Skin

So on the same lines as American History X and The Believer, we have yet another white supremacist story (based on a true story) with another incredible lead performance; this time it's Jamie Bell in Skin. Do we need another one of these? I would argue more than ever. I heard an interesting theory about extremist movements. They are born from, above all else, poverty. Whether it be Middle Eastern jihadists or good old USA white nationalists, the underlining similarity is angry young men (mostly men) who are poor and have nothing to lose. You take them in, feed them, and explain to them, the guy over there, the one with the different skin colour, well he's your problem - this is why you don't have any food, because he stole your job, etc. We get a glimpse of this. However the main focus of the film is about Bryon leaving his Nazi brethren behind with the help of black activist, Daryle Lamont Jenkins (played by Mike Colter) so Bryon can be with his new wife and kids. He cuts a deal with Daryle and in exchange, goes through an extremely painful and lengthy tattoo removal process to clean his skin from the hate that covers much of his face and body. It's a violent and dark film but an important and timely one. Bell is excellent in it. Catch it at a theatre near you.

The Dead Don't Die

Why does the world need another zombie film? The answer is, it doesn't. Or at least it doesn't need any traditional contemporary zombie films; AMC's The Walking Dead has destroyed my love of zombies - well almost. Since George A. Romero's The Night of the Living Dead, zombie has equaled social commentary about society's pressing issues - whether it be race relations in The Night of the Living Dead or consumerism in Dawn of the Dead - the zombie motif is usually a fun way to talk about all different aspects of humanity's cruelty and ignorance which we inflict upon one other and the Earth.
Jim Jarmusch isn't traditional and we could certainly use a conversation about climate change. Hence, The Dead Don't Die is the zombie film we need right now. In this self referential, winking at the camera world, polar fracking has put the Earth off its axis and off its rotation and the result is the dead have risen.It stars Bill Murray, Adam Driver, and Chloë Sevigny, plus there are cameos by Tom Waits, Rosie Perez, Carol Kane, Iggy Pop, Selena Gomez, Tilda Swinton, and Steve Buscemi to name a bunch. This is a fromage-homage to Romero and the entire horror geek genre - it's funny. It's not Jim's best film, but if you are looking for something goofy light, I had a lot of fun with it.
Catch it at rep theatre near you.

Paterson (2016)

I'm going to write about Jim Jarmusch's new film, The Dead Don't Die, but before I do, I must talk about Paterson. I mentioned to a friend I was going to go see, The Dead Don't Die and she told me she was a big Jim Jarmusch fan. So I asked her, what did you think of Paterson? She hadn't even heard of it. How big a fan could she be, right? I don't blame her. She has two kids and a busy life. I miss stuff all the time from writers, directors, and musicians, which I consider myself to be a big-fan of. But it got me thinking, if she missed it, then likely many others did too.
So, if you haven't seen Jim Jarmusch's Paterson, starring Adam Driver and Golshifteh Farahani, you really owe it to yourself to do so.
Jim is an arty director. He makes arty movies. They might not be everyone's cup of tea, but they are mine. Paterson could be his best movie. It's certainly my favourite film he has every made. What's it about? It's about a bus driver who writes poetry (the poetry comes from real writer Ron Padgett). He lives with his wife, who wants to open a cupcake business. Paterson goes to work every day and eats the same thing for breakfast. He occasionally stops for a beer after work at the local watering hole and writes poems in his journal. Um, yeah, that's about it. It's slow and there are no bad guys or explosions. It's a thoughtful meditation on beauty and the beauty of words. It's about love and poetry. I adored this movie. I have nothing more to say. Go watch it.
Catch it on streaming services.

