Shoplifters

This Oscar nominated Japanese film for Best Foreign Language Film is simply lovely. Shoplifters is why I go to the movies - a perspective that gives us insight and empathy into our fellow human beings. It's about a poor Japanese family who steal just to get by. It opens with what we believe are a farther-son duo ripping off food from a grocery store. On their way home they pick up a little four year girl who is outside on her balcony shivering, hungry; her parents can be heard inside screaming that neither of them wanted her. They give her food and ask if she wants to come with them. She is happy to go. They bring her to their tiny home where Grandma, Mom, Dad, older sister, and the son (who sleeps in a closet) live. Several days go by and the young girl isn't reported missing. So they keep her and make her part of their family. It turns out the son isn't really their son either, he was found in a car while 'Dad' was stealing something.
Shoplifters brings into focus what it is to be a family, what it means to be a mother and a father, and it puts morality out in the yard to play. Nothing in this film is heavy handed and there are no sharp tales or lessons to be had. It will give you something to reflect about your own notions of right and wrong are and what is 'family.'
Shoplifters stole my heart. Catch it at a rep cinema near you or at an online streaming service soon.

Let's get high! Touching the Void, Valley Uprising, Free Solo

Do you want to get high? Then try these three documentaries about climbing.

Touching the Void (2003) After emerging from the Bytowne Cinema in 2003 I was in a daze. I really needed to talk to someone about this film. It had a major impact on me.

Touching the Void is the true story of Joe Simpson and Simon Yates who in the mid 80s were the first to reach the top of Siula Grande (a Peruvian mountain). Joe breaks his leg on the descent and Simon must lower him bit by bit down the mountain. A snow storm blows in and Joe slips off a ledge and is dangling on the side of the mountain unable to pull himself up. Simon is braced in the snow on the side the mountain, holding his friend by a rope unable to pull him up. They can't hear each other because of the storm. They are both going to freeze to death. Simon cuts the rope.

The film is narrated by the men themselves and the whole event is re-enacted with actors. So you know they both live. It doesn't make any of it less riveting. I was glued to my seat. Catch it on DVD or Amazon streaming. 

Valley Uprising is a fascinating history of rock climbing in Yosemite Park. It takes us from the 1950s to 2014. It's a history lesson and an exploration of the hippie geek climbing culture that existed among those illegally living in the park whose focus revolved (and continues to revolve) around climbing two major rock faces, Half Dome and El Captain. These are massive rock walls and the early climbers spent years trying to get to the top. Like surfing culture, climbing culture is for a select set of odd and interesting characters. One climber basically lived off the condiments of the concession stand for years while evading park rangers - this is crazy dedication to climbing. By the end of this documentary, climbing has been taken to the ultimate level - free climbing: no ropes, no clips, nothing. We meet a young climber, Alex Honnold, who successfully free climbs Half Dome - a truly amazing death defying feat. Catch it on Netflix.


Free Solo Remember Alex Honnold I just told you about, well this young man is back and after studying El Captain for a decade (and when I mean study, I mean each and every foot hold and crack written down in a notebook and memorized, each position, and where to go next). To understand the magnitude of what Alex is undertaking you should really watch Valley Uprising first - it isn't essential viewing, but it really gives you a dizzying perspective. My fourteen year old daughter (who is currently binge watching Friends) watched glued with me. In other words, this is captivating viewing for almost anyone.
This documentary is nominated for an Oscar. It was made knowing that Alex, could at any time, fall to his death and that would be that. His possible death is openly discussed by everyone. If he were to die, he would be following in the footsteps of hundreds of climbers before him. And now Alex has a girlfriend and for the first time in his life seems to be getting injured when she is around.
There are certain sections of El Cap (as the climbers call it) that are super difficult to climb - like the Boulder Problem. As I watched this, even knowing that Alex doesn't die, my palms became moist. It's completely bananas and I couldn't look away. Catch it at your favourite rep cinema or on streaming services soon.
   

