempt to be taken seriously, Thompson is adapting a Broadway stage production of Raymond Carver's story 'What We Talk About When We Talk About Love' which has been beset by problems, including egomaniac method actor Mike Shiner (Edward Norton) and his drug addict assistant daughter Sam (Emma Stone). But in the midst of the mayhem, can Riggan keep his head and give an 'honest' performance? 

Birdman is a bizarre but ultimately brilliant piece of original work from Iñárritu. Armed with a fascinating pitch black tone and beautifully shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, the Mexican maverick has created something truly special and the talented cast succeeds in carrying the weight of expectation. Riggan is a man who after passing on Birdman 4 over 20 years ago, has become permanently trapped inside his winged character (the character speaks to him in his mind off stage) and he is straining regain any sense of credibility which on stage is difficult to come by, as Lindsay Duncan's acid tongued reviewer tells him "You're a celebrity, not an actor!" and then informs him she will destroy his play for invading her turf before she has even seen it.

The camera work by Lubezki also contributes a great seamless feel to this movie and as we glide in and out of various rooms, it feels as if we are glimpsing the actors in their most personal moments which gives an almost intrusive feel to proceedings. The script however by Iñárritu , Nicolas Giacobone, playwright Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, is one to savor. Together they bring us a story complete with shocking yet natural humour along with a building psychological feel of a man who has bitten off more than he can chew.

All around Riggan's production there are problems to be seen, firstly star Lesley (Naomi Watts) has encouraged him to bring on board her arrogant boyfriend Mike, who although a big box office draw is immediately dismissive of Riggan's talent and seems to cause mayhem over the littlest details, including drinking real gin rather than water on stage which results in disastrous preview performances! Along with being continually belittled by Sam for being more of a 'has-been' because he rejects bloggers and twitter, the man's mind is beginning to crack and his feathered friends words are speaking louder than ever.

Iñárritu also makes the audience think about a number of important factors such as the importance of careful stage planning, the ego of actors and finally what it means to be creative in this world. Riggan is literally investing his whole life in this make or break piece of art and we secretly we fear the effect of an ill received performance. But unlike this earlier work, there is a brilliant sense of rawness and reality to Birdman, which accurately demonstrates the misgivings life in theatre can bring. One sequence we see our hero lock himself out the theatre mid performance and having to make an impromptu sprint through a crowded Time Square in just his underwear! 

Michael Keaton is given the role of a life time to play and he pulls things off magnificently! Playing an man with everything to prove to the acting world, Keaton exceeds all expectations and firmly captures Riggan's ambition along with his continually beaten down persona. Under the influence of his old Birdman friend, Riggan is a man who seems able to put all things aside and make the show go on as planned. A career best for Keaton and it has to be said, a very smart piece of casting by Iñárritu because few men on the planet would understand this role better than Keaton himself!

Edward Norton also makes for a memorable on screen jerk as Mike, his ego soars higher than Birdman himself could probably fly. Throughout the production he berates and insults the man who gave him the role and continually rants on about stage is the only honest acting art. Norton does well to poke fun at his apparently troublesome antics when making movies and firmly marks the supporting honours as his own. Also look for a surprising straight performance from comedian Zach Galifianakis as Riggan's weary lawyer who forever has his work cut out for him.

Alejandro González Iñárritu has delivered one of 2014's most memorable and engaging piece of cinema and Birdman is a stunning change of direction for this man. If you needed proof of Michael Keaton's talent, then look no further than this film. This has one of my highest recommendations and this kind of cinema deserves to be seen by all!

The Young & The Restless: Review of While We're Young

TIFF EXCLUSIVE

While We're Young

Director: Noah Baumbach

By Alex Watson

American director, Noah Baumbach is a different breed of film maker. In his movies such as The Squid and the Whale, Greenberg and more recently, Francis Ha, he has proven himself to be a film maker who never gives us characters we completely sympathize with but we are always drawn closer to. At the Toronto International Film Festival, he has brought us his new effort While We're Young which establishes the struggles an older married couple in the face of something new and exciting.

Josh (Ben Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) are a forty-something married yet childless couple living in New York. Their lives are soon altered though by the emergence of young and hip duo Jamie (Adam Driver) and his wife Darby (Amanda Seyfried) whose world they becoming increasingly drawn towards. But along the way, the couple begin to lose sight of who they really are and seem to strive to become new people. But amidst their awe and fascination, cracks begin to appear.

While We're Young is another funny and ultimately real offering from Noah Baumback and it efficiently tackles the issue of growing old. The movie begins with a cleverly placed series of lines from Ibsen's 'The Master Builder' where the character Solness expresses concern to his wife about letting a young couple through the front door. This foreshadows the story that follows it and Baumbach succeeds in giving the movie the off-the-wall but depressingly crushing feel of real life and relationships.

In typical fashion, the characters are not easy to warm to as Josh is a once promising documentarian who has wasted over 10 years making his think piece on America and its wars. Cornelia has suffered several miscarriages and is having trouble adapting to her friends all having babies when she feels her opportunity has now disappeared. Josh is a man who takes himself far too seriously, but yet he has a compelling desire to piece his bright future back together. Things are not helped by his strained relationship with acclaimed film maker father in law Leslie (Charles Grodin) whose style he has forever wanted to emulate but has become lost along the way.

The moment that Jamie and Darby enter their world, a bombshell hits as they are loving couple that likes all things retro such as VHS players, typewriters and quirky adventures on old subway lines. In spite of the fact that Josh and Cornelia are dazzled at how full of life they are, they cannot escape the fact that they are acting above their own years. In one scene, Josh attempts at riding a bicycle in a cool fashion, only for his back to give out and him later being informed he has arthritis! Although they begin to live again, the elder couple soon begins to question the world they live in and whether it is something they truly believe in.

Unfortunately although this is a raw and hilarious ride, things begin to go wayward in the movies second half and are not helped by some painful misguided comical moments such as bizarre religious ceremony where people barf out their demons into a bucket. Also Josh's increasing jealousy of Jamie's success making his new film and his desire to prove he is a fraud alienates him from the audience later on. But let's not forget everyone, Baumbach is never one to go easy on his characters in the movie's he makes.

Ben Stiller in his second effort alongside Baumbach does well as Josh. His usual sarcastic wit is very much present and it does prosper the characterization and gives a decent protrayal of a man who is chronically disappointed with wasting his gift. As Cornelia Naomi Watts is solid as usual as a woman almost drowning in her own childless world when all around her seems to be popping out kids! She also thrives on the movies more funny elements which showcase that this girl can be comedic when she needs to be.

Adam Driver firmly stamps his talent as one of Hollywood's new wave, fans of TV show Girls will be familiar with his ability to play hip yet mysterious characters and Jamie has been written just perfectly for him. His upcoming appearance in JJ Abrams' Star Wars movie will be one to look out for.

While We're Young is yet more proof that a Noah Baumbach film is a very different type of experience and will leaving coming out with a ticking brain and a belly full of laughs. In the long run this maybe won't be once of his more memorable efforts, but it will certainly rank as one that is more original.