As sad as it is to hear of Corey Haim passing away this morning, I cannot say I am in total shock. But I don’t want to dwell on all his personal demons, I just want to recognize him for all his work and joy that he brought to millions of people during the 1980’s. I remember working in a video store and discovering the pairing of Haim and Corey Feldman. The Two Coreys then managed to dominate my VCR for the next week or so as I made my way through most of the films the made together. The one that stands out to me and probably most of you is “Dream a Little Dream” This is probably the best of the Two Coreys movies and will always be what I think of when I remember the life of Corey Haim. (yes I know that “The Lost Boys” is probably the better of all the movies and more widely known but it never really had the same effect on me as Dream, so there)
The rock music bio pic can be a hit and miss situation. Sometimes the stories are so well known that the movie just treads over things you already know. And in some cases the stories are so unknown that they seem made up. Luckily Anton Corbijn’s 2007 film about the short life and death of Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis is neither of these. Most people are aware of a band called Joy Division and probably know a song or two (love will tear us apart, dead souls, disorder, etc) but what you don’t know is beautifully captured in stunning black and white.
Based on the biography from Curtis’s wife Deborah, this movie starts with Ian’s life just before joining Joy Division and follows it up until his untimely demise at 23. I won’t go into detail on how and when he died because I don’t want to ruin the movie. But let me tell you, holy fuck is it heartbreaking.
The music in this movie is amazing and made me rediscover the immense talent of this short lived band. What makes it even better is that Sam Riley, who plays Ian Curtis to a T, sings all the songs. And if you didn’t know any better you would think he was lip synching to old tracks. Now to a lot of people this doesn’t really matter, but what it does for me is add a layer of authenticity to the role that you can’t get by singing along to the already existing recordings.
I cannot recommend this movie enough. If not to awaken your senses to this great music and tragic story, then to just marvel in the beauty of the images captured on film. The whole movie is in black and white and every single frame could be used as an amazing poster ready still image. It is a treat to watch even if the story wasn’t heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time.
When routine bites hard,
And ambitions are low,
And resentment rides high,
But emotions won’t grow,
And we’re changing our ways,
Taking different roads.
Then love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.
Dark Days explores the tunnels near Penn Station in New York City and gets to know the array of souls that call those tunnels their home. Director Marc Singer embedded himself among the people living in The Freedom Tunnel for a number of months before he decided to make a documentary about them in hopes of finding a way to raise some money to help them find a way out of their situation. For a crew, Singer had his subjects themselves help with the rigging and dolly work, and spent a number of years shooting on donated film stock – all of it in gloriously bleak black & white.
Singer’s rapport with his subjects is resonates throughout the film, and his painstaking process of crafting a honest portrait of their lives is a testament to his vision, this being the first film he ever made. This is an incredibly moving, insightful and original documentary, but somehow I only happened upon it through the soundtrack, composed by my favourite turntablist: DJ Shadow. Oddly enough, it turns out that Singer had paid out money to get Shadow to put together the soundtrack, only to find out he’d been scammed by some jackass promoter. When Shadow found out about it, and learned what the documentary was all about, he decided he’d hop aboard after all.
I’ve made my case for having my fill of doom & gloom documentaries, and while that might seem to be what this one is about, I’d say that this paints a portrait of life in the city. It doesn’t pander and it doesn’t preach, it shows their lives as they are and tells a compelling story in the process. That’s what I want from all my films, documentaries or not: to be entertained and enlightened, and Dark Days handles both criteria with respect and honesty.
Straight from the files of Paramount Pictures, I’ve managed to get my hands on the official synopsis for Kenneth Branagh’s Thor.
Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present the epic adventure, “Thor,” which spans the Marvel Universe from present day Earth to the realm of Asgard. At the centre of the story is the mighty Thor (Chris Hemsworth), a powerful but arrogant warrior whose reckless actions reignite an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) and is forced to live among humans. A beautiful, young scientist, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), has a profound effect on Thor, as she ultimately becomes his first love. It’s while here on Earth that Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.
