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. 

We Are the Night

It's January but it feels like Halloween! I don't really understand why I've watched two German lesbian vampire movies and a new werewolf film, back to back, but I have. "Vampyros Lesbos" is a 1971 offering from director Jesús Franco and it's pretty much awful. Imagine if Penthouse, of the same year, 1971,  made a lesbian vampire porn film - you get the idea - the blood bright red before they figured out the formula for making blood look real. I watched this at Ottawa's Mayfair Theatre. "Wolf Man" is out in theatres now. One line review: It got a few howls and it's much better than the mangy dog I thought it would be. Which now brings me to "We Are the Night," a German vampire film from 2010 which I'm sure you've never heard of. I hadn't until it landed in my physical DVD/Blu-ray collection by accident. It's co-written and directed by Dennis Gansel and stars a bunch of German actors you've likely also never heard of. It's excellent. I haven't enjoyed a vampire film as much since "30 Days of Night" or "Daybreakers" (two other excellent vampire films). If vampires aren't your thing, I get it. If they are, this is a good one. The imagery here is, at times, surreal, something off of a Pink Floyd album cover. These are rich party girls with teeth. They go clubbing - something out of "Blade," and they have decadent tastes for all things but men. But these ladies have immortal problems as all undead folks seem to have. There are some fresh and tasty ideas here which I have never seen in a vampire movie. You can't find it for rent at  Movies 'N Stuff and you can't find it on streaming, at least not that I know of. If you get a chance, somehow, to see this one, dig your teeth in.

Cunk on Life

 Apparently this is the fifth Philomena Cunk TV special or one-off TV movie? I'm not exactly sure how it should be referred to. On a sparse runtime of 71 minutes, it falls into an episode-length of some TV shows. Whatever it is, it's funny as hell. "Cunk on Life" is the first (and only) one of Diane Morgan's (who brilliantly plays nitwit Philomena Cunk) very funny mocumentaries I have watched. So far. I laughed my guts out - "Do you mean all your intestines came out of your mouth while you were laughing, all over the floor? Sounds horrible. How did you get them back in, or did you? Are you sitting here now with no guts?" - this is something Philomena Cunk might ask me. In her own happy idiot way, (think "Borat," "Forest Gump," "Being There") simpleton Philomena Cunk goes about interviewing some of the world's brightest academics (real professors) on the subjects of philosophy, religion, and science in hopes of discovering what life is all about. Hilarious. I could see how this could begin to get tedious after a while, but again, at a 71 minute run time, it's worth every minute of your time. Cunk is asking big questions - "I didn't realize questions have a size." is something I imagine she might respond with. The answer will surely have you giggling. Catch it streaming on Netflix. 

The Emerald Forest

If you are unfamiliar with John Boorman, he is the director of "Deliverance." If you still haven't seen that film, start there. Then check out "The Emerald Forest." This film from 1985 was a Christmas gift, a Blu Ray from my wife. A delight.  Kino Lorber (like the more famous Criterion Collection people) have reissued this with a lovely looking new cover and a new commentary track on the disc. The late great Powers Boothe stars as Bill Markham, an engineer who went down to the rain forest with his wife (Meg Foster) and young son to build a massive hydro dam. His son, Tommy, is taken by the Invisible People, a tribe on Aboriginal Amazonians. Bill spends the next ten years working on the construction of the dam and all his free time combing the jungle in search of his missing son. Apparently this is based on a true story - even if this is partly true, it's pretty wild. Boorman's son, Charley Boorman plays the older Tomme. Having recently watched "The Naked Prey," I'm sure this must have inspired Boorman to do something similar. "The Emerald Forest" - a long forgotten film you will want to make contact with (I'm cheeky, like a loincloth).   

