The Holdovers

Let me begin by saying that "Sideways," directed by Alexander Payne and staring Paul Giamatti is one of my favourite films - easily in my top ten favourite moives of all time. "The Holdovers" sees Payne once again in the director's chair and Giamatti in front of the camera. If you were to take "Sideways" and smash it together with "Dead Poet's Society" you would have something which resembles, "The Holdovers." What's it all about? Set in 1970 at a boys private school, the students about to go on Christmas break, Giamatti plays Paul Hunham, senior history teacher, curmudgeon, and the chosen babysitter for all the boys who can't get home for the holidays. There is Mary Lamb (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) who plays the school's cook, who has just lost her son in the Vietnam War. There is a handful of students who remain behind which dwindles down to only Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa). These three, with their suitcases of grief and pain make up the unlikely trio of this holiday story. It's good. I heard Payne wanted to make a film that felt like it was made in the 1970s. He did. It could be an hidden gem from that era. This is a funny and touching drama. If you are looking for something warm and personal for the holidays, then add "The Holdovers" to your holiday viewing list. In theatres now. 

The Killer

"The Killer" is David Fincher's newest film and it stars Michael Fassbender as The Killer - a hitman that follows a self imposed set of rules so he doesn't get caught. He is a man of cold precision and finesse. He doesn't allow emotion into plans, he sticks to them. Until one day, he doesn't. Okay, let's a take a pause here for a second. This sounds like a plot to your average Liam Neeson film, something pedestrian, the plot of an action thiller we have seen so many times before. Do we really need to see this story again? I'm convinced after watching "The Killer" that David Fincher could make watching paint dry a riveting experience. In fact, Liam Neeson could have done this role, well maybe 20 year ago, so Fassbender is an excellent choice. And I'm saying nothing disparaging about either actor - I love them both. What I'm trying to say is, Fincher has elevated the source material from B thriller to an A+ Hitchcock masterpiece by simply being a superior director. Take his 2002 thriller, "Panic Room" for example. This is a B home invasion plot but Fincher elevates it to make it cinematic art the way Hitchcock or De Palma or Scorsese have. "The Killer" had me glued for it's entire two hour run time - felt like 90 minutes or less. I haven't had so much fun since I watched "The Accountant." "The Killer" is simply killer. Catch it in theatres now or streaming on Netflix in November.  

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person

"Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person" - The title alone is great. This is Quebec writer/director Ariane Louis-Seize first feature length film and it's lovely. The film has a sensibility of somewhere between Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive" and Ana Lily Amirpour's "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night." What's it all about? It's about a vampire family, the youngest of which is Sasah. She has empathy towards humans. As a result, she can't seem to muster up the fangs to kill anyone. Her parents give her IV bags of blood to suck on and she wanders about drinking them like they were juice boxes. When she hits her vampire teenage years (something like 68 years old) her parents cut her off. They send Sasah (Sara Montpetit) off to live with her aunt - it's about time Sasah learned to hunt on her own. A chance encounter with suicidal teen Paul (Félix-Antoine Bénard) leads to something of a teen romance. I found myself captivated by this film, charmed by it. And it's French Canadian, so there are great shots of people eating poutine. I smiled, with fangs, from beginning to end. Catch this one in your local rep cinema or on streaming services when it becomes available. 

Fair Play

I was glued to it. It had the sensibility of "Fatal Attraction," and "Wall Street;" an adult thriller, the kind they made in the 1980s. What's it all about?  Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are lovers, secretly, for they are also coworkers as market analysts in an investment firm (run by Campbell and play by the Eddie Marsan (Ray Donavan)). Campbell promotes Emily to portfolio manager over Luke and then their relationship begins to take a turn. The performances of Dvnevor and Ehrenreich are outstanding. I would love to see either of them get a nomination for this. But it wasn't just their acting, it was the twists and turns of the script - it went places I didn't expect it to go. The story is about power relations, sexual relations, work relations; it's about money, ambition, and self worth. It's polished and riveting - sex, booze, and money; sign me up. It's a wild ride and you can catch it now streaming on Netflix. 

