November 15, 2024

Welcome to TFCA Friday, a weekly round-up of film reviews and articles by TFCA members.

In Release this Week

Lead and Copper (dir. William Hart; Nov. 19)

“Lead and Copper belongs to the category of documentary that will enrage its audience. And with reason!” exclaims Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

The Lost Children (dir. Jorge DuranLali; Houghton and Orlando von Einsiedel)

“A no-nonsense attitude towards making this truthful compelling true story transition to the screen,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The words at the start of the film inform that the footage seen are all taken by volunteer rescuers or the military or archive newsreel and that certain names had to be changed for military security and that a few re-enactments were created.”

Memoir of a Snail (dir. Adam Elliot)

“If this were a live action film, it may be almost too bleak to bear, but Elliot’s vision for his heroine offers hopefulness in the face of what seems to be a never-ending string of tragedies,” writes Rachel West at That Shelf. “Just when it feels like too much darkness, levity breaks through in the form of eccentric characters whose quirks add a few welcomed chuckles. Though serious themes run through the story, they are done so with a natural balance and some real-world reminders. Grief is weird, death can be funny, pain can lead to laughs, and weirdos can find true companionship and acceptance from both themselves and others.”

“In blunt incident-filled synopsis (there’s much more) Memoir of a Snail can come across as an arbitrary assembly line of disappointment, abandonment, abuse, kink and suicidal impulses, before it pivots to a redemptive ending, which makes it sound naïve and sentimental,” writes Liam Lacey at Original Cin. “But the genuine cathartic effect of the film is achieved by an accumulation of smart choices…They converge into a delightfully googly-eyed therapeutic parable about breaking out of our pain-enforced protective shells.”

“This film should have no problem receiving an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature and is on my list for Best Animated Feature this year,” declares Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“Just like in Dickens’ finest novels, when things seem blackest, good news does appear. Memoir of a Snail is about love and friendship and there is an expectation that happy news will happen to those who deserve it. The warm reception of the film indicates that Elliot did figure out a way to make the story more satisfying –and happier—to a mainstream audience,” says Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “Adam Elliot has employed brilliant actors to play the parts in his drama. The brilliant Sarah Snook, who was so extraordinary as Shiv in Succession, is transporting as Grace. She is matched by an all-star Australian cast that includes current heartthrob Kodi Smit-McPhee as Gilbert, terrific character actor Jacki Weaver as Pinky, and such talents as Eric Bana, Magda Szubanski, Dominique Pilon, and the great singer-songwriter Nick Cave in supporting roles.”

“The filmmaker’s severely limited palette of browns and dark reds is calculated to accentuate the gloom. But there’s also much sweet within the sour; the film’s lovely score by Australian classical composer Elena Kats-Chernin, with its soaring female vocal swoops, lifts the spirits,” notes Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “You won’t find Grace feeling too sorry for herself. She calls herself a “glasses half-full, silver linings” gal, an aspirational description that frequently gets put to the test.”

“Memoir of a Snail will make audiences laugh, cry, widen their eyes with horror, and laugh again,” says Pat Mullen at That Shelf, who speaks with Elliot about bringing his least favourite part of the job: animation. “I have a lot of fun with the production design and production design is one of the hats I love wearing. I love writing, I love production design. I love editing. I hate animating. I never want to animate again,” says Elliot. “No, I hate it. I’ve retired, actually. I did one shot on this film: Grace animating a snail. I did it eight times. That’s how bad it was. So no, I just don’t have the patience, ironically.”

La palisiada (dir. Philip Sotnychenko)

“La palisiada is as strange and intriguing as any film that has opened this year,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Nothing much is explained and the film requires much intense concentration to comprehend and appreciate, and needless to say, the effort is worth the rewards.”

Red One (dir. Jake Kasdan)

“When the action is going and Evans lets that Boston accent fly free, Red One is a moderately entertaining Christmas-themed romp,” says Rachel Ho at Exclaim!. “There are quippy jokes, the obligatory heartfelt Christmastime lessons learned, and a decently fun mythology (the Headless Horseman’s appearance is a highlight for me); had the film simply been that, the film would have succeeded in its goal. But director Jake Kasdan takes generous liberties in the quiet moments to elongate what could have been a tight 90-minute genre film, rendering Red One a stilted movie that will probably be forgotten before December even arrives.”

“A non-stop action movie with just enough plot to stitch together more action scenes, Red One is as soullessly fast and furious as you’d expect from scripter Chris Morgan of Fast & Furious franchise fame. It posits an arctic Santa’s workshop with gnomes (or something) that look like some of the cuter creatures in the Star Wars universe and a lovable Wookie – er, I mean polar bear, and with its own military command operating under a cloaking dome that Superman might have used to hide his Fortress of Solitude,” notes Jim Slotek at Original Cin. “Much of this plays out as if it was made up as it goes along, with new monsters – including literal abominable snowmen – popping up in each scene.”

The Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley (dir. Jason Hehir)

“The doc can hardly be faulted for omitting the awful last years of Elvis because as the title of the doc indicates, the purpose is to show his fall and rise and not his fall again,” observes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The doc therefore ends Elvis’s biopic on a high note, during his rise back to fame with his ’68 comeback special.  Many fans would remember Elvis the King this way.”

File Under Miscellaneous

Courtney Small joins Eric Marchen as a guest on Cinema Seen to discuss Anora, TIFF Highlights, and his website BlackCanadianFilm.ca.

At the Toronto Star, Peter Howell takes a stab at predicting the Oscar Best Picture nominees and ten possible alternates. Atop the list? Sean Baker’s Anora: “Opportunity doesn’t just knock, it bangs, in Red Rocket filmmaker Sean Baker’s fifth (and best) feature about sex workers,” writes Howell. “Mikey Madison plays the title character, a Brooklyn stripper looking to up her game and make some money. She meets and impulsively marries the spoiled son of a Russian oligarch, who sends three stooges to bust up the happy couple. But scrappy Ani, as she’s called, has nerve and maybe an unexpected ally.”

A Festival of Festival Coverage: Looking at DOC NYC

At POV Magazine, Pat Mullen checks out this year’s slate for DOC NYC, which could overtake Hot Docs as North America’s largest documentary. Key to the fest’s success is the Short List, perhaps the most reliable bellwether for the Oscar shortlist: “if the festival keeps up its usual batting average, then Oscar voters might avoid the usual eggs and tomatoes thrown at them. Frontrunners in Short List include daddy-daughter-dance doc Daughters, Palestine-Israel unity show No Other Land, residential school exposé Sugarcane and trans ally road trip Will & Harper. After that, Netflix has a pair of viable contenders in the inspiring epic Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa, which really demands the big screen experience and should get a boost with Lucy Walker receiving the Robert and Anne Drew Award for Documentary Excellence at the festival, and Sundance prizewinner The Remarkable Life of Ibelin.

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At Original Cin, Liam Lacey binges two series and reports back. On Say Nothing, he writes: “The series, a substantial work of historical recreation, is set against the background of The Troubles, the vicious Northern Irish sectarian conflict from the late sixties to the nineties, that saw Catholic militants at war with Protestant loyalists, the British army and Ulster police.” And for dark humour, Lacey likes the return of Bad Sisters: “To my taste, the main reward in the second season is the presence in the cast of the great stage and screen actress [Fiona] Shaw (Harry Potter, My Left Foot, Fleabag). On first take, the character of Angelica is a stock comic figure, a hyper-critical busybody, peeking through blinds or popping in for a visit when least wanted.”