But baring all can still be a risky career move. And it's riskiest on the big screen, where one's privates can be exposed to a potential audience of millions.
For men, considering going nude is not a huge issue, whereas for women, it's "a minefield," says Wyndham Wise, former editor of Take One magazine.
"If a man has a really good-looking body ... then he can get away with it," says Wise. Famous examples include Ewan McGregor's full frontal in The Pillow Book and George Clooney's full moon in Solaris.
Men often take their shirts off. But dropping their boxers is a rare sighting.
Partly it's because the association that rates films "tends to frown on penises," says David Poland, editor of MovieCityNews.com.
An R-rated film can show a penis but the shot has to be brief and the penis limp. "Certainly nobody can get anywhere near touching it," Poland says.
There's a double standard, says Richard Crouse, co-host of the local Rogers TV program Reel to Real. "When men appear nude it's almost like it's a brave move — he was willing to bare himself for the role — whereas when women do it, it's either almost expected or just used completely for titillation."
It comes with the territory in a sexist society, Wise says. "We're much more prepared to have a woman go naked than a guy go naked." Above all, movies are about money. Some men will be more likely to see a mediocre film if a certain actress appears in it naked, says Jeffrey Wells, columnist for Hollywood-elsewhere.com.
But does it help an actress's career? Film critics have mixed opinions.
"If you want to be a movie star, keep your clothes on," Poland says, arguing the illusion of nakedness is more appealing than the real thing. Raquel Welch never showed her breasts, but "she was sex personified."
Heather Graham was first known as a serious indie actress. But then she played the porn star Rollergirl in Boogie Nights. The 1997 film turned her into a sex icon and her roles have reflected that ever since, Poland says.
Her recent sitcom failed partly because "all they were selling was `come look at Heather Graham' and people have all seen Heather Graham ... having sex in every possible position on screen."
But staying clothed isn't always the best move either, Wise says. Nude scenes can sometimes help the careers of young actresses even if "they don't like to admit it."
Brigitte Bardot appeared nude in And God Created Woman in 1956. "She was able to build a career on that," Wise says.
Drew Barrymore appeared nude in several films including 1994's Bad Girls. She hasn't been pigeonholed because she's got more going for her than her body, Wise says.
A good nude scene should fit the role and be "organic to the film," Crouse says.
Wells points to the sex scene in Monster's Ball between Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton. "It certainly involves nudity, but when it's driven in a really compelling moving way ... it doesn't feel like a nude scene."
That's not how many saw the nude scene in Swordfish (2001), when, for no apparent reason, a sunbathing Berry lowers a book and reveals her breasts.
"It was demeaning," Crouse says. "It didn't belong in the story."
Berry herself later called the scene "gratuitous," but noted that it gave her the courage to tackle the love scene in Monster's Ball.
Once some actresses achieve a measure of success, they aren't as willing to show their birthday suits again. Rachel Weisz appeared topless in The Constant Gardener. Now that she's won an Oscar, "I doubt very much she'd ever go naked anywhere again," Wise says.
Older women who do nude scenes can make themselves stand out because it's so rare, Wells says. He praises the moment in Something's Gotta Give when Jack Nicholson walks in on a nude Diane Keaton. Keaton was "being honest about sexuality among people in their 40s and 50s," he says.
Sharon Stone, 48, has confirmed she'll be naked in the soon-to-be released Basic Instinct sequel. What will hurt Stone's career most is if the movie is bad.
However, actresses need to know if they go nude in a film, those images will be around for a long time.
For instance, for a fee you can join MrSkin.com and view thousands of movie stills featuring nude Hollywood actresses. Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz and Reese Witherspoon are all on the site. You would have a hard time finding nude shots of your favourite male stars on the site — but it's not difficult to find those elsewhere.
Condo Honours 1950s
`If you look at me
with my slicked-back hair and glasses, everyone identifies me with that
(vintage) look'
December 23, 2006
By Kathryn Kates
Special to The Toronto Star
Richard Crouse is the host
of Rogers Television's Reel to Real and The 100 Best Movies You've
Never Seen.
He's also the film critic
for CTV's Canada AM and Newsnet and a pop culture/entertainment author,
who is writing his seventh book. Three years ago, Crouse purchased his first
home, an 800 square-foot, two-bedroom condo. When it came to decorating the
place, which is located on the eighth floor of a 12-storey building near the
Eaton Centre, the Liverpool, N.S. native's fascination with pop culture is
evident throughout.
"My living room style
looks like a 1950s' hotel lobby," says Crouse. "I didn't plan on it
because I don't really have that much decorating sense, but that's how it
turned out and I love it. This look suits me and suits the place.
"Once you walk in, it
is not hard to imagine that I live here because of the '50s look. If you look
at me with my slicked-back hair and my glasses, everyone identifies me with
that '50s kind of look and it is certainly an era, in terms of music and film,
that I'm a fan of. Although I think I'm very forward-looking in my image, I
tend to be drawn to the 1950s-inspired design and the condo reflects that, I
think."
When Crouse began his
search for a condo, another unit in the building was the first place he saw.
But he was encouraged to keep looking by his agent. He saw about 100 other
offerings before being drawn back to the first building to check out another
unit.
"It felt right and it
was exactly the area I wanted to be in. I wanted to live downtown; I think it
is important that people live downtown to keep a city vital and to stop it from
turning into one of those big American cities that are ghost towns at
night," he states.
Directly in front of the
foyer is the kitchen that opens up into the living room that boasts
floor-to-ceiling windows. To the left of the kitchen is the dining room. To the
left of the foyer are two bedrooms with a shared ensuite in between.
The far room Crouse uses
as a home office.
He plans to hire someone
to repaint the place, but in the meantime, the walls are the colours chosen by
the previous owners. All the rooms are dark beige, except the master bedroom
and bathroom, which are painted a bright yellow. He hopes to have his bedroom
painted a slate blue and will rely on a professional decorator to suggest other
colours for the other rooms.
There is light-stained
hardwood flooring throughout, except for the bathroom, where you will find grey
ceramic tiles. The kitchen appliances are black, with light-stained cabinetry
and black granite countertops.
Since he is a big fan of
the late pop culture artist Andy Warhol, Crouse has a print called "Double
Elvis" hanging in his bedroom – Crouse's pose on his sixth book – The 100
Best Movies You've Never Seen – the same title as his TV show, was inspired by
Warhol's print.
Another Warhol of Marilyn
Monroe is in the dining room, along with two large silver wood cabinets,
featuring roll-top desk fronts that house thousands of DVDs Crouse has reviewed
over the years. In fact, he says almost every drawer in his condo is filled
with DVDs.
Crouse is a collector of
clocks; he has more than 20, many displayed in his home office.
"I'm a bit weirdly
excessive about clocks, as it turns out," admits the television
personality. "I never thought I was, but my girlfriend points out that
whenever we go shopping, I always end up looking at the clocks first."
The living room is
Crouse's favourite room. He works from home, so it was important for him when
he shuts his office door at the end of the day, to have a room to relax in, he
says. He spent a lot of time and money to create a space he could comfortably
lounge around in.
The living room furniture
includes one nine-foot black, art deco-style, leather couch with rounded arms,
a small loveseat with high arms and white stitching, a black leather
Barcelona-style chair and a black leather stool with a white diamond shapes and
brown wood legs.
Also in the room is a clear glass-top, kidney-shaped coffee table with chrome legs and a smaller frosted, mobile kidney-shaped table underneath on wheels. There is a small waist-high, black wood and chrome table with a clock face top, a dark brown-stained Asian influenced cabinet between the kitchen and living room. Artwork includes a poster of Crouse as a character from the television show Monster Warriors; it is framed in black wood.
The City
Compiled by Rob Roberts, National Post
Published: Tuesday, June 19, 2007
MY
ONE OF CROUSE'S VIEWS
IS ON KING, 44 FLOORS UP
Richard Crouse,
Gritty redux
I moved to
There's a neighbourhood feel here. You have to go to the
Mutual Street Diner, which is just at Mutual and
Invariably you run into people you've seen there all the
time and so you end up sitting a little longer than you want to probably over
that last cup of coffee.
Stinson vision
One of my favourite views, and it's one that I discovered
relatively recently, it's at
Dottie was here,
maybe
My absolute hangout is Southern Accent restaurant on
They have two things that are probably the tastiest things
I've ever tasted in my life: blackened lamb and piquant shrimp. It is the
reason that food was created.
This place is really idiosyncratic looking. The bar came
from the Algonquin Hotel in
Aside from hosting Reel to Real and The 100 Best Movies
You've Never Seen, Crouse has covered
THE CITY
Compiled by Rob Roberts, National Post
Published: Wednesday, June 20, 2007
MY
Film critic and
Rosebud on Bloor
Most of the truly great theatres are gone but if you go up
to
Critics' pick
The Varsity is a really good theatre. It's shifted its focus
a little bit over the last couple years and turned itself into a place that
doesn't just play the blockbusters. I particularly like auditorium #8 -- it
seats 600 people. It does make me laugh going to press screenings sometimes
because people laugh at arcane film references that filmmakers have put in. Or
the other thing is, you often don't hear a great deal of laughter at the press
screenings. What you do hear are people going, "That was very funny,"
and not actually laughing.
I'm #39
Suspect Video on
Thursday,
February 07, 2008
A
Night at Caren's with Gondry
Originally
uploaded by 416style
I
messed up previously laid plans when I was offered preview passes to Mos Def
and Jack Black's new flick Be Kind Rewind.
The clincher was the Q&A with director Michel Gondry. Gondry's well-known
in film for directing The Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind but it's his unique style directing music
videos for the White Stripes and Bjork that gets my attention. Bad news is I
got to the screening (right on time) and all the seats were filled (yeah,
apparently there's a disclaimer you're supposed to read) so my friends and I
had to change course. We headed to Caren's Wine Bar across the street (158
We
sunk into our seats upstairs and I noticed that Richard Crouse, the easily recognizable host of Rogers Television's
Reel to Real, was seated near to us.
Hmmm...I wonder who he's dining with in Yorkville. Sure enough it's Michel
Gondry, having a glass of red before ducking into the theatre to begin a round
of questioning.
I
wanted to give him my two cents too, tell him that my photo of him is used in
his wikipedia profile, but best we could do was "So you couldn't get into
the movie either?" He seemed rushed and faked a laugh, but he seemed to be
doing that a dinner with his guests too. Solemn and reserved; not at all what
I'd expect. Shouldn't you be a people person as an accomplished director? Maybe
not. This is the guy, after all, that developed what's now called "the
bullet technique", made famous by The Matrix. Oh well, I guess he's a
technical guy. I can appreciate that.
We
missed our chance with him and we missed the Q&A, instead we sat at Caren's
waiting forever for food and drinks to have overly formal staff bring us overly
mediocre food. (And, hey, shouldn't you have a decent selection of wines if you
want to call yourself a wine bar?)
Besides
good company the night was a bust - but hey, I did get another movie pass, to
try and get into the movie another time.
posted by sookie @ 23:17
So
where's the Oscar party?
Without A-list bashes like the Vanity
Fair fete, will stars just go home Sunday night?
February
22, 2008
Entertainment Reporter
When the Oscars
are just a few days away, the speculation is usually about who is going to take
home the gold statuette.
But this year
the suspense is about where the glittery, celeb-laden parties are going to be.
With the cancellation of several high-profile A-list events like the annual Vanity Fair bash due to the late
resolution of the writers' strike, many stars are unsure where they'll be
celebrating – or drowning their sorrows – after the telecast.
With all the
uncertainty, one local movie critic thinks that it might lead to more of an
old-school celebration.
"What
might happen is the kind of thing that happened 20 years ago before things like
Vanity Fair and everyone else
decided that they had to throw a huge party, is that there were all these small
intimate gatherings at restaurants that you needed to be invited to," says
Richard Crouse, co-host of Reel To Real
on Rogers Television.
"Like
(legendary agent Irving) `Swifty' Lazar used to always have a party at
Spago," adds Crouse. "So I bet you that's going to happen, with a lot
of smaller, cooler parties happening."
The party
saviour brigade might already be underway. According to Nikki Finke, who writes
the influential Deadline Hollywood Daily blog, stars like George Clooney and
Madonna are working on putting together last-minute bashes that could become
the talk of Tinseltown on Monday.
Closer to home,
Oscar uncertainty also had an effect on parties here. In years past, venues
like The Drake and
Traditionally,
charities have also used the event as way to run Oscar-themed fundraisers.
Kacey Siskind,
an event planner who volunteers on the board for youth anti-violence
organization LOVE (Leave Out Violence Everywhere), says a venue was ready,
sponsors lined up, and a local celebrity headliner on board, but had to pull
the plug in early January when the Oscars were still up in the air.
"It was
too risky, plus, you don't want to have a half-assed party," she says,
adding they planned to show the telecast at the event and if the Academy Awards
were cancelled, "it just would have been a useless party. We could have
carried on and done some kind of gala evening, but really the point was an
attempt at being similar to the real event."
Siskind says
the group postponed the fundraiser but plan to hold an Oscar party next year,
in the hopes of it becoming an annual event.
There are still
some public parties around town to celebrate the Oscars. The Bloor Cinema has
broadcast the Oscar telecast for many years and this year is no different,
although some things are still up in the air.
"Actually,
we are still confirming our host, so it's very dramatic," jokes Lisa
Fender of the Bloor. "The person who's done it the last few years is
stepping down, so we're still sorting that out. But it is a really good time.
We usually have around 400 people, and some people dress up. Well, let's say
the very brave ones show up in their ball gowns."
The Wolf &
Firkin Pub on
"It's free
to get in and we have a red carpet and we all dress up too," says
bartender Christine Bubleit. "There's an Oscar pool and it is a lot of
fun."
This year, the
Canadian arm of the African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF) is
piggybacking onto the Firkin's party, although they have a little more invested
in Sunday's telecast.
"AMREF is
featured in War/Dance, a
documentary about three children in
Popcorn Panel: Eastern Promises
National Post
Published: Friday, September
28, 2007
First there was
Siskel & Ebert. Then Ebert & Roeper. But what if you could have Siskel
& Ebert & Roeper? Vive le difference, non? That's the idea behind the
Popcorn Panel, the Post's weekly film throwdown.
This week's
panel - Craig Courtice, a short filmmaker who isn't very tall
- Richard
Crouse, host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real,
- Sean Carrie,
a
This week's
film Eastern Promises.
Craig: I find
it puzzling that Eastern Promises won
the audience choice award at TIFF this year. As Schwarzenegger would say,
"it's got ahction und adventure und romance," and even full-frontal
Viggo, but I would hardly call it a crowd-pleaser. And, unlike History of
Violence, it really doesn't have much to say. What gives?
Richard:
One American pundit suggested that Eastern Promises' win was about locals
voting for the local boy, but I really think there's more to it. Once again,
Cronenberg has delivered a film ripe with unforgettable moments -- the way
Viggo's Russian mobster casually flicks his cigarette, the birthday party's
incredible layout of food and yes, Mortensen's full frontal. It has a muscular
story trimmed of all the fat, terrific performances and doesn't worry about a
message. Do you care about the message in The
Godfather or Goodfellas? People
watch those movies because they are good stories well told. Eastern Promises is content to be a
solid thriller and has no pretensions to being anything else.
Sean: There's
something to be said for a ripping good narrative; it's hard to fault a film
for lacking a message if it distracts you by other means. But it sounds, Craig,
like your puzzlement with the TIFF audience reaction reflects an inability to
decide whether Cronenberg turned your attentions away from the film's faults. I
had the same reaction. There were a lot of (visual) aspects of Eastern Promises that I found
satisfying: The fight scene, the ugly portrait of
Craig: The Godfather had a few things to say
about loyalty, and Goodfellas was
about honour amongst thieves. They resonate because they take us into worlds we
would never visit and present human truths. Eastern Promises transports us to
Little Russia in
Richard:
I'm not sure what you were expecting from Eastern
Promises. Aside from Viggo's taut bottom, the movie offers up examinations
of masculine codes of honour, moral dilemmas and identity issues. The
characters and their actions raised questions of motivation: How can a man who
can coldly dismember a dead body also display gentleness? How do you know whom
to trust? The film doesn't put forward easy answers, but speaks volumes on the
subjects that appealed to you from The
Godfather and Goodfellas.