The Creator

When "Blade Runner" hit theatres back in 1982, the reviews weren't great. Roger Ebert gave it three stars. I feel like the lukewarm reception critics have given "The Creator" is very similar. I'm here to tell you, this is a five star film. It will be landing on my top ten list of the year. I don't think I've seen a science fiction vision as interesting since Neill Blomkamp's  "District 9" or his underrated "Chappie," George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road," or last year's overlooked film, "Vesper." Get your ass out to the theatre and see this on the big screen before it's gone. What's it all about? Artificial Intelligence has nuked L.A. and A.I. is now banned in the U.S. America is now involved in hunting down A.I.'s latest weapon produced somewhere in Asia. It's also a love story, a philosophical exploration on what it means to be a thinking and feeling being, an action film, and one of the most visually stunning sci-fi films I've seen in the last twenty years. Directed by Gareth Edwards, the man who gave us "Rouge One" and 2014's "Godzilla." He has created a masterpiece and I suspect "The Creator" will, like "Blade Runner" only be recognized in the future as one of the great science fiction films of our time. Catch this in theatres now. 

REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World

After spending a summer of watching some amazing concerts with my wife (Foo Fighters, Billy Talent, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Pitbull, BUSH, The Headstones, Iggy Pop, Shania Twain, Weezer, Daniel Lanois, Bran Van 3000, Tegan and Sara, Death Cab for Cutie, Mumford & Sons, and many more!) I realize that 2023 in Ottawa was one of the most spectacular musical events I will see in my lifetime. Maybe one day in the future, like 53 years into the future, there will be a documentary about the 2023 Ottawa Blues and CityFolk festivals that happened here in this little sleepy town. And  maybe somebody will be amazed about all the musical talent that was brought together. Maybe. This brings me to "REVIVAL69: The Concert that Rocked the World," the new CRAVE documentary about a rock concert that took place in Toronto in 1969 that involved some of the worlds greatest rock and roll artists of all time. I was amazed. The lineup included, Chicago, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Chuck Barry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Alice Cooper, The Doors, and John Lennon and The Plastic Ono Band, and many more. And Geddy Lee was there in the audience, on LSD! This is the concert that put the final nail into the coffin of The Beatles and freed John Lennon to go at it alone. This documentary is a time capsule and boy oh boy was it fun to open up and see what was inside. Travel back in time and let a motorcycle gang escort you to one of the most amazing concerts that you didn't know existed (at least I didn't) and almost didn't happen. Catch it streaming on CRAVE. 

Birth/Rebirth

If you told me David Cronenberg had made this movie as a modern remake of Re-Animator, I would almost believe you. Almost. It's far too feminine for Cronenberg, despite all the surgical shenanigans, autopsies, stapled incisions, and science beakers full of bloody liquids. Yes, "Birth/Rebirth" doesn't shy away like some stereotypical 60s housewife who nicked her thumb slicing a cucumber ("Is it bad? I can't look at it, I hate the sight of blood.") This is co-writer and director Laura Moss's first feature length film and she doesn't seem to be shy at all about showing us the insides of people. She certainly left a scar on me. What's it all about? Obstetrics nurse Rita (Monique Gabriela Curnen) loses her daughter to meningitis but mad-scientist/doctor, Rose (Marin Ireland) helps bring Rita's daughter back to life using her own aborted fetuses - as I'm typing this, I realize how insane and gross this sounds. Well it is and I loved it. Welcome to the fertile imagination of Laura Moss. She has birthed out a Frankenstein nightmare of pregnancy and motherhood. It's a tale about how far mothers would go to save their children; in the case of Rita, her actual child and in the case of Rose, her child of a science experiment. Marin Ireland as Rose, the wide-eyed, vegan, genius-on-the-spectrum, mad-scientist is so much fun to watch. The film is too small and likely won't get noticed but I would love to see Marin Ireland get a nomination for her performance. Do yourself a favour and get reborn - catch this one streaming now on Shudder.