The plotline sounds familiar enough, and seems to leave plenty of room for them to play with how they’re going to make this movie compatible with Iron Man and Captain America when they finally decide to make the Avengers movie in 2012. Does it work for you? Should they even be trying this?
Thor Thurders it’s wat into theatres on May 6, 2011.
Besides our obligation to talk about the Oscars at least a little bit, we manage cough up two DVD reviews this week: Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story and Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are – with Brian feeling comfortable having both titles in his collection and Steve… well, not so much. Steve also tells Brian all about St. John’s Newfoundland sleuth family dramedy Republic of Doyle (with a detour about the state of his cable service) which leaves us just a sliver of time to break two very special titles out of the Vault, Joy Division biopic Control and underground documentary (literally) Dark Days.
You can listen to the show here subscribe to our podcast here or check us out on iTunes here.
Because I just can’t leave you guys hanging, even if you’ve already seen it, I just had to post this up on our site. After watching it, I’m totally drooling, but there might have been a few surprises I might have liked to have held onto until I see it in theatres. Make up your own mind – and then geek out all over it. Hey, post your thoughts, I’d love to get a discussion going.
Because I just can’t leave you guys hanging, I’m gonna be writing up each of the films I tapped as my most anticipated of the year. I mean, why wouldn’t I? They were the films I said I wanna watch most of all and I tend to write about everything I see… Well, even if it doesn’t seem important – this movie was poorly reviewed, and despite that, I went and I even paid full price for it.
There might have been a few problems with the film, but I thought it was a good time. It was fun and entertaining, which is all you can hope for in this genre. Most importantly, it made great use of the source material. Mythology was my bread and butter before I got into comic books, followed subsequently by music and then by movies – in fact, I’m sure it played a direct role in me marrying my beautiful Hellenic wife. While hitting a lot of the better known deities and monsters, they still left plenty of room for growth. Not knowing the books firsthand I don’t know what roads they go down with this, but the sky’s the limit, and if this helps get kids interested in Greek mythology, then all the better.
This particular story is about a boy named Percy who feels like the world doesn’t quite fit him. When he discovers that not only is he the son of Poseidon (God of the Sea) but that he’s also suspected of stealing Zeus’ lightning bolt, the shroud of his mundane existence is pulled back and he discovers a whole world of magic and myth taking place all around him, and that most of it is trying to kill him. Somehow, the plot angles away from the lightning bolt as Percy and his new friends (Grover the goat legged satyr and Annabeth, daughter of Athena) go on a quest to save his mother from Percy’s uncle, the God of the Underworld. It zigs and zags, but the structure offers plenty of opportunity for swordplay & special effects. Despite many similarities to Harry Potter, including the element of a mystery, it distinguishes itself by being more concerned with character development and atmosphere than getting to the bottom of who might be the real Lightning Thief.
I did have some problems with the film, beyond some of the usual complaints critics tend to level at franchise tentpoles like these. The first being that for a film that is clearly aiming to be the successor to Harry Potter, they are employing an inferior Dumbledore. While Pierce Brosnan might be a proficient actor, his character, Chiron, might be a legendary teacher (the tutor of Achilles, for one) his role seemed little more than perfunctory, and when he forgives Percy his insubordination it fails to live up to Dumbledore’s. See, in the first and several other Harry Potter movies, Dumbledore makes several decrees againt going to certain places at the school targeted at the student body in general. So when Harry disobeys, he’s distinguishing himself from the masses – the rules are for regular folks, not special people like Harry. When Percy decides to take off against the direct instructions of Chiron, he’s actually demonstrating that he can’t be trusted – that he can do whatever he feels like. How that makes Percy Chiron’s favourite student makes no sense to me. I understand how they’re trying to paint Percy as a bit of a rebel and they want to make Chiron the kind of “Mr. Keating” teacher that inspires unconventional behaviour, but it has to be grounded in some kind of rational framework.