Sean: Something
that Eastern Promises does well is
pry each character's mind away from their body. Perhaps the best example is
Nikolai's gentleness and the long history of crime and punishment that's
literally inscribed on his flesh. While the film doesn't explicitly address it,
this separation of body and mind is a huge part of the immigrant experience.
This separation also helps explore some questions of nature vs. nurture that
Cronenberg dwelled on in A History of
Violence.
Unpopped
kernels: Eastern Promises
Craig:
All right, we've tiptoed around the big scene in Eastern Promises long enough. It's set in a
Richard: In terms of creativity and gall I'd have to choose
a scene from A Clockwork Orange that
still shocks today, 36 years after its original release. Stanley Kubrick used a
handheld camera to shoot the film's savage Singing
in the Rain rape scene. The choice of camera is inspired. The handheld
provides intimacy as it switches from the victim's point of view to Alex de
Large's (Malcolm McDowell) vantage point, putting the viewer right in the
center of this horrible act. There's nothing clinical about the violence in
this scene, and the effect is disorienting and terrifying. The irrational,
cruel and ritualistic act is made even more perverse with the use of Singing in the Rain, a song that
celebrates the optimism and bliss of life.
The
scene took three days to shoot, longer than any other in the film, and was so
difficult for the actress originally cast as Mrs. Alexander that she had to be
replaced. The use of Singing in the Rain came up during rehearsals when
Kubrick, experimenting to find an interesting way to present this material,
asked McDowell if he could dance while intimidating the Alexanders. When
McDowell started to sing Singing in the
Rain - he claims it was the only song he knew all the words to, although he
actually gets them wrong and repeats the same verse twice - Kubrick latched on
to it right away. He bought the rights to the song for $10,000 and while the
scene has become a classic, Gene Kelly never spoke to Kubrick again after the
release of the film.
Sean:
An inspired challenge; I'm wracking my brains trying to produce something that
isn't notable only for its shock value. The remarkable thing about the
steambath scene in Eastern Promises is that, despite its throwing caution to
the oncoming breeze, indelicacy-wise, it doesn't reek of gratuitousness as
does, say, any scene in American Psycho (to pick a film at random) or even a
lot of Cronenberg's own Crash. Perhaps because Eastern Promises is, overall, so
reserved in its use of this kind of brazen scene its effect is to relieve
tension (much as would a good steam bath, one assumes) rather than create it.
By the time Nikolai dons his towel you want something to happen, not in a
titillating or voyeuristic way, but more in a cathartic manner. Another famous
scene that has the same effect, at least on me, is the Dennis Hopper/Isabella
Rossellini rape scene in Blue Velvet, or maybe Chris Walken's Russian roulette
death in The Deer Hunter. I'd venture that both of those certainly meet the creativity
standard, as well.
Craig:
Well done, gents. This one really made me think. Yet all I could come up with
is a fight scene from television. Very compelling television, but television
nonetheless. The final season of HBO's Deadwood was mostly banal speechifying,
but like Eastern Promises that pace
was on purpose because it set up one of the most shocking, gory fight sequences
I've witnessed.
Tension
has been mounting in camp between Swearingen, the old boss, and Hearst, the
rich new guy from
Dan
spits and struggles, but the Captain throws him down. He dunks his head in a
puddle. Hearst gives him a nod. Al bows his head. It appears Dan is done for.
But at the last second, Al's man throws the overconfident Captain off. He
crawls off. The Capt., also exhausted, crawls after him. He grabs him from
behind, turns him over and straddles him. Smash! Dan's head against a rock. The
Captain gets his energy.
Smash!
Again, but no! Dan puts his arm out and gets his fingers in his opponent's eye.
He pokes for dear life, gouging until the eyeball falls right. The pain
paralyzes Hearst's man. Screaming! Such screaming! Slowly, Dan rises. Looks
around. Sees a log. Picks it up. Smash! He knocks the Captain down across the
back. Panting. Panting. Dan looks right at Hearst, then at Al. Smash! Across
the head. The Captain is done. Smash! All right, it's over. Smash! Dan walks
away, not triumphant but defeated.
The
fight obviously represents the change in power structure of the town, but also
shows what kind of violence was necessary in order to win democracy in the
FAT-CATTERY OR SMART-ASSERY?
National Post
Friday, July 13, 2007
Filmmaking is a
collaborative art, so why isn't film reviewing? Each week in this space,
experts, artists and paying movie customers come together to take apart a
recent release. It's salty. It's full of hot air. It's The Popcorn Panel.
This week's panel:
- Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall
- Richard Crouse, host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real,
- Rachel Sklar, media
editor at the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com/ media/the-news/eat-the-press).
This week's subject Sicko
Craig: Let's put our
political differences aside (especially you, Little Miss Huffington) and
consider Michael Moore's filmmaking. I admit I skipped out on the big guy's
last few films (though I did enjoy him in Team
Richard:
I can't go along with your take on "the stunt" that ends the film. In
the most provocative sequence in the film,
Rachel: There's no denying
that the Gitmo move is a stunt, but who cares?
Craig: Like I said,
there's plenty of great stories in Sicko. Those stories stand up on their own.
The role of the documentary filmmaker is to document what happens, not create
what happens.
Outside of splicing and
dicing film, though, I'm not sure Michael Moore is all that bright. He's
clearly never studied any kind of economics text or he would understand the
difference between socialized medicine and socialized police. Something called
a free rider problem, if I remember correctly. Individual units of medical care
can be purchased, individual units of protection cannot. Unwittingly,
Richard:
Rachel: OK, I'm with
Richard:
It's not, and you know it,
and
Unpopped
kernels: More thoughts on Sicko
National
Post
Published: Friday,
July 13, 2007
Sicko: Unpopped
kernels
Richard: Craig, I'm not sure I get your point about
government interference when dealing with health care. I think the point that
Michael Moore makes is that the whole system in the
No health care
system is perfect. Anyone who has sat in an emergency room in
Craig: This is the myth
that folks seem to buy into. That our system takes care of people. But take the
case of a man in his mid-30s with a lower back problem. He wakes up one day and
loses feeling in his legs. He goes to his chiropractor who immediately sends
him to the emergency room. He waits for hours next to a new mother with the
same problem. The CAT scan comes back and the doctor tells the patient his disk
is so herniated it's "juicy."
More waiting.
Some interns give him a catheter test and poke a pin around his anus. They send
him home with a prescription for Percocet and tell him to come back in five
days. He goes to his appointment with a neurosurgeon five days later. The
doctor unwinds a paper clip and asks the patient if he can tell if he's being
poked with the sharp edge or the dull edge. The patient cannot. "You have
cauda equina. You're going to need surgery right away," the surgeon says.
"Go down to the ER and we'll get you on the table within the hour."
Seven hours go by before they meet again in the operating room. All the beds in
the ER ward were full, with moaning patients littering the halls so our lower
back patient was put in the "calm room," reserved for mental
patients, because it was the only room available. The anastesia kicks in...
The patient
wakes up in the neurology unit, next to a man who has been shot seven times.
When the morphine doesn't knock him out he sees nurses scrambling to get to
more moaning patients. They dump filled urine bottles in the common toilet.
When the patient makes it to the washroom the floor is covered in piss.
The patient is
discharged after three days. He sees the surgeon twice more. Before he goes he
finds out more about cauda equina, a rare disorder in which the bulging disk
presses on the bottom of the spinal canal, which is not protected by the spinal
cord. According to Wikipedia, "cauda equina syndrome is regarded as a
medical emergency." It is supposed to be treated within 48 hours.
The first time
he finds out from the surgeon that the reason he was not operated on immediately
is because they didn't have enough beds for him and the new mother. "There
are as many neurosurgeons in the Bay area as there are in all of
To this day
that patient does not have full control over his bladder, nor does he have full
feeling in his midsection. He recently went to RateMds.com and found the
following post about his surgeon: "Very discourteous. Did not explain
reason for operation. Was not aware of recent developments in field (as
explained by other surgeons consulted). Apparently not up-to-date with modern
practice methods."
This patient is
me. I do not advocate the
Here are some
things to consider while you watch Sicko:
1) The same
people who buy fire insurance and car insurance don't purchase health
insurance. Why is that? Because they choose not to. They weigh the risk of
serious injury versus the cost of insurance and they choose to go uncovered.
2) The
3) Our friend
from Windsor, Kyle, the common-law "boyfriend" of the woman who
drives up to
4) Che Guevera's
daughter tells
Here is that article, by the way.
Richard: I finally get why you found Sicko so
objectionable, but I have to say for every gruesomely detailed story like
yours, I can provide a positive one. People get sick. It's going to happen to
all of us at some time in our lives, and the bottom line, and really the only
point Moore is trying to make in Sicko, is that in the
Should We Hand Polley a Tall Poppy?
National Post
Published: Friday, May 18,
2007
Filmmaking is a
collaborative art, so why isn't film reviewing? Each week in this space,
experts, artists and paying movie customers come together to take apart a
recent release. It's salty. It's full of hot air. It's The Popcorn Panel.
The week's panel
- Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall
- Richard Crouse, host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real,
- Joe Belanger, a
Montreal-based film critic who blogs at www.blacksheepreviews.blogspot.com
This week's subject Away
from Her
CRAIG: You know the
saying, "Don't shoot the messenger." Well, Away from Her has a
poignant message, but Sarah Polley deserves to be shot -- metaphorically
speaking, of course. I know, I know, it's a movie about Alzheimer's adapted
from an Alice Munro story and directed by that cute, little Road to Avonlea
girl. Obviously, it's bulletproof to critics. But this is some lousy
filmmaking. The angles are all wrong. The details -- the horseshoes, the hockey
game -- are all wrong. And when Polley gets a nice moment, she flubs it by
cutting away too soon. I'm thinking specifically of the dance scene set to Neil
Young's Harvest Moon. The perfect song, the perfect actors, and we get four or
five seconds of it. I remember a clip of Krzysztof Kieslowski talking about
editing a scene with Juliette Binoche in the Blue episode of his Three Colours
trilogy. In the scene, Binoche dips a sugar cube in her coffee. She is
contemplating her life. Kieslowski said the key to the scene was how long it
took for the sugar cube to dissolve. Too early, say five seconds, and it
wouldn't register that she was contemplative. Too long, 11 seconds, and the
moment would be lost because the audience would find it self-indulgent.
Kieslowki had his assistant go to the grocery store and buy different brands of
sugar cubes and find the one that dissolved in exactly seven seconds. This is
the difference between Polley, who, to be fair, is just a rookie, and a real
pro.
RICHARD:
Hey Craig, I have two questions for you. First:What the hell do Kieslowski's
sugar cubes have to do with anything? Secondly: Have you lost your mind? Away
from Her is a deeply touching movie that connects with the audience on a very
intimate level. Polley doesn't spend time counting the number of seconds it
takes for a sugar cube to dissolve; instead, she gracefully draws the viewer
into a story about a married couple torn apart by illness. In a careful and
straightforward way, she sets the scene and then lets the characters do their
work. It's a nicely controlled directorial debut that could easily have veered
into melodrama, but she avoids that pitfall and presents a story simply told
that rings true. I failed to notice the alleged "lousy filmmaking"
you mentioned because I was swept up by the beauty of the story. Polley isn't
counting the emotions of the piece in seconds; she's too busy showing us the
grand scope of a 45-year relationship in tatters.
JOSEPH: Ah, to go third
and fall right in between each of your opposing views. I did find Away from Her
to be subtle and graceful. I also found the filmmaking to be sadly flawed. What
gives Away from Her its gentle beauty are the performances of the veteran
leads. Still, I doubt Polley needed to coach actors like Julie Christie and
Gordon Pinsent that much. Where she does succeed as a director is in setting a
tone. The love that is slipping through the fingers of Fiona and Grant is fully
rich and subsequently, all the more tragic to watch disappear. Only it isn't
disappearing as much as it is changing. Polley allows their relationship to
progress at a pace that gives the viewer the chance to see that and to understand
why that change is necessary for both to find happiness. She should have spent
some more time experimenting with the proverbial sugar cubes, mind you. She
almost loses that flow on a number of occasions by awkwardly cutting back and
forth in space and time between the Alzheimer's facility and a conversation
between Grant and Marian (Olympia Dukakis). The scenes between the two fine
actors are often cut too short to fully grasp their nature and purpose and they
ultimately distract from the larger love story. The film does feel laboured and
clunky at times, but I wouldn't go so far as to shoot the director, not even
metaphorically. It is a very promising first feature. I mean, the girl's
clearly got talent.
CRAIG: Does she have
talent or does she have Atom Egoyan's art director (and, indeed, Egoyan as an
executive producer), Guy Maddin's cinematographer, Pinsent, Christie and
Dukakis for actors, Neil Young's music and a short story by Munro to work from?
I posit even someone with Alzheimer's might be able to put together a decent
picture with that much talent. I still think Away from Her has some moving
moments and that Polley deserves credit for pulling all of these elements
together. I just wish the media wouldn't fall all over themselves trying to anoint
her as the next Egoyan. It's embarrassing. Then again, maybe I'm just ready for
the second floor.
JOSEPH: Oh, Craig. When
you first wanted to shoot Polley, albeit not literally, I let my shock and awe
slide, but don't you think suggesting an Alzheimer's patient could accomplish
what Polley has to be pushing it? The fact remains that all these talents lent
their time to a new filmmaker whom they clearly must have faith in. While I
agree that naming her Egoyan's successor is a premature exaggeration, I believe
she is a still a talent, one that is fortunate enough to have solid connections
and strong influences. I had the chance to attend a Q & A session with her.
She was not nearly as morose as I expected she would be and came across as
appreciative and humble. She knows that she has advantages over other upstart
directors, but she is making every effort to ensure she doesn't squander this
chance. She struck me as an artist interested in growth through experience.
That being said, is this week's panel about Polley or her movie?
RICHARD:
Do I detect the foul odour of Tall Poppy Syndrome in the air? Born and bred
Canadian film success stories are few and far between, and in Away from Her, we
have one. Audiences are relating to it, critics are applauding it -- so why the
backlash? Healthy debate is always welcome, but this smacks of something else.
It isn't a perfect film, but the use of words like "lousy" and the
sarcastic implication that anyone could have made this movie given the right
crew contains a snarkiness the movie simply doesn't deserve. Let's take a deep
breath and enjoy the movie for what it is, a movingly made film that
sensitively deals with Alzheimer's and the tragic toll it takes on families.
Perhaps we should bask in its success instead of trying to debase it.
NATIONALPOST.COM
Unpopped kernels: Oh that
Sarah Polley
Craig Courtice, National
Post
Published: Friday, June 01,
2007
In the May 18 Popcorn
Panel I said, "Sarah Polley deserves to be shot." I also might have
said something along the lines that even an Alzheimer patient would have been
able to direct Away From Her, Polley's debut feature starring Gordon Pinsent and
Julie Christie as a couple dealing with this horrible disease. Harsh!
My fellow panelist, the
esteemed host of
Away From Her, you see, is
the critics' darling. On the Web site RottenTomatoes.com its Fresh rating is
95%, which means that percentage of film scribes recommended it.
"The movie, [Sarah]
Polley's feature dbut, is a small-scale triumph that could herald a great
career," wrote The New Yorker's David Denby. The gushing doesn't stop
there. "Certain people just have it," said no less than Sandra
Bernhard about Polley to a reporter from Fashionweekdaily. com. "You
either have it from the beginning or you never have it at all."
At the end of our
discussion I was ready to defend myself against these charges of tall-poppyism,
but I let Richard have the last word. Had we more space I would have written
about The Trailer Park Boys or even The Sweet Hereafter, examples not only of
superior filmmaking, but also films that created a buzz that translated into
bums in the seats.
But I let it pass.
The next film we did for the
panel was Waitress, another feature by a female director, Adrienne Shelley, who
tragically won't be up-and-coming because she came and went, the victim of a
brutal murder in her
Heartwarmingly, the film
climbed up the charts, holding its own against big-budget fare such as 28 Weeks
Later, even though it played on a third of the screens.
