Day of the Fight

Underdog sports films are my jam. I prefer them to watching real sports - perhaps hypocritical and silly but it's the truth. However, do we really need another one? And a boxing one no less? How many of these do we need for crying out loud?? Goddamn it. It turns out we need, you need, "Day of the Fight," a new film which came out the end of last year. Written and directed by Jack Huston, "Day of the Fight" is his debut and it's a knockout (see what I did there). Michael Pitt (who was one of the psychopathic kids in "Funny Games") stars as Mike Flannigan, a down and out boxer looking for redemption. Toss "Rocky," together with "On the Waterfront," throw in an "8 Mile" wardrobe with a cool R&B-Jazz soundtrack, oh, and film it in arty black and white, make it jump rope and dance around a bit, pow, you have, "Day of the Fight." Yes, it might be by the numbers, but it goes all 12 rounds. The soundtrack, amazing. And Michael Pitt, who looks like a sexy-ugly Paul Newman is so good, I wish he had been nominated for all the awards. I simply loved his performance. Huston's dialogue is always good and a lot of the time it's great; delivered with panache by Pitt. Joe Pesci is one of the producers. He, Steve Buscemi, and Ron Perlman also have roles in this; just another three reasons you should see it. This one punches way above its weight. Catch it streaming, in rep theatre, or from your local video store. 

Becoming Led Zeppelin

I was born in 1970. I didn't discover Led Zeppelin until I was about 15, which would land me in 1985. By then Zeppelin was done. Drummer John Bonham had died five year prior and the band had released their last album, CODA in 1982. The ride was well over. It had no real effect on my discovery of a band that was the most original and powerful thing I had heard in my whole 15 years on planet earth. When I was 18, I got to see Robert Plant in Ottawa - Stevie Ray Vaughan opened. Amazing. When I was 28 (1998), I managed to see Page/Plant in Toronto - the closet thing I would ever get to see Led Zeppelin. Now it's 2025. John Bonham has been dead for 45 years and "Becoming Led Zeppelin" has been released in IMAX. This is a film for fans. If you don't love these guys, then this isn't for you. If you do, get to the theatre now. There is footage of the band at their first public gig. Plant swinging around his mic, Jimmy doing crazy wild stuff on his guitar and there is the audience, baffled. It was like when Marty McFly plays guitar in "Back to the Future." Nobody understood what they were looking at, what they were hearing. "Becoming Led Zeppelin" is indeed going back to the future, a time when nobody understood what this new sound was, the birth, some might say, of Heavy Metal. The film only covers the first two albums and how it launched them into superstardom. It's a whole lotta music. I loved every minute of it. Catch it now in theatres, hopefully in IMAX.   

Babes

 It could easily be a comedy with Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph but it's not. It's Ilana Glazer and Michelle Buteau as Eden and Dawn respectively. Eden and Dawn have been best friends since childhood. Dawn is pregnant with her second child and shortly after giving birth, Eden finds herself pregnant after a one night stand. "Babes" falls into the "Bridesmaids" category of film - you're in for this kind of fun. The script (Ilana Glazer and Josh Rabinowitz) is smart and lively, taking unexpected turns and it's a fresh take on motherhood, friendship, and pregnancy. Director Pamela Adlon has crafted something special here which is worth your time. Character actor John Carroll Lynch ("Zodiac" "Chanel Zero," and literally over a hundred other roles) plays a doctor with a hair issue. I love him in everything he shows up in. Just another reason to check out "Babes," now streaming on Prime. Or go rent it from Movies 'N' Stuff here in Ottawa.  