Jellyfish

My daughter came in and took one look at what I was watching and asked, "Is this like The Florida Project?" She is very astute, my daughter. I hadn't thought about it, but she was pretty much bang on. The Florida Project, American Honey, and We the Animals are a kind of modern trilogy (not made by the same people) of impoverished America. In all three of these films, children are raising themselves or each other. They are all dark, sad movies with some elements of joy along the way. We are living in dark times where the economic divide between rich and poor is atmospheres apart, so it's no wonder we are getting these timely movies now.
Across the pond, England is making their own versions of similar ilk. I, Daniel Blake brought me to tears. If you have time, watch it.
Jellyfish is about a young high school student, Sarah, who is looking after her two siblings and her manic depressive mother. She has an after school job at an arcade cleaning the machines and she makes a little extra on the side by giving handjobs to old patrons in the alley. Yeah, it's dark. We also follow her journey at school as she works on becoming a stand-up comedian for her drama class.
Sarah is played by Liv Hill and this kid is something to behold. Liv Hill is the main reason you should watch Jellyfish, besides from being a sad, moving, and poignant film. She is so good in this she steals every scene. She is an actor to watch.
I would like to mention director James Gardner. He seems to come from the Steve McQueen (English director not the American actor) school of holding the shot long, let the audience fully take time to think about what's going on; it really worked well.
So, if you want to see a future star, catch Liv Hill in Jellyfish on streaming services or in rep theatres near you.

The Grizzlies

You could argue that this is just another white-man saviour movie and in some sense you wouldn't be wrong. What is The Grizzlies all about? You could say it's about a privileged white guy who goes up North to the Arctic and teaches down and out Indigenous kids about Lacrosse. That would be an oversimplification. It's also an unflinching look at Indigenous life in Nunavut. The film addresses teen suicide, poverty, and the affects of the residential school system have had on generations of Canada's Indigenous people. It's also a fantastic underdog sports story. And it based on true events.

I find often that Canadian films look terrible. I can't explain it, they just have a horrible CBC look to them - like they were cheaply made. The Grizzlies isn't like that at all. It's really good, well acted, and the dialogue, for the most part, sounds authentic. If you see one Canadian film this year, make sure it's The Grizzlies. This snowy tale warmed my heart.
In Ottawa, catch it at Imagine Cinemas Ottawa. Catch it at a rep cinema near you.

Easy

"Easy" is a Netflix show. There are three seasons, about eight episodes each, and they run about 30-40 minutes long. Easy to watch. What's it all about? I'm going to say it's about relationships. Couple relationships. Men and women; women and women. It's also about sibling relationships and parent-child relationships. Even neighborly relationships. It's more drama than comedy and every episode is different, although over the course of three seasons we get to see some of the same characters reappear. Sometimes one character will make a brief appearance in another episode. For the most part though, they are stand alone episodes. The only thing they all share is they are set in the city of Chicago.

Why did I love it so much? I found it fascinating. The dialogue was some of most authentic dialogue I have every heard in any film or TV show. I'm not sure if the actors went ad lib, but everyone in the show was so believable. Some of these episodes were about characters that are never given a voice in regular movies or film. There is an episode in season three entitled "Number One Seller" about a black man with a neck tattoo selling glow sticks and plastic swords to families in the park - I loved it. There are some many characters to love in "Easy" - you will see yourself or someone you know in all of them.

Relationships are hard, so maybe that's the joke of the title, Easy. Catch it all on Netflix. 

Apollo 11

I watched "First Man" last year and loved it. It made my top ten list of the best films of 2018. So do we need another film about the Apollo 11 mission to the moon? The surprising answer is: Absolutely yes! In fact you can skip "First Man" if you haven't seen it already and watch CNN's documentary "Apollo 11" which is comprised of entirely real archival footage from the 1969 trip to the moon. There is no modern voice over. All the narration comes from the commentators and reporters of the time. There may be some music added, but that's about it. Todd Douglas Miller who directed and edited this movie must be given high praise for being able to cobble together a riveting tale out of all this old footage. For me, to see how many people were actually involved on the ground was even more impressive than its docudrama counterpart had portrayed it. To see this movie is to marvel at how brilliant humanity can be when we work together. This is something to behold. Fly away with this one on streaming services or catch it at your local cinema.

If you are in Ottawa, catch it at the Bytowne now: https://www.bytowne.ca/movie/apollo-11