But if you looked just a
few slots down, there was Away From Her. "Probably, the
This week our panel
discussion centred around the William Friedkin-helmed Bug. I was surprised
after watching it that it did as well as it did considering it was basically an
art film. I guess it must have been folks figuring it was another Ashley Judd, hottie-in-peril
story. We shall see.
But again, a few slots
down, there was Away From Her. "Maybe, it's the new Amanda Bynes movie
with the same title," I posited. I checked. Nope. It's that damn Sarah
Polley. How can this be? Away From Her has been released on 256 screens.
Compare that to the newest
Pirates of the
To give some context to
this figure, let's take the case of The Sweet Hereafter. The film, about a
small town dealing with the death-by-bus-crash of many of its school children,
went on to garner director Atom Egoyan an Academy Award nomination for best
director. The film, which also starred Polley as a sexually abused girl, went
on to gross US$3.2-million in
To recap: set in a small
town, depressing subject matter. Yet Egoyan, the undisputed champion of our
national cinema, will soon be surpassed by his protg. And that's before Polley
receives any Oscar buzz.
The Sweet Hereafter is
probably the best comparison, but take a look also at these notable
achievements in Canadian box-office history. Denys Arcand's The Barbarian
Invasions, another Oscar-nominee (for best foreign film) made US$3.4-million.
Sunshine, the lavish film about a Hungarian family produced by Robert Lantos,
brought in US$5-million. Even those lovable louts from
"There is a
persistent, well-entrenched perception that Canadian filmmakers are somehow
genetically incapable of directing or producing crowd-pleasing, commercial
features," wrote Take One's Wyndham Wise in 1998. "Of course, a major
contributing factor to this misconception is that commercially successful
Canadian films are so damn hard to identify, cleverly disguised as they mostly
always are to appear as either American or European: the better the disguise,
the more successful the film."
All of this is a bit tough
to swallow for someone who genuinely dislikes Polley's public persona. I don't
know the lady, but I am really sick of the
Hollywood-loves-Polley-but-Polley-hates-Hollywood story our national media
keeps trotting out. Maybe, this is a symptom of tall-poppy syndrome, I don't
know. But even hating Polley hating
Check out this nugget I
read in Shinan Govani's column the other day. "In terms of the earnestness
that people perceive in me," Polley said to cbc.ca, "that's
completely my own doing. In the struggle to not create an image for myself and
just be myself, I somehow actually created a totally false image of who I am.
I've become this humourless nightmare in the press, and I am slightly bugged by
that because I find it really irritating in other people."
You're right, Richard. I
am losing my mind.
National Post
ccourtice@nationalpost.com
On Demrawkracy
National Post
Published: Friday, March
30, 2007
Filmmaking is a
collaborative art, so why isn't film reviewing? Each week in this space,
experts, artists and plain paying movie customers come together to take apart a
recent release. It's salty. It's full of hot air. It's The Popcorn Panel.
- Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall
- Matthew Pioro, Canadian
representative at the 2002 Air Guitar World Championships
- Richard Crouse,
host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real, Canada's longest running movie
review show. He appears on Best! Movies! Ever! on Star TV every
Wednesday at 8 p.m. His Web site is www.richardcrouse.ca
This week's subject: Air
Guitar Nation
Craig: The filmmaker,
Alexandra Lipsitz, managed a neat trick here: She took a subject that could
easily be a mock doc and transcended it. C-Diddy and Bjorn Turoque are complex
characters that made me wonder if irony has turned back on itself in this
mass-media age? Because when nine-to-fivers dress up in their rawkingest outfit
and wail away to their favourite guitar lick, it's no joke. I know it sounds
ridiculous, but Air Guitar Nation made me question my own smart-assedness.
Matthew: The great thing
about air guitar as it's practised at the Air Guitar World Championships and in
countries with national championships is the way that it skirts earnestness and
irony. The filmmakers did a good job of capturing this quality. Kriston Rucker,
one of the executive producers, feels that, yes, you can simply treat air
guitar as a joke, but things are much more interesting when you look at it
seriously. An air guitarist can't help but be aware of the silliness of it all,
but it's the most democratic route to feeling like a rock star. So, I'm happy
with the way air guitar was portrayed. It always gets some small mention in the
media, especially after the world championships, but the coverage is never very
deep. A Canadian doc, Air Guitar in Oulu, which followed Andrew Buckles as he
went to Finland in 2002 and tied for second, wasn't nearly as well executed as
Air Guitar Nation. Air Guitar in Oulu didn't have a fraction of the music
clearance that Air Guitar Nation did. What's air guitar without a lot of rock
'n' roll?
Richard: You can't stop the rock! You can take away the
Flying Vs, the capos and whammy bars but, as we see in this movie, you can't
take away people's desire to rawk out in front of a crowd. There's nothing
ironic or smart-assed about it; it's simply a primal urge to strut your stuff.
The excellently named Bjorn Turoque and his air guitar nemesis C-Diddy are rock
stars in the purest sense -- they are out there having a great time, playing
for large crowds, all the while unencumbered by actually having to play. It's
brilliantly post-modern. Unlike a mutual fund that will eventually mature and
start making money, these make-believe guitarists are taking full advantage of
their arrested development by indulging in airborne Yngwie Malmsteen-esque rock
'n' roll fantasies.
Craig: So we all agree Air
Guitar Nation wailed, but it occurs to me that one of the reasons it rawked is
because the two main characters were camera whores. It's not like the
interviewers had to go very deep to get these guys to open up. I am reminded of
Kurt Vonnegut's book Bluebeard, in which the author mused about the loud,
obnoxious people who danced on the tables at office parties. His theory was
that because of mass media there are fewer and fewer storytellers, so the
descendents of past storytellers have been displaced. Those who take up air
guitar and karaoke as serious hobbies are those descendents, Vonnegut would
argue. I think one of the reasons the film works is because it captures the
sadness that comes when Diddy and Turoque realize that the World Championship
of Air Guitar is as good as they're ever gonna get. This point is driven home
further with the clips of C-Diddy back as David Jung selling pooper-scoopers.
Matthew: I think it's fair
to call air guitarists storytellers. They create rock identities and perform
them on stage and in front of media; it's all part of the rock 'n' roll game.
In a sense, the air guitarists are more open and honest about the game than
Mick Jagger or Lou Reed. The real rockers manage personas that they've
maintained for so long they probably don't remember how they consciously cooled
themselves up years ago. But, Craig's comment that these air guitarists
represent the sad castoffs of a once proud storytelling tradition is to paint
all air guitarists with the same brush. For some the practice is performance
art, but for others it truly is a "tale told by an idiot, full of sound
and fury, signifying nothing." That's the beauty of air guitar: It's an
inclusive art for the high-minded and the hosers.
This calls for a Sparta Light
National Post
Friday, March 16, 2007
Quentin Tarantino has said
the sign of a good film is that it makes you want to go home, eat some pie and
talk about it. With that in mind, our Popcorn Panel features film buffs feuding
in this space each week.
THIS WEEK'S PANEL
- Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall
- Christopher Hutsul, an
artist, writer and short filmmaker who also isn't very tall. You can see his
work at www.hutsul.com
- Richard Crouse,
host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real, Canada's longest-running movie review
show. He appears on Best! Movies! Ever! on Star TV every Wednesday at 8 p.m.
His Web site is www.richardcrouse.ca
This week's pie:
Spanokopita. This week's subject 300
Craig: Listen, I'm just
going to come out right now and say this --I'm 37. I try to stay on top of pop
culture, but more and more I'm feeling like my tastes don't really mesh with
those of the masses. I tried to get stoked for this film, but then I found out
folks don't get stoked anymore, they get amped. Actually, for 10 minutes of 300
I actually wondered how they managed to pull off some of the shots. I was kinda
jealous, even -- the only historical film I got to watch in school was Gandhi.
Now they have this and Apocalypto.
But I soon realized I was
just watching a two-hour advertisement for Sparta beer, and not the witty kind
of suds ad, but the lame Labatt kind. Then I checked the box-office numbers and
the audience response numbers and I wondered -- my schooling might not have
been very cool, but at least I learned critical thinking.
Richard: I'm not sure what your expectations were for the
movie, but if all Labatt's ads looked like 300 I might actually be convinced to
drink the stuff. I didn't go to the movie expecting a history lesson or to
expand my mind. I went expecting to let my eyeballs dance, and I wasn't
disappointed. It's a fantastic-looking movie, like a neoclassical painting come
to life: visually arresting, utterly unique and brutally beautiful. It's the
film equivalent of a heavy metal concert. Like the soldiers it celebrates, it
takes no prisoners.
Chris: What comes to life
here isn't so much neoclassical painting as Frank Miller's drawings. As a
comics guy, I was stunned by how literally the comic was translated to the big
screen. The filmmakers even managed to animate colourist Lynn Varley's soupy,
coppery skies. On one hand I was impressed by the deft mimicry -- on the other,
it felt like deja vu, or the feeling you've seen these bloody, chiselled abs
before. In the comics world, people have a lot of negative stuff to say about
Miller (he can't draw, he can't write), but he once again proves himself to be
the world's foremost purveyor of awesomeness.
Craig: It's funny, I'm
reading David Mamet's Bambi vs. Godzilla right now, and in the first paragraph
of the introduction he presages films such as 300 and their ilk: "The day
of the dramatic script is ending. In its place we find a premise, upon which
the various gags may be hung. These events, once but ornaments in an actual
story, are now, fairly exclusively, the film's reason for being." I guess
that Mamet guy won a Pulitzer for a reason. I mean, even fanboys like
yourselves must admit the scene with the oracle was just a bit off putting in a
"gee, porn has finally come to the multiplex" way. And since when did
the Spartans invent Bowflex?
I'm just not sold on comic
books --er, graphic novels --making great movies, because the artists are more
interested in being cool and edgy than serving the almighty story.
Chris: I agree that 300
fell flat in those backroom politicking scenes. But in this case, I can excuse
the lack of attention to what Craig calls the almighty story. Here, the names,
symbols and imagery are borrowed from history merely to serve as a set of
parameters for which to showcase meticulous art direction and bleeding-edge
action choreography. The director was so successful in creating an alternate
universe here that he sheds any responsibility to educate his audience. 300
takes place on another planet, possibly in the distant future. It's problematic
to call this a historical movie, but it will look mighty fine in my
sci-fistash.
Richard: Mamet shouldn't be so quick to throw stones. After all, he did write The Edge. I have to take issue with Craig's notion that 300 is a premise in search of a story. Contrary to movies like Wild Hogs, which really was just a sketchy idea supported by four big stars, 300 does have a story that is about honour, loyalty, disgrace and treachery supplemented with lots of ass-kicking. It's not complicated, but it is more than just a platform for the fight scenes.
Breaking new ground, yet not entering critics' hearts
Popcorn Panel
National Post
Friday, February 23, 2007
Quentin Tarantino has said
the sign of a good film is that it makes you want to go home, eat some pie and
talk about it. With that in mind, our Popcorn Panel features film buffs feuding
in this space each week.
THIS WEEK'S PANEL
- Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall
- Chris Knight, the Post's
chief film critic and the inspiration behind the Popcorn Panel
- Richard Crouse,
host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real, Canada's longest-running movie review
show, which will host its 10th annual movie awards call-in special live from
Toronto's Drake Hotel on Saturday night from8 to 9:30 p.m. This week's pie
Stolen This week's subject Breaking and Entering
Craig: Breaking and
Entering has the intertwining storylines of Babel, the humanizing of Muslims
that was in United 93 and the mentally challenged child as in Notes on a
Scandal. It stars Vera Farmiga, the actress who played a shrink in The
Departed. And to top it off, it has a chase scene that's as good as the one in
Casino Royale. Yet, somehow this brilliant picture slipped through the cracks.
How else to explain a February release, no love from the Academy and mostly
tepid reviews?
Chris: I loved this movie,
although as a committed Anglophile I'm a sucker for anything set in London. I
thought the February release here in Canada meant the studio had given up on
Oscar dreams, but it did play in Los Angeles in December, which means it was
eligible for nominations; it just didn't get any. Rick Groen, writing in the
Globe and Mail, exemplified the critical response: He lauded the actors,
enjoyed the dialogue and thought the scenes rang true, then damned "the
stitching that binds them together" and doled out two and a half stars out
of four. Most critics seem to feel it's a touch too tidy -- the film it's most
often compared to is Crash, which isn't on Craig's list. Mind you, that had the
Academy panting, and it made a star out of its screenwriter, Canada's Paul
Haggis. But it was also set in L.A., a land Oscar voters know well.
Richard: I couldn't agree more with Mr. Groen. Breaking
and Entering is a tease, a movie that promises much but delivers relatively
little. Its multi-layered story is far too ambitious, taking on issues of
immigration in the new England, the fragility of relationships and how a
mother's love trumps all. I'd like to tell Mr. Minghella to dig his heels in,
decide which one of the stories he'd like to tell and tell it. As it stands, he
has cast the net way too wide and served up sloppy storytelling in the guise of
"important" filmmaking.
In a strong performance,
Jude Law tries to anchor the film while the various storylines swirl around him
like garbage bags in a high wind. Which is a shame because, story aside, the
individual elements -- the dialogue and acting -- work well enough, but, like
Frankenstein, when they are all stitched together the end result is less than
perfect.
Craig: Maybe I'm
miscounting, but I can only come up with two, maybe three, storylines in
B&E -- Law and his family, Law and Juliette Binoche and the son. This
hardly counts as too ambitious, especially considering Babel and The Departed
take on even more characters.
But back to Law, who
Richard rightfully singled out for praise. It was exactly two years ago when Sean
Penn defended Law as "one of our finest actors" after Oscar host
Chris Rockmade a quip about Jude Law not being Tom Cruise. It's true, Law is an
easy target with his pretty-boy looks and nanny-bonking, but it's also true
that with this film and Closer, he's probably the best leading man in the
movies right now, with Clive Owen and Daniel Craig close behind. What's with
those Brits, Chris?
Chris: You could stock 15
years' worthof James Bond sequels with Craig (the new Sean Connery), Owen (the
new Pierce Brosnan) and Law (the new Roger Moore). But Craig (our Craig, not
Daniel Craig) is right; we can hardly blame Minghella for tapping into the
zeitgeist of movies that are all about long-distance cause and effect. Remember
2005's critical darling Syriana and last year's Crash? Even the documentary
nominee An Inconvenient Truth is all about connections. I like a movie that
tries to engage me on a number of levels at once. I wonder what would have been
the result had Clint Eastwood combined Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from
Iwo Jima into one huge epic? Perhaps a bit more messy, but life's like that.
Richard: Perhaps I wasn't clear enough in my last posting.
I do like movies that try and engage me on different levels, that strive to do
something other than get from point A to point B in the most linear way
possible. What I don't like are movies that can't seem to decide what they are.
Breaking and Entering feels cobbled together to me, as though none of the
stories are well developed enough to stand on their own.
Life is messy, which is
exactly why I'd like some sense of order inmy movies. Law is the common thread
that binds together all the plot points, and he does well, but imagine his
performance if he wasn't stretched quite so much. Minghella and Law have worked
together several times -- they're becoming the British Scorsese and De Niro of
their generation -- and usually the combination of the two is interesting.
Here, to me it feels forced.
Unpopped kernels:
Unidentified Film Obliteration
We look at when a good
film that mysteriously goes unnoticed by critics and film fans alike
National Post
Friday, February 23, 2007
THIS WEEK'S PANEL
- Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall
- Chris Knight, the Post's
chief film critic and the inspiration behind the Popcorn Panel
- Richard Crouse, host of
Rogers Television's Reel to Real, Canada's longest-running movie review show,
which will host its 10th annual movie awards call-in special live from
Toronto's Drake Hotel on Saturday night from8 to 9:30 p.m. This week's pie
Stolen This week's subject Breaking and Entering
Craig: As was mentioned in
the Breaking and Entering Popcorn Panel the last three films Anthony Minghella
directed, The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain,
garnered Academy Award nominations. But his latest film has only sold
US$344,000-worth of tickets and received a dreaded release in February, usually
the time of year for fat-suit comedies and horror films. And all this despite a
cast with Jude Law, Juliette Binoche and Robin Wright Penn. This is clearly
another U.F.O — Unidentified Film Obliteration, a good film that mysteriously
goes unnoticed by critics and film fans alike. Breaking and Entering reminds me
of a 2002 U.F.O. that had many ties to Minghella. Ripley’s Game starred John
Malkovich as Tom Ripley, the titular character that Matt Damon played in 1999.
