July 26, 2024

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

In Release this Week

Crossing (dir. Levan Akin)

“Superior performances by Mzia Arabuli, Lucas Kankavan and Deniz Dumanli as Lia, Acgi and Evrim respectively,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto. “The film shows the lifestyle of the marginalized community of trans prostitutes while also depicting the poorer lifestyle in Georgia, compared to Turkey.  An intriguing film that is well worth a look.”

“Compassionate and original, Crossing is an odd couple road movie about friendship and acceptance of differences that demonstrates rather than preaches its theme,” says Liam Lacey at Original Cin. “One has a sense of the film’s structure as a kind of improvised dance, with the characters figuring out their steps as they go along, including, perhaps, the filmmaker himself. Crossing’s fanciful conclusion might leave viewers scratching their heads (real or imagined?) though it subtly echoes the movie’s overall theme of how our obsession with rigid categories can undermine the rich possibilities of ambiguity.”

Deadpool & Wolverine (dir. Shawn Levy)

“To be a fan of super-heroic cinema in 2024 is a peculiar state of arrested development. You long for the sense of escapism, the giddy bliss of a theatre roaring in unison, but you’re also old enough to see the faults. Which is what makes the arrival of Deadpool & Wolverine so timely. This is the roast of the MCU it so richly deserves,” declares Eli Glasner at CBC. “Going into the third instalment of the Deadpool franchise, I worried that Reynolds’ brand of potty-mouth sass may have reached its expiry date. But by aiming his barbs at the fading embers of the MCU, the result is both a love letter to and absolution for fans of the comic book blockbuster.”

At Queer Horror Movies, Joe Lipsett sums it up, saying, “Overall, it is: a) too long, b) too desperate to be funny, c) too reliant on fan-service, and d) looks bad.”

“Hugh Jackman is why this movie works plain and simple,” admits Dave Voigt at In the Seats. “It smartly and deftly acknowledges that yeah the Logan character had an epic death back in 2017, but it also wasn’t canon MCU so we need to run it back for him to play the straight man in epic comedy fashion to and unhinged Deadpool who could see almost anything poor out of his mouth.  It all rings so self-aware and true in classic fourth wall breaking fashion that riding shotgun on this one into the more family friendly MCU could back fire on him in a huge way.”

“Deadpool & Wolverine prevails as a bit of a movie marvel: it’s a film filled with so many quips, fourth-wall breaking, meta references, Easter eggs and cameos — a lot of cameos — that it tricks us into having a good time in lieu of delivering a proper story,” notes Rachel Ho at Exclaim!. “Sure, there’s a couple British baddies and a lite mission at play, but the execution is so lacklustre it’s clear those plot points were added in only to explain the movie’s existence and its connection to the MCU — and, honestly, I’m not mad about it.”

“Shawn Levy created a film that truly feels like a comic book come to life and it’s a joy to behold. Deadpool & Wolverine is the best entry in the trilogy and it’s not even close, checking all the right boxes for genre film lovers,” says Victor Stiff at That Shelf. “It’s a rowdy action-comedy loaded with silly sight gags and vulgar language. Reynolds’s trademark snark is on full display as he fires off quips like a verbal machine gun. The two leads have exceptional chemistry whether they’re in the heat of battle or letting their guards down for a much-needed heart-to-heart. Jackman’s stoic and prickly Wolverine makes an ideal foil to Deadpool and his motormouth.”

“Deadpool made me laugh. Wolverine too, if only because he’s such an effective straight-man buffer to Reynolds’ all-id performance,” chuckles Chris Knight at the National Post. “And laughing was when I most enjoyed Deadpool & Wolverine. In the parts that are more serious and Marvel-y — there are for instance two separate knock-down-drag-out fights between our basically unkillable protagonists — the plot drags a little.”

“At a cost of $200 million with nary a dull moment, Deadpool & Wolverine should entertain Marvel fans with more vulgar humour than most, and easily earn its production dollars,” writes Gibert Seah at Afro Toronto.