Matt and Mara

This little Canadian film written and directed by Kazik Radwanski is charming, smartly written, and has two wonderful actors giving wonderful performances. Deragh Campbell plays Mara, a young English Professor who is currently teaching a creative writing class in poetry. She is married to a musician, but she herself doesn't really connect with music - it may be a bit of a pebble in the shoe of their marriage, one which, for the most part, with their young child, seems to be going well. Perhaps a tad dry. We arrive at this point when the romance has died down to a low heat and the monotonous business of living and raising a child has kicked in. Along comes Matt (Matt Johnson), former university boyfriend, before Mara's current husband, and he is bringing excitement. Matt has had some literary success. He is a published writer - Mara keeps his book of personally inscribed collection of short stories on her office shelf. They go to a cafe and talk about writing. This leads to a series of encounters and eventually a short road trip. I haven't heard this kind of smartly written, realistic, and nuanced dialogue since Richard Linklater's Before Trilogy. I would love Radwanski to turn this into a trilogy. Anyway, it's short, with a runtime of only an hour twenty, I almost felt like it needed more. Maybe I just wanted more. Like a small piece of dessert.    

This Is the Tom Green Documentary

Tom Green was born and raised in Ottawa and rose to fame out of his Rogers Cable 22 Tom Green show. He eventually got picked up by MTV, moved to New York, then California hosting his own show. He became hugely famous. Maybe not Jim Carrey famous, but famous none the less. He married Drew Barrymore and got testicular cancer - I don't recall which order but nobody blames Drew. He was very public about it, made a show of it. He also made his own feature length movie, "Freddy Got Finger." It was panned by most critics. I thought it to be wildly funny. I never watched his show, but was aware of some of his earlier stunts: painting his dad's car, turning it into the slut-mobile; painting his parents house plaid; snorkeling in full scuba gear for change in the shopping mall fountain. All extremely funny stuff, stuff taken to the next level by "Jackass" which took over his time slot when Green walked away. I've always cheered for Tom, being an Ottawa boy myself. A sense of hometown pride seeing him in "Charlie's Angels" and making it in Hollywood. There had been silence but now Tom has reappeared with this documentary, a new reality TV series forthcoming on Prime and a comedy special taped here in Ottawa at the NAC. Tom has walked away from Hollywood and moved back home, living on a farm just outside of Ottawa. Something has changed. Green’s demeanour has changed . And he is sporting a full beard. Jim Carrey had one of these for a while. Even David Letterman, Green's personal hero. There is an aura of trauma given off in both his appearance and the way he carries himself, no longer the manic crazed Green, but slow and soft, with his dog by his side, who seems like an emotional support animal. This documentary feels like a part of a package, so there is something slightly sale-pitchy about it. At the same time, I feel it's a cathartic release for Green. He is acknowledging who he was and what he did, and in doing so, letting it go. Maybe the cancer changed him. Or maybe he realized getting the fame and money he always wanted wasn't really what he always wanted. Maybe a bit of both. Full confession by me: this dcc and Tom's new series was edited by my friend, Jay Bond. I thought his work on this was amazing. The doc concludes with the taping of his stand up performance at the NAC. If you freeze frame the credits, you will see me, in my Godzilla hoodie. Green was a pioneer in goofy, absurdist showmanship, a clown. He’s still very funny but Green is different now, softer, and has become a nuanced artist. Catch this streaming now on Prime.     

Nickel Boys

Nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, "Nickel Boys" is the story of Elwood Curtis, a smart young black teen who gets thrown into a brutal reform school (Nickel) in Southern USA in the 1960s. He befriends Turner, another black youth, who seems to know his way around the institution. Nickel is something out of "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Cool Hand Luke" except all the boys here are black, and they might end up buried at the back of the property. A good chunk of the film is shot from the first person point of view of either Turner or Elwood, like "Hardcore Henry" except without all the action. At first I found this visual choice a little off putting but in the end I think it gives the movie more gravitas than it might hold otherwise. Director RaMell Ross has crafted a very arty film. It jumps through time and images of the civil rights movement are presented at times with others: American life in the 1960s, dream sequences with alligators, and snapshots of contemporary pieces (toy trinkets, buttons) from forensic digs of discarded children who we are to assume have suffered horrific deaths. Some of this felt like an exhibit you might find in a modern museum of art. I think it gives the film it's power, rather than being another "Jailhouse" picture. This one carries weight. Catch it in theatres or if you are in Ottawa, rent it at Movies 'N Stuff when available.