It featured an amazing cameo by Ray Winstone, who also gave a bravura
performance in Breaking and Entering. And like Minghella’s latest, Ripley’s
Game went M.I.A. despite its superior filmmaking. Roger Ebert was so impressed
with the film that he included it in his Overlooked Film Festival and wrote
that it probably would have made his top 10 list for that year, except the
Malkovich vehicle, which followed Ripley as an older, more self-assured
malefactor, did not even get a theatrical release. The fact that this
well-plotted, beautifully designed film went straight-to-DVD is a crime. What
other U.F.Os come to mind?
Chris: When it played the
Toronto International Film Festival in September, Snow Cake seemed to have
everything going for it except a decent name. Big star (Sigourney Weaver),
Cancon (Carrie-Anne Moss, Emily Hampshire), Britcon (Alan Rickman), exotic
locations (Wawa, Ont., not a place you see on film every day) and a heart.
Rickman plays a traveller on his way to Winnipeg who gets sucked into the life
of a high-functioning autistic woman (Weaver) who has just suffered a
devastating loss and can't even cope with taking out the garbage. But in spite
of packing them into theatres from Sudbury to, er, Wawa, Snow Cake never
achieved critical mass in southern Canada. More's the pity, because it's a
beautiful, quiet story of unlikely but believable friendship, funny and fresh,
perfect for watching on a winter's eve.
Richard: The Boondock
Saints is notable for two reasons. First it’s a really fun crime drama that
nobody saw when it was released and, secondly, it is witness to the kind of
career flameout by a director not seen in Hollywood since they set fire to the
office building in The Towering Inferno. The plot is fairly simple. Set in Boston,
but shot in Toronto, it’s about a pair of brothers who accidentally rub out two
Mafia wise guys. Instead of doing hard time they are heralded as hometown
heroes and the attention turns them into vigilantes who vow to make the streets
safe again. Willem Dafoe plays a conflicted cop who must track down and arrest
the brothers for murder even though they are making the city a safer place.
Dismissed at the time
as cheap Tarantino, the movie found a second life on DVD, becoming a
much-rented cult hit. On-screen bartender turned director Troy Duffy keeps
things moving along at a good clip but off-screen he allowed his ego to get in
the way, alienating pretty much everyone involved in the production. In the
ultimate Tinsel Town C.L.M. (career limiting move) he ticked off Miramax honcho
Harvey Weinstein, who allegedly buried the project upon completion. For the
whole story (and a good companion piece to Boondock Saints) check out the
documentary Overnight that chronicles Duffy’s short rise and free fall.
National Post
|
Unpopped kernels: More of
the best scenes from 2006 Published: Friday, January
05, 2007 Imagine, if you will, a
super movie, two hours with only the best of scenes. In today's argot, it would
be a visual playlist, all killer and no filler. We polled every single one
of the people who participated in the weekly back-and-forth-and-back-again
gabfest that is the Popcorn Panel, and we now present to you a compilation of
their best-of-2006 moments. As the great Stanley
Kubrick once said, no one ever complains about a movie for having too many
good, short scenes. Of course, Eyes Wide Shut did clock in at two hours and 39
minutes, so take Stanley's advice for what it's worth. In 1986, Village Voice
film critic J. Hoberman put Game 6 of the Mets-Red Sox World Series on his top
10 film list (it was No. 5). You know, Mookie Wilson, Bill Buckner, through the
legs, Mets win it all the next night … I was listening to that game on a
portable radio in a movie theatre during a screening of Blue Velvet (which,
interestingly, was No. 1 on Hoberman's list that year). Made it home in time to
see the ninth inning, though. Anyway, to honour the 20th anniversary of that
ground-breaking achievement in list-making, my favourite scene was from Game 4
of the Tigers-Athletics ALCS when Magglio Ordonez hit the ninth-inning,
walk-off, series-winning home run against Huston Street to put the Tigers in
World Series for the first time since 1984. Pure, blinding awesomeness. — Guy Spurrier, Post’s deputy sports editor,
panellist Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby At the beginning of Stranger Than Fiction Will Ferrell is a blank slate, a character so devoid of personality that he barely exists. The actor has a rough road ahead making this character compelling enough to maintain our interest. For me he doesn’t really succeed until midway through the movie when his romance with the baker starts to develop. [SPOILER ALERT] In one of my favorite scenes of the year he hesitantly plays a song on guitar for Maggie Gyllenhaal and immediately takes the character from zero to hero. With his high-pitched, tentative voice mumbling through the opening verse of "Whole Wide World," a song about long lost love, he delivers a touching performance and goes a big step toward taking power over his own life. It’s the scene where Ferrell takes control of the character and is one of the most romantic sequences in a movie since Paul Giamatti and Virginia Madsen talked about their love of wine in Sideways a couple of years back. — Richard Crouse,
host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real, panellist Miami Vice, The Black
Dahlia, The Departed, Borat, The Nativity Story, We are Marshall My favorite scene from
2006 came from last weekends box office hit Jumanji 2: Spanking The Monkey At
The Museum. In the film, Ben Stiller plays a clumsy night watchman at a museum
who becomes fast enemies with a devilish monkey named Dexter. As a key plot
point, Dexter likes to steal Ben's keys and then mock him from his cage. But,
Ben thinks he's smarter than the animal, and tries to fool him with fake
plastic keys. Hardy Har Har. In the end, Ben and Dexter
end up at each other's throats, slapping each other's faces around like the
glory days of Hulk Hogan and The Iron Sheik. It was breathtaking. Honestly, can
a primate be nominated for best supporting actor? I need an answer to this. But the absolute best part
of the film is when Dexter gets fed up with Ben's antics and decides to urinate
all over him, soiling his uniform completely. I sat there with my nine-year-old
cousin thinking to myself, "Wow, I just paid 11 bucks to see a golden
shower in a kid's film." Thank you 20th Century Fox! — Marc Griffin, professor
of film studies at Queen's University, panellist Apocalypto I just didn't see enough
movies in 2006. Quite honestly, Hollywood and I are going through a trial
separation right now and I'm completely comfortable with it. And I notice that
most of my favourite filmmakers who might otherwise be regarded as contemporary
seem to be going through a similar phase; Wes Anderson is producing more plans
and rumours than actual footage, Todd Solondz seems to have worn out his
welcome outright, and Whit Stillman is guzzling Manhattans in a deck chair
somewhere on the Mediterranean coast. (Don't even get me started on Tarantino.)
There was simply no movie released in 2006 that seemed to hold out the hope of
being as enjoyable and engaging as the Viking funeral of Arrested Development,
the up-to-the-minute lowbrow social critiques of South Park or the
giddy-yet-incisive sub-Sherlockian pleasures of Monk or House, M.D. If there were exceptions
they might have been Borat and Jackass Number Two — i.e. TV shows blown up on
to the movie screen. Actually, if I had to pick one scene, it would probably be
the fat guy-midget bungee jump from Jackass. It's about 10 seconds long, but it
contains a complete, concentrated, irrefutable critique of 20 years of
aggressive intrusion into filmmaking by computers. You still can't beat real physics. — Colby Cosh, an Edmonton
freelance writer and host of colbycosh.com, panellist Block Party, A Prairie
Home Companion While I'm sure the Eberts
of the world would turn up their nose at this one, the movie scene I loved best
is from Will Farrrell's Talladega Nights: The Battle of Ricky Bobby. It's the
scene where all-American Ricky Bobby first meets rival racecar driver Jean
Girard, the gay Frenchman played by Sacha Baron-Cohen of Borat fame. The
pretentious Girard, who reads Camus and sips macchiatos while racing a stock
car sponsored by Perrier, exchanges words with Bobby and tries to kiss him.
When macho Bobby takes a swing at the effete Frenchmen, Girard suddenly locks
him in an arm bar, threatening to break the arm if Bobby won't say he enjoys crepes.
Despite the intense pain, Bobby won't concede even as his friends plead with
him, saying it's a good compromise. "They're just like little
pancakes," says Bobby's pals. Still, Bobby won't say it and Girard indeed
snaps the arm, which breaks as cleanly as a busted GI Joe. Heath McCoy, author Pain
and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling (CanWest Books, $26.95),
panellist Nacho Libre I liked the opening shot
of The Queen; you think, “Am I looking at her portrait?” and then the
“portrait” turns and looks back at you. Creepiest non-horror-movie moment of
the year! Also, Clive Owens’ cameo
as James Bond in The Pink Panther. Almost made the movie worthwhile. And speaking of James
Bond, the scene in Casino Royale in which Bond’s prey makes a graceful leap
through a window, and Bond just comes crashing through the wall instead. Ian
Fleming once called him “a blunt instrument,” and I’ve never seen a metaphor
realized so well. I also liked the climax of
The Pursuit of Happyness. I won’t say what it is, but Will Smith is on the
screen and I’m in the audience and we’re both thinking, “Must...not...cry.” Finally, a scene in Crank
in which a man is speaking Japanese, with English subtitles. In one shot, the
camera cuts to the man’s point of view, and the reverse subtitles hanging in
front of him, just as he would see them. — Chris Knight, the
National Post's chief film critic and the creative power behind the Popcorn
Panel, panellist Stranger Than Fiction, World Trade Center, The Lady in the
Water, Brokeback Mountain, Firewall, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, V
for Vendetta, Thank You for Smoking, ATL, The Chronicles of Narnia, United 93,
Pirates of the Caribbean My favourite scene is the
Parcours chase sequence through the Madagascar construction site in Casino
Royale. The athletic showmanship, tension and unbelievable choreography were
absolutely fantastic. But apart from the obvious demonstration of gymnastic
agility, which elicited gasps from the audience, it powerfully punctuated
Daniel Craig's debut — literally -crashing through drywall, boldly announcing
that there is a new Bond in town ... and that this one is unstoppable. — Julie Eng, a Toronto
"magicienne" (www.magicienne.com <http://www.magicienne.com/>
), panellist The Illusionist A plane crash kills the
Marshall football team: coaches, boosters, and players — all gone. How do you
show the unfathomable grief that overtook the town of Huntington, W.Va. in the
days after that event? While director McG’s style is usually over-the-top (eg. Charlie’s
Angels), he pulls off one of the truly affecting scenes of the year in We are
Marshall. A funeral procession drives down a country road. Pretty cliché,
right? But then the procession stops. Why is it stopping? For another funeral
procession to pass. Great filmmaking is sometimes in what you don’t show. Just
read Richard Crouse’s scene (below). — Craig Courtice, a short filmmaker who isn’t
very tall, chief Popcorn Panellist There’s a great moment in The Departed where psycho gangster Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) tries to discover which of his crew has been feeding the police inside information about his operation. I say it is a great scene, but what I should say is that I imagine it is a great scene. It’s probably pure Scorsese, filled with tension, violence and even a little bit of sadism. I say imagine because we never actually see the scene. What we do see is a brief exchange between Billy Costigan (Leonardo Di Caprio) and Costello that is all of three lines long. Di Caprio shows up to get his assignment for the day at Costello’s hangout. Costello comes out of a back room, sleeves rolled up, covered in blood with an grim clown smile plastered on his face, and tells Leo DiCaprio to take the day off because he’s trying out a new crew. We don’t see as much as a bitch slap or a kneecapping, but we can imagine the grim goings on in the back room and that is worse than anything Scorsese could have shown us. When Nicholson points to the back with his dripping red hand and tells the bartender to “get a mop” our curiosity is peaked. Nicholson covered in blood is startling, but leaving out why he is covered in gore is memorable. —
Crouse again
Compiled by Craig Courtice Unpopped kernels: Sibling
storytellers Pang brothers latest in a
line of siblings who do movies National Post Friday, February 09, 2007 This week's panel for
Unpopped Kernels - Richard Crouse, host of
Rogers Television's Reel to Real, Canada's longest-running movie review show,
and the author of The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen (ECWPress, 2003). His
Web site is www.richardcrouse.ca Al Burzotta, clerk at
Suspect Video (www.suspectvideo.com), "Toronto's hippest depot of higher
culture" Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall This week's pie Sunflower This week's subject The
Messengers Richard: Filmmaking brothers are enough of a rarity, let
alone twin filmmaking brothers. For seven years the Polish Brothers, Michael
and Mark, have been making interesting, if little seen, art house movies that
do well at festivals but not in general release. Their movies are lovely to
look at, they have a real knack for composition that sometimes overwhelms their
stories, but what are movies if not eye candy? I remember reading an interview
with them a few years ago on the release of their film Northfork, described by
Roger Ebert as “visionary and elegiac,” in which they said they chose to jam
pack that movie with all the art house magic they could because “when we sell
out, and we will sell out” they wouldn’t be able to get away with such noncommercial
concerns. They have a new movie due out this month called The Astronaut
Farmer starring Billy Bob Thornton. This would be their sell-out film, except
that it’s not a sell out, it’s an inspiring film that blends their beautiful
filmmaking sensibilities with an inspiring story and a healthy dose of
subversive content. Al: Larry and Andy
Wachowski, what has fame done to the directing duo from Chicago who gave us
back the science fiction movie after James Cameron refused to let sleeping
ships lie? Well in Larry's case it caused him to leave his high school
sweetheart, marry a dominatrix (who is now a doctor I think) and begin
appearing in public as a woman named Lara Wachowski. Who needs an imaginary
computer world with no boundaries when you have Hollywood? Larry's bizarre
behaviour aside, I fear the team that brings such unabashed adolescent glee to
their projects (dueling assassins, lesbian kidnappers) may be travelling down
the same road as fellow sci-fi eccentric, George "Don't worry, we'll blue
screen it later" Lucas. The Wachowskis followed
the Matrix movies with an adaptation of their favourite graphic novel, V for
Vendetta, penned by profusely bearded and notoriously cranky author Alan Moore.
They wrote and produced the picture only to slide the directing chair over to
second unit special effects guy James McTeigue. The result was a swirling
shitstorm of bad press prior to the film’s release involving Moore
disassociating himself with not only the movie but also with heavyweight
distributor DC Comics. Vendetta was a huge hit, but the brothers lost a little
of their comic book nerd credibility in the process. Now the two of them have
gotten the green light to write and direct Speed Racer, a project that has had
more big names attached to it over the years than Heidi Fleiss’s little black
book. The word is that the picture almost fell through again, but Vince Vaughan
stepped onboard and is keeping the whole thing afloat. A Wachowski brothers
picture that needs Vince Vaughn to hang on to it? Smells like trouble in Zion. Craig: Excellent call on
the Polish brothers. I love, love, loved Northfork, not only for its unique
vision, but because the brothers realized their vision for under US$2-million.
They even enlisted their carpenter father to construct the elaborate sets (including
an ark). Of course, the Coen Brothers would probably have topped all of our
lists before they went into their remake phase (O Brother, Where Art Thou, The
Ladykillers, Intolerable Cruelty). But I’d like to pay homage
to a different set of filmmaking brothers — the Kaufman brothers. Sure, we’re
all aware of the post-modern screenplays of Charlie, but for all the success of
Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotted Mind, neither of those
films was as lauded, at least by the Academy, as Adaptation. In 2003, that
film, which starred Nicolas Cage as a screenwriter trying to adapt a magazine
article about orchids, garnered a nomination for best adapted screenplay. The
names attached to that nomination were Charlie and Donald Kaufman. Donald was
unable to attend the Oscars that year, or any other year for that matter.