The Best Films of 2024

Top 15 Films of 2024

2024 was the year of sequels: Beetlejuice 2, Alien 9, Despicable Me 4, The Omen 5, Ghostbusters 4, Twister 2, Rebel Moon part 2, A Quiet Place 3, Beverly Hills Cop 4, Bad Boys 4, Dune 2, Planet of the Apes 4, Kung Fu Panda 4, Gladiator 2, Joker 2, Moana 2, Smile 2, Venom 3, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, etc.. Thankfully there were some original films. Here are my top 15 and everything else which made the blog (it's got to be at least an A- to make it). Followed by blog-worthy films from last year I only got to watching this year. Then you get blog worthy films from further in the past. Then we have honourable mentions and guilty pleasures of 2024. Finally the worst of and most disappointing films of 2024. 

There are a lot of big movies I haven't seen yet, "The Brutalist" for example. It could very well be in my top 15, top 10 - who knows? I can only comment on what I've seen.

Letterboxd tells  me I watched 284 films this year to bring you this list. 

Enjoy!      

These are the best 15 films of 2024

1.The Substance  

2. Anora

3. Bird

4. Civil War

5. His Three Daughters

6. Red Rooms 🍁 - Released only international this year, it gets its proper place on the top 15. 

7. Caligula The Ultimate Cut

8. Kinds of Kindness

9. Saturday Night 

10. Hundreds of Beavers

11. The Promised Land

12. Strange Darling

13. Late Night with the Devil

14. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

15. Love Lies Bleeding 

And here is everything else (in no order) that made the blog for 2024 - all worthy of your time. 

16. Dogman

17. American Star

18. Land of Bad

19. Seven Veils

20. Immaculate

21. Knox Goes Away

22. Arcadian

23. Monkey Man

24. The Movie Man 🍁

25. In a Violent Nature 🍁

26. The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed 

27. The King Tide 🍁

28. Trap

29. Cuckoo

30. Rebel Ridge

31. Speak No Evil

32. Mother, Couch

33. The Idea of You

34. Thelma

35. Woman of the Hour

36. The Deliverance

37. Smile 2

38. Ghostlight

39. The Bikeriders

40. Challengers  

41. Memoir of a Snail

42. Babygirl

Great Films of 2023 I only watched in 2024

1. Society of the Snow

2. Memory

3. Perfect Days

4. Red Rooms 🍁 (released only in Canada in 2023)

5. Origin

Other great films I watched this year from previous years

1. The King

2. Jojo Rabbit

3. The Empty Man

4. Fish Tank

5. Nocturama

6. Le Trou (The Hole)

7. We Need to Talk About Kevin

8. Stalker

9. The Rover

10. Cure

11. Mikey and Nicky

12. Coraline

13. A Pure Formality

14. Rat Race

Guilty Pleasures/Honourable Mentions of 2024

Dramas

The Old Oak - Ken Loach's last film about a small town coming to grips with foreigners 

Silver Haze - Another gritty British drama reminiscent of something by Andrea Arnold 

Seagrass 🍁 - A Japanese-Canadian woman and her husband go to B.C. for couples' therapy during the 1980s along with their two kids. Full of moments of honesty and sadness. 

Wicked Little Letters - Olivia Colman is receiving nasty letters she believes is coming from her next door neighbour  

My Old Ass  🍁- A touching and comedic Canadian coming-of-age romance involving psychedelic mushrooms, sci-fi communication with a future-self, and cranberry farming. 

The Apprentice - Sebastian Stan as Trump is fabulous and this film as a portrait of a young, hungry, capitalist-monster on the rise just missed getting a full entry on the Marquee. 

A Real Pain - Jesse Eisenberg wrote, directed, and stars alongside Kieran Culkin in a film about two cousins who go to Poland on a holocaust guided tour trip. It's funny, heartfelt, and I found it far more moving than "The Zone of Interest."

Small Things like These - Cillian Murphy give a great performance in a film about bad nuns running a laundry sweatshop in 1980s Ireland. 

Nightbitch - Amy Adams plays a visual artist who has given up her life and identity to raise her son. And she is also turning into a dog. This one has some funny bite to it. 

Animated

Flow - Post climate disaster, a cat finds its way with other creatures when a tsunami like flood occurs. Kind of like "The Impossible" but with animated animals. 

