December 20, 2024

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

ICYMI: We announced the TFCA Award winners and Rogers Award nominees earlier this week.

And stay tuned for a special mid-week round-up next week with member reviews of films like Babygirl, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, and Nosferatu.

In Release this Week

The Count of Monte Cristo (dir. Alexandre de la Patellière, Matthieu Delaporte)

“Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte’s fanciful and rollicking adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo doesn’t reinvent the classic story, but it’s another shining example of how Alexandre Dumas’ story of deceit and the sticky nature of justice remains the gold standard for revenge thrillers,” writes Andrew Parker at The Gate. “Although it has been directly adapted and liberally borrowed from hundreds of times since the birth of cinema, this large scale blockbuster adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo is a sweeping, crowd pleasing epic done right.”

Ferry 2 (dir. Wannes Destoop)

“After the 2021 film The Ferry followed by a series The Ferry, Ferry 2, the Dutch/Belgium film is pretty much the same anti-hero in a slightly different scenario.  Forgettable action entertainment though not a boring watch on Netflix,” admits Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Her Body (dir. Natálie Císařovská)

“Her Body displays the hopes and resilience of Andrea and hence of any strong-willed human being, despite being given an awful slice of life,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Andrea experiences an accident and then cancer – a really sad story. The film captures the atmosphere and sad state of Andrea’s life effectively.”

Hollywoodgate (dir. Ibrahim Nash’at)

“Nash’at notes in voiceover at the beginning of the film that the Taliban grants him access to their operations with a very specific idea of the film he’s making. They essentially want a puff piece,” writes Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “Anything critical or unflattering and he’s dead, as they frequently remind him. At the same time, Nash’at makes clear to viewers that he doesn’t share the Taliban’s objective. He’s there to film the devastation of Afghanistan at the Taliban’s hands. All he can do, however, is film. This ‘just the facts’ approach offers cinéma vérité in pure form and the results are downright chilling.”

Mufasa: The Lion King (dir. Barry Jenkins)

“While this prologue isn’t entirely necessary, Mufasa: The Lion King makes a case that other great stories can still be spun off from the material without damaging the legacy of the original,” notes Andrew Parker at The Gate. “It’s certainly a step up in storytelling craft from Jon Favreau’s 2019 passably uninspired and beat-for-beat re-imagining of 1994’s Disney animation landmark. Mufasa: The Lion King shines brightest whenever it carves its own path, a worthy reflection of the struggles faced by its titular character.”

“I just love big feelings,” Barry Jenkins tells Kathleen Newman-Bremang at Refinery 29. “I didn’t realize how potent a vessel for big feelings a musical is until I was knee-deep in making one. I’m pro-musical, pro-big feelings…What [people] are reacting to if they haven’t seen the film is this idea of big feelings, your words, which I love. I just tried to rush in and fill this movie with as many big feelings as I possibly could, using a whole new tool set. The tool set’s the only thing that’s different. The feelings are the same.”

“Animation-wise, the film is magical and inspirational,” writes Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “From the opening scene in which he camera swoops down  on herds of animals like zebras and giraffes to the birds of the air, the animation is an absolute delight.  The resolution is very clear from the furry hair of a bee pollinating the flowers to the stampede of elephants.”

“What’s really new here is the astonishing technical feat of the animation. Animals have never looked this authentically realised. The lions’ fur has textures that one can nearly pet as each follicle proves visible to the audiences’ eyes while combining to make Mufasa’s lush mane that rustles in the wind as he charges across the plains. The lions move with agility as the technical wizards in the VFX department get all their lithe and nimble prowess down pat,” says Pat Mullen at That Shelf. “Nobody looks into the camera to reveal their soul quite like the characters of a Barry Jenkins’ film do. Even CGI cats.”

“Obviously, the money must have been good. And the temptation to pop open Disney’s VFX toy chest and play around with its high-priced gadgets can be hard to resist. But do the ultimate results of Mufasa: The Lion King justify the fact that one of film’s great talents was taken out of the game for almost half a decade?” asks Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “Not especially, no.”

The Six Triple Eight (dir. Tyler Perry)

“The Six Triple Eight shows Tyler Perry in more serious mode, tackling black historical stories that needs to be told, which he succeeds in an entertaining and not too controversial way,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “Kerry Washington is also excellent as the major fighting for her troops.”

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (dir. Jeff Fowler)

“You know who likes to say, ‘Third time’s the charm?’ People who have failed twice. Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) was a perfectly serviceable movie for greying millennials wanting to relive their video-game glory days in a way their young’uns could also enjoy. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) was if anything a small step up in quality,” says Chris Knight at Original Cin. “But Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (what nomenclature!) erases any gains made by the second, and then some. We’re more or less back where we started.”