That’s because Donald is not Charlie’s real brother. He’s not even a real
person. This story to me is the essence of why brothers, real or imagined, seem
to have so much success at filmmaking. Ecstatic fans greet Bollywood stars in T.O. Fri. Jan. 12 2007 CTV.ca News Staff Two of India's biggest
actors, including a star Julia Roberts once called the most beautiful woman in
the world, drew thousands to a film premiere Thursday -- in Toronto. Some fans paid $500 for
tickets to the gala screening of "Guru," in a rare film event for
Canada's South Asian community. Police estimated 1,200
fans were lined up outside the historic Elgin Theatre, some waiting up to six
hours just to catch a glimpse of the film's stars: Abishek Bachchan and
Aishwarya Rai. "She is so
beautiful!" one fan said of Rai, who also models for L'Oreal cosmetics. Bachchan and Rai are a
couple both on and off the screen. Many had speculated that the couple would
announce their engagement at the premiere. But Bachchan told Canada AM that he
would rather fans not focus so much on his and Rai's private life. "I gladly share my
work with everyone so I've never really understood the excitement and why
people have been so inquisitive to know what I'm doing in my private life. When
there is something to be told, I'm sure that we will definitely say something. "But as of right now,
we're very busy working, we've done our work, we're here in Toronto, we're
enjoying the moment, we love being here. It's been a fantastic reception. We
would much rather focus on that." The producers of
"Guru" picked Toronto for the screening after another Bollywood film,
"Never Say Goodbye," attracted massive crowds at the Toronto
International Film Festival. "Bollywood films do
play here, but this is an even bigger deal because this is a world
premiere," says film critic Richard Crouse. Mayor David Miller said
the screening shows that Bollywood is increasingly looking at the North
American market, especially multicultural cities like Toronto. Last year, Bollywood films
earned an estimated $40 million in Canada. "To have the premiere
of this film is terrific, shows respect for the South Asian community here, and
honours Toronto's stature in the film world," he told CTV News. "Guru" is based
on the real story of a young man, who rose from his poverty in the 1950s to
become one of India's leading textile merchants. In the film version, the
character takes unethical steps to achieve his success. Based loosely on the story
of Dhirubhai Ambani, one of India's leading industrialists, the producers say
it's also a story about anyone Indian who started from scratch and succeeded. Like all Bollywood films,
it has plenty of humour, singing and dancing. "We have a lot of
songs much that's because our culture is very musical," Bachchan says.
"I think a unique aspect which might be more different to the Hollywood
films is that we have a lot of song and dance, a lot of pomp and pageantry, always
poetic justice. And we do it at a hundredth the price that they do it in
Hollywood." Timing
is everything in intricate Oscar derbyTue. Jan. 23 2007 Angela Mulholland, CTV.ca
News What's in a movie's buzz
factor? In the race for the Oscars, it's everything. No other recent movie
proves this more than Brokeback Mountain. A critical darling,
Brokeback seemed unstoppable. It earned glowing review after glowing review. It
won award after award. And then Jack Nicholson got up on stage at the Academy
Awards and read those famous words: "And the Oscar goes to..." Crash. How did it happen? How
could a film that seemed to have a sure lock on Best Picture collapse at the
finish line? The answer may lie in the delicate game of "buzz". Building Oscar buzz is a
complicated strategy of marketing, lobbying, and sometimes just plain good
luck. Studios try to push the odds in their favour by offering media outlets
preview screenings and press junkets in posh hotel rooms. They then take the
glowing quotes from entertainment reporters and fill the daily newspapers with
ads. At the end of the year,
the studios send out "For Your Consideration" DVD screeners of their
likely candidates for nominations. They put their stars on the red carpet at
premieres and have them make strategic public appearances to keep their names
on people's lips. They place ads in the
trade papers and of course, a well-timed star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for
the film's lead never hurts either. But perhaps the most
important factor of all is timing. Delicate timing. Have your buzz peak too
late and you won't generate enough hype in time for the Oscar balloting. Peak
too early, and your film's momentum peters out too early. This is what is thought to
have happened last year with Brokeback Mountain. Though critics gobbled up the
film, by the time the Oscar ballots were mailed out, Academy members seemed to
have had their fill of that "gay cowboy flick." "Brokeback Mountain
was absolutely a victim of 'hype overload'," says film critic Richard
Crouse. "It seemed like such
a lock for Best Picture that I think Academy voters got tired of hearing about
it and voted for the alternative -- which, to my mind wasn't nearly as good a
movie." Not all moviegoers would
agree, but one thing is certain: Crash defied the Oscar odds makers twice - by
pulling off a victory at all; and by winning despite being released long before
"awards season". The oft-mentioned awards
season begins, in many people's minds, at the Toronto International Film
Festival in September. Dozens of movies, from Chariots of Fire to Capote made
their North American debut at the TIFF and went on to become Oscar winners. Distributors hope if a
film develops buzz at the TIFF, it can be released shortly after, ride a wave
of momentum through the fall into the Christmas season and be showered with
gold come Oscar time. It's a strategy that has
worked fairly consistently for years - until Brokeback Mountain. But it's such
a popular strategy that now studios flood the market with
"important", Oscar-worthy films every December. And if you send out
your "Oscar bait" films in the middle of it, you risk it getting lost
in the deluge. That's why distributors
sometimes try to defy the release date convention. Thinkfilm CEO Jeff Sackman
says they deliberately released their Oscar hopeful Half Nelson in August to
avoid the awards season rush. "We knew ahead of
time that a lot of the films coming out in the fall were powerhouse, indie-type
movies and we didn't want to go head-to-head with those," referring to
films such as Babel and The Last King of Scotland. Sackman says it was a risk
to place Half Nelson in theatres at an unconventional time, but that was
weighed against his company's belief that they had a quality film that could
carry its own. But any film released
early in the year assumes the risk that Academy members may forget about it
come voting time. Some say that is what has happened to Flags of Our Fathers,
which arrived in theatres in October, garnered only modest box office revenues
and seemed to fade out of sight. Crouse worries that United
93, released in April, could be similarly overlooked. "It didn't earn a
single Golden Globe nomination, although it would seem that a Best Director for
a Drama would have been a natural fit," he said before the nominations
were announced. "If the awards had
been announced in March, this movie would have been at the top of the list. But
as the year went on, and people's memories faded, United 93 got lost in the
shuffle." It would appear Crouse was
right; the film was snubbed by the Academy and didn't earn a nomination in any
of the key categories. Sackman says in the end,
release date strategy is all a gamble. But he admits that release date timing
is hardly an exact science. "It just goes back to
the old adage, 'No one knows anything'," he says half-jokingly. "Every year is
different, every situation is different. You're applying your experience and
knowledge and purported expertise to come up with the best decision. And in the
end, the final result tells you if you made the right decision." 'Dreamgirls'
leads Oscar nominationsTue. Jan. 23 2007CTV.ca News StaffThe musical
"Dreamgirls" was unexpectedly shut out for Best Picture when the
Academy Award nominations were announced Tuesday morning, but came away with a
leading eight nominations. The multinational drama
"Babel" was close behind with seven nominations, including Best
Picture and Best Supporting Actress honours for relative newcomers Adriana
Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi. The other films selected
to face off for Best Picture were "The Departed," "Letters from
Iwo Jima," "Little Miss Sunshine," and "The Queen." Four Canadians scored key
nominations: Ryan Gosling for his lead acting role in "Half Nelson,"
Paul Haggis for screenwriting on "Letters From Iwo Jima" and Deepa
Mehta for her foreign film submission, "Water." "The Danish
Poet," co-produced by the National Film Board, was nominated for best
animated short film. The other nominees for
best actor were: Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond,'' Peter O'Toole for
"Venus,'' Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness,'' and Forest
Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland.'' Film critic Richard Horgan
told CTV's Canada AM from California that he's stunned that
"Dreamgirls", which launched a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign
ahead of the nominations, wasn't a choice for Best Picture. "Down here in
Hollywood, I can tell you that the chatter for months among certain pundits has
been that Dreamgirls was going to get 10 nominations or get the Best Picture.
So that is a big surprise." The musical, based loosely
on the story of the Motown group The Supremes, also garnered a Best Supporting
Actress for American Idol runner-up Jennifer Hudson, and a Best Supporting
Actor nod for Eddie Murphy. Three more of its nominations came in a single
category -- for original song. Horgan was pleased to see
that "Little Miss Sunshine," which debuted last January at the
Sundance Film Festival, was able to maintain enough momentum to snag a few
Oscar nods, including Best Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin and Best Supporting
Actress for child actor Abigail Breslin. "It's a triumph for a
film that was purchased this time last year for about $12 million and is now
the most successful Sundance film," he said. Canada AM film critic
Richard Crouse added it was particularly noteworthy because the film is a
comedy. "Comedies don't
traditionally do particularly well at the Academy Awards," Crouse said.
"Six months ago, everyone was talking about the dark horse, this is going
to be the dark horse. Here it is." Martin Scorcese earned his
seventh Oscar nomination, this time for "The Departed." He'll be competing against
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for "Babel'', Stephen Frears for "The
Queen'', Paul Greengrass for "United 93'' and -- most notably -- Clint
Eastwood for "Letters From Iwo Jima.'' Scorsese, who has never
won an Academy Award, could stand a chance this year, CTV's etalk gossip
blogger Elaine (Lainey) Liu said. But it's up to Eastwood. "If Clint Eastwood is
willing to step aside and give Martin his due, then he will win this
year," Liu said. Eastwood took the Oscar
for Best Director in 2005 for "Million Dollar Baby" over Scorsese's
"The Aviator." Meryl Streep padded out
her record as the most-nominated actor ever, earning a Best Actress nomination
for her role as the boss from hell in "The Devil Wears Prada." It was
the two-time winner's 14th nomination. Joining Streep as Best
Actress nominees were Penelope Cruz in "Volver'', Judi Dench in
"Notes on a Scandal'', Kate Winslet in "Little Children'' and Helen
Mirren in "The Queen." Winners of the 79th annual
Academy Awards will be announced Feb. 25 in Los Angeles, live on CTV. The Pangs of Regret National Post Friday, February 09, 2007 Quentin Tarantino has said
the sign of a good film is that it makes you want to go home, eat some pie and
talk about it. With that in mind, our Popcorn Panel features film buffs feuding
in this space each week. This week's panel - Richard Crouse,
host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real, Canada's longest-running movie review
show, and the author of The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen (ECWPress, 2003).
His Web site is www.richardcrouse.ca - Al Burzotta, clerk at
Suspect Video (www.suspectvideo.com), "Toronto's hippest depot of higher
culture" - Craig Courtice, a short
filmmaker who isn't very tall This week's pie Sunflower.
This week's subject The Messengers. Richard: Horror fans don't mind a bit of repetition in
their stories, just as long as there is some new twist to keep things
interesting. What is The Thing other than an amped-up version of The Blob? And
28 Days Later is basically Night of the Living Dead with a European twist. Alfred
Hitchcock said, "Self-plagiarism is style," openly admitting to
recycling the best gotcha moments of his films. Which brings me to The
Messengers, the new Pang Brothers movie that pilfers ideas from so many places
we don't have room to list them all. Think The Amityville Horror, The Grudge,
The Birds, The Shining and The Sixth Sense to name just a few. Trouble is it's
not anywhere near as bloodcurdling as the movies it filches from. It seems the
Pang Brothers re-hashed the ideas from those other, and much better films, but
forgot to add in the scary bits. My question, then, is: Is The Messengers a
horror movie or just horrifyingly bad? Al: Definitely the latter, Richard. The Messengers is
an astonishingly pedestrian horror outing that felt like nothing more than a
cheapo X-Files episode padded out to reach the 90-minute minimum for a feature.
Where has the American horror movie gone? Will this genre ever rise from its
dark pit of mediocrity after being pushed there by half-assed remakes of
overrated Asian films like The Ring, Pulse and The Grudge? When did the
standard for scary become grey-skinned children with black eyes who jerk around
the screen like Elaine dancing in that Seinfeld episode? I miss the good old
days of horror when, if a movie wasn't scary, it at least had enough nudity,
gore and swearing to keep me interested. Has Hollywood become this afraid of an
R rating? Craig: I don't know why you guys are being so hard on
this one. I mean it's just a couple of kids discovering fish-eye lenses and how
to use a dolly. These Pang Brothers are just kids, right? I see it says on IMDB
that they were born in 1965 ... what!? And that The Messengers took in almost
US$15-million at the box office last weekend. What, what!? This all makes me
kind of wish we would have done that atrocious-looking Diane Keaton movie for
the Panel. Damn, it's cold outside right now --poor fella could wander in off
the street and into a theatre just to get some thaw on his toes. At least Lady
in the Water was released in the summer, so if you didn't like it you could go
grab a beer on a patio somewhere. Richard: I would have preferred a brewski on a patio, even
if it was -28C with the wind chill. I kept searching for some redeeming factor,
anything to keep me in the theatre. The performances aren't good -- you can
almost see Dylan McDermott reaching for his paycheque in some scenes -- the
direction borrows heavily from better movies and even the soundtrack by
Christopher Young sounds familiar. They always say that nobody sets out to make
a bad movie, but in this case it is all so perfunctory that it seems like
everyone involved gave up. Al: I walked out of the theatre half expecting to see
Ashton Kutcher leap from behind a garbage can with a bunch of cameras yelling
"That wasn't a real movie. You've been punk'd!" The Pang Brothers
deserve no pardon for their actions either. As relatively new artists in the
plodding crap machine that is Hollywood, they have an obligation to at least
try and show us something we haven't seen before. Isn't that the purpose of
importing talent? Craig: In one weekend a movie as bad as The Messengers
outsold what The Last King of Scotland made in its entire release. Now Idi Amin
-- that guy was a horror show. But as long as teenagers still get allowance
they will spend their money on things the rest of us long ceased understanding.
I think even if all horror movies were smart and scary there would still be a
market for banal gore. The kids just don't want to watch what the rest of us
want to watch. When The Messengers 2 comes out I'll just have to remember to
get my cousins to review it. Sounds familiar, coachNational Post Friday, January 05, 2007 Quentin Tarantino has said
the sign of a good film is that it makes you want to go home, eat some pie and
talk about it. With that in mind, our Popcorn Panel features film buffs feuding
in this space each week. THIS WEEK'S PANEL - Craig Courtice, maker of
Rider Pride (www.riderpride.com), a short film about a Saskatchewan Roughriders
fan starring Brent Butt - Richard Crouse,
host of Rogers Television's Reel to Real, Canada's longest running movie
review show and the author of The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen (ECWPress,
2003). His Web site is www.richardcrouse.ca. - John Williams, Toronto
Argonauts running back. The only son (2004 Argos) to join his father (1972
Ti-Cats) as a Grey Cup winner This week's pie Sugar Bowl This week's subject We
Are Marshall Craig For U.S. college
football fans, the real holidays start on New Year's Day. But for the casual
observer it's tough to keep all the bowls -- Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Orange, Gator
-- straight. Just the other night I almost missed what is being called the
greatest bowl game ever played, the Fiesta Bowl, because I had no idea who
Boise State was. We Are Marshall has
disappointed at the box office and critics have mostly dismissed it as yet
another cliche-filled football movie. But I wonder if Marshall isn't the Boise
State of holiday films – under-appreciated because of an overload of pigskin
pictures. Just this year, we've had Invincible, Gridiron Gang and
Facing the Giants, not to mention Friday Night Lights and Two-a-Days
on television. I can understand how
Matthew McConaughey's character felt when he couldn't identify his own players
until they had their names taped on to their helmets. Richard: I understand how he felt, too. I get a feeling of
deja vu every time I see an inspirational coach movie. They are all so similar
I'm sure the working title for each of them was Generic Sports Movie. Blame Rocky
for this. The come from- behind-to-win-or-almost-win-the-big-game was used very
effectively in the first (and most recent) Rocky movies, but filmmakers
have been using it ever since. That's 30 years of inspirational coaches and
underdog players. The sports and the faces change, it's just the story that
remains the same. We Are Marshall's hook is a tragic plane crash that kills a team,
and Matthew Mc- Conaughey's strange performance as the coach who must rebuild
the program. He's still an inspirational coach, but at least he's a weird
inspirational coach. That's not much, but it's enough of a departure from the
sports movie norm to make this one a little less odious than the rest. John: I know we view many
of today's sports movies with a skeptical eye. We often forget that we are
watching movie make-believe and tend to treat what we are viewing as genuine
game film. "He couldn't have made that catch!" "They would have
never called that play!" "I can't believe they wouldn't just kick the
field goal!" We Are Marshall is less concerned with the on-field action
and centres more around how a tight-knit family deals with grief in the wake of
a disaster. Craig: Marshall definitely
gets the football right. My problem with the movie is when it gets away from
the team. The cheerleader. The father. The school president. All of these are
compelling stories, but the movie suffers by not focusing on one perspective. The movie's big lesson,
however, is that sometimes you can't judge things by their win-loss record. The
story of Marshall University needed to be told, and if the folks from
Huntington, W. Va., found any solace in the making of this film then I'm
willing to overlook a few minor story flaws. If the Boise State victory
taught me one thing it's that real sports are sometimes more unbelievable than
any screenwriter could concoct. Richard: Let's face it, sports movies have a limited
number of options in terms of how they can end -- someone's got to win,
someone's got to lose -- and it is that very premise that makes them seem so
predictable to me. Of course we want the underdog to win. It's human nature,
but films like We Are Marshall, Glory Road and their ilk confuse
that human nature with telling a compelling story. In real life, I love the
idea of the little guy winning, but in this spate of recent sports movies I
don't find it particularly inspiring, just predictable. John: There does seem to have been an overwhelming number of sports movies released last year. While all of these movies promised electrifying game "footage," they all fell short of the end zone! (What do you want? I'm a football player!) As an athlete, what caught my attention about Marshall was how well the filmmakers conveyed just how powerful and healing the idea of playing a sport can be. |
Unpopped kernels: The Nativity Story
Craig Courtice
National Post
Friday, December 08, 2006
Sometimes the Popcorn
Panel makes for strange bedfellows. This week’s film was The Nativity Story so
we thought it might be cute to ask our participants to reminisce about their
favourite holiday movies. At least one
of them was merry.