One other thing that is quasi-related to accepted narrative structures in films like this is Percy’s satyr buddy Grover. As the black friend who’s always trying to “get some”, his role as the comic relief was clear, and Brandon T. Jackson would seem like the perfect choice for a role like this, especially after his performance Tropic Thunder. The problem is that I think his dialogue needed another pass through the screenwriting process. His lines lacked true comedic (or better yet, satyr-ic) bite and might have benefited from some more research, which would have offered the film a little more authenticity or “street cred” – they still say street cred, right?
The Verdict: It was good, not great. It’s fun and entertaining, and what else do you want from a movie like this? Is it a worthy successor to Harry Potter, no but that’s setting the bar a little high. At the very least, it was a refreshing change from The Vampire’s Assistant, and I hope they whip up a sequel.
This sunday we will be reviewing Michael Moores latest outrage offering “Capitalism: A love story” As I watched it for review purposes I kept thinking back to all his other work and how bang on he is in his views. There are a lot of haters out there who say he is too left, or too one sided and that he sometimes stretches the truths. To them I say, no fucking shit sherlock. Almost all docs are told from one point of view unless you are retelling an event of public record. Any doc maker wanting to institutionalize any change is going to want to get there point across as often as possible. And I know Michael Moore is only trying to help. Just look at what he has covered.
5. Roger and Me – Michael Moore speaks from the heart. And in 1989 he told a story about his hometown. Flint Michigan was once a busy, successful town, full of happy families working in the auto industry. Then GM laid off all the work force and basically decimated the entire city. Moore went on a quest to talk to the head of GM, Roger Smith, and find out why all this happened. Not only was this film a wake up call to the evils of big business, it was the beginning of a long career of telling stories that will shock you and make you second guess the “American Dream”
4. Sicko – This movie should be mandatory viewing for all those fuck wads on capital hill who are trying to stop any and all health care reform being out forward by the Obama administration. As a canadian, I cannot wrap my head around the american “health care system” and the legions of people who feel it is a bad thing to get your health care paid for by the government. Wake the fuck up you ignorant assholes. Government funded health care is not going to turn your country into a socialized nation. Its just going to stop your poor from getting sicker and generally let everyone have a higher quality of life. What is wrong with that? Sorry for the rant there but this issue gets me so mad. And in this film Moore shines a light on all the injustices in the US and how the HMO’s treat their customers. It is an eye opening experience that should be viewed by everyone. How is it possible that a country like Cuba can have better health care and cheaper medicine then the US? Maybe because their government actually cares about its citizens (to a point. I have been to Cuba and I would never want to live there, unless I was sick and forced to choose between the US and Cuba)
3. Fahrenheit 9/11 – This was one of the hardest movies to watch . The devastation caused by the attacks of september 11th are something that will stay with me forever. I remember waking up to my mom telling me to go watch the TV. That was an odd thing for a mom to say. And for the next 12 hours I was stuck on my couch with my heart in my stomach and mind aghast. How could such a thing happen? It seem inconceivable at the time. This movie made it all the worse by highlighting the ineptitude of the US gov’t and its inability to stop the attacks and their use of the attacks to invade a country that had nothing to do with them. How can this shit happen? Why are the people in charge such greedy, fear mongering assholes? I can only watch this film once every 3 years cause it makes me so mad.
2. Capitalism: A Love Story – Moores latest effort is sort of a “best of” Michael Moore. He gets to go after the auto industry, the financial industry and the government all in one swoop. I quite enjoyed this film even though it wasn’t as heart wrenching as some of his other works. Having said that, he does tell the all too relevant tale of people being evicted from their homes for reasons they can’t really grasp while the heads of the banking industry screw everyone over to make a buck. It is great that someone makes movies that tell the truth. Even if that truth is hard to understand and depressing as all hell. This is classic Moore and a must see for anyone who cares about living in a home or having a job.
