Sometimes we watch stuff that we want to talk just a little bit about, not a full review worth. These are those films. If any of the films reviewed are available on Netflix Instant Watch (US or Canada) or HuluPlus (US only), we’ll note that by putting a direct link below the capsule.

Poetry

(4.5/5)

2010 South Korea. Director: Chang-dong Lee. Starring: Jeong-hie Yun, Nae-sang Ahn & Da-wit Lee.

Chang-dong Lee (Oasis & Green Fish) brings us Poetry, a deeply moving drama about an elderly woman who discovers that her grandson, who is in her care, was one of a group of boys that sexually abused a teenager, driving her to suicide. On top of this she learns that she is experiencing the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The only thing keeping her world together is a poetry class she joins, although she is struggling to find beauty and inspiration in her slowly unraveling life. It’s a beautiful, poignant film that is incredibly subtle yet quietly devastating. It’s subject matter could have easily turned into a sappy TV movie, but under the skilled hands of Chang-dong any sentimentality or obvious narrative cues are avoided in favour of quiet observation. It also keeps it’s style understated, avoiding any distractingly showy camera moves or over-baked filters. That’s not to say the film is gritty-looking or ugly either, just fittingly natural. Adding to the craftsmanship is a mesmerizing central performance from Jeong-hie Yun. Rarely do actresses of her age get such a strong role and she certainly makes the most of it – she actually came out of retirement after 16 years to take it on. It’s a long, slow watch, but by God it’s worth sticking with. An extraordinary film.
-DAVID BROOK

The Golden Child

(4/5)

1986 USA. Director: Michael Ritchie. Starring: Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, Charlotte Lewis.

After watching the relatively lackluster Season of the Witch, I thought it time to watch a proper “demon” film and went back to a childhood favorite. Eddie Murphy (still in his heydey) just does his thing and those classic moments still work pretty well (“I..I huhuhu I huhu….I.. I….I… say I….. want the kniiiife. Pleeease…”). Some of the comedy is a little outdated and clearly from a time gone by, but if you’re a Murphy fan I think you’ll get into a lot of it. Charles Dance as Sardom Noomspa is fantastic here and there is some really interesting set costume and set design going on. A dream sequence is particularly fantastically interesting and probably a little out of place and was maybe even off-putting for audiences at the time. The last 25 minutes or so showcases some really shitty special effects and is actually pretty boring – everything else is great though (and apparently my crush on 1980′s Charlotte Lewis is as strong as ever…. wowsers!). This is more or less a kind of a poor man’s Big Trouble in Little China with a bit more established comedic presence. Heck, it even co-stars Victor Wong and James Hong. Eddie Murphy will row your ass!
- ANDREW JAMES

(USA)

Love and Other Drugs

(3.5/5)

2010 USA. Director: Edward Zwick. Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria.

A close cousin of Pat O’Connor’s Sweet November, this updated version of a sick woman who never enters a relationship but reluctantly falls for one of her sexual partners is only marginally better than its cousin. Edward Zwick’s version stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a smart but wandering guy who ends up selling drugs for Pfizer and Anne Hathaway as a beautiful sick woman who happens to cross his path. The two start a purely physical relationship but when they fall in love, things get complicated. Duh. Love and other Drugs isn’t exactly inspired but it features fun performances from the leads as well as Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria in supporting roles. It also features a hearty amount of Gyllenhaal and Hathaway nudity which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – just not something you should be hanging your entire movie on. Regardless of the predictability, there are some genuinely touching moments here and I admit it: when Gyllenhaal tracks down the bus taking Hathaway to Canada to buy cheap drugs and professes his love for her on the side of the road, illness and all, I sniffled into a Kleenex. It’s like The Notebook all over again.
- MARINA ANTUNES

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger

(3/5)

2010 USA/Spain. Director: Woody Allen. Starring: Gemma Jones, Anthony Hopkins, Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Freida Pinto, Antonio Banderas.