Christa Oancia is a mom of
five who teaches religion at a Calgary school. “My top Christmas-approved
flicks include something old, something new and something goofy that are OK for
my kids, too, she says.” Her first choice: It's a Wonderful Life. “I still cry
every time.”
Then there is Richard
Crouse, the author of The 100 Best Movies You’ve Never Seen (ECW Press, 2003)
and host of Reel to Real on Roger’s Television. “Badder Santa is the unhinged
director's cut of the rude and crude drunken Santa movie starring Billy Bob Thornton,”
he says of his first selection. “Who couldn't love a movie with a Santa sex
scene and the line, "F**k me Santa! F**k me!" It puts the X in Xmas.”
We can think of at least
one family who might not love it, perhaps one with a mother whose second Christmas
classic is the 1947 tearjerker Miracle on 34th Street. “OK, I cry with this
one, too,” says Oancia.
Even Crouse must be
touched by such sentiment, no? Judging by his next choice…probably not. “I know
Black Christmas is not exactly a Christmas flick, but it takes a lot of eggnog
to get the image of director Bob Clark's cross cutting between a gruesome
killing and a choral arrangement of holiday music out of your head.” A nice
gift for the horror fan on your list, 1974’s Black Christmas stars Margot
Kidder (scary, indeed) and Andrea Martin. Not to mention, it’s Canadian.
“This one scares the HELL
out of me,” says Oancia of her next selection. See, Crouse’s brand of Christmas
cheer seems to be winning her over. Of
course, she is talking about A Christmas Carol, a different kind of horror film
to be sure, but still frightening.
Finally, we have some
crossover on these lists — almost. “Scrooged was trashed by critics when it
came out as a soulless and unnecessary update on the classic A Christmas Carol,”
Crouse says. “In some ways the critics were right, but the movie has improved
with age. No Christmas movie is complete without a Jamie Farr cameo!”
The only writers with more
longevity than Dickens might be the gospels upon which The Nativity Story is
based on. While our panel disagreed about Catherine Hardwicke’s current entry
in the holiday genre, Oancia is taking her brood to the multiplex to see it.
“It’s destined to make our annual Christmas collection.”
Which leaves us with Mr.
Crouse’s finale. Will it be A Christmas Story, the 1983 classic with Peter
Billingsley as Ralphie, the boy who pines for Red Ryder BB gun? Or perhaps The
Grinch who Stole Christmas, a darker tale to be sure, but one with an uplifting
Seussian ending? Come on, Richard, tell us your heart has grown two sizes after
doing this panel.
“Christmas Evil is the
best of the Santa as serial killer movies,” he says. “Before you ask, there are
quite a few of them. It's a story about a man who just wants to do good, and
when he isn't allowed he goes on a murderous rampage. It’s ho ho horrible.”
Merry Christmas to all,
and all a good fright.
The whole week boils down to a tale of the tape
By Johanna Schneller
Globe and Mail
Wednesday, September 13,
2006
Damn that Christopher
Guest. Ever since I saw his new ensemble comedy For Your Consideration
on Sunday morning, I have been unable to extricate my life at the Toronto
International Film Festival from his all-too-accurate send-up of the Hollywood
buzz machine.
The screening ended at 11
a.m. At 11:15, when I sat down to do an interview for a different film, my
mouth kept opening and closing like a fish’s, because I couldn’t think of a
single question that didn’t sound as ridiculous as the ones in the movie. I’m
sure the huge cast—Guest, co-writer Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Harry
Shearer, Michael McKean, Parker Posey, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Coolidge, Fred
Willard and Bob Balaban, who have all worked together in Guest’s films Waiting
for Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind—must have felt
exactly the same at their press conference, where reporters lobbed questions
both banal and utterly odd.
The highlight of these was
asked by a woman from Italy: “Why are actors so alone, so deluded, so lacking
in self-esteem?”
“You’d have to ask a
doctor,” answered Guest, deadpan.
Now, everything I see and
hear feels like a scene from For Your Consideration. Richard Crouse,
a host of the cable show Reel to Real, told me that TV crews working the
red carpet at Roy Thompson Hall have lackeys tap the microphones of rival
reporters, thus ruining the sound for anyone trying to cop a quote off their
camera time. Guest could have used that.
He could also have used
the interview Brian Johnson did for Maclean’s magazine with the
screen-writer Paul Haggis, who wrote and directed the Oscar-winning Crash,
to promote his new film The Last Kiss. When Johnson arrived at his
appointed time, a publicist greeted him with this urgent, Guest-esque line, “We
have a situation here.” Turns out Haggis lost his voice in all the junketing.
So he and Johnson conducted the interview in a conspiratorial whisper. “I want
to do every interview that way now,” Johnson told me at Monday’s
Alliance-Atlantis press dinner. “Everything sounds so important.”
Guest would also have
appreciated the sweet-but-strange moment at the One X One charity gala on
Sunday night when Wyclef Jean, on stage with the African Children’ Choir, got
the richest stiffs in Toronto to wave their dirty dinner napkins in the air
while he sang a vibey song about poverty. And I’m sure that Guest would have
loved the woman I saw in the bathroom as the gala limped past 11 p.m., reaching
into her plunging V-neck to apply fresh double-sided tape to her breasts. “You
know it’s a long night when your tape wears out,” she said, completely earnest.
At the Stranger Than
Fiction party at the Hugo Boss showroom, one corner was decorated like the
bakery in the film, with tables spilling over with gorgeous, flower-bedecked
cupcakes (tiny ones for dieters and big ones for me). But then I noticed a sign
calling it The Anarchist Bakery—the baker, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, refuses
to pay her taxes—and couldn’t help but think of The Anarchist’s Cookbook,
which includes recipes for bombs.
Later, chatting with
publicists about why some darker films such as The World Trade Center
don’t have after-parties, we all confessed that we could easily picture the
ultra-bad-taste party they could have had, decorated with rubble, scattered
paper and those eerily beautiful arches that remained upright while the smoke
machines blew. But that scene would be too black, even for Guest.
For Your Consideration is about how a bare hint of buzz infects actors
making a melodrama called Home for Purim with wholly inappropriate Oscar fever.
How wholly appropriate that it made it’s debut at TIFF, widely know as the
festival where Oscar contenders are born. Unfortunately, this seems to be the
year where movies that came in with Oscar hopes are dying like flies.
Every critic I’ve spoken
to shakes his or her head sadly at the mention of All the King’s Men, a
handsome-looking corpse that feels like its guts where ripped out in the
editing room.
No one likes Ridley Scott
and Russell Crowe’s frantically unfunny A Good Year or Anthony
Minghella’s cumbersome Breaking and Entering, despite its gorgeous cast:
Jude Law, Juliette Binoche and Robin Wright Penn. Bonneville, a road comedy
starring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen, is unbearably twinkly, and
people are scrating their heads over The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky’s
trippy love story (although I quite like it).
There is, however, great
buzz on Penelope Cruz in Volver (place your Oscra bets on her for best
actress, you heard it here first), and on the films Pan’s Labyrinth, a
fantastical take on post-civil-war Spain from director Guillermo del Toro, and Catch
a Fire, director Phillip Noyce’s apartheid drama starring Derek Luke and
Tim Robbins (who came to the Away From Her gala to support Sarah Polley
with whom he starred in The Secret Life of Words).
See what I mean? We’re
already buzzing about February’s Oscars on Sept. 13. We can’t help ourselves.
“If there were any sanity
in the world, the whole festival would have shut down after the For Your
Consideration screening,” Geoff Pevere, the Toronto Star movie
writer told me. “We would have admitted our ridiculousness and gone home. But
no, the whole thing clips along.” Bouncing, buzzing, deluded, delicious.
Pevere said more
fascinating things, but neither of us can remember what they were. It’s a long
week, and our mental tape is wearing out.
R & R do PDA for S-YL
Is Sook-Yin's racy new flick Shortbus the ultimate date movie? The sight of a certain celebrity couple canoodling at a Toronto screening indicates yes!
How hot is the movie Shortbus? Not anywhere as hot as the two familiar faces that turned out for a screening in Toronto last Friday!
At the unspooling we speak of -- held at the Cumberland in Yorkville -- some of the cinemagoers couldn't help but notice an obviously affectionate woman sitting on the lap of her scruffy 21st-century prince. In fact, even Sook-Yin Lee and Richard Crouse noticed them! (She, who stars in the much-discussed Shortbus and is as famous as famous gets in Toronto, was there to introduce the movie. He, a professional movie-watcher who was there to introduce her!)
"They started their Q&A after the movie," a mole reveals, "by making a joke about how the movie seemed to be having the right effect on the young couple!"
People chuckled; they moved on; the marquee twosome sank ever-deeper into their seats. But then the story took a sitcomish turn when the lovebirds went over afterwards to talk to Sook-Yin ... and it turned out that it was Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams!
The same two canny Canadians, who took a page out of The Notebook, and hooked up as a real-life couple last year. The same two canny Canadians who put the MVP into PDA!
They went on to pay their compliments to the CBC personality/ actress. Told her they liked Shortbus, a movie with sex scenes that are famously quite out-there and un-edited.
It's been a spectactularly good stretch on-screen too for the handsome pair. Rachel -- who's been sitting in fortune's lap when she's not in Ryan's -- recently followed up movies like Wedding Crashers, Mean Girls and The Family Stone with a turn in Marriage, co-starring Pierce Brosnan and Chris Cooper. Her sweetheart, meanwhile, is the subject of endless Oscar talk for his earthy, honest performance in the indie flick Half Nelson.
Soon, very soon, Mr. Gosling starts work on his latest project, Lars and the
Real Girl. It so just happens to be shooting in town. Meaning: Going to the
movies in Toronto may be a lot more exciting for a few months
still.
Wishing on a Star
by
Jeffrey Toste
York
University’s Excalibur
Quick and easy methods of
critiquing films are found in all media forms. We can find Roger Ebert's famous
tag line, "two thumbs up," in movie trailers on television and many
newspapers have carried star ratings or similar forms of reviewing for decades.
In essence, it has become an important cultural symbol and an important guide
for viewers of all types.
John Harkness, film
reviewer for Now Magazine explains that the star rating will only inform you
"whether the critic liked it or not." He made it clear that it didn't
provide much depth or breadth.
"The star rating is
only one part of the review; all it says is if the film is good or bad,"
said Chris Knight, a National Post reviewer. As filmgoers, we would be doing
ourselves a great injustice if we relied solely on the rating (however tempting
it may be) because we're not aware of why it was rated the way it was.
As Richard Crouse,
co-host of TV show Reel to Real, explained, the stars do not offer any
insight into what the film did well and what it failed to accomplish. Crouse's
program has avoided this shortcut altogether because it insults our
intelligence as viewers.
"(They) are smart
enough to make up their own minds after they've heard what we have to say.
(Star ratings) take away from the review and takes away from the thinking the
viewer has to do," said Crouse.
But does he overestimate
how smart filmgoers are in general? Films are popular forms of entertainment
with an intellectual foundation, but they are not always as enlightening as we
think. What do we learn from films that we don't know going into one? After
all, films reflect real life and worldly experiences.
Harkness explained
publications hire consultants that teach editors to make their papers
"reader friendly," but generally, the result is the opposite, as
they're making publications more appealing to those who don't want to read
them. Nonetheless, Crouse responded with a level of regret that the
media tries to dumb everything down and doesn't give audiences any credit.
Harkness contended that
the process most likely started when TV stations began assigning numerical
ratings to television shows. It was here that time constrained reviewers were
introduced to this new rating system. But why has it continued until today?
Television may still be to blame, but for another reason: It has reshaped how
we entertain ourselves. We no longer want entertainment that takes up large
amounts of our time. We prefer to have it broken up into smaller parts because
it's easier and more practical. Television programming is probably the most
effective medium to conjure up ways to entertain us in the shortest time frame.
An excellent example would be the music video or television commercial, which
sends out a message in a short time period.
Knight explained that star
ratings and reviews "work together." In essence, they're both
mutually important and he gives an analogy to explain his point: The star
rating is like a grade you receive on a term paper. This grade, however,
couldn't exist independently of the teacher's comments on why you got the
grade. In other words, you wouldn't be satisfied with a numerical value only,
but would also like to get an explanation. Conversely, you couldn't receive an
explanation without receiving a numerical value.
But the difference between
a two or three-star film will influence our decision to read the review (if its
judged out of five stars) and consequently, watch the film or not. This system
could be more precise and resemble a system that Harkness has witnessed at the
Cannes Film Festival. Instead of a rating that uses a whole number system, they
were assigned fraction numbers, for instance a 2.5 out of 5.
In the scheme of things,
film reviewers are just offering their opinion. Crouse explained that
when looking for a "good" film, he looked for good storytelling and a
director "who had an interesting way of looking at things." Harkness
explains that he's judging a film on "how well the genre is being
executed." He explained that he went into a movie without a particular
mindset and that different genres were simply incomparable. One cannot go into
a comedy without the expectation of laughing just as one cannot go into an art
film without learning more about the human condition. Film reviewers are
essentially experts and their insight might save us from spending our time and
money on a mediocre film.
The solution to all this
confusion, Harkness advised, is to find a reviewer you can trust and read his
or her column each week. We might not always agree with what is said, but
selecting a reviewer whose outlook you generally share may make your movie
watching experience a more pleasant one.
NOW ONLINE COVERAGE
International Festival
of Authors
Zoe Whittall reports from
the IFOA
Only Two Plots, Indeed
Thursday 26th, Oct. 2006
As I jay-walked across the
Queen’s Quay narrowly avoiding collision with other bookish daydreamers on
dates with themselves, I had no idea what to expect from the 7:00 pm panel
discussion I was almost late for. I must admit I snuck my way into it at the
last minute, familiar only with the title 'Newborn: How a Book Changes After it
is Birthed into the World'.
Three Vancouver-ites,
Caroline Adderson, Eden Robinson and Timothy Taylor, long with British author
Tom McCarthy, spoke with TV film critic Richard Crouse in the studio
theatre that was at half capacity. They all had some funny and insightful
things to say about marketing, publishing, book covers and how it feels to let
go of your work once it’s gone to print and out of your obsessive neurotic
writerly hands.
When her first book was
published Eden Robinson was surprised to learn that her readers were unable to
separate her from her main character – disappointed that she wasn’t tattooed
and leather clad, “I wasn’t what people were imagining.” She laughed.