Thrillers

The Last Stop in Yuma County - A fun Tarantino style stop at a gas station. Try the rhubarb pie, it's to die for. 

The Order - Jude Law plays an FBI investigator hunting down white supremacists who are also bank robbers - "Skin" meets "Hell or High Water."

Sci-Fi

The End We Start From - Mass Flooding hits the U.K. and we follow a woman and her new baby through this imagined environmental disaster. A visually gorgeous film. Think "28 Days Later" but replace the zombies with water and add starvation into the mix.   

Documentaries

Enter the Clones of Bruce - about the Brue Lee exploitation craze which occurred after he tragically passed away. Staring Bruce Le, Bruce Li, Bruce Lo, The Black Dragon and many more. Over 200 Kung-Fu Bruce Lee style films were made! 

Faye - Faye Dunaway, iconic American actor is interviewed about her film roles and her challenges with mental illness. Famous for her roles in Chinatown, Network, Bonnie and Clyde, The Eyes of Laura Mars, Mommie Dearest and many more. If you are a fan, it's must viewing.

Will & Harper - Will Ferrell and his close friend of 30 years, a writer from SNL go on a cross America road trip once he transitions to become a woman. It touching, heartfelt, and worth a your time.  

Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare - Netflix doc about a woman in an online relationship for nine years with somebody who wasn't who she thought. It's completely bananas. Up there with Baby Reindeer. 

Horrors

Suitable Flesh - It's actually a 2023 film, but I didn't want it missed. From the folks who gave us "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond."

Abigail - it's a bloody good vampire movie

I Saw the TV Glow - two teenagers have an unhealthy relationship with a TV show. This small film almost got a full entry on the blog. If you are looking for something different, seek this one out. It's something right from the Twilight Zone.

Heretic - Hugh Grant gives a great performance and I LOVED the first half of this film. Unfortunately I lost my faith in the second half. Still, it gets an honourable mention here on the Marquee.   

Worst Films of 2024

1. Night Swim - as much fun as drying yourself off with your spouse's soggy towel and about as scary too. 

2. The Beekeeper - as fun as a kicking a hornet's nest naked

3. Madame Web - don't get caught in this web of boredom

4. The Watchers - Unwatchable

5. Wildcat - Ethan Hawke directed this movie and it's a boring mess

6. Janet, Planent - A pretentious and boring planet; do not visit. 

7. A Family Affair - awful, how Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron ended up in this Hallmark like puke is beyond me 

8. Humane - you will want to kill yourself

9. Mother's Instinct - A film critic's instinct - don't watch it.

10. Rumours - Guy Madden gives us a giant brain without much thought, plot, or characters. Rumoured to be awful. 

11. Emilia Pérez - A Mexican Scareface musical about a trans cartel boss is one of the most tonality bizarre things I've ever witnessed and makes awful musicals look great. 

12. Here - Go anywhere but here. 

Biggest Disappointments of 2024

1. Dune Part 2 - It lost its way in the desert. The guy down my seat-row was snoring. 

2. Bob Marley: One Love - The Music is great, the rest is weak weed

3. The Fall Guy - a stunt gone wrong

4. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes - The banana has blackened and turned to a mushy Pablum not even fit for apes or banana bread. 

5. Brats - A boring self indulgent documentary about brats which isn't even worth being an extra on a blu ray of "Pretty in Pink."

6. Longlegs - I was hoping to love it and didn't. Nic Cage does give a great performance but the film is surprisingly dull.

7. MaXXXine - the end of the "X" trilogy and it was a letdown. If it were made in the 80s it would have been released directly on VHS.

8. A Quiet Place Day One - After the first two were so good, this one landed without making any noise (see what I did there)

9. Alien Romulus - In space, nobody can hear you yawn. Fan service quickly moves from fun to tedious, eventually birthing out a cobbled Alien monster composed of the better films that came before it. 

10. Joker: Folie à Deux - To quote Fleck himself at the end of a boring and pointless film, "Stop signing and just talk to me."

11. Gladiator II - CGI monkeys, rhinos, tigers, and sharks, oh my. There was no fight left in it.