“Jim Carrey plays the dual role of the mad scientist Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his grandfather Gerald Robotic.  Who else could play a mad scientist with such inspired craziness than Jim Carrey?” asks Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “He is not only in almost every scene but twice every scene with the dual role. The film contains many best lines, one of those being said when Dr. Ivo comments how weird it is to meet his grandfather. ‘It is as if I am in a movie where an actor is playing dual roles.’ The audience was cheering at the promo screening I attended – and the screaming came from the adults not the kids.”

“While it doesn’t measure up to the pleasant surprises of the first film or the strengths of the limited streaming series Knuckles, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 does improve upon the second film, which got bogged down under the weight of too many subplots competing for screen time,” writes Andrew Parker at The Gate. “That being said, the charm is starting to wear off at this point. The jokes aren’t as snappy, the pacing is off, and the whole endeavour is starting to show strain under the weight of its ever expanding lore. It’s fun enough, and I’m certainly not mad about it, but this franchise is approaching a tipping point where taking a break might be a good idea in the long term.”

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (dir. Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham)

“The question of automation (and automatons) in today’s society is relevant, and Vengeance Most Fowl has mischievous fun with the premise, even if this inventive tale — with a running time of 79 minutes and a script trimmed to Norbot-approved neatness — isn’t reinventing the wheel of cheese (ouch!),” says Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “Still, the gentle touch of the stop-motion animation feels distinctly human. That’s welcome in these hard digital times since, as Wallace learns, some things, like patting his old pal Gromit, are simply better when done by hand.”

“Wallace and Gromit belong in the conversation of best comedic duos in cinematic and television history, as does the cunning Feathers for one of the most inspired villains,” clucks Andrew Parker at The Gate. “It has been far too long for these characters to receive such a grand return, and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl doesn’t let viewers down for a second. It’s the best all out romp of the holiday season if you can make it out to a theatre that’s showing it prior to its streaming release. If you can’t, it’s the perfect homebound antidote to the winter blahs.”

2024 in Review

At CBC, Eli Glasner shares his top 24 films of 2024. Atop the list? Sing Sing: “Inspired by the the prison-run theatre organization Rehabilitation Through the Arts, Sing Sing is a film about the power of art to create change. Led by their instructor Brent (a wonderful Paul Raci), the prisoners improvise, pretend and, for a moment, escape,” writes Glasner. “As the wrongly convicted prisoner Divine G, Colman Domingo is the soul of the story. Real-life RTA grad Clarence Maclin is the proof, playing a prisoner who goes from hustling to performing Hamlet.”

At Afro Toronto, Gilbert Seah picks the best films of the year with Conclave getting the number one vote. “Director [Edward] Berger delivers another stunning and compelling drama Conclave after his much-heralded Oscar Winner All Quiet on the Western Front,” writes Seah. “The conclave is the process where a new Pontiff is elected by the cardinals after one dies. It is an elaborate process as Berger illustrates. Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) oversees the proceedings, assuming that the contest will come down to a battle between the reactionary, openly racist Cardinal Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto) and the liberal progressive Cardinal Bellini (Stanley Tucci). And matters soon turn complicated as rumours circulate, secrets emerge, and acts of sabotage are undertaken.”

At the Toronto Star, Peter Howell ranks 2024’s best films with Anora leading the pack: “Breakout star Mikey Madison electrifies as Anora, a scrappy sex worker offered a tantalizing glimpse of the one per cent when she’s hired — and wooed — by Vanya (Mark Eydelshteyn), a Russian oligarch’s spoiled son who is used to getting everything and everyone he wants,” writes Howell. “Sean Baker’s screwball comedy isn’t inclined to judge his characters or their rough milieu. On the contrary, Baker actually cares about them. He’s long had a fascination with, and genuine empathy for, the imperfect characters in the sex-for-hire trade, as seen in such previous gems as “Tangerine” and The Florida Project. His focus comes to full fruition with Anora, and a star is born in Madison.”

At The Gate, Andrew Parker cleanses himself of the worst films of 2024. At the “top” is The Strangers Chapter 1. “No film in 2024 had me running for the exit more than Renny Harlin’s The Strangers Chapter 1, not because it was terrifying, but because I couldn’t wait to be doing literally anything else. And that day I had a root canal scheduled,” says Parker. “That was more pleasurable than anything in this idiotic, leaden paced, unimaginative reboot that captures none of the eerie and chilling aspects of the original premise. Even worse, two more of these have been shot and are awaiting release, hanging over the world like an inescapable threat.”