Can You Ever Forgive Me?

I'm a sucker for films about writers, especially ones who are struggling to make it - go figure. Melissa McCarthy plays Lee Israel, a writer we meet after she has penned two biographies. She gets fired from her current day job for drinking and her foul mouth. She is behind in her rent and she has a sick cat and can't pay her tab at the vet. After ranting to her literary agent (played by Jane Curtin) about Tom Clancy getting a three million dollar advance - it's funny stuff - her agent tells Israel she can't get her a ten dollar advance and needs to clean up her act. As Israel is doing research in a library she finds some old letters by someone famous in a book. She tacks on a funny PS of her own to one of the letters and then takes the letter into a used book store to sell. The store owner tells her that the PS really makes it. Thus Israel begins her criminal career of forging letters by people like Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker and selling them for a lot of money. This is based on a true story.
Melissa McCarthy won my heart for her performance in Bridesmaids (if you haven't seen it, it's really funny). McCarthy, like the late great Robin Williams, can go over-the-top and off the rails quickly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it's too much. McCarthy was nominated for the Golden Globe and for an Oscar for her subdued work in this film. Williams won an Oscar when he wasn't over-the-top; maybe McCarthy will win too. And her co-star Richard E. Grant who was also nominated for both the Golden Globe and the Oscar is fabulous. His performance reminded me of his performance in one of my favourite films, Withnail & I. Catch Can You Ever Forgive Me at your local rep cinema or on streaming services soon.

At Eternity's Gate

I thought to myself, "Oh God, please, not another film about Vincent Van Gogh's life." After watching Loving Vincent (2017)  - well I didn't even watch the whole thing; I got about halfway and turned it off and never went back - I felt we didn't need more Vincent. Loving Vincent was a bore despite the crazy amount of effort that went into making it.

At Eternity's Gate would mark my fourth feature film into the life of Vincent Van Gogh (plus one Doctor Who episode where the good Doctor visits the troubled artist and brings him to present day to show him what a success he becomes - it's actually quite a touching episode).
I didn't want to watch At Eternity's Gate but I'm such a film awards whore and Willem Dafoe was nominated for the Golden Globe and the Oscar, so I thought, fine, let's get this over with.

When Dafoe flops from a few lines of French into purely English at the beginning of the film, well I was certain my disdain would be justified. I was entirely wrong. In fact this might be the only thing to criticize about it, that everyone, for the most part, speaks English. If you put this aside, it's a beautiful, thoughtful, and meditative film. I was completely drawn in and time flew by. There are new revelations about Van Gogh which surprised me. And Dafoe! He is really good and deserves his nominations. At Eternity's Gate was a delightful surprise.

Catch it now on Amazon, iTunes, OR

your local video store February 12th, 2019.

From the Archives - The Silent Partner (1978)

I would like to introduce something I call, "From the Archives"; these are films that I absolutely love and if you haven't seen them, then you really should.

So for my first film I'm going with something you might never have heard of, The Silent Partner (1978). This is a Canadian film that was shot in Toronto's Eaton Centre starting Elliott Gould, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York, featuring a cameo by the late, great (and in this film, very young) John Candy. Christopher Plummer plays the bad guy, and he comes across as truly evil - he is fantastic.

This is the first film I remember seeing Elliott Gould in and made a big impression upon me.

The Silent Partner is a bank heist picture. I'm a sucker for a good heist picture. I also love prison escape films. Maybe I just love cheering for the bad guys.

The biggest star of this movie though is Curtis Hanson's screenplay. Now if you don't know Curtis Hanson, (he passed away in 2016) he is the fellow who directed L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys, and 8 Mile to name a few. The story and the dialogue are fast and at times, funny as hell. It's an extremely clever game of cat and mouse. The Silent Partner has brought me so much joy that I have watched it a least a dozen times over the years.

Where you can watch it: https://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-silent-partner/1031949/where-to-watch/