December 13, 2024

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

Stay tuned! We’ll be announced this year’s TFCA Awards on Sunday, Dec. 15 starting at noon EST on X and Bluesky.

In Release this Week

Carry On (dir. Jaume Collett-Serra)

“Don’t go looking for any degree of logic or plausibility in Carry-On and you should be fine,” advises Andrew Parker at The Gate. “If that’s the kind of thing that bothers you, steer as far away from this one as possible. But if you want something that makes perfect background noise while wrapping presents on an eggnog bender, you could do a lot worse than this.”

“Carry-on holds a very simple premise but makes it good as a solid Christmas suspense action thriller for the reason of attention to detail, solid performances and well-delivered build-up of suspense,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Elton John: Never Too Late (dir. RJ Cutler, David Furnish)

“Unlike Rocketman, the doc enables the audience to know what Elton John has to say in person, rather than an actor echoing his words,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “In the doc, the real people in Elton’s life are also on display from Bernie Taupin to his final married husband David and his two children.”

“The behind the scenes bits where John is captured on tour are as exciting and insightful as watching people sitting down to eat lunch, while the archival materials feature no new insights from Cutler and Furnish’s subject, instead relying on previous recordings made with journalist Alex Petredis while prepping for Elton’s autobiography,” writes Andrew Parker at The Gate. “There’s a stagnancy to Elton John: Never Too Late that’s hard to shake, and while it’s never outright bad to watch, it’s also never revelatory or all that open.”

“Even though this doc has fewer degrees of separation between the star and the creator, not that there was much distance to begin with, it feels far less self-serving than many of its contemporaries,” says Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “The film offers toe-tapping proof that musically and culturally, few artists have a global impact like Elton John.”

The End (dir. Joshua Oppenheimer)

“The numbers aren’t terrible. They’re just not good enough to be worth your while,” admits Chris Knight at Original Cin. “They don’t add much to the plot or the characters or their motivations. They mostly just stop the action while people sing about things you already saw in their faces or heard in their dialogue, and when they’re finished they pick up the action again. I’d be very intrigued to see an atonal edit.”

“Director Oppenheimer’s (the acclaimed Act of Killing, which I never liked) film is a long, tedious and occasionally unwatchable epic, which is as cold as its central character, Swinton,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film is also all over the place, with a few odd musical and dance numbers that seem out of place.  A cold film on a cold topic in a film that lasts too long at 2 and ¾ hours.”

“The film is admittedly bleak with this fine ensemble of generally awful people embodying the last hope for humanity. But the film leaves one buoyed with the hope personified in MacKay and Ingram’s empathetic characters,” writes Pat Mullen at That Shelf. “As with The Act of Killing, Oppenheimer’s direction is ambitious and against the grain. The film uses music to find the kernels of truth that these people must confront in their moral reckoning. Where Anwar Congo’s dry-heaving in Killing offers an admission of guilt, the flubbed notes and emotional quivers in the family’s lyrics offer something comparable. Call Oppenheimer’s latest ‘the act of killing it.’”

Kraven the Hunter (dir. J.C. Chandor)

“The film, despite many flaws, contains enough pleasures and quirkiness for it to be watchable,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The one performance to watch is that of Russell Crowe, paying an over-the-top abusive father and villain that suits his real life personality, judging from reports of how crazy this actor can be one set.  The outrageous plots cheesy special effects, corny dialogue and ridiculous twist in the ending all add to the entertainment.”

“Just when you think this story couldn’t get any more ridiculous, two other comic bookderived villains enter the scene: Christopher Abbott’s taciturn the Foreigner, a mad scientist and assassin, who dresses as though the costumer forgot about him; and Alessandro Nivola’s grinning Rhino, who wears a child’s backpack containing a substance that turns him into a scaly horned beast when the mood strikes, which is rarely. Unlike the Foreigner, Rhino at least fits the wild kingdom theme of Kraven,” notes Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “These are arguably the two goofiest villains in the Marvel universe, which is really saying something for a company that gave us Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash from Iron Man 2.”

Listen Carefully (dir. Ryan Barton-Grimley)

“The horror nightmare is mildly amusing at best, with most of the entertainment deriving from the protagonist’s misadventures,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The ending and explanation for all the mystery are far from satisfactory.”

The Lord of the Rings: War of the Rohirrim (dir. Kenji Kamiyama)

“So much of The War of the Rohirrim is about planning and restating the obvious,” notes Andrew Parker at The Gate. “The character depth and ingenuity that were all hallmarks of Jackson’s films is all but gone here, replaced by heroes and villains with cut and dry morals, predictable story beats, and long, dull periods where not much of note transpires; the film simply killing time until the next big action beat hits, and making the viewer’s investment and patience pay dearly for it.”

“Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings films have been thrashed to death and who really needs a before everything animate feature? Despite all the effort and some impressive animation, the feature fails to generate much excitement,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Oh, Canada (dir. Paul Schrader)

“The extremely tense interview, his relationship with Emma and the ever-shifting goalposts are fascinating, and the elegant script is a joy,” observes Anne Brodie at What She Said. “The overall effect is unsettling and we don’t trust our ‘narrator’ but any way we slice it, it is intriguing. Gere’s hypnotic performance is painful in its realism and Thurman lovingly bears the weight of the world.”

“On one level, we are recognizably in Schrader land — see America Gigolo, Autofocus, Affliction, and First Reformed, and as screenwriter of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull — where emotionally isolated men are forced to confront their moral flaws and spiritual emptiness,” writes Liam Lacey at Original Cin. “Since the film’s debut at Cannes last May, critics have been divided in their reactions to Oh, Canada. Some find it confusing and inconclusive. To my taste, the performances are specific and well-grounded and the craft, with the varied cinematography and complex editing, are impressive. But as the film moves briskly toward its conclusion, it feels detached, with little evidence of redemption or even the satisfaction of the filmmaker’s clear intention.”

“The pacing of Oh, Canada is brisk, but mixed up by design. In a lot of narrative ways, Oh, Canada is a mess, but it’s a purposeful one, allowing Gere and Schrader the opportunity to parse the traditional deathbed confessional without dwelling in one physical or emotional space for long stretches at a time. At times, the purpose and intent of Oh, Canada is confounding and curious, but it’s consistently interesting and thoughtful,” observes Andrew Parker at The Gate.

Queer (dir. Daniel Craig)

“You have to know who Burroughs is to appreciate Queer. Otherwise, you’re just watching William Lee, a random attractive middle-aged man, making advances on Eugene Allerton, a young, beautiful American, who seems to be unsure about everything in his life including his sexual orientation,” says Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “What we see slowly unfolding over the first part of the film is a friendship between two Americans, hanging out with other queer and straight tourists in Mexico, trying to figure out what they want. It turns out that that they want each other, at least temporarily.”

“There’s an air of unreality about the film. With its impeccable production design (it was shot at Rome’s Cinecittà Studios), its Almodóvarian emphasis on primary colours and its anachronistic use of late 20th-century rock songs (Nirvana, Prince, New Order), it sometimes seems more like animation than real life,” writes Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “Craig deserves all the awards season accolades he’s attracting for his performance. Lee’s naked humanity and his palpable neediness hold our attention as other characters fade into the background. This includes Starkey’s Eugene, a well-played role that is by definition more reactive than proactive.”

“The cinematography is stunning, and the camera work is admirable but the whole piece still ends up boring with nothing happening in the film’s lengthy over two hours running time,” notes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Craig is showing his age and he portrays a decaying gay man who suffers from diarrhea, fever, and sweats had the time during his travels.”

“Craig is easily the best thing in Queer, which grows a little maudlin at the end. Burroughs himself never properly completed the story, having lost interest along the way. But that’s not to say that his performance is the sole reason to see it,” says Chris Knight at Original Cin. “Some Bond actors have had the spectre of the role hang over the rest of their careers, but Craig is making bold and welcome choices in his post-spy years.”

“The hazy fever dream inevitably brings issues of pacing, but the sense of restlessness and unease is key. Queer works best when it goes full Naked Lunch (not in that way) and the adaptation somewhat comments on Burroughs’ oeuvre,” writes Pat Mullen at That Shelf. “The ayahuasca sequence, which includes prolonged moments of silence in which the actors explore one another with a surreal odyssey that borders upon body horror. The film feels truest to Burroughs the greater it deviates from the writer’s text. Guadagnino further latches on to Burroughs’ brainwave with an anachronistic score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross and a soundtrack that uses Kurt Cobain and to evoke the author’s unquenchable melancholy. It’s a work that displays an artistic voice inspired by, and indebted to, another.”

September 5 (dir. Tim Felhbaum)

“The ingenuity on display is remarkable. It’s decades before internet and videoequipped smartphones, a time when journalists used rotary telephones and walkie talkies, and cameras with 16mm film that required processing,” says Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “But while the logistics of coverage are impressively and thrillingly managed, and the actors are good to the last drop of sweat, the ethical problems that give September 5 its dramatic snap and contemporary relevance are harder to wrangle.”

“An effective action thriller about a real life violent, tragic, event in which nine innocent lives were lost comes into sharp focus in September 5, which brilliantly recreates events witnessed worldwide in real time via an ABC Sports crew working the 1972 Munich Olympic Games. On that day and days that followed the focus went from spectacular performances by US swimmer Mark Spitz when deadly political unrest interrupted the international camaraderie of the games,” writes Anne Brodie at What She Said. “ABC’s coverage was the first ever live terrorist attack broadcast around the world. Kudos to director Tim Fehlbaum for his astute interpretation of the events. Absolutely riveting, respectful and important viewing.”