While Woody Allen’s newest offering is getting plenty of buzz as a return to form, last year’s offering from the prolific director, the dramedy You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is more in line with the mediocre offerings the director has been shelling out over the last few years. Featuring an all star cast which includes Naomi Watts and Josh Brolin as an unhappy couple on the verge of divorce and Gemma Jones and Anthony Hopkins as Watts’ long married and recently separated parents, it offers enjoyable performances and a fun (in an unbelievable sort of way) story. There is, however, little charm in these parallel tales of relationships falling apart and individuals finding themselves after years of marriage. The best part of the film: Watts’ relationship with her art dealer boss Antonio Banderas which never quite materializes into a romance. I loved the banter between the two and the uncertainty of taking the next step. Sadly, that single relationship doesn’t hold enough subtlety (though it tries) to keep the movie afloat. Entertaining in that sort of made-for-tv-movie way.
- MARINA ANTUNES

(CANADA)

Only Angels Have Wings

1939 USA. Director: Howard Hawks. Starring: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth.

I’ve been attacking my list of “classics I need to see” of late and finally got around to this late ’30s Howard Hawks film. Around the 3/4 mark I was thinking “I knew people thought of it as a classic, but how come they didn’t tell me it was so good?” Without really realizing it, I was sucked into the movie and its events and was having a cracking good time of it. That’s part of Hawks’ ability as a director – without really being obvious or flashy he moves the story ahead via dialogue and action. Having Cary Grant doesn’t hurt either, of course, but for me Jean Arthur was the secret ingredient. She’s a terrific comedienne in such fare as The Talk Of The Town and Easy Living and seems very at ease with the strength and confidence of her showgirl character (who is holed up at a small airport in South America waiting for a boat back to the States). Grant tries to fend off her advances as well as his own feelings for her while he runs a fleet of aircraft and pilots who fly dangerous missions through the tricky mountains to deliver cargo and mail. Complicating this is a new pilot that has history with the men and his new wife who just happens to be Grant’s old flame. It’s all good fun with some solid bits of tension (including some fantastic flying scenes – alongside other scenes of obvious toy airplanes), but it fumbles both the plot and its characters towards the end. There are several stunningly bad decisions made by people who are supposed to be incredibly great at their jobs and a gunshot that is simply a lazy solution to moving the plot in a specific direction. What really annoyed me, though, was two strong tough talking women characters who suddenly both falter and then realize that what they need to do is to be subservient to their men. A shame, because it’s otherwise a very entertaining yarn.
-BOB TURNBULL

Shadows

1959 USA. Director: John Cassavetes. Starring: Ben Carruthers, Lelia Goldoni.

Cassavetes first feature film is quite a wonder. Though it has its share of, um, inexperienced actors, it also has an undeniable energy that puts it right alongside something like Godard’s Breathless (which it beat to the cinema by a year). It’s not just because of its “freewheeling”, grabbing-scenes-on-the-go feel, but its editing conveys the sense that the filmmakers are bringing all the creativity they can to an art form that is relatively new to them. It’s easy to see why Cassavetes is often thought to be one of the closest American directors to the French New Wave crowd. His preference for using an actor’s improvisations to create the performance as well as his penchant for natural lighting and location shooting certainly kept him separate from the Hollywood scene, but it was his insistence to remain truly independent when it came to funding that ensured he wouldn’t be helming many blockbusters. Back to the film itself though – it’s one of the more interesting examinations of interracial relations I’ve seen as it uses two mixed race characters (one who easily passes for white and the other who has trouble easily mixing with either whites or blacks) who are siblings with a black character. There’s never any explanation for the family dynamic, so we just get to see how the three of them relate to other people – compensating in different ways depending on their views of their race and themselves. I was surprised by how much subtlety the film brings to the story and script and I’m glad I finally caught up with some of Cassavetes directing work. I’ve since seen a couple of others, but can’t think of a better place than his first to start.
-BOB TURNBULL