1. Bowling for Columbine – Guns are so useless. Unless you are a cop or a soldier, you have no need for one. I have never fired a gun in my entire life and I may go to my grave having never done so. I don’t understand why people feel the need to own these weapons. No good can come from them. Moore uses the massacre at Columbine High School as a jumping off point for a look at violence in america and gun culture. And it is scary to see some of the results. The second amendment is no longer a valid argument for a reason to own a gun. There is no good reason. And if you are deluded into thinking there is, then please stay the hell away from me. This movie just scares the shit out of me, and makes me wish that all this gun madness would just go away. All of these movies are must sees for anyone who cares about the state of the world and the hope for a better future.
This week I finally got off my duff and contributed some viewership to a good cause: Canadian Television. There are way more selfish reasons to be choosing or not choosing to watch shows from Canada, but I include supporting the industry and the thousands of jobs it generates here. I can understand that participating on the continuing dialogue of the Canadian identity doesn’t rate as high on the priority list as, say, engaging in a show that actually captures your imagination regardless of where it was made, and that’s why it’s so important to keep digging around to find something that jives. Trailer Park Boys was a great discovery, Intelligence too, I’d even count This Hour Has 22 Minutes as one too. I suppose this is why I got so excited after watching Republic Of Doyle and realising that I’d really like to watch it again.
When I first saw the ads for this show, I thought it was a Canadian production of a story taking place in Ireland somewhere. Goes to show how far astray I’ve gone from my roots since moving to the West Coast. Yeah, this dramedy police procedural is set in St John’s, Newfoundland – except it’s St John’s is painted with a bit of a Boston brush – or at least the Boston the world knows from The Departed; lots of musical accents that bear a suspicious resemblance to The Dropkick Murphy’s “Shipping Off to Boston”, assorted shady characters, all of whom know each other, stuff like that.
The Doyle of this particular Republic is bit of a scoundrel named Jake who makes up one third of a family run private detective agency. Much like Han Solo, Doyle has a cool conveyance (it’s a 1968 GTO instead of the Millenium Falcon), a charming swagger and a tendency to succeed despite mild ineptitude. He’s got women problems in the form of his unstable wife that he’s in the midst of divorcing, and the attractive police constable that hampers his investigations while rebuffing his romantic advances. It might be trying a little too hard to be sexy – its write-up mentions Rescue Me, and I think that’s an unrealistic comparison to make as far as raciness. Regardless, the jokes are on the nose and they keep coming.
The show is funny, fast paced and unspeakably East Coast. Republic of Doyle’s got everything going for it The Beachcombers had, and more. They’ve even got a revolving door of Canadian guests stars (I think all the 22 Minutes cast get a chance at bat, and Intelligence’s Ian Tracey is in the too) so they can maintain the cancon an still deliver an original shuffle of familiar elements to create something new and fun. If there’s one thing the Newfies know how to do it’s finding humour in the midst of tragedy, so could a comedy about a murder sleuth have a better setting than this.
And the best thing about it? It just got renewed for a second season. Meaning that beyond the remaining 6 episodes of the first season left to air, there’s another 12 or so to come after that.
You can watch Republic of Doyle on CBC on Wednesdays at 9, or head on over to CBC’s website to watch whole episodes online.
Wondering how you can participate in a worldwide campaign to advance the cause for women everywhere? How about going to the movies tonight? All across the country, Empire Theatres is hosting an event called Half the Sky Live, including a screening of Half the Sky, adapted from the book and directed by Marisa Tomei. The screening will also include by a celebrity panel discussion and musical performances including the likes of Michael Franti and Sarah, Duchess of York. Have a look at the trailer:
For information on the event and how to get tickets, click here to visit CARE Canada’s website.
The rock music bio pic can be a hit and miss situation. Sometimes the stories are so well known that the movie just treads over things you already know. And in some cases the stories are so unknown that they seem made up. Luckily Anton Corbijn’s 2007 film about the short life and death of Joy Division’s lead singer Ian Curtis is neither of these. Most people are aware of a band called Joy Division and probably know a song or two (love will tear us apart, dead souls, disorder, etc) but what you don’t know is beautifully captured in stunning black and white.