“Casting brilliantly, Fehlbaum placed Peter Sarsgaard, a veteran well-known actor, as Arledge, with fine professionals John Magaro as Mason and Ben Chaplin as Bader,” notes Marc Glassman at Classical FM. “They all acquit themselves well, playing out the drama inherent in making the broadcast exciting and relevant during this fateful day. They’re joined by the fine German actress Leonie Benesch, who plays a composite figure, Marianne, a bright young woman who is working for ABC during the Olympics and rises to the challenge of being a translator and reporter while encountering those fateful events.”

“Director Fehlbaum has created a time bomb-ticking film with crucial events happening in seconds, but only from the point of view of the newsreel staff, totally dismissing the key issue of the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film ends up lacking in the excitement generated of how the situation can be solved as in Kevin MacDonald’s One Day in September documentary.”

“The performance that holds it all together though, is McKay himself. The newsman plays himself in archival footage that peppers September 5. The film cuts sparingly to newsreels of the reliable figure updating the audience with his measured anchoring,” says Pat Mullen at That Shelf. “Similarly, cutaways to the balaclava-clad terrorists offer cautiously but effectively used inserts of the hijackers in action. The editing by Hansjörg Weißbrich is a riveting feat. Like live news, it doesn’t miss a cut or waste a second. But the interplay between fiction and non-fiction images offer not shots of adrenaline, but jolts to remind us that the stakes are real. The brisk “just the facts” approach proves intensely thrilling.

The Six Triple Eight (dir. Tyler Perry)

“The forthright strength and discipline of Battalion leader Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington) kept the women motivated and proud of their tremendous achievements,” notes Anne Brodie at What She Said. “An inspiring and important film that sets the record straight; we are delighted to meet the real Lena, now 100. A history lesson, a love letter and salute to the nearly forgotten women finally told.”

File Under Miscellaneous: 2024’s Top Docs; TIFF at 50

At POV Magazine, Marc Glassman and Pat Mullen pick the best documentaries of 2024. For Glassman, it’s Johan Grimonprez’s jazzy archival flick Soundtrack to a Coup d’État that stands tallest. “Grimonprez accompanies the tragic tale of Lumumba with a startling and effective evocation of jazz, the preeminent popular music of the period in the U.S. The soundtrack to Grimonprez’s film is American jazz, which was quite contradictory at that time, being both old fashioned Dixieland and Swing on the one hand, and revolutionary post-Bop on the other,” writes Glassman. For Mullen, it’s Lucy Walker’s mighty Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa that’s 2024’s top doc. “The film observes Sherpa in her modest life in Connecticut where she works at Whole Foods to support her daughters and it’s the kind of amazing feat of filmmaking that should inspire audiences to consider all the hidden stories housed within the immigrants who puts dreams on hold while stocking grocery shelves, driving cabs, or delivering take-out to support their families,” says Mullen.

At the Toronto Star, Peter Howell marks an upcoming milestone for the Toronto International Film Festival—its 50th edition—and speaks with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey about what it means for the festival to be going strong today. “Festivals generally, and cultural organizations generally, are struggling,” Bailey tells Howell. “They’re facing a whole lot of headwinds and we are, too. We’ve worked hard to make sure we are stable and we had a much better year than we did last year. We’ve got lots of different sources of revenue. Rogers coming on board this year as a presenting sponsor of the festival was great for us and I think for them. We had really good attendance and ticket sales. Memberships are up. And we had, of course, the government investment in the market, which is coming soon in 2026. So all of those things really helped. We are still recovering, but we did everything we could to make this a better year than last.”

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At What She Said, Anne Brodie says that ninth time is the charm for Britbox’s Shetland: “This season’s a true corker, they’re all great but wow.” Meanwhile, there’s fun to be had in Netflix’s No Good Deed: “A colourful cast of characters including Linda Cardellini, O-T Fagbenle, Abbi Jacobson, Denis Leary, Poppy Liu, Teyonah Parris, and Luke Wilson play characters positively salivating over the same place.” And The Chelsea Detective’s Christmas special is “Easy going, unhurried and interesting in terms of Arnold’s quirks.”

At The Gate, Andrew Parker checks out the latest instalment of The Kings of Tupelo: “A sprawling stranger-than-fiction yarn revolving around a man with a misplaced hero complex who constantly proves to be his own worst enemy (on top of being an annoyance to many caught in his blustery path). The Kings of Tupelo weaves a masterfully told story of deception and hidden truths, but not the ones envisioned originally by the documentary’s (unfortunately) gregarious subject,” writes Parker.