As someone who checked her
amazon ratings before heading out the door tonight, I appreciated that no one
on the panel did any posturing about not reading or caring about reviews.
“As soon as you discover
Amazon ratings, you lose six months of your life,” said the astute and witty
Timothy Taylor, who admitted to driving himself nuts checking stores for his
books on table displays when his first novel came out. Adderson admitted to
turning her books out in the airport bookstore on her way to the festival.
A lively discussion about
marketing, self-googling and the promotional lifespan of a book ensued. I
learned some valuable things – like, it’s not true that your books can’t be
returned if you go in and sign them. Damn. All that time lurking about the
Canadian poetry section ready to unleash my practiced signature at Indigo for
no reason. Tom McCarthy weighed in on the value of literary bloggers asserting
they are far superior and often better read than literary journalists. I was
both flattered and insulted,
Adderson summed up the emotional trajectory of authoring a book– she’s elated upon completion of the manuscript, six months of post-partum depression ensues, all the while the book becomes ready to go to press, then she is filled with dread about reviews. When she meets authors who are desperate to be published she often wants to tell them, “If they only knew the best part of writing was the writing!”
Richard Crouse:
InsideToronto.com 10/19/06
Name:
Richard Crouse
Where do you live?
Toronto
Profession:
Writer and television
host/producer, film critic
Please explain what you
do in your job:
It's complicated. As a
freelancer, I have many jobs, many of which happen simultaneously. Reel to
Real and Canada AM are weekly gigs that go 50 weeks a year, and
require the lion's share of my time. I review movies for both shows, which
requires seeing seven to eight movies a week. I co-produce Reel to Real,
which means that above and beyond seeing the movies, I also program the show,
co-ordinate my co-host's schedule so he can see the films, arrange all
materials needed for the show, film clips and so on, and set up interviews.
We travel a great deal for
the show. I'm on the road 12 to 15 times a year, usually to Los Angeles or New
York doing interviews and screening films. Once a year we travel to the Cannes
Film Festival for two weeks to cover the festival and produce four or five
shows from France.
For Canada AM, I
see several movies a week, write detailed notes and perform live on the show
Friday mornings. When I'm not working on those shows, I generally spend my time
writing.
This season we'll do 13
episodes of The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen, a new show based on
one of my books, so I have to spend time scripting those shows, writing reviews
for Wish Magazine and writing for several of my other freelance jobs.
I also frequently host
live events with actors and directors where I will interview the subject for an
hour or so and then take questions from the audience. Recent guests at the live
shows have included Harrison Ford and Michael Moore. I have so many gigs
because I subscribe to the ATM theory of freelancing - Always Take the Money.
As a freelancer, if someone offers you a job that doesn't involve nudity or
anything illegal, take it.
Current job:
Host/co-producer of Reel
to Real and The 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen for Rogers
Television. Film critic for CTV's Canada AM and Wish Magazine.
Author of six books, including Reel Winners, released October 2005.
List of accomplishments:
I have been the host of Reel
to Real, Canada's longest running television show about movies, since 1998,
and am the regular film critic for CTV's Canada AM and a frequent guest
on many national radio and television shows including CBC Radio One's Go
and Grooveshinny. I am also the author of six books on pop culture
history including Who Wrote the Book of Love, The 100 Best Movies You've
Never Seen and the Reel Winners; my work has also been featured in The
Globe and Mail, The National Post, as well as several literary and
music magazines. Reel to Real airs weekly on Rogers Television and the
Independent Film Channel.
How do you measure
success in your profession?:
As a freelancer, I base my
success on how many hours I get paid a week. Forty hours is good. Fifty is
great.
How did you get your
start in your chosen career?:
I started off as a writer.
My plan was to freelance for a time and then concentrate on writing books. To
get started I wrote for everyone and anyone who would have me, most often for
free. The plan was to get a portfolio together, which I would then use to get
better gigs and hopefully a book deal.
It took awhile and along
the way I ended up working in television and radio as much as writing.
Eventually everything came together and people at publishing houses started
seeing me on TV and suddenly doors started flying open. Since then I have
worked steadily, pumping out six books while continuing to freelance write and
work on television.
When did you decide this
is what you want to do for a living? When was the 'moment'?:
I guess I'm lucky in that
I've always known what I wanted to do. Lucky in that I actually get to do it, I
can't imagine what it would have been like to have to settle for a career that
didn't inspire me. I started trying to write my first book when I was in my
early teens and have been writing ever since.
What did you have to do
in order to get involved with this profession?
I think the best advice I
can give is to be persistent and keep learning - never stop learning. When you
do, it's time to move on to something else. I was patient and even when it
seemed like a steep uphill climb, I kept going. It's often helpful to take interning
jobs at radio and television stations. You can learn a lot and meet people who
may be able to help you.
Pros and cons of this
job:
The best part of my job is
that I get to do something that makes me very happy - go to the movies. I enjoy
the travel and meeting filmmakers is often a treat. On the downside are the
long hours and, as a freelancer, juggling a complicated schedule that is often
split between several jobs.
Skills required for
this job:
Patience. Patience is a
virtue seldom found in freelancers and it is the single most important facet of
freelance life. Things will never seem to be moving fast enough and it can be
frustrating, but the best freelancers are patient and know that all good things
come to those who (are persistent) and wait.
What can youth expect if
they want to purse this job?
I can tell you what not to
expect - overnight success. Being a film critic is kind of an odd job, and
unless you start your own website, it is unlikely that you'll find a reputable
outlet for your work right away. Be patient. Work and write as much as you can
and hone your skills so when you do get your shot you are ready. It may take
awhile, but it is sweet when it finally happens.
Percentage of people
who actually succeed in this field:
Very small.
Salary range:
As a freelancer, the sky
is the limit. You can make as much (or as little, but who wants that?) as you
want depending on how hard you want to work.
Advice to youth who are
thinking about pursuing this field:
Grow a thick skin. I have
a desk drawer full of rejection letters that, for awhile, seemed to be the only
mail I ever got. Don't take rejection personally, and find a way to learn from
it.
Anything else you would
like to say?
Monty Python’s Terry Gilliam speaks at Ryerson
Posted on 10/12/06 in The
EyeOpener
Written by Kristina
Schippel
Aside from turkey dinners
and pumpkin pie, film and image arts students were treated to an afternoon with
Terry Gilliam, known best for his roles in the Monty Python films.
Gilliam visited Ryerson to
promote his new film Tideland, an adaptation of Mitch Cullin’s novel of
the same name. The film, for which Gilliam wrote the screenplay, is about a
young girl coping with the death of her heroine-addicted parents by retreating
to the depths of her imagination.
Richard Crouse, co-host of
Reel to Real, hosted the event, asking Gilliam to discuss his
experiences working on studio films.
“You’ve got Sunday nights
to prove your worth, and you’re gone,” says Gilliam, referring to the
difficulties filmmakers face when trying to pitch to studios interested solely
in box-office revenues.
Gilliam also directed The
Brothers Grimm, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and has written and
starred in numerous collaborations with British comedy troupe Monty Python.
“He makes films so seldom
that whenever one comes out it’s an event for fans,” says third-year film
student Mike Wood. “He’s so gung-ho and there’s a sense of mysticism, a comic
book sense of wonder about his work.”
Canadian filmmaker
Vincenzo Natali directed Getting Gilliam, a documentary on the making of
Tideland. He shared his thoughts with Sunday’s audience.
“He’s one of the more
interesting and unusual filmmakers,” Natali says. “Terry doesn’t censor
himself. He communicates, he talks through the take, the great thing about that
is that the actors have a direct feed into his brain.”
This was evident as
Gilliam answered fans’ questions enthusiastically, using his arms to illustrate
his answers.
“We live in such a fearful
age, a timid age, people are frightened of offending people,” Gilliam says.
“Offense is the beginning of dialogue. You can talk. You can get passionate.”
After the interview
students and fans lined up for an autograph session in the main lobby outside
the theatre.
“He is my hero. I grew up
on his films since I was nine,” says third-year film student Ben Edelberg. “I
loved how down-to-earth he was, how he advised everyone to listen to other
peoples ideas, and his whole philosophy of group collaboration.”
As the Gilliam was about
to leave, he gave one last word of advice to the students at Ryerson.
“My best advice is to get
a proper job. It’s a life-sucking business and unless you’re passionate and
dedicated, you shouldn’t be here.”
The Painted Veil
TragicRightHip.blogspot.com
by Deanna McFadden
Friday, December 08, 2006
I skipped my very last
dance class for the term yesterday to go see a preview screening of The Painted
Veil, Ed Norton's latest movie, but with very good reason, because the
actor/producer was actually in attendance for a Q&A session at the end.
First, the film. Based on
a W. Somerset Maugham novella, The Painted Veil takes place, for the most part,
in China, where a young doctor (or bacteriologist), Walter Fane (Ed Norton) who
is researching infectious diseases and his new wife, Kitty (Naomi Watts). Married
after a refreshingly brief courtship that takes place in about two days, the
couple finds themselves in an awkward and difficult situation when Kitty
begins, and ends, an affair with the Vice-Consul, Charlie Townsend (Liev
Shreiber). As a form of punishment, Walter forces Kitty to travel inland to a
small village heartbreakingly infected with the worst cholera outbreak in
history. Here, in the small village, the two reach an impasse of sorts, where
they may not solve all of the problems of their marriage, but they do certainly
find an honesty where they communicate openly at long last.
It's a long movie, with
beautiful scenery, and much better than the last thing I saw that was filmed in
China, some terrible "rock" video by 30 Seconds to Mars. The Painted
Veil is directed by John Curran, who also helmed We Don't Live Here Anymore, so
he's certainly adept at creating a story that explores the moral ambiguity at
the centre of so many human experiences. A sweeping tale that balances out the
interior emotional struggles of Walter and Kitty with the more overarching
socio-political problems found in China (the rise of the
"nationalists," the fury over British imperialism, and the presence
of Catholic missionaries), The Painted Veil is an epic film, one that demands a
commitment from its audience, but absolutely rewards you for putting in the
effort.
And it must be stated that
Toby Jones, who plays Waddington, a left-over soldier stationed in the small
village affected by the epidemic, is wonderful. And I can understand why Naomi
Watts became so involved in the picture (she's a co-producer alongside Norton),
because it's quite a juicy part for a woman in a world where the
"heroines" are getting younger and younger in films that are more and
more vapid.
Now, the actor. So, at the
end of the screening, Richard Crouse came back out to introduce Ed Norton and
then do a quasi-Inside the Actor's Studio-type question and answer period.
Norton came into the theatre wearing jeans and a lovely dark grey pea coat,
which he wore through the entire interview. Part way through he wrapped it even
further around himself and hugged his arms in tight like he was maybe a bit
unsure of himself and a little nervous, which I didn't expect.
He's quite unassuming in
person except totally handsome and very clean cut, and he used a lot of big
words (etymology, for example) and made cute metaphors ("the characters in
the film were exfoliated by China") and came across super smart and well
read, another thing I didn't expect. He also sounds American when he talks,
says Montreal like Mont-re-all, and things like "you all know Ron
Livingston, right" in that particular cadence to people like my American
"cousins" who all hail from Pennsylvania and such. He looks, well,
like a New Yorker, put a toque on him and he could be Morgan Spurlock in Super
Size Me, but I digress.
I was such a geek that I
took notes about some of the more charming things he said about the movie and
his career, just to relay them here:
On Working on The Score
with De Niro and Brando:
"It's a movie I did
just to be in the poster."
And the kid that asked the
question told Norton he was a Method actor ("What's it like to be a third
generation Method Actor"), to which he responded by saying, "That's
the first I'm hearing about being a Method Actor." The kid (a theatre/film
student in a pack of theatre/film students sitting beside me and rambling on
about how great Death to Smoochy was) said that he read it on the internet,
which, of course, cued all clap-trap snark about how unreliable information is
on the web. Which almost made me want to stand up and ask whether or not the
rumours are true that he's dating Evan Rachel Wood. But, alas, I am a meek
writer who prefers to spread her own rumours online. Annnywaay. He did joke that
he could learn a lot about himself by reading the internet. Can't we all Ed
Norton, can't we all.
About the costume and
makeup from The Illusionist:
It's actually inspired by
a comic Dr. Strange. After I told my RRHB this he said, "Oh yeah, totally,
there was even a Canadian TV show about Dr. Strange for a while." Who
knew?
On the characterization in
The Painted Veil:
"We had to commit to
the character's weaknesses in order to make it real." I am paraphrasing a
bit here but I really liked this idea. In order for the movie to work, Norton
said, he and Watts concentrated more on the character flaws rather than their
strong points, and he's absolutely right, it's what makes the movie work. You
do believe that Walter is a bad lover (his example) and that Kitty is vain and
silly, which makes their evolution so much more real.
Further, on the love story
in The Painted Veil:
Norton is attracted to
projects that take him outside of his own comfort zone, but I couldn't help
reading so much more into this statement than was probably intended,
"everyone goes through disappointments in seeing the weaknesses in the
object of their affection," but maybe something like this comes more from
his own failed relationships in general vs. empathizing with Walter's inability
to make his marriage work in many ways.
About working on the 25th
Hour:
(Which I will preface by
saying I think is one of my favourite Spike Lee joints). The theatre actor in
him loves to rehearse, and he feels his performance in that film ended up being
so strong because they did a lot of intense rehearsing before the shoot.
Lastly, he said he was
"reluctant to talk about what a film is about," because he thinks
that the job of the person in the audience and what fun would it be just to
tell us all what to think. In the end, I'm glad I went, even if the film is one
of those Hollywood vanity projects (Norton mentioned he'd always wanted to make
a sweeping epic) that many actors create to give themselves work. Instead of
being all snarky about that, as I am inclined to do, I'm going to resist and
say what does it matter when the end product is clearly a piece of quality work
from a surprisingly well spoken, obviously intelligent, well read, and highly
talented individual.
Oh, and hot, did I mention
that too? He's totally hunky and hot.
Oh, and the other shocking
thing that I did not realize about my own damn self, is that I've seen 19 of
the 21 titles listed on his imdb.com page, which I was kind of surprised by.
Does that mean he's my male version of Kirsten Dunst?
Music films strike harmonious chord at TIFF
Sun. Sep. 10 2006
Mary Nersessian, CTV.ca News
Films on musicians are striking the right chord at this year's TIFF, with documentaries touching on controversies within country music circles to the revival of a late rock legend's voice.
"The fact is musicians are larger-than-life and so that makes them very attractive to filmmakers -- whether they are non-fiction filmmakers or fiction filmmakers," TIFF International Documentary Programmer Thom Powers told CTV.ca.
The arguable headliner among the host of music-related movies is the documentary Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing, which will be making its world premiere as a TIFF gala presentation.
The film, from two-time Oscar-winning director Barbara Kopple and filmmaker Cecilia Peck, explores the controversy that followed the country music darlings after lead singer Natalie Maines' infamous off-the-cuff remark about U.S. President George Bush.
"Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from (their home state) Texas," Maines told a London audience in 2003, on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Not to be forgotten though, is the trio's music.
Powers writes in the film fest 2006 documentary blog that he knew the Dixie Chicks only for their politics before he watched the film.
"After watching, I'm a total convert. The new album Taking The Long Way is in heavy rotation on my iPod. This summer, I even drove from Toronto to Detroit to see the start of their new tour," he writes.
Another four films exploring musical themes will be screened among the festival's Real to Reel program, a showcase of the best non-fiction cinema.
"These remarkable films cover a wide spectrum," Powers said in announcing the lineup, "from war and justice, to music, humour, and the art of filmmaking itself. Audiences will discover complex and inspiring characters. I am delighted by the rich line-up of documentaries coming to Toronto for my first year with the Festival."
Yet another film that echoes the Dixie Chicks' message of defiance is The U.S. vs. John Lennon.
"The U.S. vs. John Lennon and Dixie Chicks - Shut Up and Sing are both films about musicians speaking out during times of war and suffering huge backlash in response to that," Powers told CTV.ca.