Dark Days explores the tunnels near Penn Station in New York City and gets to know the array of souls that call those tunnels their home. Director Marc Singer embedded himself among the people living in The Freedom Tunnel for a number of months before he decided to make a documentary about them in hopes of finding a way to raise some money to help them find a way out of their situation. For a crew, Singer had his subjects themselves help with the rigging and dolly work, and spent a number of years shooting on donated film stock – all of it in gloriously bleak black & white.
Because I just can’t leave you guys hanging, I’m gonna be writing up each of the films I tapped as my 
5. Roger and Me – Michael Moore speaks from the heart. And in 1989 he told a story about his hometown. Flint Michigan was once a busy, successful town, full of happy families working in the auto industry. Then GM laid off all the work force and basically decimated the entire city. Moore went on a quest to talk to the head of GM, Roger Smith, and find out why all this happened. Not only was this film a wake up call to the evils of big business, it was the beginning of a long career of telling stories that will shock you and make you second guess the “American Dream”
4. Sicko – This movie should be mandatory viewing for all those fuck wads on capital hill who are trying to stop any and all health care reform being out forward by the Obama administration. As a canadian, I cannot wrap my head around the american “health care system” and the legions of people who feel it is a bad thing to get your health care paid for by the government. Wake the fuck up you ignorant assholes. Government funded health care is not going to turn your country into a socialized nation. Its just going to stop your poor from getting sicker and generally let everyone have a higher quality of life. What is wrong with that? Sorry for the rant there but this issue gets me so mad. And in this film Moore shines a light on all the injustices in the US and how the HMO’s treat their customers. It is an eye opening experience that should be viewed by everyone. How is it possible that a country like Cuba can have better health care and cheaper medicine then the US? Maybe because their government actually cares about its citizens (to a point. I have been to Cuba and I would never want to live there, unless I was sick and forced to choose between the US and Cuba)
3. Fahrenheit 9/11 – This was one of the hardest movies to watch . The devastation caused by the attacks of september 11th are something that will stay with me forever. I remember waking up to my mom telling me to go watch the TV. That was an odd thing for a mom to say. And for the next 12 hours I was stuck on my couch with my heart in my stomach and mind aghast. How could such a thing happen? It seem inconceivable at the time. This movie made it all the worse by highlighting the ineptitude of the US gov’t and its inability to stop the attacks and their use of the attacks to invade a country that had nothing to do with them. How can this shit happen? Why are the people in charge such greedy, fear mongering assholes? I can only watch this film once every 3 years cause it makes me so mad.
2. Capitalism: A Love Story – Moores latest effort is sort of a “best of” Michael Moore. He gets to go after the auto industry, the financial industry and the government all in one swoop. I quite enjoyed this film even though it wasn’t as heart wrenching as some of his other works. Having said that, he does tell the all too relevant tale of people being evicted from their homes for reasons they can’t really grasp while the heads of the banking industry screw everyone over to make a buck. It is great that someone makes movies that tell the truth. Even if that truth is hard to understand and depressing as all hell. This is classic Moore and a must see for anyone who cares about living in a home or having a job.
1. Bowling for Columbine – Guns are so useless. Unless you are a cop or a soldier, you have no need for one. I have never fired a gun in my entire life and I may go to my grave having never done so. I don’t understand why people feel the need to own these weapons. No good can come from them. Moore uses the massacre at Columbine High School as a jumping off point for a look at violence in america and gun culture. And it is scary to see some of the results. The second amendment is no longer a valid argument for a reason to own a gun. There is no good reason. And if you are deluded into thinking there is, then please stay the hell away from me. This movie just scares the shit out of me, and makes me wish that all this gun madness would just go away. All of these movies are must sees for anyone who cares about the state of the world and the hope for a better future.
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