“Bringing Deadpool and Wolverine together requires the head-spinning CGI theatrics of messing with the multiverse, where anything can happen, heroes never really die and sequels just keep on coming,” notes Peter Howell at the Toronto Star. “It’s exactly the kind of lazy and formulaic MCU plotting that Deadpool rails about in his asides to camera. But expecting high-minded sincerity from the Merc with a Mouth is too much to ask of a guy who dances to NSYNC’s ‘Bye Bye Bye’ while committing bloody mayhem”

“Levy offers a dozen wham-bam needle drops, each deployed in a bid to drown out any questions audiences might have about what, exactly, we’re watching,” groans Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail. “And you will have many queries. Even the hardest core of Marvel fans – those who have mainlined every episode of the Disney+ series Loki, and have deep levels of knowledge about the X-Men movies made under 20th Century Fox before the studio was swallowed up by the Mouse House – will flee to Wikipedia after watching the film, so dependent is the story on the margins of multiverses.” Hertz also picks Reynolds’ five best performances (yes, they exist!) outside the Deadpool franchise, including Adventureland: “Channelling just the right, sparse amount of his inner frat-boy shtick from his breakout film, 2002′s Van Wilder, to the more gentle, nuanced vision of Mottola (Superbad, The Daytrippers), Reynolds fits in perfectly with the film’s breezy arrested-development environment.”

Doubles (dir. Ian Harnarine 🇨🇦)

“The film’s opening sequence features Dhani (Sanjiv Boodhu) explaining to us that he is 104^th generation Brahmin, the highest caste in Indian tradition. But he lives in Trinidad with his mother where such things have no meaning, and scrapes by on their earnings as street food vendors. By chance, they discover his father Ragbir (Errol Sitahal in a marvel of a performance) who left them decades earlier, is now a chef in Toronto,” notes Anne Brodie at What She Said. “Beautifully written and executed, even if we are wary of our guide. Sitahal’s quietly stunning performance is the centrepiece of the film.”

Exhuma (dir. Jang Jae-hyun)

“The tale takes a dangerous turn when the newly formed team of Hwarim, Bong Gil, Kim Sang Deok, and Ko Young Geun (Yoo Hae-jin) take on a case that sends shivers of caution down Deok’s spine,” writes Thom Ernst at Original Cin. “Pressured by the client, who offers an uncommonly large swath of cash, Deok and the team ignore every instinct telling them to leave the job. They grow even more wary when the client begs them not to open the unburied coffin. Their commitment to fulfilling their contract will either make them rich or cost them their lives.”

The Fabulous Four (dir. Jocelyne Moorhouse)

“The all-star cast of The Fabulous Four, Bette Midler, Susan Sarandon, Megan Mullally, and Sheryl Lee Ralph is a hoot,” laughs Anne Brodie at What She Said. “It isn’t a film critics’ film, aimed squarely at the older female demographic with an easy, funny script and the energy and familiarity of the four stars.”

“Throw together a bunch of actors of this calibre and there’s immediate watchability. Midler, of course, is a goofball delight throughout, rivalled by Mullally for kooky one-liners and sly side-eye glances,” says Kim Hughes at Original Cin. “That Sarandon, Mullally, and Ralph serve as producers suggest The Fabulous Four is a passion project for the women, and one very much guided by women: Australian Jocelyn Moorhouse directs a script by Ann Marie Allison and Jenna Milly.”

House of Ga’a (dir. Bolanle Austen-Peters)

“House of Ga’a is what is called a Nollywood blockbuster. It tries to copycat the Hollywood big production but from the props, one can immediately see that the film has a modest budget – from the tacky-looking weapons and armour worn and the short battle scenes, all used at least without CGI and shot the old fashioned way, making it look more credible,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

The Last Breath (dir. Joachim Heden)

“The late Julian Sands’ final film role in The Last Breath isn’t a meaty one, but it showcases the British actor’s versatility. He set aside the elegant romantic leads he dominated in the ’80s to play Levi, a grizzled tourist dive business operator in the British Virgin Islands who enjoys knitting,” writes Anne Brodie at What She Said.

Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger (dir. David Hinton)

“Made in England shows how any film—masterpiece or misfire—becomes richer when studied and understood in the context of its production. There’s a great discussion of authorship, too, as Powell and Pressburger unpack who did what in their films, noting that they always shared credit, but that Powell did more of the directing and Pressburger more of the writing,” says Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “Yet these films are distinctly collaborative in a way that few bodies of work are. Clips from Saturday Night at the Movies with Elwy Yost, that old TVO staple, afford the filmmakers a say on their own work.”

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (dir. Guy Ritchie)

Guy Ritchie’s actors are all great looking, mostly musclebound, the action scenes are nonstop and over the top, and the weaponry and explosions are endless,” writes Anne Brodie at What She Said. “It’s unsatisfying as a film because there is too little character development, overshadowed by the action.  But it’s fun if you don’t take it too seriously.”

Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa

(dir. Lucy Walker; July 31)

“As far as mountain movies go, no doc has ever captured Everest quite like Mountain Queen. The details of Everest are on full display here: the attitude, the grade, the wind, and the cold, but most significantly, the spiritual power that fuels Lhakpa,” writes Pat Mullen at POV Magazine. “This exhilarating film should make many mountain queens by inspiring viewers to conquer the impossible.” Mullen also speaks with Walker about going back to Everest with Sherpa after making the 2006 doc Blindsight. “I was really passionate about telling her story and because of my experience making Blindsight, we did two Himalayan expeditions to make that movie back in 2004,” says Walker. “I had an incredible opportunity to learn how to make a narrative character-driven vérité documentary about a climb in every way—how to shoot it, how to think about risk, how to staff it, how to find the right collaborators, how to work with those collaborators to really empower them to contribute best.”

Non-Negotiable (dir. Juan Taratuto)

“[A]n efficient little Mexican film, entertaining enough without having to resort to ridiculous special effects and expensive production costs or even star names.  The largely unknown cast delivers credible performances and the suspenseful action thriller works,” says Gilbert Seah at Afro Toronto.

Queen Rising (dir. Princeton James)

“Twists and turns lead to a deeply shocking conclusion. The filmmakers didn’t give a thing away. The brutal moments are shot not as horrific, but as ordinary, which is scarier; things that just happen. And let’s face it, dating can be a landmine!” exclaims Anne Brodie at What She Said.

File Under Miscellaneous

At The Globe and Mail, Barry Hertz profiles Longlegs producer Chris Ferguson and tells how magic is brewing from a Vancouver production office: “Some companies focus strictly on Canadian content, some on service production (that is, helping Hollywood films that are shooting in Canada to take advantage of tax perks). Oddfellows, though, positions itself simply as a company based in Canada that makes every kind of movie, in every kind of way, for every kind of market. ‘There’s a frustration we have when talking with government organizations and interest groups up here, which is often about trying to figure out what kind of producer we are. I just want to make movies,’ says Ferguson.”

A Festival of Festival Coverage: The TIFF Takeover

TIFF rolled out the press releases this week with and Barry Hertz at The Globe and Mail drops some thoughts on the main slate of Galas and Special Presentations: “Notably, almost half of the films announced Monday are sales titles,” writes Hertz. “These movies join TIFF’s recently announced opening selection, the Ben Stiller-starring comedy Nutcrackers, as productions coming to Toronto without a studio or distributor already attached and conceivably play into TIFF’s ambitions to become a premier destination where films are bought and sold. Earlier this spring, festival organizers announced plans to launch what they say will be a ‘game-changing” official content market in 2026,’ an initiative made possible thanks to $23-million in funding from the federal government.” Hertz also runs down the Midnight Madness slate, which kicks off with the Demi Moore body horror flick The Substance: “And while The Substance already sparked intense reactions during its world premiere at Cannes this past spring – with many singling out Moore for her audacious performance alongside Margaret Qualley and Dennis Quaid – the secret weapon of this year’s Midnight Madness just might be the new horror movie It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This.”

At the Toronto Star, Peter Howell runs down some Oscar hopefuls touching down in Toronto: “Monday’s announcement also contains many Oscar-buzzed movies, among them Edward Berger’s papal conspiracy thriller Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini; Gia Coppola’s showbiz rebirth drama The Last Showgirl, starring Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis and Dave Bautista; Marielle Heller’s dark motherhood comedy Nightbitch, starring Amy Adams, Scoot McNairy and Jessica Harper; and Athina Rachel Tsangari’s medieval neo-Western Harvest, based on a Booker Prize-nominated novel and starring Caleb Landry Jones, Harry Melling and Rosy McEwen.”

TV Talk/Series Stuff

At What She Said, Anne Brodie is gripped by the return of The Responder starring Martin Freeman: “Freeman’s phenomenal job in getting this mad character over is award-worthy – his expressions, movements, and speech patterns give him away – he’s desperate, and vulnerable.  It is painful to watch him spiraling.” Meanwhile, Women in Blue offers a spin on the police procedural: “The police don’t take the recruits seriously, adding danger to their investigation but they will step up.”

At Original Cin, Liam Lacey looks at the four-parter Charlie Hustle & the Matter of Pete Rose: “Sports journalists too often try to treat personality disorders as tragic flaws and treat jocks as Greek demigods. At risk of underestimating the cultural significance of men who excel at smacking small balls with big sticks, I suspect even ‘sad’ might be overstating it.”