Filmmakers David Leaf and John Scheinfeld trace the former Beatle's transformation from revolutionary musician to anti-war activist in a controversial documentary made with the co-operation with his widow, Yoko Ono.
The film recounts the U.S. government's attempts to silence Lennon between 1966 and 1976 through wiretapping, FBI surveillance, and deportation hearings, in a narrative that is told through archival film clips.
Leaf and Scheinfeld remark on their website that the film will show "that this was not just an isolated episode in American history, but that the issues and struggles of that era remain relevant today."
Meanwhile, a deceased grunge rock icon returns from the dead to narrate AJ Schnack's film Kurt Cobain: About A Son.
Drawing on over 25 hours of previously unreleased audio interviews, Schnack attempts to piece together the man behind the myth.
Paul Rachman's American Hardcore examines a more recent period of musical history with his film on the 1980s' vibrant hardcore punk scene.
The film, which is making its Canadian premiere, explores how Ronald Reagan's conservative politics gave birth to a clan that saw no hope in government institutions nor global ideologies.
In Made in Jamaica, Jerome Laperrousaz recounts the personal stories and struggles of reggae and dance hall artists who have made it out of their native ghetto and into the global spotlight.
Using interviews and rousing performances, the documentary showcases musical kings and queens from the 70s through the present and embraces the stories of these artists who represent the Jamaican Dream.
Some observers have commented that an increase in music-themed films are a reaction to the popularity of award-winning features such as Ray, which followed the life of music great Ray Charles, and the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.
But CTV's Canada AM film critic and author Richard Crouse believes the trend is but a coincidence, and not necessarily a reaction to the two movies, which both premiered at the Toronto film festival.
"These are such different movies than the ones that have gotten awards in the last little while," he told CTV.ca.
"What you have here are people really shining the spotlight back on popular culture and making these films with the understanding that popular culture is really our culture," he said.
Every year produces its own trend, said Crouse, author of the book Reel Winners.
"Last year it was the year of the biography with films on Johnny Cash, Truman Capote," he said.
"I think it's just one of those weird serendipitous things where you have almost a zeitgeist and you unwittingly end up with a lot of filmmakers making similar-themed movies at the same time."
Still, there is a real appetite for stories that meld music and movies, he said.
"Movies like Walk the Line and the story of Ray Charles have not only been filled with music that everyone knows and grew up listening to, the stories are inspirational ... America loves those pull-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps stories," Crouse said.
"In terms of documentaries, I think that people have the same fascination with music that perhaps the older generation had watching the Second World War -- it's part of our culture, part of our history."
Tips to make the most out of TIFF
Wed. Sep. 6 2006
Mary Nersessian, CTV.ca
News
Talk of ticketing
troubles, lengthy lineups, and pretentious poseurs toting well-thumbed festival
programs are enough to deter intimidated amateur filmgoers from checking out
the Toronto International Film Festival.
But with this savvy guide,
even the wariest newbies can take advantage of advice from seasoned filmgoers
to make the most out of the festival without even breaking a sweat.
Ticketing tactics
"If you want to
maximize the film-going experience, choose your list of must-see films and
schedule them first. Try to avoid the films that will be released in theatres
soon, usually the galas, unless you are very, very desperate," Raymond
Yick, founder and developer of tiffreviews.com and regular TIFF volunteer, told
CTV.ca.
Beginning Sept. 6, you can
purchase advance tickets online, by phone at 416-968-FILM or by visiting the
year-round box office or festival box office. Advance tickets can be ordered
until 7 p.m. the night before a screening.
If tickets are listed as
"off sale," be sure to check back as new inventory may become
available.
If a screening is not sold
out, any remaining tickets will be made available, by phone or at the
year-round and festival box offices at 7 a.m. on the day the film will be
screened.
Tickets are also available
at the theatre box office one hour before the day's first screening.
Be strategic, blogTO
Publisher Tim Shore suggests.
Logic dictates that bigger
theatres, like the Elgin and Varsity, present more opportunities for getting
your hands on much-coveted rush tickets.
Though the more popular
films are often sold out, "usually they are playing two or three times
during the festival, so if you don't need to see the premiere, quite often you
can see an afternoon or even morning showing of the same film," Shore told
CTV.ca.
Also be sure to subscribe
to TIFF's online alerts, through which you will receive daily emails on which
screenings will have same-day tickets available.
Take a chance
Throw caution to the wind
and try a film from an obscure Danish filmmaker or elusive French artiste
instead of the premiere everyone has been buzzing about.
Chances are a film that is
being screened as a gala will find its way on to the screen at your local
theatre, but that most indie and foreign features will fade into oblivion once
the festival's curtains close.
"Realistically you
might not always get into movie you want to see, but you know what? There are
360 some odd movies and probably 320 of them are really worth seeing - so the
chances of you seeing something great are high -- even if you haven't heard of
it," Canada AM film critic Richard Crouse told CTV.ca.
Yick forms his own
shortlist by heeding the advice of critics and researching past film festivals.
"Babel, for example,
turned a lot of heads at Cannes," Yick told CTV.ca of the Brad Pitt film.
Devour festival-related
media
Though TIFF organizers
produce a complete festival programme every year, it may be more than a typical
filmgoer may wish to invest at $32 a pop, Shore said.
Reading capsule reviews in
the newspaper are a good starting point for clueless cineastes who don't know
where to begin, Crouse suggests.
Once you jot down films
that are of interest, log on to the Internet Movie Database to find out more
about the movie and its director to refine your shortlist.
Indulge in star-spotting
In between films, stretch
your legs by taking a saunter through some of Toronto's tony neighbourhoods and
be sure to keep a pen and camera handy.
"Walk up and down
Bloor Street between the Manulife Centre at Bay Street all the way to the St.
George subway and you are bound to see somebody," Crouse said.
Seriously star-struck fans
take it one step further by skulking outside known celebrity haunts.
Year after year,
celeb-spotters camp outside Bloor Street's Hotel InterContinental, squeeze
lemons at upscale grocery store Whole Foods Market, and stake out a spot
outside the back entrances of theatres that stealthy stars are apt to use.
"The Yorkville area
is usually a good spot just because a lot of them tend to be staying at the
Four Seasons. A lot of the press junkets are around there but there are also
some of the typical bars and party places where celebs are prone to hangout,"
Shore told CTV.ca, adding that some of the hottest venues include Lobby, the
Drake Hotel, and the Spoke Club.
"Another good place
to spot them is outside some of the premieres, like the galas at Roy Thomson
hall," Shore said.
Take your vitamins
"If you're really
going to take 10 days off to do the festival from top to bottom, I suggest
getting a haircut before, learn how to eat standing up, get some sleep, and
take some vitamins," Crouse said.
Bush
'whacked' in edgy British mockumentary
Fri. Sep. 1 2006
Mary Nersessian, CTV.ca
News
A edgy British film about
the fictional assassination of U.S. President George Bush is kicking off a
firestorm of controversy ahead of its screening at the Toronto International
Film Festival.
The listing of Death of a
President, which has not been screened for the press, has been posted on the
festival website under the low-key acronym of D.O.A.P.
The film is shot in the
form of a documentary, using a blend of archival footage and computer-generated
special effects to tell the tale of a president's assassination.
In the feature-length
film, Bush is confronted by a large anti-war rally when he arrives in Chicago
in October 2007 to make a speech to business leaders.
Bush is unperturbed by the
demonstration and goes ahead with the visit, and is gunned down by a sniper as
he leaves the venue.
The ensuing hysteria is
further inflamed when the investigation by the "state apparatus"
quickly turns its attention on a Syrian-born man.
The assassination scene
echoes previous attacks on American leaders such as the attempt on President
Ronald Reagan's life in 1981 as he left the Washington Hilton hotel.
The film will premiere at
the Toronto festival on September 11. More4, the digital offshoot of Britain's
Channel 4 network, plans to show the program on Oct. 9.
"It's destined to be
Michael Moore's favourite film at the festival, I think," Canada AM film
critic Richard Crouse said Friday.
"It's going to be one
of the most controversial films at the festival for sure," he said.
The White House declined
to comment on the network's announcement, saying it would not dignify the
program with a response.
"It's a pointed
political examination of what the war on terror is doing to the American body
politic," More4 boss Peter Dale said at a press conference on Thursday.
Promotional materials
described the film as "a thought-provoking critique of the contemporary
U.S. political landscape."
Dale conceded that the
program will be controversial but maintained that it was a work meant to
provoke debate.
"I'm sure there will
be people upset by it," he said. "I hope people will see the
intention as a good one."
Director Gabriel Range
denied charges of sensationalism.
"The film is based on
meticulous research and interviews with FBI agents and people on the other side
of the war on terror," he told The Times.
"It is a serious and
sensitive film. There is no way it would encourage anyone to assassinate Bush
and usher in Cheney's America," said Range, whose 2003 television movie
"The Day Britain Stopped" showed what might happen if the country's
transportation network ground to a halt.
Festival co-director Noah
Cowan praises the film in a posting on the TIFF website.
"This is easily the
most dangerous and breathtakingly original film I have encountered this
year," he writes.
But he contends that the
film does not launch a personal attack against Bush.
"Range simply seeks
to explore the potential consequences that might follow from the president's
policies and actions," Cowan says.
Britain's Channel 4, which
is publicly owned but funded by advertising, came under fire last week by
outgoing ITV Chief Executive Charles Allen for its dependence on reality TV
shows and "shock docs."
More4's autumn lineup also
includes "The Trial of Tony Blair," a satirical program about the
future resignation of the British prime minister.
In the comedy, Blair seeks
absolution from the Catholic Church after being accused of war crimes over his
role in the invasion of Iraq.
Pitch This!
By Alex Cruickshank
http://magazines.humberc.on.ca/finecut2005/pitchthis2.html
The ballroom of the Sutton
Place Hotel in downtown Toronto teems with excitement. The room is buzzing with
people. The atmosphere brings back memories of the vaudeville halls of the
1920s. And like those days of old, the audience has come to see a performance.
Tonight, six teams of independent filmmakers will do their very best to
convince a panel of industry professionals their feature film idea merits
$10,000. One lucky team will be the winner of Telefilm Canada’s Pitch This!.
In its fifth year at the
Toronto International Film Festival, Pitch This! continues to grow in
popularity. Of the 80 submissions received, six finalists were chosen. Pitch
coaches were assigned to help finalists polish their entries for the
competition.
Tonight, in front of a
room full of industry delegates, and with the International Industry Advisory
Committee acting as judge, those finalists are like contestants in a game show.
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Winning the grand prize could be the difference
between seeing their project come to life or watching it fall apart.
Every good game show needs
a memorable host and Roger Crouse definitely fits the bill. The host of Rogers
Television’s Reel to Real resembles a 1950s quiz show host.
He begins the evening by
introducing the competition. Dangling the prospect of a giant $10,000 novelty
cheque, Crouse introduces the first pitch.
The six teams have six
minutes for their pitch. The presentations are as diverse as the proposed
feature film ideas. Some teams opt for humour while others approach the event
in a business-like manner. Some act out a scene from their screenplay, hoping
the material talks for itself. Others stress the economic viability of their
project. There is no magic formula for success.
Kelley Alexander, director
of industry with the Toronto International Film Festival, explains what the
judges look for in a winning pitch.
“They choose what they
perceive to be a viable project that deserves the award every year,” Alexander
says. “They are looking for the team that is able to use the prize money to get
the project further.”
Fifteen excruciating
minutes pass and the judges re-emerge with their verdict. At the podium, Crouse
announces the 2004 winner – Remembrance.
The beauty and
effectiveness of the winning pitch lies in its simplicity. Laura Fleck,
producer of Remembrance, says the team’s strategy was to focus on the story and
not worry about the project’s finances.
Co-writers and lead actors
Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern designed their pitch around a concept that
has sold films to audiences everywhere for decades: a movie trailer.
The house lights dim as
the trailer begins. Past awards associated with the project scroll across the
screen. The list is impressive. The production has been nominated for, and
taken home, numerous awards for excellence in short film.
The audience is quickly
introduced to the main characters and given a general sense of the plot. It is
easy to forget Remembrance is being pitched as a feature film idea as opposed
to being a completed project.
As the trailer concludes,
a series of accolades from media critics appear onscreen. The most memorable of
the plaudits comes from John Doyle of The Globe and Mail. His words seem to
speak directly to the Pitch This! judges, “Dazzling … Gorgeously made and
calling out for feature film treatment.”
Fleck praises Pitch This!
for the opportunity it provides independent filmmakers.
“It’s a great chance for
people from across Canada to pitch their ideas to a room full of industry
executives they wouldn’t normally have access to,” she says.
As for Remembrance, it is
moving ahead nicely. The team has used some of their prize money to help secure
an executive producer and they’re currently working on securing the budget
needed to shoot the film.
If all goes well,
Remembrance will be opening soon in theatres near you.
Controversial
'United 93' opens to good reviews
Updated Sat. Apr. 29 2006
10:48 AM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A controversial film that
depicts the brief, doomed journey of United Airlines Flight 93 opened in Canada
Friday, after evoking reactions that ranged from outrage to deep appreciation
this week in the U.S.
The movie, "United
93," has been described as the film no one wants to see.
Not surprising,
considering the eerie, morbid trailers that depict panicked passengers in a
plane that is about to go down, the scenes set to a macabre soundtrack.
We already know the end of
the story that this film sets out to tell.
The passengers aboard the
flight from Newark to San Francisco will realize something has gone horribly
wrong. They will storm the cockpit, fighting to regain control of the plane
from hijackers, and eventually it will crash in a Pennsylvania field, killing
everyone aboard.
Many critics are raving
about "United 93," despite fears that its release comes too soon
after the events of Sept. 11, 2001.
CTV's Denelle Balfour went
to one of the film's first Canadian public screenings, at a downtown Toronto
movie theatre, and said audiences were deeply moved.
"There weren't very
many dry eyes at the end of the movie," she told CTV Newsnet. "We
spoke to people when they came out of the theatre and a lot of people just
weren't ready to speak to us about the film. Some said they simply were
speechless."
Elsa Strong, whose sister
lost her life aboard flight 93, has become an advocate for the film, saying it
helped her family gain a better understanding of the last few moments of her
sister's life.
"We all felt such a
strong sense of relief after seeing the movie, that it had been done so
well," Strong told Keiler.
CTV's film critic Richard
Crouse described the film as difficult to watch, but well worth the effort.
"It's a harrowing
watch," Crouse said. "It's done in real time and it is a movie that I
thought perfectly captured both the calm and the chaos of that tragic
day."
Crouse gave the film a
rare four-star endorsement, while critic David Denby wrote a glowing review in
the New Yorker.
"'United 93' is a
tremendous experience of fear, bewilderment, and resolution, and, when you
replay the movie in your head afterward, you are likely to think that (director
and writer Paul Greengrass) made all the right choices," Denby writes.
Both Crouse and Denby
agree Greengrass was successful in his bid to put viewers in the passenger seat
along with the doomed travelers. He avoids emotional manipulation and provides
no background story to the passengers, no "little girl with a teddy bear,"
as Crouse says, to capture the anonymous nature of travelling.
Greengrass even brings a
cast of actors you've probably never seen before to add to the anonymous nature
of the players in the event. Some of the air traffic controllers even play
themselves in the film.
The result is a gripping
portrayal of a true story -- the type that's difficult to watch but impossible
to turn away from.
"This film really
sets it up so you feel like you're one of the passengers on the plane,"
Crouse said. "So when the hijacking actually happens about an hour into
the film, you feel like you're in the action. It is an incredible film."
"United 93"
premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York this week. The families of
all 40 of the victims supported the making of the film, and many of them were
in the audience as it debuted.
According to reports,
there were audible sobs and gasps, and many were weeping as they watched the
film.
Keiler said some
moviegoers were relieved to learn that Universal Pictures will donate 10 per
cent of the box office take brought in over opening weekend to build a memorial
near the Pennsylvania crash site.
The film, though only the
first of what is expected to be many depicting the events surrounding Sept. 11,
is the first major movie to be released so soon after the tragedy.
Oliver Stone's film, "World Trade Centre," is scheduled for release this summer.
